There are two things which ought to teach us to think but meanly of human glory: the very best have had their calumniators, the very worst their panegyrists.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 523 (1820)
(Source)
When I learn that husband and wife never quarrel, I know that indifference has set in, and after that — the deluge.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
(Source)
King Louis XV of France is attributed with saying, "Après moi, le déluge [After me, the flood]" to Madame Pompadour in 1757.
New ideas cannot be administered successfully by men with old ideas, for the first essential of doing a job well is the wish to see the job done at all.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Radio Broadcast (1938-11-04), “The Election of Liberals”
(Source)
Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
[εὐκοπώτερον γάρ ἐστιν κάμηλον διὰ τρήματος βελόνης εἰσελθεῖν ἢ πλούσιον εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Luke 18:25 [NRSV (2021 ed.)]
(Source)
This passage is paralleled in Matthew 19:23 and Mark 10:23. Only Luke uses the camel/needle metaphor.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
[KJV (1611)]Yes, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
[JB (1966)]It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
[GNT (1976)]Yes, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of God.
[NJB (1985)]It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.
[CEB (2011)]
Those who quit their proper character to assume what does not belong to them are, for the greater part, ignorant both of the character they leave and of the character they assume.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
(Source)
On preachers who mix politics into their sermons.
Form comes first in matters of class, and while one hopes that feeling will follow form, going through the form well without it is more acceptable, more classy if you will, than eschewing the form because the feeling isn’t there.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners’ Guide to Rearing Perfect Children, ch. 8 “Extra Credit,” “Ethics” (1984)
(Source)
In the great debate that has raged for centuries about what, if anything, happens to you after death, be it heaven, hell, purgatory or extinction, one thing has never been in doubt — that you would at least know the answer when you were dead.
Gordon Way was dead, but he simply hadn’t the slightest idea what he was meant to do about it. It wasn’t a situation he had encountered before.Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, ch. 9 (1987)
(Source)
MACBETH: I bear a charmèd life, which must not yield
To one of woman born.MACDUFF: Despair thy charm,
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee Macduff was from his mother’s womb
Untimely ripped.MACBETH: Accursèd be that tongue that tells me so,
For it hath cowed my better part of man!William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 5, sc. 8, l. 15ff (5.8.15-22) (1606)
(Source)
MONDAY, n. In Christian countries, the day after the baseball game.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Monday,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1904-09-03) and the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1904-09-09).
It is from the Bible that man has learned cruelty, rapine, and murder; for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man.
Thomas Paine (1737-1809) American political philosopher and writer
Letter (1797-05-12), “An Answer to a Friend” concerning The Age of Reason (1794)
(Source)
Sometimes paraphrased: "Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man."
Something, some psychological vitamin, is lacking in modern civilization, and as a result we are all more or less subject to this lunacy of believing that whole races or nations are mysteriously good or mysteriously evil.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-04), “Antisemitism in Britain,” Contemporary Jewish Record
(Source)
Written February 1945.
The more ignorant you are, the quicker you fight.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1929-08-11), “Daily Telegram: Praise to Russia and China”
(Source)
To make our idea of morality centre on forbidden acts is to defile the imagination and to introduce into our judgments of our fellow-men a secret element of gusto.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1888-12), “A Christmas Sermon,” sec. 1, Scribner’s Magazine, Vol. 4
(Source)
Originally written in the winter of 1887-88. Collected in Across the Plains, ch. 12 (1892).
Nobody dies from lack of sex. It’s lack of love we die from.
Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Canadian writer, literary critic, environmental activist
The Handmaid’s Tale, ch. 7 (1986)
(Source)
Behold these cups, he takes such pains to make them,
And then enraged lets ruin overtake them;
So many shapely feet, and heads, and hands,
What love drives him to make, what wrath to break them?
Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 19 [tr. Whinfield (1882), # 22]
(Source)
Alternate translations:Another said -- "Why, ne'er a peevish Boy,
"Would break the Bowl from which he drank in Joy;
"Shall He that made the Vessel in pure Love
"And Fancy, in an after Rage destroy?
[tr. FitzGerald, 1st ed. (1859), # 62]Another said, "Why, ne'er a peevish Boy
"Would break the Cup from which he drank in Joy;
"Shall He that of his own free Fancy made
"The Vessel, in an after-rage destroy!"
[tr. FitzGerald, 2nd ed. (1868), # 92]Then said a Second -- "Ne'er a peevish Boy
"Would break the Bowl from which he drank in joy;
"And He that with his hand the Vessel made
"Will surely not in after Wrath destroy."
[tr. FitzGerald, 3rd ed. (1872), # 85; 4th ed. (1879) # 85; 5th ed. (1889), # 78]Who can believe that he who made the cup would dream of destroying it? All those fair faces, all those lovely limbs, all those enchanting bodies, what love has made them, and what hate destroys them?
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 100]Behold these cups! Can He who deigned to make them,
In wanton freak let ruin overtake them,
So many shapely feet and hands and heads, --
What love drives Him to make, what wrath to break them?
[tr. Whinfield (1883), # 42]What man believes that He who made the Vase
Will sometime shatter it in Anger base?
The Maker of these weak misguided Men
Will surely not in Wrath His Works efface.
[tr. Garner (1887), 8.8]The elements of a cup which he has put together,
their breaking up a drinker cannot approve,
all these heads and delicate feet -- with his finger-tips,
for love of whom did he make them? -- for hate of whom did he break them?
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 19]He who has formed the goblet from the clay
Can ne'er destroy his art's surpassing token.
These hands and feet and face of beauty -- say,
Why framed in love, and why in fury broken?
[tr. Cadell (1899), # 12]The framework of the cup He did unite.
To break in rage how should God deem it right?
So many comely heads, feet, hands and arms!
Shaped by what love, and broke in what despite?
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 81]The Craftsman who hath made a cup so rare
To hold his wine, will handle it with care.
For love of whom, then, made He thee and me,
or hate of whom to break and not to spare?
[tr. Talbot (1908), # 19]It is not allowable for a man, [even when] drunk, to destroy
the composition of a cup which he has put together.
So many fair heads and feet, formed by His hand, for
love of whom did He make them? and for hate of whom
did He destroy them?
[tr. Christensen (1927), # 77]The parts which have united to form a goblet
Even the intoxicated refrain to break up again.
So many heads and tender hands;
By whose bounty were they united and through whose wrath were they broken up?
[tr. Rosen (1928), # 10]We know that body once can earn His grace,
We should not wear it hence in wasteful ways;
Such graceful form, and slender hands and face,
He cherished so, should we in hate efface?
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 5.16]The elements that constitute a bowl
Hate all besotted murderers of bowls --
Bowls deftly moulded for the love of whom?
Then dashed to pieces, as a curse on whom?
[tr. Graves & Ali-Shah (1967), # 92]This bowl, which in its symmetry
Before us perfect stands,
The Potter made from particles
Of human heads and hands.
His love achieved a masterpiece:
Whose hate, what drunken whim,
Could shater into nothingness
The clay so loved by him?
[tr. Bowen (1976), # 50 "The Potter"]When the clay into a cup is molded
Its breaking, the drunk scolded;
Many limbs and heads are enfolded
Through whose love unfolded, by which decree folded?
[tr. Shahriari (1998), # 27, literal]The genius that shapes the form
Is far above mundane and norm
Clay into life shall transform
Back into dust by death’s storm.
[tr. Shahriari (1998), # 27, figurative]
ALCESTE: His social polish can’t conceal his nature;
One sees at once that he’s a treacherous creature;
No one could possibly be taken in
By those soft speeches and that sugary grin.
The whole world knows the shady means by which
The low-brow’s grown so powerful and rich,
And risen to a rank so bright and high
That virtue can but blush, and merit sigh.
[Au travers de son masque on voit à plein le traître;
Partout il est connu pour tout ce qu’il peut être ;
Et ses roulements d’yeux, et son ton radouci
N’imposent qu’à des gens qui ne sont point d’ici.
On sait que ce pied plat, digne qu’on le confonde,
Par de sales emplois s’est poussé dans le monde,
Et que, par eux son sort de splendeur revêtu
Fait gronder le mérite et rougir la vertu.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Le Misanthrope, Act 1, sc. 1 (1666) [tr. Wilbur (1954)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:You may plainly perceive the traitor through his mask; he is well known everywhere in his true colours; his rolling eyes and his honeyed tones impose only on those who do not know him. People are aware that this low-bred fellow, who deserves to be pilloried, has, by the dirtiest jobs, made his way in the world; and that the splendid position he has acquired makes merit repine and virtue blush.
[tr. Van Laun (1878)]The treacherous rascal is plainly seen through his mask, he is everywhere known for what he is; his rolling eyes and soft tones impose only upon strangers. People know that this wretched fellow, who ought to be hanged, has pushed his way in the world by dirty jobs, and that the splendid condition he finds himself in through them makes merit grumble and virtue blush.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]Behind his mask the knave is seen, wherever he is known, for what he is; the rolling of his eye, his bated voice, impose on none but those who do not live here. All others know that the sneaking fellow, fit only to be shunned, has by the foulest actions foisted himself upon society, where his career, by their connivance clothed in splendor, makes merit groan and virtue blush.
[tr. Wormeley (1894)]You can clearly see the traitor through his mask. He is known everywhere for what he is: his rolling eyes and his honeyed tones only impose on those people who do not know him. They know that this low-bred cur, who deserves to be exposed, has, by the dirtiest means, pushed himself on in the world; and the splendid position he has acquired by these means makes merit repine and virtue blush.
[tr. Waller (1903)]The traitor's face shows plainly through his mask,
And everywhere he's known for what he is;
His up-turned eyes, his honeyed canting voice,
Impose on none but strangers. All men know
That this confounded, low-bred, sneaking scamp
Has made his way by doing dirty jobs,
And that the splendid fortune these have brought him
Turns merit bitter and makes virtue blush.
[tr. Page (1913)]Behind his mask the scoundrel's visible.
Here everybody knows his character;
And his protesting eyes, his honeyed tongue,
Impose on no one but a casual stranger.
And that contemptible boor notoriously
Has made his way in the world by dirty means,
So that his present splendid situation
Makes merit grumble and makes virtue blush.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]Right through his mask men see the traitor's face,
And everywhere give him his proper place;
His wheedling eyes, his soft and cozening tone,
Fool only those to whom he is not known.
That this knave rose, where he deserved to fall,
By shameful methods, is well known to all,
And that his state, which thanks to these is lush,
Makes merit murmur and makes virtue blush.
[tr. Frame (1967)]
The man who, if born to wealth and power, exploits and ruins his less fortunate brethren is at heart the same as the greedy and violent demagogue who excites those who have not property to plunder those who have.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)
It iz very eazy to manage our nabors bizzness, but our own sumtimes bothers us.
[It is very easy to manage our neighbors’ business, but our own sometimes bothers us.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 8 “Lager Beer and Spruce Gum” (1874)
(Source)
But what is happening in the poor [white] woman, the poor [white] man’s mind is this: they’ve been raised to believe, and by now they helplessly believe, that no matter how terrible their lives may be, and their lives have been quite terrible, and no matter how far they fall, no matter what disaster overtakes them, they have one enormous knowledge in consolation, which is like a heavenly revelation: at least, they are not Black.
Any peace, even the most inequitable, should be preferred to the most righteous war.
[Iniquissimam pacem iustissimo bello anteferrem.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Familiares [Letters to Friends], Book 6, Letter 6, sec. 5 (6.6.5), to Aulus Cæcina (46 BC) [tr. Shuckburgh (1899), #486]
(Source)
On his efforts to prevent a civil war between Caesar and Pompeius.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translation:Peace: the which, though it were accompanied with unequall conditions, yet I preferred it before warre, which on our behalfe was most just.
[tr. Webbe (1620)]Contests of this kind, tho' ever so justly founded, even the most disadvantageous terms of accommodation were preferable to having recourse to arms.
[tr. Melmoth (1753), 9.34]Why I would choose the most unfair peace in preference to the fairest of wars.
[tr. Jeans (1880), # 91]A peace even on the most unfavourable terms was preferable to the most righteous of wars.
[tr. Williams (Loeb) (1928)][...] the most inequitable peace as preferable to the most righteous of wars.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1978), # 234]I would prefer the most unfair peace to the justest war.
[tr. @sententiq (2012)]
So, confronted with this hoard of stolen riches, the question of who writes or who does not write for children becomes unimportant and, in fact, irrelevant. For every book is a message, and if children happen to receive and like it, they will appropriate it to themselves no matter what the author may say or what label he gives himself. And those who, against all odds and I’m one of them — protest that they do not write for children, cannot help being aware of this fact and are, I assure you, grateful.
P. L. Travers (1899-1996) Australian-British writer [Pamela Lyndon Travers; b. Helen Lyndon Goff]
Essay (1978-07-02), “I Never Wrote for Children,” New York Times
(Source)
When the clock of civilization can be turned back by burning libraries, by exiling scientists, artists, musicians, writers and teachers, by dispersing universities, and by censoring news and literature and art, an added burden is placed upon those countries where the torch of free thought and free learning still burns bright.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Speech (1938-06-30), National Education Association, World’s Fair, New York City
(Source)
I value more than I despise
My tendency to sin,
Because it helps me sympathize
With all my tempted kin.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“Understood,” st. 1, New Thought Pastels (1906)
(Source)
Divitiæ sæculi sunt laquei diaboli: so writes Bernard; worldly wealth is the devil’s bait: and as the Moon, when she is fuller of light, is still farthest from the Sun, the more wealth they have, the farther they are commonly from God.
Robert Burton (1577-1640) English scholar
Anatomy of Melancholy, Part 2, sec. 3, member 3 “Against Poverty and Want” (1621-1651)
(Source)
The Latin is as translated; it's elsewhere also given as: "The riches of the world are the snares of the devil."
This overall passage, in later editions (which did away with much of Burton's Latin, or just left it in translation), reads:Worldly wealth is the devil's bait: so writes Bernard; and as the Moon, when she is fuller of light, is still farthest from the Sun, the more wealth they have, the farther they are commonly from God.
Further edited and condensed editions in the 19th Century, shifts from wealth estranging people from God to wealth estranging people from happiness:Worldly wealth, indeed, is the devil's bait; and those whose minds feed upon riches recede, in general, from real happiness, in proportion as their stores increase; as the Moon when she is fullest is farthest from the Sun.
This last version, leaving out the "indeed," becomes commonly used in late 19th Century collections of quotations, and is most common (from that) in quotation collections today.
Of two Evils, always chuse the least.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 15 (1725)
(Source)
CRANMER: Then the matter is capable of question?
MORE: Certainly.
CRANMER: But that you owe obedience to your King is not capable of question. So weigh a doubt against a certainty — and sign.
MORE: Some men think the Earth is round, others think it flat; it is a matter capable of question. But if it is flat, will the King’s command make it round? And if it is round, will the King’s command flatten it? No, I will not sign.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
A Man for All Seasons, play, Act 2 (1960)
Bolt's 1966 film adaptation uses the same language.
HOOK: (communing with his ego) How still the night is; nothing sounds alive. Now is the hour when children in their homes are a-bed; their lips bright-browned with the good-night chocolate, and their tongues drowsily searching for belated crumbs housed insecurely on their shining cheeks. Compare with them the children on this boat about to walk the plank. Split my infinitives, but ’tis my hour of triumph!
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 5 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
An analogous scene, but with different internal dialogue, occurs in Barrie's novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 14 "The Pirate Ship" (1911).
ORESTES: Ye Gods! There’s no art to tell a decent man,
since generations work haphazardly.
I’ve encountered worthless men, the sons
of noble fathers; good men born from bad;
and I’ve seen hunger in a rich man’s mind,
a poor man’s body housing thoughts sublime.[ὈΡΈΣΤΗΣ: φεῦ:
οὐκ ἔστ᾽ ἀκριβὲς οὐδὲν εἰς εὐανδρίαν:
ἔχουσι γὰρ ταραγμὸν αἱ φύσεις βροτῶν.
ἤδη γὰρ εἶδον ἄνδρα γενναίου πατρὸς
τὸ μηδὲν ὄντα, χρηστά τ᾿ ἐκ κακῶν τέκνα,
λιμόν τ᾿ ἐν ἀνδρὸς πλουσίου φρονήματι,
γνώμην δὲ μεγάλην ἐν πένητι σώματι.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 367ff (c. 420 BC) [tr. Wilson (2016)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:There is no certain mark of generous souls:
For in the tempers of mankind prevails
A strange confusion. I have seen the son
Of a great father dwindle into nothing.
And virtuous children spring from wicked Sires;
Among the rich a mean contracted spirit
Have I discover'd, and the poor man's breast
Withi most exalted sentiments inspir'd.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Ah! there is no sure mark to recognize a man's worth; for human nature hath in it an element of confusion. For I have seen ere now the son of a noble sire prove himself a worthless knave, and virtuous children sprung from evil parents; likewise dearth in a rich man's spirit, and in a poor man's frame a mighty soul.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Alas! there is no sure mark of manliness; for the natures of mortals exhibit a confusion. For already have I seen a man who was naught sprung from a noble sire, and good children [sprung] from bad [fathers[,. and hunger in the spirit of a rich man, and a great mind in a poor body.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Lo, there is no sure test for manhood’s worth:
For mortal natures are confusion-fraught. --
I have seen ere now a noble father’s son
Proved nothing-worth, seen good sons of ill sires,
Starved leanness in a rich man’s very soul,
And in a poor man’s body a great heart.
[tr. Way (1896)]How dark lies honour hid! And what turmoil
In all things human: sons of mighty men
Fallen to naught, and from ill seed again
Good fruit: yea, famine in the rich man's scroll
Writ deep, and in poor flesh a lordly soul.
[tr. Murray (1905)]Ah! There is no exact way to test a man's worth; for human nature has confusion in it. I have seen before now the son of a noble father worth nothing, and good children from evil parents; famine in a rich man's spirit, and a mighty soul in a poor man's body.
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]It is impossible to judge a man’s virtue with accuracy. There’s always great confusion in the nature of mortals. I, myself, have seen worthless children born of a virtuous man and from evil parents born brilliant children. I have seen a small, poor mind in a wealthy man and in the soul of a poor man, a great one.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]Well, nothing is precise
when it comes to how a man is valued --
men’s natures are confusing. Before this,
I’ve seen a man worth nothing, yet he had
a noble father; I’ve known evil parents
with outstanding children, seen famine
in a rich man’s mind and a great spirit
in a poor man’s body.
