Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you
Ye are many — they are few.Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) English poet
Poem (1819), “The Mask of Anarchy,” st. 38
(Source)
Writing as the voice of England talking to her children. The words are repeated in the final stanza.
The poem was subtitled "Written on the Occasion of the Massacre at Manchester," referring to the Peterloo Massacre (1819-08-16), when a large, peaceful demonstration for parliamentary representation by millworkers and their families was attacked by regular and irregular cavalry troops, attempting to arrest the protest leader, Henry Hunt, and break up the assembly. Hundreds were wounded, and around a dozen killed.
The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
A Week on the Concord and Marrimack Rivers, “Wednesday” (1849)
(Source)
Remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Speech (1938-04-21), 47th Annual Continental Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC
(Source)
Speaking to the DAR, after describing his own family heritage from the Mayflower and the War of Independence. The remarks were unscheduled and made without prepared notes.
A man must not always tell all, for that were folly: but what a man says should be what he thinks, otherwise ’tis knavery.
[Il ne faut pas tousjours dire tout, car ce seroit sottise : Mais ce qu’on dit, il faut qu’il soit tel qu’on le pense : autrement, c’est meschanceté.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 2, ch. 17 (2.17), “Of Presumption [De la Presomption]” (1578) [tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]
(Source)
Both this essay and this passage were in the 1st (1580) edition.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:A man must not alwayes say al he knows, for that were folie: But what a man speaks ought to be agreeing to his thoughts, otherwise it is impietie.
[tr. Florio (1603)]A man must not always tell all, for that were folly; but what a man says should be what he thinks, otherwise it is knavery.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]Every thing must not always be said, for that would be folly; but what one says should be what one thinks; otherwise it is knavery.
[tr. Ives (1925)]A man must not always say everything, for that were folly; but what a man does say should be what he thinks; otherwise it is knavery.
[tr. Zeitlin (1934)]We must not always say everything, for that would be folly; but what we say must be what we think; otherwise it is wickedness.
[tr. Frame (1943)]It is not necessary always to say everything, for that would be foolish; but what we say should be what we think, the contrary is wicked.
[tr. Cohen (1958)]We should not always say everything: that would be stupid; but what we do say must be what we think: to do otherwise is wicked.
[tr. Screech (1987)]
FAUSTUS. Ah, Faustus,
Now hast thou but one bare hour to live,
And then thou must be damn’d perpetually!
Stand still, you ever-moving Spheres of Heaven,
That time may cease, and midnight never come;
Fair Nature’s eye, rise, rise again, and make
Perpetual day; or let this hour be but
A year, a month, a week, a natural day,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul!
Someone sent me a clipping from a daily newspaper containing a list of ten books to be removed from library shelves because of their pornographic content. On the list was one of C. S. Lewis’s Narnia books. Also on the list was my book A Wind in the Door. I am totally baffled and frankly fascinated. This is the first time C. S. Lewis and I have been listed together as writers of pornography. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)
No mother is ever, completely, a child’s idea of what a mother should be, and I suppose it works the other way around as well.
Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Canadian writer, literary critic, environmental activist
The Handmaid’s Tale, ch. 28 (1986)
(Source)
The hour for your departure draws near; if you will but forget all else and pay sole regard to the helmsman of your soul and the divine spark within you — if you will but exchange your fear of having to end your life some day for a fear of failing even to begin it on nature’s true principles — you can yet become a man, worthy of the universe that gave you birth, instead of a stranger in your own homeland, bewildered by each day’s happenings as though by wonders unlooked for, and ever hanging upon this one or the next.
[ἐὰν οὖν, ὅτε δήποτε πρὸς ἐξόδῳ γένῃ, πάντα τὰ ἄλλα καταλιπὼν μόνον τὸ ἡγεμονικόν σου καὶ τὸ ἐν σοὶ θεῖον τιμήσῃς καὶ μὴ τὸ παύσεσθαί ποτε ῾τοὖ ζῆν φοβηθῇς, ἀλλὰ τό γε μηδέποτε ἄρξασθαι κατὰ φύσιν ζῆν, ἔσῃ ἄνθρωπος ἄξιος τοῦ γεννήσαντος κόσμου καὶ παύσῃ ξένος ὢν τῆς πατρίδος καὶ θαυμάζων ὡς ἀπροσδόκητα τὰ καθ̓ ἡμέραν γινόμενα καὶ κρεμάμενος ἐκ τοῦδε καὶ τοῦδε.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 12, ch. 1 (12.1) (AD 161-180) [tr. Staniforth (1964)]
(Source)
Source of the commonly given paraphrase, "It is not death that a man should fear, but never beginning to live."
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:If therefore whensoever the time of thy departing shall come, thou shalt readily leave all things, and shalt respect thy mind only, and that divine part of thine, and this shall be thine only fear, not that some time or other thou shalt cease to live, but thou shalt never begin to live according to nature : then shalt thou be a man indeed, worthy of that world, from which thou hadst thy beginning; then shalt thou cease to be a stranger in thy country, and to wonder at those things that happen daily, as things strange and unexpected, and anxiously to depend of divers things that are not in thy power.
[tr. Casaubon (1634)]If, since your Life is almost up, you lay aside all other Matters, and only Cultivate your Mind, and pay a Regard to the Governing , and Diviner part of your self: If you are not at all afraid of losing your Life, but of Missing the Ends on't, and not Living as you should do; Then you'l act suitably to your Extraction, and deserve to have the Deity for your Maker: Then you'l be no longer a stranger in your own Country , nor be surpriz'd at common Accidents; you'll ne'er be anxious about the Future, nor stand to the Courtesy of Events.
[tr. Collier (1701)]If, therefore, now that you are near your exit, you quit thought about other things, and honour only that governing and divine part within you, and dread not the ceasing to live, but the not commencing to live according to nature; you will become a man, worthy of that orderly universe which produced you, and will cease to be as a stranger in your own country; both astonished, with what happens every day, as if unexpected; and in anxious suspence about this and t’other thing.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]If then, as you are now on the verge of life, you lay aside all other cares, and dedicate your whole attention to the improvement of your mind, and pay a due respect to the Deity within you, and fear less to die than not to live according to nature; you will, by this means, become worthy of that Universal Nature which produced you, and will no longer be a stranger in your own country; and will cease to be surprized at what happens every day, as if it were something extraordinary; nor be anxious and in suspense about the common events of life.
[tr. Graves (1792)]If, then, whatever the time may be when thou shalt be near to thy departure, neglecting everything else thou shalt respect only thy ruling faculty and the divinity within thee, and if thou shalt be afraid not because thou must some time cease to live, but if thou shalt fear never to have begun to live according to nature -- then thou wilt be a man worthy of the universe which has produced thee, and thou wilt cease to be a stranger in thy native land, and to wonder at things which happen daily as if they were something unexpected, and to be dependent on this or that.
[tr. Long (1862)]If, since your life is almost up, you lay aside all other matters, and only cultivate your mind, and pay a regard to the governing and diviner part of yourself; if you are not at all afraid of losing your life, but only of never beginning to live in accordance with nature, then you will act suitably to your extraction, and deserve to be the offspring of the universe; then you will be no longer a stranger in your own country, nor surprised at common accidents; you will never be dependent on this or that.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]If then, now that you near your end, leaving all else alone, you will reverence only your Inner Self and the god within, if you will fear not life some time coming to an end, but never beginning life at all in accord with nature's law, then indeed you will be a man, worthy of the universe that begat you, and no more a stranger to your fatherland, ever in amaze at the unexpectedness of what each day brings forth, and hanging upon this event or that.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]If then, now that you are near your exit, setting behind you all other things, you will hold alone in reverence your ruling part, the spirit divine within you; if you will cease to dread the end of life, but rather fear to miss the beginning of life according to Nature, you will be a man, worthy of the ordered Universe that produced you; you will cease to be a stranger in your own country, gaping in wonder at every daily happening, caught up by this trifle or by that.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]If then, when the time of thy departure is near, abandoning all else thou prize thy ruling Reason alone and that which in thee is divine, and dread the thought, not that thou must one day cease to live, but that thou shouldst never yet have begun to live according to Nature, then shalt thou be a man worthy of the Universe that begat thee, and no longer an alien in thy fatherland, no longer shalt thou marvel at what happens every day as if it were unforeseen, and be dependent on this or that.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]If then, when you arrive at last at your final exit, resigning all else, you honour your governing self alone and the divine element within you, if what you dread is not that some day you will cease to live, but rather never to begin at all to live with Nature, you will be a man worthy of the Universe that gave you birth, and will cease to be a stranger in your own country, surprised by what is coming to pass every day, as at something you did not look to see, and absorbed in this thing or in that.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]If then, when the time for your departure draws near, you have put all else behind you and you honour your governing faculty alone and what is divine within you, and if what you hold in fear is not that some day you will cease to live, but rather that you may never begin go live according to nature, you will be a person who is worthy of the universe that brought you to birth, and you will no longer be a stranger in your native land, wondering at what happens day after day as if it were beyond foreseeing, and in thrall to one thing and the next.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]And if, when it’s time to depart, you shunt everything aside except your mind and the divinity within ... if it isn’t ceasing to live that you’re afraid of but never beginning to live properly ... then you’ll be worthy of the world that made you.
No longer an alien in your own land.
No longer shocked by everyday events—as if they were unheard-of aberrations.
No longer at the mercy of this, or that.
[tr. Hays (2003)]If, then, when you finally come close to your exit, you have left all else behind and value only your directing mind and the divinity within you, if your fear is not that you will cease to live, but that you never started a life in accordance with nature, then you will be a man worthy of the universe that gave you birth. You will no longer be a stranger in your own country, no longer meet the day’s events as if bemused by the unexpected, no longer hang on this or that.
[tr. Hammond (2006), 12.2]But if, when you have come to the end, having let go of all other things, you honor only your guiding part and the divinity that is within you, and you do not fear ceasing to live so much as you fear never having begun to live in accordance with Nature -- then you will be a man who is worthy of the Cosmos that created you; and you will cease to live like a stranger in your own land, that is, surprised at unexpected everyday occurrences and wholly distracted by this and that.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]If then, when the time for your departure draws near, you have put all else behind you and you honour your ruling centre alone and what is divine within you, and if what you hold in fear is not that some day you will cease to live, but rather that you may never begin to live according to nature, you will be a man who is worthy of the universe that brought you to birth, and you will no longer be a stranger in your native land, wondering at what happens day after day as if it were beyond foreseeing, and hanging on to one thing after another.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]
It is a dangerous error to confound truth with matter-of-fact. Our life is governed not only by facts, but by hopes; the kind of truthfulness which sees nothing but facts is a prison for the human spirit. Dreams are only to be condemned when they are a lazy substitute for an effort to change reality; when they are an incentive, they are fulfilling a vital purpose in the incarnation of human ideals. To kill fancy in childhood is to make a slave to what exists, a creature tethered to earth and therefore unable to create heaven.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 5 “Play and Fancy” (1926)
(Source)
On children's literature.
Too much money makes one madd.
James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian and writer
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “English Proverbs” (1659) [compiler]
(Source)
But doubtless Plato was right in foreseeing that unless kings became philosophical themselves, they would never take the advice of real philosophers, drenched as they are and infected with false values from boyhood on.
[Sed bene haud dubie praeuidit Plato, nisi reges philosophentur ipsi, nunquam futurum, ut peruersis opinionibus a pueris imbuti, atque infecti penitus philosophantium comprobent consilia.]
Thomas More (1478-1535) English lawyer, social philosopher, statesman, humanist, Christian martyr
Utopia, Book 1, ch. 1 “Discourses of Raphael Hythloday” (1518 ed.) [tr. Adams (1992 ed.)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:But Plato doubtlesse dyd well foresee, oneless kynges themselves woulde applye their mindes to the studye of Philosophie, that elles they woulde never thoroughlye allowe the counsell of philosophers, beynge themselves before even from their tender age infected, and corrupt with perverse and evil opinions.
[tr. Robynson (1551)]But Plato judged right, that except Kings themselves became Philosophers, it could never be brought about, that they who from their Childhood are corrupted with false Notions, should fall in intirely with the Counsels of Philosophers.
[tr. Burnet (1684)]But Plato judged right, that except kings themselves become philosophers, they who from their childhood are corrupted with false notions, would never fall in intirely with the counsels of philosophers.
[tr. Warner (1758)]But Plato judged rightly, that except kings themselves became philosophers, being corrupted with false notions from their childhood, they would never consent entirely with the counsels of philosophers.
[tr. Cayley (1808)]But Plato doubtless did well foresee, unless kings themselves would apply their minds to the study of Philosophy, that else they would never thoroughly allow the counsel of philosophers; being themselves before even from their tender age infected and corrupt with perverse and evil opinions.
[tr. Robynson/Lupton/Armes (1911)]But doubtless Plato was right in foreseeing that if kings did not turn to philosophy themselves, they would never approve of the advice of real philosophers, being themselves from their youth infected and saturated with wrong ideas.
[tr. Richards (1923)]And that's doubtless what Plato meant. He realized that kings are too deeply infected with wrong ideas in childhood to take any philosopher's advice, unless they became philosophers themselves.
[tr. Turner (1965 ed.)]But, doubtless, Plato was right in foreseeing that if kings themselves did not turn to philosophy, they would never approve of the advice of real philosophers because they have been from their youth saturated and infected with wrong ideas.
[tr. Richards/Surtz (1964)]And that's doubtless what Plato meant. He realized that kings are too deeply infected with wrong ideas in childhood to take any philosopher's advice, unless they become philosophers themselves.
[tr. Turner (2003 ed.)]
CALVIN: Isn’t it sad how some people’s grip on their lives is so precarious that they’ll embrace any preposterous delusion, rather than face an occasional bleak truth?
Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1987-11-24)
(Source)
Ironically, the "preposterous delusion" is his father's assertion that the weather is getting colder, not (as Calvin surmises) because the Sun is going out, but because the Earth's orbit is heading toward aphelion, its furthest from the Sun. More ironically, that explanation is actually incorrect. Winter and summer are driven by Earth's axial tilt, and perihelion (Earth being closest to the Sun in its orbit) occurs in early January, which is winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
CONCEIT, n. Self-respect in one whom we dislike.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Conceit,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-08-12)
(Source)
Not collected in later books.
MEDEA: Now let things take their course. What use is life to me?
I have no land, no home, no refuge from despair.[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: ἴτω: τί μοι ζῆν κέρδος; οὔτε μοι πατρὶς
οὔτ᾽ οἶκος ἔστιν οὔτ᾽ ἀποστροφὴ κακῶν.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 798ff (431 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1963)]
(Source)
Though she has just been offered refuge in Athens by King Ægeus; perhaps because that contradiction, note that some more recent translators (Davie, Ewans) leave out these lines as interpolations.
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:Can life be any gain
To me who have no country left, no home,
No place of refuge?
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]Go to: hath life
A blessing yet for me? I have no country,
I have no house, no refuge from my ills.
[tr. Potter (1814)]Well, be it as it must be.
What good for me to live? No home for me,
Nor fatherland, nor refuge from my woes.
[tr. Webster (1868)]Enough! What gain is life to me? I have no country, home, or refuge left.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Let things take their course; what gain is it to me to live longer? I have neither country, nor house, nor refuge from my ills.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Let all go: what is life to me? Nor country
Nor home have I, nor refuge from mine ills.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Let it come!
What profits life to me? I have no home,
No country now, nor shield from any wrong.
[tr. Murray (1906)]What good is life? I have no land,
No home, no shelter for my misery.
[tr. Lucas, ed. Higham (1938)]So it must happen. What profit have I in life?
I have no land, no home, no refuge from my pain.
[tr. Warner (1944)]So -- what profit for me in living? who have
No country, no home, no shelter from misfortune.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]Let that be as it will. What do I gain by living? I have no fatherland, no house, and no means to turn aside misfortune.
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]What is the point of living?
There is no land, no home, nor any means to escape my suffering. Miserable wretch!
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]Let it pass. What good is life to me? I have no homeland,
I have no home as a refuge from evils.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]So be it. What good does life hold for me now?
I have no father, no home, no refuge.
[tr. Johnston (2008), l. 948ff]So be it. What gain for me to stay alive? I have no fatherland, no home, no escape from disaster.
[tr. Kovacs / Kitzinger (2016)]What do I gain from living? I have no country,
no home, no relief from my misfortune.
[ed. Yeroulanos (2016)]So be it! What profit [kerdos] is life to me? I have no country, home [oikos], or refuge left from evils [kaka].
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִ֑ד יְהֹוָ֥ה רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר׃]
בִּנְא֣וֹת דֶּ֭שֶׁא יַרְבִּיצֵ֑נִי עַל־מֵ֖י מְנֻח֣וֹת יְנַהֲלֵֽנִי׃
נַפְשִׁ֥י יְשׁוֹבֵ֑ב יַֽנְחֵ֥נִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי־צֶ֝֗דֶק לְמַ֣עַן שְׁמֽוֹ׃
[גַּ֤ם כִּֽי־אֵלֵ֨ךְ בְּגֵ֪יא צַלְמָ֡וֶת לֹא־אִ֘ירָ֤א רָ֗ע כִּי־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּדִ֑י שִׁבְטְךָ֥ וּ֝מִשְׁעַנְתֶּ֗ךָ הֵ֣מָּה יְנַֽחֲמֻֽנִי׃The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 19. Psalms 23: 1ff (Ps 23:1-4) [KJV (1611)]
(Source)
One of the most famous Psalms of the Bible, and subject to translation by any number of poets and song writers (e.g., Addison (1712)).
(Source (Hebrew)). Alternate translations:Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
In meadows of green grass he lets me lie.
To the waters of repose he leads me;
there he revives my soul.
He guides me by paths of virtue for the sake of his name.
Though I pass through a gloomy Valley,
beside me your rod and your staff are there, to hearten me.
