I have known no man of genius who had not to pay, in some affliction or defect either physical or spiritual, for what the gods had given him.
Max Beerbohm (1872-1956) English parodist, caricaturist, wit, writer [Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm]
And Even Now, “No. 2, The Pines” (1920)
In fact generally, doing well by others is more characteristic of virtue than being done well by, and doing things positively honourable than forbearing to do things dishonourable.
[τῆς γὰρ ἀρετῆς μᾶλλον τὸ εὖ ποιεῖν ἢ τὸ εὖ πάσχειν, καὶ τὰ καλὰ πράττειν μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ αἰσχρὰ μὴ πράττειν]
Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 4, ch. 1 (4.1.7) / 1120a.11 (c. 325 BC) [tr. Chase (1847)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:
For virtue rather shows itself in treating others as we ought, than in being treated as we ought; and in doing noble acts, rather than in abstaining from disgraceful acts.
[tr. Williams (1869)]
For it is more truly distinctive of virtue to be the author than to be the recipient of benefactions, and to do what is noble than to abstain from doing what is shameful.
[tr. Welldon (1892)]
For it is more distinctive of virtue to do good to others than to have good done to you, and to do what is noble than not to do what is base.
[tr. Peters (1893)]
For it is more characteristic of virtue to do good than to have good done to one, and more characteristic to do what is noble than not to do what is base.
[tr. Ross (1908)]
Virtue is displayed in doing good rather than in having good done to one, and in performing noble acts rather than in avoiding base ones.
[tr. Rackham (1934)]
The good man thinks it more blessed to give than to receive, and virtue is more clearly shown in the performance of fine actions than in the non-performance of base ones.
[tr. Thomson (1953)]
Virtue consists more in doing good than in receiving it, and more in doing fine actions than in refraining from disgraceful ones.
[tr. Thomson/Tredennick (1976)]
For it is more proper to virtue to do good than to receive good, and more proper to do fine actions than not to do shameful ones.
[tr. Irwin (1999)]
For it is more characteristic of virtue to do good than to receive it, and to do noble actions than not to do shameful ones.
[tr. Crisp (2000)]
Cf. the Bible, Acts 20:35 [KJV]:
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Certainly fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Praise,” Essays, No. 53 (1625)
(Source)
I try to use unconditional love in small amounts, she said, so people really appreciate it. The rest of the time I just try not to yell.
Brian Andreas (b. 1956) American writer, artist, publisher [birth and pen name of Kai Andreas Skye]
Trusting Soul, “Unconditional Love” (2000)
Glory is largely a theatrical concept. There is no striving for glory without a vivid awareness of an audience — the knowledge that our mighty deeds will come to the ears of our contemporaries or “of those who are to be.”
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The True Believer, ch. 47 (1951)
The little I have seen of the world … teaches me to look upon the errors of others in sorrow, not in anger.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
Hyperion, 4.3 (1839)
I am human, I consider nothing human is alien to me.
[Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto.]
Terence (186?-159 BC) African-Roman dramatist [Publius Terentius Afer]
Heauton Timoroumenos [The Self-Tormentor], l. 77
Alt. trans.:
- "I am human [being], I consider nothing human to be alien to me."
- "I am a human being, so there is nothing human I do not feel to be my concern."
- "I am a human being; nothing human is alien to me."
To refuse a hearing to an opinion because they are sure that it is false, is to assume that their certainty is the same thing as absolute certainty. All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 2 “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” (1859)
(Source)
Men might be better if we better deemed
Of them. The worst way to improve the world
Is to condemn it.Philip James Bailey (1816-1902) English poet, lawyer
Festus, Sc. “A Mountain – Sunrise” [Festus] (1839)
(Source)
A man without mirth is like a waggon without springs, in which one is caused disagreeably to jolt by every pebble over which it runs. A man with mirth is like a chariot with springs, in which one can ride over the roughest road, and scarcely feel anything but a pleasant rocking motion.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American clergyman and orator
Royal Truths (1862)
(Source)
Frequently rendered, but unsourced in this form:
A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road.
In Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit, "The Human Mind" [ed. Drysdale (1887)], Beecher is recorded similarly saying:
A practical, matter-of-fact man is like a wagon without springs: every single pebble on the road jolts him; but a man with imagination has springs that break the jar and jolt.
Man is not God’s last word: God can still create. If you cannot do His work, He will produce some being who can.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
Back to Methuselah, ch. 2 (1921)
The maxim ‘Nothing avails but perfection’ may be spelt shorter: ‘Paralysis.’
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
Note to General Ismay (6 Dec 1942)
On proposed landing craft improvements. In Churchill, The Second World War, Volume IV: The Hinge of Fate, Appendix C (1951)
Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit. When all today’s isms have become yesterday’s ancient philosophy, there will still be reactionaries and there will still be revolutionaries.