[tr. Johnston (2009)]I have known a man of a noble father who turns out
To be nothing while powerful men can rise from the low.
I have seen emptiness in a rich man’s thought
And great judgement in a poor person’s frame.
[tr. @sententiq (2020)]
Many are saved from sin by being so inept at it.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 8 (1963)
(Source)
Table talk, lovers’ talk — both are equally elusive. Lovers’ talk is castlebuilding, table talk is pipe-dreaming.
[Propos de table et propos d’amour; les uns sont aussi insaisissables que les autres; les propos d’amour sont des nuées, les propos de table sont des fumées.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 1 “Fantine,” Book 3 “The Year 1817,” ch. 6 (1.3.6) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Table talk and lovers' talk equally elude the grasp; lovers' talk is clouds, table talk is smoke.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]Love talk and table talk are equally indescribable, for the first is cloud, the second smoke.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]Chat at table, the chat of love; it is as impossible to reproduce one as the other; the chat of love is a cloud; the chat at table is smoke.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]Table-talk and lovers’ talk, both fleeting as air. Lovers’ talk is the mist and table-talk the scent.
[tr. Denny (1976)]Table talk and lovers' talk are equally elusive; lovers' talk is clouds, table talk is smoke.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
Over the years our bodies become walking autobiographies, telling friends and strangers alike of the minor and major stresses of our lives. Distortions of function that occur after injuries, like a limited range of motion in a hurt arm, become a permanent part of our body pattern. Our musculature reflects not only old injuries but old anxieties. Poses of timidity, depression, bravado, or stoicism adopted early in life are locked into our bodies as patterns in our sensorimotor system.
Marilyn Ferguson (1938-2008) American author, editor, public speaker
The Aquarian Conspiracy, ch. 8 (1980)
(Source)
They think that intelligence is about noticing things that are relevant (detecting patterns); in a complex world, intelligence consists in ignoring things that are irrelevant (avoiding false patterns).
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Epistomology and Subtractive Knowledge” (2010)
(Source)
There can be no friendship without truth, but there can be a deal of truth without one grain of friendship.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
(Source)
In its natural state, the child tells the literal truth because it is too naive to think of anything else. Blurting out the complete truth is considered adorable in the young, right smack up to the moment that the child says, “Mommy, is this the fat lady you can’t stand?” At this point, the parent rightly senses the need to explain kindness.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners’ Guide to Rearing Perfect Children, ch. 8 “Extra Credit,” “Ethics” (1984)
(Source)
MACBETH: Lay on, Macduff,
And damned be him that first cries “Hold! Enough!”William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 5, sc. 8, l. 38ff (5.8.38-39) (1606)
(Source)
The public is governed according to its own ways of thinking. It has the right to talk nonsense, as the ministers have the right to enact it.
[Le public est gouverné comme il raisonne. Son droit est de dire des sottises, comme celui des ministres est d’en faire.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 8, ¶ 503 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:The public is governed as it reasons. It is its right to say foolish things, as it is that of the ministers to do them.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902), "The Cynic's Breviary"]The public is governed as it reasons; its own prerogative is foolish speech & that of its governors is foolish action.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]The public is governed in the same way as it reasons. Its prerogative is to utter foolish things, as that of ministers is to commit them.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]The public is governed as it reasons. It's right is to say foolish things, like that of ministers of state is to do them.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994), ¶ 502]People are now goverened in the way they want. They've won the right to think -- and ministers to act -- foolishly.
[tr. Parmée (2003)]
I sidled through the doorway. It was necessary to sidle since precariously arranged books impinged more and more every day on the passageway from the street. Inside, it was clear that the books owned the shop rather than the other way around. Everywhere they had run wild and taken possession of their habitat, breeding and multiplying and clearly lacking any strong hand to keep them down.
In that part of the book of my memory before which little can be read, there is a heading, which says: “Incipit vita nova: Here begins the new life.”
[In quella parte del libro de la mia memoria dinanzi a la quale poco si potrebbe leggere, si trova una rubrica la quale dice: Incipit vita nova.]
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
La Vita Nuova [Vita Nova; The New Life], ch. 1 (c. 1294, pub. 1576) [tr. Kline (2002)]
(Source)
Opening sentence of the work.
There is some scholarly disagreement as to whether the title means "the new life" or "the early life." Reynolds translates the Latin phrase here as "Here begins the period of my boyhood," as explained here. Most scholars prefer the "new life" interpretation, with some caveats.
(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:In that part of the book of my memory before the which is little that can be read, there is a rubric, saying, Incipit Vita Nova.
[tr. Rossetti (c. 1847; 1899 ed.)]In that part of the book of my memory, anterior whereto is little that can be read, stands a rubric, which says : -- "Incipit Vita Nova. Here beginneth the New Life."
[tr. Martin (1862)]In that part of the book of my memory before which little can be read is found a rubric which says: Incipit Vita Nova [The New Life begins].
[tr. Norton (1867), "Proem"]In the book of my memory, after the first pages, which are almost blank, there is a section headed Incipit vita nova.
[tr. Reynolds (1969)]In that part of my book of memory before which there would be little to read is found a chapter heading which says: “Here begins the new life.”
[tr. Musa (1971)]In my Book of Memory, in the early part where there is little to be read, there comes a chapter with the rubric: Incipit vita nova.
[tr. Hollander (1997)]In that part of the book of my memory before which little may be read is found a rubric which says: "The new life begins."
[tr. Appelbaum (2006)]In the book of my memory -- the part of it before which not much is legible -- there is the heading Incipit vita nova.
[tr. Frisardi (2012)]
There is a poetic version of this opening sentence which I have not been able to source, but has become extremely popular in wedding vows and other pronouncements of love, and is usually presented as Dante's own work:In that book which is
My memory ...
On the first page
That is the chapter when
I first met you
Appear the words ...
"Here begins a new life."
Dante's first meeting with Beatrice (when he was nine years old) is described in the following paragraph, but is not part of this opening sentence. This chapter is also part of the prose portion of the work, not a poem.
Strength without wisdom falls by its own weight;
The strength that wisdom tempers, the gods increase;
The gods abhor that strength whose heart knows nothing
But what impiety is, and it is punished.[Vis consili expers mole ruit sua,
Vim temperatam di quoque provehunt
In maius; idem odere viris
Omne nefas animo moventis.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 3, # 4, l. 65ff (3.4.65-68) (23 BC) [tr. Ferry (1997)]
(Source)
"To Calliope." (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Uncounsil'd force with his own weight
Is crusht; a force that's temperate
Heaven it self helps: and hates no less
Strength that provokes to wickedness.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]Rash force by its own weight must fall,
But Pious strength will still prevail;
For such the Gods assist, and bless,
But hate a mighty Wickedness.
[tr. Creech (1684)]Strength, mindless, falls by its own weight;
Strength, mix'd with mind, is made more strong
By the just gods, who surely hate
The strength whose thoughts are set on wrong.
[tr. Conington (1872)]Force, void of conduct, falls by its own weight; moreover, the gods promote discreet force to further advantage; but the same beings detest forces, that meditate every kind of impiety.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]Unreasoning strength by its own weight must fall.
To strength with wisdom blent
Force by the gods is lent.
Who hold in scorn that strength, which is on all
That's impious intent.
[tr. Martin (1864)]By its own weight sinks force, when void of counsel.
'Tis the force tempered which the gods make greater;
But they abhor the force
Which gives blind movement to all springs of crime.
[tr. Bulwer-Lytton (1870)]Strength without wisdom falls headlong by its own weight. The Gods increase success to wisely-regulated strength, but abhor the might which contemplates all manner of iniquity.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]Brute might may rush in headlong course,
But tempered strength the gods make strong
And stronger, while they hate the force
That madly stirs to deeds of wrong.
[tr. Gladstone (1894)]Strength void of counsel! By its own weight it falls,
Strength well-directed, even the Gods increase
To greater force, and hate mere brute-power
Planning in mind ev'ry form of evil.
[tr. Phelps (1897)]Force void of counsel falls by its own weight:
But force restrained the very gods bear on
To greater: so they hate the power
That stirreth every disobedience in the mind.
[tr. Garnsey (1907)]For ill-trained strength by its own weight's o'erborne;
But Heaven, to powers well-ordered, favour lends,
Hating brute-force, which to ill ends
Doth all its travail turn.
[tr. Marshall (1908)]Brute force bereft of wisdom falls to ruin by its own weight. Power with counsel tempered, even the gods make greater. But might that in its soul is bent on all impiety, they hate.
[tr. Bennett (Loeb) (1912)]Force lacking counsel falls by its own weight;
Force temperate the Gods make yet more great --
The Gods who hate the strength that would defy
Their righteous will, and plot iniquity.
[tr. Mills (1924)]Primitive force topples to its own ruin,
But when the mind guides power it prospers; heaven
Helps it: the gods abhor
Brute strength devoted to malignant ends.
[tr. Michie (1963)]Force without wisdom falls of its own
Weight. Even the gods require sense of themselves,
And work better for its guidance. They hate
Evil no matter how strong.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]Force alone, devoid of judgment,
sinks beneath its own weight.
But tempered well by the wisdom of the gods,
it rises higher; for the gods detest
all violence which turns to crime.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]Power without wisdom falls by its own weight:
The gods themselves advance temperate power:
and likewise hate force that, with its whole
consciousness, is intent on wickedness.
[tr. Kline (2015)]Force without wisdom rushes from its own weight:
the gods, too, promote tempered force to something
greater; they also hate force
which stirs wickedness in every soul.
[tr. Wikisource (2021)]Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.
[E.g. (1936)]
Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.
Peter Ustinov (1921-2004) English actor, author, director
Christian Science Monitor (1958-12-09)
I cannot access any archived version of the CSM for that date, to find the context for the quote. The quote was being attributed to Ustinov by at least 1964.
Not only should there be complete liberty in matters of religion and opinion, but complete liberty for each man to lead his life as he desires, provided only that in so doing he does not wrong his neighbors.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)
A feeling very generally exists that the condition and disposition of the Working Classes is a rather ominous matter at present; that something ought to be said, something ought to be done, in regard to it. […] To us individually this matter appears, and has for many years appeared, to be the most ominous of all practical matters whatever; a matter in regard to which if something be not done, something will do itself one day, and in a fashion that will please nobody.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Chartism, ch. 1 “Condition-of-England Question” (1840)
(Source)
Once, I remember, Father Abbot said that our purpose is justice, and with God lies the privilege of mercy. But even God, when he intends mercy, needs tools to his hand.
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
Dead Man’s Ransom, ch. 15, [Cadfael] (1984)
(Source)
Closing words of the book.
Experiense iz a good teacher, but she iz a dredphull slo one, before we git haff thru her lessons, the bell rings, and we are summoned to judgement.
[Experience is a good teacher, but she is a dreadful slow one; before we get half through her lessons, the bell rings, and we are summoned to judgement.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 6 “Pets” (1874)
(Source)
I have often tried to say to you personally what I am about to write, but was prevented by a kind of almost clownish bashfulness. Now that I am not in your presence I shall speak out more boldly: a letter does not blush.
[Coram me tecum eadem haec agere saepe conantem deterruit pudor quidam paene subrusticus, quae nunc expromam absens audacius; epistula enim non erubescit.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Familiares [Letters to Friends], Book 5, Letter 12, sec. 1 (5.12.1), to Lucius Lucceius (55 BC) [tr. Shuckburgh (1899), # 108]
(Source)
Opening lines of the letter. Cicero then brazenly asks Lucceius, an orator and literary figure, to prominently mention Cicero's consulship in the history he is writing, as had been promised -- and if, as a friend, Lucceius embellished things, well, that was fine with Cicero, too.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translation:I Determine freely, to open my minde unto you by letters, which doe not blush; seeing in presence I never durst doe it, through a certaine modesty, I cannot say, but rather a rudenesse.
[tr. Webbe (1620)]I have frequently had it in my intentions to talk with you upon the subject of this letter; but a certain aukward modesty, has always restrained me from proposing in person, what I can with less scruple request at this distance: for a letter, you know, spares the confusion of a blush.
[tr. Melmoth (1753), 1.20]A certain sense of shame has often halted me when I have been minded to take up with you face to face the topic which I now will set forth more boldly in your absence; for a letter does not blush.
[tr. McKinlay (1926)]Often, when I have attempted to discuss this topic with you face to face, I have been deterred by a sort of almost boorish bashfulness; but now that I am away from you I shall bring it all out with greater boldness; for a letter does not blush.
[tr. Williams (Loeb) (1928)]Although I have more than once attempted to take up my present topic with you face to face, a sort of shyness, almost awkwardness, has held me back. Away from your presence, I shall set it out with less trepidation. A letter has no blushes.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1978), # 22]I have often tried to speak of these matters with you in person, but an almost clownish sense of shyness has scared me off; now, being away from you, I shall declare them more boldly, since a letter does not blush.
[tr. @aleator (2013)]
Certainlie these things agree,
The Priest, the Lawyer, and Death all three:
Death takes both the weak and the strong.
The lawyer takes from both right and wrong,
And the priest from living and dead has his Fee.Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)
(Source)
“What,” I asked my father once, “what is a concubine?”
“Er‐hum — !” he responded. “Why do you ask?” Clearly, he was playing for time.
“Well, it says in the Bible that David took him more concubines and Solomon had 300.”
He inwardly groaned, but grappled with it. “Well, David was the head of the house, he needed people to look after him and the concubines — er did.”
Three hundred! I thought to myself. One would need a very big house.
“What a pity, father, that you have only two!”
He was astonished. “Two what?”
“Two concubines — Katie and Bella to cook and make beds.”
“Katie and Bella are not my concubines.” Here was a child being childish, which was something he did not like.
“Then, Nelly, what about her?” Nelly was slightly wanting, and came to help with the washing.
“Certainly not.” The idea was repugnant.
“Well, father, who are your concubines?”
“I have no concubines!” he roared and stormed out of the room.
The head of the house and no concubines! Clearly we, as a family, were vastly lower on the social scale than Solomon or David.P. L. Travers (1899-1996) Australian-British writer [Pamela Lyndon Travers; b. Helen Lyndon Goff]
Essay (1978-07-02), “I Never Wrote for Children,” New York Times
(Source)
When he left the bishop’s dwelling Jean Valjean, as we know, had been in a state of mind unlike anything he had ever experienced before and was quite unable to account for what was taking place within him. He had sought to harden his heart against the old man’s saintly act and moving words. “You have promised me to become an honest man. I am buying your soul. I am rescuing it from the spirit of perversity and giving it to God.” The words constantly returned to him and he sought to suppress them with arrogance, which in all of us is the stronghold of evil. Obscurely he perceived that the priest’s forgiveness was the most formidable assault he had ever sustained; that if he resisted it his heart would be hardened once and for all, and that if he yielded he must renounce the hatred which the acts of men had implanted in him during so many years, and to which he clung. He saw dimly that this time he must either conquer or be conquered, and that the battle was now joined, a momentous and decisive battle between the evil in himself and the goodness in that other man.
[Quand Jean Valjean était sorti de chez l’évêque, on l’a vu, il était hors de tout ce qui avait été sa pensée jusque-là. Il ne pouvait se rendre compte de ce qui se passait en lui. Il se roidissait contre l’action angélique et contre les douces paroles du vieillard. « Vous m’avez promis de devenir honnête homme. Je vous achète votre âme. Je la retire à l’esprit de perversité et je la donne au bon Dieu. » Cela lui revenait sans cesse. Il opposait à cette indulgence céleste l’orgueil, qui est en nous comme la forteresse du mal. Il sentait indistinctement que le pardon de ce prêtre était le plus grand assaut et la plus formidable attaque dont il eût encore été ébranlé ; que son endurcissement serait définitif s’il résistait à cette clémence ; que, s’il cédait, il faudrait renoncer à cette haine dont les actions des autres hommes avaient rempli son âme pendant tant d’années, et qui lui plaisait ; que cette fois il fallait vaincre ou être vaincu, et que la lutte, une lutte colossale et définitive, était engagée entre sa méchanceté à lui et la bonté de cet homme.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 1 “Fantine,” Book 2 “The Fall,” ch. 13 (1.2.13) (1862) [tr. Denny (1976)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:When Jean Valjean left the bishop's house, as we have seen, his mood was one that he had never known before. He could understand nothing of what was passing within him. He set himself stubbornly in opposition to the angelic deeds and the gentle words of the old man, “you have promised me to become an honest man. I am purchasing your soul, I withdraw it from the spirit of perversity, and I give it to God Almighty." This came back to him incessantly. To this celestial tenderness, he opposed pride, which is the fortress of evil in man. He felt dimly that the pardon of this priest was the hardest assault, and the most formidable attack which he had yet sustained ; that his hardness of heart would be complete, if it resisted this kindness; that if he yielded, be must renounce that hatred with which the acts of other men had for so many years filled his soul, and in which he found satisfaction; that, this time, he must conquer or be conquered, and that the struggle, a gigantic and decisive struggle, had begun between his own wickedness, and the goodness of this man.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]When Jean Valjean quitted the bishop’s house, he was lifted out of his former thoughts, and could not account for what was going on within him. He stiffened himself against the angelic deeds and gentle words of the old man: “You have promised me to become an honest man. I purchase your soul; I withdraw it from the spirit of perverseness, and give it to God.” This incessantly recurred to him, and he opposed to this celestial indulgence that pride which is within us as the fortress of evil. He felt instinctively that this priest’s forgiveness was the greatest and most formidable assault by which he had yet been shaken; that his hardening would be permanent if he resisted this clemency; that if he yielded he must renounce that hatred with which the actions of other men had filled his soul during so many years, and which pleased him; that this time he must either conquer or be vanquished, and that the struggle, a colossal and final struggle, had begun between his wickedness and that man’s goodness.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]When Jean Valjean left the Bishop's house, he was, as we have seen, quite thrown out of everything that had been his thought hitherto. He could not yield to the evidence of what was going on within him. He hardened himself against the angelic action and the gentle words of the old man. "You have promised me to become an honest man. I buy your soul. I take it away from the spirit of perversity; I give it to the good God."
