If a bank fails in China, they behead the man at the top of it that was responsible. If one fails over here, we write the men up in the magazines as how: They started poor, worked hard, took advantage of their opportunities (and Depositors) and today they are rated as “up in the millions.” If we beheaded all of ours that were responsible for bank failures, we wouldn’t have enough people left to bury the heads.
Because I have reached Paris, I am not ashamed of having passed through Newhaven and Dieppe. They were very good places to pass through, and I am none the less at my destination. All my old opinions were only stages on the way to the one I now hold, as itself is only a stage on the way to something else.
The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection, that one is sometimes willing to commit sins for the sake of loyalty, that one does not push asceticism to the point where it makes friendly intercourse impossible, and that one is prepared in the end to be defeated and broken up by life, which is the inevitable price of fastening one’s love upon other human individuals. No doubt alcohol, tobacco and so forth are things that a saint must avoid, but sainthood is also a thing that human beings must avoid.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1949-01), “Reflections on Gandhi,” Partisan Review
(Source)
A man may git a big fut, or a pug noze, bi birthright, but nine-tenths ov hiz virtews are the effekt ov associashun or edukashun.
[A man may git a big foot, or a pug nose, by birthright, but nine-tenths of his virtues are the effect of association or education.]
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)
Men ought to feel most annoyed with what has been brought about by their own fault.
[Ea molestissime ferre homines debent quae ipsorum culpa contracta sunt.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Fratrem Quintum [Letters to His Brother Quintus], Book 1, Letter 1, sec. 3 (1.1.3) (60 BC) [tr. Williams (Loeb) (1928)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Men are naturally most concerned at misfortunes which have been incurred by their own fault.
[tr. Watson (1896)]Men ought to be most annoyed by the sufferings which come from their own faults.
[ed. Hoyt (1896)]Men ought to feel most vexed at what has been brought upon them by their own fault.
[tr. Shuckburgh (1900), # 29]It is the misfortunes for which they are ourselves to blame that ought to distress people the most.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1978), # 1]
Proclaim not all thou knowest, all thou owest, all thou hast, nor all thou canst.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1739 ed.)
(Source)
Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.
[Les grands périls ont cela de beau qu’ils mettent en lumière la fraternité des inconnus.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “St. Denis,” Book 12 “Corinth,” ch. 4 (4.12.4) (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]
(Source)
On the varied Parisians working together at building the barricades.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Great dangers have this beauty about them, that they throw light on the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]Great perils have this fine characteristic, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]It is the ennobling quality of danger that it brings to light the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Denny (1976)]Great perils share this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]That is the beauty of great danger, it brings out the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
If your children spend most of their time in other people’s houses, you’re lucky; if they all congregate at your house, you’re blessed.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1966)
(Source)
PROOF, n. Evidence having a shade more of plausibility than of unlikelihood. The testimony of two credible witnesses as opposed to that of only one.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Proof,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1906-06-27).
But here the main skill and ground-work will be, to temper them such lectures and explanations upon every opportunity as may lead and draw them in willing obedience, inflamed with the study of learning, and the admiration of virtue; stirred up with high hopes of living to be brave men, and worthy patriots, dear to God, and famous to all ages.
Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not understand either? Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he pronounced all foods clean.) And he went on, ‘It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’
[καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀσύνετοί ἐστε; οὐ νοεῖτε ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἔξωθεν εἰσπορευόμενον εἰς τὸν ἄνθρωπον οὐ δύναται αὐτὸν κοινῶσαι ὅτι οὐκ εἰσπορεύεται αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἀφεδρῶνα ἐκπορεύεται, καθαρίζων πάντα τὰ βρώματα; ἔλεγεν δὲ ὅτι Τὸ ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκπορευόμενον, ἐκεῖνο κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον. ἔσωθεν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς καρδίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ διαλογισμοὶ οἱ κακοὶ ἐκπορεύονται, πορνεῖαι, κλοπαί, φόνοι, μοιχεῖαι, πλεονεξίαι, πονηρίαι, δόλος, ἀσέλγεια, ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρός, βλασφημία, ὑπερηφανία, ἀφροσύνη· πάντα ταῦτα τὰ πονηρὰ ἔσωθεν ἐκπορεύεται καὶ κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Mark 7: 18-23 [JB (1966)]
(Source)
This passage is paralleled in Matthew 15:17-20. See also Mark 7:15 (Matthew 15:11).