[JB (1966)]Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
In grassy meadows he lets me lie. By tranquil streams he leads me
to restore my spirit.
He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits his name.
Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger,
for you are at my side.
Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me.
[NJB (1985)]The Lord is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.
He lets me rest in fields of green grass
and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.
He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths,
as he has promised.
Even if I go through the deepest darkness,
I will not be afraid, Lord,
for you are with me.
Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me.
[GNT (1992 ed.)]The Lord is my shepherd.
I lack nothing.
He lets me rest in grassy meadows;
he leads me to restful waters;
he keeps me alive.
He guides me in proper paths
for the sake of his good name.
Even when I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff --
they protect me.
[CEB (2011)]The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]God is my shepherd;
I lack nothing.
[God] makes me lie down in green pastures,
and leads me to water in places of repose --
renewing my life,
guiding me in the right paths
as befits the divine name.
Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness,
I fear no harm, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff -- they comfort me.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]
Administrivia: (2026-04-07) Changes in WIST-by-Email
(This is a follow-up to an email I sent out directly to folk a week or so back — in case it applies to you and you missed it or else need the reminder.)
I am going to be turning off the follow.it email service, which takes the RSS feed from WIST and turns it into email messages. The service seems much more interested in pushing ads than content. I will be shutting down that feed this weekend.
Instead, I have recommendations on how you can get email from WIST, as described here: https://wist.info/rssfeeds/ . Essentially it’s suggestions of a couple of services that I use myself to get WIST by email (as a check) and that work well with minimal (if any) adverts and minimal effort on my part. If you want to get your WIST quotations by email (or RSS reader, or through my Fediverse mirror), that page has the (updated) answers.
If you have any questions, please email me at dave (at) wist.info for assistance.
Thanks!
Whether we be Italians or Frenchmen, misery concerns us all. Ever since history has been written, ever since philosophy has meditated, misery has been the garment of the human race; the moment has at length arrived for tearing off that rag, and for replacing, upon the naked limbs of the Man-People, the sinister fragment of the past with the grand purple robe of the dawn.
[Italiens ou français, la misère nous regarde tous. Depuis que l’histoire écrit et que la philosophie médite, la misère est le vêtement du genre humain; le moment serait enfin venu d’arracher cette guenille, et de remplacer, sur les membres nus de l’Homme-Peuple, la loque sinistre du passé par la grande robe pourpre de l’aurore.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Letter (1862-10-18) to M. Daelli [tr. Wraxall (1862)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Daeli was the publisher of the Italian translation of Les Misérables.
An actor can remember his briefest notice well into senescence and long after he has forgotten his phone number and where he lives.
Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1957), “One Half of Two on the Aisle,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
(Source)
No earlier magazine publication found.
If men of eminence are exposed to censure on one hand, they are as much liable to flattery on the other. If they receive reproaches which are not due to them, they likewise receive praises which they do not deserve. In a word, the man in a high post is never regarded with an indifferent eye, but always considered as a friend or an enemy. For this reason persons in great stations have seldom their true characters drawn till several years after their deaths. Their personal friendships and enmities must cease, and the parties they were engaged in be at an end, before their faults or their virtues can have justice done them. When writers have the least opportunity of knowing the truth, they are in the best disposition to tell it.
It is therefore the privilege of posterity to adjust the characters of illustrious persons, and to set matters right between those antagonists who by their rivalry for greatness divided a whole age into factions.Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101
(Source)
The last line is sometimes shortened to:It is the privilege of posterity to set matters right between those antagonists who, by their rivalry for greatness, divided a whole age.
Your death and my death are mainly of importance to ourselves. The black plumes will be stripped off our hearses within the hour; tears will dry, hurt hearts close again, our graves grow level with the church-yard, and although we are away, the world wags on. It does not miss us; and those who are near us, when the first strangeness of vacancy wears off, will not miss us much either.
Alexander Smith (1830-1867) Scottish poet
Essay (1863), “Of Death and the Fear of Dying”, Dreamthorp
(Source)
QUEEN: Uncle, for God’s sake speak comfortable words.
YORK: Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts.
Comfort’s in heaven, and we are on the Earth,
Where nothing lives but crosses, cares, and grief.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Richard II, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 82ff (2.2.82-83) (1595)
(Source)
I’ve never had much use for management myself. I’ve worked for a wide variety of managements, and the result is that I always join a union if there’s one available. When management was the art of getting a whole bunch of people together to do something in the best way possible, I had some interest in it. But now that it has become an endless quest for increased quarterly profits, I find it boring and a menace to quality.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1997-01-30), “Dumped by Disney,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram
(Source)
Collected in You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You (1998).
In reality, every reader, as he reads, is actually the reader of himself. The writer’s work is only a kind of optical instrument he provides the reader so he can discern what he might never have seen in himself without this book. The reader’s recognition in himself of what the book says is the proof of the book’s truth.
[En réalité, chaque lecteur est quand il lit le propre lecteur de soi-même. L’ouvrage de l’écrivain n’est qu’une espèce d’instrument optique qu’il offre au lecteur afin de lui permettre de discerner ce que sans ce livre il n’eût peut-être pas vu en soi-même. La reconnaissance en soi-même, par le lecteur, de ce que dit le livre, est la preuve de la vérité de celui-ci.]
Marcel Proust (1871-1922) French author
Le Temps Retrouvé [Time Regained], ch. 22 (1926) [tr. Moncrieff/Kilmartin]
(Source)
They say to me: Eat and drink! Be glad you have it!
But how can I eat and drink if
I snatch what I eat from the starving, and
My glass of water belongs to one dying of thirst?
And yet I eat and drink.[Man sagt mir: Iß und trink du! Sei froh, daß du hast!
Aber wie kann ich essen und trinken, wenn
Ich dem Hungernden entreiße, was ich esse, und
Mein Glas Wasser einem Verdursteten fehlt?
Und doch esse und trinke ich.]Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) German poet, playwright, director, dramaturgist
Poem (1938 ca.), “To Those Born Later [A die Nachgeborenen],” sec. 1, Svendborger Gedichte (1939) [tr. Willet / Manheim / Fried]
(Source)
Also translated as "To Those Who Follow in Our Wake" and "To Later Generations." Writing not just about sustenance in a world of poverty, but on the use of essentials like food and water by totalitarian regimes to buy loyalty. Written while Brecht had left Germany for Denmark.
An audio recording of the poem by Brecht.
(Source (German)). Other translations:They tell me: eat and drink. Be glad to be among the haves!
But how can I eat and drink
When I take what I eat from the starving
And those who thirst do not have my glass of water?
And yet I eat and drink.
[tr. Horton (2008)]People tell me: Eat and drink! Be happy that you have!
But how can I eat and drink, if
What I eat, I take from the hungry, and if
My glass of water deprives the thirsty?
And yet, eat and drink I do.
[tr. Rienas (2009)]People tell me, Eat and drink! Be glad to have something!
But how can I eat and drink, if
I take what I eat from one who starves
And one dying of thirst needs my glass of water?
And still I eat and drink.
[tr. Renaud (2016)]
HIGGINS: Would the world ever have been made if its maker had been afraid of making trouble? Making life means making trouble. There’s only one way of escaping trouble; and that’s killing things. Cowards, you notice, are always shrieking to have troublesome people killed.
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
No great advance has been made in science, religion, or politics, without controversy.
Lyman Beecher (1775-1863) American minister, preacher, abolitionist
Sermon (1823-10-15), “The Faith Once Delivered to the Saints,” Worcester, Massachusetts
(Source)
A sermon on Jude 3, given at the ordination of Rev. Loammi Ives Hoadly, to the Pastoral Office over the Calvinistic Church and Society. Collected in Beecher, Sermons Delivered on Various Occasions (1828) [ed. Theophilus Marvin].
This is nearly always rendered:No great advance has ever been made in science, politics, or religion, without controversy.
That is the form recorded in Josiah Gilbert's inaugural Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1883), from which it was endlessly copied to similar collections.
It isn’t enough for poems to be things of beauty:
Let them stun the hearer and lead his heart where they will.[Non satis est pulchra esse poemata; dulcia sunto
Et, quocumque uolent, animum auditoris agunto.]Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 2, ep. 3 “Art of Poetry [Ars Poetica; To the Pisos],” l. 99ff (2.3.99-100) (19 BC) [tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]
(Source)
One of the most famous lines in the Ars Poetica.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:Not lore enough in Poesis, let them be sweetlye fynde,
And let them leade to where them liste the hearers plyante mynde.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Tis not enough the labouring Muse affords
Her Poëms beauty, but a sweet delight,
To worke the hearers minds, still to the plight.
[tr. Jonson (1640); l. 140ff]He that would have Spectators share his Grief,
Must write not only well, but movingly,
And raise Mens Passions to what height he will.
[tr. Roscommon (1680)]'Tis not enough, ye writers, that ye charm
With ease and elegance; a play should warm
With soft concernment; should possess the soul,
And, as it wills, the listening crowd controul.
[tr. Francis (1747)]'Tis not enough that Plays are polish'd, chaste,
Or trickt in all the harlotry of taste,
They must have passion too; beyond controul
Transporting where they please the hearer's soul.
[tr. Coleman (1783)]'Tis not enough that poetry combine
All fancy's charms in every sounding line:
Empassion'd let her be, and melt at will
The soul to pity or with horror thrill.
[tr. Howes (1845)]It is not enough that poems be beautiful; let them be tender and affecting, and bear away the soul of the auditor whithersoever they please.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]Mere grace is not enough: a play should thrill
The hearer's soul, and move it at its will.
[tr. Conington (1874)]Fine things won't make a drama: it must thrill
The hearers' souls, and sway them at its will.
[tr. Martin (1881)]Nor is it enough that poems possess beauty in the construction. They must please and, in whatsoever direction they will, send there the feelings of the auditors.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]Not enough is it for poems to have beauty: they must have charm, and lead the hearer's soul where they will.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]It is not enough for poems to be fine; they must charm, and draw the mind of the listener at will.
[tr. Blakeney; ed. Kramer, Jr. (1936)]It isn't enough to make lines pretty; they must move,
and affect the hearer's soul exactly as the poet wants.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]Poems (oh)
can be (oh)
so beautiful
And (oh) so dull.
Poets need charm, too, to seduce our minds.
[tr. Raffel (1983 ed.)]Sheer abstract beauty isn't enough in a poem;
Its language must so persuade the listener
And act upon his soul that he'll respond
As the poem intends.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]Correctness is not enough in a poem; it must be attractive,
leading the listener's emotions in whatever way it wishes.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]It’s not enough for poems to have beauty: they must have
Charm, leading their hearer’s heart wherever they wish.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
Enough of this … I am not cut out to be a guide to youth. I think youth can get itself into enough trouble without my help, don’t you, Youth?
Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher No. 13, The Castlemaine Murders, ch. 4 (2003)
(Source)
Phryne to Jane.
“Which is it to-day,” I asked, “morphine or cocaine?”
He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened. “It is cocaine,” he said, “a seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try it?”Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1890-02), “The Sign of the Four,” ch. 1, Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 45 (US) / 1 (UK)
(Source)
Watson and Holmes.
The original publication, and Doyle's manuscript (along with many other iterations across media) use "The Sign of the Four" as the title, while others (including the first book publications) use "The Sign of Four." The five-word form is used most commonly in the story, but the four-word form does show up. (More info.)
Published in novel form as The Sign of Four (1890-10).
If you find many people who are hard and indifferent to you in a world that you consider to be unhospitable and cruel — as often, indeed, happens to a tender-hearted, stirring young creature — you will also find there are noble hearts who will look kindly on you, and their help will be precious to you beyond price.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Speech (1866-04-02), “On the Choice of Books,” Inaugural Address as Lord Rector, University of Edinburgh
(Source)
The people were certain that their freedom was at risk. Their leaders did not agree.
[Populus libertatem agi putabat suam. Dissentiebant principes.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 48 / sec. 103 (56-02 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2020)]
(Source)
In the actual examples around the statement, the leadership (optimates) fear measures granting more voice to the masses, establishing a secret ballot, and providing food to poor at the cost of taxing the rich; Cicero supports that conservative opinion.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:The people thought their liberty was at stake in that measure. The leading men were of a different opinion.
[tr. Hickie (1888)]The people thought that its liberties were at stake; the chief men of the state dissented.
[tr. Yonge (1891)]The People thought that their liberty was at stake. The leaders of the State held a different opinion.
[tr. Gardner (Loeb) (1958)]
It is remarkable, that notwithstanding the universal favor with which the New Testament is outwardly received, and even the bigotry with which it is defended, there is no hospitality shown to, there is no appreciation of, the order of truth with which it deals. I know of no book that has so few readers. There is none so truly strange, and heretical, and unpopular.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
A Week on the Concord and Marrimack Rivers, “Sunday” (1849)
(Source)
We understand the philosophy of those who offer resistance, of those who conduct a counter offensive against the American people’s march of social progress. It is not an opposition which comes necessarily from wickedness — it is an opposition that comes from subconscious resistance to any measure that disturbs the position of privilege.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Speech (1940-11-01), Campaign Address, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
(Source)
Deliberation, even about the slightest things, annoys me; and I feel my mind harder put to it to endure the various shocks and ups and downs of doubt and deliberation, than to settle down and accept any course whatever, after the die is cast. Few passions have troubled my sleep; but as for deliberations, the slightest one troubles it.
[Le deliberer, voire és choses plus legeres, m’importune. Et sens mon esprit plus empesché à souffrir le bransle, & les secousses diverses du doute, & de la consultation, qu’à se rassoir & resoudre à quelque party que ce soit, apres que la chance est livree. Peu de passions m’ont troublé le sommeil ; mais des deliberations, la moindre me le trouble.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 2, ch. 17 (2.17), “Of Presumption [De la Presomption]” (1578) [tr. Frame (1943)]
(Source)
This essay was in the 1st (1580) edition, but this passage first showed up in the second (1588) edition.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:To deliberate, be it but in sleight matters, doth importune me. And I feele my spirit more perplexed to suffer the motions of doubt, and shakings of consultation, then to be settled and resolved about any accident whatsoever, after the chaunce is once cast. Fewe passions have troubled my sleep; but of deliberations the leaste doth trouble it.
[tr. Florio (1603)]Deliberation, even in things of lightest moment, is very troublesome to me; and I find my mind more put to it, to undergo the various tumbling and tossing of doubt and consultation, than to set up its rest, and to acquiesce in whatever shall happen after the die is thrown. Few passions break my sleep; but, of deliberations, the least disturbs me.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]Deliberation, even in things of lightest moment, is very troublesome to me; and I find my mind more put to it to undergo the various tumblings and tossings of doubt and consultation, than to set up its rest and to acquiesce in whatever shall happen after the die is thrown. Few passions break my sleep, but of deliberations, the least will do it.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]Deliberation, indeed, even in the most trivial things, importunes me; and I feel my mind more pestered in suffering the actions and diverse shocks of doubt and consultation than, after the die is cast, in settling down and resolving upon some course, whatever it may be. Few passions have ever disturbed my sleep, but the least deliberation troubles me.
[tr. Ives (1925)]Deliberation, even in things of lightest moment, is vexatious to me; and I find my mind more put to it to bear up under the various agitations and disturbances of doubt and deliberation than in settling down and acquiescing in whatever shall happen after the die is thrown. Few passions have troubled my sleep, but of deliberations the slightest one will trouble it.
[tr. Zeitlin (1934)]Deliberation, even in the most trivial affairs, is irksome to me; and my mind is more put about when suffering the shocks and trepidations of uncertainty and doubt than in settling down and accepting whatever happens, once the die is cast. My sleep has been broken by few passions; but the slightest suspense will break it.
[tr. Cohen (1958)]It bothers me to make up my mind even about the most trivial things, and I feel my spirits more hard-pressed in suffering the swings of doubt and the diverse shocks of decision-making than in remaining fixed, resigned to any outcome whatsoever once the dice have been thrown. Few emotions have ever disturbed my sleep, yet even the slightest need to decide anything can disturb it for me.
[tr. Screech (1987)]
FAUSTUS: Lucifer and Mephistophilis. Ah, gentlemen! I gave them my soul for my cunning!
ALL: God forbid!
FAUSTUS: God forbade it, indeed; but Faustus hath done it.
Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 5, sc. 2 (sc. 14), l. 32ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)
(Source)
In the expanded "B" text (1594; 1616), the lines (5.2/19; l. 60ff) are similar.FAUSTUS: Why, Lucifer and Mephistophiles. O gentlemen, I gave them my soul for my cunning!
ALL: O, God forbid!
FAUSTUS: God forbade it indeed; but Faustus hath done it.
I am very wary of those individuals who are neither writers nor editors nor even, in some cases, readers, who feel that they have the right to apply their own moral criteria to the books in public and school libraries. I have enormous respect and admiration and love for the librarians who are rising up to protest this, because they are putting their very jobs on the line.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)
“So what’s the point of showing me something I can’t see?”
“So that you understand that just because you see something, it doesn’t mean to say it’s there. And if you don’t see something, it doesn’t mean to say it’s not there. It’s only what your senses bring to your attention.”Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 5, Mostly Harmless, ch. 17 (1992)
(Source)
Random and the bird Guide.
The most assiduous task of parenting is to divine the difference between boundaries and bondage.
Barbara Kingsolver (b. 1955) American novelist, essayist, poet
Essay (1995), “Civil Disobedience at Breakfast,” High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never
(Source)
Accept modestly; surrender gracefully.
[Ἄτύφως μὲν λαβεῖν, εὐλύτως δὲ ἀφεῖναι.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 6, ch. 33 (8.33) (AD 161-180) [tr. Staniforth (1964)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Receive temporal blessings without ostentation, when they are sent and thou shalt be able to part with them with all readiness and facility when they are taken from thee again.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 8.31]As to the Case of good Fortune; Take it without Pride, and Resign without Reluctance.
