Human Felicity is produc’d not so much by great Pieces of good Fortune that seldom happen, as by little Advantages that occur every day.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher
The Autobiography of Ben Franklin (1771-1790)
Full text.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) English poet, critic, editor
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
“Invictus” (1875)
Full text.
If several things that could have gone wrong have not gone wrong, it would have been ultimately beneficial for them to have gone wrong.
Other Authors and Sources
The Last Law
In Arthur Bloch, Murphy's Law: Book Two, preface (1980)
TOM: I’ll have a decaf coffee.
Steve Martin (b. 1945) American comedian
TRUDI: I’ll have a decaf espresso.
MORRIS: I’ll have a double decaf cappuccino.
TED: Give me decaffeinated coffee ice cream.
HARRIS: I’ll have a half double decaffeinated half-caf, with a twist of lemon.
TRUDI: I’ll have a twist of lemon.
TOM: I’ll have a twist of lemon.
MORRIS: I’ll have a twist of lemon.
CYNTHIA: I’ll have a twist of lemon.
L.A. Story (1991)
The ecological teaching of the Bible is simply inescapable: God made the world because He wanted it made. He thinks the world is good, and He loves it. It is His world; He has never relinquished title to it. And He has never revoked the conditions, bearing on His gift to us of the use of it, that oblige us to take excellent care of it.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
“God and Country,” What Are People For? (1990)
I am not resigned; I am not sure life is long enough to learn that lesson.
George Eliot (1819-1880) English novelist [pseud. of Mary Ann Evans]
The Mill on the Floss, ch. 67 (1860)
Full text.
To all who … must now find the will to rebuild; to the oppressed and to those whose lot it is to struggle in financial hardship or in failing health; to my fellow journalists in places where reporting the truth means risking all; and to each of you, Courage.
Dan Rather (b. 1931) American broadcast journalist
Farewell broadcast (9 Mar 2005)
Nations love dangers, and when there are none to be found create them to fill the want.
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist
Pensées (1838) [tr. Collins (1928)]
Rabid suspicion has nothing in it of skepticism. The suspicious mind believes more than it doubts. It believes in a formidable and ineradicable evil lurking in every person.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Sec. 184 (1955)
For one true measure of a nation is its success in fulfilling the promise of a better life for each of its members. Let this be the measure of our nation.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Message to Congress, 87th 2nd Spec. Health (27 Feb 1962)
Self-pity in its early stage is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.
Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
Gather Together in My Name, ch. 6 (2009)
Full text.
God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed.
Other Authors and Sources
West African proverb
That is the use of money: it enables us to get what we want instead of what other people think we want.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism, ch. 6 (1928)
People who are in a fortunate position always attribute virtue to what makes them so happy.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Guardian (23 May 1992)
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman and reformer
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
See Gladstone.
You are not judged by the height you have risen, but from the depth you have climbed.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist and writer
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881)
If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact, not to be solved, but to be coped with over time.
Shimon Peres (b. 1923) Polish-Israeli politician
(Attributed)
Widely attributed to Peres in different sources. Donald Rumsfeld says that Peres made the observation to him.
We must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman and reformer
“A Christmas Sermon on Peace,” radio broadcast, CBC (Canada) (24 Dec 1967)
No one will question that this power is the most dangerous one to free government in the whole catalogue of powers. It usually is invoked in haste and excitement when calm legislative consideration of constitutional limitation is difficult. It is executed in a time of patriotic fervor that makes moderation unpopular. And, worst of all, it is interpreted by judges under the influence of the same passions and pressures. Always, as in this case, the Government urges hasty decision to forestall some emergency or serve some purpose and pleads that paralysis will result if its claims to power are denied or their confirmation delayed.
Justice Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) US Supreme Court Justice
Woods v. Cloyd W. Miller Co., 333 U.S. 138, 146 (1948) (concurring)
On the executive "war power".
It’s all very well to run around saying regulation is bad, get the government off our backs, etc. Of course our lives are regulated. When you come to a stop sign, you stop; if you want to go fishing, you get a license; if you want to shoot ducks, you can shoot only three ducks. The alternative is dead bodies at the intersection, no fish, and no ducks. OK?