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
[KJV (1611)]“You are no more intelligent than the others,” Jesus said to them. “Don't you understand? Nothing that goes into you from the outside can really make you unclean, because it does not go into your heart but into your stomach and then goes on out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared that all foods are fit to be eaten.)
And he went on to say, “It is what comes out of you that makes you unclean. For from the inside, from your heart, come the evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill, commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly -- all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean.”
[GNT (1966)]Jesus said to them, 'Even you -- don't you understand? Can't you see that nothing that goes into someone from outside can make that person unclean, because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach and passes into the sewer? And he went on, 'It is what comes out of someone that makes that person unclean. For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.'
[NJB (1985)]Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand either? Don’t you know that nothing from the outside that enters a person has the power to contaminate? That’s because it doesn’t enter into the heart but into the stomach, and it goes out into the sewer.” By saying this, Jesus declared that no food could contaminate a person in God’s sight. “It’s what comes out of a person that contaminates someone in God’s sight,” he said. “It’s from the inside, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come: sexual sins, thefts, murders, adultery, greed, evil actions, deceit, unrestrained immorality, envy, insults, arrogance, and foolishness. All these evil things come from the inside and contaminate a person in God’s sight.”
[CEB (2011)]He said to them, “So, are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
Man!
Thou pendulum betwixt a smile and tear.George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 4, st. 109 (1818)
(Source)
But it remains the case that you know what is wrong with a lot more confidence than you know what is right.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Black Swan, Part 1, ch. 5 “Confirmation Shmonfirmation!” (2007)
(Source)
All this variety is certainly interesting. If there were a standard and everyone met it, how on earth could people tell their ex-spouses from their new ones? If children did not show visible changes, what would encourage their parents to believe that they might ever pass out of the horrible stages they happen to be in?
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (1986-01-19)
(Source)
KING HENRY: O God! Methinks it were a happy life
To be no better than a homely swain,
To sit upon a hill as I do now,
To carve out dials quaintly, point by point,
Thereby to see the minutes how they run:
How many makes the hour full complete,
How many hours brings about the day,
How many days will finish up the year,
How many years a mortal man may live.
When this is known, then to divide the times:
So many hours must I tend my flock,
So many hours must I take my rest,
So many hours must I contemplate,
So many hours must I sport myself,
So many days my ewes have been with young,
So many weeks ere the poor fools will ean,
So many years ere I shall shear the fleece;
So minutes, hours, days, months, and years,
Passed over to the end they were created,
Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave.
Ah, what a life were this! How sweet, how lovely!William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry VI, Part 3, Act 3, sc. 5, l. 21ff (3.5.21-41) (1591)
(Source)
"Ean" means to give birth to lambs.
I adhere to the Declaration of Independence. If Judge Douglas and his friends are not willing to stand by it, let them come up and amend it. Let them make it read that all men are created equal except negroes. Let us have it decided whether the Declaration of Independence, in this blessed year of 1858, shall be thus amended. In his construction of the Declaration last year, he said it only meant that Americans in America were equal to Englishmen in England. Then, when I pointed out to him that by that rule he excludes the Germans, the Irish, the Portuguese, and all the other people who have come among us since the revolution, he reconstructs his construction. In his last speech he tells us it meant Europeans.
I press him a little further, and ask if it meant to include the Russians in Asia; or does he mean to exclude that vast population from the principles of our Declaration of Independence? I expect ere long he will introduce another amendment to his definition. He is not at all particular. He is satisfied with anything which does not endanger the nationalizing of negro slavery. It may draw white men down, but it must not lift negroes up.Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1858-07-17), Springfield, Illinois
(Source)
MME PERNELLE: That virtue here below is hated ever;
The envious may die, but envy never.[La vertu dans le monde est toujours poursuivie;
Les envieux mourront, mais non jamais l’envie.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 5, sc. 3 (1669) [tr. Page (1909)]
(Source)
Talking with Orgon, dismissing the accusations made against Tartuffe as envy and malice, using a saying she told him as a child.
See also Act 1, sc. 1.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:That Virtue here is persecuted ever;
That envious Men may die, but Envy never.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]That virtue here is persecuted ever;
That envious men may die, but envy never.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]That in this world virtue is ever liable to persecution, and that, although the envious die, envy never dies.