This recurred to his mind unceasingly. To this celestial kindness he opposed pride, which is the fortress of evil within us. He was indistinctly conscious that the pardon of this priest was the greatest assault and the most formidable attack which had moved him yet; that his obduracy was finally settled if he resisted this clemency; that if he yielded, he should be obliged to renounce that hatred with which the actions of other men had filled his soul through so many years, and which pleased him; that this time it was necessary to conquer or to be conquered; and that a struggle, a colossal and final struggle, had been begun between his viciousness and the goodness of that man.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]When Jean Valjean left the bishop's house, as we saw, his thoughts were unlike any he had ever known before. He could understand nothing of what was going on inside him. He stubbornly resisted the angelic deeds and the gentle words of the old man, "You have promised me to become an honest man. I am purchasing your soul. I withdraw it from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!" This kept coming back to him. In opposition to this celestial tenderness, he summoned up pride, the fortress of evil in man. He dimly felt that this priest's pardon was the hardest assault, the most formidable attack he had ever sustained; that his hardness of heart would be complete, if it resisted this kindness; that if he yielded, he would have to renounce the hatred with which the acts of other men had for so many years filled his soul, and in which he found satisfaction; that, this time, he must conquer or be conquered, and that the struggle, a gigantic and decisive struggle, had begun between his own wrongs and the goodness of this man.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]When jean Valjean left the bishop's house he was, as we have seen, in what was to him an entirely different mental universe. He could not undersdtand what was going on inside him. He hardened himself against the old man's angelic deed and gentle words. "You promised to become an honest man. I'm buying your soul. I'm redeeming it from the spirit of iniquity and giving it to the good Lord." This kept coming back to him. This heavenly kindness he countered with pride -- the fortress of evil, as it were, within us. He had the indistinct feeling that this priest's forgiveness was the greatest assault and most tremendous attack he had ever experience. That if he resisted this clemency the hardening of his heart would be definitive. That if he yielded he would be obliged to renounce that hatred with which the deeds of other men had filled his soul over so many years, a hatred he relished. That this time he had to vanquish or be vanquished, and that the battle had been joined, a colossal and decisive battle, between his own wickedness and that man's goodness.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
Across wide lands, across a wider sea,
To this sad service. Brother, am I bourn
To pay thee death’s last tribute and to mourn
By thy dead dust that cannot answer me.
This, this alone is left — ah, can it be
Thy living self blind chance from me has torn.
That cruel death has left me thus forlorn.
And thou so loved, dear Brother, lost to me?
Still, must I bring, as men have done for years,
These last despairing rites, this solemn vow.
Here offered with a love too deep to tell,
And consecrated with a brother’s tears.
Accept them, Brother all is done — and now
Forever hail, forever fare thee well.[Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
Advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias,
Ut te postremo donarem munere mortis
Et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem.
Quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum,
Heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi,
Nunc tamen interea haec prisco quae more parentum
Tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias,
Accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu,
Atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.]Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC) Latin poet [Gaius Valerius Catullus]
Carmina # 101 “At His Brother’s Grave” [tr. Stewart (1915)]
(Source)
This is one of several poems he wrote about his beloved brother, written while journeying home from Bithynia after serving under C. Memmius Gemellus, praetor of that province. Catullus stopped on the way in the Troad, at the grave of his brother, who had recently drowned.
The poem is in elegiac couplets, usually reserved for romantic poems.
The phrase "ave atque vale" ("hail and farewell") is one of the most famous from Catullus.(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Thro' various realms, o'er various seas I come,
To see that each due sacrifice be paid,
To bring my last sad off'ring to thy tomb,
And thy mute dust invoke, fraternal shad!
Yes, hapless brother! since the hand of fate
Hath snatch'd thee ever from my longing sight;
As us'd our ancestors, in solemn state
I'll bring each mystic gift, each fun'ral rite:
With many a tear I will the ground bedew --
Spirit of him I lov'd, those tears receive!
Spirit of him I valued most, adieu!
Adieu to him who sleeps in yonder grave!
[tr. Nott (1795), # 96]Brother, I come o'er many seas and lands
To the sad rite which pious love ordains,
To pay thee the last gift that death demands;
And oft, though vain, invoke thy mute remains:
Since death has ravish'd half myself in thee,
Oh wretched brother, sadly torn from me!
And now ere fate our souls shall re-unite,
To give me back all it hath snatch'd away,
Receive the gifts, our fathers' ancient rite
To shades departed still was wont to pay;
Gifts wet with tears of heartfelt grief that tell,
And ever, brother, bless thee, and farewell!
[tr. Lamb (1821)]O'er many a sea, o'er many a stranger land,
I bring this tribute to thy lonely tomb,
My brother! and beside the narrow room,
That holds thy silent ashes weeping stand.
Vainly I call to thee. Who can command
An answer forth from Orcus' dreary gloom?
Oh, brother, brother, life lost all its bloom,
When thou wert snatch'd from me with pitiless hand!
A day will come, when we shall meet once more!
Meanwhile, these gifts, which to the honour'd grave
Of those they loved in life our sires of yore
With pious hand and reverential gave,
Accept! Gifts moisten'd with a brother's tears!
And now, farewell, and rest thee from all fears !
[tr. T. Martin (1861)]Brother! o'er many lands and oceans borne,
I reach thy grave, death's last sad rite to pay;
To call thy silent dust in vain, and mourn,
Since ruthless fate has hurried thee away:
Woe 's me! yet now upon thy tomb I lay,
All soak'd with tears for thee, thee loved so well,
What gifts our fathers gave the honour' d clay
Of valued friends; take them, my grief they tell:
And now, for ever hail! for ever fare-thee-well!
[tr. Cranstoun (1867)]Borne over many a land and many a sea,
Brother! I reach thy gloom-wrapt grave to pay
The last sad office thou may'st claim from me,
And all in vain address thy silent clay:
For thou art gone -- fell fate that from me tore
Thee, thee, my brother! ah, too cruel thought!
I'll call thee, but I'll never hear thee more
Recount the deeds thy valiant arm hath wrought.
And I shall never see thy face again,
Dearer than life; yet in my heart alway
Assuredly shall fond affection reign,
And aye with grief's wan hues I'll tinge my lay:
Yea, even as the Daulian bird her song
Outpours in accents sweetly-dolorous,
When o'er the branch-gloom'd river, all night long,
She wails the fate of perish'd Itylus.
Yet now what gifts our sires in ancient years
Paid those with whom in life they loved to dwell,
Accept: -- all streaming with thy brother's tears;
And, brother! hail for aye! for aye farewell!
[tr. Cranstoun (1867), "from the text of Schwabe"]Borne o'er many a land, o'er many a level of ocean,
Here to the grave I come, brother, of holy repose,
Sadly the last poor gifts, death's simple duty, to bring thee;
Unto the silent dust vainly to murmur a cry.
Since thy form deep-shrouded an evil destiny taketh
From me, O hapless ghost, brother, O heavily ta'en,
Yet this bounty the while, these gifts ancestral of usance
Homely, the sad slight store piety grants to the tomb;
Drench'd in a brother's tears, and weeping freshly, receive them;
Yea, take, brother, a long Ave, a timeless adieu.
[tr. Ellis (1871)]Through many a land, o'er many a sea I come,
To sacrifice, dear brother, at thy tomb;
With these last rites to drop the unheeded tear,
And call that name thou canst no longer hear.
By oh ! my brother, since by fate's decree,
Alas ! too early, thou wast torn from me.
Accept this offering to thy honoured shade,
By custom sanctioned -- by affection paid:
And while these frequent tears my sorrow tell.
Take, dearest brother, this my last farewell.
[tr. Bliss (1872)]Through many lands and over many seas
I come, my Brother, to thine obsequies,
To pay thee the last honours that remain,
And call upon thy voiceless dust, in vain.
Since cruel fate has robbed me even of thee,
Unhappy Brother, snatched away from me,
Now none the less the gifts our fathers gave,
The melancholy honours of the grave,
Wet with my tears I bring to thee, and say
Farewell! farewell! for ever and a day.
[tr. Murray (1891)]Faring thro' many a folk and plowing many a sea-plain
These sad funeral-rites (Brother!) to deal thee I come,
So wi' the latest boons to the dead bestowed I may gift thee,
And I may vainly address ashes that answer have none,
Sithence of thee, very thee, to deprive me Fortune behested,
Woe for thee, Brother forlore! Cruelly severed fro' me.
...
Yet in the meanwhile now what olden usage of forbears
Brings as the boons that befit mournfullest funeral rites,
Thine be these gifts which flow with tear-flood shed by thy brother,
And, for ever and aye (Brother!) all hail and farewell.
[tr. Burton (1893)]Through many nations and through many seas borne, I come, brother, for these sad funeral rites, that I may give the last gifts to the dead, and may vainly speak to your silent ashes, since fortune has taken yourself away from me. Ah, poor brother, undeservedly snatched from me. But now receive these gifts, which have been handed down in the ancient manner of ancestors, the sad gifts to the grave, drenched with a brother's tears, and for ever, brother, hail and farewell.
[tr. Smithers (1894)]By ways remote and distant waters sped,
Brother, to thy sad grave-side am I come,
That I may give the last gifts to the dead,
And vainly parley with thine ashes dumb:
Since she who now bestows and now denies
Hath ta'en thee, hapless brother, from mine eyes.
But lo! these gifts, the heirlooms of past years,
Are made sad things to grace thy coffin shell;
Take them, all drenched with a brother's tears,
And, brother, for all time, hail and farewell!
[tr. Beardsley (1896)]Homewards, a traveller, from many lands returning,
I greet thee, brother, only at thy grave.
To thy dumb ashes telling o'er, in accents burning,
Those rites, 'tis said, departed spirits crave.
All that I can -- with tears -- the words our fathers taught us --
Which borne afar, like sound of sea-rocked bell.
Perchance may reach thee on those sad and lonely waters,
Longed for, though late -- a brother's last farewell.
[tr. Harman (1897)]Wandering through many countries and over many seas I come, my brother, to these sorrowful obsequies, to present you with the last guerdon of death, and speak, though in vain, to your silent ashes, since fortune has taken your own self away from me -- alas, my brother, so cruelly torn from me! Yet now meanwhile take these offerings, which by the custom of our fathers have been handed down -- a sorrowful tribute -- for a funeral sacrifice; take them, wet with many tears of a brother, and for ever, my brother, hail and farewell!
[tr. Warre Cornish (1904); 1913 Loeb edition the same]Borne over many lands and many seas, I come, O my brother, to the sad spot where you repose; that I may render to you the last sad rites of the dead, and call, although in vain, to your dumb ashes. Since fate has snatched your dear presence from my eyes, alas, O my brother, so cruelly taken from me, yet receive these last sad rites, that are according to the pious usages of our forefathers and are washed with a brother's many tears, and now for ever, O my brother, hail and farewell!
[tr. Stuttaford (1912)]Travelled o'er many a land and o'er the seas
Hither I come to thy sad obsequies,
To pay thee, brother mine, death's farewell due,
And vainly bid thy silent dust adieu.
Since fate has torn thy living self away,
(Woe, brother, snatched from me, alack aday!)
Take, as our fathers used, till better things,
From me these sad time-honoured offerings
Wet with a brother's tears. And so, for aye,
I greet thee, brother, and I bid good-bye.
[tr. Symons-Jeune (1923)]By many lands and over many a wave
I come, my brother, to your piteous grave,
To bring you the last offering in death
And o'er dumb dust expend an idle breath.
Yet take these gifts, brought as our fathers bade
For sorrow's tribute to the passing shade;
A brother's tears have wet them o'er and o'er;
And so, my brother, hail, and farewell evermore!
[tr. Marris (1924)]From land to land, o'er many waters borne,
Brother, I come to these thy rites forlorn,
The latest gift, the due of death, to pay,
The fruitless word to silent dust to say.
Since death has reft thy living self from me,
Poor brother, stolen away so cruelly,
Yet this the while, which ancient use decrees
Sad ritual of our sires for obsequies,
Take, streaming with a brother's tears that tell
Of a last greeting, brother, a last farewell.
[tr. MacNaghten (1925)]O'er many a land, o'er many waters led,
Brother, my path to thy sad tomb is made,
That I may give the last gifts to the dead
And vainly parley with thy silent shade;
Since the blind goddess to the realm of night
Hath stol'n thee, hapless brother, from my sight.
So now these gifts, by custom of past years,
I bring as offerings to thy funeral cell;
Take them, all moistened with a brother's tears,
And brother, for all time, hail and farewell.
[tr. Wright (1926)]Dear brother, I have come these many miles, through strange lands to this Eastern Continent
to see your grave, a poor sad monument of what you were, 0 brother.
And I have come too late; you cannot hear me; alone now I must speak
to these few ashes that were once your body and expect no answer.
I shall perform an ancient ritual over your remains, weeping,
(this plate of lentils for dead men to feast upon, wet with my tears)
O brother, here's my greeting: here's my hand forever welcoming you
and I forever saying: good-bye, good-bye.
[tr. Gregory (1931)]Driven across many nations, across many oceans,
I am here, my brother, for this final parting,
to offer at last those gifts which the dead are given
and to speak in vain to your unspeaking ashes,
since bitter fortune forbids you to hear me or answer,
O my wretched brother, so abruptly taken!
But now I must celebrate grief with funeral tributes
offered the dead in the ancient way of the fathers;
accept these presents, wet with my brotherly tears, and
now & forever, my brother, hail & farewell.
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]Carried over many seas, and through many nations,
brother, I come to these sad funeral rites,
to grant you the last gifts to the dead,
and speak in vain to your mute ashes.
Seeing that fate has stolen from me your very self.
Ah alas, my brother, taken shamefully from me,
yet, by the ancient custom of our parents,
receive these sad gifts, offerings to the dead,
soaked deeply with a brother’s tears,
and for eternity, brother: ‘Hail and Farewell!’
[tr. Kline (2001)]A journey across many seas and through many nations
has brought me here, brother, for these poor obsequies,
to let me address, all in vain, your silent ashes,
and render you the last service for the dead,
since fortune, alas, has bereft me of your person,
my poor brother, so unjustly taken from me.
Still, here now I offer those gifts which by ancestral custom
are presented, sad offerings, at such obsequies:
accept them, soaked as they are with a brother’s weeping,
and, brother, forever now hail and farewell.
[tr. Green (2005)]Carried through many nations and many seas,
I arrive, Brother, at these miserable funeral rites,
So that I might bestow you with the final gift of death
And might speak in vain to the silent ash.
Since Fortune has stolen you yourself from me,
Alas, wretched brother stolen undeservedly from me,
Meanwhile, however, receive now these flowing with much
Brotherly weeping, these which in the ancient custom
Of our parents were handed down as a sad gift for funeral rites,
And forever, Brother, hail and farewell.
[tr. Wikibooks (2017); Wikisource (2021)]Drawn across many nations and seas
I come to your pitiful resting place, brother
To present you with a final gift at death
And to try to pointlessly comfort mute ash --
because chance has stolen you away from me.
My sad brother, unfairly taken from me.
For now, accept this, the ancient custom of our ancestors
Handed down as the sad gift for the grave,
Given with a flowing flood of fraternal tears
And forever, my brother, hail and farewell.
[tr. Grenadier (2021)]Through many nations and across many seas
I’ve come, my brother, for these sad burial rites --
To pay you the final tribute owed the dead,
And to speak, in vain, with your speechless ashes,
Since fortune has snatched you -- you! -- away from me.
Oh! My poor brother, cruelly taken from me!
Still, there’s the matter of the burial rites,
Preserved in antique customs of our line
And passed on in the melancholic tribute:
Receive them, though quite wet with fraternal tears.
And now, for all time, my brother,
I salute you and say goodbye.
[tr. Benn (2021)]
No nation can meet this changing world unless its people, individually and collectively, grow in ability to understand and handle the new knowledge as applied to increasingly intricate human relationships. That is why the teachers of America are the ultimate guardians of the human capital of America, the assets which must be made to pay social dividends if democracy is to survive.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Speech (1938-06-30), National Education Association, World’s Fair, New York City
(Source)
Give words of comfort, of defence, and hope,
To mortals crushed by sorrow and by error.
And though thy feet through shadowy paths may grope,
Thou shalt not walk in loneliness or terror.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“Give,” st. 2, New Thought Pastels (1906)
(Source)
People with advantages are loath to believe that they just happen to be people with advantages. They come readily to define themselves as inherently worthy of what they possess; they come to believe themselves “naturally” elite, and, in fact, to imagine their possessions and their privileges as natural extensions of their own elite selves.
C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) American sociologist, academic, author [Charles Wright Mills]
The Power Elite, ch. 1 “The Higher Circles,” sec. 4 (1956)
(Source)
Endure Reproof when thou doest amiss. It’s a Benefit which Princes are deprived of; for they converse familiarly with very few Persons, and those make it their only Business to humour, not to advise them.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 1184 (1725)
(Source)
PETER: (his pipes more riotous than ever) I just want always to be a little boy and to have fun.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 4 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
Peter's refusal to return to the real world with the other Lost Boys. In Barrie's novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 11 "Wendy's Story" (1911), the same language is used.
CHORUS: But fairy tales that scare us humans
are useful for religion.[ΧΟΡΟΣ: φοβεροὶ δὲ βροτοῖσι μῦ-
θοι κέρδος πρὸς θεῶν θεραπεί-
αν.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 743ff, Antistrophe 2 (c. 420 BC) [tr. Wilson (2016)]
(Source)
Following recounting of a story in which Zeus made the sun move backwards in the sky to punish Thyestes for his treachery.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Fresh strength is added to religion's base
By fables which man's breast with terror fill.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]But tales that frighten men are profitable for service to the gods.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]But stories terrible to mortals are a gain for the worship of the gods.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Yet it may be the tale liveth, soul-affraying,
To bow us to Godward in lowly obeying.
[tr. Way (1896)]Once, men told the tale, and trembled;
Fearing God.
[tr. Murray (1905)]Such shocking myths are for the good of men, to frighten them into believing in the gods.
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]But tales which terrify mankind
are profitable and serve the gods.