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
(Attributed)
The finest pleasure is kindness to others.
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
(Attributed)
We all know the rule of umbrellas — if you take your umbrella, it will will not rain; if you leave it, it will.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist and poet
Journal (1873)
Gentlemen, you can never make me believe — no statute can ever convince me, that there is any infinite Being in this universe who hates an honest man. It is impossible to satisfy me that there is any God, or can be any God, who holds in abhorrence a soul that has the courage to express his thought. Neither can the whole world convince me that any man should be punished, either in this world or in the next, for being candid with his fellow-men. If you send men to the penitentiary for speaking their thoughts, for endeavoring to enlighten their fellows, then the penitentiary will become a place of honor, and the victim will step from it — not stained, not disgraced, but clad in robes of glory.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer and orator
Trial of C.B. Reynolds for blasphemy (May 1887)
Full text.
Much protest is naive; it expects quick, visible improvement and despairs and gives up when such improvement does not come. Protesters who hold out for longer have perhaps understood that success is not the proper goal. If protest depended on success, there would be little protest of any durability or significance. History simply affords too little evidence that anyone’s individual protest is of any use. Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one’s own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
“A Poem of Difficult Hope,” What Are People For? (1990)
Another good year of WIST since I last ran these (back last March). Let’s look at the historical count:
Another good, steady increase, including topping the 10K milestone. Very pleased with that.
Broken out into a graph (and normalizing the timeframe):
A slow, steady increase in authors over time (which is not surprising — the most popular authors would already be in the database, though I still come up with a remarkable number of folks who I don’t yet have on the list).
The number of quotes shows how I’ve, for the last five years, been trying to do my five-quotes-a-weekday regimen, and managing to do so successfully. This is one of the longest sustained projects of mine, and I’m pretty darned proud of it.
This table shows the top ten most prolifically quoted authors here, with trending notes showing where folks have risen and dropped in rank. Eric Hoffer is new to the list, and former top 10ers who have fallen off from last year include luminaries such as Ben Franklin, Robert Green Ingersoll, Albert Einstein, and Abe Lincoln. (Last year there were actually 14 people on the list, due to ties — I remain amazed by how close some of the numbers are.)
You can always see the current Top 10 in the sidebar.
As for the most popular quotes on the site (and showing where they went up or down in the ranking):
The addition of the Campbell quote pushed from the Top Ten list Lord Chesterfield’s Letter to his son (9 Oct 1746). Why these numbers are as they are surpasseth understanding.
Finally, Google Analytics tells me over the last year I’m getting about 83 visitors a day, and 116 pageviews. That’s up from the previous year’s 73 and 103, which is kind of nice.
In keeping with global trends, IE usage is down (from 40% to 36%), Firefox usage is down (from 31% to 26%), and Chrome usage is up (from 12% to 20%). About 84% of people come here from a search, and 12% come here directly (bless you).
And … that’s enough numbers for today.
It is best to win without fighting.
Sun-Tzu (fl. 6th C. AD) Chinese general and philosopher [a.k.a. Sun Wu]
The Art of War
Who dares wins.
Other Authors and Sources
British Special Air Service (SAS) World War II motto
There never was an idea started that work up men out of their stupid indifference but its originator was spoken of as a crank.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Over the Teacups, ch. 7 (1781)
Love is patient and kind (1 Cor. 13:4); enslaving and torturing people is neither. Love is never rude (1 Cor. 13:5); burning people alive is. Love does not insist on its own way and is not irritable or resentful when others disagree (1 Cor. 13:5); compelling people to agree with you by using force is the direct antithesis. Love doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing (1 Cor. 13:6), even if (especially if) those rejoicing credit God, who supposedly gave them the power to do it. Love bears all things while believing the best in others and hoping the best for others (1 Cor. 13:7); imprisoning, enslaving, and killing others in the name of your religious views is not bearing their burdens, believing the best about them, or hoping the best for them. It’s that simple.
Gregory Boyd (b. 1957) American evangelical pastor, Christian theologian, author.