[tr. Wall (1879)]Virtue here is persecuted ever;
The envious will die, but envy never.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]That in this world virtue is ever persecuted, and that the envious may die, but envy never.
[tr. Waller (1903)]Virtue is always unpopular in this world;
The envious, they will die, but envy won't.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]That virtue in this world is hated ever;
Malicious men may die, but malice never.
[tr. Wilbur (1963)]Virtue is always harassed here below;
The envious will die, but envy, no.
[tr. Frame (1967)]The envious die, but envy won't.
[tr. Bolt (2002)]Virtue is always a target -- envious people may die, envy doesn't.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]
We are a good natured bunch of saps in this country. […] When a bank fails, we let the guy go start another one.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1930-06-30), “Daily Telegram: Mr. Rogers Virtually Agrees with Barnum’s Famous View,” No. 1226
(Source)
I know, you always come out on top, the great exception.
Well, someday your enemies will laugh and laugh. Consider:
life is full of changes, and who can stand them better? A man
who treats his body and proud mind to luxury, addicting them,
or someone used to little, and to thinking of the future,
a man wise in peacetime, preparing then the tools of war?[Uni nimirum recte tibi semper erunt res,
o magnus posthac inimicis risus. Uterne
ad casus dubios fidet sibi certius? Hic qui
pluribus adsuerit mentem corpusque superbum,
an qui contentus parvo metuensque futuri
in pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello?]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 2, “Quae virtus et quanta,” l. 106ff (2.2.106-111) (30 BC) [tr. Fuchs (1977)]
(Source)
Reply when a rich person argues with the narrator that they are so wealthy they need not be concerned about wasteful spending. The last line, about a wise man preparing for war during times of peace, is often quoted on its own.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:O ieste, unto thy very foes, for, whether may have more,
(If fortune frowne, and grefes growe on) esperance to his store?
Thou: which was maried to thy mucke, and freshe in gay attyre,
Or he: that dreading chaunce to cum, a litle doth desyre,
And keepes it well, and warylye to helpe in hopelesse tyde:
Lyke as the wyse in golden peace for stormye warre provide.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Cant thou suppose
Thy fate alone will still be prosperous;
Oh, how thine enemies will laugh at thee,
When thou'rt reduc'd to want and beggary!
Which of the two can certainest rely
On his own temper in adversity?
That man whose pamper'd body and his mind,
Have ever been to luxury inclin'd,
Or that's content with little, and doth fear
What may fall out, and wisely does prepare
In time of peace things requisite for war.
[tr. A. F.; ed. Brome (1666)]Kind fortune still, forsooth, shall smile on Thee,
O future sport unto thine Enemy!
And which is better able to endure
Uncertain Chance? And which lives most secure?
He that doth never Fortune's smiles distrust,
But Pampers up himself, and feeds his Lust?
Or He that lives on little now, and spares;
And wisely when 'tis Peace, provides for Wars?
[tr. Creech (1684)]Shalt thou alone no change of fortune know?
Thou future laughter to thy deadliest foe!
But who, with conscious spirit self-secure,
A change of fortune better shall endure?
He, who with such variety of food
Pampers his passions, and inflames his blood,
Or he, contented with his little store,
And wisely cautious of the future hour,
Who in the time of peace with prudent care
Shall for the extremities of war prepare?
[tr. Francis (1747)]Shalt thou alone feel no reverse? Shalt thou
Thrive on for ever as thou thrivest now?
Poor child of scorn! Say which with better grace
May dare to look pert Fortune in the face --
The man that still in luxury's lap reclined
Pampers his body and unnerves his mind --
Or he that, with a little well content
And of his future comforts provident,
Like a wise chief is cautious to prepare
In time of peace the requisites for war?
[tr. Howes (1845)]What, will matters always go well with you alone? 0 thou, that hereafter shalt be the great derision of thine enemies! which of the two shall depend upon himself in exigences with most certainty? He who has used his mind and high-swollen body to redundancies; or he who, contented with a little and provident for the future, like a wise man in time of peace, shall make the necessary preparations for war?
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]No doubt on you alone will fortune never cease to smile! O you doomed soon to be great source of laughter to your enemies when all your wealth is spent! Now which of these two characters will have a surer self-reliance 'gainst reverse? The one who has long used his haughty mind and pampered frame to luxury, or he who, satisfied with humble life, and careful of his future lot, like a good general has well prepared for war in time of peace.
