A trial for heresy means that the spirit of persecution still lingers in the church; that it still denies the right of private judgment; that it still thinks more of creed than truth, and that it is still determined to prevent the intellectual growth of man. It means that churches are shambles in which are bought and sold the souls of men. It means that the church is still guilty of the barbarity of opposing thought with force. It means that if it had the power, the mental horizon would be bounded by a creed; that it would bring again the whips and chains and dungeon keys, the rack and fagot of the past.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1874-05-03), “Heretics and Heresies,” Free Religious Society, Kingsbury Hall, Chicago
(Source)
Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876).
There are two things that I don’t care how smart you are, you will never understand. One is an alienist’s [psychiatrist’s] testimony, and the other is a railroad time table.
The views that a writer holds must be compatible with sanity, in the medical sense, and with the power of continuous thought: beyond that what we ask of him is talent, which is probably another name for conviction.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-09), “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” Polemic, No. 5
(Source)
I am just az certain that thare iz sitch a thing az “Spiritual manafestashuns” az i am that there iz plenty ov superstishun and trickery.
[I am just as certain that there is such a thing as “spiritual manifestations” as I am that there is plenty of superstition and trickery.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)
(Source)
He that falls in love with himself, will have no Rivals.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1739 ed.)
(Source)
We’re all amateurs; it’s just that some of us are more professional about it than others.
George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes (Part 1)”
(Source)
The people who truly deface our neighbourhoods are the companies that scrawl their giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. They expect to be able to shout their message in your face from every available surface but you’re never allowed to answer back. Well, they started this fight and the wall is the weapon of choice to hit them back.
Banksy (b. 1974) England-based pseudonymous street artist, political activist, film director
Wall and Piece, Introduction (2005)
(Source)
I love your lips when they’re wet with wine
And red with a wild desire;
I love your eyes when the lovelight lies
Lit with a passionate fire.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem, “I Love You,” ll. 1-4
(Source)
One of Wilcox' most quoted poems; I cannot find a source publication date or collection for it.
We must distinguish between a mood and its intellectual expression. There is no arguing with mood; it can be changed by some fortunate event, or by a change in our bodily condition, but it cannot be changed by argument.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 2 “Byronic Unhappiness” (1930)
(Source)
Boast not of thy good Deeds, lest thy evil Deeds also be brought upon the Board.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 1855 (1727)
(Source)
It’s a damn sight simpler to criticize other people’s ideas than it is to set forth your own. One is never in so much danger of making an ass of one’s self as when one is engaged in saying, “This I believe …”
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1973-01), “Pitfalls of Reporting in the Lone Star State,” Houston Journalism Review
(Source)
Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).
It is the eternal struggle between these two principles — right and wrong — throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, “You work and toil and earn bread, and I’ll eat it.” No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1858-10-15), Lincoln-Douglas Debate No. 7, Alton, Illinois
(Source)
PRECEDENT, n. In Law, a previous decision, rule or practice which, in the absence of a definite statute, has whatever force and authority a Judge may choose to give it, thereby greatly simplifying his task of doing as he pleases. As there are precedents for everything, he has only to ignore those that make against his interest and accentuate those in the line of his desire.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Precedent,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1906-04-06), and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1906-04-11).
What I mean by that, I think, is that much of religion, much of the religion I was schooled in, was about putting myself away, aside, behind me in order to become something holier and closer to God. In other words, to draw nearer to the Really Real I needed to be less me. Perhaps it was a midlife revelation or just wearing out on that that led me to a different understanding — that my humanity was God’s chief gift to me, and that if I was going to find the Really Real it was going to be within that and not separating myself from that. I don’t know if it makes sense. But it meant that the holiest thing I could be was the flawed human being God had made me to be.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Interview (2006-06-08) by Bob Abernathy, PBS
(Source)
What sort of form was Hook himself showing? Misguided man though he was, we may be glad, without sympathising with him, that in the end he was true to the traditions of his race. The other boys were flying around him now, flouting, scornful; and as he staggered about the deck striking up at them impotently, his mind was no longer with them; it was slouching in the playing fields of long ago, or being sent up for good, or watching the wall-game from a famous wall. And his shoes were right, and his waistcoat was right, and his tie was right, and his socks were right.
James Hook, thou not wholly unheroic figure, farewell.
For we have come to his last moment.
Seeing Peter slowly advancing upon him through the air with dagger poised, he sprang upon the bulwarks to cast himself into the sea. He did not know that the crocodile was waiting for him; for we purposely stopped the clock that this knowledge might be spared him: a little mark of respect from us at the end.
He had one last triumph, which I think we need not grudge him. As he stood on the bulwark looking over his shoulder at Peter gliding through the air, he invited him with a gesture to use his foot. It made Peter kick instead of stab.
At last Hook had got the boon for which he craved.
“Bad form,” he cried jeeringly, and went content to the crocodile.
Thus perished James Hook.
HECUBA:O gods, spare me the sight
of this thankless breed, these politicians
who cringe for favors from a screaming mob
and do not care what harm they do their friends,
providing they can please a crowd![ἙΚΆΒΗ: ἀχάριστον ὑμῶν σπέρμ᾿, ὅσοι δημηγόρους
ζηλοῦτε τιμάς· μηδὲ γιγνώσκοισθέ μοι,
οἳ τοὺς φίλους βλάπτοντες οὐ φροντίζετε,
ἢν τοῖσι πολλοῖς πρὸς χάριν λέγητέ τι.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 254ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]
(Source)
To Ulysses/Odysseus, whom she had spared when he entered Troy as a spy. After Troy's fall, she is enslaved to him, and he intends to have her daughter, Polyxdora, sacrificed to honor fallen Achilles, to appease his fellow Greek conquerors.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:O ungrateful race
Of men, who aim at popular applause
By your smooth speeches; would to heav'n I ne'er
Had known you, for ye heed not how ye wound
Your friends, whene'er ye can say aught to win
The crowd.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Thankless is your race, as many of you as court honor from oratory before the populace; be ye not known to me, who care not to injure your friends, provided you say what is gratifying to the people.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]A thankful tribe you are, who fill your tongues
To popular grace; would I had never known you!
Of injuries to friends you reck not, if
Your fine speech wins the favour of the people.
[ed. Ramage (1864)]A thankless spawn, all ye that grasp at honour
By babbling to the mob! -- let me not know you,
Who injure friends, and nothing reck thereof,
So ye may something say to please the rabble!
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]O thankless brood, who jostle to be called
The people's leaders, may I not even know you!
Who turn a phrase to catch the mob's applause,
And care not if your phrase destroy your friend.
[tr. Sheppard (1924)]A thankless race! all you who covet honor from the mob for your oratory. Oh that you were unknown to me! you who harm your friends and think no more of it, if you can say a word to win the mob.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]May your breed turn their backs
On you and your like,
Smelling sweet up all men's noses.
You're no friend of mine.
Stay that way.
You shake the hands of all and sundry
Smiling as you spit
On your nearest and dearest
For the sake of pleasing everybody.
[tr. McGuinness (2004)]What a graceless breed you are, you demagogues, grubbing for favours from the mob. Spare me your friendship. You'd harm your friends if that would please the mob.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]Ah! All of you lot who are jealous of the honours received by political leaders are an ungrateful lot, the whole generation of you! I wish I had never known any of you. You don’t care how much you hurt your friends so long as you say something to pacify the masses.
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]O gods save us from politicians and demagogues like you
who don’t care what harm you do as long as the multitudes
are pleased and the applause is loud.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]You are a thankless brood, you mob of wannabe
Politicians. I wish I didn’t know you
When you don’t care about harming your friends
As long as you say something the masses will like.
[tr. @sentantiq (2020)]
In the conditions of modern life the rule is absolute, the race which does not value trained intelligence is doomed. Not all your heroism, not all your social charm, not all your wit, not all your victories on land or at sea, can move back the finger of fate. To-day we maintain ourselves. To-morrow science will have moved forward yet one more step, and there will be no appeal from the judgment which will then be pronounced on the uneducated.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician and philosopher
Speech (1916-01), “The Aims of Education — a Plea for Reform,” Presidential Address to the Mathematical Association
(Source)
Collected in The Organisation of Thought: Educational and Scientific, ch. 1 (1917).
And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, so that others cannot know that you are fasting — only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.
[Ὅταν δὲ νηστεύητε, μὴ γίνεσθε ὡς οἱ ὑποκριταὶ σκυθρωποί, ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὅπως φανῶσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύοντες· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν. σὺ δὲ νηστεύων ἄλειψαί σου τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν σου νίψαι, ὅπως μὴ φανῇς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύων ἀλλὰ τῷ πατρί σου τῷ ἐν τῷ κρυφαίῳ· καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυφαίῳ ἀποδώσει σοι.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 6: 16-18 (Jesus) [GNT (1966)]
(Source)
No Synoptic parallels.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. [KJV (1611)]When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. [JB (1966)]When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
[NJB (1985)]And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
[CEB (2011)]And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
The NRSV notes some early manuscripts have the Father rewarding you "openly," which the KJV uses.
Our children know we lie to them, but not — thank God — how much.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)
(Source)
I have not loved the World, nor the World me;
I have not flattered its rank breath, nor bowed
To its idolatries a patient knee,
Nor coined my cheek to smiles, — nor cried aloud
In worship of an echo: in the crowd
They could not deem me one of such — I stood
Among them, but not of them — in a shroud
Of thoughts which were not their thoughts, and still could,
Had I not filed my mind, which thus itself subdued.George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 3, st. 113 (1816)
(Source)
Categorizing is necessary for humans, but it becomes pathological when the category is seen as definitive, preventing people from considering the fuzziness of boundaries, let alone revising their categories.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Black Swan, Part 1, ch. 1 “The Apprenticeship of an Empirical Skeptic” (2007)
(Source)
The stress of making small talk with in-laws is called being part of a family.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (2014-02-18)
(Source)
THESEUS: Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, sc. 1, ll. 4ff (5.1.4-8) (1605)
(Source)
We only criticize ourselves in order to win the praise of others.
[On ne se blâme que pour être loué.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶554 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶524]
(Source)
This maxim came from the 6th ed. (1693), published by Barbin more than twelve years after La Rochefoucauld's death. It is not present in many collections.
Compare to ¶149 and ¶327.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:We blame ourselves only to extort praise.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶363]When we seem to blame ourselves; we mean only to extort praise.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶318]Man only blames himself in order that he may be praised.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), 1693 ed.]We only blame ourselves in order to be praised.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶554]
Advice can get you into more trouble than a gun can.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1933-08-20), “Weekly Article: Don’t Get Excited,” No. 556
(Source)
On American political and diplomatic intervention in Latin America.
Old age isn’t a battle; old age is a massacre.
Who can estimate the misery that has been caused by this most infamous doctrine of eternal punishment? Think of the lives it has blighted — of the tears it has caused — of the agony it has produced. Think of the millions who have been driven to insanity by this most terrible of dogmas. This doctrine renders God the basest and most cruel being in the universe. Compared with him, the most frightful deities of the most barbarous and degraded tribes are miracles of goodness and mercy. There is nothing more degrading than to worship such a god. Lower than this the soul can never sink. If the doctrine of eternal damnation is true, let me share the fate of the unconverted; let me have my portion in hell, rather than in heaven with a god infamous enough to inflict eternal misery upon any of the sons of men.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1874-05-03), “Heretics and Heresies,” Free Religious Society, Kingsbury Hall, Chicago
(Source)
Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876).
Then why not better use this proud excess
Of worthless wealth? Why lives in deep distress
A man unworthy to be poor, or why
The temples of the gods in ruins lie?
Why not of such a massy treasure spare
To thy dear country, wretch, a moderate share?[Ergo,
quod superat non est melius quo insumere possis?
Cur eget indignus quisquam te divite? Quare
templa ruunt antiqua Deum? Cur, inprobe, carae
non aliquid patriae tanto emetiris acervo?]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 2, “Quae virtus et quanta,” l. 101ff (2.2.101-105) (30 BC) [tr. Francis (1747)]
(Source)
Reply when a rich person argues they are so wealthy they need not be concerned about wasteful spending.(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Therfore, the surplus of thy goodes applye to better ende.
Why wante the silly needie soules refreshyng at thy hande?
Why doo the temples of the gods, without repayryng stande?
Thou corsye carle, thy countrey dere, from hougie substance suche
Shall she have naught, wylt onely thou devoure alone so muche?
[tr. Drant (1567)]What then? Can there no better way be found
To spend that Wealth, with which you so abound?
Why should so many brave men want? and why
Should the Gods ancient Temples ruin'd lie
While you are rich? Vile wretch! Why wilt not thou
Out of thy needless store something allow
For thy dear Countries good?
[tr. A. F.; ed. Brome (1666)]Then is there no way else to spend thy Store?
Why since thou'rt Rich, is any good Man Poor?
Why are not ruin'd Fanes rebuilt? And why
Doth not thy Wealth thy Neighbours wants supply?
And hath thy Country this superfluous Coin?
What measure hath it from this heap of Thine?
[tr. Creech (1684)]And is there then, I ask, no other end
On which the surplus thou might'st nobly spend?
Say, why does merit starve in rags? or say,
Why fall our ancient temples to decay?
Why not from those superfluous hoards bestow
A mite to sooth thy burthen'd country's woe?
[tr. Howes (1845)]Why then have you no better method of expending your superfluities? Why is any man, undeserving [of distressed circumstances], in want, while you abound? How comes it to pass, that the ancient temples of the gods are falling to ruin? Why do not you, wretch that you are, bestow something on your dear country, out of so vast a hoard?
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]Then is there nothing on which you can spend your surplus income better? Why do any suffer want they don't deserve while you are rich? Why do the gods' time-honoured fanes fall to decay? And why, insatiate wretch, don't you mete out from those large stores of wealth some portion for your fatherland which should be dear?
[tr. Millington (1870)]Untold indeed! then can you not expend
Your superflux on some diviner end?
Why does one good man want while you abound?
Why are Jove's temples tumbling to the ground?
O selfish! what? devote no modicum
To your dear country from so vast a sum?
[tr. Conington (1874)]Well, is there no better object on which you can spend your surplus? Why is any worthy man in want, while you are rich? Why are the ancient temples of the gods in ruin? Why, shameless man, do you not measure out something from that great heap for your dear country?
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]And therefore there's no better way for you to unload
Thie surplus? Why should a single deserving man
Be in need when you are so rich? Why do the gods' ancient temples
Fall into ruin? Why not dig into your pile
And measure some out for your own dear country, you wretch?
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]If that's so and you have more
money than you need, why not spend it in a better way?
Why is anyone poor who shouldn't be, if you're so rich?
Why do the gods' old temples need repair? You ingrate,
for your beloved country's sake can't you dip into your stash?
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]Well, in that case, why not find a better
way to spend your surplus? Why,
so long as you are rich, should anyone be lacking
in everything through no fault of his own?
Why are the ancient temples of the gods
falling into ruin? Why, shameless one,
do you not siphon off something
from that great reservoir of money
to present to your dear country?
[tr. Alexander (1999)]There's nothing
better you could spend your surplus for?
Why's any good man poor while you're so rich?
The temples of the gods could use repair.
Are you so shameless you'll give nothing
to your country?
[tr. Matthews (2002)]Well then, can't you think of a better way
to get rid of your surplus? Why should any decent man
be in need while you are rich> Why, if you've any conscience,
don't you give something from that pile you've made to the land of your birth?
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]Well then, isn’t there something
Better you can spend the surplus on? Why, when you’re
Rich, are there any deserving men in need? Why are
The ancient temples of the gods in ruins? Why, man
Without shame, don’t you offer your dear country a tithe
From that vast heap?
[tr. Kline (2015)]
So far as we can see, both horror and pain are necessary to the continuance of life on this planet, and it is therefore open to pessimists like Swift to say: “If horror and pain must always be with us, how can life be significantly improved?” His attitude is in effect the Christian attitude, minus the bribe of a “next world” — which, however, probably has less hold upon the minds of believers than the conviction that this world is a vale of tears and the grave is a place of rest.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-09), “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” Polemic, No. 5
(Source)
All greatness is unconscious, or it is little and naught.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1837-12-06), “On Sir Walter Scott,” The London and Westminster Review, No. 12/55, Art. 2 (1838-01)
(Source)
Review of J. G. Lockhart, Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Baronet, 6 vols. (1837). Collected in Carlyle, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827-1855).
Mankind ain’t apt tew respekt verry mutch what they are familiar with, it iz what we don’t know, or kant see, that we hanker for.
[Mankind ain’t apt to respect very much what they are familiar with; it is what we don’t know, or can’t see, that we hanker for.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)
(Source)
Historians relate, not so much what is done, as what they would have believed.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1739 ed.)
(Source)
The events of the past month teach me to distrust Fame. I see that she does not finely discriminate, but coarsely hurrahs. She considers not the simple heroism of an action, but only as it is connected with its apparent consequences. She praises till she is hoarse the easy exploit of the Boston tea party, but will be comparatively silent about the braver and more disinterestedly heroic attack on the Boston Court-House, simply because it was unsuccessful!
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts
(Source)
The conviction in Boston of Anthony Burns, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. led to large protests and an abolitionist riot at the Boston Courthouse, requiring Federal troops and state militia to ensure Burns' transport to a ship sailing to Virginia.
In dictatorships there can be no party divisions. For all men must think as they are told, speak as they are told, write as they are told, live — and die — as they are told. In those countries the Nation is not above the party, as with us; the party is above the Nation; the party is the Nation. Every common man and woman is forced to walk the straight and narrow path of the party line, not strictly speaking a party line, but rather a line drawn by the dictator himself, who owns the party.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Speech (1941-03-29), Jackson Day Radio Broadcast, U.S.S. Potomac
(Source)
STEVE: (to Susan) It is not scientifically possible for a man to know what a woman wants. And that’s not fair, because you always know what we want.
PATRICK: We always have the decency to only want one thing.
STEVE: And do you ever thank us for making it so simple?
PATRICK: Never!
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, 03×02 “Faithless” (2002-09-30)
(Source)
(Source (Video) at 24:03; dialog verified)
The wisest man I ever knew taught me something I never forgot. And although I never forgot it, I never quite memorized it either. So what I’m left with is the memory of having learned something very wise that I can’t quite remember.