Abbie Hoffman (1936-1989) American political activist
Soon to be a Major Motion Picture (1980)
Some who are too scrupulous to steal your possession nevertheless see no wrong in tampering with your thoughts.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Spiritual Sayings of Kahlil Gibran, “Sayings” [tr. Ferris (1962)]
The creationist is a sham religious person who, curiously, has no true sense of religion. In the language of religion, it is the facts we observe in the world around us that must be seen to constitute the words of God. Documents, whether the Bible, Qur’an or those writings that held such force for Velikovsky, are only the words of men. To prefer the words of men to those of God is what one can mean by blasphemy. This, we think, is the instinctive point of view of most scientists who, curiously again, have a deeper understanding of the real nature of religion than have the many who delude themselves into a frenzied belief in the words, often the meaningless words, of men. Indeed, the lesser the meaning, the greater the frenzy, in something like inverse proportion.
Fred Hoyle (1915-2001) English astronomer, author
Our Place in the Cosmos (1993)
In retrospect all events seem inevitable.
Henry Kissinger (b. 1923) German-American diplomat
White House Years, ch. 27 (1979)
Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
Apothegms, # 36 (1624)
I finally got to exactly where I wanted to be, she said, so why won’t all these growth experiences go away and leave me alone?
Brian Andreas (b. 1956) American writer, artist, publisher [birth and pen name of Kai Andreas Skye]
Trusting Soul, “Pesky Growth” (2000)
Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.
Mario Puzo (1920-1999) American novelist, screenwriter
The Godfather, Part II (film) (1974)
Dies iræ! dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla!Day of wrath! O day of mourning!
See fulfilled the prophets’ warning,
Heaven and earth in ashes burning!Thomas of Celano (c.1200 - c.1265) Italian friar, poet, hagiographer [Tommaso da Celano]
“Dies Irae” (13th C.) [tr. Irons (1849)]
Alt. trans.:"That day of wrath, that dreadful day,
shall heaven and earth in ashes lay,
as David and the Sybil say.""Day of wrath, day that
will dissolve the world into burning coals,
as David bore witness with the Sibyl."
All men are liable to error; and most men are in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it.
John Locke (1632-1704) English philosopher
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 4.20.17 (1690)
Moderation in all things.
[Ne quid nimis.]
Terence (186?-159 BC) African-Roman dramatist [Publius Terentius Afer]
The Lady of Andros [Andria], l. 61
See Cleobulus.
First, if any opinion is compelled to silence, that opinion may, for aught we can certainly know, be true. To deny this is to assume our own infallibility.
Secondly, though the silenced opinion be an error, it may, and very commonly does, contain a portion of truth; and since the general or prevailing opinion on any subject is rarely or never the whole truth, it is only by the collision of adverse opinions that the remainder of the truth has any chance of being supplied.
Thirdly, even if the received opinion be not only true, but the whole truth; unless it is suffered to be, and actually is, vigorously and earnestly contested, it will, by most of those who receive it, be held in the manner of a prejudice, with little comprehension or feeling of its rational grounds.
And not only this, but, fourthly, the meaning of the doctrine itself will be in danger of being lost, or enfeebled, and deprived of its vital effect on the character and conduct: the dogma becoming a mere formal profession, inefficacious for good, but cumbering the ground, and preventing the growth of any real and heartfelt conviction, from reason or personal experience.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 2 “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” (1859)
(Source)
Flattery won’t hurt you if you don’t swallow it.
Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868-1930) American caricaturist and humorist
Short Furrows (1913)
There are very few honest friends — the demand is not particularly great.
[Es gibt wenig aufrichtige Freunde. Die Nachfrage ist auch gering.]
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) Austrian writer
Aphorisms [Aphorismen], No. 528 (1880) [tr. Scrase & Mieder (1994)]
(Source)
Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.
Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish mystic, poet, philosopher, saint
“Maxims for Her Nuns”
The settled opinion here is, that religion is essentially distinct from Civil Govt., and exempt from its cognizance; that a connexion between them is injurious to both; that there are causes in the human breast which ensure the perpetuity of religion without the aid of the law; that rival sects, with equal rights, exercise mutual censorships in favor of good morals; that if new sects arise with absurd opinions or over-heated imaginations, the proper remedies lie in time, forbearance, and example; that a legal establishment of religion without a toleration could not be thought of, and with a toleration, is no security for public quiet & harmony, but rather a source of discord & animosity; and, finally, that these opinions are supported by experience, which has shewn that every relaxation of the alliance between Law & religion, from the partial example of Holland to its consummation in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, &c., has been found as safe in practice as it is sound in theory.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter to Edward Everett (18 Mar 1823)
I tell this story to illustrate the truth of the statement I heard long ago in the Army: Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, National Defense Executive Reserve Conference (14 Nov 1957)
Quoted in R. Nixon, Six Crises, "Krushchev" (1962) as "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." Sometimes paraphrased as "Plans are nothing; planning is everything."
Art is man’s nature; nature is God’s art.