[tr. Millington (1870)]Ay, you're the man: the world will go your way ...
O how your foes will laugh at you one day!
Take measure of the future: which will feel
More confidence in self, come woe, come weal,
He that, like you, by long indulgence plants
In body and in mind a thousand wants,
Or he who, wise and frugal, lays in stores
In view of war ere war is at the doors?
[tr. Conington (1874)]You alone, of course, will always find things go well. Oh, what a laughing-stock you will be some day for your enemies! Which of the two, in face of changes and chances, will have more self-confidence -- he who has accustomed a pampered mind and body to superfluities, or he who, content with little and fearful of the future, has in peace, like a wise man, provided for the needs of war?
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]For you alone, things will always go well: how interesting!
Later on, your foes will get a big laugh out of you.
Of the following two, which one has the better chance
Of remaining self-assured in vicissitude:
The man who has accustomed his mind and magnificent body
To all the luxuries or the man who, content with little,
Fearing the future, provides in time of peace,
As a wise man should, the equipment required for war?
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]Undoubtedly you believe that for you,
only for you, things will always go well.
And then arrives the day when your enemies
will have the last laugh. In the changeable
events of life, who can count on himself
with greater security? -- he who has
proudly habituated both his body
and his soul to superfluous luxuries,
or he who, content with little, and fearful
of the future, has the wisdom to prepare
himself in peacetime for that which serves in war?
[tr. Alexander (1999)]Fate won't snicker at you
ever, you must think; what good fun you'll provide
your enemies one of these days. Who will
fare better when his luck changes, one who
coddles mind and body with all comforts,
or one who can get by on little and
prepares for change, the way a wise man
keeps his weapons oiled and sharp in peacetime?
[tr. Matthews (2002)]For you alone, I suppose, nothing will ever go wrong.
What a whale of a laugh you'll give your enemies! In times of crisis
which of the two will have greater confidence -- the man who has led
his mind and body to expect affluence as of right,
or the man with few needs who is apprehensive of the future
and who in peacetime has wisely made preparations for war?
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]You alone, is it, trouble won’t touch!
O how your enemies will laugh some day! In times
Of uncertainty who’s more confident? The man
Who’s accustomed a fastidious mind and body
To excess, or the man content with little, wary
Of what’s to come, who wisely in peace prepared for war?
[tr. Kline (2015)]
Old dorgs nuss their grudges, but yung pupps fight and then frolik.
[Old dogs nurse their grudges, but young pups fight and then frolic.]
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)
A Man of Knowledge like a rich Soil, feeds
If not a world of Corn, a world of Weeds.Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1739 ed.)
(Source)
All of the great freedoms which form the basis of our American democracy are part and parcel of that concept of free elections, with free expression of political choice between candidates of political parties. For such elections guarantee that there can be no possibility of stifling freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the air, freedom of worship.
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)
The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It’s people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages. As a precaution to never committing major acts of evil it is our solemn duty never to do what we’re told, this is the only way we can be sure.
Banksy (b. 1974) England-based pseudonymous street artist, political activist, film director
Wall and Piece, “Cops” (2005)
(Source)
To possess character is to be useful, and to be useful is to be independent, and to be useful and independent, is to be happy, even in the midst of sorrow; for sorrow is not necessarily unhappiness.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Heart of the New Thought, “The Object of Life” (1903)
(Source)
What people mean, therefore, by the struggle for life is really the struggle for success. What people fear when they engage in the struggle is not that they will fail to get their breakfast next morning, but that they will fail to outshine their neighbours.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 3 “Competition” (1930)
(Source)
Since Life is so very short, live as much as thou canst in so short a Time.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 1757 (1727)
(Source)
Being a cynic is so contemptibly easy. If you let yourself think that nothing you’re working on is ever going to make any difference, why bust your tail over it? Why care? If you’re a cynic, you don’t have to invest anything in your work. No effort, no pride, no compassion, no sense of excellence, nothing.
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).
DRYDEN: Lawrence, only two kinds of creatures get “fun” in the desert: Bedouins (his gaze wanders round the photographs of silent sun-scorched figures and the fragments of stone) — and gods. And you’re neither. Take it from me, for ordinary men, it’s a burning, fiery furnace.