[tr. Johnston (2009)]
We’re all capable of doing great things, and of doing bad things. We have the angels and the demons inside of us, and our lives are a succession of choices. Look at a figure like Woodrow Wilson, one of the most fascinating presidents in American history. He was despicable on racial issues. He was a Southern segregationist of the worst stripe, praising D.W. Griffith and The Birth of a Nation. He effectively was a Ku Klux Klan supporter. But in terms of foreign affairs, and the League of Nations, he had one of the great dreams of our time. The war to end all wars — we make fun of it now, but God, it was an idealistic dream. If he’d been able to achieve it, we’d be building statues of him a hundred feet high, and saying, “This was the greatest man in human history: This was the man who ended war.” He was a racist who tried to end war. Now, does one cancel out the other? Well, they don’t cancel out the other. You can’t make him a hero or a villain. He was both. And we’re all both.
George R. R. Martin (b. 1948) American author and screenwriter [George Raymond Richard Martin]
Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone
(Source)
For soldiers, we use the term “mercenary,” but we absolve employees of responsibility with “everybody needs to make a living.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Ethics” (2010)
(Source)
Envy none. Every heart has some secret chamber of horrors, and those who seem the most gay have often the grimmest skeletons.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
(Source)
Whamming someone smaller than oneself in order to teach that person civilized behavior is not within Miss Manners’ concept of propriety, much less logic.
MACBETH: Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain,
And with some sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?DOCTOR:Therein the patient
Must minister to himself.MACBETH: Throw physic to the dogs. I’ll none of it.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 5, sc. 3, l. 50ff (5.3.50-58) (1606)
(Source)
Esteem is worth more than celebrity, respect is worth more than renown, and honor is worth more than fame.
[L’estime vaut mieux que la célébrité, la considération vaut mieux que la renommée, et l’honneur vaut mieux que la gloire.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 2, ¶ 131 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Esteem is better than celebrity, respect is better than renown, and honour than glory.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]Esteem is worth more than being celebrated, respect is better than renown, and honour is better than fame.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]Esteem is worth more than celebrity, consideration is worth more than fame, and honor is worth more than glory.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]
The Senate passed a bill appropriating 15 million for food, but the House of Representatives (up to today) had not approved it. They said no.
They seem to think that’s a bad precedent, to appropriate money for food — it’s too much like the “dole.” They must think it would encourage hunger.
The way things look, hunger doesn’t need much encouragement. It’s just coming around naturally.Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1931-01-07), “Daily Telegram: Will Rogers Says Hunger Needs No Encouragement”
(Source)
Of lingering and gain-seeking make an end;
Think, while there’s time, how soon Death’s pyre may blaze;
And some brief folly mix with prudent ways:
At the fit hour ’tis sweet to unbend.[Verum pone moras et studium lucri
nigrorumque memor, dum licet, ignium
misce stultitiam consiliis brevem:
dulce est desipere in loco.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 4, # 12, l. 25ff (4.12.25-28) (13 BC) [tr. Marshall (1908)]
(Source)
Usually subtitled by translators "To Virgil" or "Invitation to Virgil." There has been great controversy amongst scholars whether the Virgil mentioned in the ode refers to the famous poet who composed the Aeneid, among other works. The two knew each other, but that Virgil died in 19 BC. Some suggest this was an older poem of Horace's, finished and inserted into this later, final volume by him.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Think Life is short, forget thy fears,
And eager thoughts of Gain,
Short Folly mix with graver Cares,
'Tis decent sometimes to be vain.
[tr. Creech (1684)]Come, quit those covetous thoughts, those knitted brows,
Think on the last black embers, while you may,
And be for once unwise. When time allows,
'Tis sweet the fool to play.
[tr. Conington (1872)]But lay aside delay, and the desire of gain; and, mindful of the gloomy [funeral] flames, intermix, while you may, your grave studies with a little light gayety: it is delightful to give a loose on a proper occasion.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]To the winds with base lucre and pale melancholy ! --
In the flames of the pyre these, alas! will be vain,
Mix your sage ruminations with glimpses of folly, --
'T is delightful at times to be somewhat insane!
[tr. Martin (1864)]But put aside delays and care of gain,
Warned, while yet time, by the dark death-fires; mix
With thought brief thoughtlessness; to be unwise
In time and place is sweet.
[tr. Bulwer-Lytton (1870)]Then lay aside delays, pursuit of gain, and, mindful fo the funeral pyre, intermix, while it is permitted, a temporary foolishness with thy worldly plans. There is pleasure in indulging in folly on special occasions.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]Quick! ere the lurid death-fire's day,
Drive thou the lust of gain away!
Thy wisdom with unwisdom grace:
'Tis well to rave, in time and place.
[tr. Gladstone (1894)]Come! a truce to delay, and the desire of gain!
And, all mindful, in time, of the dark fun'ral fires.
Mingle with your grave plans some little folly's fling,
Sweet is folly at fitting times.
[tr. Phelps (1897)]Mingle a little folly with your wisdom; a little nonsense now and then is pleasant.
[Source (1908)]But put aside delay and thirst for gain, and, mindful of Death’s dark fires, mingle, while thou mayst, brief folly with thy wisdom. ’Tis sweet at the fitting time to cast serious thoughts aside.
[tr. Bennett (Loeb) (1912), "The Delights of Spring"]Quick, quit your usury. Time is fleet.
Think, while you may, of funeral flames,
And blend brief folly with your aims;
Folly, in folly's hour, is sweet.
[tr. Mills (1924)]Then come at once and pause for breath
In chasing wealth. Remembering death
And death's dark fires, mix, while you may,
Method and madness, work and play.
Folly is sweet, well-timed.
[tr. Michie (1963)]Don’t linger, don’t stop to be sensible,
Let a little folly mix with your wisdom,
Be aware of death’s dark fires:
Frivolity is sweet, in season.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]And, heedful of death's black fire, consent for a while
To mix a little pleasure in with your prudence.
It's right to be foolish when the time is right.
[tr. Ferry (1997)]Be mindful, while you may,
of black-smoked funeral pyres
and blend a bit of folly with your wisdom.
O it is sweet at the proper time
to play the fool!
[tr. Alexander (1999)]But abolish delay, and desire for profit,
and, remembering death’s sombre flames, while you can,
mix a little brief foolishness with your wisdom:
it’s sweet sometimes to play the fool.
[tr. Kline (2015), "Spring"]
Roald Dahl had Willy Wonka use the thematically similar line "A little nonsense now and then / Is relished by the wisest men" in both his screenplay for the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) and in the book Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. For more information in this variant and its possible origins, see Quote Origin: A Little Nonsense Now and Then is Relished by the Wisest Men – Quote Investigator®.
As dark misery settles down on us, and our refuges of lies fall in pieces one after one, the hearts of men, now at last serious, will turn to refuges of truth. The eternal stars shine out again, so soon as it is dark enough.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Past and Present, Book 4, ch. 8 “The Didactic” (1843)
(Source)
More discussion of this imagery and quotation here: Quote Origin: The Eternal Stars Shine Out Again, So Soon As It Is Dark Enough – Quote Investigator®.
We are bound in honor to refuse to listen to those men who would make us desist from the effort to do away with the inequality which means injustice; the inequality of right, of opportunity, of privilege. We are bound in honor to strive to bring ever nearer the day when, as far as is humanly possible, we shall be able to realize the ideal that each man shall have an equal opportunity to show the stuff that is in him by the way in which he renders service.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)
Those who go forth to the battle never return without holes in their ranks, like gaping wounds. Pity of all pities that those who lead never learn, and the few wise men among those who follow never quite avail to teach. But faith given and allegiance pledged are stronger than fear, thought Cadfael, and that, perhaps, is virtue, even in the teeth of death. Death, after all, is the common expectation from birth. Neither heroes nor cowards can escape it.
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
Dead Man’s Ransom, ch. 1 (1984)
(Source)
On return of Shrewsbury's troops after fighting battles for King Stephen against the Earls of Chester and Lincoln.
After a man gits to be 38 years old he kant form enny new habits mutch, the best he kan do is steer hiz old ones.
[Affter a man gets to be 38 years old he can’t form any new habits much; the bet he can do is steer his old ones.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 6 “Pets” (1874)
(Source)
It’s not so easy to go on to the balcony unless of course that’s what you want. As it turned out, that isn’t what I want. The great terror of public speaking is that you begin to listen to yourself. By and by, since you are always telling people what to think, you begin to forget what you do to think. And the moment that happens, of course, it’s over. It’s over.
James Baldwin (1924-1987) American novelist, playwright, activist
Interview (1965-07), “Race, Hate, Sex, and Colour: A Conversation,” with Colin MacInnes and James Mossman, Encounter, BBC Two TV
(Source)
On fame and the increased calls for him to speak and lecture rather than write.
Transcribed in Vol. 25, issue 1 of Encounter magazine (1965-07). I cannot narrow down if it was the episode on 8 or 22 July. (Some sources suggest the 18 February episode; the July date may just come from the magazine version.)
The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)
(Source)
Nothing incites to money-crimes like great poverty or great wealth.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Quoted in Merle Johnson, ed., More Maxims of Mark (1927)
(Source)
Not found in a primary source. Johnson's 1927 work is a 15-page pamphlet, generally considered authentic.
It seems as though nations love perils, and when they have none, they create them.
[Il semble que les peuples aiment les périls, et que lorsqu’ils en manquent, ils s’en créent.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 16 “Des Mœurs publiques et privées; du Caractère des Nations [On Morality and the Character of Nations],” ¶ 57 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 15, ¶ 26]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translation:It seems to me that nations love dangers, and when there are none to be found create them to fill the want.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 15]
MALEFACTOR, n. The chief factor in the progress of the human race.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Malefactor,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1904-08-06) and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1904-08-19).
Kindness is not a bad religion, no matter what name you use for God.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
An Altar in the World, ch. 7 (2009)
(Source)
PETER: You just think lovely wonderful thoughts and they lift you up in the air.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 1 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
In Barrie's novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 3 "Come Away, Come Away!" (1911), Peter uses the same words.
ELECTRA: Onward, O labouring tread,
As on move the years;
Onward amid thy tears,
O happier dead![ἨΛΈΚΤΡΑ: σύντειν᾽ — ὥρα — ποδὸς ὁρμάν: ὤ,
ἔμβα, ἔμβα κατακλαίουσα:
ἰώ μοί μοι.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Electra [Ἠλέκτρα], l. 112ff, Strophe 1 (c. 420 BC) [tr. Murray (1905)]
(Source)
Early introduction, mourning her situation as exiled child of the dead Agamemnon and her hated mother, Clytemnestra.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Haste, for the time admits not of delay.
My gentle comrades hither haste
And shed, O shed the sympathetic tear.
Ah me!
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Hasten your step, it is time; go onward, onward, weeping! Ah me!
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Hasten on the course of my foot, O hour; O, go thou on, go on, weeping. Alas! for me, for me.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Bestir thou, for time presses, thy foot's speed;
Haste onward, weeping bitterly.
I am his child, am Agamemnon's seed, --
Alas for me, for me!
[tr. Way (1896)]Come, girl, move! Move on to the beat of your rushing tears!
[tr. Theodoridis (2006)]You must step quickly now --
it’s time to move -- keep going,
lamenting as you go.
Alas for me! Yes, for me!
[tr. Johnston (2009)]Quicken the move of your foot with song
Walk on, walk on in tears.
Ah, my life.
[tr. @sentantiq (2020)]
Tragedy in the theater has the great moral inconvenience of putting too much importance in life and death.
[Le Théâtre tragique a le grand inconvénient moral de mettre trop d’importance à la vie et à la mort.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 79 (1795) [tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:The tragic drama has the great moral drawback of attaching too high an importance to life and death.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902), "The Cynic's Breviary"]There is one great objection to the tragic Drama, it attaches too importance to life and death.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]Tragic drama has the great moral disadvantage of attaching too much importance to life and death.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]The tragic theatre suffers from the great moral disadvantage of attaching too much importance to life and death.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]Tragic drama has the great ethical flaw of attaching too much importance to life and death.
[tr. Dusinberre (1992)]Tragedies suffer from the moral defect of attaching too great an importance to life and death.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶66]
A person is not a democrat thanks to his ignorance of literature and the arts, nor an elitist because he or she has cultivated them. The possession of knowledge makes for unjust power over others only if used for that very purpose: a physician or lawyer or clergyman can exploit or humiliate others, or he can be a humanitarian and a benefactor. In any case, it is absurd to conjure up behind anybody who exploits his educated status the existence of an “elite” scheming to oppress the rest of us.
Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) French-American historian, educator, polymath
Essay (1989), “Exeunt the Humanities,” The Culture We Deserve
(Source)
An earlier version of this essay appeared as "This Business of the Humanities," Three Talks by Jacques Barzun, Northern Kentucky University (1980).
His motives were outrage that had become a habit of mind, the bitterness in his heart, a deep sense of the iniquities he had suffered, the impulse to react, even against the good, the innocent and the just, if there be any. The point of departure and of arrival in all his thinking was his hatred of human law; a hatred that if not arrested in its development by some providential occurrence becomes within a given time hatred of society, then hatred of the human race, then hatred of creation, as is reflected in an ill-defined, constant and brutal desire to inflict harm on no matter whom, on any living creature.
[Il avait pour mobiles l’indignation habituelle, l’amertume de l’âme, le profond sentiment des iniquités subies, la réaction, même contre les bons, les innocents et les justes, s’il y en a. Le point de départ comme le point d’arrivée de toutes ses pensées était la haine de la loi humaine ; cette haine qui, si elle n’est arrêtée dans son développement par quelque incident providentiel, devient, dans un temps donné, la haine de la société, puis la haine du genre humain, puis la haine de la création, et se traduit par un vague et incessant et brutal désir de nuire, n’importe à qui, à un être vivant quelconque.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 1 “Fantine,” Book 2 “The Fall,” ch. 7 (1.2.7) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]
(Source)
Describing Jean Valjean, "a highly dangerous man," after his parole.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:He had as motives, habitual indignation, bitterness of soul, a deep sense of injuries suffered, a reaction even against the good, the innocent, and the upright, if any such there are. The beginning as well as the end of all his thoughts was hatred of human law; that hatred which, if it be not checked in its growth by some providential event, becomes, in a certain time, hatred of society, then hatred of the human race, and then hatred of creation, and reveals itself by a vague and incessant desire to injure some living being, it matters not who.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]He had for his motives habitual indignation, bitterness of soul, the profound feeling of iniquities endured, and reaction even against the good, the innocent, and the just, if such exist. The starting-point, like the goal, of all his thoughts was hatred of human law; that hatred, which, if it be not arrested in its development by some providential incident, becomes within a given time a hatred of society, then a hatred of the human race, next a hatred of creation, and is expressed by a vague, incessant, and brutal desire to injure some one, no matter whom.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]He had for moving causes his habitual wrath, bitterness of soul, a profound sense of indignities suffered, the reaction even against the good, the innocent, and the just, if there are any such. The point of departure, like the point of arrival, for all his thoughts, was hatred of human law; that hatred which, if it be not arrested in its development by some providential incident, becomes, within a given time, the hatred of society, then the hatred of the human race, then the hatred of creation, and which manifests itself by a vague, incessant, and brutal desire to do harm to some living being, no matter whom.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]His impulses were governed by resentment, bitterness and a profound sense of injury which might vent itself even upon good and innocent people, if any such came his way. The beginning and the end of all his thought was hatred of human laws: a hatred which, if some providential happening does not arrest its growth, may swell in time into a hatred of all society, all mankind, all created things, becoming a savage and obsessive desire to inflict harm on no matter what or whom.
[tr. Denny (1976)]As motives, he had habitual indignation, bitterness, a deep sense of injury, a reaction even against the good, the innocent, and the upright, in the unlikely event he encountered them. The beginning and end of all his thoughts was hatred of human law; that hatred which, if not checked in its growth by some providential event, becomes in time a hatred of society, then hatred of the human race, then hatred of creation, revealing itself by a vague, incessant desire to injure some living being, no matter who.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
The buttonwood throws off its bark in large flakes, which one may find lying at its foot, pushed out, and at last pushed off, by that tranquil movement from beneath, which is too slow to be seen, but too powerful to be arrested. One finds them always, but one rarely sees them fall. So it is our youth drops from us, — scales off, sapless and lifeless, and lays bare the tender and immature fresh growth of old age. Looked at collectively, the changes of old age appear as a series of personal insults and indignities, terminating at last in death.
World War I is much more typical of the wars of history than World War II — the kind of war you look back afterward and say, “What the hell were we fighting for? Why did all these millions of people have to die? Was it really worth it to get rid of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, that we wiped out an entire generation, and tore up half the continent? Was the War of 1812 worth fighting? The Spanish-American War? What the hell were these people fighting for?”
George R. R. Martin (b. 1948) American author and screenwriter [George Raymond Richard Martin]
Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone
(Source)
Just as dyed hair makes older men less attractive, it is what you do to hide your weaknesses that makes them repugnant.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Ethics” (2010)
(Source)
Experience has no text books nor proxies. She demands that her pupils answer to her roll-call personally.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
(Source)
When a society abandons its ideals just because most people can’t live up to them, behavior gets very ugly indeed.
The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. 19 [Lord Harry] (1891)
(Source)
I will tell you my rule. Talk about those subjects you have had long in your mind, and listen to what others say about subjects you have studied but recently. Knowledge and timber shouldn’t be much used till they are seasoned.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1858-04), “Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly
(Source)
Collected in Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, ch. 6 (1858).
The war that Tolkien wrote about was a war for the fate of civilization and the future of humanity, and that’s become the template. I’m not sure that it’s a good template, though. The Tolkien model led generations of fantasy writers to produce these endless series of dark lords and their evil minions who are all very ugly and wear black clothes. But the vast majority of wars throughout history are not like that.
George R. R. Martin (b. 1948) American author and screenwriter [George Raymond Richard Martin]
Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone
(Source)
People are much less interested in what you are trying to show them than in what you are trying to hide.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Preludes” (2010)
(Source)
A witticism is that clever thing you wish you had said, not listened to.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
(Source)
Adorable children are considered to be the general property of the human race. (Rude children belong strictly to their mothers.)
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners’ Guide to Rearing Perfect Children, ch. 2 “The Nursery,” “Crade Courtesy” (1984)
(Source)
MALCOLM: Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief
Convert to anger. Blunt not the heart; enrage it.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 4, sc. 3, l. 268ff (4.3.268-269) (1606)
(Source)
To Macduff, after Macbeth's killers have murdered Macduff's family.
When Allah mixed my clay, He knew full well
My future acts, and could each one foretell;
Without His will no act of mine was wrought;
Is it then just to punish me in hell?Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Cal. # 26 [tr. Whinfield (1883), # 100]
(Source)
This quatrain is in the Calcutta manuscript, but not the Bodleian.