[tr. Collier (1701)]Receive the gifts of fortune, without pride; and part with them, without reluctance.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742); Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]Receive any good fortune which falls to your lot, without being too much elated; and resign it, if necessary, without being dejected.
[tr. Graves (1792), 8.32]Receive [wealth or prosperity] without arrogance; and be ready to let it go.
[tr. Long (1862)]As to the case of good fortune, take it without pride, and resign it without reluctance.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]Modestly take, cheerfully resign.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]Accept without arrogance, surrender without reluctance.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]Accept without pride, relinquish without a struggle.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]Accept without arrogance, relinquish without demur.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]To accept it without arrogance, to let it go with indifference.
[tr. Hays (2003)]Accept humbly; let go easily.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]Accept without arrogance, relinquish without a struggle.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]
And it is only through imagination that men become aware of what the world might be; without it, “progress” would become mechanical and trivial.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 1, ch. 1 “Postulates of Modern Educational Theory” (1926)
(Source)
Look high and fall into a Cow-turd.
James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian and writer
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “English Proverbs” (1659) [compiler]
(Source)
Will thou know what wonders strange be in the land that late was found?
Will thou learn thy life to lead, by divers ways that godly be?
Will thou of virtue and vice understand the very ground?
Will thou see this wretched world, how full it is of vanity?
[Vis nova monstra, novo dudum nunc orbe reperto?
Vivendi varia uis ratione modos?
Vis qui virtutum fontes, vis unde malorum
Principia? et quantum rebus inane latet?]Thomas More (1478-1535) English lawyer, social philosopher, statesman, humanist, Christian martyr
Utopia, “A Meter of Four Verses in the Utopian Tongue,” “Cornelius Graphey to the Reader” (1516 ed.) [tr. Open Utopia (Duncombe) (2012)]
(Source)
Included in an Appendix from the original (1516) edition, but not in the second (1518). As such, it only shows up in Robynson's translation (and in those who modernized it).
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:Wilt thou knowe what wonders straunge be in the lande that late was founde?
Wilte thou learne thy life to leade by divers ways that godly be?
Wilt thou of vertue and of vice understande the very grounde?
Wilt thou see this wretched world, how ful it is of vanitie?
[tr. Robynson (1551)]Wilt thou know what wonders strange be in the land that late was found?
Wilt thou learn thy life to lead by divers ways that godly be?
Wilt thou of virtue and of vice understand the very ground?
Wilt thou see this wretched world, how full it is of vanity?
[tr. Robynson/Lupton/Armes (1911)]
CALVIN: Hobbes, do you think our morality is defined by our actions, or by what’s in our hearts?
HOBBES: I think our actions show what’s in our hearts.
CALVIN: (after consideration) I resent that!
COMPETITOR, n. A scoundrel who desires that which we desire.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Competitor,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-08-05)
(Source)
Not collected in later books.
MEDEA:What makes me cry with pain
Is the next thing I have to do. I will kill my sons.
No one shall take my children from me.[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: ᾤμωξα δ᾿ οἷον ἔργον ἔστ᾿ ἐργαστέον
τοὐντεῦθεν ἡμῖν· τέκνα γὰρ κατακτενῶ
τἄμ᾿· οὔτις ἔστιν ὅστις ἐξαιρήσεται·]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 791ff (431 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1963)]
(Source)
This is the first time Medea directly announces her intent; scholars debate whether it's where she actually first thinks of it.
The most interesting divergence in translations here is whether Medea is asserting that nobody can save the children from her plan to kill them, or that nobody will take them from her because she will kill them first. The former seems to me more in keeping with the rest of the passage, but some translators disagree. Though her sons were to have been exiled with her, some scholars believe Medea was concerned that they might be killed (taken from her) once she murdered Glauce, Jason's new wife.
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:But I with anguish think upon a deed
Of more than common horror, which remains
By me to be accomplish'd: for my Sons
Am I resolved to slay, them from this arm
Shall no man rescue.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]But what a deed,
Ay, there my heart is anguish'd, what a deed
Must next be done! My sons -- I'll kill them both,
And who shall save them from me?
[tr. Potter (1814)]But I am woe for what a deed
Needs must be done: for I shall slay my sons.
No one there is who may deliver them.
[tr. Webster (1868)]But I shudder at the deed I must do next; for I will slay the children I have borne; there is none shall take them from my toils.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]But I bewail the deed such as must next be done by me; for I shall slay my children; there is no one who shall rescue them from me.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]And wail the deed that yet for me remains
To bring to pass; for I will slay my children,
Yea, mine: no man shall pluck them from mine hand.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]I gnash my teeth
Thinking on what a path my feet must tread
Thereafter. I shall lay those children dead --
Mine, whom no hand shall steal from me away!
[tr. Murray (1906)]Oh, my heart
Cries at the thought of what a deed I must
Do after that. For I must kill my children,
Mine own. There lives not who shall rescue them.
[tr. Lucas; ed. Higham (1938)]I weep to think of what a deed I have to do
Next after that; for I shall kill my own children.
My children, there is none who can give them safety.
[tr. Warner (1944)]I moan for the kind of task that I must proceed
To accomplish. For I shall put the children to death --
My children. No one will save them from me.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]Ah me, I groan at what a deed I must do next! I shall kill my children: there is no one who can rescue them.
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]It makes me groan to think what deed I must do net. For I shall kill my own children; no one shall take them from me.
[tr. Davie (1996)]Ah! How I shudder with fear for the monstrous deed that I must do!
Immediately after the murder of the Princess I will have to murder my own children. No one can save them, now, no one!
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]I grieve over the deed I must do
after this. For I shall kill my children.
There is no one who will rescue them.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]But the next thing I’ll do fills me with pain --
I’m going to kill my children. There’s no one
can save them now.
[tr. Johnston (2008), l. 940ff]Now hear what follows: I weep for what I must do; for then I'll kill my children. No one will give relief.
[tr. Kovacs / Kitzinger (2016)]I have mourned the kind of thing that I need to do
After this: For I will kill my children.
There is no one who will save them.
[tr. @sentantiq (2020)]But then
I'm miserable about what I must do.
I have to kill my children; no one
will take them from my hands.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]I grieve at the deed I must do next; for I will slay my own children. No one will take them from me!
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]Ah me, I groan at what a deed I must do next. I will kill my children: there is no one who can rescue them.
[tr. Kovacs / Zhang / Rogak]
Lord, who may enter your Temple?
Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill?
Those who obey God in everything
and always do what is right,
whose words are true and sincere,
and who do not slander others.
They do no wrong to their friends
nor spread rumors about their neighbors.
They despise those whom God rejects,
but honor those who obey the Lord.
They always do what they promise,
no matter how much it may cost.
They make loans without charging interest
and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent.
Whoever does these things will always be secure.מִזְמ֗וֹר לְדָ֫וִ֥ד יְ֭הֹוָה מִי־יָג֣וּר בְּאׇהֳלֶ֑ךָ מִֽי־יִ֝שְׁכֹּ֗ן בְּהַ֣ר קׇדְשֶֽׁךָ׃]
הוֹלֵ֣ךְ תָּ֭מִים וּפֹעֵ֥ל צֶ֑דֶק וְדֹבֵ֥ר אֱ֝מֶ֗ת בִּלְבָבֽוֹ׃
לֹֽא־רָגַ֨ל ׀ עַל־לְשֹׁנ֗וֹ לֹא־עָשָׂ֣ה לְרֵעֵ֣הוּ רָעָ֑ה וְ֝חֶרְפָּ֗ה לֹא־נָשָׂ֥א עַל־קְרֹבֽוֹ׃
נִבְזֶ֤ה ׀ בְּֽעֵ֘ינָ֤יו נִמְאָ֗ס וְאֶת־יִרְאֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֣ה יְכַבֵּ֑ד נִשְׁבַּ֥ע לְ֝הָרַ֗ע וְלֹ֣א יָמִֽר׃
[כַּסְפּ֤וֹ ׀ לֹא־נָתַ֣ן בְּנֶשֶׁךְ֮ וְשֹׁ֥חַד עַל־נָקִ֗י לֹ֥א־לָ֫קָ֥ח עֹֽשֵׂה־אֵ֑לֶּה לֹ֖א יִמּ֣וֹט לְעוֹלָֽם׃ {פ}The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 19. Psalms 15: 1ff (Ps 15:1-5) [GNT (1992 ed.)]
(Source)
(Source (Hebrew)). Alternate translations:Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly,
and worketh righteousness,
and speaketh the truth in his heart.
He that backbiteth not with his tongue,
nor doeth evil to his neighbour,
nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
In whose eyes a vile person is contemned;
but he honoureth them that fear the Lord.
He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
He that putteth not out his money to usury,
nor taketh reward against the innocent.
He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
[KJV (1611)]Yahweh, who has the right to enter your tent, or to live on your holy mountain?
The man whose way of life is blameless, who always does what is right, who speaks the truth from his heart,
whose tongue is not used for slander, who does no wrong to his fellow, casts no discredit on his neighbour,
looks with contempt on the reprobate, but honours those who fear Yahweh; who stands by his pledge at any cost,
does not ask interest on loans, and cannot be bribed to victimise the innocent. -- If a man does all this, nothing can ever shake him.
[JB (1966)]Yahweh, who can find a home in your tent, who can dwell on your holy mountain?
Whoever lives blamelessly, who acts uprightly, who speaks the truth from the heart,
who keeps the tongue under control, who does not wrong a comrade, who casts no discredit on a neighbour,
who looks with scorn on the vile, but honours those who fear Yahweh, who stands by an oath at any cost,
who asks no interest on loans, who takes no bribe to harm the innocent. No one who so acts can ever be shaken.
[NJB (1985)]Who can live in your tent, Lord?
Who can dwell on your holy mountain?
The person who
lives free of blame,
does what is right,
and speaks the truth sincerely;
who does no damage with their talk,
does no harm to a friend,
doesn’t insult a neighbor;
someone who despises
those who act wickedly,
but who honors those
who honor the Lord;
someone who keeps their promise even when it hurts;
someone who doesn’t lend money with interest,
who won’t accept a bribe against any innocent person.
Whoever does these things will never stumble.
[CEB (2011)]O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill?
Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right
and speak the truth from their heart;
who do not slander with their tongue
and do no evil to their friends
nor heap shame upon their neighbors;
in whose eyes the wicked are despised
but who honor those who fear the Lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
who do not lend money at interest
and do not take a bribe against the innocent.
Those who do these things shall never be moved.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]God, who may sojourn in Your tent,
who may dwell on Your holy mountain?
Anyone who lives without blame,
who does what is right,
and in their heart acknowledges the truth;
whose tongue is not given to evil;
who has never done harm to a compatriot,
or borne reproach for [acts toward] a neighbor;
for whom someone contemptible is abhorrent,
but who honors those who fear God;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts;
who has never lent money at interest,
or accepted a bribe against the innocent.
One who acts thus shall never be shaken.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]
Heaven sends down its net of crime; —
Devouring insects, who weary and confuse men’s minds,
Ignorant, oppressive, negligent,
Breeders of confusion, utterly perverse:
These are the men employed to tranquilize our country.天降罪罟、
蟊賊內訌、
昏椓靡共、
潰潰回遹、
實靖夷我邦。Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)]
The Classic of Poetry [詩經, 诗经], Part 3 “Major Court Hymns [大雅], Book 3 “Decade of Tang [蕩之什],” Ode 11, “Shaou min [召旻]” [Poem 265], st. 2 (10-9th C BC) [tr. Legge (1871)]
(Source)
(Source (Chinese)). One of the "Five Classics" (五經) said to have been edited by Confucius.
For it is clear that in a monarchy, where the person who executes the laws holds himself above them, less virtue is required than in a popular government, where the person who executes the laws is aware that he himself is subject to them and that he will feel their weight.
[Car il est clair que, dans une monarchie, où celui qui fait exécuter les loix se juge au-dessus des loix, on a besoin de moins de vertu que dans un gouvernement populaire, où celui qui fait exécuter les loix, sent qu’il y est soumis lui-même, & qu’il en portera le poids.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Stewart (2018)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Other translations:For it is clear that in a monarchy, where he who commands the execution of the laws generally thinks himself above them, there is less need of virtue than in a popular government, where the person entrusted with the execution of the laws is sensible of his being subject to their direction.
[tr. Nugent (1750)]For it is clear that less virtue is needed in a monarchy, where the one who sees to the execution of the laws judges himself above the laws, than in a popular government, where the one who sees the execution of the laws feels that he is subject to them himself and that he will bear their weight.
[tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]
At the hour of civilization through which we are now passing, and which is still so sombre, the miserable’s name is MAN; he is agonizing in all climes, and he is groaning in all languages.
[À l’heure, si sombre encore, de la civilisation où nous sommes, le misérable s’appelle L’HOMME; il agonise sous tous les climats, et il gémit dans toutes les langues.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Letter (1862-10-18) to M. Daelli [tr. Wraxall (1862)
(Source)
(Source (French)). Daeli was the publisher of the Italian translation of Les Misérables.
Oftentimes, in the evening after they have finished spreading the fertilizer, the writer and his wife sit on the fence — with a wonderful sense of “togetherness” — and listen to the magic symphony of the crickets.
I can understand that. Around our house, we’re pretty busy, and of course we’re not the least bit integrated, but nevertheless my husband and I often sit together in the deepening twilight and listen to the sweet, gentle slosh-click, slosh-click of the dishwasher. He smiles and I smile. Oh, it’s a golden moment.
When Men are easy in their Circumstances, they are naturally Enemies to Innovations.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1716-05-16), The Freeholder, No. 42
(Source)
Death is the event in life. It is our chief organizing principle. It’s why we rush and why we dawdle, why we butter up our bosses and fawn over our children, why we like both fast cars and fading flowers, why we write poetry, why sex thrills us. It’s why we wonder why we are here.
Russell Shorto (b. 1959) American author, historian, journalist
Descartes’ Bones, ch. 2 “Banquet of Bones” (2008)
(Source)
PERICLES: Kings are Earth’s gods; in vice their law’s their will;
And if Jove stray, who dares say Jove doth ill?William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Pericles, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 108ff (1.1.108-109) (1607) [with George Wilkins]
(Source)
To put every man in possession of his own time, and rescue the day from the succession of usurpers, is beyond my power, and beyond my hope. Yet perhaps, some stop might be put to this unmerciful persecution, if all would seriously reflect, that whoever pays a visit that is not desired, or talks longer than the hearer is willing to attend, is guilty of an injury which he cannot repair, and takes away that which he cannot give.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1758-07-15), The Idler, No. 14
(Source)
The doctrine of eternal pain is my trouble with this Christian religion. I reject it on account of its infinite heartlessness.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado
(Source)
There really are things you can do to keep your body looking healthy and youthful for years to come. But before I discuss these things, I want you to answer the following questions honestly: Are you willing to make the hard sacrifices needed to be really healthy? Are you willing to commit yourself totally to a program of regular exercise, close medical supervision, and the elimination of all caffeine, alcohol, and rich foods, to be replaced by a strict diet of nutrition-rich, kelp-like plant growths so unappetizing that they will make you actually lust for tofu?
Or are you the kind of shallow, irresponsible person who wants a purely cosmetic change, a “quick and dirty” surface gloss that may make you look young and healthy, but actually has no long-term value? Me too.Dave Barry (b. 1947) American humorist, author, columnist
Dave Barry Turns 40, ch. 2 “Your Disintegrating Body” (1990)
(Source)
If you adopt an art to be your trade, weed your mind at the outset of all desire of money. What you may decently expect, if you have some talent and much industry, is such an income as a clerk will earn with a tenth or perhaps a twentieth of your nervous output. Nor have you the right to look for more; in the wages of the life, not in the wages of the trade, lies your reward; the work is here the wages.
Now the bourgeois treasures nothing more highly than the self (rudimentary as his may be). And so at the cost of intensity, he achieves his own preservation and security. His harvest is a quiet mind which he prefers to being possessed by God, as he does comfort to pleasure, convenience to liberty, and a pleasant temperature to that deathly inner consuming fire. The bourgeois is consequently by nature a creature of weak impulses; anxious, fearful of giving himself away and easy to rule. Therefore, he has substituted majority for power, law for force, and the polling booth for responsibility.
[Der Bürger nun schätzt nichts höher als das Ich (ein nur rudimentär entwickeltes Ich allerdings). Auf Kosten der Intensität also erreicht er Erhaltung und Sicherheit, statt Gottbesessenheit erntet er Gewissensruhe, statt Lust Behagen, statt Freiheit Bequemlichkeit, statt tödlicher Glut eine angenehme Temperatur. Der Bürger ist deshalb seinem Wesen nach ein Geschöpf von schwachem Lebensantrieb, ängstlich, jede Preisgabe seiner selbst fürchtend, leicht zu regieren. Er hat darum an Stelle der Macht die Majorität gesetzt, an Stelle der Gewalt das Gesetz, an Stelle der Verantwortung das Abstimmungsverfahren.]
Herman Hesse (1877-1962) German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter
Steppenwolf, “Treatise of the Steppenwolf,” ch. 2 (1927) [tr Breighton (1929)]
(Source)
Usually paraphrased down to:The bourgeois prefers comfort to pleasure, convenience to liberty, and a pleasant temperature to the deathly inner consuming fire.
(Source (German)). Other translation:Now the bourgeois values nothing higher than the ego (an only rudimentarily developed ego, to be sure). Thus at the expense of intensity he achieves preservation and security; instead of divine possession he reaps peace of mind, instead of pleasure, comfort, instead of freedom, convenience, instead of deadly heat a pleasant temperature. The bourgeois is therefor by nature a creature of weak life impulse, anxious, fearful of every expenditure of himself, easy to rule. Therefore he has put the majority in the place of power, in the place of power the law, in the place of accountability the ballot box.