The Myth of a Christian Nation (2007)
The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
“The Methuselahite,” All Things Considered (1915)
If you do not have patience, you cannot make beer.
Other Authors and Sources
African proverb
Ultimately, a great nation is a compassionate nation.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman and reformer
Sermon, Passion Sunday, National Cathedral, Washington (31 Mar 1968)
There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove our worth anew each day: we have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have a valid alibi for not achieving anything we are fixed, so to speak, for life. Moreover, when we have an alibi for not writing a book, painting a picture, and so on, we have an alibi for not writing the greatest book and not painting the greatest picture. Small wonder that the effort expended and the punishment endured in obtaining a good alibi often exceed the effort and grief requisite for the attainment of a most marked achievement.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Sec. 181 (1955)
The success of this Government, and thus the success of our Nation, depends in the last analysis upon the quality.of our career services. The legislation enacted by the Congress, as well as the decisions made by me and by the department and agency heads, must all be implemented by the career men and women in the Federal service. In foreign affairs, national defense, science and technology, and a host of other fields, they face problems of unprecedented importance and perplexity. We are all dependent on their sense of loyalty and responsibility as well as their competence and energy.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Message on Federal Pay Reform to Congress (20 Feb 1962)
Can anyone remember when times were not hard, and money was not scarce?
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist and poet
“Words and Days,” Society and Solitude (1870)
There will come a day for each of us, more or less sad, more or less distant, when we must accept the condition of being human.
Jean Anouilh (1910-1987) French dramatist
(Attributed)
Not only does money speak; it also imposes silence.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
“Censorship and Spoken Literature,” Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1956)
We can safely abandon the doctrine of the eighties, namely that the rich were not working because they had too little money, the poor because they had much.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Guardian (20 Nov 1991)
As long as there is poverty in the world I can never be rich, even if I possess a billion dollars. As long as millions of people are inflicted with debilitating diseases and cannot expect to live more than thirty-five years, I can never be totally healthy even if I receive a perfect bill of health from Mayo Clinic. Strangely enough, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman and reformer
“Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution,” Commencement Speech, Morehouse College, Atlanta (2 Jun 1959)
Full text.
I only ask that Fortune send
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
A little more than I shall spend.
“Contentment”
Full text.
Everyone must row with the oars he has.
Other Authors and Sources
Dutch proverb
Peace depends ultimately not on political arrangements but on the conscience of mankind.
Henry Kissinger (b. 1923) German-American diplomat
“Golda Meir: An Appreciation” (13 Nov 1977)
Even if all of one’s antecedents had been convicted of treason, the Constitution forbids its penalties to be visited upon him. But here is an attempt to make an otherwise innocent act a crime merely because this prisoner is the son of parents as to whom he had no choice, and belongs to a race from which there is no way to resign. If Congress in peace-time legislation should enact such a criminal law, I should suppose this Court would refuse to enforce it.
Joseph Henry Jackson (1894-1955) American writer, editor
Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214, 242-45 (1944) [Dissenting]
On the internment of an American of Japanese descent.
There is not one thing wrong with the liberties set forth in the Declaration and the Constitution. The only problem is, the founding fathers left out poor people and black people and female people. It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She? “We the People” (1991)
We are such stuff
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
The Tempest, 4.1.156 [Prospero] (1611)
Better the cottage where one is merry than the palace where one weeps.
Other Authors and Sources
Chinese proverb
Pessimism … is in brief, playing the sure game. You cannot lose at it; you may gain. It is the only view of life win which you can never be disappointed.
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) English novelist, poet
(Attributed)
In Florence Hardy, The Later Years of Thomas Hardy, ch. 7 (1930)
What is blasphemy? I will give you a definition; I will give you my thought upon this subject. What is real blasphemy?
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer and orator
To live on the unpaid labor of other men — that is blasphemy.
To enslave your fellow-man, to put chains upon his body — that is blasphemy.
To enslave the minds of men, to put manacles upon the brain, padlocks upon the lips — that is blasphemy.