Alternate translations:What! out of senseless Nothing to provoke
A conscious Something to resent the yoke
Of unpermitted Pleasure, under pain
Of Everlasting Penalties, if broke!
[tr. FitzGerald, 2nd ed. (1868), # 84; # 78 for 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions]When God built up my body out of clay, he knew beforehand the fruit of all my deeds. It is not in defiance of his will that I a sinner have sinned. Why then for me does nether hell await?
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 112]When Allah mixed my clay, He knew full well
My future acts, and could each one foretell;
'Twas he who did my sins predestinate,
Yet thinks it just to punish me in hell.
[tr. Whinfield (1882), # 46]'Twas Allah who engraved upon my Clay
The Laws I was thereafter to obey,
And will He cast me into Raging Fire,
Because my Actions answer to His Sway?
[tr. Garner (1887), 4.5]Almighty Potter, on whose wheel of blue
The world is fashioned and is broken too,
Why to the race of men is heaven so dire?
In what, O wheel, have I offended you?
[tr. Le Gallienne (1897)]God, when He mixed and moulded our being's clay,
Had e'en foreknowledge of all we should do and say;
Without His order no sin of mine was aye;
Then why should He doom me to burn on the Judgment Day?
[tr. Payne (1898), # 190]God, when he fashioned the clay of my body
Knew by my making what would come from it
(Since) there is no sin of mine without his knowledge
Why should he seek to burn me at the day of resurrection?
[tr. Heron-Allen (1897), "# 26=85" Calcutta]God, when he fashioned the clay of my body,
Knew by my making what would come of it;
(Since) there is no sin of mine without his order
Why should he seek to burn me at the Day of Resurrection?
[tr. Heron-Allen (1899), #78a, Calcutta]When God of our existence shaped the clay.
He knew our actions would be as His sway;
Without His mandate was no sin of mine,
Then why doom me to burn on Judgment Day?
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 148]When, bending low, God moulded me from clay,
Incontrovertibly my life was ordered:
Without his order I abstain from crime.
Why should I burn, then, on His Judgement Day?
[tr. Graves & Ali-Shah (1967), # 82]
The individualism which finds its expression in the abuse of physical force is checked very early in the growth of civilization, and we of to-day should in our turn strive to shackle or destroy that individualism which triumphs by greed and cunning, which exploits the weak by craft instead of ruling them by brutality.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)
How can there be any remedy in insurrection? It is a mere announcement of the disease, — visible now even to sons of Night. Insurrection usually gains little; usually wastes how much. One of its worst kinds of waste, to say nothing of the rest, is that of irritating and exasperating men against each other, by violence done, which is always sure to be injustice done; for violence does even justice unjustly.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Past and Present, Book 1, ch. 3 “Manchester Insurrection” (1843)
(Source)
“She chose her way and it’s taken her far out of reach of man’s mercy, if ever she’d lived to face trial. And now, I suppose,” he said, seeing his friend’s face still thoughtful and undismayed, “you will tell me roundly that God’s reach is longer than man’s.”
“It had better be,” said Brother Cadfael very solemnly, “otherwise we are all lost.”Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
The Sanctuary Sparrow, ch. 14 (1983)
(Source)
Concluding words of the book.
Philosophy iz a fust rate thing to hav, but yu kant alleviate the gout with it, unless the gout happens to be on sum other phellow.
[Philosophy is a first rate thing to have, but you can’t alleviate the gout with it, unless the gout happens to be on some other fellow.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 2 “Grand Pa” (1874)
(Source)
There are no ugly Loves, nor handsome Prisons.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)
(Source)
Nothing I had written before “Mary Poppins” had anything to do with children, and I have always assumed, when I thought about it at all, that she had come out of the same well of nothingness as the poetry, myth and legend that had absorbed me all my writing life. If I had been told while I was working on the book that I was doing it for children, I think I would have been terrified.
P. L. Travers (1899-1996) Australian-British writer [Pamela Lyndon Travers; b. Helen Lyndon Goff]
Essay (1978-07-02), “I Never Wrote for Children,” New York Times
(Source)
JEFF: I mean, where exactly do you take your socks off? My advice is to get them off right after your shoes and before your trousers… that’s the sock gap. Miss it and suddenly you’re a naked man in socks. No self-respecting woman with let a naked man in socks do the squelchy with her.
PATRICK: That’s your foreplay tip? Socks?
JEFF: Many men have fallen through the sock gap, Patrick. Under the sexual arena of earthly delight, there lurks a deadly pit of socks.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, 01×02 “Size Matters” (2000-05-19)
(Source)
If any solace, any joy may fall,
Calvus, to silent sepulchres through tears,
When the lost love regretful we recall
And weep the parted friend of early years,
Then, sure, Quintilia is not wholly sad,
Untimely lost: your love has made her glad.[Si quicquam mutis gratum acceptumve sepulcris
accidere a nostro, Calve, dolore potest,
quo desiderio veteres renovamus amores
atque olim junctas flemus amicitias,
certe non tanto mors immatura dolori est
Quintiliae, quantum gaudet amore tuo.]Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC) Latin poet [Gaius Valerius Catullus]
Carmina # 96 [tr. MacNaghten (1925), “On the Death of Quintilia, Wife of Calvus”]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:If ever to the dumb, sepulcrhal urn
The tribute of a tear could grateful prove;
What timne each recollected scene we mourn,
Each deed of ancient friendship, and of love:
Less sure, fond youth, must thy Quintilia grieve
That she by death's cold hand untimely fell;
Than joys her parted spirit to perceive
How much her Calvus lov'd her, and how well!
[tr. Nott (1795), # 91 "To Calvus, on Quintilia]Calvus, if any joy from mortal tears
Can touch the feelings of the silent dead;
When dwells regret on loves of former years,
Or weeps o'er friendships that have long been fled,
Oh! then far less will be Quintilia's woe
At early death and fate's severe decree,
Than the pure pleasure she will feel to know
How well, how truly she was loved by thee!
[tr. Lamb (1821), # 90 "To Calvus, on the Death of Quintilia"]Calvus, if those now silent in the tomb
Can feel the touch of pleasure in our tears,
For those we loved, who perished in their bloom,
And the departed friends of former years;
Oh, then, full surely thy Quinctilia's woe,
For the untimely fate that bade ye part,
Will fade before the bliss she feels ot know,
How every dear she is unto thy heart!
[tr. T. Martin (1861), "To Calvus"]Calvus! if from our grief aught can accrue
The silent dead to solace or to cheer,
When fond regret broods o'er old loves anew,
And o'er lost friendships sheds the bitter tear
Oh ! then her grief at death's untimely blow
To thy Quintilia; far, far less must prove
Than the pure joy her soul must feel, to know
Thy true, unchanging, ever-during love.
[tr. Cranstoun (1867), "To Calvus, on teh Death of Quintilia"]If to the silent dead aught sweet or tender ariseth,
Calvus, of our dim grief's common humanity born;
When to a love long cold some pensive pity recalls us,
When for a friend long lost wakes some unhappy regret;
Not so deeply, be sure, Quintilia's early departing
Grieves her, as in thy love dureth a plenary joy.
[tr. Ellis (1871)]If to the dumb deaf tomb can aught or grateful or pleasing
(Calvus!) ever accrue rising from out of our dule,
Wherewith yearning desire renews our loves in the bygone,
And for long friendships lost many a tear must be shed;
Certès, never so much for doom of premature death-day
Must thy Quintilia mourn as she is joyed by thy love.
[tr. Burton (1893) "To Calvus anent Dead Quintilia"]Calvus, if anything pleasing or welcome from our grief can have an effect on silent graves, then with its longing we renew old loves and weep friendships once lost, surely Quintilia does not mourn her premature death as much as she rejoices in your love.
[tr. Smithers (1894)]If living sorrows any boon
Unto the silent grave can give,
When sad remembrances revive
Old loves and friendships fugitive,
She sorrows less she died so soon
Than joys your love is still alive.
[tr. Symons (c. 1900)]If the silent grave can receive any pleasure, or sweetness at all from our grief, Calvus, the grief and regret with which we renew our old loves, and weep for long lost friendships, surely Quintilia feels less sorrow for her too early death, than pleasure from your love.
[tr. Warre Cornish (1904)]If our grief, Calvus, can give any pleasure or consolation to the buried dead, and the yearning with which we re-enkindle old loves, and weep lost friends; then surely Quintilia; must feel less sorrow for her untimely end than joy in your love
[tr. Stuttaford (1912)]If the silent grave can receive any pleasure, or sweetness at all from our grief, Calvus, the grief and regret with which we make our old loves live again, and weep for long-lost friendships, surely Quintilia feels less sorrow for her too early death, than pleasure from your love.
[tr. Warre Cornish (Loeb) (1913)]If into the silent tomb can steal
Some tenderness, some thought devine,
If aught from this life the dead can feel,
Then, Calvus, be this solace thine.
When we mourn old friends with longing heart;
For dear dead loves in anguish cry,
Oh, there, do they feel the hot tears start,
Touched by a love that cannot die?
If this be, Calvus, thy sweet girl wife.
There in the tomb shall less grief know
For her spring time lost, her broken life,
Than joy in thy love that loved her so.
[tr. Stewart (1915)]If yearning grief can pierce the tomb,
Reach silent souls and cheer their gloom,
When, Calvus, we lost loves regret,
And mourn the dear we ne'er forget,
Quintilia'll cease her death to rue,
For joy she's proved your love so true.
[tr. Symons-Jeune (1923), "To Calvus on Quintilia"]If from our anguish to the voiceless tomb
Some meed of pleasure and of joy may come
When we recall the love we felt of yore
And the dear face whom now we see no more,
Then know thy sorrow gives thy wife beneath
A joy surpassing all the pains of death.
[tr. Wright (1926), "To Calvus on the Death of His Wife Quintilia"]If anything can pierce impenetrable earth and echo in the silence
of the grave, my Calvus, it is our sad memory
of those we love. (Our longing for them makes them bloom again,
quickened with love and friendship,
even though they left us long ago, heavy with tears).
Surely, yur Quintilia now no longer cries against powerful death
(who had taken her away from you too soon and she was gone).
Look, she is radiant, fixed in your mind, happy forever.
[tr. Gregory (1931)]If those in their silent graves can receive any pleasure or comfort at all, Calvus, from our lamenting, from that desire which we rekindle former affections and weep for friendships we long ago surrendered, then surely her premature death brings less grief than joy to Quintilia, whom you continue to cherish.
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]If anything from our grief, can reach beyond
the mute grave, Calvus, and be pleasing and welcome,
grief with which, in longing, we revive our lost loves,
and weep for vanished friendships once known,
surely Quintilia’s not so much sad for her early death,
as joyful for your love.
[tr. Kline (2001), "Beyond The Grave: to Gaius Licinius Calvus"]If anything pleasant or welcome, Calvus, can befall the mute sepulchre in consequence of our grief, from the yearning with which we renew our ancient passions and weep for friendships long since cast away, surely it's not so much grief that's felt by Quintilia at her premature death , as joyfulness in your love.
[tr. Green (2005)]If anything pleasing or acceptable to silent sepulchers
is able to be done by our grief, Calvus,
by this longing we renew old loves
and we lament once sent away friendships.
Certainly a premature death is not of such sadness
to Quintilia, so much as she rejoices in your love.
[tr. Wikisource (2018)]If anything dear and welcome can happen in mute graves
Because of our sadness, Calvus,
Because of that longing by which we renew old loves
And by which we weep for friendships formed long ago,
Surely Quintilia isn’t saddened by her untimely death,
But rather, she’s gladdened by your love.
[tr. Benn (2022)]
Look to the Great Eternal Cause
And not to any man, for light.
Look in; and learn the wrong, and right,
From your own soul’s unwritten laws.
And when you question, or demur,
Let Love be your Interpreter.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“Assistance,” l. 9ff, New Thought Pastels (1906)
(Source)
In teaching thy Child, rather dally with him, than terrify him: for no Art or Science entereth kindly into the Mind, that is driven in forcibly.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 1181 (1725)
(Source)
In teaching thy Child, rather dally with him, than terrify him: for no Art or Science entereth kindly into the Mind, that is driven in forcibly.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 1181 (1725)
(Source)
MORE: I do none harm, I say none harm, I think none harm. And if this be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith I long not to live.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
A Man for All Seasons, play, Act 2 (1960)
(Source)
After he has been condemned, speaking his mind about the Supremacy Act, but denying any malice.The 1966 film adaptation uses the same language.
Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love, and to be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence. If I lived under the burning sun of the equator, it would be a pleasure to me to think that there were many human beings on the other side of the world who regarded and respected me; I could and would not live if I were alone upon the earth, and cut off from the remembrance of my fellow-creatures. It is not that a man has occasion often to fall back upon the kindness of his friends; perhaps he may never experience the necessity of doing so; but we are governed by our imaginations, and they stand there as a solid and impregnable bulwark against all the evils of life.
Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by His Daughter, Lady Holland, Vol. 1, ch. 6 (1855)
(Source)
LOQUACITY, n. A disorder which renders the sufferer unable to curb his tongue when you wish to talk.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Loquacity,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1888-04-29).
People encounter God under shady oak trees, on riverbanks, at the tops of mountains, and in long stretches of barren wilderness. God shows up in whirlwinds, starry skies, burning bushes, and perfect strangers. When people want to know more about God, the son of God tells them to pay attention to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, to women kneading bread and workers lining up for their pay. Whoever wrote this stuff believed that people could learn as much about the ways of God from paying attention to the world as they could from paying attention to scripture. What is true is what happens, even if what happens is not always right. People can learn as much about the ways of God from business deals gone bad or sparrows falling to the ground as they can from reciting the books of the Bible in order. They can learn as much from a love affair or a wildflower as they can from knowing the Ten Commandments by heart.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
An Altar in the World, ch. 1 (2009)
(Source)
WENDY. Where do you live?
PETER. Second to the right and then straight on till morning.
WENDY. What a funny address!
PETER. No, it isn’t.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 1 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
In Barrie's novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 3 "Come Away, Come Away!" (1911), this is rendered:She asked where he lived.
“Second to the right,” said Peter, “and then straight on till morning.”
“What a funny address!”
Peter had a sinking feeling. For the first time he felt that perhaps it was a funny address.
“No, it isn’t,” he said.
To say this is also to say that the age of ready reference is one in which knowledge inevitably declines into information. The master of so much packaged stuff has less need to grasp context or meaning than his forbears: he can always look it up. His active memory is otherwise engaged anyway, full of the arbitrary names, initials, and code figures essential to carrying on daily life. He can be vague about the rest: he can always check it out.
Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) French-American historian, educator, polymath
Essay (1989), “Look It Up! Check It Out!” The Culture We Deserve
(Source)
An earlier version of this essay was published in The American Scholar (1986, Autumn).
It is characteristic of this form of punishment, inspired by all that is pitiless, that is to say brutalizing, that gradually, by a process of mindless erosion, it turns a man into an animal, sometimes a ferocious one.
[Le propre des peines de cette nature, dans lesquelles domine ce qui est impitoyable, c’est-à-dire ce qui est abrutissant, c’est de transformer peu à peu, par une sorte de transfiguration stupide, un homme en une bête fauve, quelquefois en une bête féroce.]Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 1 “Fantine,” Book 2 “The Fall,” ch. 7 (1.2.7) (1862) [tr. Denny (1976)]
(Source)
On the degradation of Jean Valjean while serving his hard labor sentence.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:The peculiarity of punishment of this kind, in which what is pitiless, that is to say, what is brutalising, predominates, is to transform little by little, by a slow stupefaction, a man into an animal, sometimes into a wild beast.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]The peculiarity of punishments of this nature, in which naught but what is pitiless, that is to say, brutalizing, prevails, is gradually, and by a species of stupid transfiguration, to transform a man into a wild beast, at times a ferocious beast.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]The peculiarity of pains of this nature, in which that which is pitiless -- that is to say, that which is brutalizing -- predominates, is to transform a man, little by little, by a sort of stupid transfiguration, into a wild beast; sometimes into a ferocious beast.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]The peculiarity of punishment of this kind, in which the pitiless or brutalizing part predominates, is to transform gradually by a slow numbing process a man into an animal, sometimes into a wild beast.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]It is in the nature of such punishment -- in which what prevails is the pitiless, in other words, the brutalizing -- to transform a man little by little, by a kind of stupid transfiguration, into a wild beast, sometimes a ferocious beast.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
I won’t say, the more intellect, the less capacity for loving; for that would do wrong to the understanding and reason; — but, on the other hand, that the brain often runs away with the heart’s best blood, which gives the world a few pages of wisdom or sentiment or poetry, instead of making one other heart happy, I have no question.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Article (1858-04), “Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table,” Atlantic Monthly
(Source)
Collected in Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, ch. 6 (1858).
An idea starts to be interesting when you get scared of taking it to its logical conclusion.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Preludes” (2010)
(Source)
I post no possible objection to a man being a fool, if he so desires, but I do protest against his asking me to wear cap and bells in his company.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
(Source)
Precision marching is less important for the bridal party than maintaining the proper facial expressions: The bridegroom must look awed; the bridesmaids, happy and excited; the father of the bride, proud; and the bride, demure. If the bridegroom feels doubtful, the bridesmaids, sulky, the father, worried, and the bride, blasé, nobody wants to know.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners on Painfully Proper Weddings, ch. 1 “General Principles” (1995)
(Source)
Caption for an illustration of the Processional.
Book also titled in later editions Miss Manners on Weddings and Miss Manners' Guide to a Surprisingly Dignified Wedding.
MALCOLM: I think our country sinks beneath the yoke.
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 4, sc. 3, l. 49ff (4.3.49-51) (1606)
(Source)
Speaking with Macduff on the tyranny and bloodshed unleashed by Macbeth.
Shelved rows of books warm and brighten the starkest room, and scattered single volumes reveal mental processes in progress — books in the act of consumption, abandoned but readily resumable, tomorrow or next year. By bedside and easy chair, books promise a cozy, swift, and silent release from this world into another, with no current involved but the free and scarcely detectable crackle of brain cells. For ease of access and storage, books are tough to beat.
John Updike (1932-2009) American writer
Essay (2000-06-18), “Books Unbound, Life Unraveled,” New York Times
(Source)
Collected as "A Case for Books," Due Considerations: Essays and Considerations (2007).