[tr. Wayne (2010)]
There is another kind of “glory”: conceiving too high an opinion of our worth. This is an undeserved feeling by which we value ourselves, and that makes us think ourselves different than we are, just as the passion of love lends beauties and graces to the object it embraces and makes those smitten by it — with their judgment blurred and altered — find what they love different, and more perfect, than it is.
[Il y a une autre sorte de gloire, qui est une trop bonne opinion, que nous concevons de nostre valeur. C’est un’affection inconsideree, dequoy nous nous cherissons, qui nous represente à nous mesmes, autres que nous ne sommes. Comme la passion amoureuse preste des beautez, & des graces, au subject qu’elle embrasse ; & fait que ceux qui en sont espris, trouvent d’un jugement trouble & alteré, ce qu’ils aiment, autre & plus parfait qu’il n’est.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 2, ch. 17 (2.17), “Of Presumption [De la Presomption]” (1578) [tr. Atkinson/Sices (2012)]
(Source)
This essay and passage were in the 1st (1580) edition.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:There is another kinde of glorie, which is an over-good opinion we conceive of our worth. It is an inconsiderate affection, wherewith wee cherish our selves, which presents-us unto our selves other then wee are. As an amorous passion addeth beauties, and lendeth graces to the subject it embraceth, and maketh such as are therewith possessed, with a troubled conceite, and distracted Judgement, to deeme what they love, and finde what they affect, to bee other, and seeme more perfect, then in trueth it is. [tr. Florio (1603)]There is another sort of glory, which is the having too good an opinion of our own merit. It is an inconsiderate affection, with which we flatter ourselves, and that represents us to ourselves other than what we truly are: like the passion of love, that lends beauties and graces to the object of it; and makes those who are caught with it, by a depraved and corrupt judgment, consider the thing they love other and more perfect than it is.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]There is another sort of glory, which is the having too good an opinion of our own worth. ’Tis an inconsiderate affection with which we flatter ourselves, and that represents us to ourselves other than we truly are: like the passion of love, that lends beauties and graces to the object, and makes those who are caught by it, with a depraved and corrupt judgment, consider the thing which they love other and more perfect than it is.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]There is another sort of glory, which is a too high opinion that we conceive of our worth. It is an ill-advised affection with which we flatter ourselves, which represents us to ourselves other than we are; as amourous passion lends beauties and charms to that which it embraces, and causes those who are possessed by it, their judgement being disturbed and diverted, to deem what they love different from what it is, and more perfect.
[tr. Ives (1925)]There is another sort of glory, which is to have too good an opinion of our own worth. It is an unthinking affection with which we flatter ourselves, that represents us to ourselves other than we truly are: like the passion of love, that lends beauties and charms to the object it embraces, and makes those who are possessed by it, with a troubled and corrupt judgment, consider the thing they love other and more perfect than it is.
[tr. Zeitlin (1934)]There is another kind of vainglory, which is an over-good opinion we form of our own worth. It is an unreasoning affection, by which we cherish ourselves, which represents us to ourselves as other than we are; as the passion of love lends beauties and graces to the object it embraces, and makes its victims, with muddled and unsettled judgment, think that what they love is other and more perfect than it is.
[tr. Frame (1943)]There is another kind of glory, which is to have too good an opinion of our own worth. It is an unthinking affection with which we flatter ourselves, and which presents us to ourselves as other than we are; just as the passion of love lends beauties and charms to the object it embraces in such a way that the love's judgement is troubled and distracted, and he finds the lady he loves other and more perfect than she is.
[tr. Cohen (1958)]There is another kind of "glory": the over-high opinion we conceive of our own worth. It is an imprudent affection by which we hold our own self dear, presenting ourself to ourself other than we are, just as passionate love lends grace and beauty to the person it embraces and leads to those who are enraptured by it being disturbed and confused in their judgement, so finding their Beloved other than she is, and more perfect.
[tr. Screech (1987)]
The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 280 (1955)
(Source)
Dupes indeed are many: but, of all dupes, there is none so fatally situated as he who lives in undue terror of being duped.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-22), “The Hero as King,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)
The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 6 (1841).
It iz one ov the hardest things on earth for a man to learn, — that he plays a third rate game ov whist.
[It is one of the hardest things on earth for a man to learn — that he plays a third-rate game of whist.]
When the Well’s dry, we know the Worth of Water.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1746 ed.)
(Source)
Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.
Herman Melville (1819-1891) American writer
Story (1854-06), “Poor Man’s Pudding and Rich Man’s Crumbs,” “Picture First,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 9
(Source)
Wherein, then, is your grievance? You are not ejected from the city [life] by any unjust judge or tyrant, but by the selfsame Nature which brought you into it; just as when an actor is dismissed by the manager who engaged him.
“But I have played no more than three of the five acts.” Just so; in your drama of life, three acts are all the play. Its point of completeness is determined by him who formerly sanctioned your creation, and today sanctions your dissolution. Neither of those decisions lay within yourself.
Pass on your way, then, with a smiling face, under the smile of him who bids you go.[τί οὖν δεινόν, εἰ τῆς πόλεως ἀποπέμπει σε οὐ τύραννος οὐδὲ δικαστὴς ἄδικος, ἀλλ̓ ἡ φύσις ἡ εἰσαγαγοῦσα, οἷον εἰ κωμῳδὸν ἀπολύοι τῆς σκηνῆς ὁ παραλαβὼν στρατηγός;—ἀλλ̓ οὐκ εἶπον τὰ πέντε μέρη, ἀλλὰ τὰ τρία.—καλῶς εἶπας: ἐν μέντοι τῷ βίῳ τὰ τρία ὅλον τὸ δρᾶμά ἐστι. τὸ γὰρ τέλειον ἐκεῖνος ὁρίζει ὁ τότε μὲν τῆς συγκρίσεως. νῦν δὲ τῆς διαλύσεως αἴτιος: σὺ δὲ ἀναίτιος ἀμφοτέρων. ἄπιθι οὖν ἵλεως: καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἀπολύων ἵλεως.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 12, ch. 36 (12.36) (AD 161-180) [tr. Staniforth (1964)]
(Source)
Concluding words of the Meditations. See Cicero (44 BC).
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Why then should it be grievous unto thee, if (not a tyrant, nor an unjust judge, but) the same nature that brought thee in, doth now send thee out of the world? As if the praetor should fairly dismiss him from the stage, whom he had taken in to act a while.
Oh, but the play is not yet at an end, there are but three acts yet acted of it? Thou hast well said: for in matter of life, three acts is the whole play. Now to set a certain time to every man's acting, belongs unto him only, who as first he was of thy composition, so is now the cause of thy dissolution. As for thyself; thou hast to do with neither.
Go thy ways then well pleased and contented: for so is He that dismisseth thee.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 12.27]You can't say you are sent off by a Tyrannical, and Unrighteous Sentence; No, you quit the Stage as fairly as a Player does that has his Discharge from the Master of the Revels:
But I have only gone through three Acts, and not held out to the End of the Fifth. You say well; but in Life three Acts make the Play entire. He that appoints the Entertainment is the best Judge of the length on't; and as he ordered the opening of the first Scene, so now he gives the sign for shutting up the last: You are neither accountable for one or to'ther;
Therefore retire in good Humour, for He by whom you are dismiss'd means you no harm.
[tr. Collier (1701)]What is there terrible in this, that you are sent out, not by a tyrant, or an unjust judge, but by that nature, which at first introduced you? As if the praetor who employed the player, should dismiss him again from the scene.
But, say you, I have not finished the five acts, but only three. You say true; but, in life, three acts make a complete play. For, ’tis he who appoints the end to it, who, as he was the cause of the composition, is now the cause of the dissolution. Neither of them are chargeable on you:
Depart, therefore, contented, and in good humour; for, he is propitious and kind, who dismisses you.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]Is it any hardship that you are sent out of the world, not by a tyrant, or an unjust judge, but by that Being which first introduced you? As the magistrate who engages an actor for the stage, dismisses him again at his pleasure.
"But I have performed only three acts of the play, and not the whole five."
Very true; but in life, even three acts may complete the whole drama. He determines the duration of the piece, who first cause it to be composed, and now orders its conclusion. You are not accountable for either.
Depart, therefore, with a good grace; for he who dismisses you is a gracious and benevolent Being.
[tr. Graves (1792)]Where is the hardship then, if no tyrant nor yet an unjust judge sends thee away from the state, but nature, who brought thee into it? the same as if a praetor who has employed an actor dismisses him from the stage.
-- "But I have not finished the five acts, but only three of them." -- Thou sayest well, but in life the three acts are the whole drama; for what shall be a complete drama is determined by him who was once the cause of its composition, and now of its dissolution: but thou art the cause of neither.
Depart then satisfied, for he also who releases thee is satisfied.
[tr. Long (1862)]Where is the hardship then if nature, that planted you here, orders your removal? You cannot say you are sent off by a tyrant or unjust judge. No; you quit the stage as fairly as a player does that has his discharge from the master of the revels.
But I have only gone through three acts, and not held out to the end of the fifth. You say well; but in life three acts make the play entire. He that ordered the opening of the first scene now gives the sign for shutting up the last; you are neither accountable for one nor the other;
Therefore retire well satisfied, for He, by whom you are dismissed, is satisfied too.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]Why then protest? No tyrant gives you your dismissal, no unjust judge, but nature who gave you the admission. It is like the praetor discharging some player whom he has engaged.
-- "But the five acts are not complete; I have played but three." -- Good: life's drama, look you, is complete in three. The completeness is in his hands, who first authorized your composition, and now your dissolution; neither was your work.
Serenely take your leave; serene as he who gives you discharge.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]Where then is the calamity, if you are sent out of the city, by no tyrant or unjust judge, but Nature herself who at first introduced you, just as the praetor who engaged the actor again dismisses him from the stage?
“But,” say you, “I have not spoken my five acts, but only three.” True, but in life three acts make up the play. For he sets the end who was responsible for its composition at the first, and for its present dissolution. You are responsible for neither.
Depart then graciously; for he who dismisses you is gracious.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]What hardship then is there in being banished from the city, not by a tyrant or an unjust judge but by Nature who settled thee in it? So might a praetor who commissions a comic actor, dismiss him from the stage.
But I have not played my five acts, but only three. Very possibly, but in life three acts count as a full play. For he, that is responsible for thy composition originally and thy dissolution now, decides when it is complete. But thou art responsible for neither.
Depart then with a good grace, for he that dismisses thee is gracious.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]Why is it hard, then, if Nature who brought you in, and no despot nor unjust judge, sends you out of the City -- as though the master of the show, who engaged an actor, were to dismiss him from the stage?
"But I have not spoken my five acts, only three." "What you say is true, but in life three acts are the whole play." For He determines the perfect whole, the cause yesterday of your composition, to-day of your dissolution; you are the cause of neither.
Leave the stage, therefore, and be reconciled, for He also who lets his servant depart is reconciled.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]Where is the hardship, then, if it is no tyrant or unjust judge who sends you out of the city, but nature who brought you into it? It is just as if the director of a show, after first engaging an actor, were dismissing him from the stage.
"But I haven't played all five acts, only three!" Very well; but in life three can make up a full play. For the one who determines when it is complete is he who once arranged for your composition and now arranges for your dissolution, while you for your part are responsible for neither.
So make your departure with good grace, as he who is releasing you shows a good grace.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.; 2011 ed.)]And to be sent away from it, not by a tyrant or a dishonest judge, but by Nature, who first invited you in -- why is that so terrible?
Like the impresario ringing down the curtain on an actor:
“But I’ve only gotten through three acts ...!”
Yes. This will be a drama in three acts, the length fixed by the power that directed your creation, and now directs your dissolution. Neither was yours to determine.
So make your exit with grace -- the same grace shown to you.
[tr. Hays (2003)]So what is there to fear in your dismissal from the city? This is no tyrant or corrupt judge who dismisses you, but the very same nature that brought you in. It is like the officer who engaged a comic actor dismissing him from the stage.
"But I have not played my five acts, only three." "True, but in life three acts can be the whole play." Completion is determined by that being who caused first your composition and now your dissolution. You have no part in either causation.
Go then in peace: the god who lets you go is at peace with you.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]
Almost everybody is deeply affected when some one he loves suffers from cancer. Most people are moved when they see the sufferings of unknown patients in hospitals. Yet when they read that the death-rate from cancer is such-and-such, they are as a rule only moved to momentary personal fear lest they or some one dear to them should acquire the disease. The same is true of war: people think it dreadful when their son or brother is mutilated, but they do not think it a million times as dreadful that a million people should be mutilated. A man who is full of kindliness in all personal dealings may derive his income from incitement to war or from the torture of children in “backward” countries.
All these familiar phenomena are due to the fact that sympathy is not stirred, in most people, by a merely abstract stimulus. A large proportion of the evils in the modern world would cease if this could be remedied.Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 1, ch. 2 “The Aims of Education” (1926)
(Source)
By definition, humor is gentle. The savage, the cruel, the harsh would fall under the heading of wit and/or satire, as the lawyers say. Now, my definitions are these: The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself, but in so doing, he identifies himself with people — that is, people everywhere, not for the purpose of taking them apart, but simply revealing their true nature.
James Thurber (1894-1961) American humorist, cartoonist, writer
Interview (1959-03-24) by Edward R. Murrow, Small World, CBS-TV
(Source)
When Siobhan McKenna, one of the other guests, made a comment about "cruel humor."
The transcript was printed as "That Girl in Galway" in the next (?) day's New York Post.
He that gropes in the dark, finds that which he would not.
James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian and writer
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “English Proverbs” (1659) [compiler]
(Source)
BOOK-LEARNING, n. The dunce’s derisive term for all knowledge that transcends his own impenitent ignorance.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Book-learning,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-14)
(Source)
The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism.
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
(Attributed)
Widely attributed to Arendt, and in keeping with her other writings, but I cannot find a primary source or citation.
One thing life has taught me: if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you. They will gravitate as automatically as the needle to the north. Somehow, it is unnecessary, in any cold-blooded sense, to sit down and put your head in your hands and plan them. All you need to do is to be curious, receptive, eager for experience. And there’s one strange thing: when you are genuinely interested in one thing, it will always lead to something else.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn by Living, ch. 1 “Learning to Learn” (1960)
(Source)
The wicked flee when no man pursueth ….
[נָ֣סוּ וְאֵין־רֹדֵ֣ף רָשָׁ֑ע]
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 20. Proverbs 28: 1 (Prov 28:1) [KJV (1611)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:The wicked man flees when no one is after him ....
[JB (1966)]The wicked flees when no one is pursuing ....
[NJB (1985)]The wicked run when no one is chasing them ....
[GNT (1992 ed.)]The wicked run away even though no one pursues them ....
[CEB (2011)]The wicked flee when no one pursues ....
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]A wicked person flees though no one gives chase ....
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]
When I find myself hotly defending something, when I am, in fact, zealous, it is time for me to step back and examine whatever it is that has me so hot under the collar. Do I think it’s going to threaten my comfortable rut? Make me change and grow? — and growing always causes growing pains. Am I afraid to ask questions?
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)
Knowledge is, indeed, that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another. It finishes one half of the human Soul. It makes Being pleasant to us, fills the mind with entertaining views and administers to it a perpetual series of gratifications. It gives ease to fortitude, and gracefulness to retirement. It fills a publick station with suitable abilities, and adds a lustre to those who are in the possession of them.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1713-07-18), The Guardian, No. 111
(Source)
To our graves we walk
In the thick footprints of departed men.
ÆGEUS: All happiness to you Medea! Between old friends
There is no better greeting.[ΑἸΓΕΎΣ: Μήδεια, χαῖρε: τοῦδε γὰρ προοίμιον
κάλλιον οὐδεὶς οἶδε προσφωνεῖν φίλους.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 663ff (431 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1963)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:Medea, hail! for no man can devise
Terms more auspicious to accost his friends.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]Medea, hail! When we salute our friends,
No terms of higher honour can we use.
[tr. Potter (1814)]Medea, hail; since sooth no fairer greeting
Hath any known wherewith to reverence friends.
[tr. Webster (1868)]All hail, Medea! no man knoweth fairer prelude to the greeting of friends than this.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Medea, hail! for no one hath known a more honorable salutation to address to friends than this.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Medea, hail! -- for fairer greeting-word
None knoweth to accost his friends withal.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Have joy, Medea! 'Tis the homeliest
Word that old friends can greet with, and the best.
[tr. Murray (1906)]Medea, greeting! This is the best introduction
Of which men know for conversation between friends.
[tr. Warner (1944)]Medea, rejoice! There is no fairer greeting from friend to friend.
[tr. Jeffers (1946)]Medea, I wish you well. No one knows
How to address a better greeting to friends.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]Medea, I wish you joy: no one knows a better way than this to address a friend.
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]Medea, I wish you joy. No one knows a finer prelude than this in addressing friends.
[tr. Davie (1996)]A joyful day to you, Medea. I give you the best greeting anyone can give to his friends.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]Medea, hello. For no one knows a better way
than this to address friends and wish them well.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]I wish you all happiness, Medea.
There is no better way to greet one’s friends.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]Medea, be of good fortune; no one can find a better way than this to greet a friend.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]I wish you kharis, Medea! No one knows a finer beginning than this to address philoi.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]
IAGO: I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Othello, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 129ff (1.1.129-131) (1603)
(Source)
Speaking to Desdemona's father, the senator Brabantio. Earliest recorded use of "beast with two backs" in English; though Rabelais used it in Gargantua and Pantagruel (c. 1532), but that is not known to have been translated to English until the late 17th Century. (More info here).
Is there something you can do about it? You’re darned right there is! You can fight back. Mister Old Age is not going to get you, by golly! All you need is a little determination — a willingness to get out of that reclining lounge chair, climb into that sweatsuit, lace on those running shoes, stride out that front door, and hurl yourself in front of that municipal bus.