George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes (Part 1)”
(Source)
All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?
Banksy (b. 1974) England-based pseudonymous street artist, political activist, film director
Wall and Piece, Introduction (2005)
(Source)
I must live my life, not yours, my friend,
For so it was written down;
We must follow our given paths to the end,
But I trust we shall meet — in town.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1879), “Advice,” st. 8, Maurine and Other Poems (1888 ed.)
(Source)
I am persuaded that those who quite sincerely attribute their sorrows to their views about the universe are putting the cart before the horse: the truth is they are unhappy for some reasons of which they are not aware, and this unhappiness leads them to dwell upon the less agreeable characteristics of the world in which they live.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 2 “Byronic Unhappiness” (1930)
(Source)
If thou wouldest put a suspected Friend to the Test, offer to borrow Money of him.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 1848 (1727)
(Source)
I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races; that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say, in addition to this, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And in as much as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything. I do not understand that because I do not want a negro woman for a slave I must necessarily want her for a wife. My understanding is that I can just let her alone.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1858-09-18), Lincoln-Douglas Debate No. 4, Charleston, Illinois
(Source)
Answering accusations from Douglas and his supporters about Lincolns attitude toward Blacks and the threat of "amalgamation." A clear indicator that at this point in his life, despite abhorring the institution of chattel slavery and the enslavement of Blacks in the South (for humanitarian, social, and economic reasons), Lincoln still held racist (if somewhat less malevolent) views of Blacks and the the possibility of racial harmony and integration.
FEISAL: Young men make wars — and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men — courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men — mistrust and caution.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Lawrence of Arabia, sc. 411 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]
(Source)
It is not the desire for true riches that depraves man, but the desire for those that are false. A people never became corrupted for having grain, fruits, a pure air, better waters, more perfect arts, but for having gold, jewelry, subjects, power, a false renown, and an unjust superiority.
[Ce n’est pas le désir des vrais biens qui déprave l’homme, mais le désir de ceux qui sont faux. Jamais un peuple ne s’est corrompu, pour avoir du blé, des fruits, un air pur, des eaux meilleures, des arts plus parfaits, des femmes plus belles; mais pour avoir de l’or, des pierreries, des sujets, de la puissance, un faux renom et une injuste supériorité.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 16 “Des Mœurs publiques et privées; du Caractère des Nations [On Morality and the Character of Nations],” ¶ 39 (1850 ed.) [tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 12]
(Source)
(Source (French)). This "thought" is not included in other translations I could find.
I live by the simplest, perhaps facile command that Jesus ever gave, which is to love God with the whole self and the neighbor as the self, and I find that’s entirely consuming. To do those two things leaves me very little time to do much else.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Interview (2006-06-08) by Bob Abernathy, PBS
(Source)
PETER: Her light is growing faint, and if it goes out, that means she is dead! Her voice is so low I can scarcely tell what she is saying. She says — she says she thinks she could get well again if children believed in fairies!
(He rises and throws out his arms he knows not to whom, perhaps to the boys and girls of whom he is not one.)
Do you believe in fairies? Say quick that you believe! If you believe, clap your hands!
(Many clap, some don’t, a few hiss. Then perhaps there is a rush of Nanas to the nurseries to see what on earth is happening. But TINK is saved.)
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! And now to rescue Wendy!
(TINK is already as merry and impudent as a grig, with not a thought for those who have saved her.J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 4 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
In Barrie's 1911 novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 13 "Do You Believe in Fairies?" this is rendered:Every moment her light was growing fainter; and he knew that if it went out she would be no more. She liked his tears so much that she put out her beautiful finger and let them run over it. Her voice was so low that at first he could not make out what she said. Then he made it out. She was saying that she thought she could get well again if children believed in fairies.
Peter flung out his arms. There were no children there, and it was night time; but he addressed all who might be dreaming of the Neverland, and who were therefore nearer to him than you think: boys and girls in their nighties, and naked papooses in their baskets hung from trees.
“Do you believe?” he cried.
Tink sat up in bed almost briskly to listen to her fate.
She fancied she heard answers in the affirmative, and then again she wasn’t sure.
“What do you think?” she asked Peter.
“If you believe,” he shouted to them, “clap your hands; don’t let Tink die.”
Many clapped.
Some didn’t.
A few little beasts hissed.
The clapping stopped suddenly; as if countless mothers had rushed to their nurseries to see what on earth was happening; but already Tink was saved. First her voice grew strong, then she popped out of bed, then she was flashing through the room more merry and impudent than ever. She never thought of thanking those who believed, but she would have liked to get at the ones who had hissed.
CHORUS: Around my javelin let the spider weave
Her subtle threads; while I, grown old in peace …[ΧΟΡΟΣ: κείσθω δόρυ μοι μίτον ἀμφιπλέκειν ἀράχναις·
μετὰ δ’ ἡσυχίας πολιῷ γήρᾳ συνοικῶν]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Erectheus [Ἐρεχθεύς], frag. 369 (TGF) (422 BC) [tr. Wodhull (1809)]
(Source)
Nauck frag. 369, Barnes frag. 53, Musgrave frag. 6. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:May my spear idle lie, and spiders spin
Their webs about it! May I, oh may I, pass
My hoary age in peace!
[tr. Wordsworth (1836)]Let my spear lie idle for spiders to weave their webs
on it. May I live in tranquillity, dwelling with grey
old age.
[tr. Cropp]
If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins.
[Ἐὰν γὰρ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, ἀφήσει καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, οὐδὲ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ἀφήσει τὰ παραπτώματα ὑμῶν.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 6: 14-15 (Jesus) [CEB (2011)]
(Source)
No Synoptic parallels. This passage in Matthew immediately follows the Lord's Prayer which includes a petition for the forgiveness of sins.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
[KJV (1611)]Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.
[JB (1966); NJB (1985)]If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.
[GNT (1976)]For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
The NRSV notes some ancient manuscripts adds to the second "forgive others" the specific "their trespasses."
The fault no child ever loses is the one he was most punished for.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)
(Source)
DUKE:If thou art rich, thou ’rt poor,
For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows,
Thou bear’st thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Measure for Measure, Act 3, sc. 1, l. 26ff (3.1.26-29) (1604)
(Source)
In his guise as a friar.
When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do — well, that’s Memoirs.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Essay (1932-03-12), “Letters of a Self-Made Diplomat to Senator Borah,” Saturday Evening Post
(Source)
William Borah (1885-1940) was a US Senator from Idaho (1907-1940). He was progressive politically, but an isolationist, a key figure in blocking US approval of the Versailles Treaty or joining the League of Nations.
Collected in Donald Day (ed.), The Autobiography of Will Rogers (1949), and Steven K Gragert (ed.), More Letters of a Self-Made Diplomat (1982).
Millions upon millions were sacrificed upon the altars of bigotry. The Catholic burned the Lutheran, the Lutheran burned the Catholic, the Episcopalian tortured the Presbyterian, the Presbyterian tortured the Episcopalian. Every denomination killed all it could of every other; and each Christian felt in duty bound to exterminate every other Christian who denied the smallest fraction of his creed.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1874-05-03), “Heretics and Heresies,” Free Religious Society, Kingsbury Hall, Chicago
(Source)
Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876).
But I do not approve of what I see in use, that is, to seek to affirm and support our religion by the prosperity of our enterprises. Our belief has other foundation enough, without going about to authorize it by events: for the people being accustomed to such plausible arguments as these and so proper to their taste, it is to be feared, lest when they fail of success they should also stagger in their faith.
[Mais je trouve mauvais ce que je voy en usage, de chercher à fermir & appuyer nostre religion par la prosperité de nos entreprises. Nostre creance a assez d’autres fondemens, sans l’authoriser par les evenemens. Car le peuple accoustumé à ces argumens plausibles, & proprement de son goust, il est danger, quand les evenemens viennent à leur tour contraires & des-avantageux, qu’il en esbranle sa foy.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essay (1572), “That a Man Is Soberly to Judge of the Divine Ordinance [Qu’il faut sobrement se mesler de juger des ordonnances divines], Essays, Book 1, ch. 31 (1.31) (1595) [tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]
(Source)
This chapter name has multiple disparate translations, e.g.:Some editions and translations use the older 1588 chapter order, and refer to this as chapter 32, as noted below.
- "Hazarding an Opinion on God’s Plans Demands Caution"
- "That a Man must not be too hasty in judging of Divine Ordinances"
- "We should meddle soberly with judging divine ordinances"
- "Judgements on God’s ordinances must be embarked upon with prudence"
- "That It Is With Sobriety That We Should Undertake to Judge of the Divine Decrees"
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:But I utterly disalow a common custome amongst us, which is to ground and establish our religion upon the prosperitie of our enterprises. Our beleefe hath other sufficient foundations, and need not be authorized by events. For the people accustomed to these plausible arguments, and agreeing with his taste, when events sort contrarie and dis-advantageous to their expectation, they are in hazard to waver in their faith.
[tr. Florio (1603)]But I do not approve of what I see in use, that is, to seek to establish and support our religion by the prosperity of our enterprises. Our belief has other foundations enough, without authorising it by events; for people accustomed to such plausible arguments as these, and so peculiar to their own taste, it is to be feared, lest when they fail of success, they should also stagger in their faith.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]But I think ill of what I see to the customary -- the seeking to strengthen and support our religion by the prosperity of our undertakings. Our belief has enough other foundations, without giving authority to it by events; for if the people become accusomed to these arguments, which are plausible and suited to their taste, there is a danger that when, in turn, adverse and disadvantageous events happen, their faith will be shaken by them.
[tr. Ives (1925), 1.32]But I think that the practice I see is bad, of trying to strengthen and support our religion by the good fortune and prosperity of our enterprises. Our belief has enough other foundations; it does not need events to authorize it. For when the people are accustomed to these arguments, which are plausible and suited to their taste, there is a danger that when in turn contrary and disadvantageous events come, this will shake their faith.
[tr. Frame (1943), 1.32]What I consider wrong is our usual practice of trying to support and confirm our religion by the success or happy outcome of our undertakings. Our belief has enough other foundations without seeking sanction from events: people who have grown accustomed to such plausible arguments well-suited to their taste are in danger of having their faith shaken when the turn comes for events to prove hostile and unfavourable.
[tr. Screech (1987), 1.32]
In the queerest way, pleasure and disgust are linked together. The human body is beautiful: it is also repulsive and ridiculous, a fact which can be verified at any swimming pool. The sexual organs are objects of desire and also of loathing, so much so that in many languages, if not in all languages, their names are used as words of abuse. Meat is delicious, but a butcher’s shop makes one feel sick: and indeed all our food springs ultimately from dung and dead bodies, the two things which of all others seem to us the most horrible. A child, when it is past the infantile stage but still looking at the world with fresh eyes, is moved by horror almost as often as by wonder — horror of snot and spittle, of the dogs’ excrement on the pavement, the dying toad full of maggots, the sweaty smell of grown-ups, the hideousness of old men, with their bald heads and bulbous noses.
In his endless harping on disease, dirt and deformity, Swift is not actually inventing anything, he is merely leaving something out.George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-09), “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” Polemic, No. 5
(Source)
The weakness of a soul is proportionate to the number of truths that must be kept from it.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 61 (1955)
(Source)
How menny people thare iz whoze importance depends entirely upon the size ov their hotel bills.
[How many people there are whose importance depends entirely upon the size of their hotel bills.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)
(Source)
Kings and Bears often worry their Keepers.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1739 ed.)
(Source)
I would remind my countrymen, that they are to be men first, and Americans only at a late and convenient hour. No matter how valuable law may be to protect your property, even to keep soul and body together, if it do not keep you and humanity together.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts
(Source)
After the conviction in Boston of Anthony Burns, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This led to large protests and an abolitionist riot at the Boston Courthouse, requiring Federal troops and state militia to ensure Burns' transport to a ship sailing to Virginia.
The dictators cannot seem to realize that here in America our people can maintain two parties, and at the same time maintain an inviolate and indivisible Nation. The totalitarian mentality is too narrow to comprehend the greatness of a people who can be divided in party allegiance at election time, but remain united in devotion to their country and to the ideals of democracy at all times.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Speech (1941-03-29), Jackson Day Radio Broadcast, U.S.S. Potomac
(Source)
JANE: Some people think that external beauty comes from inner tranquility. Of course, some people think it comes from drinking the blood of virgins, so there’s quite a range there.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, 03×01 “Split” (2002-09-23)
(Source)
If American politics are too dirty for women to take part in, there’s something wrong with American politics.
Edna Ferber (1886-1968) American author and playwright
Cimarron, ch. 23 [Sabra] (1930)
(Source)
The book is set in the late 19th Century.
He that does a Memorable Action, and those that Report it, are all but short-liv’d Things.
[Πᾶν ἐφήμερον, καὶ τὸ μνημονεῦον καὶ τὸ μνημονευόμενον.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 4, ch. 35 (4.35) (AD 161-180) [tr. Collier (1701)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:All things are transitory, and, as it were, but for a day; both those who remember; and the things, and persons remembered.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that which is remembered.
[tr. Long (1862)]He that does a memorable action, and those that report it, are all but short-lived things.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]Everything is but for a day, remembrancer alike and the remembered.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]All things are for a day, both what remembers and what is remembered.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]Ephemeral all of them, the rememberer as well as the remembered!
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]All is ephemeral, both what remembers and what is remembered.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]All is ephemeral, both that which remembers and that which is remembered.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]Everything transitory -- the knower and the known.
[tr. Hays (2003)]All is ephemeral, both memory and the object of memory.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]They are all short-lived, both those who remember and the remembered.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]All is ephemeral, both that which remembers and that which is remembered.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]Everything is transitory, both that which remembers and that which is remembered.
[tr. Gill (2013)]
Become good at cheating and you never need to become good at anything else.
Banksy (b. 1974) England-based pseudonymous street artist, political activist, film director
Wall and Piece, “Art,” “Making an Exhibition of Yourself” (2005)
(Source)
’T were a dull old world, methinks, my friend,
If we all just went one way;
Yet our paths will meet no doubt at the end,
Though they lead apart today.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1879), “Advice,” st. 4, Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)
(Source)
I do not myself think that there is any superior rationality in being unhappy. The wise man will be as happy as circumstances permit, and if he finds the contemplation of the universe painful beyond a point, he will contemplate something else instead.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 2 “Byronic Unhappiness” (1930)
(Source)
Neither hate the Man for his Vice: nor love the Vice for the Man’s sake.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 1841 (1727)
(Source)
The [American] Founding Fathers never believed that tyranny could arise out of the executive office, because they did not see this office in any different light but as the execution of what the legislation has decreed in various forms. I leave it at that. We know today that the greatest danger of tyranny is, of course, the executive.
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)
Arendt was referring specifically to the Watergate Scandal and Nixon's abuse of power.
Parts of this interview were turned into an episode of the French TV series "Un certain regard," directed by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky, first broadcast 1974-07-06. (Source (Video))
LAWRENCE: (calling after him) Sherif Ali, so long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people. A silly people! Greedy, barbarous, and cruel — as you are!
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Lawrence of Arabia, sc. 106 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]
(Source)
After Sherif Ali has killed the Arab guide Lawrence was using for being of the wrong tribe to use one of the Harith tribe's wells.
It is always our inabilities that irritate us.
[Ce sont toujours nos impuissances qui nous irritent.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 5 “Des Passions et des Affections de l’Âme [On the Soul], ¶ 29 (1850 ed.) [tr. Calvert (1866)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Our worries always come from our weaknesses.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 65]It is always our incapacities that irritate us.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 4, ¶ 19]It is always our inabilities that vex us.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 5]
I do not mean to make an idol of health, but it does seem to me that at least some of us have made an idol of exhaustion. The only time we have done enough is when we are running on empty and when the ones we love most are the ones we see the least.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Essay (1999-11-03), “Divine Subtraction,” Christian Century
(Source)
WENDY:I shall give you a kiss if you like.
PETER: Thank you. (He holds out his hand.)
WENDY: (aghast) Don’t you know what a kiss is?
PETER. I shall know when you give it me. (Not to hurt his feelings she gives him her thimble.)
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 1 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
The original version of this scene (with the girl named Maimie, not Wendy) can be found in Barrie's earlier version of the Peter Pan tale, The Little White Bird, ch. 18 "Peter's Goat" (1902):She said out of pity for him, "I shall give you a kiss if you like," but though he once knew, he had long forgotten what kisses are, and he replied, "Thank you," and held out his hand, thinking she had offered to put something into it. This was a great shock to her, but she felt she could not explain without shaming him, so with charming delicacy she gave Peter a thimble which happened to be in her pocket, and pretended that it was a kiss.
In Barrie's 1911 novelization of the play, Peter and Wendy, ch. 3 "Come Away, Come Away!" this scene is rendered:She also said she would give him a kiss if he liked, but Peter did not know what she meant, and he held out his hand expectantly.
“Surely you know what a kiss is?” she asked, aghast.
“I shall know when you give it to me,” he replied stiffly, and not to hurt his feelings she gave him a thimble.
Get not riches by unjust means, if thou wishest them to continue in thy family, for riches unjustly acquired quickly vanish.
[ἀδίκως δὲ μὴ κτῶ χρήματ᾽ ἣν βούλη πολὺν χρόνον μελάθροις ἐμμένειν” τὰ γὰρ κακῶς οἴκους ἐσελθόντ᾽ οὐκ ἔχει σωτηρίαν]
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Erectheus [Ἐρεχθεύς], frag. 362, l. 11ff (TGF) (422 BC) [tr. Ramage (1864)]
(Source)
Nauck frag. 362, Barnes frag. 1, Musgrave frag. 2. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translation:No ill-gotten wealth possess.
If in thy mansions long thou hop'st-to dwells
For there is no reliance on that gold
Which through injustice enters our abodes.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]
Learned Institutions ought to be favorite objects with every free people. They throw that light over the public mind which is the best security against crafty & dangerous encroachments on the public liberty.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter (1822-08-04) to William T. Barry
(Source)
These words are one of the Madison quotes inscribed in the Madison Memorial Hall, Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building.
Father:
May your holy name be honored;
may your Kingdom come.
Give us day by day the food we need.