Illustrious deeds, of dazzling brilliance, are represented by politicians as the outcome of great aims, whereas they are usually the result of caprice or passion. Thus the war between Augustus and Antony, though ascribed to their rival ambitions to dominate the world, may have been merely a result of jealousy.
[Ces grandes et éclatantes actions qui éblouissent les yeux sont représentées par les politiques comme les effets des grands desseins, au lieu que ce sont d’ordinaire les effets de l’humeur et des passions. Ainsi la guerre d’Auguste et d’Antoine, qu’on rapporte à l’ambition qu’ils avoient de se rendre maîtres du monde, n’étoit peut-être qu’un effet de jalousie.]François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶7 (1665-1678) [tr. Stevens (1939)]
(Source)
A version of this appeared in the 1st edition (1665). Variants in the 1st edition include starting with Les, not Ces, and speaking of des grands intérêts, not desseins. The 1st edition also was much more assertive that it étoit un effet de jalousie (was a result of jealousy).(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Great and heroick actions which dazle their eyes who consider them, are represented by Politicians, as if they were the effects of great Interests; whereas they are ordinarily the effects of humour and passions. Thus the war between Augustus and Marc Antony, which some imputed to the Ambition they had of aspiring to the Empire of the World, was an effect of their mutual jealousie.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶104]Those great and glorious Actions, that even dazle our Eyes with their Lustre, are represented by Politicians as the result of great Wisdom and excellent design; whereas in truth, they are commonly the effects of Passion and Humour. Thus the War between Augustus and Antony, which is usually thought to proceed from Greatness of Soul, and the Ambition each of them had to become Master of the World, was very probably no more than Envy and Emulation.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶8]Great actions, the lustre of which dazzles us, are represented by politicians as the effects of deep design; whereas they are commonly the effects of caprice and passion. Thus the war between Augustus and Antony, supposed to be owing to their ambition to give a master to the world, arose probably from jealousy.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶10; [ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶7]Great actions, the lustre of which dazzles us, are by politicians represented as the effects of deep design, whereas they are commonly the effects of caprice and passion. Thus the war between Augustus and Anthony, supposed to be owing to the ambition of giving a master to the world, arose probably from jealousy.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶7]Those great and brilliant actions which dazzle our eyes, are represented by politicians as the effects of great designs, instead of which they are commonly the effects of caprice and of the passions. Thus the war between Augustus and Antony, which is attributed to the ambition they had of making themselves masters of the world, was, perhaps, nothing but a result of jealousy.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶8]Great and striking actions which dazzle the eyes are represented by politicians as the effect of great designs, instead of which they are commonly caused by the temper and the passions. Thus the war between Augustus and Anthony, which is set down to the ambition they entertained of making themselves masters of the world, was probably but an effect of jealousy.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶7]Historians would have us believe that the most dazzling deeds are the results of deep-laid plans; more often they are the reuslts of men's moods and passions. Thus the war that Augustus waged against Antony, caused, we are told, by their ambition to be masters of the world, was, perchance, but the outcome of jealousy.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶7]Statesmen will often present those great and striking deeds with which they dazzle our eyes as the outcome of some grand design, whereas in fact they are usually the product of mood and of emotion. Thus the struggle between Augustus and Mark Anthony, portrayed as the result of their conflicting ambition each to become sole master of the world, was perhaps caused simply by mutual jealousy.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶7]Politicians explain great and resplendent deeds that dazzle the eye as born of high purpose, where for the most part they derive from whim or passion. Thus the war between Augustus and Antony, which we ascribe to their equal ambition to rule the world, was no more, perhaps, than the result of jealousy.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶7]Great and glorious events which dazzle the beholder are represented by politicians as the outcome of grand designs, whereas they are usually products of temperaments and passions. Thus the war between ‘Augustus and Antony, attributed to their passion to seize the mastery of the world, was probably nothing more than a result of jealousy.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶7]Those great and brilliant actions that dazzle the eyes of men are represented by politicians as being the effects of great designs; but they are usually the results of temper and the passions. Thus the war between Augustus and Antony, which is supposed to be due to the ambition they both had of making themselves the masters of the world, was perhaps nothing more than an effect of jealousy.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶7]
The sword of God falls neither swift nor slow
Save to those eager to see justice done,
Or who in guilt and fear await the blow.[La spada di qua sù non taglia in fretta
né tardo, ma’ ch’al parer di colui
che disïando o temendo l’aspetta.]Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 3 “Paradiso,” Canto 22 l. 16ff (22.16-18) (1320) [tr. Sayers/Reynolds (1962)]
(Source)
Speaking of the sword of God's judgment, which comes too slowly for the innocent and just, but too quickly for the fearful guilty.
(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:But sooner far,
Indignant Man the fiery lance had hurl'd,
In hasly zeal, to scourge a sinful world,
While guilt presumes that Heav'n the stroke may spare.
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 4]The sword of heav’n is not in haste to smite,
Nor yet doth linger, save unto his seeming,
Who in desire or fear doth look for it.
[tr. Cary (1814)]The sword above is not in haste to cut,
Nor yet delays -- unless till he appear,
Who now expects it in desire or fear.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]The sword above here smiteth not in haste
Nor tardily, howe'er it seem to him
Who fearing or desiring waits for it.
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]The sword of this high place cuts not in haste, nor slow, save to the seeming of him who is awaiting it either in desire or fear.
[tr. Butler (1885)]Neither in haste nor tardily doth sheer
The sword of Heaven, except as he may deem,
Who waits for it with longing or with fear.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]The sword of here on high cuts not in haste, nor slow, save to the seeming of him who, desiring, or fearing, awaits it.
[tr. Norton (1892)]The sword from here above cleaveth not in haste nor tardy, save to his deeming who in longing or in fear awaiteth it.
[tr. Wicksteed (1899)]The sword here above does not strike in haste or tardily, except as it seems to him that awaits it with desire or with fear.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]The sword cuts not in haste which smites from here
On high, nor tarrieth, save as those conceive
Who wait for it in longing or in fear.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]The sword of Heaven is not too soon dyed red,
nor yet too late -- except as its vengeance seems
to those who wait for it in hope or dread.
[tr. Ciardi (1970)]The sword of here on high cuts not in haste
nor tardily, save to his deeming who
in longing or in fear awaits it.
[tr. Singleton (1975)]The sword which strikes from here will never strike
In haste or too late, though it appears so
To those who hanker after it, or fear it.
[tr. Sisson (1981)]The sword that strikes from Heaven's height is neither
hasty nor slow, except as it appears
to him who waits for it -- who longs or fears.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1984)]The sword of Here on High cuts not in haste
nor is it slow -- except as it appears
to those who wait for it in hope or fear.
[tr. Musa (1984)]The sword of heaven never cuts in haste nor late, except as seems to one who awaits it with either desire or fear.
[tr. Durling (2011)]The sword from above does not strike hastily, or reluctantly, except to his perception, who waits for it with longing, or in fear.
[tr. Kline (2002)]That sword raised here will strike, though not in haste,
nor yet too slow, save only in the view
of those who wait in fear or keen desire.
[tr. Kirkpatrick (2007)]The sword of Heaven never cuts in haste
nor in delay, but to the one who waits
in longing or in fear, it well may seem so.
[tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]The sword
Of God, swung from on high, slices neither
Too soon or too late, except in the mind of one
Awaiting death either in fear or desire.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]
That’s the characteristic of our country. We can get all lathering at the time over some political campaign promise, or some conference pledge, but if the thing just drags along long enough we forget what it was that originally promised. The short memories of the American voters is what keeps our politicians in office.
When war begin, then hell openeth.
George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 1141 (1651 ed.)
(Source)
Best seed of gods, best keeper of the race
Of Romulus, thou art too long from home.
Thy word, giv’n in the Senate’s holy place,
Redeem that word, and come.
Restore, good Prince, thy country’s light of day,
For when thy visage dawns, like spring benign,
The hours more smoothly win their gracious way,
The suns more kindly shine.[Divis orte bonis, optume Romulae
custos gentis, abes iam nimium diu;
maturum reditum pollicitus patrum
sancto concilio redi.
lucem redde tuae, dux bone, patriae:
instar veris enim voltus ubi tuus
adfulsit populo, gratior it dies
et soles melius nitent.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 4, # 5, l. 1ff (4.5.1-8) (13 BC) [tr. Gladstone (1894)]
(Source)
First two stanzas of an ode to Augustus, composed after the emperor had been on campaign in Germany and Gaul for 2½ years. The ode continues on lauding him for eight more stanzas. August returned to Rome that year.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Heavens choicest gift, Rome's greatest stay,
Now thou art too too long away:
The holy Senate urge thy word
For soon return, return. Afford,
Like day, thy presence; like the Spring
Give a new life to every thing:
The first, good Prince, our night will chace,
The second will prolong our dayes.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]Great Hero's Son, Rome's gracious Lord,
How long shall we thy absence mourn!
Thy promis'd self at last afford,
Rome's sacred Senate begs: Return.
Great Sir restore your Country light;
When your auspitious beams arise,
Just as in Spring, the Sun's more bright,
And fairer days smile o're the Skys.
[tr. Creech (1684)]Best guardian of Rome's people, dearest boon
Of a kind Heaven, thou lingerest all too long:
Thou bad'st thy senate look to meet thee soon:
Do not thy promise wrong.
Restore, dear chief, the light thou tak'st away:
Ah! when, like spring, that gracious mien of thine
Dawns on thy Rome, more gently glides the day,
And suns serener shine.
[tr. Conington (1872)]O best guardian of the Roman people, born under propitious gods, already art thou too long absent; after having promised a mature arrival to the sacred council of the senators, return. Restore, O excellent chieftain, the light to thy country; for, like the spring, wherever thy countenance has shone, the day passes more agreeably for the people, and the sun has a superior lustre.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]From gods benign descended, thou,
Best guardian of the fates of Rome,
Too long already from thy home
Hast thou, dear chief, been absent now.
Oh, then, return, the pledge redeem
Thou gav'st the Senate, and once more
Its light to all the land restore;
For when thy face, like spring-tide's gleam,
Its brightness on the people sheds,
Then glides the day more sweetly by,
A brighter blue pervades the sky,
The sun a richer radiance spreads!
[tr. Martin (1864)]Best guardian of the race of Romulus,
And sprung thyself from deities benign,
Absent too long, fulfill thy promise, pledged
To Rome's high court -- return.
Bring to thy country back, belovéd chief,
The light: thy looks are to thy people Spring,
And where they smile, more grateful glides the day,
More genial shines the sun.
[tr. Bulwer-Lytton (1870)]Most renowned Guardian of the Roman nation, sprung from the beneficent Gods, thou remainest absent too long. Fulfil thy promise to the Sacred Senate of a speedy return to us.
Restore the light, gracious Commander, to thy country, for when, like Spring, thy countenance has shone on the populace, the day goes round more happily, and the orb of the Sun has greater brilliancy.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]O Thou, sprung from good Gods, best of the Guardians
Of old Romulus' race ; thou art too long away,
After promise of thine, made in the Senators'
Sacred gathering, O return!
Bring back daylight, great chief, now to thy countrymen!
For, like spring's sweet return, when thy glad countenance
On thy people hath shone, days pass more pleasantly,
And the suns have a warmer glow.
[tr. Phelps (1897)]O Thou, arisen through good gods, best guardian of the race
Of Romulus, thine absence now is all too long:
Since to the Fathers' sacred council thou didst promise
Returning prompt -- return.
Restore its light, good leader, to thy fatherland.
For when thy face beams like the face of Spring,
Upon the people, gailier speeds the day.
And better shine the suns.
[tr. Garnsey (1907)]Born under kindly gods, best guardian thou
Of Romulus' race, absent art thou too long!
Promise of swift return thou gave the throng
Of thy high Senate, -- come then, now!
Restore, kind chief, light to this land of thine;
For when, like Spring, thou dost thy face display
For thy folk's joy, more sweetly goes the day,
And the new morns serener shine.
[tr. Marshall (1908)]Sprung from the blessed gods, best guardian of the race of Romulus, too long already art thou absent. Come back, for thou didst pledge a swift return to the sacred council of the Fathers. To thy country give again, blest leader, the light of thy presence ! For when, like spring, thy face has beamed upon the folk, more pleasant runs the day, and brighter shines the sun.
[tr. Bennett (Loeb) (1912)]By grace of kind Gods born, best champion
Of Romulus' race, too long you stay from home;
Upon your promise to return anon
Our sacred Council rests; keep it, and come.
Give to your country back, dear Chief, your light,
For, when upon our folk your face has shone,
Like Spring, the very sunshine seems more bright,
Aye, and more pleasantly the days pass on.
[tr. Mills (1924)]Great guardian of the race of Romulus
Born when the gods were being good to us,
You have been absent now
Too long. You pledged your word
(The august Fathers heard)
To swift home-coming. Honour, then, that vow.
Restore, kind leader, to your countrymen
The light they lack. For like the sunshine when
It's springtime, where your face
Lights on the people, there
The weather turns to fair
And the day travels with a happier pace.
[tr. Michie (1963)]Augustus, born of the gods, Rome's
Best guardian, you've stayed away
Too long. Return, as you promised
Our pious Senate, come swiftly.v O noble prince, light up your country!
Whenever your face, like the Spring,
Shines on your people, that day is better,
That sun shines with more warmth.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]Custodian of the people who descend
From Romulus, the grandsire and the founder
Of the city you ahve promised to return to,
O blessed guardian, shine upon your country.
For then the Roman day will be more pleasant,
The sunlight brighter, then it will be like spring.
[tr. Ferry (1997)]You of divine grace born, you,
best guardian of the Roman people,
too long already have you been absent!
O return to
the sacred counsel to the fathers!
For you have promised us an opportune return.
Come home, auspicious Prince, bring back
the light to your fatherland.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]Son of the blessed gods, and greatest defender
of Romulus’ people, you’ve been away too long:
make that swift return you promised, to the sacred
councils of the City Fathers,
Blessed leader, bring light to your country again:
when your face shines on the people, like the shining
springtime, then the day itself is more welcoming,
and the sun beams down more brightly.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
I believe that the truth about any subject only comes when all sides of the story are put together, and all their different meanings make one new one.
Alice Walker (b. 1944) American writer, activist
“Beyond the Peacock: The Reconstruction of Flannery O’Connor,” In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens (1983)
(Source)
I am a strong individualist by personal habit, inheritance, and conviction; but it is a mere matter of common sense to recognize that the State, the community, the citizens acting together, can do a number of things better than if they were left to individual action.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)
“A fair day’s-wages for a fair day’s-work:” it is as just a demand as Governed men ever made of Governing. It is the everlasting right of man. Indisputable as Gospels, as arithmetical multiplication-tables: it must and will have itself fulfilled.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Past and Present, Book 1, ch. 3 “Manchester Insurrection” (1843)
(Source)
Fear for yourself crushes and compresses you from without, but fear for another is a monster, a ravenous rat gnawing within, eating out your heart.
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
The Sanctuary Sparrow, ch. 5 (1983)
(Source)
Yung phools are comparatiff harmless, it iz the old phools that make most ov the trubble in this world.
[Young fools are comparatively harmless; it is the old fools that make most of the trouble in this world.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 6 “Pets” (1874)
(Source)
You do not chop off a section of your imaginative substance and make a book specifically for children, for — if you are honest — you have no idea where childhood ends and maturity begins. It is all endless and all one.
P. L. Travers (1899-1996) Australian-British writer [Pamela Lyndon Travers; b. Helen Lyndon Goff]
Essay (1978-07-02), “I Never Wrote for Children,” New York Times
(Source)
“I love and hate.” “At once?” you ask, “Now pray explain.”
“I know not how; I feel ’tis so, I’m rent in twain.”[Odi et amo. quare id faciam fortasse requiris
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.]Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC) Latin poet [Gaius Valerius Catullus]
Carmina # 85 [tr. Symons-Jeune (1923)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Tho' I hate, yet I love! -- you'll perhaps ask me, how?
I can't tell; but I'm vext, and feel that I do.
[tr. Nott (1795), # 82 "On His Love"]I hate and love -- ask why -- I can't explain,
I feel 'tis so, and feel it racking pain.
[tr. Lamb (1821), "On His Own Love"]I hate and love -- wherefore I cannot tell,
But by my tortures know the fact too well.
[tr. T. Martin (1861), "Love's Unreason"]I have and love. "Why do I so?"
Perhaps you ask. I can't explain:
The bitter fact I only know,
And torture racks my brain.
[tr. Cranstoun (1867), "On His Love"]Half I hate, half love. How so? one haply requireth.
Nay, I know not; alas feel it, in agony groan.
[tr. Ellis (1871)]Hate I, and love I. Haps thou'lt ask me wherefore I do so.
Wot I not, yet so I do feeling a torture of pain.
[tr. Burton (1893), "How the Poet Loves"]I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you ask. I know not, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.
[tr. Smithers (1894)]I hate and love. Why I do so, perhaps you ask. I know not, but I feel it, and I am in torment.
[tr. Warre Cornish (1904)]I hate and yet I love; perhaps you ask how this can be. I do not know, but that it is so I feel too well, and live in torment.
[tr. Stuttaford (1912)]I hate and love. You question "How?" I lack
An answer, but I feel it on the rack.
[tr. MacNaghten (1925)]I hate and love, nor can the reason tell;
But that I love and hate I know too well.
[tr. Wright (1926), "Odi et Amo"]I hate and love.
And if you ask me why,
I have no answer, but I discern,
can feel, my senses rooted in eternal torture.
[tr. Gregory (1931)]I hate & love. And if you should ask how I can do both,
I couldn't say; but I feel it, and it shivers me.
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]I hate and love. And why, perhaps you’ll ask.
I don’t know: but I feel, and I’m tormented.
[tr. Kline (2001), "Love-Hate"]I hate and love. You wonder, perhaps, why I'd do that?
I have no idea. I just feel it. I am crucified.
[tr. Green (2005)]I hate and I love. How do I do that, perhaps you ask?
I don't know. But I feel it is happening and I am tormented.
[tr. Wikibooks (2017)]I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you ask.
I do not know, but I feel it being done and I am tormented.
[tr. Wikisource (2018)]I hate and I love: you might ask why I do this --
I don’t know, but I see it happen and it’s killing me.