LAWRENCE: (very quietly) No, Dryden, it’s going to be fun.
DRYDEN: (rather sourly) It is recognized that you have a funny sense of fun.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Lawrence of Arabia, Part 1, sc. 49 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]
(Source)
PRESENT, n. That part of eternity dividing the domain of disappointment from the realm of hope.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Present,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1906-05-30) and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1906-06-20).
There seems to be a lot more interest in bypassing perishability than in engaging it, to the point that Christians who confess to being in a lot of pain can be accused of not having enough faith. Just yesterday I passed a church sign that read, “Do not fear; trust Jesus.” That is wonderful advice, but it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Trust Jesus to do what? What is it that you are afraid of? Can you put it into words? If you can, then what is it that you trust Jesus to give you, or take away from you, to relieve you of your fear? Is that reasonable, based on what you know of his life story? What might your fear have to teach you, if you gave it a chance? Are you willing to do your part? Maybe I’m just cranky, but I don’t know many Christians who are interested in answering those kinds of questions.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Interview (2013-12-19), “Material Faith,” by Meghan Larissa Good, The Other Journal, No. 23
(Source)
MRS. DARLING: I thought all the fairies were dead.
WENDY: (almost reprovingly) No indeed! Their mothers drop the babies into the Never birds’ nests, all mixed up with the eggs, and the mauve fairies are boys and the white ones are girls, and there are some colours who don’t know what they are.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 5 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
In Barrie's 1911 novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 17 "When Wendy Grew Up," this is rendered:“I thought all the fairies were dead,” Mrs. Darling said.
“There are always a lot of young ones,” explained Wendy, who was now quite an authority, “because you see when a new baby laughs for the first time a new fairy is born, and as there are always new babies there are always new fairies. They live in nests on the tops of trees; and the mauve ones are boys and the white ones are girls, and the blue ones are just little sillies who are not sure what they are.”
HECUBA: It the duty of a good man to do good everywhere and always to punish the evil men.
[ἙΚΆΒΗ: ἐσθλοῦ γὰρ ἀνδρὸς τῇ δίκῃ θ᾿ ὑπηρετεῖν
καὶ τοὺς κακοὺς δρᾶν πανταχοῦ κακῶς ἀεί.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 844ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Theodoridis (2007)]
(Source)
Requesting that Agamemnon help her avenge the murder of her son, Polydorus.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:For the good man's duty
Is to obey the dread behests of justice,
And ever punish those who act amiss.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]For it belongs to a good man to minister justice, and always and in every case to punish the bad.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]For 'tis the good man's part to champion right,
And everywhere and aye to smite the wrong.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]This, this is virtue: to do justice still,
Requiting evil every way with ill.
[tr. Sheppard (1924)]For it is always a good man's duty to help the right, and to punish evil-doers wherever found.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]Do your duty as a man of honor:
see justice done. Punish this murder.
[tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]A good man is just, he'll punish the bad.
[tr. McGuinness (2004)]A good man commits himself to justice and combats the wicked in whatever place.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]Do your duty. Mete out justice.
Punish this heinous crime against gods and man.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]For it is right that a good man serve justice
And always do evil everywhere to evil men.
[tr. @sentantiq (2020)]
There is the moral of all human tales;
‘Tis but the same rehearsal of the past,
First Freedom, and then Glory — when that fails,
Wealth — Vice — Corruption, — Barbarism at last.George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 4, st. 108 (1818)
(Source)
Home education should include not only the etiquette rules necessary to navigate life, but the underlying principles of manners. These include respect (such as addressing people as they wish to be addressed), fairness (granting others the privileges one claims for oneself) and congeniality (not using threats as an argument).
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (2015-03-01)
(Source)
This is often whittled down to "The underlying principles of manners -- respect, fairness, and congeniality."
ROBIN: And those things do best please me
That befall prepost’rously.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 3, sc. 2, ll. 122ff (3.2.122-123) (1605)
(Source)
But those who do not welcome the future should consider this: in denying progress it is not the future that they condemn, but themselves. They are inoculating themselves with a fatal disease, the past. There is only one way of denying tomorrow, and that is to die.