Forgive us our sins,
for we forgive everyone who does us wrong.
And do not bring us to hard testing.[Πάτερ, ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δίδου ἡμῖν τὸ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν·
καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν,
καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίομεν παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν·
καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν.]The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Luke 11: 2-4 (Jesus) [GNT (1976)]
(Source)
In Luke, Jesus offers this when asked by his disciples how to properly pray. It is known as "The Lord's Prayer," or, based on its initial words, the "Our Father" (Greek Πάτερ ἡμῶν, Latin Pater Noster).
This passage is paralleled, somewhat more simply, in Matthew 6:9-13. That prayer has seven petitions, while this one has (in most accepted versions) five. It is missing in Mark, leading to various hypotheses as to the Matthew/Luke origins. The JB suggests the Matthew prayer is "the more ancient," and liturgical use of the prayer is almost always based on the Matthew version.
Dante Alighieri crafted his own version of of this prayer in his Divine Comedy, "Purgatorio."
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
[KJV (1611)]Father, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come;
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.
[JB (1966); NJB (1985)]Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.
[NIV (2011 ed.)]Father, uphold the holiness of your name.
Bring in your kingdom.
Give us the bread we need for today.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who has wronged us.
And don’t lead us into temptation.
[CEB (2011)]Father, may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
Further notes:
- The NRSV and NIV suggest the reference to "Father" (11:2) is given in some manuscripts as "Our Father in heaven."
- The NRSV and JB say some manuscripts (perhaps from baptismal liturgies) read the "kingdom come" line (11:2) as "May your Holy Spirit come down on us and cleanse us."
- The NRSV and NIV say some manuscripts add a line after "your kingdom come" (11:2): "Your will be done, on earth as in heaven."
- The GNT and NRSV suggests the third line (11:3) can also end "food for the next day" or "bread for tomorrow."
- The NIV says that in the Greek the "everyone who sins against us" line (11:4) can be read "everyone who is indebted to us."
- The NRSV suggests that the last line (11:4) can also be read "us into temptation."
- The NRSV and NIV note some manuscripts add to the end of the prayer, "but rescue us from the evil one" or "but rescue us from evil."
One of life’s few really reliable pleasures: to have a family you love, and to leave them for a week.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)
(Source)
Why? Because. The most terrible of motives, the most unanswerable of retorts — Because.
[Pourquoi ? Parce que. Le plus terrible des motifs et la plus indiscutable des réponses: Parce que.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “St. Denis,” Book 6 “Little Gavroche,” ch. 1 (4.6.1) (1862) [tr. Hapgood (1887)]
(Source)
On Mme Thenardier hating her sons.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Why? Because. The most terrible of motives and the most unanswerable of responses: Because.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]Why? because she did. The most terrible of motives and most indisputable of answers is, Because.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]Why? Because. The most terrible and unanswerable of reasons.
[tr. Denny (1976)]Why? Because. The most terrible of motives and the most unanswerable of responses: Because.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]Why? Because. The most terrible of motives, the most indisputable of responses. Because.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
Toiling — rejoicing — sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night’s repose.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
“The Village Blacksmith,” st. 7 (1840)
(Source)
He who ascends to mountain-tops, shall find
The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow;
He who surpasses or subdues mankind
Must look down on the hate of those below.George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 3, st. 45 (1816)
(Source)
In manuscript form, the last line is "Must look down on the hate of all below."
History is opaque. You see what comes out, not the script that produces events, the generator of history. There is a fundamental incompleteness in your grasp of such events, since you do not see what’s inside the box, how the mechanisms work. What I call the generator of historical events is different from the events themselves, much as the minds of the gods cannot be read just by witnessing their deeds. You are very likely to be fooled about their intentions.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Black Swan, Part 1, ch. 1 “The Apprenticeship of an Empirical Skeptic” (2007)
(Source)
He who tries to make his happiness depend too much on his reason, who holds it up for examination, who quibbles, as it were, with his delights, and admits no indelicate pleasures, ends by having none at all. He is a man who cards the wool of his mattress until nothing is left, and he ends by sleeping on the boards.
[Celui qui veut trop faire dépendre son bonheur de sa raison, qui le soumet à l’examen, qui chicane, pour ainsi dire, ses jouissances, et n’admet que des plaisirs délicats, finit par n’en plus avoir. C’est un homme qui, à force de faire carder son matelas, le voit diminuer, et finit par coucher sur la dure.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 2, ¶ 179 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:He who allows his happiness to depend too much on reason, who submits his pleasures to examination, and desires enjoyments only of the most refined nature, too often ends by not having any at all.
[tr. De Finod (1884)]The man who makes his happiness too subject to his reason, who submits it to examination, who, as it were, quibbles with his enjoyment and recognizes only fastidious pleasures, will finish by having none at all. He is as one who makes his mattress smaller and smaller with assiduous carding until he ends by sleeping on the wood.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]One who wishes to make his happiness too much dependent on his reason, who examines his happiness closely, and who so to say quibbles with his enjoyments, ends by no longer having any. He is one who, by dint of having his mattress carded, sees it dwindle, and finishes by sleeping on the bare boards.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]Someone who wants his happiness to be too supported by reason, who examines it, who so to say quibbles over what he enjoys, and only allows himself pleasures that have delicacy, ends by not having any. He is a man who, because he wants his mattress to fit perfectly on his bed, continuously has to make it smaller, and ends up sleeping on the floor.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]Anyone who relies too heavily on reason to achieve happiness, who analyses it, who so to speak quibbles over his enjoyment and can accept only refined pleasures, ends up not having any at all. He's like a man who wants to get rid of all the lumps in his mattress and eventually ends up sleeping on bare boards because he's made it too small.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 135]
CASSIUS: Did Cicero say anything?
CASCA: Ay, he spoke Greek.
CASSIUS: To what effect?
CASCA Nay, an I tell you that, I’ll ne’er look you i’ th’ face again. But those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads. But for mine own part, it was Greek to me.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 289ff (1.2.289-295) (1599)
(Source)
Not origin, but likely popularizer of the phrase, "It's Greek to me." Similar phrases had been around since Roman days, and through the Medieval period. Many languages/cultures have similar idioms.
Swift falsifies his picture of the world by refusing to see anything in human life except dirt, folly and wickedness, but the part which he abstracts from the whole does exist, and it is something which we all know about while shrinking from mentioning it. Part of our minds — in any normal person it is the dominant part — believes that man is a noble animal and life is worth living: but there is also a sort of inner self which at least intermittently stands aghast at the horror of existence.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-09), “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels,” Polemic, No. 5
(Source)
ELMIRE: However high the passion which inflames us,
Still, to confess its power somehow shames us.[Quelque raison qu’on trouve à l’amour qui nous dompte,
On trouve à l’avouer toujours un peu de honte.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 4, sc. 5 (1669) [tr. Wilbur (1963)]
(Source)
On women modestly protesting against the advances of lovers.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Whatever Reason we may find for the Passion that subdues us, we shall always be a little ashm'd to own it.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]Whatever reason we may find for the passion that subdues us, we always feel some shame in owning it.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]Whatever reasons we may find to justify the love that conquers us, there is always a certain shame attached to the avowal of it.
[tr. Wall (1879)]Whatever gratification we may find for the passion that subdues us, we shall always be rather ashamed to own it.
[tr. Mathew (1890). 4.4]Whatever reasons we may find for the love which conquers us, there is always a little shame in the avowal of it.
[tr. Waller (1903)]Whatever cause we find to justify
The love that masters us, we still must feel
Some little shame in owning it.
[tr. Page (1909)]Even though overmastered by our feelings,
We always find it shameful to admit them.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]However strong and justified our flame,
We never can admit it without shame.
[tr. Frame (1967)]No matter how much love persuades us,
we always feel a tiny bit of shame.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]
Vehemence is the expression of a blind effort to support and uphold something that can never stand on its own — something rootless, incoherent, and incomplete. Whether it is our own meaningless self we are upholding or some doctrine devoid of evidence, we can do it only in a frenzy of faith.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 60 (1955)
(Source)
We are always a-looking ahed, and that iz the way tew look; if the man at the wheel looks back he will soon beach hiz vessell.
[We are always a-looking ahead, and that is the way to look; if the man at the wheel looks back he will soon beach his vessel.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)
(Source)
No one, whether poet or orator, ever yet thought anyone else better than himself. This is the case even with bad ones.
[Nemo umquam neque poëta neque orator fuit, qui quemquam meliorem quam se arbitraretur. Hoc etiam malis contingit.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 14, Letter 20, sec. 3 (14.20.3) (44 BC) [tr. Shuckburgh (1900), # 724]
(Source)
At Atticus' suggestion that Cicero write a speech for Brutus to give before the people of Rome. Cicero goes on to suggest this will be even more true for someone gifted and erudite, like Brutus, whose oratorical tastes and style are different from Cicero's.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:There has never yet been either a poet or an orator who did not consider himself the greatest in the world.
[ed. Harbottle (1906)]No one, whether poet or orator, ever thought anyone better than himself. This is so even in the case of bad ones.
[tr. Windstedt (Loeb) (1913)]There never was a poet or an orator who thought any one better than himself.
[tr. McKinlay (1926), # 104]There was never a poet or orator yet who thought anyone better than himself. This applies even to the bad ones.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968)]
We must remember that there are many men who, without being productive, are anxious to say something important, and the results are most curious.
[Man muß bedenken, daß unter den Menschen gar viele sind, die doch auch etwas Bedeutendes sagen wollen, ohne produktiv zu sein, und da kommen die wunderlichsten Dinge an den Tag.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893), “Literature and Art,” #415]
(Source)
From Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years (1829).
(Source (German)). Alternate translations:It must be borne in mind that there are many men who, without being productive, yet want to say something significant; and thus the most curious things are brought to light.
[tr. Rönnfeldt (1900)]One has to remember that there are quite a lot of people who would like to say something significant without being productive, and then the most peculiar things see the light of day.
[tr. Stopp (1995), #497]
This mortal life is a little thing, lived in a little corner of the earth; and little, too, is the longest fame to come — dependent as it is on a succession of fast-perishing little men who have no knowledge even of their own selves, much less of one long dead and gone.
[μικρὸν μὲν οὖν ὃ ζῇ ἕκαστος: μικρὸν δὲ τὸ τῆς γῆς γωνίδιον ὅπου ζῇ: μικρὸν δὲ καὶ ἡ μηκίστη ὑστεροφημία καὶ αὕτη δὲ κατὰ διαδοχὴν ἀνθρωπαρίων τάχιστα τεθνηξομένων καὶ οὐκ εἰδότων οὐδὲ ἑαυτοὺς οὐδέ γε τὸν πρόπαλαι τεθνηκότα.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 3, ch. 10 (3.10) (AD 161-180) [tr. Staniforth (1964)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:The time therefore that any man doth live, is but a little, and the place where he liveth, is but a very little corner of the earth, and the greatest fame that can remain of a man after his death, even that is but little, and that too, such as it is whilst it is, is by the succession of silly mortal men preserved, who likewise shall shortly die, and even whiles they live know not what in very deed they themselves are: and much less can know one, who long before is dead and gone.
[tr. Casaubon (1634)]Life moves in a very narrow Compass; yes, and Men live in a poor Corner of the World too : And the most lasting Fame will stretch but to a sorry Extent. The Passage on't is uneven and craggy, and therefore it can't run far. The frequent Breaks of Succession drop it in the Conveyance : For alas ! poor transitory Mortals, know little either of themselves, or of those who were long before them.
[tr. Collier (1701)]It is a very little time which each man lives, and in a small corner of the earth; and the longest surviving fame is but short, and this conveyed through a succession of poor mortals, each presently a-dying; men who neither knew themselves, nor the persons long since dead.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]The life of every one, therefore, is evidently a mere point in time. This world indeed in which we live is but a mere corner of the universe, and the most extensive posthumous fame a very trifling affair; and is to pass through a succession of insignificant mortals, who know little of themselves, and much less therefore of those who have long submitted to their destiny.
[tr. Graves (1792)]Short then is the time which every man lives; and small the nook of the earth where he lives; and short too the longest posthumous fame, and even this only continued by a succession of poor human beings, who will very soon die, and who know not even themselves, much less him who died long ago.
[tr. Long (1862)]Life moves in a very narrow compass; yes, and men live in a small corner of the world too. And the most lasting fame will stretch but to a sorry extent; for, alas! poor transitory mortals who hand it down know little even of themselves, much less of those who died long before their time.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]Man's life has but a tiny span, tiny as the corner of earth on which he lives, short as fame's longest tenure, handed along the line of short-lived mortals, who do not even know themselves, far less the dead of long ago.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]Short is the time which each of us has to live, and small the corner of the earth he has to live in. Short is the longest posthumous fame, and this preserved through a succession of poor mortals, soon themselves to die; men who knew not themselves, far less those who died long ago.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]Little indeed, then, is a man's life, and little the nook of earth whereon he lives, and little even the longest after-fame, and that too handed on through a succession of manikins, each one of them very soon to be dead, with no knowledge even of themselves, let alone of a man who has died long since.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]Little the life each lives, little the corner of the earth he lives in, little even the longest fame hereafter, and even that dependent on a succession of poor mortals, who will very soon be dead, and have not learnt to know themselves, much less the man who was dead long years ago.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]Human life is thus a little thing, and little too even the fame that endures for the longest, and even that is passed on from one poor mortal to another, all of whom will die in no great while, and who have no knowledge even of themselves, let alone of one who has died many long years before.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]The span we live is small -- small as the corner of the earth in which we live it. Small as even the greatest renown, passed from mouth to mouth by short-lived stick figures, ignorant alike of themselves and those long dead.
[tr. Hays (2003)]Sure, life is a small thing, and small the cranny of the earth in which we live it: small too even the longest fame thereafter, which is itself subject to a succession of little men who will quickly die, and have no knowledge even of themselves, let alone of those long dead.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]Small indeed is the life which each person lives, and tiny is the corner of the earth where he lives. Small too is even the longest after-glory, which is handed off, as in a relay race, to others who will soon be dead, not having know even themselves, let alone someone who died long ago.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]The space of each person’s existence is thus a little thing, and little too is the corner of the earth on which it is lived, and little too even the fame that endures for the longest; and even that is passed on from one poor mortal for another, all of whom will die in no great while, and who have no knowledge even of themselves, let alone of one who has died many long years before.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]For each of us, small is our life and small is the corner of earth where it is lived; small too is even the longest fame after death, and this depends on a succession of little human beings who will quickly die and who do not know themselves, let along the one who has died first.
[tr. Gill (2013)]
Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent, leave the house before you find something worth staying in for.
Banksy (b. 1974) England-based pseudonymous street artist, political activist, film director
Wall and Piece, “Street Furniture,” “Advice on Making Stencils” (2005)
(Source)
“He is mad as a hare, poor fellow,
And should be in chains” you say,
I haven’t a doubt of your statement,
But who isn’t mad, I pray?
Why, the world is a great asylum,
And the people are all insane,
Gone daft with pleasure or folly,
Or crazed with passion and pain.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1882), “All Mad,” st. 1, Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)
(Source)
Also collected in Poems of Cheer (1910) and Poems of Life (1919).
A man may feel so completely thwarted that he seeks no form of satisfaction, but only distraction and oblivion. He then becomes a devotee of “pleasure.” That is to say, he seeks to make life bearable by becoming less alive. Drunkenness, for example, is temporary suicide: the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 1 “What Makes People Unhappy?” (1930)
(Source)
Believe not that Men have an Esteem for thee only because they say so.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 1816 (1727)
(Source)
You see, tyranny has been discovered very early, and very early really as an enemy. Still, it has never in any way prevented any tyrant from becoming a tyrant. It has not prevented Nero, and has not prevented Caligula. And Nero and Caligula have not prevented a more closer example of what the massive intrusion of criminality can mean for the political process.
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)
Speaking (most proximately) about the Watergate scandal.
Parts of this interview were turned into an episode of the French TV series "Un certain regard," directed by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky, first broadcast 1974-07-06. This portion of the interview comes at 49:17 in.
CROMWELL: Yet is there a man in this court, is there a man in this country, who does not know Sir Thomas More’s opinion of this title? Of course not! But how can that be? Because this silence betokened — nay, this silence was — not silence at all, but most eloquent denial!
MORE: (with some of the academic’s impatience for a shoddy line of reasoning) Not so, Mr. Secretary, the maxim is “qui tacet consentire”: The maxim of the law is: (very carefully) “Silence Gives Consent .” If therefore you wish to construe what my silence “betokened,” you must construe that I consented, not that I denied.
CROMWELL: Is that in fact what the world construes from it? Do you pretend that is what you wish the world to construe from it?
MORE: The world must construe according to its wits. This court must construe according to the law.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
A Man for All Seasons, play, Act 2 (1960)
(Source)
During More's treason trial for, without giving a reason, refusing to take an oath that the King of England also held the title "Supreme Head of the Church in England."
Bolt's 1966 film adaptation uses nearly the same lines (Source (Video); dialog verified):CROMWELL: Yet is there a man in this court, is there a man in this country, who does not know Sir Thomas More's opinion of this title?
GALLERY: No!
CROMWELL: Yet how can this be? Because this silence betokened -- nay, this silence was -- not silence at all, but most eloquent denial!
MORE: Not so. Not so, Master Secretary, the maxim is "qui tacet consentire": The maxim of the law is "Silence Gives Consent." If therefore you wish to construe what my silence "betokened," you must construe that I consented, not that I denied.
CROMWELL: Is that in fact what the world construes from it? Do you pretend that is what you wish the world to construe from it?
MORE: The world must construe according to its wits. This court must construe according to the law.
Most of us spend so much time thinking about where we have been or where we are supposed to be going that we have a hard time recognizing where we actually are.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
An Altar in the World, ch. 4 (2009)
(Source)
Cruelest jewel in that dark setting is HOOK himself, cadaverous and blackavised, his hair dressed in long curls which look like black candles about to melt, his eyes blue as the forget-me-not and of a profound insensibility, save when he claws, at which time a red spot appears in them. He has an iron hook instead of a right hand, and it is with this he claws.
He is never more sinister than when he is most polite, and the elegance of his diction, the distinction of his demeanour, show him one of a different class from his crew, a solitary among uncultured companions. This courtliness impresses even his victims on the high seas, who note that he always says ‘Sorry’ when prodding them along the plank.