No, wait. Sorry. For a moment there I got carried away by the bleakness of it all. Forget what I said. Really. There is absolutely no need to become suicidally depressed about the fact that every organ in your body is headed straight down the toilet.Dave Barry (b. 1947) American humorist, author, columnist
Dave Barry Turns 40, ch. 2 “Your Disintegrating Body” (1990)
(Source)
Truly it is a sad thing for a people, as for a man, to fall into Scepticism, into dilettantism, insincerity; not to know Sincerity when they see it. For this world, and for all worlds, what curse is so fatal? The heart lying dead, the eye cannot see.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-22), “The Hero as King,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)
The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 6 (1841).
A great man’s greatest good luck is to die at the right time.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 276 (1955)
(Source)
Lazyness iz a good deal like money, — the more a man haz ov it the more he seems tew want.
[Laziness is a good deal like money — the more a man has of it, the more he seems to want.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-08 (1871 ed.)
(Source)
He that resolves to mend hereafter, resolves not to mend now.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1745 ed.)
(Source)
FAUSTUS: Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et nulla est in nobis veritas;
“If we say that we have no sin,
We deceive ourselves, and there’s no truth in us.”
Why, then, belike we must sin,
And so consequently die.
Ay, we must die an everlasting death.Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 1 (sc. 1), l. 70ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)
(Source)
The quote is from the Bible, 1 John 1:8; Faustus ignores verse 9 which speaks of forgiveness.
The same words are used in the "B" text (w. 1594; pub. 1616), l. 68ff.
Writing fiction is definitely a universe disturber, and for the writer, first of all. My books push me and prod me and make me ask questions I might otherwise avoid. I start a book, having lived with the characters for several years, during the writing of other books, and I have a pretty good idea of where the story is going and what I hope it’s going to say. And then, once I get deep into the writing, unexpected things begin to happen, things which make me question, and which sometimes really shake my universe.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)
“Life,” he said, “is like a grapefruit.”
“Er, how so?”
“Well, it’s sort of orangey-yellow and dimpled on the outside, wet and squidgy in the middle. It’s got pips inside, too. Oh, and some people have half a one for breakfast.”Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 4, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, ch. 23 (1984)
(Source)
Ford Prefect speaking with a creature in his dreams.
O man! as a citizen thou hast lived, and conversed in this great city the world. Whether just for so many years, or no, what is it unto thee? Thou hast lived (thou mayest be sure) as long as the laws and orders of the city required; which may be the common comfort of all.
[Ἄνθρωπε, ἐπολιτεύσω ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ ταύτῃ πόλει: τί σοι διαφέρει, εἰ πέντε ἔτεσιν ἢ τρισί; τὸ γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἴσον ἑκάστῳ.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 12, ch. 36 (12.36) (AD 161-180) [tr. Casaubon (1634), 12.27]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Hark ye Friend; you have been a Burgher of this Great City; what's matter tho' you have lived in't but a few Years; if you have observ'd the Laws of the Corporation, the length or shortness of the Time, makes no difference.
[tr. Collier (1701)]You have lived, O man, as a denizen of this great state: Of what consequence to you, whether it be only for five years? What is according to the laws, is equal and just to all.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]O! my friend, you have lived a citizen of this great commonwealth, the world; of what consequence is it to you, whether you have lived precisely five years or not? What is according to the laws of the community, is equal and just to all.
[tr. Graves (1792)]Man, thou hast been a citizen in this great state [the world]; what difference does it make to thee whether for five years [or three]? for that which is conformable to the laws is just for all.
[tr. Long (1862)]Hark ye friend; you have been a burgher of this great city, what matter though you have lived in it five years or three; if you have observed the laws of the corporation, the length or shortness of the time makes no difference.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]Man, you have been a citizen of the great world city. Five years or fifty, what matters it? To every man his due, as law allots.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]You have lived, O man, as a citizen of this great city; of what consequence to you whether for five years or for three? What comes by law is fair to all.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]Man, thou hast been a citizen in this World-City, what matters it to thee if for five years or a hundred? For under its laws equal treatment is meted out to all.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]Mortal man, you have been a citizen in this great City; what does it matter to you whether for five or fifty years? For what is according to its laws is equal for every man.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]O man, citizenship of this great world-city has been yours. Whether for five years or fivescore, what is that to you? Whatever the law of that city decrees is fair to one and all alike.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]My friend, you have been a citizen of this great city [of the universe]. What difference if you live in it for five years or a hundred? For what is laid down in its laws is equitable for all.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.; 2011 ed.)]You've lived as a citizen in a great city. Five years or a hundred -- what's the difference? The laws make no distinction.
[tr. Hays (2003)]Mortal man, you have lived as a citizen in this great city. What matter if that life is five or fifty years? The laws of the city apply equally to all.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]Man, you have been a citizen in this world city; what does it matter whether for five years or fifty? [...]
[tr. Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (2004)]
The next stage in the development of a desirable form of sensitiveness is sympathy. There is a purely physical sympathy: a very young child will cry because a brother or sister is crying. This, I suppose, affords the basis for the further developments.
The two enlargements that are needed are: first, to feel sympathy even when the sufferer is not an object of special affection; secondly, to feel it when the suffering is merely known to be occurring, not sensibly present. The second of these enlargements depends mainly upon intelligence. It may only go so far as sympathy with suffering which is portrayed vividly and touchingly, as in a good novel; it may, on the other hand, go so far as to enable a man to be moved emotionally by statistics. This capacity for abstract sympathy is as rare as it is important.Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 1, ch. 2 “The Aims of Education” (1926)
(Source)
This (in the penultimate sentence) appears to be the origin of phrases such as:Sometimes attributed to George Bernard Shaw or Oscar Wilde.
- "The of a truly intelligent person to be moved by statistics."
- "he mark of a civilized man is the ability to look at a column of numbers, and weep."
For more discussion, see: Quote Origin: It Is the Mark of a Truly Intelligent Person To Be Moved By Statistics – Quote Investigator®.
The past is an old armchair in the attic, the present an ominous ticking sound, and the future is anybody’s guess.
James Thurber (1894-1961) American humorist, cartoonist, writer
Letter (1961-07-05) to Marianna Brown
(Source)
He that wrestleth with a turd shall be beshitt fall he over or under.
James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian and writer
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “English Proverbs” (1659) [compiler]
(Source)
CALVIN: There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.
BALOGNA-SAUSAGE, n. A dead dog that is better than a living lion, but not to eat.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Bologna-sausage,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-14)
(Source)
CHORUS: I hope the man who does not honour his friends, the man who does not open an honest heart to them, I hope that man dies a horrible, a miserable death. Such a man will certainly never be a friend of mine!
[ΚΥΚΛΩΨ: ἀχάριστος ὄλοιθ᾽ ὅτῳ πάρεστιν
μὴ φίλους τιμᾶν καθαρᾶν ἀνοί-
ξαντα κλῇδα φρενῶν: ἐμοὶ
μὲν φίλος οὔποτ᾽ ἔσται.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 659ff, Antistrophe 2 (431 BC) [tr. Theodoridis (2004)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:Perish the wretch devoid of worth.
Engrossed by mean and selfish ends.
Whose heart expands not, those he lov'd, to aid;
Never may I lament attachments thus repaid.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]Unpitied may he die,
Who to a friend assistance can deny;
Nor, to afflicted virtue kind,
Unlocks the treasures of his mind!
[tr. Potter (1814)]Let shameful blight
Slay him who gives not friends their right,
Unlocking them his heart's pure store:
Let him be friend of mine no more.
[tr. Webster (1868)]May he perish and find no favour, whoso hath not in him honour for his friends, freely unlocking his heart to them. Never shall he be friend of mine.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Thankless may he perish who desires not to assist his friends, having unlocked the pure treasures of his mind; never shall he be friend to me.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]But he, who regardeth not friends, accursed may he perish, and hated,
Who opes not his heart with sincerity's key to the hapless-fated --
Never such shall be friend of mine!
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Ah, but the man -- cursèd be he,
Cursèd beyond recover,
Who openeth, shattering, seal by seal,
A friend's clean heart, then turns his heel,
Deaf unto love: never in me
Friend shall he know nor lover.
[tr. Murray (1906)]Perish the fiend! whose iron heart
To fair Affection’s truth unknown,
Bids her he fondly lov’d depart,
Unpitied, helpless, and alone;
Who ne’er unlocks with silver key,
The milder treasures of his soul;
May such a friend be far from me,
And Ocean’s storms between us roll!
[tr. Byron (1907)]O let him die ungraced whose heart
Will not reward his friends,
Who cannot open an honest mind
No friend will he be of mine.
[tr. Warner (1944)]May dishonor and ruin fall on the man
Who, having unlocked the secrets
Of a friend's frank heart, can then disown him!
He shall be no friend of mine.
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]Perish unloved the one
who does not unlock a pure heart to friends;
No friend of mind will he ever be.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]May that man die unloved who cannot honor his friends, unlocking to them his honest mind. To me at any rate he shall never be friend.
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]Untouched by grace or favour may he die, the man who cannot honour his loved ones, by opening a heart that harbours no guile! Never shall he be friend of mine.
[tr. Davie (1996)]Without grace may he perish who
does not treat his loved ones honorably
unbolting his heart in pure love.
He will never be a friend of mine.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]The man who shames his family,
who does not open up his heart
and treat them in all honesty --
may he perish unlamented.
With him I never could be friends.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]May an ungrateful person be destroyed, one who does not honour family and friends when he has opened up their hearts and found them pure; may such a person never be my friend.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]May he perish without grace [kharis], whoever could treat his philoi without timē, not opening the key of his phrenes. Never will he be philos to me.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]May that man die unloved who cannot honour his friends, unlocking to them his honest mind. To me at any rate he shall never be a friend.
[tr. Kovacs / Zhang / Rogak]
To answer before listening —
This is foolish and disgraceful.[מֵשִׁ֣יב דָּ֭בָר בְּטֶ֣רֶם יִשְׁמָ֑ע אִוֶּ֥לֶת הִיא־ל֝֗וֹ וּכְלִמָּֽה׃]
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 20. Proverbs 18:13 (Prov 18:13) [RJPS (2023 ed.)]
(Source)
See La Rochefoucauld (1665).
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:He that answereth a matter before he heareth it,
it is folly and shame unto him.
[KJV (1611)]To retort without first listening is folly to work one's own confusion.
[JB (1966)]To retort without first listening is both foolish and embarrassing.
[NJB (1985)]Listen before you answer. If you don't, you are being stupid and insulting.
[GNT (1992 ed.)]Those who answer before they listen
are foolish and disgraceful.
[CEB (2011)]If one gives answer before hearing,
it is folly and shame.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
When virtue is banished, ambition invades the hearts of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.
[Lorsque cette vertu cesse, l’ambition entre dans les cœurs qui peuvent la recevoir, & l’avarice entre dans tous.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Nugent (1750)]
(Source)
Speaking of republics. See notes here on Montesquieu's meaning of "virtue": political virtue of love of country and of equality.
(Source (French)). Other translations:When that virtue ceases, ambition enters those hearts that can admit it, and avarice enters them all.
[tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]When that virtue ceases, ambition enters the hearts that can receive it, and avarice enters them all.
[tr. Stewart (2018)]
Dearer to me than the evening star
A Packard car
A Hershey bar
Or a bride in her rich adorning
Dearer than any of these by far
Is to lie in bed in the morning.Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1957), “Introduction,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
(Source)
Whatever passion enters into a sentence or decision, so far will there be in it a tincture of injustice.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1713-07-04), The Guardian, No. 99
(Source)
The glories of our blood and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against fate;
Death lays his icy hand on kings:
Scepter and crown
Must tumble down,
And, in the dust, be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.James Shirley (1596–1666) English poet, playwright
Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for Achilles’s Armour, sc. 3, st. 1 (1659)
(Source)
Sung by Calchas over the body of Ajax.
The poem was eventually set to music by Edward Coleman. It was said to be a favorite of England's King Charles II, perhaps because it was said by some to have terrified Oliver Cromwell.
Titled as "Death's Final Conquest" in Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Book 3, No. 2 (1885). There the first line is given as "birth and state."
BASSANIO: In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil?William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Merchant of Venice, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 77ff (3.2.77-79) (1597)
(Source)
We are stubborn because we are narrow-minded; it is hard to believe what is beyond the scope of our vision.
[La petitesse de l’esprit fait l’opiniâtreté, et nous ne croyons pas aisément ce qui est au delà de ce que nous voyons.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶265 (1665-1678) [tr. Heard (1917), ¶273]
(Source)
This maxim was in the 1st (1665) edition (with the wording "... fait souvent l’opiniâtreté ...")
(Source (French)). Other translations:It is from a Weakness and Littleness of Soul, that Men are Stiff and Positive in their Opinions; and we are very loth to Believe, what we are not able to Comprehend, and make out to Our Selves.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶266]Narrowness of mind is often the cause of obstinacy: we do not easily believe beyond what we see.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶319; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶248]Narrowness of mind is often the cause of obstinacy; we believe no farther than we can see.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶458]Narrowness of mind is the cause of obstinacy -- we do not easily believe what is beyond our sight.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶276]A narrow mind begets obstinacy, and we do not easily believe what we cannot see.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶265]Obstinacy of opinion is due to want of intelligence; we find it difficult to believe what is beyond our mental horizon.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶265]A small mind is a stubborn mind; it is hard to believe what lies beyond our field of vision.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶265]A small mind becomes an obstinate mind: we find it hard to believe what lies beyond our understanding.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶265]Obstinacy comes from limited intelligence, and we do not readily believe what is beyond our field of vision.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶265]Narrowness of mind begets obstinacy; and we do not easily believe what we cannot see ourselves.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶]
We are told “God so loved the world” that he is going to damn almost everybody. If this orthodox religion be true, some of the greatest, and grandest, and best who ever lived are suffering God’s torments to-night. It does not appear to make much difference with the members of the church. They go right on enjoying themselves about as well as ever. If this doctrine is true, Benjamin Franklin, one of the wisest and best of men, who did so much to give us here a free government, is suffering the tyranny of God to-night, although he endeavored to establish freedom among men. If the churches were honest, their preachers would tell their hearers: “Benjamin Franklin is in hell, and we warn all the youth not to imitate Benjamin Franklin. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, with its self-evident truths, has been damned these many years.”
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado
(Source)
Published as its own book in 1884.
To give the public what they do not want, and yet expect to be supported: we have there a strange pretension, and yet not uncommon, above all with painters. The first duty in this world is for a man to pay his way; when that is quite accomplished, he may plunge into what eccentricity he likes; but emphatically not till then.
In Books lies the soul of the whole Past Time; the articulate audible voice of the Past, when the body and material substance of it has altogether vanished like a dream. Mighty fleets and armies, harbors and arsenals, vast cities, high-domed, many-engined, — they are precious, great: but what do they become? Agamemnon, the many Agamemnons, Pericleses, and their Greece; all is gone now to some ruined fragments, dumb mournful wrecks and blocks: but the Books of Greece! There Greece, to every thinker, still very literally lives: can be called up again into life. No magic Rune is stranger than a Book. All that Mankind has done, thought, gained or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of Books.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-19), “The Hero as Man of Letters,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)
The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 5 (1841).
JO: I don’t believe it! It’s bigger inside than out!
THE DOCTOR: Yes. That’s because the TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental.
JO: What does that mean?
THE DOCTOR: It means that it’s bigger inside than out.
Doctor Who (1963-1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
08×04 “Colony in Space,” Part 1 (1971-04-10) [w. Malcolm Hulke]
(Source)
(Source (Video); dialog confirmed).
The difference between the interior and exterior of the TARDIS was mentioned in the very first episode, 01x01 "An Unearthly Child" (1963), by Susan:I thought you'd both understand when you saw the different dimensions inside from those outside.
The first use of the "bigger [on the] inside" line was in 10x01 "The Three Doctors" (1972), when Sergeant Benton first goes inside, and the Third Doctor is actually the one to comment (video):Well, Sergeant, aren't you going to say it that it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside? Everybody else does.
(Which implies that others have said it before, we've just not seen it.)
Conversely, in (2005 revival) 10xCS "The Snowmen" (2012), Clara changes the perspective (video):CLARA: But it's. Look at it, it's --
THE DOCTOR: Go on, say it. Most people do.
(Clara makes a circuit of the exterior of the TARDIS, then steps back in.)
CLARA: It's smaller on the outside.
THE DOCTOR: Okay, that is a first.
A compilation of the theme can be found here.
There are greater forces and means for attacking than for defending the State. The reason is, that reckless and abandoned men need only a nod to set them moving, and their own natural disposition incites them against the State; while honest folk somehow or other show less activity, neglect the beginnings of movements, and are aroused to action at the last moment only by simple necessity; so that sometimes, owing to their hesitation and indolence, while they wish still to enjoy peace even with the loss of dignity, through their own fault they lose both.
[Maioribus praesidiis et copiis oppugnatur res publica quam defenditur, propterea quod audaces homines et perditi nutu impelluntur et ipsi etiam sponte sua contra rem publicam incitantur, boni nescio quo modo tardiores sunt et principiis rerum neglectis ad extremum ipsa denique necessitate excitantur, ita ut non numquam cunctatione ac tarditate, dum otium volunt etiam sine dignitate retinere, ipsi utrumque amittant.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 47 / sec. 100 (56-02 BC) [tr. Gardner (Loeb) (1958)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:The constitution is attacked with greater forces and troops than wherewith it is defended; because audacious and reckless characters are set on by a nod, and are even of their own accord incited against the constitution; whilst the good are for some reason or other slacker, and from having neglected the beginnings of things, are at last aroused to action by mere necessity; so that sometimes, while they are willing to retain their tranquility even without freedom, through their own fault they lose both from their hesitation and tardiness.