To deny what you believe to be true, to admit to be true what you believe to be a lie — that is blasphemy.
To strike the weak and unprotected, in order that you may gain the applause of the ignorant and superstitious mob — that is blasphemy.
To persecute the intelligent few, at the command of the ignorant many — that is blasphemy.
To forge chains, to build dungeons, for your honest fellow-men — that is blasphemy.
To pollute the souls of children with the dogma of eternal pain — that is blasphemy.
To violate your conscience — that is blasphemy.
The jury that gives an unjust verdict, and the judge who pronounces an unjust sentence, are blasphemers.
The man who bows to public opinion against his better judgment and against his honest conviction, is a blasphemer.
Trial of C.B. Reynolds for blasphemy (May 1887)
Full text.
We are living in the most destructive and, hence, the most stupid period of the history of our species.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
“A Poem of Difficult Hope,” What Are People For? (1990)
Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Following the Equator, ch. 48 (Epigraph) (1897)
If a man knew where he would fall, he would spread straw there first.
Other Authors and Sources
Finnish proverb
That fellow seems to me to possess but one idea, and that is a wrong one.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (1770)
Quoting Rev. Dr. Maxwell (1770), in reference to a "dull, tiresome" acquaintance.In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
This tragic history has to be considered one of Satan’s greatest victories, and the demonic ironies abound. In the name of the one who taught us not to lord over others but rather to serve them (Matt. 20:25-28), the church often lorded over others with a vengeance as ruthless as any version of the kingdom of the world ever has. In the name of the one who taught us to turn the other cheek, the church often cut off people’s heads. In the name of the one who taught us to love our enemies, the church often burned its enemies alive. In the name of the one who taught us to bless those who persecute us, the church often became a ruthless persecutor. In the name of the one who taught us to take up the cross, the church often took up the sword and nailed others to the cross. Hence, in the name of winning the world for Jesus Christ, the church often became the main obstacle to believing in Jesus Christ.
Gregory Boyd (b. 1957) American evangelical pastor, Christian theologian, author.
The Myth of a Christian Nation (2007)
My own feeling in the matter is due to my very firm conviction that to put such a motto on coins, or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good, but does positive harm, and is in effect irreverence, which comes dangerously close to sacrilege. [...] It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would cheapen it to use it on postage stamps or in advertisements.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
Letter, New York Times (14 Nov 1907)
On the use of "In God We Trust" on coins. Roosevelt was in favor, however, of using it on monuments and buildings. Full text.
More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
“My Speech to Graduates,” Side Effects (1981)
Integrity is the one absolute requirement of managers.
Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005) Austrian-American business consultant
Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, ch. 28 (1974)
All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts. A British Tory will defend self-determination in Europe and oppose it in India with no feeling of inconsistency. Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage — torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians — which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by “our” side. The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“Notes on Nationalism” (May 1945)
To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Sec. 151 (1955)
Government service must be attractive enough to lure our most talented people. It must be challenging enough to call forth our greatest efforts. It must be interesting enough to retain their services. It must be satisfying enough to inspire single-minded loyalty and dedication. It must be important enough to each individual to call forth reserves of energy and enthusiasm.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Message to the Federal Service, Civil Service Journal (Jan-Mar 1961)
The man who cannot believe his senses, and the man who cannot believe anything else, are both insane, but their insanity is proved not by any error in their argument, but by the manifest mistake of their whole lives. They have both locked themselves up in two boxes, painted inside with the sun and stars; they are both unable to get out, the one into the health and happiness of heaven, the other even into the health and happiness of the earth.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
Orthodoxy, ch. 2 (1908)
Full text.
If you’re coasting, you’re going downhill.
Sig Lines
Pierson’s Law
For I don’t care too much for money,
John Lennon (1940-1980) English rock musician, singer, songwriter
For money can’t buy me love.
“Can’t Buy Me Love” (song) (1964) [with Paul McCartney]
One must always have in mind one simple fact — there is no literate population in the world that is poor, and there is no illiterate population that is anything but poor.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Interview with John Newark (1990)
Prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God: the proud, the avaricious, the self-righteous, are in that danger.