A man of indomitable courage, the only thing at which he flinches is the sight of his own blood, which is thick and of an unusual colour. At his public school they said of him that he ‘bled yellow.’ In dress he apes the dandiacal associated with Charles II., having heard it said in an earlier period of his career that he bore a strange resemblance to the ill-fated Stuarts. A holder of his own contrivance is in his mouth enabling him to smoke two cigars at once.
Those, however, who have seen him in the flesh, which is an inadequate term for his earthly tenement, agree that the grimmest part of him is his iron claw.J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 2 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
Description of Captain Hook in the play script.
In Barrie's 1911 novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 5 "The Island Comes True," this is rendered:In the midst of them, the blackest and largest jewel in that dark setting, reclined James Hook, or as he wrote himself, Jas. Hook, of whom it is said he was the only man that the Sea-Cook feared. He lay at his ease in a rough chariot drawn and propelled by his men, and instead of a right hand he had the iron hook with which ever and anon he encouraged them to increase their pace. As dogs this terrible man treated and addressed them, and as dogs they obeyed him.
In person he was cadaverous and blackavized, and his hair was dressed in long curls, which at a little distance looked like black candles, and gave a singularly threatening expression to his handsome countenance. His eyes were of the blue of the forget-me-not, and of a profound melancholy, save when he was plunging his hook into you, at which time two red spots appeared in them and lit them up horribly.
In manner, something of the grand seigneur still clung to him, so that he even ripped you up with an air, and I have been told that he was a raconteur of repute. He was never more sinister than when he was most polite, which is probably the truest test of breeding; and the elegance of his diction, even when he was swearing, no less than the distinction of his demeanour, showed him one of a different caste from his crew.
A man of indomitable courage, it was said of him that the only thing he shied at was the sight of his own blood, which was thick and of an unusual colour. In dress he somewhat aped the attire associated with the name of Charles II., having heard it said in some earlier period of his career that he bore a strange resemblance to the ill-fated Stuarts; and in his mouth he had a holder of his own contrivance which enabled him to smoke two cigars at once.
But undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw.
Nothing is sweeter to children than a mother; love your mother, children, for no where is there a love as sweet as this.
[οὐκ ἔστι μητρὸς οὐδὲν ἥδιον τέκνοις•
ἐρᾶτε μητρός, παῖδες, ὡς οὐκ ἔστ’ ἔρως
τοιοῦτος ἄλλος ὅστις ἡδίων ἐρᾶν.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Erectheus [Ἐρεχθεύς], frag. 358 (TGF) (422 BC)
(Source)
Ironically, Erechthus, as King of Athens, sacrifices one or more of the daughters to ensure the wartime survival of Athens.
Nauck frag. 358, Barnes frag. 35, Musgrave frag. 8. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:There's no affection can exceed what children
Feel for their Mother; let this love, my Sons,
Deep in your tender bosoms be implanted:
For no attachments equal kindred ties.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Children have nothing sweeter than their mother.
Love your mother children, there is no kind of love anywhere
Sweeter than this one to love.
[tr. @sentantiq (2015)]
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1816-01-06) to Charles Yancey
(Source)
The original, non-orthographic version of this reads:if a nation expects to be ignorant & free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was & never will be. the functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty & property of their constituents. there is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.
There is a spurious variant on part of this quotation that reads:If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.
While the first sentence (as above) is legitimate, the second is not. It appears to be a paraphrase of Jefferson used by Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.[Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς·
ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου·
ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·
γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου,
ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς·
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον·
καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,
ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφήκαμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν·
καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν,
ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.
Ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία
καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα
εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.]The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 6: 9-13 “The Lord’s Prayer” (Jesus) [Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (1928)]
(Source)
Jesus offers this as an example of how to pray (versus the wordier prayers of the "pagans"). Because of this, it is known as "The Lord's Prayer," or, based on its initial words, the "Our Father" (Greek Πάτερ ἡμῶν, Latin Pater Noster).
This passage is paralleled, somewhat more simply, in Luke 11:2-4. That prayer has five petitions, while this one has (in most accepted versions) seven. It is missing in Mark, leading to various hypotheses as to the Matthew/Luke origins. The JB suggests the Matthew prayer is "the more ancient," and liturgical use of the prayer is almost always based on the Matthew version.
Dante Alighieri crafted his own version of of this prayer in his Divine Comedy, "Purgatorio."
The (here italicized) concluding doxology ("For thine is the kingdom ... Amen") is not in the oldest Greek manuscripts (see below for more discussion).
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever. Amen.
[KJV (1611)]Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debs,
as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the evil one.
[JB (1966)]Our Father in heaven:
May your holy name be honored;
may your Kingdom come;
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need.
Forgive us the wrongs we have done,
as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.
Do not bring us to hard testing,
but keep us safe from the Evil One.
[GNT (1976)]Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the Evil One.
[NJB (1985)]Our Father who is in heaven,
uphold the holiness of your name.
Bring in your kingdom
so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.
Give us the bread we need for today.
Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,
just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.
And don’t lead us into temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
[CEB (2011)]Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
May your kingdom come.
May what you want to happen be done
on earth as it is done in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
just as we also have forgiven those who sin against us.
Keep us from sinning when we are tempted.
Save us from the evil one.
[NIV (2011 ed.)]Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
Further Notes:The final doxology ("For thine is the kingdom ...") is not in the oldest Greek texts, and is usually included as a footnote in modern Bible translations (the translators of the King James Version mistakenly thought they had the oldest texts and so included it verse 13). Adding such a doxology at the end of prayers was common in the early Church liturgies. Many Protestant denominations of Christianity include it in their recitation of the Lord's Prayer; in Catholic Masses, a version is included shortly after it. Beyond the KJV inclusion above, other translations include:
- On "daily bread," JB/NJB notes the Greek word here is "obscure," and may mean "necessary for subsistence" or "for tomorrow." NRSV and GNT similarly note an alternative, "Give us today our bread for tomorrow."
- NRSV notes an alternative translation, "And do not bring us into testing ..."
- JB/NJB and NRSV notes a final line alternative translation: "... but rescue us from evil."
- The JB/NJB footnotes Matthew's recurring use of the number 7, here including seven petitions.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen.
[JB/NJB]
For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours forever. Amen.
[NRSV]
For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
[GNT]
See also here for additional discussion about the prayer.
Your children are neither as bad nor as good as you imagine. But then, neither are you.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)
(Source)
Anne smiled and said, “My idea of good company, Mr. Elliot, is a company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what a call good company.”
“You are mistaken,” said he, gently, “that is not good company; that is the best.”
I don’t particularly care about the usual. If you want to get an idea of a friend’s temperament, ethics, and personal elegance, you need to look at him under the tests of severe circumstances, not under the regular rosy glow of daily life. Can you assess the danger a criminal poses by examining only what he does on an ordinary day? Can we understand health without considering wild diseases and epidemics? Indeed the normal is often irrelevant.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Black Swan, Introduction (2007)
(Source)
The wisest thing to do, whenever someone says, “I knew you wouldn’t mind,” is to run. No good will follow.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (2014-02-18)
(Source)
CONSTABLE: Disorder, that hath spoiled us, friend us now.
Let us on heaps go offer up our lives.ORLÉANS: We are enough yet living in the field
To smother up the English in our throngs,
If any order might be thought upon.BOURBON: The devil take order now! I’ll to the throng.
Let life be short, else shame will be too long.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 4, sc. 5, l. 19ff (4.5.19-25) (1599)
(Source)
The French dealing with the disastrous rout of their initial attack at Agincourt.
There are more fools than wise men, and even in the wise there is more folly than wisdom.
[Il y a plus de fous que de sages, et dans le sage même, il y a plus de folie que de sagesse.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 2, ¶ 149 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:There are more fools than wise men, and even in the wise man himself there is more folly than wisdom.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902)]There are more fools than wise men, and even in a wise man there is more folly than wisdom.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]There are more fools than wise people, and in wise people themselves there is more folly than wisdom.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]
COLE: I see dead people.
MALCOLM: In your dreams? (Cole shakes his head.) While you’re awake? (Cole nods.) Dead people, like, in graves? In coffins?
COLE: Walking around like regular people. They don’t see each other. They only see what they wanna see. They don’t know they’re dead.
MALCOLM: How often do you see them?
COLE: All the time. They’re everywhere.
M. Night Shyamalan (b. 1970) Indian-American screenwriter, director
The Sixth Sense (1999)
(Source)
(Source (Video); dialog confirmed)
Was it for this I uttered prayers,
And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs,
That now, domestic as a plate,
I should retire at half-past eight?Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1920), “Grown-Up,” A Few Figs from Thistles, (1921, expanded ed.)
(Source)
The poem was not in the original 1920 publication.
And, when the votes are counted, let everybody, including the candidates, get into a good humor as quick as they got into a bad one.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1932-11-07), “Daily Telegram”
(Source)
On the elections to be held the following day, which included the presidential race between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt.
“Tell me something about yourself, and the country you came from,” said the Scarecrow, when she had finished her dinner. So she told him all about Kansas, and how gray everything was there, and how the cyclone had carried her to this queer land of Oz.
The Scarecrow listened carefully, and said, “I cannot understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful country and go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas.”
“That is because you have no brains,” answered the girl. “No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home.”L. Frank Baum (1856-1919) American author [Lyman Frank Baum]
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, ch. 4 “The Road Through the Forest” (1900)
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Thrust into life without my own consent,
Thrust back to death, with who knows what intent?
Arise, bright saki, fill the cup with wine
And drown the burden of my discontent.
Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 21 [tr. Roe (1906), # 44]
(Source)
A saki or sāqī (ساقی) means "wine-server" or "bartender."
Alternate translations:My coming was not of mine own design,
And one day I must go, and no choice of mine;
Come, light-handed cupbearer, gird thee to serve,
We must wash down the care of this world with wine.
[tr. Cowell (1858), # 8]What, without asking, hither hurried whence
And, without asking, wither hurried hence!
Another and another Cup to drown
The Memory of this Impertinence!
[tr. FitzGerald, 1st ed. (1859), # 30]What, without asking, hither hurried whence
And, without asking, wither hurried hence!
Ah, contrite Heav'n endowed us with the Vine
To drug the memory of that insolence.
[tr. FitzGerald, 2nd ed. (1868), # 33]What, without asking, hither hurried Whence?
And, without asking, Whither hurried hence!
Oh, many a Cup of this forbidden Wine
Must drown the memory of that insolence!
[tr. FitzGerald, 3rd ed. (1872), # 30; 4th ed. (1879); 5th ed. (1889)]O Cup-Bearer, since Time lurks hard by ready to shatter you and me, this world can never be an abiding dwelling for you and me. But come what may, assure yourself that God is in our hands while this cup of wine stands between you and me.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 35]I came not hither of my own free will,
And go against my wish, a puppet still;
Cupbearer! gird thy loins and fetch some wine;
To purge the world's despite, my goblet fill.
[tr. Whinfield (1883), # 110; (1882) # 641]Since hither, willy nilly, I came the other day
And hence must soon be going, without my yea or nay,
Up, cupbearer! thy middle come gird without delay;
The world and all its troubles with wine I 'll wash away.
[tr. Payne (1898), # 94]Seeing that my coming was not for me the Day of Creation,
and that my undesired departure hence is a purpose fixed for me,
get up and gird well thy loins, O nimble Cup bearer,
for I will wash down the misery of the world in wine.
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 21]As my first coming was no wish of mine
So my departure I can not devise.
Gird thyself, Saki! Fair bright Saki rise,
Lest time should fail to drink this skin of wine.
[tr. Cadell (1899), # 37]Since coming at the first was naught of mine,
And I unwilling go by fixed design,
Cupbearer, rise! and quickly gird thy loins!
For worldly sorrows I'll wash down in wine!
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 157]I was not asked to choose my natal morn,
I die as helplessly as I was born.
Bring wine, and I will strive to wash away
The recollection of Creation's scorn.
[tr. Talbot (1908), # 21]Since my coming was not of my own choosing from
the first day, and my going has been irrevocably fixed without my will,
arise and gird thy loins, o nimble Sáqí, for I will
wash down the grief of the world with wine.
[tr. Christensen (1927), # 32]Since here I came unwilling and perforce,
To go unplanning is my proper course;
Arise O Guide! and girdle up thy waist,
And with Thy Word absolve me from remorse.
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 8.72]My presence here has been no choice of mine;
Fate hounds me most unwillingly away.
Rise, wrap a cloth about your loins, my Saki,
And swill away the misery of this world.
[tr. Graves & Ali-Shah (1967), # 32]Since at first my coming was not at my will,
And the going is involuntarily imposed,
Arise, fasten your belt brisk wine-boy,
I'll drown the world's sorrow in wine.
[tr. Avery/Heath-Stubbs (1979), # 94]
TARTUFFE: I may be pious, but I’m still a man.
And at the sight of your celestial charms,
Reason and heart alike lay down their arms.
Coming from me, I know these words distress you;
But after all, I’m not an angel, bless you;
And if you think I’ve put myself to shame,
It’s your bewitching charms that are to blame.[Ah! pour être dévot, je n’en suis pas moins homme:
Et, lorsqu’on vient à voir vos célestes appas,
Un cœur se laisse prendre, et ne raisonne pas.
Je sais qu’un tel discours de moi paraît étrange :
Mais, madame, après tout, je ne suis pas un ange ;
Et, si vous condamnez l’aveu que je vous fais,
Vous devez vous en prendre à vos charmants attraits.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 3, sc. 3 (1669) [tr. Frame (1967)]
(Source)
The ostensibly pious Tartuffe trying to explain to his host's wife, Elmire, why he is hitting on (and kind of blaming it on her).
The lines are an imitation of Boccaccio's Decameron, Day 3, Book 8 (c. 1530), where a confessor tells a beautiful woman:Such is the might of your bewitching beauty, that love constrains me thus to act. And, let me tell you, good cause have you to vaunt you of your beauty more than other women, in that it delights the saints, who are used to contemplate celestial beauties; whereto I may add that, albeit I am an abbot, yet I am a man even as others.
[tr. Rigg (1903)]
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Ah! being a Devotee does not make me less a Man; and when one comes to view your celestial Charms, the Heart surrenders, and reasons no more. I know, that such Language from me, seems somewhat strange; but, Madam, after all, I am not an Angel, and shou'd you condemn the Declaration I make, you must lay the Blame upon your attractive charms.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]Ah! although I am a pious man, I am not the less a man; and, when one beholds your heavenly charms, the heart surrenders and reasons no longer. I know that such discourse from me must appear strange; but, after all, Madam, I am not an angel; and if my confession be condemned by you, you must blame your own attractions for it.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]Ah! Although a devotee, I am no less a man. When your celestial attractions burst upon the sight, the heart surrenders, and reasons no more. I know that such language from me seems somewhat strange; but after all, madam, I am not an angel; and, if you condemn the confession I make, you have only your own attractions to blame for it.
[tr. Wall (1879)]Ah, being devout does not make me less a man; and when one comes to view your celestial charms the heart surrenders, and thinks no more. I know that this longing seems strange coming from me, but I am not an angel, and if you condemn the declaration I make, you must lay the biame on your attractive charms.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]Ah! I may be pious, but I am none the less a man; and when your heavenly charmes are seen the heart surrenders without reasoning. I know such language from me must seem strange; but, after all, Madame, I am not an angel, and, if you condemn my avowal, you must lay the blame on your captivating attractions.
[tr. Waller (1903)]Though pious, I am none the less a man;
And when a man beholds your heavenly charms,
The heart surrenders, and can think no more.
I know such words seem strange, coming from me;
But, madam, I'm no angel, after all;
If you condemn my frankly made avowal
You only have your charming self to blame.
[tr. Page (1909)]Ah, pious though I be, I'm still a man.
And when one glimpses your celestial beauties,
The heart is captured, and it cannot argue.
I know such words from me may seem surprising.
But after all, madame, I'm not an angel.
If you condemn the avowal I make to you,
You must accuse your own bewitching charms.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]I may be pious, but I'm human too:
With your celestial charms before his eyes,
A man has not the power to be wise.
I know such words sound strangely, coming from me,
But I'm no angel, nor was meant to be,
And if you blame my passion, you must needs
Reproach as well the charms on which it feeds.
[tr. Wilbur (1963)]I'm pious, but I'm still a man.
To glimpse your beauty is to fall,
To lose oneself beyond recall,
And when a heart is forced to yield,
Reason gives up; it quits the field.
You don't expect such words from me
But I'm no saint, why should I be?
You find this declaration strange?
To change it, you will have to change,
Become less lovely, less divine.
(Ha! Tell the sun it shouldn't shine!)
[tr. Bolt (2002)]Ah! Pious one may be: one is still a man. The heart, seeing such celestial charms, is captivated and is incapable of reason. Perhaps what I have said seems unexpected, but after all, I am a man, not an angel; and if you fault this admission that I have made, blame your unearthly beauty, which provoked it.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]
It was this fear which led me into the snare of procrastination. But if I make haste now I regain all; if I delay I lose all.
[Hoc verens in hanc tarditatem incidi. Bed adsequar omnia si propero: si cunctor, amitto.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 10, Letter 8, sec. 5 (10.8.5) (49 BC) [tr. Jeans (1880), # 71]
(Source)
On the concerning prospect of Caesar and Pompey reconciling while both were irked at Cicero.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:It was from dread of this that I drifted into this waiting policy. But now I have everything to gain by hastening, everything to lose by delay.
[tr. Shuckburgh (1900), # 391]That fear of mine led me to delay. But I gain all now by haste, and, if I delay, I lose all.
[tr. Winstedt (Loeb) (1913)]This fear led me into such procrastination. But I shall gain all if I make haste; if I delay, I lose all.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968), # 199]
The time tew be karefullest iz when we hav a hand full ov trumps.
[The time to be most careful is when we have a hand full of trumps.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)
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The events from 1933 to 1945 should have been fought in 1928 at the latest. Later it was too late. We must not wait until the struggle for freedom is called treason. We must not wait until the snowball has turned into an avalanche, we must crush the rolling snowball. Nobody can stop the avalanche! It only comes to rest when it has buried everything underneath it.