[tr. Hickie (1888)]The republic is attacked by greater forces and more numerous bodies than those by which it is defended; because audacious and abandoned men are impelled on by a nod, and are even of their own accord excited by nature to be enemies to the republic. And somehow or other good men are slower in action, and overlooking the first beginnings of things, are at last aroused by necessity itself; so that sometimes through their very delays and tardiness of movement, while they wish to retain their ease even without dignity, they, of their own accord, lose both.
[tr. Yonge (1891)]
Not being able to control events, I control myself, and adapt myself to them if they do not adapt themselves to me.
[Ne pouvant regler les evenemens, je me regle moy-mesme : & m’applique à eux, s’ils ne s’appliquent à moy.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 2, ch. 17 (2.17), “Of Presumption [De la Presomption]” (1578) [tr. Cohen (1958)]
(Source)
This essay appeared in the 1st (1580) edition, and was expanded in succeeding editions. This passage was added in the 2nd (1588) edition.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Being unable to direct events, I governe my selfe; and if they apply not themselves to me, I apply my selfe to them.
[tr. Florio (1603)]Not being to govern events I govern myself, and apply myself to them, if they do not apply themselves to me.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]Not being able to govern events, I govern myself, and apply myself to them, if they will not apply themselves to me.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]Being unable to regulate events, I regulate myself, and adapt myself to them if they do not adapt themselves to me.
[tr. Ives (1925)]Not being able to rule events, I rule myself, and adapt myself to them if they do not adapt themselves to me.
[tr. Frame (1943)]Not being able to control events I control myself: if they will not adapt to me then I adapt to them.
[tr. Screech (1987)]Since I cannot control events, I take control of myself and suit myself to them, if they do not suit me.
[tr. Atkinson/Sices (2012)]
Man iz mi brother, and i konsider that i am nearer related tew him through hiz vices, than i am through hiz virtews.
[Man is my brother, and I consider that I am nearer related to him through his vices, than I am through his virtues.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-07 (1871 ed.)
(Source)
Many complain of their Memory, few of their Judgment.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1745 ed.)
(Source)
Not an original sentiment from Franklin. See, for example, La Rochefoucauld (1666).
BAD ANGEL: He that loves pleasure, must for pleasure fall.
Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 5, sc. 4 (sc. 19), l. 2032 (5.4.2032) (1594; 1616 “B” text)
(Source)
This scene with the Bad Angel was added in the "B" text.
We need to dare disturb the universe by not being manipulated or frightened by judgmental groups who assume the right to insist that if we do not agree with them, not only do we not understand but we are wrong. How dull the world would be if we all had to feel the same way about everything, if we all had to like the same books, dislike the same books.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)
He gazed keenly into the distance and looked as if he would quite like the wind to blow his hair back dramatically at that point, but the wind was busy fooling around with some leaves a little way off.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 3, Life, the Universe, and Everything, ch. 2 (1982)
(Source)
Describing Ford Prefect.
Nothing exerts a stronger psychic effect upon the human environment, and especially upon children, than the life which the parents have not lived.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist
Lecture (1929-06), “Paracelsus,” Literary Club of Zurich, Paracelsus House, Einsiedeln, Schwyz, Switzerland [tr. Hull (1966)]
(Source)
(Publication notes.) Collected in The Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature, Part 1, "Paracelsus," ¶ 3 (1929).
Neither acquiescence in skepticism nor acquiescence in dogma is what education should produce. What it should produce is a belief that knowledge is attainable in a measure, though with difficulty; that much of what passes for knowledge at any given time is likely to be more or less mistaken, but that the mistakes can be rectified by care and industry. In acting upon our beliefs, we should be very cautious where a small error would mean disaster; nevertheless it is upon our beliefs that we must act. This state of mind is rather difficult: it requires a high degree of intellectual culture without emotional atrophy. But though difficult it is not impossible; it is in fact the scientific temper. Knowledge, like other good things, is difficult, but not impossible; the dogmatist forgets the difficulty, the skeptic denies the possibility. Both are mistaken, and their errors, when wide-spread, produce social disaster.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 1, ch. 2 “The Aims of Education” (1926)
(Source)
America must learn that humor, whatever form it may take, can be one of our strongest allies, but it cannot flourish in a weather of fear and hysteria and intimidation.
James Thurber (1894-1961) American humorist, cartoonist, writer
Essay (1958-12-07), “State of the Nation’s Humor: ‘On the Brink of Was,'” New York Times Magazine
(Source)
I wrote somewhere once that the third-rate mind was only happy when it was thinking with the majority, the second-rate mind was only happy when it was thinking with the minority, and the first-rate mind was only happy when it was thinking. With equal truth it may be said that a first-rate mind is not one which does not remember the past, nor is it one which cannot forget the past; it is a mind which will use the past but not be ordered by it. It is a mind independent of everybody and everything but the facts in front of it. It is as little perturbed to find itself sharing a thought with the simple as it is elated to find itself sharing a thought with the subtle.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
War with Honour, Macmillan War Pamphlets, Issue 2 (1940)
(Source)
Milne wrote this work in repudiation (or perhaps emendation) of his 1934 book, Peace with Honour, which argued that, given the tragedy of World War 1, that similar saber-rattling about the rise of Hitler's Germany was irresponsible and immoral. Having seen the course of fascism in the first years of World War 2, while still espousing pacifist principles, he saw Hitler as an evil that must be defeated.
CHORUS: May I know the blessing of a heart that is not passion’s slave; no fairer gift can the gods bestow. But may the dread Cyprian never inflict upon me quarrelsome moods and insatiable strife, firing my heart with love for a stranger; may she rather show respect for marriages where peace reigns and judge with a shrewd eye the loves of women.
ΚΥΚΛΩΨ: στέργοι δέ με σωφροσύνα, δώρημα κάλλιστον θεῶν:
μηδέ ποτ᾽ ἀμφιλόγους ὀργὰς ἀκόρεστά τε νείκη
θυμὸν ἐκπλήξασ᾽ ἑτέροις ἐπὶ λέκτροις
προσβάλοι δεινὰ Κύπρις, ἀπτολέμους δ᾽
εὐνὰς σεβίζουσ᾽ ὀξύφρων
κρίνοι λέχη γυναικῶν.Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 636ff, Second Stasimon, Antistrophe 1 (431 BC) [tr. Davie (1996)]
(Source)
The Cyprian goddess is an epithet for Aphrodite, who was born (in some versions) at Pamphros in Cyprus. The Chorus sings specifically here from the perspective of women.
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:May I in modesty delight,
Best present which the Gods can give.
Nor torn by jarring passions live
A prey to wrath and canker'd spite.
Still envious of a rival's charms,
Nor rouse the endless strife
While on my soul another Wife,
Impresses vehement alarms:
On us, dread Queen, thy mildest influence shed.
Thou who discern'st each crime that stains the nuptial bed.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]May no distracting thoughts destroy
The holy calm of sacred love!
May all the hours be winged with joy,
Which hover faithful hearts above!
Fair Venus! on thy myrtle shrine
May I with some fond lover sigh!
Whose heart may mingle pure with mine,
With me to live, with me to die!
[tr. Byron (1807)]The noblest present of the skies,
Be modest temperance mine:
May no unruly passions rise,
Nor pride and hate combine
Their baleful venom wide to spread,
And kindling rage and jealous strive,
Embitter all the joys of life,
In vengeance for the injur'd bed,
O Venus, prompt connubial peace t' approve,
And quick to mark the faults of wand'ring love!
[tr. Potter (1814)]But be my guardian chastity,
The god's best gift, nor let my mind,
By cruel Cypris forced awry,
The burden of hot anger find,
Of gnawing jealousy;
But may she, pleasured with calm wedded lives,
Wisely adjudge their lots to wives.
[tr. Webster (1868)]On me may chastity, heaven’s fairest gift, look with a favouring eye; never may Cypris, goddess dread, fasten on me a temper to dispute, or restless jealousy, smiting my soul with mad desire for unlawful love, but may she hallow peaceful married life and shrewdly decide whom each of us shall wed.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]But may temperance preserve me, the noblest gift of heaven; never may dreaded Venus, having smitten my mind for another's bed, heap upon me jealous passions and unabated quarrels, but approving the peaceful union, may she quick of perception sit in judgment on the bed of women.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]But let Temperance shield me, the fairest of gifts of the Gods ever-living:
Nor ever with passion of jarring contention, nor feuds unforgiving,
In her terrors may Love's Queen visit me, smiting with maddened unrest
For a couch mismated my soul: but the peace of the bride-bed be holden
In honour of her, and her keen eyes choose for us bonds that be best
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]The pent hate of the word that cavilleth,
The strife that hath no fill,
Where once was fondness; and the mad heart's breath
For strange love panting still:
O Cyprian, cast me not on these; but sift,
Keen-eyed, of love the good and evil gift.
Make Innocence my friend, God's fairest star,
Yea, and abate not
The rare sweet beat of bosoms without war,
That love, and hate not.
[tr. Murray (1906)]Let my heart be wise.
It is the gods’ best gift.
On me let mighty Cypris
Inflict no wordy wars or restless anger
To urge my passion to a different love.
[tr. Warner (1944)]Let Innocence, the gods' loveliest gift,
Choose me for her own;
Never may the dread Cyprian
Craze my heart to leave old love for new,
Sending to assault me
Angry disputes and feuds unending;
But let her judge shrewdly the loves of women
And respect the bed where no war rages.
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]Lady Restraint, befriend me (for it is the gods' greatest gift),
May Aphrodite never drive me to fight with my husband,
Striking my spirit with love of another man,
But do me the honor of making my marriage peaceful,
And decide shrewdly about women's loves.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]May moderation attend me, fairest gift of the gods! May Aphrodite never cast contentious wrath and insatiate quarreling upon me and madden my heart with love for a stranger's bed. But may she honor marriages that are peaceful and wisely determine whom we are to wed!
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]I hope that wisdom, the most treasured gift the gods have given us, protects me from that misfortune!
And, Lady Aphrodite, don’t plant into my heart improper love and then send me all the curses that go with it: Hatred, jealousy, endless fights. Instead, dear Lady, protect marriage and grant honour to all the peace-loving couples.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]But I pray that composure be my friend,
the finest gift of the gods.
Dreaded Kypris, never hit me with quarrelsome angers
and insatiable strife,
after stinging my heart for another bed,
but honoring a match free of conflict, wisely discern
women’s love.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]I pray that moderation,
the gods’ most beautiful gift,
will always guide me.
I pray that Aphrodite
never packs my heart with jealousy
or angry quarreling.
May she never fill me with desire
for sex in other people’s beds.
May she bless peaceful unions,
using her wisdom to select
a woman’s marriage bed.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]May self-control favor me, the gods' fairest gift; may fearful Aphrodite not strike me with angry quarrels and insatiable strife, stunning my heart with lust for someone else's bed; may she respect all peaceful marriage-beds when judging with her sharp mind where women make love.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]May I find favor with moderation [sōphrosunē], heaven’s fairest gift. And may deina Aphrodite never fasten on me a disputatious temper, or insatiable [without koros] quarrels, smiting my thūmos with a mad desire for unlawful loves. May she reverence peaceful unions, and sagaciously decide the marriages of women.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]
And the important thing was that you never let down doing the best that you were able to do — it might be poor because you might not have very much within you to give, or to help other people with, or to live your life with. But as long as you did the very best that you were able to do, then that was what you were put here to do and that was what you were accomplishing by being here.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Essay (1951-12), “This I Believe: Growth that Starts from Thinking,” on Edward R. Murrow, This I Believe, CBS Radio
(Source)
(Source (Audio); start 3:04), The essay was read without a script.
Collected in Edward P. Morgan (ed.), This I Believe (1952).
Honest people will lead a full, happy life. But if you are a hurry to get rich, you are going to be punished.
אִ֣ישׁ אֱ֭מוּנוֹת רַב־בְּרָכ֑וֹת וְאָ֥ץ לְ֝הַעֲשִׁ֗יר לֹ֣א יִנָּקֶֽה׃
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 20. Proverbs 28:20 (Prov 28:20) [GNT (1992 ed.)]
(Source)
(Source (Hebrew)). Alternate translations:A faithful man shall abound with blessings:
but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
[KJV (1611)]A trustworthy man will be overwhelmed with blessings, but he who tries to get rich quickly will not go unpunished.
[JB (1966)]A trustworthy person will be overwhelmed with blessings, but no one who tries to get rich quickly will go unpunished.
[NJB (1985)]Reliable people will have abundant blessings,
span class="tab">but those with get-rich-quick schemes won't go unpunished.
[CEB (2011)]The faithful will abound with blessings,
but one who is in a hurry to be rich will not go unpunished.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]A dependable man will receive many blessings,
But one in a hurry to get rich will not go unpunished.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]
No word has received more different significations and has struck minds in so many ways as has liberty.
[Il n’y a point de mot qui ait reçu plus de différentes significations, & qui ait frappé les esprits de tant de manieres, que celui de liberté.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 11, ch. 2 (11.2) (1748) tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Other translations:There is no word that has admitted of more various significations, and has made more different impressions on human minds, than that of Liberty. [tr. Nugent (1750)]There is no word that has received more different meanings, and which has struck minds in so many ways, as that of freedom.
[tr. Stewart (2018)]
To love is to act.
[Aimer, c’est agir.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Journal (1885-05-19)
(Source)
Last words of his diary, written days before his death on May 22. (I have seen it identified as two days, three days, and two weeks).
While identified with his diary, the "manuscript" is a single page of watermarked paper.
If you have formed the habit of checking on every new diet that comes along, you will find that, mercifully, they all blur together, leaving you with only one definite piece of information: french-fried potatoes are out.
Do not think me gentle
because I speak in praise
of gentleness, or elegant
because I honor the grace
that keeps this world. I am
a man crude as any,
gross of speech, intolerant,
stubborn, angry, full
of fits and furies. That I
may have spoken well
at times, is not natural.
A wonder is what it is.Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Poem (1980), “A Warning To My Readers,” A Part, ch. 3
(Source)
All buildings are but monuments of death,
All clothes but winding-sheets for our last knell,
All dainty fattings for the worms beneath,
All curious musique, but our passing bell;
Thus death is nobly waited on, for why?
All that we have is but death’s livery.James Shirley (1596–1666) English poet, playwright
Poem (1639), “Fatum Supremum,” Facetiae: Wits Recreations, Epigram 170 (1640)
(Source)
The piece is also known as "The Passing Bell." The connection of this epigram to Shirley seems faint; he is labeled (probably) as a co-author of another part of this book (with John Mennes the clear lead author of the collection). However, he was labeled as the author in the influential 19th Century Hoyt, Cyclopædia of Practical Quotations, English and Latin (1882), and the attribution was picked up and carried on from there in other books of quotations. Hoyt, in turn, may have cross-attributed a reference to Shirley in Dodd, The Epigrammatists (1870).
Justice discards party, friendship, kindred, and is therefore always represented as blind, that we may suppose her thoughts are wholly intent on the equity of a cause, without being diverted or prejudiced by objects foreign to it.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1713-07-04), The Guardian, No. 99
(Source)
HORATIO: Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Hamlet, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 396ff (5.2.396-397) (c. 1600)
(Source)
After Hamlet's death words.
The one requirement for a really satisfying fit of hysterics is a sympathetic audience.
Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher No. 13, The Castlemaine Murders, ch. 2 (2003)
(Source)
I had no idea that such individuals exist outside of stories.
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1886-04), “A Study in Scarlet,” Part 1, ch. 2 [Watson], Beeton’s Christmas Annual, Vol. 28 (1887-11-21)
(Source)
Watson to Holmes, comparing him to Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin (a comparison that Holmes sniffs at).
Published in novel form 1888-07.
Self-interest will set all sorts of virtues and vices in motion.
[L’intérêt met en œuvre toutes sortes de vertus et de vices.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶253 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]
(Source)
Present in the 1st (1665) edition. In the manuscript form it reads "L’intérêt donne toutes sortes de vertus et de vices."
See also ¶¶ 171, 305.
(Source (French)). Other translations:Interest is the Thing that puts Men upon Exercising their Vertues and Vices of All Kinds.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶254]Interest puts in motion all the virtues and vices.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶258; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶238]The virtues and vices are all set in motion by interest.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶225]Interest brings into play every sort of virtue and of vice.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶265]Interest sets at work all sorts of virtues and vices.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶253]Selfishness brings into play all manner of vices and virtues.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶261]Selfishness makes use of virtues and vices of every kind.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶253]Self-interest turns to account all kinds of virtues and vices.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶253]Self-interest sets in motion virtues and vices of all kinds.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶253]Self-interest puts in motion every kind of virtue and of vice.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶253]
Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.
In this world we never will be perfectly civilized as long as a gallows casts its shadow upon the earth. As long as there is a penitentiary, within the walls of which a human being is immured, we are not a perfectly civilized people. We shall never be perfectly civilized until we do away with crime.
And yet, according to this Christian religion, God is to have an eternal penitentiary; he is to be an everlasting jailer, an everlasting turnkey, a warden of an infinite dungeon, and he is going to keep prisoners there forever, not for the purpose of reforming them — because they are never going to get any better, only worse — but for the purpose of purposeless punishment. And for what? For something they failed to believe in this world. Born in ignorance, supported by poverty, caught in the snares of temptation, deformed by toil, stupefied by want — and yet held responsible through the countless ages of eternity! No man can think of a greater horror; no man can dream of a greater absurdity.Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado
(Source)
Published as its own book in 1884.