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer and scholar [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Problem of Pain (1940)
Book lovers are thought by unbookish people to be gentle and unworldly, and perhaps a few of them are so. But there are others who will lie and scheme and steal to get books as wildly and unconscionably as the dope-taker in pursuit of his drug. They may not want the books to read immediately, or at all; they want them to possess, to range on their shelves, to have at command. They want books as a Turk is thought to want concubines — not to be hastily deflowered, but to be kept at their master’s call, and enjoyed more often in thought than in reality.
Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
Tempest-Tost
For us who live in cities Nature is not natural. Nature is supernatural. Just as monks watched and strove to get a glimpse of heaven, so we watch and strive to get a glimpse of earth. It is as if men had cake and wine every day but were sometimes allowed common bread.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
Illustrated London News, “The Silly Season and Serious Discussion” (31 Aug 1907)
“Peace upon earth!” was said. We sing it,
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) English novelist, poet
And pay a million priests to bring it.
After two thousand years of mass
We’ve got as far as poison gas.
“Christmas, 1924″
Civil liberties had their origin and must find their ultimate guaranty in the faith of the people. If that faith should be lost, five or nine men in Washington could not long supply its want.
Justice Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) US Supreme Court Justice
Douglas v. Jeannette 319 U.S. 157, 182 (1943) [Concurring]
I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
(Attributed)
Repeating mistakes is more likely than profiting from them.
Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American billionaire
The Sayings of Chairman Malcolm, “Fact and Comment” (1978)
In no nation are the fruits of accomplishment more secure. … I have no fears for the future of our country. It is bright with hope.
Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964) President of the US (1928-32)
Inaugural Address (4 Mar 1929)
Seven months before the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression.
[A pessimist] is a man who thinks everybody as nasty as himself, and hates them for it.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
An Unsocial Socialist, ch. 5 (1887)
We, too, have our religion, and it is this: Help for the living, hope for the dead.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer and orator
“At a Child’s Grave,” eulogy (8 Jan 1882)
Full text.
If I solve my dispute with my neighbor by killing him, I have certainly solved the immediate dispute. If my neighbor was a scoundrel, then the world is no doubt better for his absence. But in killing my neighbor, though he may have been a terrible man who did not deserve to live, I have made myself a killer — and the life of my next neighbor is in greater peril than the life of the last. In making myself a killer I have destroyed the possibility of neighborhood.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
“A Statement Against the War in Vietnam,” speech, University of Kentucky (10 Feb 1968) Full text.
Full text.
Neither earth nor ocean
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
produces a creature as savage and monstrous
as woman.
Hecuba, l. 1180 [tr. Arrowsmith (1956)]
Here is a rule to remember in the future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not, “This is a misfortune,” but “To bear this worthily is good fortune.”
Marcus Aureleus (121-180) Roman emperor (161-180)
Meditations, 4.49 [tr. Staniforth (1964)]
Various fresh ideas gained acceptance … when they could be presented not as something radically new, but as the revival in modern terms of a time-honored principle or practice that had been forgotten.
B. H. Liddell Hart (1895-1970) English soldier, militaary history (Basil Henry Liddell Hart)
Strategy, Preface (1954)
When Jerry Falwell, reflecting a widespread sentiment among conservative Christians, says America should hunt terrorists down and “blow them all away in the name of the Lord” (emphasis added), he is expressing the Constantinian mindset. When Pat Robertson declares that the United States should assassinate President Chavez of Venezuela, he also is expressing the Constantinian mindset. And when Christians try to enforce their holy will on select groups of sinners by power of law, they are essentially doing the same thing, even if the violent means of enforcing their will is no longer available to them.
Gregory Boyd (b. 1957) American evangelical pastor, Christian theologian, author.