That is the lesson, that is the conclusion of what happened to us in 1933, that is the conclusion we must draw from our experiences, and it is the conclusion of my speech. Impending dictatorships can only be fought before they have taken power. It is a matter of an appointment calendar, not heroism.[Die Ereignisse von 1933 bis 1945 hätten spätestens 1928 bekämpft werden müssen. Später war es zu spät. Man darf nicht warten, bis der Freiheitskampf Landesverrat genannt wird. Man darf nicht warten, bis aus dem Schneeball eine Lawine geworden ist. Man muß den rollenden Schneeball zertreten. Die Lawine hält keiner mehr auf. Sie ruht erst, wenn sie alles unter sich begraben hat.
Das ist die Lehre, das ist das Fazit dessen, was uns 1933 widerfuhr. Das ist der Schluß, den wir aus unseren Erfahrungen ziehen müssen, und es ist der Schluß meiner Rede. Drohende Diktaturen lassen sich nur bekämpfen, ehe sie die Macht übernommen haben. Es ist eine Angelegenheit des Terminkalenders, nicht des Heroismus.]Erich Kästner (1899-1974) German writer, poet, screenwriter, satirist
Speech (1958-05-10), “Über das verbrennen von büchern [On the Burning of Books],” Hamburg PEN Conference
(Source)
Collected in Kastner, Gesammelte Schriften für Erwachsene [Collective Writings for Adults], Book 8 "Miscellaneous Articles III" (1969).
The speech was given on the 25th anniversary of the 1933 book burnings in Berlin. 1928 was the first federal election in Germany when the Nazi Party had federal candidates. It only received 3% of the vote.
This quote is forwarded through social media frequently, in a variety of translations and edits, usually without citation.
(Source (German)). Alternate translations:The events 1933–1945 should have been combated by 1928. Later was too late. We must not wait until the fight for freedom is called treason. We must not wait until the snowball has turned into an avalanche. You have to crush the rolling snowball. No one can stop the avalanche. It only comes to rest when it has buried everything underneath it.
That is the lesson of what happened to us in 1933. Impending dictatorships can only be fought before they have taken power.
[Source]They should have been combated by 1928 at the latest. Later it was too late. We must not wait until the struggle for freedom is called treason. We must not wait until the snowball has turned into an avalanche. You have to crush the rolling snowball. No one can stop the avalanche. It only comes to rest when it has buried everything underneath it.
That is the lesson, that is the conclusion of what happened to us in 1933. That is the conclusion we must draw from our experiences.
[Source]The events from 1933 to 1945 should have been battled in 1928 at the latest. Later was already too late. One must not wait until liberty is called treason. One must not wait till the snowball has become an avalanche. One must squelch the rolling snowball. The avalanche can't be stopped anymore [...]
[Source]The events from 1933 to 1945 should have been stopped in 1928 at the latest. After that it was too late. You can't wait until the struggle for freedom is labeled as treason. You need to squash the rolling snowball. No one can stop the ensuing avalanche after that. It ends only after everything is ruined.
[...] Threatening dictatorships can only be stopped before they have taken power.
[Source]The events of 1933 to 1945 should have been fought against by 1928 at the latest. Later it was too late. We must not wait until the fight for freedom is called treason. We must not wait until the snowball has become an avalanche. We must crush the rolling snowball. No one can stop the avalanche. It will not rest until it has buried everything beneath it.
That is the lesson, that is the conclusion of what happened to us in 1933. That is the conclusion we must draw from our experiences, and it is the end of my speech. Threatening dictatorships can only be fought against before they have taken power.
[Source]The events from 1933 until 1945 should've been eradicated as late as 1928. Later is too late. We cannot wait until the fight for freedom is called treason. We cannot wait until the snowball has turned into an avalanche. We must trample the rolling snowball. Nobody can stop the avalanche. It won't rest until it has buried everything.
[...] Threatening dictatorships can only be fought before they have gained power.
[Source]
When power is scarce, a little of it is tempting.
Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Canadian writer, literary critic, environmental activist
The Handmaid’s Tale, “Historical Notes” (1986)
(Source)
On using women (the "Aunts") as collaborative enforcers of the woman-oppressing Gilead regime.
There are three faithful friends, an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1738 ed.)
(Source)
JANE: Oh, I know about pretending. I once went on holiday and pretended to be twins. It was amazing fun. I invented this mad, glamorous sister and went around really annoying everybody. And d’you know, I could get away with anything when I was my crazy twin Jane.
SALLY: But you’re Jane.
JANE: Kinda stuck. It’s a long story.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, 02×09 “The End of the Line” (2001-10-29)
(Source)
(Source (Video) at 3:31; dialog verified)
We two make banquets of the plainest fare;
In every cup we find the thrill of pleasure;
We hide with wreaths the furrowed brow of care
And win to smiles the set lips of despair.
For us life always moves with lilting measure;
We two, we two, we make our world, our pleasure.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1900-05), “We Two,” st. 2, The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 1
(Source)
Collected in Poems of Power (1902)
When I speak of “the sinner,” I do not mean the man who commits sin: sins are committed by everyone or no one, according to our definition of the word. I mean the man who is absorbed in the consciousness of sin. This man is perpetually incurring his own disapproval, which, if he is religious, he interprets as the disapproval of God. He has an image of himself as he thinks he ought to be, which is in continual conflict with his knowledge of himself as he is.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 1 “What Makes People Unhappy?” (1930)
(Source)
Seek not to be rich, but Happy.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 89 (1725)
(Source)
Justice without strength, and strength without justice: fearful misfortunes!
[La justice sans force, et la force sans justice: malheurs aflreux!]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 15 “De la Liberté, de la Justice et des Lois [On Liberty, Justice, and Laws],” ¶ 18 (1850 ed.) [tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 12]
(Source)
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1863-11-19), “Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg [Gettysburg Address],” Pennsylvania
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MORE: Well … I believe, when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their own public duties … they lead their country by a short route to chaos.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
A Man for All Seasons, play, Act 1 (1960)
(Source)
Speaking to Wolsey about why he opposes Henry taking a new wife, even if the alternative is another civil war.
Bolt's 1966 film adaptation uses nearly the same line (starting out with "Well ... I thin that when ..."). (Video (Source); dialog verified.)
PLAN, v.t. To bother about the best method of accomplishing an accidental result.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Plan,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1906-02-22).
Our waiting is not nothing. It is something — a very big something — because people tend to be shaped by whatever it is they are waiting for.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Sermon (1995), “Waiting in the Dark,” Gospel Medicine
(Source)
Bean longed to be able to talk these things over with someone — with Nikolai, or even with one of the teachers. It slowed him down to have his own thoughts move around in circles — without outside stimulation it was hard to break free of his own assumptions. One mind can think only of its own questions; it rarely surprises itself.
In your prayers do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
[Προσευχόμενοι δὲ μὴ βατταλογήσητε ὥσπερ οἱ ἐθνικοί, δοκοῦσιν γὰρ ὅτι ἐν τῇ πολυλογίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσακουσθήσονται. μὴ οὖν ὁμοιωθῆτε αὐτοῖς· οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὧν χρείαν ἔχετε πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 6: 7-8 (Jesus) [NJB (1985)]
(Source)
No Synoptic parallels.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
[KJV (1611)]In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
[JB (1966)]When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him.
[GNT (1976)]When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by saying many words they’ll be heard. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask.
[CEB (2011)]When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
A verse of the dreadful song with which on the Never Land the pirates stealthily trumpet their approach —
Yo ho, yo ho, the pirate life,
The flag of skull and bones,
A merry hour, a hempen rope,
And hey for Davy Jones![…] They continue their distasteful singing as they disembark —
Avast, belay, yo ho, heave to,
A-pirating we go,
And if we’re parted by a shot
We’re sure to meet below!J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 2 (1904, pub. 1928)
Background text in the play, in two parts of the act.
In Barrie's 1911 novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 5 "The Island Come True," this is rendered (in two parts) with the verses reversed:We hear them before they are seen, and it is always the same dreadful song:
“Avast belay, yo ho, heave to,
A-pirating we go,
And if we’re parted by a shot
We’re sure to meet below!”
[...] You or I, not being wild things of the woods, would have heard nothing, but they heard it, and it was the grim song:
“Yo ho, yo ho, the pirate life,
The flag o’ skull and bones,
A merry hour, a hempen rope,
And hey for Davy Jones.”
MEDEA: Of all creatures that live and understand,
we women suffer most.
In the first place we must, for a vast sum,
buy a husband; what’s worse,
with him our bodies get a master.
And here’s what’s most at stake:
Did we get a man who’s good or bad?ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: πάντων δ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἔμψυχα καὶ γνώμην ἔχει
γυναῖκές ἐσμεν ἀθλιώτατον φυτόν:
ἃς πρῶτα μὲν δεῖ χρημάτων ὑπερβολῇ
πόσιν πρίασθαι, δεσπότην τε σώματος
[λαβεῖν: κακοῦ γὰρ τοῦτ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἄλγιον κακόν].
κἀν τῷδ᾽ ἀγὼν μέγιστος, ἢ κακὸν λαβεῖν
ἢ χρηστόν.Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 230ff (431 BC) [tr. Kovacs / Kitzinger (2016)]
(Source)
Speaking to the women of Corinth (the Chorus).
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:But sure among all those
Who have with breath and reason been endued.
We women are the most unhappy race,
First with abundant gold are we constrain'd
To buy a husband, and in him receive
A haughty master. Still doth there remain
One mischief than this mischief yet more grievous.
The hazard whether we. procure a mate
Worthless or virtuous.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]Thus is it, of all beings, that have life
And sense, we women are most wretched; first
With all our dearest treasures we must buy
A husband, and in him receive a lord:
And hardship this: a greater hardship yet
Awaits us; here's the question, if this lord
Prove gentle, or a tyrant.
[tr. Potter (1814)]Aye, of all living and of reasoning things
Are woman the most miserable race:
Who first needs buy a husband at great price,
To take him then for owner of our lives:
For this ill is more keen than common ills.
And of essays most perilous is this,
Whether one good or evil do we take.
[tr. Webster (1868)]Of all things that have life and sense we women are the most hapless creatures; first must we buy a husband at an exorbitant price, and o'er ourselves a tyrant set which is an evil worse than the first; and herein lies the most important issue, whether our choice be good or bad.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]But of all things as many as have life and intellect, we women are the most wretched race. Who indeed first must purchase a husband with excess of money, and receive him a lord of our persons; for this is a still greater ill than the former. And in this is the greatest risk, whether we receive a bad one or a good one.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Surely, of creatures that have life and wit,
We women are of all things wretchedest,
Who, first, must needs, as buys the highest bidder,
Thus buy a husband, and our body's master
So win—for deeper depth of ill is this.
Nay, risk is dire herein, -- or shall we gain
An evil lord or good?
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Oh,
Of all things upon earth that bleed and grow,
A herb most bruised is woman. We must pay
Our store of gold, hoarded for that one day,
To buy us some man's love; and lo, they bring
A master of our flesh! There comes the sting
Of the whole shame. And then the jeopardy,
For good or ill, what shall that master be.
[tr. Murray (1906)]We women are the most unfortunate creatures.
Firstly, with an excess of wealth it is required
For us to buy a husband and take for our bodies
A master; for not to take one is even worse.
And now the question is serious whether we take
A good or bad one.
[tr. Warner (1944)]Surely, of all creatures that have life and will, we women
Are the most wretched. When, for an extravagant sum,
We have bought a husband, we must then accept him as
Possessor of our body. This is to aggravate
Wrong with worse wrong. Then the great question: will the man
We get be bad or good?
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]Of all creatures that live and have understanding
We women are the wretchedest breed alive;
First, we must use excessive amounts of cash
To buy our husbands, and what we get are masters
Of our bodies. This is the worst pain of all.
In fact, this is no small struggle, whether he’ll be
A good or bad one.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]Of all creatures that have breath and sensation, we women are the most unfortunate. First at an exorbitant price we must buy a husband and master of our bodies. [This misfortune is more painful than misfortune.] And the outcome of our life's striving hangs on this, whether we take a bad or a good husband.
[tr. Kovacs (1994)]Of all creatures that have life and reason we women are the most miserable of specimens! In the first place, at great expense we must buy a husband, taking a master to play tyrant with our bodies (this is an injustice that crowns the other one). And here lies the crucial issue for us, whether we get a good man or a bad.
[tr. Davie (1996)]Of all the living things, of all those things that have a soul and a sense, we, yes we, the women, are the most pathetic!
Imagine!
We need to spend a fortune to buy us a man who -- what will he do? He will become the master of our bodies! And, it’s obvious, that this dangerous thing we do, becomes even more dangerous when we don’t find the right husband. Is he a good husband? Or is he a bad one? By the time you find that out it’s already too late.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]Of all creatures that have life and reason
we women are the sorriest lot:
first we must at a great expenditure of money
buy a husband and even take on a master
over our body: this evil is more galling than the first.
Here is the most challenging contest, whether we will get a bad man
or a good one.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]Of all things with life and understanding,
we women are the most unfortunate.
First, we need a husband, someone we get
for an excessive price. He then becomes
the ruler of our bodies. And this misfortune
adds still more troubles to the grief we have.
Then comes the crucial struggle: this husband
we have selected, is he good or bad?
[tr. Johnston (2008)]Of every creature that’s alive and capable of thought
We women are most wretched.
First we must buy a husband with a massive dowry,
then subject our bodies to his mastery --
and that's the worse of the two evils.
In this the stakes are very high -- whether we get
a bad man or a good one.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]Of all things that have psūkhē and intelligence, we women are the most wretched creatures: first we must buy a husband at too high a price, and then acquire a master of our bodies—an evil thing [kakon] yet more evil [kakon].But in this lies the most important ordeal [agōn], whether our choice is good or bad [kakon].
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]Of all things that have life and sense, we women are most wretched. For we are compelled to buy with gold a husband who is also -- worst of all -- the master of our person. And on his character, good or bad, our whole fate rests.
[Source]
Preoccupation with money is the great test of small natures, but only a small test of great ones
[L’intérêt d’argent est la grande épreuve des petits caractères, mais ce n’est encore que la plus petite pour les caractères distingués.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 2, ¶ 164 (1795) [tr. Mathers (1926)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Money is the greatest concern for small characters, but is nothing but the smallest for great characters.
[E.g. (1923)]Concern for money is the great test of small natures; but is scarcely a test at all for those who rise above the ordinary.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]Pecuniary gain is the great test for those of weak character, but for those wit out-of-the-ordinary characters it is of the slightest importance.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]The desire for money can go very far in proving that a person has a petty character, but it has little to say about a persons sincerity.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]Weak characters think money all-important; for any well-bred person, it's a very minor concern.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 129]
The ways of dead people are not our ways. They have a very oblique way of expressing themselves, and often they’ll tell you something that can be interpreted many ways; it gives them a way out while preserving their reputation for infallibility.
S. P. Somtow (b. 1952) Thai-American music composeer, conductor, author [Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul; สมเถา สุจริตกุล; Somthao Sucharitkun]
“Lottery Night,” World Fantasy Convention Program Book (1989-10)
(Source)
Collected in Gardner Dozois, ed., Year's Best Science Fiction 7 (1990) and Somtow, Dragon's Fin Soup (1998).
That is why I decline to recognize the mere multimillionaire, the man of mere wealth, as an asset of value to any country, and especially as not an asset to my own country. If he has earned or uses his wealth in a way that makes him of real benefit, of real use — and such is often the case — why, then he does become an asset of worth. But it is the way in which it has been earned or used, and not the mere fact of wealth, that entitles him to the credit.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)
Most of our misfortunes are more supportable than the comments of our friends upon them.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 517 (1820)
(Source)
We refuse praise from a desire to be praised twice.
[Le refus des louanges est un désir d’être loué deux fois.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶149 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]
(Source)
Present since the 1st edition. Brund/Friswell note a variant 1665 version which they translate: "The modesty which pretends to refuse praise is but in truth a desire to be praised more highly."
See also ¶327, and Chesterfield (1750).
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:That Modesty which stands so much upon the refusal of [praises], is indeed but a desire of having such as are more delicate.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶151]He that refuses Praises the first time it is offered, does it, because he would hear it a second.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶150]A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶368; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶143]Resistance to praise is a desire to be praised twice.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶325]A refusal of praise; is a desire to be praised twice.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶152]The refusal of praise is only the wish to be praised twice.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶149]We decline commendation that we may be twice commended.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶149]To disclaim admiration is to desire it in double measure.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶149]The refusal to accept praise is the desire to be praised twice over.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶149]To refuse to accept praise is to want to be praised twice over.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶149]The refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice over.
[tr. Siniscalchi (c. 1994)]The refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶149]
The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or perchance a palace or temple on the earth, and at length the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed of them.
So we started in to pay some attention to our neighbors to the south. Up to now our calling card to Mexico or Central America had been a gunboat or a bunch of Violets shaped like Marines. We could never understand why Mexico wasent just crazy about us; for we always had their good-will, and Oil and coffee and minerals, at heart.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Essay (1928-05-12), “More Letters from a Self-Made Diplomat to His President,” Saturday Evening Post, Vol. 200, No. 46
(Source)
Excerpted in Donald Day (ed.), The Autobiography of Will Rogers, ch. 14 (1949), which indicates Rogers' trip to Mexico was in December 1927. The text there is the same except at the very beginning, where it reads "We've started in to pay ..."
Shortened variant:I see where we are starting to pay some attention to our neighbors to the south. We could never understand why Mexico wasn't just crazy about us, for we have always had their good will, and oil and minerals, at heart.
But to go mad with watching, nights and days,
To stand in dread of thieves, fires, runaways
Who filch and fly, — in these if wealth consist,
Let me rank lowest on the paupers’ list.[An vigilare metu exanimem, noctesque diesque
formidare malos fures, incendia, servos,
ne te conpilent fugientes, hoc iuvat? Horum
semper ego optarim pauperrimus esse bonorum.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 1, # 1, “Qui fit, Mæcenas,” l. 76ff (1.1.76-79) (35 BC) [tr. Conington (1874)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:To wake all nyghte with shiveryng corpse, both nighte and day to quake,
To sit in dreade, and stande in awe of theeves, leste they should breake
Perforce thy dores, and robb thy chests, and carve thy weasaunte pype:
Leste flickeryng fyer should stroye thy denne, and sease with wastefull grype
Uppon thyne house, leste runagats should pilfer ought from thee,
Be these thy gaines, by rytches repte? then this beheste to me
O Iove betake, that I may be devoyde of all those gooddes
That brews such baneful broyles, or brings of feare suche gastfull fluddes.