Could it be otherwise here? Could any one sect obtain a working majority at the polls and take over the country? Perhaps not — but a combination of a dynamic evangelist, television, enough money, and modern techniques of advertising and propaganda might make Billy Sunday’s efforts look like a corner store compared to Sears Roebuck. Throw in a depression for good measure, promise a material heaven here on earth, add a dash of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Negroism, and a good large dose of anti-“furriners” in general and anti-intellectuals here at home and the result might be something quite frightening — particularly when one recalls that our voting system is such that a minority distributed as pluralities in enough states can constitute a working majority in Washington.
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
Essay (1952-10), “Concerning Stories Never Written,” Revolt in 2100, Postscript (1953)
(Source)
I’m not saying that everything is survivable. Just that everything except the last thing is.
A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.
Bertrand de Jouvenel (1903–1987) French philosopher, political economist, futurologist
(Attributed)
Sometimes attributed to his On Power (1949), but not found there.
The quotation is well-established in 1949, cited in the Congressional Record (1949-06-15) and Reader's Digest (1949-05).
Variants are sometimes attributed to Edward R. Murrow, withiout citation, including "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves" and "A nation of sheep will soon have a government of wolves."
I have also seen the quote (and variants) misattributed to Agatha Christie (including to her memoir An Autobiography (1977), which does not have the text. This connection may be because SF author J. T. McIntosh quotes "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves" in his novella (1955-09), "The Man Who Cried 'Sheep!'" ch. 5, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Vol. 9, No. 3. Christie's 1925 fantasy "The Fourth Man" also appears in that same issue of MFSF, two page after the quote in McIntosh's story.
The United States has very large power in the world today. And the partner of power — the corollary — is responsibility. It is our high task to use our power with a sure hand and a steady touch — with the self-restraint that goes with confident strength. The purpose of our power must never be lost in the fact of our power — and the purpose, I take it, is the promotion of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-08-27), “The Nature of Patriotism,” American Legion Convention, Madison Square Garden, New York City
(Source)
The longer I live, the more urgent it seems to me to endure and transcribe the whole dictation of existence up to its end, for it might just be the case that only the very last sentence contains that small and possibly inconspicuous word through which everything we had struggled to learn and everything we had failed to understand will be transformed suddenly into magnificent sense.
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1963) German poet
Letter (1913-12-21) to Ilse Erdman [tr. Baer (2005)]
(Source)
Collected in The Poet's Guide to Life [Letters on Life], "On Life and Living" [ed. Baer (2005)]
Of present fame think little, and of future less; the praises that we receive after we are buried, like the posies that are strewed over our grave, may be gratifying to the living, but they are nothing to the dead; the dead are gone, either to a place where they hear them not, or where, if they do, they will despise them.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 2, § 277 (1822)
(Source)
In the life of the artist there need be no hour without its pleasure. I take the author, with whose career I am best acquainted; and it is true he works in a rebellious material, and that the act of writing is cramped and trying both to the eyes and the temper; but remark him in his study, when matter crowds upon him and words are not wanting — in what a continual series of small successes time flows by; with what a sense of power as of one moving mountains, he marshals his petty characters; with what pleasures, both of the ear and eye, he sees his airy structure growing on the page; and how he labours in a craft to which the whole material of his life is tributary, and which opens a door to all his tastes, his loves, his hatreds, and his convictions, so that what he writes is only what he longed to utter. He may have enjoyed many things in this big, tragic playground of the world; but what shall he have enjoyed more fully than a morning of successful work? Suppose it ill paid: the wonder is it should be paid at all. Other men pay, and pay dearly, for pleasures less desirable.
For the Scepticism, as I said, is not intellectual only; it is moral also; a chronic atrophy and disease of the whole soul. A man lives by believing something; not by debating and arguing about many things.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-19), “The Hero as Man of Letters,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)
The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 5 (1841).
A man by himself is in bad company.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 262 (1955)
(Source)
Every time a man laffs he takes a kink out ov the chain ov life, and thus lengthens it.
[Every time a man laughs he takes a kink out of the chain of life, and thus lengthens it.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-07 (1871 ed.)
(Source)
In truth, in such a vast number of citizens, there is a great multitude of those men, who either, from fear of punishment, because they are conscious of their own misdeeds, are anxious for fresh changes and revolutions in the republic; or who, on account of some innate insanity of mind, feed upon the discords and seditions of the citizens; or else who, on account of the embarrassment of their estates and circumstances, had rather burn in one vast common conflagration, than in one which consumed only themselves.
[Etenim in tanto civium numero magna multitudo est eorum qui aut propter metum poenae, peccatorum suorum conscii, novos motus conversionesque rei publicae quaerant, aut qui propter insitum quendam animi furorem discordiis civium ac seditione pascantur, aut qui propter implicationem rei familiaris communi incendio malint quam suo deflagrare.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 46 / sec. 99 (56-02 BC) [tr. Yonge (1891)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:For in so great a number of citizens there is a great multitude of those who either seek after revolutions and changes of government, on account of their fear of punishment, being conscious of their misdeeds, or who from a certain innate frenzy of mind take delight in civil broils and seditions, or who, on account of pecuniary embarrassments, prefer rather to perish in one common conflagration than in one by themselves.
[tr. Hickie (1888)]For, in so large a body of citizens, there are great numbers of men who, either from fear of punishment, being conscious of their crimes, seek to cause revolution and changes of government; or who, owing to a sort of inborn revolutionary madness, batten on civil discord and sedition; or who, on account of embarrassment in their finances, prefer a general conflagration to their own ruin.
[tr. Gardner (Loeb) (1958)]
It’s common for Men to give 6 pretended Reasons instead of one real one.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1745 ed.)
(Source)
The noblest monument to peace and to neighborly economic and social friendship in all the world is not a monument in bronze or stone, but the boundary which unites the United States and Canada — 3,000 miles of friendship with no barbed wire, no gun or soldier, and no passport on the whole frontier. Mutual trust made that frontier.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Speech (1936-08-14), Chautauqua, New York
(Source)
The film recording of the speech shows minor variations from the official text above:The noblest monument to peace, the noblest monument to economic and social friendship in all the world is not a monument in bronze or stone, but the boundary which unites the United States and Canada -- 3,000 miles of friendship, with no barbed wire, no guns, no soldiers, and no passports on the whole frontier. What made it? Mutual trust.
I only quote others the better to quote myself.
[Je ne dis les autres, sinon pour d’autant plus me dire.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 1, ch. 25 (1.25), “Of the Education of Children [De l’institution des enfans]” (1579) [tr. Screech (1987), 1.26]
(Source)
This essay was in the 1st (1588) edition, but this passage was added as of the 3rd (1595) ed. Some translators use the 1588 sequence of chapters, not the 1595, and so identify this as ch. 26.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:I never spake of others, but that I may the more speake of my selfe.
[tr. Florio (1603)]Neither have I said so much of others, but to get a better opportunity to explain myself.
[tr. Cotton (1686); Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]I quote others only in order the better to express myself.
[tr. Hazlitt/Wight (1879)]I do not quote others, save the more fully to express myself.
[tr. Ives (1925), 1.26]I do not speak the minds of others except to speak my own mind better.
[tr. Frame (1943), 1.26]I only quote others to make myself more explicit.
[tr. Cohen (1958), 1.26]
BAD ANGEL: Now, Faustus, let shine eyes with horror stare
Into that vast perpetual torture-house.
There are the Furies tossing damned souls
On burning forks; their bodies broil in lead.
There are live quarters broiling on the coals,
That ne’er can die. This ever-burning chair
Is for o’er-tortured souls to rest them in.
These, that are fed with sops of flaming fire,
Were gluttons, and loved only delicates,
And laughed to see the poor starve at their gates.
But yet all these are nothing; thou shalt see
Ten thousand tortures that more horrid be.Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 5, sc. 4 (sc. 19), l. 2018ff (5.4.2018-2029) (1594; 1616 “B” text)
(Source)
This Dante-like scene with the Bad Angel was added in the "B" text.
We all practice some form of censorship. I practiced it simply by the books I had in the house when my children were little. If I am given a budget of $500 I will be practicing a form of censorship by the books I choose to buy with that limited amount of money, and the books I choose not to buy. But nobody said we were not allowed to have points of view. The exercise of personal taste is not the same thing as imposing personal opinion.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)
SLARTIBARTFAST: I’d far rather be happy than right any day.
ARTHUR: And are you?
SLARTIBARTFAST: No, that’s where it all falls down, of course.
ARTHUR: Pity, It sounded like quite a good lifestyle otherwise.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’Bob Dylan (b. 1941) American singer, songwriter
Song (1964), “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” v. 4
(Source)
Tell the innocent visitor from another world that two people were killed at Serajevo, and that the best that Europe could do about it was to kill eleven million more.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Peace with Honour, ch. 16 “Patriotism and Pledges,” sec. 5 (1934)
(Source)
CHORUS: Never, oh goddess, let fly at me an inescapable arrow
from your golden bow, after you drench it in desire.[ΚΥΚΛΩΨ: μήποτ᾽, ὦ δέσποιν᾽, ἐπ᾽ ἐμοὶ χρυσέων
τόξων ἀφείης ἱμέρῳ
χρίσασ᾽ ἄφυκτον οἰστόν.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 633ff, Second Stasimon, Strophe 1 (431 BC) [tr. Luschnig (2007)]
(Source)
Addressing Aphrodite/Venus.
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:Thy wrath, O Venus, still forbear,
Nor at my tender bosom aim
That venom'd arrow, ever wont to inspire,
Wing'd from thy golden bow, the pangs of keen desire.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]But, never from thy golden bow,
May I beneath the shaft expire!
Whose creeping venom, sure and slow,
Awakes an all-consuming fire:
Ye racking doubts! ye jealous fears!
With others wage internal war;
Repentance! source of future tears,
From me be ever distant far!
[tr. Byron (1807)]Ne'er from thy golden bow, Queen of soft joy,
Steep'd in desire thy shafts 'gainst me employ!
[tr. Potter (1814)]Oh never, queen, I pray,
Drive from thy golden bow into my heart
The escapeless passion-poisoned dart.
[tr. Webster (1868)]Never, O never, lady mine, discharge at me from thy golden bow a shaft invincible, in passion’s venom dipped.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Never, O my mistress, mayest thou send forth against me from thy golden bow thy inevitable shaft, having steeped it in desire.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Not upon me, O Queen, do thou aim from thy bow all-golden
The arrow desire-envenomed that none may avoid -- not on me!
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Loose not on me, O Holder of man's heart,
Thy golden quiver,
Nor steep in poison of desire the dart
That heals not ever.
[tr. Murray (1906)]O goddess, never on me let loose the unerring
Shaft of your bow in the poison of desire.
[tr. Warner (1944)]Never, Queen Aphrodite,
Loose against me from your golden bow,
Dipped in sweetness of desire,
Your inescapable arrow!
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]Mistress, never use me as a target, shooting golden arrows
Tipped with desire, unerring in aim.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]Never, o goddess, may you smear with desire one of your ineluctable arrows and let it fly against my heart from your golden bow!
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]Oh never, my lady, may you fire at me from your golden bow the unerring arrow you have poisoned with desire!
[tr. Davie (1996)]Oh, Lady Aphrodite!
I sincerely hope you don’t shoot any of your unfailing golden arrows, dipped in lust, at me!
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]Goddess, I pray you never strike me
with one of those poisoned arrows
shot from your golden bow.
[tr. Johnston (2008)]Mistress, never shoot me from your golden bow an inescapable arrow anointed with desire.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]Never, mistress, discharge at me from your golden bow a shaft inescapable, in passion’s venom dipped.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]Never, o goddess, may you smear with desire one of your inescapable arrows and let it fly against my heart from your golden bow!
[tr. Kovacs / Zhang / Rogak]
Perhaps that’s what we all had to do — think out for ourselves what we could believe and how we could live by it. And so I came to the conclusion that you had to use this life to develop the very best that you could develop.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Essay (1951-12), “This I Believe: Growth that Starts from Thinking,” on Edward R. Murrow, This I Believe, CBS Radio
(Source)
(Source (Audio); start 1:54). The essay was read without a script. The official transcript gives "what we all must do," but the audio clearly says, "what we all had to do."
Collected in Edward P. Morgan (ed.), This I Believe (1952).
If we want to solve a problem that we have never solved before, we must leave the door to the unknown ajar.
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) American physicist
Speech (1955-11), “The Value of Science,” National Academy of Sciences Autumn Meeting, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
(Source)
Reprinted in What Do You Care What Other People Think? (1988).
Feyman used this general construction on multiple occasions, e.g., in a speech (1964-09), "What Is and What Should Be the Role of Scientific Culture in Modern Society," Galileo Symposium, Florence, Italy (reprinted in The Pleasure of Finding Things Out, ch. 4 (1999) [ed. Jeffrey Robbins]):In order to make progress, one must leave the door to the unknown ajar -- ajar only.
We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war, which has cost a vast treasure of blood and money, is almost over. But I see in the future a crisis approaching which fills me with anxiety. As a result of the war, corporations have become enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow. The money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its rule by preying upon the prejudice of the people, until all wealth is concentrated in a few hands, and the Republic destroyed. I feel at this time more anxiety for the future of my country than at any time in the past, even in the midst of war.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
(Spurious)
Variants:I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country [...] corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of the rebellion.The money power preys upon the nation in times of peace, and it conspires against it in times of adversity. It’s more despotic than monarchy. It’s more insolent than autocracy. It’s more selfish than bureaucracy. [...] Corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the republic is destroyed.
This is most often cited as being from a letter (1864-11-21) to Colonel William F. Elkins, a personal friend of Lincoln's. Other attributions included a message from Lincoln to Congress, or from other speeches, or in one case to a message from Lincoln from beyond the grave during a seance. It may be traceable to a pamphlet by the Caldwell Remedy Company (1888-05-10). It came to wide prominence during the 1896 presidential election, when the powers of corporations, trusts, and robber barons were under wide populist attack.
The quotation was researched and rejected by Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln's personal secretaries, as well as by his son, Robert Todd Lincoln. Further, Lincoln worked as a corporate lawyer on a number of occasions, and never seemed particularly concerned about corporations or their concentration of wealth. Nevertheless, the spurious quotation and variants regularly pop up in essays, speeches, and opinion pieces even today.
For more information about this quotation and its background (including much of the information above), see:
- Thomas F Schwartz, "Lincoln Never Said That," For the People (newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Association), Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring 1999).
- Did Abraham Lincoln Warn of the Tyranny of Capitalism? | Snopes.com.
- Essay (1939-11-06), "Sources of Traditional Quotations," Lincoln Lore," No. 552 (Bulletin of the Lincoln National Life Foundation).
- Getting Wrong with Lincoln | Origins.
CALVIN: Dad, are you vicariously living through me in the hope that my accomplishments will validate your mediocre life, and in some way compensate for all the opportunities you botched?
BALLOT, n. A simple device by which a majority proves to a minority the folly of resistance. Many worthy persons of imperfect thinking apparatus believe that majorities govern through some inherent right; and minorities submit, not because they must, but because they ought.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Ballot,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-04-23)
(Source)
Not collected in later books.
Blessed are the forgetful: for they “get the better” even of their blunders.
[Selig sind die Vergesslichen: denn sie werden auch mit ihren Dummheiten “fertig”.]
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
Jenseits von Gut und Böse [Beyond Good and Evil], Aphorism 217 (1886) [tr. Zimmern (1906)]
(Source)
Quoted by Mary Svevo (Kirsten Dunst) in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). The character says she found it in Bartlett's.
(Source (German)). Other translations:Blessed are the forgetful: for they get over their stupidities.
[tr. Kaufmann (1966)]Blessed are the forgetful: for they shall "have done" with their stupidities too.
[tr. Hollingdale (1973, 1990)]Blessed are the forgetful, for they are "done" with their stupidities as well.
[tr. Johnston]
If you tell children that they ought to be affectionate, you run the risk of producing cant and humbug. But if you make them happy and free, if you surround them with kindness, you will find that they become spontaneously friendly with everybody, and that almost everybody responds by being friendly with them. A trustful affectionate disposition justifies itself, because it gives irresistible charm, and creates the response which it expects. This is one of the most important results to be expected from the right education of character.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 11 “Affection and Sympathy” (1926)
(Source)
The laughter of man is more terrible than his tears, and takes more forms — hollow, heartless, mirthless, maniacal.
James Thurber (1894-1961) American humorist, cartoonist, writer
Essay (1958-12-07), “State of the Nation’s Humor: ‘On the Brink of Was,'” New York Times Magazine
(Source)
If your enemies are starving, feed them some bread;
if they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
By doing this, you will heap burning coals on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you.The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 20. Proverbs 25:21ff (Prov 25:21-22) [CEB (2011)]
(Source)
See Romans 12:19-21.
Alternate translations:If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat;
and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,
and the Lord shall reward thee.
[KJV (1611)]If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink.
By this you heap red-hot coals on his head, and Yahweh will reward you.
[JB (1966)]If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink.
By this you will be heaping red-hot coals on his head, and Yahweh will reward you.
[NJB (1985)]If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink. 22 You will make them burn with shame, and the Lord will reward you.
[GNT (1992 ed.)]If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat,
and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink,
for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
If he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
You will be heaping live coals on his head,
And God will reward you.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]
We do not need to fear ideas, but the censorship of ideas. We do not need to fear criticism, but the silencing of criticism. We do not need to fear excitement or agitation in the academic community, but timidity and apathy. We do not need to fear resistance to political leaders, but unquestioning acquiescence in whatever policies those leaders adopt.
Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1965-12-18), “The Problem of Dissent,” Saturday Review
(Source)
Reprinted in Freedom and Order, Part 6 (1966).
Political virtue is a renunciation of oneself, which is always a very painful thing. One can define this virtue as love of the laws and the homeland. This love, requiring a continuous preference of the public interest over one’s own, produces all the individual virtues; they are only that preference.