[Mais que ceux qui ne veulent pas de l’avenir y réfléchissent. En disant non au progrès, ce n’est point l’avenir qu’ils condamnent, c’est eux—mêmes. Ils se donnent une maladie sombre; ils s’inoculent le passé. Il n’y a qu’une manière de refuser Demain, c’est de mourir.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “St. Denis,” Book 7 “Argot,” ch. 4 (4.7.4) (1862) [tr. Denny (1976)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:But let those who desire not the future, think of it. In saying no to progress, it is not the future which they condemn, but themselves They give themselves a melancholy disease; they inoculate themselves with the past. There is but one way of refusing To-morrow, that is to die.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]But those who desire no future ought to reflect; by saying no to progress they do not condemn the future, but themselves, and they give themselves a deadly disease by inoculating themselves with the past. There is only one way of refusing to-morrow, and that is by dying.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]But let those who do not desire a future reflect on this matter. When they say "no" to progress, it is not the future but themselves that they are condemning. They are giving themselves a sad malady; they are inoculating themselves with the past. There is but one way of rejecting To-morrow, and that is to die.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]But those who do not want the future should think it over. In saying no to progress, it is not the future that they condemn, but themselves. They are giving themselves a melancholy disease; they are inoculating themselves with the past. There is only one way of refusing tomorrow, and that is to die.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
The ideal home: big enough for you to hear the children, but not very well.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1966)
(Source)
Being over seventy is like being engaged in a war. All our friends are going or gone and survive amongst the dead and the dying as on a battlefield.
Muriel Spark (1918–2006) Scottish writer, poet, essayist
Memento Mori, ch. 4 [Miss Jean Taylor] (1959)
(Source)
The real Bible is not the work of inspired men, nor prophets, nor apostles, nor evangelists, nor of Christs. Every man who finds a fact, adds, as it were, a word to this great book. It is not attested by prophecy, by miracles or signs. It makes no appeal to faith, to ignorance, to credulity or fear. It has no punishment for unbelief, and no reward for hypocrisy. It appeals to man in the name of demonstration. It has nothing to conceal. It has no fear of being read, of being contradicted, of being investigated and understood. It does not pretend to be holy, or sacred; it simply claims to be true. It challenges the scrutiny of all, and implores every reader to verify every line for himself. It is incapable of being blasphemed.
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).
All you would have to do to make some men Atheists is just to tell them that the Lord belonged to the opposition Political Party. After that they could never see any good in Him.
TARTUFFE: Your scruple, then, is easy to allay:
Our secret will be safe with us alone,
And there’s no evil if the thing’s not known.
The one offense lies in the public shame,
And secret sin is sin only in name.[Enfin votre scrupule est facile à détruire.
Vous êtes assurée ici d’un plein secret,
Et le mal n’est jamais que dans l’éclat qu’on fait.
Le scandale du monde est ce qui fait l’offense,
Et ce n’est pas pécher que pécher en silence]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. Frame (1967)]
(Source)
The ostensibly pious Tartuffe trying to seduce Elmire.
(Source (French)). Other translations:In short your Scruple, Madam, is easily overcome. You are sure of its being an inviolable Secret here, and the Harm never consists in any thing but the Noise one makes; the Scandal of the World is what makes the Offence; and Sinning in private is no Sinning at all.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]In short, your scruples, Madam, are easily overcome. You may be sure of the secret being kept, and there is no harm done unless the thing is bruited about. The scandal which it causes constitutes the offence, and sinning in secret is no sinning at all.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]In short, your scruples, madam, are easy to remove. You are sure of an inviolable secrecy with me, and it is only publicity which makes the wrong. The scandal is what constitutes the offence, and to sin in secret is not to sin at all.
[tr. Wall (1879)]In short, madame, your scruple is easily overcome. You are sure of absolute secrecy here, and the evil only consists in the noise that is made about it ; the world’s scandal makes the offence, and to sin in private is no sin at all.
[tr. Mathew (1890), 4.4]In short your scruple is easily overcome. You may be sure the secret will be well kept here, and no harm is done unless the thing is noised abroad. The scandal of the world is what makes the offence, and to sin in secret is not to sin at all.
[tr. Waller (1903)]In any case, your scruple's easily
Removed. With me you're sure of secrecy,
And there's no harm unless a thing is known.
The public scandal is what brings offence,
And secret sinning is not sin at all.
[tr. Page (1909)]Well, anyway, I can dispel your scruples.
You are assured that I will keep the secret.