[tr. Drant (1567)]To sit up and to watch whole dayes and nights,
To be out of thy wits with constant frights,
To fear that thieves will steal, or fire destroy,
Or servants take thy wealth, and run away.
Is this delightful to thee? then I will
Desire to live without those Riches still.
[tr. A. B.; ed. Brome (1666)]But now to watch all day, and wake all night,
Fear Thieves and Fire, and be in constant fright,
If These are Goods, if these are a delight:
I am content, Heavens grant me sleep and ease,
If These are Goods, I would be poor of These.
[tr. Creech (1684)]But, with continual watching almost dead,
House-breaking thieves, and midnight fires to dread,
Or the suspected slave's untimely flight
With the dear pelf; if this be thy delight,
Be it my fate, so heaven in bounty please,
Still to be poor of blessings such as these!
[tr. Francis (1747)]But what are your indulgencies? All day,
All night, to watch and shudder with dismay,
Lest ruffians fire your house, or slaves by stealth
Rifle your coffers, and abstract your wealth?
If this be affluence -- this her boasted fruit,
Of all such joys may I live destitute!
[tr. Howes (1845)]What, to watch half dead with terror, night and day, to dread profligate thieves, fire, and your slaves, lest they should run away and plunder you; is this delightful? I should always wish to be very poor in possessions held upon these terms.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]Or, pray, is this your joy? To dread thieves' villainy, the firing of your house, or lest your slaves should steal your stores and run away? I'd ever pray to be extremely poor in blessings such as these.
[tr. Millington (1870)]What, to lie awake half-dead with fear, to be in terror night and day of wicked thieves, of fire, of slaves, who may rob you and run away -- is this so pleasant? In such blessings I could wish ever to be poorest of the poor.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]Would you rather stand guard, half-dead with fright, and tremble
Day and night over sneak thieves, fire, or slaves
Running off with your loot? If this craven type seems to lead
The more abundant life, I prefer to be poor.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]Staying awake half-dead with terror, living night and day
in fear of ogreish theives, of fires, of slaves who might
rob you as they run away -- you like this life? Of such
advantages I hope I'll always be thoroughly deprived.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]Is it pleasant, lying half dead with fear,
Day and night dreading thieves, and fire, and slaves
Who might rob you and run? With wealth
Like that, I'd choose to be poorer than poor!
[tr. Raffel (1983)]Half dead with fear,
night and day sitting vigil on your loot
to frighten off wicked thieves, arsonists,
slaves fleeing after having robbed you.
Does that please you? Of such benefits
I would always prefer to be most poor.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]Instead, you lie awake in bed half-dead and stiff
as a plank from fear of broad-daylight thieves,
dead-if-night thieves, fire, vengeful and fleeing slaves --
is this the bounty you foreswore pleasure for?
If so, let me be poorest of the poor.
[tr. Matthews (2002)]Or maybe you prefer to lie awake half dead with fright,
to spend your days and nights in dread of burglars or fire
or your own slaves, who may fleece you and then disappear? For myself,
I think I can always do without blessing like those!
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]Does it give you pleasure to lie awake half dead of fright,
Terrified night and day of thieves or fire or slaves who rob
You of what you have, and run away? I’d always wish
To be poorest of the poor when it comes to such blessings.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
We said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, ch. 18 (1884)
(Source)
Whoso belongs only to his own age, and reverences only its gilt Popinjays or smoot-smeared Mumbojumbos, must needs die with it.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1832-05) “Boswell’s Life of Johnson,” Fraser’s Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 28
(Source)
Reviewing James Boswell The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.; including a Tour to the Hebrides (1831 ed.). Collected in Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827-1855)
You do what you must do, and pay for it. So in the end all things are simple.
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
Brother Cadfael’s Penance, ch. 16 (1994)
(Source)
The richest man in the world is the one who dispizes riches the most.
[The riches man in the world is the one who despises riches the most.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 131 “Affurisms: Plum Pits (1)” (1874)
(Source)
Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1738 ed.)
(Source)
Nations, like individuals, do not always see alike or think alike, and international cooperation and progress are not helped by any Nation assuming that it has a monopoly of wisdom or of virtue.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Message (1945-01-06) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union)
(Source)
In 1945, Roosevelt delivered the SOTU as a written message to Congress, not as a speech.
It is easy enough to be prudent
When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of sin
Is luring your soul away;
But it’s only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honour on earth
Is the one that resists desire.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 2, An Erring Woman’s Love
(Source)
Sometimes called "The Man Worth While." Collected again in Poems of Cheer (1910).
The megalomaniac differs from the narcissist by the fact that he wishes to be powerful rather than charming, and seeks to be feared rather than loved. To this type belong many lunatics and most of the great men of history.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 1 “What Makes People Unhappy?” (1930)
(Source)
His wealth: He was very rich, v. 2. He was very heavy, so the Hebrew word signifies; for riches are a burden, and those that will be rich do but load themselves with thick clay, Hab. ii. 6. There is a burden of care in getting them, fear in keeping them, temptation in using them, guilt in abusing them, sorrow in losing them, and a burden of account, at last, to be given up concerning them. Great possessions do but make men heavy and unwieldy.
Matthew Henry (1662-1714) English writer, religious philosopher
Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Genesis 13:2 (1706)
(Source)
On Genesis 13:2: "And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold." [KJV]. Referencing Habakkuk 2:6: "Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? / and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!" [KJV]
Often just shortened to:There is a burden of care in getting riches, fear in keeping them, temptation in using them, sorrow in losing them, and a burden of account, at last, to be given up concerning them.
Attempt nothing, for which thou darest not pray to God.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 87 (1725)
(Source)
PIETY, n. Reverence for the Supreme Being, based upon His supposed resemblance to man.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Piety,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
See Voltaire.
Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1905-01-27) and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1905-02-05).
At home we read Pinocchio instead. We read Black Beauty, Doctor Dolittle, Little Women, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. What I learned about darkness from stories, I learned from books like these — and also from the unedited works of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.
According to a recent article in the New York Times, few parents expose their children to those works in the original these days, and some of their reasons make sense. Who wants children growing up with the idea that stepmothers are wicked, ugly people are evil, women can get by on their beauty, and princesses are all white? At the same time, I worry about children who grow up thinking that every story has a happy ending and no one gets permanently hurt along the way.Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Learning to Walk in the Dark, ch. 1 (2014)
(Source)
Certainly they did not pretend to be sleepy, they were sleepy; and that was a danger, for the moment they popped off, down they fell. The awful thing was that Peter thought this funny.
“There he goes again!” he would cry gleefully, as Michael suddenly dropped like a stone.
“Save him, save him!” cried Wendy, looking with horror at the cruel sea far below. Eventually Peter would dive through the air, and catch Michael just before he could strike the sea, and it was lovely the way he did it; but he always waited till the last moment, and you felt it was his cleverness that interested him and not the saving of human life. Also he was fond of variety, and the sport that engrossed him one moment would suddenly cease to engage him, so there was always the possibility that the next time you fell he would let you go.
There’s brief enjoyment in dishonorable pleasure.
[βραχεῖα τέρψις ἡδονῆς κακῆς]
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Erectheus [Ἐρεχθεύς], frag. 362, l. 23 (TGF) (422 BC) [tr. Collard/Cropp (2008)]
(Source)
Part of the advice from Erechtheus to his son.
Nauck frag. 362, Barnes frag. 1, Musgrave frag. 2. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:The delight which sinful pleasure affords is short.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]The enjoyment of unholy pleasure is of short duration.
[tr. Ramage (1895)]The enjoyment from a cheap pleasure is short.
[Source]
Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body & mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day. altho’ I do not, with some enthusiasts, believe that the human condition will ever advance to such a state of perfection as that there shall no longer be pain or vice in the world, yet I believe it susceptible of much improvement, and, most of all, in matters of government and religion; and that the diffusion of knolege among the people is to be the instrument by which it is to be effected.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1816-04-24) to Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours
(Source)
The first sentence is inscribed in Cox Corridor II, a first floor corridor on the House side of the US Capitol, Washington, DC.
It occurred one evening to the boy Gavroche that he had had nothing to eat all day. Nor, for that matter, had he had anything the day before. It was becoming tiresome, so he resolved to go in search of supper.
[Un soir le petit Gavroche n’avait point mangé; il se souvint qu’il n’avait pas non plus dîné la veille; cela devenait fatigant. Il prit la résolution d’essayer de souper.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “St. Denis,” Book 4 “Aid from Below May be Aid from Above,” ch. 2 (4.4.2) (1862) [tr. Denny (1976)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:One evening little Gavroche had had no dinner; he remembered that he had had no dinner also the day before; this was becoming tiresome. He resolved that he would try for some supper.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]One evening little Gavroche had eaten nothing; he remembered that he had not dined either on the previous day, and that was becoming ridiculous, so he formed the resolution to try and sup.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]One evening, little Gavroche had had nothing to eat; he remembered that he had not dined on the preceding day either; this was becoming tiresome. He resolved to make an effort to secure some supper.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]One evening, little Gavroche had had no dinner; he remembered that he had had no dinner the day before either; this was becoming tiresome. He decided to try for some supper.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]It was evening and little Gavroche had not eaten. He remembered he had not had a meal the day before, either. This was becoming tiresome. He made up his mind to try for some supper.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
We start out determined to see that our children are good; we soon settle for having them nice.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)
(Source)
If it’s a good script I’ll do it. And if it’s a bad script, and they pay me enough, I’ll do it.
George Burns (1896-1996) American comedian
Interview (1988-11-02), “Gracie Allen Still Steals the Show,” by Mervyn Rothstein, New York Times
(Source)
Most often cited from its reprint in the Paris International Herald Tribune (1988-11-09); at this time, the New York Times was part owner of the IHT (with the Washington Post and Whitney communications.
I would recommend to her and Mr. D. the simple regimen of separate rooms.
Jane Austen (1775-1817) English author
Letter (1817-02-20) to Fanny Austen-Knight
(Source)
On Fanny's aunt, Mrs. Sophia Deedes, having birthed an eighteenth child.
The epic poet did not judge his heroes by the result: Heroes won and lost battles in a manner that was totally independent of their own valor; their fate depended upon totally external forces, generally the explicit agency of the scheming gods (not devoid of nepotism(. Heroes are heroes because they are heroic in behavior, not because they won or loss.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
Fooled by Randomness, Part 1, ch. 2 (2001)
Grief often inspires other odd emotions, and pettiness — the jealous assertion of one’s own claims as a mourner — is one of the commonest.
The principle underlying every society is justice, for yourself and for others. If you are to love your neighbour as yourself, neighbour as yourself, it’s only fair to love yourself as much as you love your neighbour.
[Le principe de toute société est de se rendre justice à soi-même et aux autres. Si l’on doit aimer son prochain comme soi-même, il est au moins aussi juste de s’aimer comme son prochain.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 5, ¶ 321 (1795) [tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 205]
(Source)
See Matthew. (Source (French)). Alternate translations:The one great social principle is to be just both to yourself and to others. If you must love your neighbour as yourself, it is at least as fair to love yourself as your neighbour.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902)]Justice to oneself and to others is the first principle of all Society; and if we should love our neighbour as ourself, it is quite as just that we should love ourself as much as our neighbour.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]The principle of all society is to do justice to oneself and to others. If one should love one’s neighbor as oneself, it is at least equally just to love oneself as one does one’s neighbor.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]The principle of all society is to do justice to oneself and to others. If it is right to love the person next to us as ourselves, it is at least as right to love ourselves as much as the people next to us.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]
OPHELIA:Their perfume lost,
Take these again, for to the noble mind
Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Hamlet, Act 3, sc. 1, ll. 108 (3.1.109-110) (c. 1600)
(Source)
Returning to Hamlet gifts he gave her in the past.
They exchanged rings. The rings were a matching pair of gold bands, left to Daniel by his parents, who had known he could never afford to buy his own. It gave her pause for thought, how after all these years, somehow, the dead still looked after the living.
Joan Slonczewski (b. 1956) American microbiologist and writer
The Wall around Eden, ch. 25 (1989)
(Source)
The trouble with the farmer up to now has been that every time somebody has thought of relief for him it has been to make it so he could borrow more money. That’s what’s the matter with him now. What he needs is some way to pay back. Not some way to borrow more.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1927-02-27), “Weekly Article: Big Bouts for Farm Relief”
(Source)
The Washington Post used "Big Bouts in Congress" as its headline.
The above text is how it was worded both as published and as catalogued in Will Rogers' Weekly Articles: The Coolidge Years, 1925-1927, No. 220 (1973). When generally quoted, however, it is frequently in a more condensed form:Every time somebody has thought of relief for the farmer it has been to make it so he could borrow more money. What he needs is some way to pay back. Not some way to borrow more.
You sleep, gaping,
On your bags of gold, adore them like hallowed
Relics not meant to be touched, stare as at gorgeous
Canvases. Money is meant to be spent, it buys pleasure:
Did you know that? Bread, vegetables, wine, you can
Buy almost everything it’s hard to live without.[Congestis undique saccis
indormis inhians et tamquam parcere sacris
cogeris aut pictis tamquam gaudere tabellis.
Nescis, quo valeat nummus, quem praebeat usum?
Panis ematur, holus, vini sextarius, adde
quis humana sibi doleat natura negatis.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 1, # 1, “Qui fit, Mæcenas,” l. 70ff (1.1.70-75) (35 BC) [tr. Raffel (1983)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Thy house, the hell, thy good, the flood, which, thoughe it doe not starte,
Nor stirre from thee, yet hath it so in houlde thy servyle hearte,
That though in foysonne full thou swimmes, and rattles in thy bagges,
Yet tost thou arte with dreadefulle dreames, thy mynde it waves and wagges,
And wisheth after greater things, and that, thats woorste of all,
Thou sparst it as an hollye thynge, and doste thy selfe in thralle
Unto thy lowte, and cockescome lyke thou doste but fille thine eye
With that, which shoulde thy porte preserve, and hoyste thyne honor hye.
Thou scannes it, and thou toots upponte, as thoughe it were a warke
By practysde painters hande portrayde with shaddowes suttle darke.
Is this the perfytte ende of coyne? be these the veray vayles
That money hath, to serve thy syghte? fye, fye thy wysedome fayles.
Tharte misse insenste, thou canst not use't, thou wotes not what to do
Withall, by cates, bye breade, bye drincke, in fyne disburse it so,
That nature neede not move her selfe, nor with a betments scant
Distrainte, and prickd passe forth her daye in pyne and pinchinge want.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Thee,
Who on thy full cramb'd Bags together laid,
Do'st lay thy sleepless and affrighted head;
And do'st no more the moderate use on't dare
To make, then if it consicrated were:
Thou mak'st no other use of all thy gold,
Then men do of their pictures, to behold.
Do'st thou not know the use and power of coyn?
It buys bread, meat, and cloaths, (and what's more wine;)
With all those necessary things beside,
Without which Nature cannot be suppli'd.
[tr. A. B.; ed. Brome (1666)]Thou watchest o'er thy heaps, yet 'midst thy store
Thou'rt almost starv'd for Want, and still art poor:
You fear to touch as if You rob'd a Saint,
And use no more than if 'twere Gold in paint:
You only know how Wealth may be abus'd,
Not what 'tis good for, how it can be us'd;
'Twill buy Thee Bread, 'twill buy Thee Herbs, and
What ever Nature's Luxury can grant.
[tr. Creech (1684)]Of thee the tale is told,
With open mouth when dozing o'er your gold.
On every side the numerous bags are pil'd,
Whose hallow'd stores must never be defil'd
To human use ; while you transported gaze,
As if, like pictures, they were form'd to please.
Would you the real use of riches know?
Bread, herbs, and wine are all they can bestow:
Or add, what nature's deepest wants supplies;
This, and no more, thy mass of money buys.
[tr. Francis (1747)]O'er countless heaps in nicest order stored
You pore agape, and gaze upon the hoard,
As relicks to be laid with reverence by,
Or pictures only meant to please the eye.
With all your cash, you seem not yet to know
Its proper use, or what it can bestow!
"'Twill buy me herbs, a loaf, a pint of wine, --
All, which denied her, nature would repine."
[tr. Howes (1845)]You sleep upon your bags, heaped up on every side, gaping over them, and are obliged to abstain from them, as if they were consecrated things, or to amuse yourself with them as you would with pictures. Are you ignorant of what value money has, what use it can afford? Bread, herbs, a bottle of wine may be purchased; to which [necessaries], add [such others], as, being withheld, human nature would be uneasy with itself.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]You sleepless gloat o'er bags of money gained from every source, and yet you're forced to touch them not as though tabooed, or else you feel but such delight in them as painting gives the sense. Pray don't you know the good of money to you, or the use it is? You may buy bread and herbs, your pint of wine, and more, all else, which if our nature lacked, it would feel pain.
[tr. Millington (1870)]Of you the tale is told:
You sleep, mouth open, on your hoarded gold;
Gold that you treat as sacred, dare not use,
In fact, that charms you as a picture does.
Come, will you hear what wealth can fairly do?
'Twill buy you bread, and vegetables too,
And wine, a good pint measure: add to this
Such needful things as flesh and blood would miss.
[tr. Conington (1874)]You sleep with open mouth on money-bags piled up from all sides, and must perforce keep hands off as if they were hallowed, or take delight in them as if painted pictures. Don't you know what money is for, what end it serves? You may buy bread, greens, a measure of wine, and such other things as would mean pain to our human nature, if withheld.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]You sleep on the sacks
Of money you've scraped up and raked in from everywhere
And, gazing with greed, are still forced to keep your hands off,
As if they were sacred or simply pictures to look at.
Don't you know what money can do, or just why we want it?
It's to buy bread and greens and a pint of wine
And the things that we, being human, can't do without.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]You have money bags amassed from everywhere,
just to sleep and gasp upon. To you they're sacred,
or they're works of art, to be enjoyed only with the eyes.