[tr. @sententique (2023)]I hate, I love; I love, I hate.
But why, you ask again.
I don't know if it's fault, or fate,
This such exquisite pain.
[tr. Hill (2024)]
You may choose your word like a connoisseur,
And polish it up with art,
But the word that sways, and stirs, and stays,
Is the word that comes from the heart.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“The Word,” st. 2, New Thought Pastels (1906)
(Source)
It is a mere illusion that, above a certain income, the personal desires will be satisfied and leave a wider margin for the generous impulse.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Familiar Studies of Men and Books, “Henry David Thoreau,” § 2 (1882)
(Source)
Proud purple kings shall kneel before thy throne,
Mix’d with the poor, their pomp, their glory gone:
All vain distinctions levelled by the grave,
Thy righteous sentence shall condemn or save.[Sub tua purpurei venient vestigia reges
deposito luxu turba cum paupere mixti
(omnia mors aequat); tu damnatura nocentes,
tu requiem latura piis.]Claudian (c. AD 370-404) Greco-Latin poet [Claudius Claudianus; Κλαυδιανός]
The Rape of Prosperine [De Raptu Proserpinæ], Book 2, I. 300 (c. AD 396) [tr. Howard (1854)]
(Source)
Pluto reassuring Proserpine that being Queen of the Underworld has its benefits.
Source of the phrase Omnia mors æquat, "Death levels all things" or "Death makes all equal."
(Source (Latin)), Alternate translations:The rich-clad purple kings shall humbly fall
Before thy throne (mixt with the poore) for all
Death equals; thou the guilty and unjust
Shalt judge, with them, the Innocente and Just.
Those shall bewaile their crimes, these shall be blest
By thee, and sent into eternal rest.
[tr. Diggs (1617)]Before thy lofty Throne, the haughty Pride
Of mighty Kings, their Purple laid aside
And Pageantry of State, shall lowly fall,
Mix'd with the poorer Rout, for Death will equal all.
In Judgement thou shalt sit, with Pow'r supreme,
To crown the Pious and the Bad condemn.
[tr. Hughes (1723)]Monarchs shall appear
Before thee, spoil'd of regal ornament,
And undistinguish'd from the vulgar crowd:
Death renders all men equal. Thou shalt judge
The guilty; and thy hand shall give the meed
To virtue.
[tr. Strutt (1814), l. 369ff]To thy feet shall come purple-clothed kings, stripped of their pomp, and mingling with the unmoneyed throng; for death renders all equal. Thou shalt give doom to the guilty and rest to the virtuous.
[tr. Platnauer (Loeb) (1922)]
It is always right that a man should be able to render a reason for the faith that is within him.
Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by His Daughter, Lady Holland, Vol. 1, ch. 3 (1855)
(Source)
LOGIC, n. The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding. The basis of logic is the syllogism, consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion — thus:
Major Premise: Sixty men can do a piece of work sixty times as quickly as one man.
Minor Premise: One man can dig a post-hole in sixty seconds; therefore —
Conclusion: Sixty men can dig a post-hole in one second.
This may be called the syllogism arithmetical, in which, by combining logic and mathematics, we obtain a double certainty and are twice blessed.Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Logic,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1887-09-04).
See Kettering.
To make bread or love, to dig in the earth, to feed an animal or cook for a stranger — these activities require no extensive commentary, no lucid theology. All they require is someone willing to bend, reach, chop, stir. Most of these tasks are so full of pleasure that there is no need to complicate things by calling them holy. And yet these are the same activities that change lives, sometimes all at once and sometimes more slowly, the way dripping water changes stone. In a world where faith is often construed as a way of thinking, bodily practices remind the willing that faith is a way of life,
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
An Altar in the World, Introduction (2009)
(Source)
PETER: Wendy, one girl is worth more than twenty boys.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 1 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
In Barrie's novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 3 "Come Away, Come Away!" (1911), this is rendered:"Wendy," he continued, in a voice that no woman has ever yet been able to resist, “Wendy, one girl is more use than twenty boys.”
CHORUS LEADER: Ah! wine is a terrible foe, hard to wrestle with.
[ΧΟΡΟΣ: δεινὸς γὰρ οἷνος καὶ παλαίεσθαι βαρύς.]
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Cyclops [Κύκλωψ], l. 678ff (c. 424-23 BC) [tr. Coleridge (1913)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:CHORUS: Wine is invincible.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]CYCLOPS: For wine is strong and hard to struggle with.
[tr. Shelley (1824)]CHORUS: Ah, wine’s the chap to trip your legs, I think.
[tr. Way (1916)]CHORUS-LEADER: Yes, wine is a dangerous thing and hard to wrestle against.
[tr. Kovacs (1994)]
Scholarship has yielded to the irresistible pull that science exerts on our minds by its self-confidence and the promise of certified knowledge. But, to repeat, the objects of culture are not analyzable, not graspable by the geometric mind. Great works of art are great by virtue of being syntheses of the world; they qualify as art by fusing form and contents into an indivisible whole; what they offer is not “discourse about,” nor a cipher to be decoded, but a prolonged incitement to finesse. So it is paradoxical that our way of introducing young minds to such works should be the way of scholarship.
Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) French-American historian, educator, polymath
Essay (1989), “Culture High and Dry,” The Culture We Deserve
(Source)
An earlier version of this essay was published as "Scholarship versus Culture," Atlantic Monthly (1984-11).
Have no fear of robbers or murderers. They are external dangers, petty dangers. We should fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the real murderers. The great dangers are within us. Why worry about what threatens our heads or our purses? Let us think instead of what threatens our souls.
[Ne craignons jamais les voleurs ni les meurtriers. Ce sont là les dangers du dehors, les petits dangers. Craignons-nous nous-mêmes. Les préjugés, voilà les voleurs; les vices, voilà les meurtriers. Les grands dangers sont au dedans de nous. Qu’importe ce qui menace notre tête ou notre bourse! Ne songeons qu’à ce qui menace notre âme.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 1 “Fantine,” Book 1 “An Upright Man,” ch. 7 (1.1.7) [Bp. Myriel] (1862) [tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Have no fear of robbers or murderers. Such dangers are without, and are but petty. We should fear ourselves. Prejudices are teh real robbers; vices the real murderers. The great dangers are within us. What mater it what threatens our heads or our purses? Let us think only of what threatens our souls.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]Never let us fear robbers or murderers. These are external and small dangers; let us fear ourselves; prejudices are the real robbers, vices the true murderers. The great dangers are within ourselves. Let us not trouble about what threatens our head or purse, and only think of what threatens our soul.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]Let us never fear robbers nor murderers. Those are dangers from without, petty dangers. Let us fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices are the real murderers. The great dangers lie within ourselves. What matters it what threatens our head or our purse! Let us think only of that which threatens our soul.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]We must never fear robbers or murderers. They are dangers from outside, small dangers. It is ourselves we have to fear. Prejudice is the real robber, and vice the real murderer. Why should we be troubled by a threat to our person or our pocket? What we have to beware of is the threat to our souls.
[tr. Denny (1976)]Never fear robbers or murderers. Thiose are dangers that come from without. Small dangers. Let us fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers. Vices are the real murderers. The great dangers are within us. Never mind what endangers our life or our purse! Let's be mindful only of what endangers our soul.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
Don’t ever think the poetry is dead in an old man because his forehead is wrinkled, or that his manhood has left him when his hand trembles! If they ever were there, they are there still!
The person you are most afraid to contradict is yourself.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Preludes” (2010)
(Source)
If one’s thoughts were written on one’s face, many would need masks.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
(Source)
It doesn’t matter whether the bride or the bridegroom writes the letters of thanks for wedding presents provided that these go out immediately after the arrival of each present and are not in the handwriting of the bride’s mother.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners on Painfully Proper Weddings, ch. 13 “Giving and Receiving Thanks” (1995)
(Source)
Also titled in later editions, Miss Manners on Weddings and Miss Manners' Guide to a Surprisingly Dignified Wedding.
MALCOLM: Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell.
Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace,
Yet grace must still look so.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 4, sc. 3, l. 27ff (4.3.27-30) (1606)
(Source)
Rank without merit earns deference without respect.
[L’importance sans mérite obtient des égards sans estime.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 60 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Eminence without merit earns deference without esteem.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]Being important without merit attracts consideration without esteem.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]
Authors are actors, books are theaters.
Last year we said, Things can’t go on like this,” and they didn’t, they got worse.
Without danger we cannot get beyond danger.
George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 1010 (1640 ed.)
(Source)
Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) Russian-American author, polymath, biochemist
Foundation, Part 4 “The Traders,” ch. 1, epigraph (1951)
(Source)
Motto of Salvor Hardin, as mentioned in the "Traders" entry in the Encyclopedia Galactica.
This part of the book was originally published as "The Wedge," Astounding Science-Fiction (1944-10), where the Salvor Hardin quote alone appears as the epigraph.
ALCESTE: Some men I hate for being rogues; the others
I hate because they treat the rogues like brothers,
And, lacking a virtuous scorn for what is vile,
Receive the villain with a complaisant smile.
[Je hais tous les hommes:
Les uns, parce qu’ils sont méchants et malfaisants,
Et les autres, pour être aux méchants complaisants,
Et n’avoir pas pour eux ces haines vigoureuses
Que doit donner le vice aux âmes vertueuses.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Le Misanthrope, Act 1, sc. 1 (1666) [tr. Wilbur (1954)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:I hate all men: some, because they are wicked and mischievous; others because they lend themselves to the wicked, and have not that healthy contempt with which vice ought to inspire all virtuous minds.
[tr. Van Laun (1878)]I hate all men -- some because they are wicked and mischievous, and others for being complaisant to -- the wicked, and not having that vigorous hatred for them which vice ought to excite in all virtuous minds.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]I hate all men: some because they are wicked and evil-doers; others because they fawn upon the wicked, and dare not show that vigorous hatred which virtuous souls should feel to vice.
[tr. Wormeley (1894)]I hate all men: some, because they are wicked and mischievous; others, because they are lenient towards the wicked, and have not that healthy contempt for them with which vice ought to inspire all honest souls.
[tr. Waller (1903)]I hate all men:
A part, because they’re wicked and do evil;
The rest, because they fawn upon the wicked,
And fail to feel for them that healthy hatred
Which vice should always rouse in virtuous hearts.
[tr. Page (1913)]I detest all men;
Some because they are wicked and do evil,
Others because they tolerate the wicked,
Refusing them the active, vigorous scorn
Which vice should stimulate in virtuous minds.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]I hate all men:
For some are wholly bad in thought and deed;
The others, seeing this, pay little heed;
For they are too indulgent and too nice
To share the hate that virtue has for vice.
[tr. Frame (1967)]
The worth of the ideal must be largely determined by the success with which it can in practice be realized. We should abhor the so-called “practical” men whose practicality assumes the shape of that peculiar baseness which finds its expression in disbelief in morality and decency, in disregard of high standards of living and conduct. Such a creature is the worst enemy of the body politic. But only less desirable as a citizen is his nominal opponent and real ally, the man of fantastic vision who makes the impossible better forever the enemy of the possible good.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)
In brief, all this Mammon-Gospel, of Supply-and-demand, Competition, Laissez-faire, and Devil take the hindmost, begins to be one of the shabbiest Gospels ever preached on Earth; or altogether the shabbiest.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Past and Present, Book 3, ch. 9 “Working Aristocracy” (1843)
(Source)
The trouble with me, he thought unhappily, is that I have been about the world long enough to know that God’s plans for us, however infallibly good, may not take the form that we expect and demand.
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
One Corpse Too Many, ch. 12 (1979)
(Source)
He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that composes books.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)
(Source)
Conflict acting on intelligence creates imagination. Faced with conflict, creatures are forced to imagine what will happen, where the next threat will come from. If there has never been conflict, imagination never develops. Wits arise in answer to danger, to pain, to tragedy. No one ever got smarter eating easy apples.
‘Tis hard to end a years-long love to-day;
‘Tis hard, achieve it then as best you may;
This victory win, this only safety trust,
Say not you cannot or you can — you must .
[Difficile est longum subito deponere amorem;
Difficile est, verum hoc qua libet efficias.
Una salus haec est, hoc est tibi pervincendum;
Hoc facias, sive id non pote sive pote.]Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC) Latin poet [Gaius Valerius Catullus]
Carmina # 76, ll. 17-20 [tr. MacNaghten (1925)]
(Source)
On the need to break up with unfaithful Lesbia, his longtime love.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:At once to quench an ancient flame, I own,
Is truly hard; but still no efforts spare;
On this thy peace depends, on this alone;
Then possible, or not, o conquer there!
[tr. Nott (1795), # 73 "To Himself"]'Tis hard to lay long-cherish'd love aside;
'Tis hard at once. But 'tis your only plan;
'Tis all your hope. This love must be defied;
Nor think you cannot, but assert you can.
[tr. Lamb (1821), "The Lover's Petition (To Himself)"]'Tis hard at once to fling a love away,
That has been cherish'd with the faith of years.
'Tis hard -- but 'tis thy duty. Come what may,
Crush every record of its joys, its fears!
[tr. T. Martin (1861), "Remorse"]'Tis hard to quench at once a long-nursed love;
'Tis hard -- but do it howsoe'er you may;
It is your only chance -- our courage prove --
Easy or difficult -- you must obey.
[tr. Cranstoun (1867), "To Himself. The Lover's Petition", st. 4]What? it is hard long love so lightly to leave in a moment?
Hard; yet abides this one duty, to do it: obey.
Here lies safety alone, one victory must not fail thee.
One last stake to be lost haply, perhaps to be won.
[tr. Ellis (1871)]Difficult 'tis indeed long Love to depose of a sudden,
Difficult 'tis, yet do e'en as thou deem to be best.
This be thy safe-guard sole; this conquest needs to be conquered;
This thou must do, thus act, whether thou cannot or can.
[tr. Burton (1893), "In Self-Gratulation"]It is difficult suddenly to set aside a love of long standing; it is difficult, this is true, no matter how you do it. This is your one salvation, this you must fight to the finish; you must do it, whether it is possible or impossible.
[tr. Smithers (1894)]'Tis hard to lay aside at will
The love of years, -- and yet, I trow,
What men erewhile have borne may still;
Be borne, though hard, and shall be now.
Borne, ay, and done -- done, whatsoe'er
The pain of doing. Here for me,
Lies the sole refuge from despair,
And the end of all this misery.
[tr. Harman (1897), "The Soliloquy of Catullus"]It is difficult suddenly to lay aside a long-standing love. It is difficult; but you should accomplish it, one way or another. This is the only safety, this you must carry through, this you are to do, whether it is possible or impossible.
[tr. Warre Cornish (1904)]It is not easy, at a moment's notice, to lay aside a life-long love. It is not easy; but yo must do so, what way you can: this is our one salvation and must be attained by you: possible or impossible, do it you must.
[tr. Stuttaford (1912)]It is difficult suddenly to lay aside a long-cherished love. It is difficult; but you should accomplish it, one way or another. This is the only safety, this you must carry through, this you are to do, whether it is possible or impossible.
[tr. Warre Cornish (Loeb) (1913)]What can't be done, I still must do --
Forget, if I would live life through.
[tr. Stewart (1915)]And though 'tis hard to cast a long-worn chain,
Choose any means, but freedom gain.
'Tis safety's only chance, then hold it fast
And do th'impossible at last!
[tr. Symons-Jeune (1923)]Forbear, while heaven frowns, to fume and fret.
Steel your firm courage to escape her sway.
"'Tis hard," you say, "so quickly to forget,"
'Tis hard; but with a will there is a way.
Here is your chance: this victory you must win:
Whether you can nor no, the attempt begin.
[tr. Wright (1926), "The Poet's Prayer"]For it is hard, hard to throw aside years lived in poisonous love that has tainted your brain
and must end.
If this seems impossible now, you must rise
to salvation.
[tr. Gregory (1931)]It's hard to break off with someone you've loved such a long time:
it's hard, but you have to do it, somehow or another.
Your only chance is to get out from under this sickness,
no matter whether or not you think you're able.
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]It’s difficult to suddenly let go of a former love,
it’s difficult, but it would gratify you to do it:
That’s your one salvation. That’s for you to prove,
for you to try, whether you can or not.
[tr. Kline (2001), "Past Kindness: to the Gods"]It is difficult to suddenly put down a long love
It is difficult, but you should do this in whatever way is pleasing
This is the one safety this must be overcome by you
Do this whether it is possible or not possible
[tr. Wikibooks (2017)]It is difficult to suddenly put away a long love
It is difficult, but you must effect this in some way or other:
it is the one salvation, this must be conquered by you
You must do this, whether it is impossible or possible.
[tr. Wikisource (2018)]
Hell is wherever Love is not, and Heaven
Is Love’s location. No dogmatic creed,
No austere faith based on ignoble fear
Can lead thee into realms of joy and peace.
Unless the humblest creatures on the earth
Are bettered by thy loving sympathy
Think not to find a Paradise beyond.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“The Way,” ll. 5-11 (1913), Poems of Progress and New Thought Pastels (1913)
(Source)
To this cause of the unpopularity of sermons may be added the extremely ungraceful manner in which they are delivered. The English, generally remarkable for doing very good things in a very bad manner, seem to have reserved the maturity and plenitude of their awkwardness for the pulpit.
Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by His Daughter, Lady Holland, Vol. 1, ch. 3 (1855)
(Source)
LIBERTY, n. One of Imagination’s most precious possessions.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Liberty,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1886-08-14).
Every human interaction offers you the chance to make things better or to make things worse.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
An Altar in the World, ch. 8 (2009)
(Source)
CYCLOPS: Ha! ha! ha! I’m full of wine,
Heavy with the joy divine,
With the young feast oversated;
Like a merchant’s vessel freighted
To the water’s edge, my crop
Is laden to the gullet’s top.
The fresh meadow grass of spring
Tempts me forth thus wandering
To my brothers on the mountains,
Who shall share the wine’s sweet fountains.
Bring the cask, O stranger, bring![ΚΥΚΛΩΨ: παπαπαῖ: πλέως μὲν οἴνου,
γάνυμαι δὲ δαιτὸς ἥβᾳ,
σκάφος ὁλκὰς ὣς γεμισθεὶς
ποτὶ σέλμα γαστρὸς ἄκρας.
ὑπάγει μ᾽ ὁ φόρτος εὔφρων
ἐπὶ κῶμον ἦρος ὥραις
ἐπὶ Κύκλωπας ἀδελφούς.