For there’s a lot of masochism in the acting profession. We’re willing to take a lot of punishment, but the minute we hit a little bit of success we are liable to run from it. We’re frightened of it and develop all kinds of phobias as a consequence. Outsiders who don’t understand think we have a chip on our shoulder, but it’s not that at all. We’re so used to failure, to being hurt and rebuffed, that we can easily come unhinged by success.
Lucille Ball (1911-1989) American actress, comedian, producer
Love, Lucy (1996)
Man, as we know him, is a poor creature; but he is halfway between an ape and a god, and he is traveling in the right direction.
William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge]
“Confessio Fidei,” Outspoken Essays: Second Series (1922)
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
Speech at the Lord Mayor’s Luncheon, London (10 Nov 1942)
Referring to the victory over the German Afrika Korps at the Second Battle of El Alamein.
Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger.
Abbie Hoffman (1936-1989) American political activist
Quoted in “Mourning, and Celebrating, a Radical,” New York Times (20 Apr 1989)
(Source)
Most likely from "Sacred cows make great hamburgers," an anonymous saying recorded in Reisner and Wechsler, Encyclopedia of Graffiti (1974).
All gardening is landscape painting.
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet
(Attributed)
In Joseph Spence, Observations, Anecdotes, and Characters, of Books and Men Collected from the Conversation of Mr. Pope and Other Eminent Persons of His Time, 2nd ed., ch. 4 "1734-1736" (1858)
A statesman who cannot shape events will soon be engulfed by them.
Henry Kissinger (b. 1923) German-American diplomat
Years of Upheaval, ch. 24 (1982)
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Studies,” Essays, No. 50 (1625)
(Source)
The problem with knowing everything’s going exactly as it needs to is that when you’re not having that much fun it doesn’t even do any good to complain.
Brian Andreas (b. 1956) American writer, artist, publisher [birth and pen name of Kai Andreas Skye]
Trusting Soul, “Partial Enlightenment” (2000)
To believe that if we could have but this or that we would be happy is to suppress the realization that the cause of our unhappiness is in our inadequate and blemished selves. Excessive desire is thus a means of suppressing our sense of worthlessness.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 6 (1955)
(Source)
Not one looks backward, onward still he goes,
Yet ne’er looks forward further than his nose.Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet
“An Essay on Man,” 4.223 (1734)
Ignorance armed with power is just as dangerous as insanity armed with a razor.
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) Russian politician, Marxist, intellectual, revolutionary [b. Lev Davidovich Bronstein]
“Stalin as a Theoretician” (Mar 1930)
Full text.
Conscience can’t be compelled.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #1144 (1732)
(Source)
For nothing worthy proving can be proven,
Nor yet disproven: wherefore thou be wise,
Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt,
And cling to Faith beyond the forms of Faith!Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) English poet
“The Ancient Sage”, l. 66-69 (1885)
God’s Mill grinds slow, but sure.
George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 747 (1640 ed.)
(Source)
The rock-bottom foundation of a free press is the integrity of the people who run it.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech to journalists, Portland, Oregon (8 Sep 1952)
A taxpaying public that doesn’t understand the law is a taxpaying public that can’t comply with the law.
Lawrence Gibbs (b. 1938) American tax lawyer, IRS Commissioner
Wall Street Journal (3 Mar 1987)
It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend of his faults. … To speak painful truth through loving words — that is friendship.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American clergyman and orator
Life Thoughts [rec. Proctor (1858)]
Always think of yourself as everyone’s servant; look for Christ Our Lord in everyone and you will then have respect and reverence for them all.
Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish mystic, poet, philosopher, saint
“Maxims for Her Nuns,” #25
In Complete Works St. Teresa of Avila, Vol. 3 (1963) [ed E. Allison Peers]
We are teaching the world the great truth, that Governments do better without kings and nobles than with them. The merit will be doubled by the other lesson: that Religion flourishes in greater purity without, than with the aid of Government.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter to Edward Livingston (10 Jul 1822)
Administrivia:
Howdy. WIST will be taking a brief vacation break, returning next Tuesday. Thanks for all your support.
If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought — not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935) American jurist, Supreme Court Justice
United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929) [Dissent]
(Source)
In adversity, remember to keep an even mind.
[Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem.]
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 2, Ode 3, l. 1 (13 BC)
We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7 (1860)
To have courage for whatever comes in life — everything lies in that.
Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish mystic, poet, philosopher, saint
(Attributed)
It is moreover to weaken in those who profess this Religion a pious confidence in its innate excellence and the patronage of its Author; and to foster in those who still reject it, a suspicion that its friends are too conscious of its fallacies to trust it to its own merits.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
“A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,” letter to the Virginia Assembly (20 Jun 1785)
On a proposed law to have the state financially support "Teachers of the Christian Religion." Full text.
Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your inquisitors? Fallible men; men governed by bad passions, by private as well as public reasons.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 17 (1782)
(Source)