Don't you know the value of money, what it's used for?
It buys bread, vegetables, a pint of wine and whatever else
a human being needs to survive and not to suffer.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]You sleep with open mouth
on sacks accumulated from everywhere
and are constrained to worship them as sacred things,
or rejoice in them as if they were painted tablets.
Do you not know what money serves for?
How it's to be used? to buy bread, vegetables,
a sixth of wine, other things deprived of which
human nature suffers.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]You sleep open-mouthed on a mound of money
bags but won't touch them; you just stare at them
as if they were a collection of paintings.
What's money for? What can it do? Why not
buy bread, vegetables, what you think's wine enough?
Don't you want what it harms us not to have?
[tr. Matthews (2002)]You scrape your money-bags together and fall asleep
on top of them with your mouth agape. They must remain unused
like sacred objects, giving no more pleasure than if painted on canvas.
Do you not realize what money is for, what enjoyment it gives?
You can buy bread and vegetables, half a litre of wine,
and the other things which human life can't do without.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]... covetously sleeping on money-bags
Piled around, forced to protect them like sacred objects,
And take pleasure in them as if they were only paintings.
Don’t you know the value of money, what end it serves?
Buy bread with it, cabbages, a pint of wine: all the rest,
Things where denying them us harms our essential nature.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
When one reads any strongly individual piece of writing, one has the impression of seeing a face somewhere behind the page […] Well, in the case of Dickens I see a face that is not quite the face of Dickens’s photographs, though it resembles it. It is the face of a man of about forty, with a small beard and a high colour. He is laughing, with a touch of anger in his laughter, but no triumph, no malignity. It is the face of a man who is always fighting against something, but who fights in the open and is not frightened, the face of a man who is generously angry — in other words, of a nineteenth-century liberal, a free intelligence, a type hated with equal hatred by all the smelly little orthodoxies which are now contending for our souls.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1939), “Charles Dickens,” sec. 6, Inside the Whale (1940-03-11)
(Source)
Closing words of the essay.
We need not power or splendor;
Wide hall or lordly dome;
The good, the true, the tender, —
These form the wealth of home.Sarah J. Hale (1788-1879) American writer, activist, magazine editor
“Home” (1830)
The provenance of this poem is unclear. It is often assigned to her Poems for Our Children (1830) (the original location of her "Mary Had a Little Lamb"), but does not appear there. That work is subtitled "Part First," but there is no indication that a second part was ever published.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1863-11-19), “Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg [Gettysburg Address],” Pennsylvania
(Source)
CLÉANTE: There’s true and false in piety, as in bravery,
And just as those whose courage shines the most
In battle, are the least inclined to boast,
So those whose hearts are truly pure and lowly
Don’t make a flashy show of being holy.[Il est de faux dévots ainsi que de faux braves:
Et, comme on ne voit pas qu’où l’honneur les conduit
Les vrais braves soient ceux qui font beaucoup de bruit,
Les bons et vrais dévots, qu’on doit suivre à la trace,
Ne sont pas ceux aussi qui font tant de grimace.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 1, sc. 6 (1669) [tr. Wilbur (1963)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:There are Pretenders to Devotion as well as to Courage. And as we never find the truly Brave to be such as make much Noise wheresoever they are led by Honour, so the Good and truly Pious, who are worthy of our Imitation, are never those that deal much in Grimace.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]There are hypocrites in religion as well as pretenders to courage; and as we never find the truly brave man make much noise where honour leads him, no more are the good and truly pious, whom we ought to follow, those who make so many grimaces.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]Devotion, like courage, has its pretenders' and in the same way that the truly brave are not those who make the most noise where honour leads them, so the real and truly pious men whose example we ought to follow, are not those who affect such grimaces.
[tr. Wall (1879)]There are hypocrites in religion as well as pretenders to courage; and as we never find the truly brave to be such as make much noise wherever they are led. by honour, so the good and truly pious, who are worthy of our imitation, are never those who indulge in much show.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]There are pretenders to devotion as to courage; and even as those who are truly brave when honour calls are not those who make the most noise, so the good and truly pious, in whose footsteps we ought to follow, are not thoae who make so many grimaces.
[tr. Waller (1903), sc. 5]There are false heroes -- and false devotees;
And as true heroes never are the ones
Who make much noise about their deeds of honour,
Just so true devotees, whom we should follow,
Are not the ones who make so much vain show.
[tr. Page (1909)]There's false devotion like false bravery.
And as you see upon the field of honor
The really brave are not the noisiest ones,
The truly pious, whom we should imitate,
Are not the ones who show off their devotion.
[tr. Bishop (1957), sc. 5]Like courage, piety has its hypocrites.
Just as we see, where honor beckons most
The truly brave are not the ones who boast;
The truly pious people, even so,
Are not the ones who make the biggest show.
[tr. Frame (1967). sc. 5]If there's false courage, then, God knows,
There is false piety as well:
The brave man you can always tell
By how he doesn't rant and roar
And bluster, in the heat of war.
How may pious men be known?
They don't pull faces, sigh and groan.
[tr. Bolt (2002)]Look: some people pretend to be religious the way others pretend to be brave. We can recognize brave people by what honor has pushed them to do, but the truly pious, whom one should imitate, don't smirk and show off.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]The falsely devout are like the falsely brave;
And as we see that those who make the most noise
Are not the bravest when the moment comes,
So the truly good, the truly devout,
Are not the ones making all this racket about it.
[tr. Campbell (2013)]
The Master did himself these vessels frame,
Why should he cast them out to scorn and shame?
If he has made them well, why should he break them?
Yea, though he marred them, they are not to blame.
Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Fitz. # 86 [tr. Whinfield (1883), # 126]
(Source)
Various of the sources I consulted (e.g.) tied the "vessels" quatrain and the "quick and dead" quatrain together, even though some translators (as below) went in both directions.
Alternate translations:None answer'd this; but after Silence spake
A Vessel of a more ungainly Make:
"They sneer at me for leaning all awry;
What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?"
[tr. FitzGerald, 1st ed. (1859), # 63]None answer'd this; but after Silence spake
A Vessel of a more ungainly Make:
"They sneer at me for leaning all awry;
What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?"
[tr. FitzGerald, 2nd ed. (1868), # 93]After a momentary silence spake
Some Vessel of a more ungainly Make;
"They sneer at me for leaning all awry:
What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?"
[tr. FitzGerald, 3rd ed. (1872), # 86; also 4th ed. and 5th ed. (1889)]Thou who commandest the quick and the dead, the wheel of heaven obeys thy hand. What if I am evil, am I not Thy slave? Which then is the guilty one? Art Thou not Lord of all?
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 344; in some # 345]The potter did himself these vessels frame,
What makes him cast them out to scorn and shame?
If he has made them well, why should he break them?
And though he marred them, they are not to blame.
[tr. Whinfield (1882), # 52]Who framed the lots of quick and dead but Thou?
Who turns the wheel of baleful fate but Thou?
We are Thy slaves, our wills are not our own,
We are Thy creatures, our creator Thou!
[tr. Whinfield (1882), # 242]Who framed the lots of quick and dead but Thou?
Who turns the troublous wheel of heaven but Thou?
Though we are sinful slaves, is it for Thee
To blame us? Who created us but Thou?
[tr. Whinfield (1883), # 471]From God's own hand this earthly vessel came,
He shaped it thus, be it for fame or shame;
If it be fair -- to God be all the praise,
If it be foul -- to God alone the blame.
[tr. Le Gallienne (1897)]Almighty Potter, on whose wheel of blue
The world is fashioned and is broken too,
Why to the race of men is heaven so dire?
In what, O wheel, have I offended you?
[tr. Le Gallienne (1897)]Our Guardian chose our natures. Is He then
Delinquent when He treats us with disorder?
We ask: "Why break the best of us?" and murmur:
"Is the pot guilty if it stands awry?"
[tr. Graves & Ali-Shah (1967), # 93]When the Maker formed nature
Why imperfect was the venture
If it is good, why departure
And if bad, why form capture?
[tr. Shahriari (1998), literal]When the Creator forged the shape
Why was mankind a mere ape?
If it were good, why cloak and cape?
If unsightly, why this rape?
[tr. Shahriari (1998), figurative]
Every honorable effort should always be made to avoid war, just as every honorable effort should always be made by the individual in private life to keep out of a brawl, to keep out of trouble; but no self-respecting individual, no self-respecting nation, can or ought to submit to wrong.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)
Perhaps he’s reached that stage of intoxication which power is said to inspire, the state in which you believe you are indispensable and can therefore do anything, absolutely anything you feel like, anything at all.
Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Canadian writer, literary critic, environmental activist
The Handmaid’s Tale, ch. 37 (1986)
(Source)
Cadfael buckled his saddlebags before him, and mounted a little stiffly, but with plain pleasure. Considerately, Hugh refrained from offering help. Sixty-five is an age deserving of respect and reverence from the young, but those who have reached it do not always like to be reminded.
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
Brother Cadfael’s Penance, ch. 2 (1994)
(Source)
Thare iz two men, prowling around, who want cluss watching, the one, that iz allwuz praizing, and the one, who iz allwuz kondeming, himself.
[There are two men, prowling around, who want close watching: the one that is always praising, and the one who is always condemning, himself.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Trump Kards, ch. 14 “A Ghost” (1874)
(Source)
No gains without pains.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1745 ed.)
(Source)
Franklin recapped this in his final Poor Richard Improved (1758 ed.): "There are no Gains, without Pains." This was in turn reprinted in abridged Way to Wealth (1773).
Sometimes erroneously cited to Poor Richard (1734 ed.); that has something different in structure and meaning: "Hope of gain / Lessens pain."
See also Breton (1577) and Herrick (1648).
The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free. They are the lovers of law and order, who observe the law when the government breaks it.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts
(Source)
After the conviction in Boston of Anthony Burns, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This led to large protests and an abolitionist riot at the Boston Courthouse, requiring Federal troops and state militia to ensure Burns' transport to a ship sailing to Virginia.
In context, Thoreau is arguing the quality of a higher law, higher than the Fugitive Slave Law or Constitutional legalism from the courts -- the "law of humanity," which condemns the injustice of slavery.
SALLY: It’s a scientific fact that if you say “naked” three or more times, to any man, he has to cross his legs.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, 02×09 “Naked” (2001-10-22)
(Source)
You need to get used to winnowing your thoughts, so that if someone says, “What are you thinking about?” you can respond at once (and truthfully) that you are thinking this or thinking that. And it would be obvious at once from your answer that your thoughts were straightforward and considerate ones — the thoughts of an unselfish person, one unconcerned with pleasure and with sensual indulgence generally, with squabbling, with slander and envy, or anything else you’d be ashamed to be caught thinking.
[ἐθιστέον ἑαυτὸν μόνα φαντάζεσθαι, περὶ ὧν εἴ τις ἄφνω ἐπανέροιτο: τί νῦν διανοῇ; μετὰ παρρησίας παραχρῆμα ἂν ἀποκρίναιο ὅτι τὸ καὶ τό: ὡς ἐξ αὐτῶν εὐθὺς δῆλα εἶναι, ὅτι πάντα ἁπλᾶ καὶ εὐμενῆ καὶ ζῴου κοινωνικοῦ καὶ ἀμελοῦντος ἡδονικῶν ἢ καθάπαξ ἀπολαυστικῶν φαντασμάτων ἢ φιλονεικίας τινὸς ἢ βασκανίας καὶ ὑποψίας ἢ ἄλλου τινός, ἐφ̓ ᾧ ἂν ἐρυθριάσειας ἐξηγούμενος, ὅτι ἐν νῷ αὐτὸ εἶχες.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 3, ch. 4 (3.4) (AD 161-180) [tr. Hays (2003)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Thou must use thyself to think only of such things, of which if a man upon a sudden should ask thee, what it is that thou art now thinking, thou mayest answer This, and That, freely and boldly, that so by thy thoughts it may presently appear that in all thee is sincere, and peaceable; as becometh one that is made for society, and regards not pleasures, nor gives way to any voluptuous imaginations at all: free from all contentiousness, envy, and suspicion, and from whatsoever else thou wouldst blush to confess thy thoughts were set upon.
[tr. Casaubon (1634)]Let it be your way to think upon nothing, but what you could freely Discover, if the Question was put to you : So that if your Soul was thus laid open, there would nothing appear, but what was Sincere, Good-natur'd, and publick Spirited; not so much as one Libertine, or Luxurious Fancy, nothing of Litigiousness, Envy, or unreasonable Suspicion, or any thing else, which would not bear the Light, without Blushing.
[tr. Collier (1701)]We ought, therefore, to [...] enure ourselves to think on such things, as, if we were of a sudden examined, what are we now musing upon, we could freely answer, such or such matters: so that all within might appear simple and goodnatured, such as becomes a social being, who despises pleasure, and all sensual enjoyment, and is free from emulation, envy, suspicion, or any other passion that we would blush to own we were now indulging in our minds.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]Indeed you should regulate your thoughts in such a manner, that if any one should ask you, on a sudden, what is the subject of them, you may answer him without embarrassment; so that they may evidently appear to be all simplicity and benevolence, and such as become a being born for society; free from every idea of sensuality or lasciviousness; from rancour, envy, or suspicion; or from any other sentiment, which, if you were to confess it, would occasion a blush.
[tr. Graves (1792)]A man should use himself to think of those things only about which if one should suddenly ask, What hast thou now in thy thoughts? with perfect openness thou mightest immediately answer, This or That; so that from thy words it should be plain that everything in thee is simple and benevolent, and such as befits a social animal, and one that cares not for thoughts about pleasure or sensual enjoyments at all, nor has any rivalry or envy and suspicion, or anything else for which thou wouldst blush if thou shouldst say that thou hadst it in thy mind.
[tr. Long (1862)][A man] ought, therefore, not to work his mind to no purpose, nor throw a superfluous link into the chain of thought; and more especially, to avoid curiosity and malice in his inquiry. Accustom yourself, therefore, tot hink up on nothing but what you could freely reveal, if the question were put to you; so that if your soul were thus laid open, there would nothing appear but what was sincere, good-natured, and public-spirited -- not so much as one voluptuous or luxurious fancy, nothing of hatred, envy, or unreasonable suspicion, nor aught else which you could not bring to the light without blushing.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]Limit yourself habitually to such regards, that if suddenly asked 'What is in your thoughts now?,' you could tell at once the candid and unhesitating truth -- a direct plain proof, that all your thoughts were simple and in charity, such as befit a social being, who eschews voluptuous or even self-indulgent fancies, or jealousy of any kind, or malice and suspicion, or any other mood which you would blush to own.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]Accustom yourself so, and only so, to think, that, if any one were suddenly to ask you, “Of what are you thinking-now?” you could answer frankly and at once, “Of so and so.” Then it will plainly appear that you are all simplicity and kindliness, as befits a social being who takes little thought for enjoyment or any phantom pleasure; who spurns contentiousness, envy, or suspicion; or any passion the harbouring of which one would blush to own.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]A man should accustom himself to think only of those things about which, if one were to ask on a sudden, What now in thy thoughts? thou couldst quite frankly answer at once, This or that; so that thine answer should immediately make manifest that all that is in thee is simple and kindly and worthy of a living being that is social and has no thought for pleasures or for the entire range of sensual images, or for any rivalry, envy, suspicion, or anything else, whereat thou wouldst blush to admit that thou hadst it in thy mind.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]You must habituate yourself only to thoughts about which if some one were suddenly to ask: 'What is in your mind now?', you would at once reply, quite frankly, this or that; and so from the answer it would immediately be plain that all was simplicity and kindness, the thoughts of a social being, who disregards pleasurable, or to speak more generally luxurious imaginings or rivalry of any kind, or envy and suspicion or anything else about which you would blush to put into words that you had it in your head.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]A man should habituate himself to such a way of thinking that if suddenly asked, "What is in your mind at this minute?" he could respond frankly and without hesitation; thus proving that all his thoughts were simple and kindly, as becomes a social being with no taste for the pleasures of sensual imaginings, jealousies, envies, suspicions, or any other sentiments that he would blush to acknowledge in himself.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]You must train yourself only to think such thoughts that if somebody were suddenly to ask you, "What are you thinking of?" you could reply in all honesty and without hesitation of this or that, and so make it clear at once from your reply that all within you is simple and kindly, and worthy of a social being who has no thought for pleasure, or luxury in general, or contentiousness of any kind, or envy, or suspicion, or anything else that you would blush to admit if you had it in your mind.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]Train yourself to think only those thoughts such that in answer to the sudden question ‘What is in your mind now?’ you could say with immediate frankness whatever it is, this or that: and so your answer can give direct evidence that all your thoughts are straightforward and kindly, the thoughts of a social being who has no regard for the fancies of pleasure or wider indulgence, for rivalry, malice, suspicion, or anything else that one would blush to admit was in one’s mind.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]You should accustom yourself to think only of those things which, if someone were suddenly to ask "What are you thinking?" you could openly answer this or that, so as to reveal straightaway that everything within yourself is straightforward and well disposed, appropriate to a communal being, and without care for base pleasures or even a single one of the delights we take in our experiences, or for any rivalry, slander, suspicion, or anything else which you would blush to answer that you had in your mind.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]You must train yourself only to think such thoughts that if somebody were suddenly to ask you, ‘What are you thinking of?’ you could reply in all honesty and without hesitation, of this thing or that, and so make it clear at once from your reply that all within you is simple and benevolent, and worthy of a social being who has no thought for pleasure, or luxury in general, or contentiousness of any kind, or envy, or suspicion, or anything else that you would blush to admit if you had it in your mind.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]You must train yourself only to think the kind of thoughts about which, if someone suddenly asked you, "what are you thinking now?" you would at once answer frankly, "this" or "that." So, from your reply it would immediately be clear that all your thoughts are straightforward and kind and express the character of a social being who has no concern with images of pleasure, or self-indulgence in general, or any kind of rivalry, malice, or suspicion, or anything else you would blush to admit you were thinking about.
[tr. Gill (2013)]
It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “Worth While,” st. 1, An Erring Woman’s Love
(Source)
Sometimes called "The Man Worth While." Collected again in Poems of Cheer (1910).