[La vertu politique est un renoncement à soi-même, qui est toujours une chose très-pénible. On peut définir cette vertu, l’amour des loix & de la patrie. Cet amour, demandant une préférence continuelle de l’intérêt public au sien propre, donne toutes les vertus particulieres: elles ne sont que cette préférence.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 5 (4.5) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Other translations:Virtue is a self-renunciation which is always arduous and painful. This virtue may be defined, the love of the laws and of our country. As this love requires a constant preference of public to private interest, it is the source of all the particular virtues; for they are nothing more than this very preference itself.
[tr. Nugent (1750)]Virtue is a self-renunciation, which is very arduous and painful. This virtue may be defined as the love of the laws and of our country. As such love requires a constant preference of public to private interest, it is the source of all private virtues [....]
[E.g. (1904)]Virtue is self-renunciation, which is always a very hard thing. This virtue may be defined as love of the laws and of the homeland. As this love requires a continual preference for the public interest over one’s own, it confers all the separate virtues: they are nothing more than this preference.
[tr. Stewart (2018)]
“Their vanity is full of phantoms, which move as in a sublime night, armed with helm and cuirass, spurs on their heels and sceptres in their hands, saying in a grave voice, ‘We are the ancestors!’ The canker-worms eat the roots, and panoplies eat the people. Why not? Are we to change the laws? The peerage is part of the order of society. Do you know there is a duke in Scotland who can ride ninety miles without leaving his own estate? Do you know that the Archbishop of Canterbury has a revenue of forty thousand pounds a year? Do you know that her majesty has seven hundred thousand pounds sterling from the civil list, besides castles, forests, domains, fiefs, tenancies, feeholds, prebendaries, tithes, rent, confiscations, and fines, which bring in over a million sterling? Those who are not satisfied are hard to please.”
Yes,” murmured Gwynplaine, sadly; “the paradise of the rich is made out of the hell of the poor.”Leur vanité est pleine de fantômes qui s’y promènent comme dans une nuit sublime, armés, casqués, cuirassés, éperonnés, le bâton d’empire à la main, et disant d’une voix grave : Nous sommes les aïeux ! Les scarabées mangent les racines, et les panoplies mangent le peuple. Pourquoi pas ? Allons-nous changer les lois ? La seigneurie fait partie de l’ordre. Sais-tu qu’il y a un duc en Écosse qui galope trente lieues sans sortir de chez lui ? Sais-tu que le lord archevêque de Canterbury a un million de Francs de revenu ? Sais-tu que sa majesté a par an sept cent mille livres sterling de liste civile, sans compter les châteaux, forêts, domaines, fiefs, tenances, alleux, prébendes, dîmes et redevances, confiscations et amendes, qui dépassent un million sterling ? Ceux qui ne sont pas contents sont difficiles.
— Oui, murmura Gwynplaine pensif, c’est de l’enfer des pauvres qu’est fait le paradis des riches.
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
The Man Who Laughs [L’Homme qui rit], Part 2, Book 2, ch. 11 (1869) [tr. (1888)]
(Source)
We are being very careful with our children. They’ll never have to pay a psychiatrist twenty-five dollars an hour to find out why we rejected them. We’ll tell them why we rejected them. Because they’re impossible, that’s why.
Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1957), “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
(Source)
The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war, but have not the courage to tell us that we must be less greedy and less wasteful.
When a nation once loses its regard to justice; when they do not look up it as something venerable, holy and inviolable; when any of them dare presume to lessen, affront or terrify those who have the distribution of it in their hands; when a judge is capable of being influenced by any thing that is foreign to its own merits, we may venture to pronounce that such a nation is hastening to its ruin.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1713-07-04), The Guardian, No. 99
(Source)
First our pleasures die — and then
Our hopes, and then our fears — and when
These are dead, the debt is due,
Dust claims dust — and we die too.Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) English poet
Poem (1820), “Death,” st. 3, Posthumous Poems (1824)
(Source)
HAMLET: O, I die, Horatio!
The potent poison quite o’ercrows my spirit.
I cannot live to hear the news from England.
But I do prophesy th’ election lights
On Fortinbras; he has my dying voice.
So tell him, with th’ occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited — the rest is silence.
[Dies.]William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Hamlet, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 389ff (5.2.389-395) (c. 1600)
(Source)
Just before Fortinbras and the English ambassadors enter.
In the First Folio, Hamlet moans, "O, O, O, O!" just before dying.
The first thing a cult does is tell you everyone else is lying.
James Randi (1928-2020) Canadian-American stage magician ("The Amazing Randi") and scientific skeptic. [b. Randall James Hamilton Zwinge]
(Attributed)
Very widely quoted and attributed to Randi. I cannot, however, find any evidence showing Randi actually said this, though it is plausible.
But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
An Experiment in Criticism, Epilogue (1961)
(Source)
Closing words.
History is full of people who out of fear, or ignorance, or lust for power have destroyed treasures of immeasurable value which truly belong to us all. We must not let that happen again.
Carl Sagan (1934-1996) American scientist and writer
Cosmos, ep. 13 “Who Speaks for Earth?” PBS TV (1980)
(Source)
(Source (Video); dialog verified). Referring to the destruction of the Library at Alexandria. This text is not in the Cosmos book (it would fit in roughly here).
Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high with reasons why privacy should give way to national security, to law and order, to efficiency of operations, to scientific advancement, and the like.
William O. Douglas (1898–1980) American jurist, US Supreme Court justice (1939–75)
Points of Rebellion, ch. 1 “How America Views Dissent” (1969)
(Source)
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
(Spurious)
This quotation only begins being associated with Douglass in the early 1990s. It may be related to some of his writings, but not clearly. For more information about the quote's origins and associations see Happy 200th Birthday to Frederick Douglass.
At least let no one argue that, because an abuse cannot be suppressed without injuring those who profit from it, the fact that it has existed for a time gives it the right to last forever.
[À moins qu’on ne prétende que, parce qu’un abus ne peut être détruit sans froisser ceux qui en profitent, il suffit qu’il existe un moment pour qu’il doive durer toujours.]
Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) French philosopher, economist, politician
Economic Sophisms [Sophismes Économiques], 1st Series, ch. 20 “Human Labor, National Labor [Travail Humain, Travail National]” (1845) [tr. Goddard (1964)]
(Source)
See Heinlein (1939).
(Source (French)). Other translations:It is a rather singular argument to maintain that, because an abuse which has been permitted a temporary existence, cannot be corrected without wounding the interests of those who have profited by it, it ought, therefore, to claim perpetual duration.
[tr. McCord (1848)]At all events, let no one pretend that because an abuse cannot be done away with, without inconvenience to those who profit by it, what has been suffered to exist for a time should be allowed to exist for ever.
[tr. Stirling (1873)]
The shortest unit of time in the multiverse is the New York Second, defined as the period of time between the traffic lights turning green and the cab behind you honking.
If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could do us no harm.
[Si nous ne nous flattions point nous-mêmes, la flatterie des autres ne nous pourroit nuire.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶152 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]
(Source)
Present in the 1st (1665) edition, where it ended with "... ne nous feroit jamais de mal." See also maxim ¶158.
(Source (French)). Other translations:If we did not Flatter our selves, all the Flatteries of other People could never hurt us.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶153]Did we not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never hurt us.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶144; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶146]Were we not to flatter ourselves, the flattery of others would never hurt us.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶127]If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others would be very harmless.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶155]If we never flattered ourselves the flattery of others would not hurt us.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶152]Did we not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could not harm us.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶152]Flattery would do us no harm if we did not flatter ourselves.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶152]If we never flattered ourselves, we would be immune to the flattery of others
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶152]If we never flattered ourselves the flattery of others could do us no harm.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶152]If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never harm us.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶152]
We have made great advances in understanding the problem of national security in the modern world. We no longer think in terms of American resources alone. For the most part we now understand the need for a great international system of security, and we have taken the lead in building it.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-08-27), “The Nature of Patriotism,” American Legion Convention, Madison Square Garden, New York City
(Source)
I believe in the religion of humanity. It is far better to love our fellow-men than to love God. We can help them. We cannot help him. We had better do what we can than to be always pretending to do what we cannot.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1884-01-20), “Orthodoxy,” Tabor Opera House, Denver, Colorado
(Source)
Published as its own book in 1884.
Clothes make the man, but they do not improve the woman.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Inscription (1908-02), Eve’s Diary (1906-06)
(Source)
Handwritten inscription in the front of a first edition of Eve's Dairy. The book was banned in several locations for including illustrations (by Lester Ralph) showing a naked Eve.
See also Twain for more information.
Of governments, that of the mob is the most sanguinary, that of soldiers the most expensive, and that of civilians the most vexatious.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 411 (1820)
(Source)
The book, the statue, the sonata, must be gone upon with the unreasoning good faith and the unflagging spirit of children at their play. Is it worth doing? — when it shall have occurred to any artist to ask himself that question, it is implicitly answered in the negative. It does not occur to the child as he plays at being a pirate on the dining-room sofa, nor to the hunter as he pursues his quarry; and the candour of the one and the ardour of the other should be united in the bosom of the artist.
The solemn ritual continued. The pastor gave his final blessing. The coffin was lowered into the grave and earth cast on it; the most final sound in the world, Phryne thought, clods thudding hollowly on the lid.
Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher No. 11, Away with the Fairies, ch. 18 (2001)
(Source)
When I am dead, I hope it may be said:
“His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.”Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) Franco-British writer, historian [Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc]
Poem (1923), “Epigram 1: On His Books,” Sonnets and Verse
(Source)
Sometimes called "An Author's Hope."
“What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence,” returned my companion, bitterly. “The question is, what can you make people believe that you have done?”
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1886-04), “A Study in Scarlet,” Part 2, ch. 7 [Holmes], Beeton’s Christmas Annual, Vol. 28 (1887-11-21)
(Source)
Is not every true Reformer, by the nature of him, a Priest first of all? He appeals to Heaven’s invisible justice against Earth’s visible force; knows that it, the invisible, is strong and alone strong. He is a believer in the divine truth of things; a seer, seeing through the shows of things; a worshipper, in one way or the other, of the divine truth of things; a Priest, that is. If he be not first a Priest, he will never be good for much as a Reformer.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-15), “The Hero as Priest,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)
The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 4 (1841).
Much of man’s thinking is propaganda of his appetites.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 261 (1955)
(Source)
The man who wont beleave enny thing he kant see, aint so wize az a mule, for they will kick at a thing in the dark.
[The man who won’t believe anything he can’t see, ain’t so wise as a mule, for they will kick at a thing in the dark.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-06 (1871 ed.)
(Source)
For men ought not to be so elated by the dignity of the affairs which they have undertaken to manage, as to have no regard to their ease; nor ought they to dwell with fondness on any sort of ease which is inconsistent with dignity.
[Neque enim rerum gerendarum dignitate homines ecferri ita convenit ut otio non prospiciant, neque ullum amplexari otium quod abhorreat a dignitate.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Pro Sestio [For Publius Sestius], ch. 45 / sec. 98 (56-02 BC) [tr. Yonge (1891)]
(Source)
Part of Cicero's discussion of otium cum dignitate ("peace with dignity"), an idealized active private life after retiring from public service. See here for more.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:For neither is it fitting that men be so carried away by political freedom as to make no provision for tranquility, nor to accept any tranquility which is inconsistent with freedom.
[tr. Hickie (1888)]For just as it ill befits men to be so carried away by the dignity of a public career that they are indifferent in peace, so too it is unfitting for them to welcome a peace which is inconsistent with dignity.
[tr. Gardner (Loeb) (1958)]
Wars bring scars.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1745 ed.)
(Source)
Our understanding is conducted solely by means of the word: anyone who falsifies it betrays public society. It is the only tool by which we communicate our wishes and our thoughts; it is our soul’s interpreter: if we lack that, we can no longer hold together; we can no longer know each other. When words deceive us, it breaks all intercourse and loosens the bonds of our polity.
[Nostre intelligence se conduisant par la seule voye de la parolle, celuy qui la faulse, trahit la societé publique. C’est le seul util, par le moyen duquel se communiquent noz volontez & noz pensees : c’est le truchement de nostre ame : s’il nous faut, nous ne nous tenons plus, nous ne nous entreconnoissons plus. S’il nous trompe, il rompt tout nostre commerce, & dissoult toutes les liaisons de nostre police.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 2, ch. 18 (2.18), “Of Giving the Lie [Du Démentir]” (1578–79) [tr. Screech (1987)]
(Source)
This essay (and this passage) appeared in the 1st (1580) edition.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Our intelligence being onely conducted by the way of the Worde: Who so falsifieth the same, betraieth publike society. It is the onely instrument, by meanes wherof our wils and thoughts are communicated: it is the interpretour of our souls: If that faile us we hold our selves no more, we enterknow one another no longer. If it deceive us, it breaketh all our commerce, and dissolveth all bonds of our policie.
[tr. Florio (1603)]Our intelligence being by no other canal to be conveyed to one another but by words, he, who falsifies them, betrays public society: it is the only tube through which we communicate our thoughts and wills to one another; it is the interpreter of the soul, and, if it fails us, we no longer know, nor have any farther tie upon another: if that deceive us, it breaks all our correspondence, and dissolves all the bands of our government.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]Our intelligence being by no other way communicable to one another but by a particular word, he who falsifies that betrays public society. ’Tis the only way by which we communicate our thoughts and wills; ’tis the interpreter of the soul, and if it deceive us, we no longer know nor have further tie upon one another; if that deceive us, it breaks all our correspondence, and dissolves all the ties of government.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]Our intelligence being conducted solely by the way of the word, he who falsifies that betrays all society. It is the only instrument by means of which our desires and our thoughts are exchanged; it is the interpreter of our souls; if it fails us, we no longer have any hold upon one another, we no longer mutually know one another. If it deceives us, it severs all our intercourse and dissolves all the ties of our government.
[tr. Ives (1925)]Our intercourse being carried on solely by means of the word, he who falsifies that is a traitor to society. It is the only instrument by which our thoughts and wills are communicated, it is the interpreter of our soul. If it fails us, we no longer hold together, we no longer know one anther. If it deceives us, it breaks up all our intercourse and dissolves all the ties of our government.
[tr. Zeitlin (1934)]Since mutual understanding is brought about solely by way of words, he who breaks his word betrays human society. It is the only instrument by means of which our wills and thoughts communicate, it is the interpreter of our soul. If it fails us, we have no more hold on each other, no more knowledge of each other. If it deceives us, it breaks up all our relations and dissolves all the bonds of our society.
[tr. Frame (1943)]
SARAH JANE: I mean, well, whatever’s in that Tower, it’s got enormous powers and, well, what can we do against it?
THE DOCTOR: What I’ve always done, Sarah Jane. Improvise.
Doctor Who (1963-1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
20xS1 “The Five Doctors,” Part 2 (1983-11-23) [w. Terrance Dicks]
(Source)
(Source (Video); dialog confirmed). This 20th Anniversary special feature was originally broadcast as a feature-length TV movie. For later releases, it was broken into four parts/episodes.
We find what we are looking for. If we are looking for life and love and openness and growth, we are likely to find them. If we are looking for witchcraft and evil, we’ll likely find them, and we may get taken over by them.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)
“Oh, all right,” said the old man. “Here’s a prayer for you. Got a pencil?”
“Yes,” said Arthur.
“It goes like this. Let’s see now: ‘Protect me from knowing what I don’t need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don’t know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen.’ That’s it. It’s what you say silently inside yourself anyway, so you may as well have it out in the open.”
“Hmmmm,” said Arthur. “Well, thank you –”
“There’s another prayer that goes with it that’s very important,” continued the old man, “so you’d better jot this down, too.”
“Okay.”
“It goes, ‘Lord, lord, lord …’ It’s best to put that bit in, just in case. You can never be too sure. ‘Lord, lord, lord. Protect me from the consequences of the above prayer. Amen.’ And that’s it. Most of the trouble people get into in life comes form leaving out that last part.”Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 5, Mostly Harmless, ch. 9 (1992)
(Source)
Ironically, most quotations of the above prayer leave out the "very important" second part.
The values communicated by status-insecure parents are such that their children learn to put personal success and the acquisition of power above all else. They are taught to judge people for their usefulness rather than their likableness. Their friends, and even future marriage partners, are selected and used in the service of personal advancement; love and affection take second place to knowing the right people. They are taught to eschew weaknesses and passivity, to respect authority, and to despise those who have not made the socio-economic grade. Success is equated with social esteem and material advantage, rather than with more spiritual values.
Norman F. Dixon (1922-2013) British cognitive psychologist, author, military engineer
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Part 2, ch. 22 “Authoritarianism” (1976)
(Source)
I have known some pacifists who wished history taught without reference to wars, and thought that children should be kept as long as possible ignorant of the cruelty in the world. But I cannot praise the “fugitive and cloistered virtue” that depends upon absence of knowledge. As soon as history is taught at all, it should be taught truthfully. If true history contradicts any moral we wish to teach, our moral must be wrong, and we had better abandon it. I quite admit that many people, including some of the most virtuous, find facts inconvenient, but that is due to a certain feebleness in their virtue. A truly robust morality can only be strengthened by the fullest knowledge of what really happens in the world.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 11 “Affection and Sympathy” (1926)
(Source)
The nation that complacently and fearfully allows its artists and writers to become suspected rather than respected is no longer regarded as a nation possessed with humor or depth.
James Thurber (1894-1961) American humorist, cartoonist, writer
Essay (1958-12-07), “State of the Nation’s Humor: ‘On the Brink of Was,'” New York Times Magazine
(Source)
The Gluttons dig their own graves with their teeth.
[Le gourmans, sont leurs fosses avec leurs dents.]
James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian and writer
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “Proverbs in French” (1659) [compiler]
(Source)
CALVIN: No one recognizes my hints to smother me with affection.
AUTHENTIC, adj. Indubitably true — in someone’s opinion.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Authentic,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-04-09)
(Source)
Not collected in later books.