φέρε μοι, ξεῖνε, φέρ᾽, ἀσκὸν ἔνδος μοι.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Cyclops [Κύκλωψ], l. 503ff (c. 424-23 BC) [tr. Shelley (1824)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:POLYPHEME: Ha! ha! I am replete with wine, the banquet
Hath cheer'd my soul: like a well-freighted ship
My stomach's with abundant viands stow'd
Up to my very chin. This smiling turf
Invites me to partake a vernal feast
With my Cyclopean brothers. Stranger, bring
That vessel from the cave.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]CYCLOPS: Ha! ha! full of wine and merry with a feast's good cheer am I, my hold freighted like a merchant-ship up to my belly's very top. This turf graciously invites me to seek my brother Cyclopes for revel in the spring-tide. Come, stranger, bring the wine-skin hither and hand it over to me.
[tr. Coleridge (1913)]CYCLOPS: Oho! Oho! I am full of good drink,
Full of glee from a good feast’s revel!
I’m a ship that is laden till ready to sink
Right up to my crop’s deck-level!
The jolly spring season is tempting me out
To dance on the meadow-clover
With my Cyclop brothers in revel-rout! --
Here, hand the wine-skin over!
[tr. Way (1916)]CYCLOPS: Ooh la la! I'm loaded up with wine, my heart skips with the cheer of the feast. My hull is full right up to the top-deck of my belly. This cheerful cargo brings me out to revel, in the springtime, to the houses of my brother Cyclopes. Come now, my friend, come now, give me the wine-skin.
[tr. Kovacs (1994)]
Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
The Canterville Ghost, ch. 5 [The Ghost] (1887)
(Source)
Philosophers no longer write for the intelligent, only for their fellow professionals. The few thousand academic philosophers in the world do not stint themselves: they maintain more than seventy learned journals. But in the handful that cover more than one subdivision of philosophy, any given philosopher can hardly follow more than one or two articles in each issue. This hermetic condition is attributed to “technical problems” in the subject. Since William James, Russell, and Whitehead, philosophy, like history, has been confiscated by scholarship and locked away from the contamination of general use.
Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) French-American historian, educator, polymath
Essay (1989), “Culture High and Dry,” The Culture We Deserve
(Source)
An earlier version of this essay was published as "Scholarship versus Culture," Atlantic Monthly (1984-11).
If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness.
[Cette âme est pleine d’ombre, le péché s’y commet. Le coupable n’est pas celui qui y fait le péché, mais celui qui y a fait l’ombre.]Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 1 “Fantine,” Book 1 “An Upright Man,” ch. 4 (1.1.4) [Bishop Myriel] (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:This soul is full of darkness, and sin is committed, but the guilty person is not the man who commits the sin, but he who produces the darkness.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]This soul is full of shadow; sin is therein committed. The guilty one is not the person who has committed the sin, but the person who has created the shadow.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]The soul in darkness sins, but the real sinner is he who caused the darkness.
[tr. Denny (1976)]If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]In any benighted soul -- that's where sin will be committed. It's not he who commits the sin that's to blame, but he who causes the darkness to prevail.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
Of a hundred people of each of the different leading religious sects, about the same proportion will be safe and pleasant persons to deal and to live with.
If your anger decreases with time, you did injustice; if it increases, you suffered injustice.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Preludes” (2010)
(Source)
It takes not only humor, but sense, to enjoy a satirical story directed toward one’s self.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
(Source)
A small wedding is not necessarily one to which very few people are invited. It is one to which the person you are addressing is not invited.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1991-09-08)
(Source)
Collected in Miss Manners on Painfully Proper Weddings (1995) (also titled in later editions, Miss Manners on Weddings and Miss Manners' Guide to a Surprisingly Dignified Wedding).
LADY MACDUFF:When our actions do not,
Our fears do make us traitors.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 4, sc. 2, l. 4ff (4.2.4-5) (1606)
(Source)
Stupidity would not be totally stupid if it did not go in terror of intelligence. Vice would not be entirely vicious if it did not hate virtue.
[La sottise ne serait pas tout-à-fait la sottise, si elle ne craignait pas l’esprit. Le vice ne serait pas tout-à-fait le vice, s’il ne haïssait pas la vertu.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 2, ¶ 139 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Stupidity would not be absolute stupidity did it not fear intelligence. Vice would not be absolute vice did it not hate virtue.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902), "The Cynic's Breviary"]Folly would not be altogether folly if it were not afraid of wit. Vice; would not be altogether vice if it did not hate virtue.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]
If e’er to worthy’s lot befell
The grievance of a goatish smell;
If e’er poor mortal limp’d about
A martyr to the racking gout;
Your lucky rival, on my oath,
Has got a glorious share of both.
So, oft as with your love he’s lain,
You’ve had your vengeance on the twain
His odour well-nigh chokes the fair,
His gout is more than man can bear.
[Si cui iure bono sacer alarum obstitit hircus,
aut si quem merito tarda podagra secat,
Aemulus iste tuus, qui vestrum exercet amorem,
mirifice est a te nactus utrumque malum.
nam quotiens futuit totiens ulciscitur ambos:
illam adfligit odore, ipse perit podagra.]Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC) Latin poet [Gaius Valerius Catullus]
Carmina # 71 “To Virro” [tr. Cranstoun (1867)]
(Source)
"To Virro" or "To Verro". Not surprisingly, many 19th and early 20th Century translators skip over this one.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:If gouty pangs, or a rank goatish smell,
Did ever with poor mortal justly dwell;
Thy rival, Virro, to console thy care,
Hath got of each disease an ample share:
For, when in hot embrace the lovers burn,
She's choak'd with stench, and he with gout is torn.
[tr. Nott (1795) #68]An of a goat-stink damned from armpits fusty one suffer,
Or if a crippling gout worthily any one rack,
'Tis that rival o' thine who lief in loves of you meddles,
And, by a wondrous fate, gains him the twain of such ills.
For that, oft as he ..., so oft that penance be two-fold;
Stifles her stench of goat, he too is kilt by his gout.
[tr. Burton (1893)]If ever anyone was deservedly cursed with an atrocious goat-stench from armpits, or if limping gout did justly gnaw one, it is your rival, who occupies himself with your love, and who wondrously has obtained each these ills from you. For as often as he takes his pleasure, he just as often takes vengeance on both; herself he prostrates by his stink, he is slain by his gout.
[tr. Smithers (1894)]If there ever was a good fellow afflicted with rankness, or one who was racked for his sins with the gout, your rival who shares your privileges has got both from you to a marvel. Whenever they meet, they both pay dear for it; she is overwhelmed with the gust, he half dead with the gout.
[tr. Warre Cornish (1913)]If ever honest fellow was afflicted
With goatish armpits, or a worthy dame
In all her limbs by gout was held constricted,
Then, my good Virro, Mr. What's his name,
Who shares your mistress with you, now must see
That he in both is made your legatee.
He pays a double price for every bout:
His smell offends her, she gives him her gout.
[tr. Wright (1926)]My friend, your rival (if anyone) deserves the curses that have fallen upon him,
for the smell of a goat leaps from his armpits and he is woe fully lamed by fiery sciatica.
But here's a double miracle: since he has inherited your diseases
when he sleeps with your lady she faints away (killed maybe) by the vicious
goat hidden in his arms, while he, poor bastard, lies impotent, weak with the frantic pain
rising from his sciatica.
[tr. Gregory (1931)]If anyone ever deserved such underarm goatodor
or ever merited gout's terrible swellings,
it's that rival of yours, who's sharing not only your mistress
but -- quite miraculously -- your diseases also!
Whenever he fucks her, both of them suffer your vengeance:
she gets your goat & he's the one that your gout gets.
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]If a goat’s smell under the arms rightly prevents anyone,
or if a slow gout deservedly cripples them,
your rival, who keeps your lover busy,
is discovered by you to be wonderfully sick with both.
Now whenever he fucks her, you’re revenged on the pair:
she’s troubled by the smell, he’s ruined by the gout.
[tr. Kline (2001)]If the damnable goat in the armpits justly hurt anyone,
or limping gout ever rightfully caused pain,
that rival of yours, busy humping your shared lover,
by contracting both maladies wonderfully fits the bill:
Every time that he fucks, he punishes both parties:
the odor sickens her, the gout slays him.
[tr. Green (2005)]
And e’en in this great throe of pain called Life
I find a rapture linked with each despair,
Well worth the price of anguish. I detect
More good than evil in humanity.
Love lights more fires than hate extinguishes,
And men grow better as the world grows old.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“Optimism,” ll. 9-14, Poems of Pleasure (1888)
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We sat in the plane while it slowly sank. Small boats assembled round it and presently we were told to jump into the sea and swim to a boat — which all the people in my part of the plane did. We later learned that all the nineteen passengers in the non-smoking compartment had been killed. When the plane had hit the water a hole had been made in the plane and the water had rushed in. I had told a friend at Oslo who was finding me a place that he must find me a place where I could smoke, remarking jocularly, ‘If I cannot smoke, I shall die’. Unexpectedly, this turned out to be true.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Autobiography, Vol. 3: 1944-1969, ch. 1 “Return to England” (1969)
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On a 1948 seaplane flight he took from Germany to Norway.
ALCESTE: Finding on every hand base flattery,
Injustice, fraud, self-interest, treachery …
Ah, it’s too much; mankind has grown so base,
I mean to break with the whole human race.[Je ne trouve partout que lâche flatterie,
Qu’injustice, intérêt, trahison, fourberie;
Je n’y puis plus tenir, j’enrage, et mon dessein
Est de rompre en visière à tout le genre humain.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Le Misanthrope, Act 1, sc. 1 (1666) [tr. Wilbur (1954)]
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(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Everywhere I find nothing but base flattery, in justice, self-interest, deceit, roguery. I cannot bear it any longer; I am furious; and my intention is to break with all mankind.
[tr. Van Laun (1878)]I find nothing anywhere but base flattery, injustice, interest, treachery, and knavery. I can contain myself no longer; I am. in a rage, and my purpose is to break off all intercourse with all mankind.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]Everywhere I find base flattery, injustice, self-interest, treachery, deceit. I cannot bear it any longer; I am enraged; and my intention is to tell the truth, henceforth, to all the human race.
[tr. Wormeley (1894)]Nothing is to be seen anywhere but base flattery, injustice, self-interest, deceit, roguery. I cannot bear it any longer: I am furious: and it is my intention to break a lance with all mankind.
[tr. Waller (1903)]There's nowhere aught but dastard flattery,
Injustice, treachery, selfishness, deceit;
I can't endure it, I go mad -- and mean
Squarely to break with all the human race.
[tr. Page (1913)]All I see everywhere is flattery,
Injustice, treason, selfishness, deceit.
It makes me furious; I cannot stand it;
I will defy the entire human race.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]Cowardly flattery is all I see,
Injustice, selfishness, fraud, treachery;
I've had my fill; it makes me mad; I plan
To clash head-on with the whole race of man.
[tr. Frame (1967)]
Courage, intellect, all the masterful qualities, serve but to make a man more evil if they are used merely for that man’s own advancement, with brutal indifference to the rights of others. It speaks ill for the community if the community worships these qualities and treats their possessors as heroes regardless of whether the qualities are used rightly or wrongly.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
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Money is miraculous. What miraculous facilities has it yielded, will it yield us; but also what never-imagined confusions, obscurations has it brought in; down almost to total extinction of the moral-sense in large masses of mankind!
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Past and Present, Book 3, ch. 10 “Plugson of Undershot” (1843)
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Both men and women partake of the same human nature, Huw. We both bleed when we’re wounded. That’s a poor, silly woman, true, but we can show plenty of poor, silly men. There are women as strong as any of us, and as able.
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
A Morbid Taste for Bones, ch. 9 [Cadfael] (1977)
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Everything on this earth iz bought and sold, except air and water, and they would be if a kind Creator had not made the supply too grate for the demand.
[Everything on this earth is bought and sold, except air and water, and they would be if a kind Creator had not made the supply too great for the demand.]Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 150 “Affurisms: Parboils” (1874)
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He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)
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There are well-dressed foolish ideas just as there are well-dressed fools.
[Il y a des sottises bien habillées, comme il y a des sots très bien vêtus.]Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 40 (1795) [tr. Hutchinson (1902), “The Cynic’s Breviary”]
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(Source (French)). Alternate translations:There is such a thing as well-clothed foolishness, just as there are certain very well-dressed fools.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]There are presentably dressed follies just as there are well dressed fools.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]There are some well-turned inanities, just as there are very well turned-out fools.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]There is nonsense that is well said, just as there are fools who are very well dressed.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]Foolishness can seem very smart and there are some very smartly dressed fools.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶34]
I have always been — I think any student of history almost inevitably is — a cheerful pessimist.
Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) French-American historian, educator, polymath
Quoted in Thomas Vinciguerra, “Jacques Barzun ’27: Columbia Avatar,” Columbia College Today (2006-01)
(Source)
Barzun is being quoted in this particular instance from an unclear source, possibly the Independent Women's Forum in 2000.
That the sight of people attracts still other people, is something that city planners and city architectural designers seem to find incomprehensible. They operate on the premise that city people seek the sight of emptiness, obvious order and quiet. Nothing could be less true.
Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) American-Canadian journalist, author, urban theorist, activist
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Part 1, ch. 2 (1961)
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Your brain is most intelligent when you don’t instruct it on what to do — something people who take showers discover on occasion.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist.
The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, “Preludes” (2010)
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A wise woman is never passé. She crosses the bridge spanning youth and age with firm step and smiling lips.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1902)
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People, in forming their opinions of others, are usually lazy enough to go by whatever is most obvious or whatever chance remark they happen to hear. So the best policy is to dictate to others the opinion you want them to have of you.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Style and Substance: A Comedy of Manners, ch. 7 (1986)
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SECOND APPARITION: Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 90ff (4.1.90-92) (1606)
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Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.
Carl Sagan (1934-1996) American scientist and writer
Cosmos, ch. 11 “The Persistence of Memory” (1980)
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If you had enough money, you could hardly commit crimes at all. You just perpetrated amusing little peccadilloes.
It is an insanity to get more than you want. Imagine a man in this city, an intelligent man, say with two or three millions of coats, eight or ten millions of hats, vast warehouses full of shoes, billions of neckties, and imagine that man getting up at four o’clock in the morning, in the rain and snow and sleet, working like a dog all day to get another necktie! Is not that exactly what the man of twenty or thirty millions, or of five millions, does to-day? Wearing his life out that somebody may say, “How rich he is!”
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Speech (1886-11-14), “A Lay Sermon,” American Secular Union annual congress, Chickering Hall, New York City
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We cannot have government for all the people until we first make certain it is government of and by all the people.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Letter (1965-03-15), “Special Message to the Congress on the Right to Vote”
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Nobody wants his cause near as bad as he wants to talk about his cause.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1934-09-11), “Daily Telegram”
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Written while in London.
Saint Luke was a Saint and a Physitian, yet is dead.
George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 1008 (1640 ed.)
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Truth ensures trust, but not victory, or even happiness.
Penelope Fitzgerald (1916-2000) Novelist, poet, essayist, biographer
Human Voices, ch. 1 (1980)
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Writing of BBC News during World War 2.
Avarice iz like a grave yard, it takes all that it kan git, and givs nothing back.
[Avarice is like a graveyard; it takes all that it can get, and gives nothing back.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 150 “Affurisms: Parboils” (1874)
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The greatest monarch on the proudest throne, is oblig’d to sit upon his own arse.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1737 ed.)
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There are seasons in human affairs, when qualities fit enough to conduct the common business of life, are feeble and useless; and when men must trust to emotion, for that safety which reason at such times can never give.
Sydney Smith (1771-1845) English clergyman, essayist, wit
Lecture (1804-1806), Moral Philosophy, No. 27 “On Habit, Part 2” Royal Institution, London
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Collected in Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy (1849).
Quoted by Theodore Roosevelt in his speech (1901-09-05), "Brotherhood and the Heroic Virtues," Grand Army of the Republic Veterans Reunion, Burlington, Vermont, collected in Roosevelt's The Strenuous Life (1902).
What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them. My life depends on ignoring all touted distinctions between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul. What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
An Altar in the World, Introduction (2009)
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When he [Bishop Myriel] saw everyone condemning very loudly and being very quick to express indignation, “Oh my,” he would say with a smile, “this looks like being a great crime that everyone commits. Here we have hypocrisies in fright, hurrying to protest and to take cover.”
[Quand il voyait tout le monde crier bien fort et s’indigner bien vite: — «Oh! oh! disait-il en souriant, il y a apparence que ceci est un gros crime que tout le monde commet. Voilà les hypocrisies effarées qui se dépêchent de protester et de se mettre à couvert.»]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 1 “Fantine,” Book 1 “An Upright Man,” ch. 4 (1.1.4) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:When he heard many exclaiming, and expressing great indignation against anything, “Oh! oh!” he would say, smiling. “It would seem that this is a great crime, of which they are all guilty. How frightened hypocrisy hastens to defend itself, and to get under cover.”
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]When he saw everybody cry out and grow indignant, all of a sudden, he would say with a smile, “Oh! oh, it seems as if this is a great crime which all the world is committing. Look at the startled hypocrites, hastening to protest and place themselves under cover.”
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]When he saw everyone exclaiming very loudly, and growing angry very quickly, "Oh! oh!" he said, with a smile; "to all appearance, this is a great crime which all the world commits. These are hypocrisies which have taken fright, and are in haste to make protest and to put themselves under shelter."
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]Any ill-considered outburst of popular indignation would cause him to smile. ‘It appears,’ he would say, ‘that this is a crime which everyone commits. See how outraged hypocrisy hurries to cover itself!’
[tr. Denny (1976)]When he heard people raising a hue and cry, easily finding fault, "Oh ho!" he would say, with a smile. "It would seem that this is a great crime that everyone commits. See how an offended hypocrisy is quick to protest and run for cover."
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting it into a disciplined work of art, is to make the mistake of attempting to substitute art for life.
The results of such profound confusion between art and life are neither life nor art. They are taxidermy. In its place, taxidermy can be a useful and decent craft. However, it goes too far when the specimens put on display are exhibitions of dead, stuffed cities.Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) American-Canadian journalist, author, urban theorist, activist
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Part 4, ch. 19 (1961)
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