I enjoy life; I might almost say that with every year that passes I enjoy it more. This is due partly to having discovered what were the things that I most desired, and having gradually acquired many of these things. Partly it is due to having successfully dismissed certain objects of desire — such as the acquisition of indubitable knowledge about something or other — as essentially unattainable. But very largely it is due to a diminishing preoccupation with myself. Like others who had a Puritan education, I had the habit of meditating on my sins, follies, and shortcomings. I seemed to myself — no doubt justly — a miserable specimen. Gradually I learned to be indifferent to myself and my deficiencies; I came to centre my attention increasingly upon external objects: the state of the world, various branches of knowledge, individuals for whom I felt affection.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 1 “What Makes People Unhappy?” (1930)
(Source)
It is not the fact that a man has riches which keeps him from the Kingdom of Heaven, but the fact that riches have him.
John Caird (1820-1898) Scottish theologian, academic, preacher
(Attributed)
I am unable to find the source of this quotation amongst Caird's writings (including of his many sermons). While he preaches in places on money and riches (e.g., "Covetousness a Misdirected Worship"), these phrases or ones like them do not show up in his works that I can find.
Nevertheless, this quotation was popularly requoted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, beginning during Caird's lifetime. The earliest references I find are from 1878 --
The Pacific, Vol. 27, No. 17/1366 (1878-04-25) and (in quotations marks rather than italics) The Calcutta Indian Mirror (1879-05-18):Dr. Caird says it is not the fact that a man has riches which keeps him from the kingdom of heaven, but the fact that riches have him.
Christian Pioneer Magazine, "Gems," Vol. 23 (1878) and The Raleigh Christian Advocate (1879-02-05):It is not the fact that a man has riches which keeps him from the kingdom of heaven, but the fact that riches have him.
-- Dr. Caird
Even this point, the references are not to a story about Caird preaching or writing it, but column filler, indicating the quote was already in wide circulation. The use of quotes / italics suggests it might also be an excerpt from a more complex formulation.
By the turn of the century, the quote is fixed as above, and gains popularity in various quotation collections, including Hotchkiss, ed., Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895).
Citations for this phrase begin with attribution to "John Caird," "J. Caird," and "Dr. Caird," referencing the prominent Scottish theologian and preacher. After a time, only his last name is used. Starting mid-20th century (and as memory of John Caird fades), the attribution is often to David Caird (e.g., 1, 2, 3).
If thou wilt be cured of thy Ignorance, confess it.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 84 (1725)
(Source)
MORE: (looks at him: takes him aside: lowered voice) Have I your word, that what we say here is between us and has no existence beyond these walls?
NORFOLK: (impatient) Very well.
MORE: (almost whispering) And if the King should command you to repeat what I have said?
NORFOLK: I should keep my word to you!
MORE: Then what has become of your oath of obedience to the King?
NORFOLK: (indignant) You lay traps for me!
MORE: (now grown calm) No, I show you the times.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
A Man for All Seasons, play, Act 1 (1960)
(Source)
In Bolt's 1966 film adaptation, this is slightly shortened:MORE: (arrests him; makes a display of looking about, conspiratorial) Have I your word that what we say here is between us two?
NORFOLK: (impatient) Very well.
MORE: And if the King should command you to repeat what I may say?
NORFOLK: I should keep my word to you!
MORE: Then what has become of your oath of obedience to the King?
NORFOLK: (sorts this out; then, astounded) You lay traps for me!
MORE: No, I show you the times.
PHYSIOGNOMY, n. The art of determining the character of another by the resemblances and differences between his face and our own, which is the standard of excellence.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Physiognomy,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1905-01-11) and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1905-03-18).
I cannot say for sure when my reliable ideas about God began to slip away, but the big chest I used to keep them in is smaller than a shoebox now. Most of the time, I feel so ashamed about this that I do not own up to it unless someone else mentions it first. Then we find a quiet place where we can talk about what it is like to feel more and more devoted to a relationship that we are less and less able to say anything about.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Learning to Walk in the Dark, ch. 7 (2014)
(Source)
“There’s a pirate asleep in the pampas just beneath us,” Peter told him. “If you like, we’ll go down and kill him.”
“I don’t see him,” John said after a long pause.
“I do.”
“Suppose,” John said, a little huskily, “he were to wake up.”’
Peter spoke indignantly. “You don’t think I would kill him while he was sleeping! I would wake him first, and then kill him. That’s the way I always do.”J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter and Wendy, ch. 4 “The Flight” (1911)
(Source)
Not included in the 1928 published play.
Strange to say, the first symptom of true love in a young man is timidity; in a young girl it is boldness. This is surprising, and yet nothing is more simple. It is the two sexes tending to approach each other and assuming each the other’s qualities.
[Et puis, chose bizarre, le premier symptôme de l’amour vrai chez un jeune homme, c’est la timidité, chez une jeune fille, c’est la hardiesse. Ceci étonne, et rien n’est plus simple pourtant. Ce sont les deux sexes qui tendent à se rapprocher et qui prennent les qualités l’un de l’autre.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “St. Denis,” Book 3 “The House in the Rue Plumet,” ch. 6 (4.3.6) (1862) [tr. Hapgood (1887)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Oddly enough, the first symptom of true love in a young man is timidity, in a young woman, boldness. This is surprising, and yet nothing is more natural. It is the two sexes tending to unite, and each acquiring the qualities of the other.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]Strange it is, the first symptom of true love in a young man is timidity; in a girl it is boldness. This will surprise, and yet nothing is more simple; the two sexes have a tendency to approach, and each assumes the qualities of the other.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]And besides, although shyness is the first sign of true love in a youth, boldness is its token in a maid. This may seem strange, but nothing could be more simple. The sexes are drawing close, and in doing so each assumes the qualities of the other.
[tr. Denny (1976)]And then, oddly enough, the first symptom of true love in a man is timidity, in a young woman, boldness. This is surprising, and yet nothing is more natural. It is the two sexes tending to unite, and each acquiring the qualities of the other.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
We tell our children things which we know are not so, but which we wish were so.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1963)
(Source)
Of course everybody likes and respects self-made men. It is a great deal better to be made in that way than not to be made at all.
The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.
Philip Roth (1933-2008) American novelist and short-story writer
In “Works in Progress,” The New York Times Book Review (1979-07-15)
(Source)
Unlike a well-defined, precise game like Russian roulette, where the risks are visible to anyone capable of multiplying and dividing by six, one does not observe the barrel of reality.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
Fooled by Randomness, Part 1, ch. 2 (2001)
(Source)
Women cannot always love men who love them, but they always admire their taste.
Miss Manners is amazed at the number of otherwise gentle souls who turn nasty when they are driving. And they all suffer from the wonderful, ostrich-like delusion that they cannot be identified because they are safely inside their cars. It seems silly to her to have to say what good driving manners are. They are the same as the simplest, most obvious of non-driving manners, except that each person is surrounded by thousands of dollars of treacherous metal.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1981-03-29)
(Source)
BATTY: I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
David Peoples (b. 1940) American screenwriter
Blade Runner (1982) [screenplay with Hampton Fancher]
(Source)
(Source (Video); dialog confirmed)
Roy Batty was played by Rutger Hauer. These lines are not in Philip K. Dick's source story, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968).
KING: I am wrapp’d in dismal thinkings.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 5, sc. 3, ll. 147ff (5.3.147) (1602?)
(Source)
All of our governments are flawed, most of them disastrously. It’s why history is such a bloody mess.
Kim Stanley Robinson (b. 1952) American writer
Red Mars, Part 2 “The Voyage Out” [Arkady] (1992)
(Source)
Behind the veil the Gods their Secrets keep,
And past that curtain none may hope to peep;
One plot of earth is all we may secure.
Drink, then! for such philosophies are cheap.
Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 29 [tr. Talbot (1908)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:No one has ever passed behind the veil that masks the secrets of God. No one shall ever pass behind it ; there is no other dwellingplace for us than the bosom of the earth. Woe 's me that this secret, too, should be so short.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 19]All mortal ken is bounded by the veil,
To see beyond man's sight is all too frail;
Yea! earth's dark bosom is his only home; --
Alas! 'twere long to tell the doleful tale.
[tr. Whinfield (1883), # 28 or # 47]For none behind the veil of myst'ries way is;
None in the secret of the world's array is:
Save in earth's breast, for us no place of stay is;
Give ear, for no light matter this I say is.
[tr. Payne (1898), # 60]No one can pass behind the curtain that veils the secret,
the mind of no one is cognizant of what is there;
save in the heart of earth we have no haven.
Drink wine, for to such talk there is no end.
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 29]Behind that veil no man has found a way,
Nor knows he anything of life's array,
He has no home but underneath the clay;
Thy truth thy sorrow is, O woeful lay!
[tr. Cadell (1899), # 14]The secret 's hidden from the mortal eye,
Nor living soul can read the mystery;
Save in the heart of earth, we have no rest;
So fill the bowl, 'twill soon be time to die.
[tr. Roe (1906), # 19]For none is there a way behind the veil.
Who tries to pierce its secrets but doth fail?
The only place of rest is earth's dark breast,
Alas, that far from short should be the tale!
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 29]Behind the veil of the secrets there is no way for anybody.
Of this scheme of things the soul of no man has any knowledge.
There is no dwelling-place except in the heart of the dust.
Drink wine, for such tales are not short to tell.
[tr. Christensen (1927), # 61]No one has access to the veil of mystery;
Of this system of life no one has any knowledge.
Except in the heart of the earth there is no resting-place.
Listen, for these tales are not short.
[tr. Rosen (1928), # 42]Behind the secret curtain none can go,
How life is decked and painted none can know;
But then we have to wait in dusty pits --
Alas this endless tale! and weary show!
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 148]No man has the way within the veil of mysteries; of this arrangement the soul of none is aware: there is no alighting-place, save in the heart of the dark earth -- drink wine, for such fables are not short.
[tr. Bowen (1976), # 46]The world we look at is a painted veil
Which hides God’s presence and the Will Divine,
And since its legends are not briefly told,
Here is their gist -- imbibe it with your wine:
This world’s the only pleasance that we know,
The home where we’ve been cherished since our birth,
And, when we die, our bodies lie at peace
Within a darkened sanctuary of earth.
[tr. Bowen (1976), # 46, "The World"]No one knows the way through the curtain of mysteries,
No one's soul has true knowledge of this natural life,
There is no resting-place but in the heart of earth,
Drink wine because these tales are never finished.
[tr. Avery/Heath-Stubbs (1979), # 158]
MME. PERNELLE:This house appalls me. No one in it
Will pay attention for a single minute.
Children, I take my leave much vexed in spirit.
I offer good advice, but you won’t hear it.
You all break in and chatter on and on.
It’s like a madhouse with the keeper gone.[C’est que je ne puis voir tout ce ménage-ci,
Et que de me complaire on ne prend nul souci.
Oui, je sors de chez vous fort mal édifiée:
Dans toutes mes leçons j’y suis contrariée.
On n’y respecte rien, chacun y parle haut.
Et c’est tout justement la cour du roi Pétaud]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 1, sc. 1 (1669) [tr. Wilbur (1963)]
(Source)
Explaining to her daughter-in-law Elmire why she cutting short a visit to son, Orgon's, house.
Pétaud was the name supposedly given by groups of beggars in Medieval France to their chief (perhaps from the Latin peto, "I ask"), thus King Pétaud's "court" was a French metaphor of the time for a place of mad unruliness. Some translators carry over the name (footnoted); others come up with a different phrase that would be understood by English-speaking audiences.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:I can't endure to see such Management, and no body takes any Care to please me. I leave your House, I tell you, very ill edify'd; my Instructions are all contradicted: you shew no respect for any thing amongst you, every one talks aloud there, and the House is a perfect Dover-Court.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]I cannot bear to see such goings on. No one cares to please me. I leave your house very little edified: all my advice is despised; nothing is respected, every one has his say aloud, and and it is just like the court of King Pétaud.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]I cannot bear to see what goes on in your house, and that no effort is made to comply with my wishes. Yes, I leave your house very ill edified. Things are done against all my admonitions; there is no respect paid to anything; everyone speaks out as he likes, and it is exactly like the court of King Petaud.
[tr. Wall (1879)]I cannot bear to see such goings on. No one takes any pains to please me. I leave your house, I tell you, very much shocked: all my teaching is contradicted. You have no regard for anything; every one talks at the top of his voice, and the place is a perfect Bedlam.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]I cannot bear to see such goings on and no one takes any pains to meet my wishes. Yes, I leave your house not very well pleased: you ignore all my advice, you do not show any respect for anything, everyone says what he likes, and it is just like the Court of King Pétaud.
[tr. Waller (1903)]I can't endure your carryings-on,
And no one takes the slightest pains to please me.
I leave your house, I tell you, quite disgusted;
You do the opposite of my instructions;
You've no respect for anything; each one
Must have his say; it's perfect pandemonium.
[tr. Page (1909)]I can't stand the way that things are going!
In my son's house they pay no heed to me.
I am not edified; not edified.
I give you good advice. Who pays attention?
Everyone speaks his mind, none shows respect.
This place is Bedlam; everyone is king here.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]I can’t abide the goings-on in there,
And no one in the household seems to care.
Yes, child, I’m leaving you, unedified,
My good advice ignored, if not defied.
Everyone speaks right out on everything:
It’s like a court in which Misrule is king.
[tr. Frame (1967)]I'm horrified by all of you.
I'm leaving in extreme distress,
I've never liked a household less.
Who listens to a word I say?
Or does the smallest thing my way?
It's more than I have strength to bear.
This chaos drives me to despair!
When will you people ever learn
To hold your tongues, or speak in turn,
Respecting person, time, and place?
Your slipshod ways are a disgrace!
[tr. Bolt (2002)]I cannot stand the way this household is run. No one ever makes any effort to please me. Yes, I am leaving. I've seen some shocking behavior: my instructions are rejected; no one respects me; everyohne speaks arrogantly -- it's Bedlam here.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]I simply cannot bear the way you do things here,
Nobody has a thought for me.
I'm leaving you in a state of very considerable displeasure:
All my advice is ignored,
There's no respect and everyone talks back,
In short, the whole place is an absolute shambles.
[tr. Campbell (2013)]
Most men know what they hate, few what they love.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 525 (1820)
(Source)
You are young, and then you are middle-aged, but it is hard to tell the moment of passage from one state to the next. Then you are old, but you hardly know when it happened.
Doris Lessing (1919-2013) British author, biographer, playwright [b. Doris May Tayler]
The Summer Before the Dark (1973)
(Source)
“Why linger here, my soul?
The torments you will have to suffer here
Upon this earth which even now you hate,
Weigh heavily upon my fearful mind.”
Then calling upon death,
As I would call on lovely, soothing peace,
I say: “Come to me,” with such yearning love
That I am jealous of whoever dies.[«Anima mia, ché non ten vai?
ché li tormenti che tu porterai
nel secol, che t’è già tanto noioso,
mi fan pensoso di paura forte».
Ond’io chiamo la Morte,
come soave e dolce mio riposo;
e dico «Vieni a me» con tanto amore,
che sono astioso di chiunque more.]Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
La Vita Nuova [Vita Nova; New Life], ch. 33 (c. 1294, pub. 1576) [tr. Musa (1971)]
(Source)
Mourning the death of Beatrice, from the perspective of one of her kinsmen, his friend.
(Source (Italian)). Alternate translations:My soul, why longer stay?
For all the torments which thou shalt endure
In this sad world, to thee so painful grown,
Fill me with thought and fear of ills to come,
Wherefore I call for death,
As for a sweet and tranquil state of rest,
And say, O come to me! with love so true,
That I am envious of whoever dies.
[tr. Lyell (1845), Ballata 4]Soul of mine, why stayest thou?
Truly the anguish, Soul, that we must bow
Beneath, until we win out of this life,
Gives me full oft a fear that trembleth:
So that I call on Death
Even as on Sleep one calleth after strife,
Saying, Come unto me. Life showeth grim
And bare; and if one dies, I envy him.
[tr. Rossetti (c. 1847; 1899 ed.)]I cry -- "Oh, why, my soul, no longer stay?"
For lo, the pangs which thou shalt bear alway,
In this vile world, to thee so full of woes.
Fill me with fears, and sadden all my breath!
Then do I call on Death
To lap me in his soft and sweet repose,
And say," Oh, come to me!" with love so deep.
That I, when others die, with envy weep.
[tr. Martin (1862)]I say, “My soul, why goest thou not away,
Seeing the torments thou wilt have to bear,
In this world so molestful now to thee,
Make me foreboding with a heavy fear?”
And therefore upon Death
I call, as to my sweet and soft repose,
And say, “Come thou to me,” with such desire
That I am envious of whoever dies.
[tr. Norton (1867), ch. 34]"My soul, why dost thou not depart from me?
The torments which perforce will burden thee
Here in the world which hateful to thee grows
My mind with fearful apprehension fill."
To Death then I appeal
As to a sweet, benecent repose:
"Come now to me," with so much love I cry
That I am envious of all who die.
[tr. Reynolds (1969), ch. 33]"Why linger here, my soul? The torments you will be subjected to in this life which already you detest, weigh heavily upon my fearful mind."
Then calling upon Death, as I would call on lovely, soothing Peace, I say with yearning love: "Please come to me." And I am jealous of whoever dies.
[tr. Hollander (1997), ch. 33, sec. 5-6]‘My spirit, why do you not go,
since the torments you suffer
in this world, which grows so hateful to you,
bring such great thoughts of dread?’
Then I call on Death,
as to a sweet and gentle refuge:
and I say: ‘Come to me’ with such love,
that I am envious of all who die.
[tr. Kline (2002)]"My soul, why do you not depart?
For the torments you will undergo
in this life, which is already so burdensome to you,
make me think strongly of fear."
So that I call upon Death
as a sweet, gentle repose for me,
and I say "Come to me" so lovingly
that I begrudge whoever dies.
[tr. Appelbaum (2006), ch. 33]I say, “My soul, why don’t you go away?
because the torments that you’ll bear to stay
in this world (for you, already martyrdom),
have made me numb with fear and fretful breath.”
And then I call for Death,
so mild and sweet a moratorium:
“Now, come,” I beg (so amorously said,
that I feel bitter envy for the dead).
[tr. Frisardi (2012), ch. 22]