Evil does not exist until it's published;
It's worldly scandal that creates the offense;
And sin in silence is not sin at all.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]If you're still troubled, think of things this way:
No one shall know our joys, save us alone,
And there's no evil till the act is known;
It's scandal, Madam, which makes it an offense,
And it's no sin to sin in confidence.
[tr. Wilbur (1963)]Well, Moses couldn't matter less,
The ten commandments don't apply,
There's no one here -- just you and I,
It's scandal that creates the sin,
This won't get out, so let's begin.
[tr. Bolt (2002)]In the end, I assure you, it's easy to dismiss your scruples. I promise complete secrecy; only when others make a fuss can there be any harm. Something is scandalous only when it is known; sin that no one knows is no sin.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]Look, your scruples are easily dealt with:
You can be quite certain that it will remain secret,
And the sin is only ever in the exposure;
A silent sin is not a sin at all.
[tr. Campbell (2013)]
How much lies in Laughter: the cipher-key, wherewith we decipher the whole man! Some men wear an everlasting barren simper; in the smile of others lies a cold glitter as of ice: the fewest are able to laugh, what can be called laughing, but only sniff and titter and snigger from the throat outwards; or at best, produce some whiffling husky cachinnation, as if they were laughing through wool: of none such comes good. The man who cannot laugh is not only fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; but his whole life is already a treason and a stratagem.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 1, ch. 4 (1834)
(Source)
This chapter first appeared in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 8, No. 47 (1883-11).
"Treasons, stratagems, and spoils" comes from Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 92ff, where it's used to describe "the man that hath no music in himself."
We are never nearer right than we am when we fear we are rong.
[We are never nearer right than we are when we fear we are wrong.]
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)
To stumble twice against the same stone is a proverbial disgrace.
[Culpa enim illa, bis ad eundem, vulgari reprehensa proverbio est.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Familiares [Letters to Friends], Book 10, Letter 20 (10.20), to Lucius Plancus (43 BC) [ed. Hoyt (1896)]
(Source)
The full saying is "δὶς πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν αἰσχρὸν εἰσκρούειν λίθον" or "Bis ad eundem offendere lapidem turpe est" ("It is shameful to stumble twice over the same stone.").This letter is not included in many translations.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translation:The verie vulgar reprehends that man, who stumbles twice upon one and the same stone.
[tr. Webbe (1620)]"Twice on the same stone," you know, is a fault reproved by a common proverb.
[tr. Shuckburgh (1899), # 880]The fatuity of "twice against the same stone" is held up to reproach in a familiar proverb.
[tr. Williams (Loeb) (1928)]
In our country, disagreements among us are expressed in the polling place. In the dictatorships, disagreements are suppressed in the concentration camp.
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)
Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1739 ed.)
(Source)
The earliest recorded usage of this phrase is actually Alexander Pope (1727), though Pope says he had devised it many years earlier. Modeled after the Beatitudes in the New Testament.
We must be content with the light that it may please the sun to shed upon us by his beams; and he who shall raise his eyes to bring a brighter beam into his very body, let him not think it strange if, for the punishment of his audacity, he thus lose his sight.
[Il se faut contenter de la lumiere qu’il plaist au Soleil nous communiquer par ses rayons, & qui eslevera ses yeux pour en prendre une plus grande dans son corps mesme, qu’il ne trouve pas estrange, si pour la peine de son outrecuidance il y perd la veuë.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essay (1572), “We Should Meddle Soberly with Judging Divine Ordinances [Qu’il faut sobrement se mesler de juger des ordonnances divines],” Essays, Book 1, ch. 31 (1.31) (1595) [tr. Ives (1925), 1.32]
(Source)
On discerning God's will.
This passage of this essay was in the 1st (1580) edition.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:A man should be satisfied with the light, which it pleaseth the Sunne to communicate unto us by vertue of his beames; and he that shall lift up his eyes to take a greater within his bodie, let him not thinke it strange, if for a reward of his over-weening and arrogancie he loose his sight.
[tr. Florio (1603)]We are to content ourselves with the light it pleases the sun to communicate to us, by virtue of his rays, and he that will lift up his eyes to take in a greater, let him not think it strange if, for the punishment of his presumption, he thereby lose his sight.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]We are to content ourselves with the light it pleases the sun to communicate to us, by virtue of his rays; and who will lift up his eyes to take in a greater, let him not think it strange, if for the reward of his presumption, he there lose his sight.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]We must be content with the light that it pleases the sun to communicate to us by its rays; and if anyone raises his eyes to gain a greater light from its very body, let him not find it strange if as a penalty for his presumption he loses his sight.