The Myth of a Christian Nation (2007)
When I deal with a crook, I don’t care whether he is a Republican crook or a Democratic crook. But I will always tend to hit the Republican crook a little harder because I feel a little responsible for him. It is the duty of all Americans to protest against dishonest public servants.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) US President (1901-1909)
Speech, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York City (18 Jan 1911)
A few timid people who fear progress have tried to give you new and strange names for what we are doing. Sometimes they will call it “Fascism.” Sometimes “Communism.” Sometimes “Regimentation.” Sometimes “Socialism.” But in so doing, they are trying to make very complex and theoretical something that is really very simple and very practical. I believe in practical explanations and in practical policies. I believe what we are doing today is a necessary fulfillment of what Americans have always been doing, a fulfilment of old and tested American ideals.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) US President (1933-1945)
Fireside Chat #5, “Report on Recovery” (27 Jun 1934)
Audio.
Misfortunes one can endure — they come from outside, they are accidents. But to suffer for one’s own faults — ah! — there is the sting of life.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
Lady Windermere’s Fan, Act 1 (1892)
Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. … By “patriotism” I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“Notes on Nationalism” (May 1945)
The only index by which to judge a government or a way of life is by the quality of the people it acts upon. No matter how noble the objectives of a government, if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion — it is an evil government.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Sec. 147 (1955)
I have pledged myself and my colleagues in the cabinet to a continuous encouragement of initiative, responsibility and energy in serving the public interest. Let every public servant know, whether his post is high or low, that a man’s rank and reputation in this Administration will be determined by the size of the job he does, and not by the size of his staff, his office or his budget. Let it be clear that this Administration recognizes the value of dissent and daring — that we greet healthy controversy as the hallmark of healthy change. Let the public service be a proud and lively career. And let every man and woman who works in any area of our national government, in any branch, at any level, be able to say with pride and with honor in future years: “I served the United States Government in that hour of our nation’s need.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
State of the Union address (30 Jan 1961)
Men, some to Bus’ness, some to Pleasure take;
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet
But ev’ry Woman is at heart a Rake.
Moral Essays, 2.215 (1731-35)
No occurrences are so unfortunate that the shrewd cannot turn them to some advantage, nor so fortunate that the imprudent cannot turn them to their own disadvantage.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], # 59 (1665-1678) [tr Tancock (1959)]
Peace implies reconciliation.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
“Conciliation with America,” speech, House of Commons (22 Mar 1775)
Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) French emperor
(Attributed)
Often quoted by Andrew Jackson, to whom it is also attributed.
I believe that ignornance is the root of all evil. And that no one knows the truth. I believe that the people is not dumb. Ignorant, bigoted, and mean-minded, maybe, but not stupid. I just think it helps, anything and everything, if the people know. Know what the hell is going on. What they do about it once they know is not my problem.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She? “Pitfalls of Reporting in the Lone Star State” (1991)
Her journalistic credo. Full text. Originally printed in the Houston Journalism Review.
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard, ed. Elbert Hubbard II (1927)
The secret to being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
Parents and Children, “Children’s Happiness” (1914)
The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, loyalty to the government when it deserves it.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
“The Czar’s Soliloquy,” North American Review (Mar 1905)
Great virtues may draw attention from defects, they cannot sanctify them. A pebble surrounded by diamonds remains a common stone, and a diamond surrounded by pebbles is still a gem. No one should attempt to refute an argument by pronouncing the name of some man, unless he is willing to adopt all the ideas and beliefs of that man. It is better to give reasons and facts than names. An argument should not depend for its force upon the name of its author. Facts need no pedigree, logic has no heraldry, and the living should not awed by the mistakes of the dead.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer and orator
“The Great Infidels” (1881)
Full text.
We have become blind to the alternatives to violence. This involves us in a sort of official madness, in which, while following what seems to be a perfect logic of self-defense and deterrence, we commit one absurdity after another: We seek to preserve peace by fighting a war, or to advance freedom by subsidizing dictatorships, or to “win the hearts and minds of the people” by poisoning their crops and burning their villages and confining them in concentration camps; we seek to uphold the “truth” of our cause with lies, or to answer conscientious dissent with threats and slurs and intimidations. … I have come to the realization that I can no longer imagine a war that I would believe to be either useful or necessary. I would be against any war.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
“A Statement Against the War in Vietnam,” speech, University of Kentucky (10 Feb 1968)
Full text.
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