[tr. Frame (1943), 1.32]We must be content with the light which the Sun vouchsafes to shed on us by its rays: were a man to lift up his eyes to seek a greater light in the Sun itself, let him not find it strange if he is blinded as a penalty for his presumption.
[tr. Screech (1987), 1.32]
Any collocation of persons, no matter how numerous, how scant, how even their homogeneity, how firmly they profess common doctrine, will presently reveal themselves to consist of smaller groups espousing variant versions of the common creed; and these sub-groups will manifest sub-sub-groups, and so to the final limit of the single individual, and even in this single person conflicting tendencies will express themselves.
Jack Vance (1916-2013) American writer [John Holbrook Vance]
The Languages of Pao, ch. 5, epigraph (1958)
(Source)
The epigraph is attributed to the fictional Adam Ostwald, in his book Human Society.
First published in Satellite Science Fiction magazine (1957-12).
You are a little soul carrying around a corpse, as Epictetus used to say.
[Ψυχάριον εἶ βαστάζον νεκρόν, ὡς Ἐπίκτητος ἔλεγεν.]
Epictetus (c. 55-c. 135 AD) Greek (Phrygian) Stoic philosopher [Ἐπίκτητος, Epíktētos]
Discourses, Fragment 26 (Schenkl) (AD 108) [tr. Gill (2013)]
(Source)
The sole source for this fragment is Marcus Aurelius, Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 4, ch. 41 (4.41) (AD 161-180). The parallel translations here are from translators of both Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:What art thou, that better and divine part excepted, but as Epictetus said well, a wretched soul, appointed to carry a carcass up and down?
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 4.33]Would you know what you are? Epictetus will tell you that you are a Living Soul, that drags a Carcass about with her.
[tr. Collier (1701)]“Thou art a poor spirit, carrying a dead carcase about with thee,” says Epictetus.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]As to your own being, "It is a living soul, that bears about with it a lifeless carcass," as Epictetus expresses it.
[tr. Graves (1792), 4.33]Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say.
[tr. Long (1862)]You are a little soul carrying a dead body, as Epictetus said.
[tr. Long (1890), frag. 176]Epictetus will tell you that you are a living soul, that drags a corpse about with her.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]What am I? "A poor soul, laden with a corpse" -- said Epictetus.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]“Thou art a poor soul, saddled with a corpse,” said Epictetus.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]You are a little soul, carrying a corpse, as Epictetus used to say.
[tr. Matheson (1916)]Thou art a little soul bearing up a corpse, as Epictetus said.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]You are a little soul, carrying around a corpse, as Epictetus used to say.
[tr. Oldfather (Loeb) (1928)]You are a spirit bearing the weight of a dead body, as Epictetus used to say.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]"A poor soul burdened with a corpse," Epictetus calls you.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]"You are a little soul carrying a corpse around," as Epictetus used to say.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]“A little wisp of soul carrying a corpse.” -- Epictetus.
[tr. Hays (2003)]You are a soul carrying a corpse, as Epictetus used to say.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]You are a bit of soul carrying around a dead body, as Epictetus used to say.
[tr. Dobbin (2008)]You are a little soul carrying a corpse around, as Epictetus used to say.
[tr. Hard (2011; 2014)]You're a pathetic little soul sustaining a corpse, as Epictetus used to say.
[tr. Waterfield (2012)]
Graffiti has been used to start revolutions, stop wars and generally is the voice of people who aren’t listened to. Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they’re having a piss.
Banksy (b. 1974) England-based pseudonymous street artist, political activist, film director
Banging Your Head Against A Brick Wall (2001)
(Source)
Let mine not be the saddest fate of all,
To live beyond my greater self; to see
My faculties decaying, as the tree
Stands stark and helpless while its green leaves fall.
Let me hear rather the imperious call,
Which all men dread, in my glad morning time,
And follow death ere I have reached my prime,
Or drunk the strengthening cordial of life’s gall.
The lightning’s stroke or the fierce tempest blast
Which fells the green tree to the earth to-day
Is kinder than the calm that lets it last,
Unhappy witness of its own decay.
May no man ever look on me and say,
“She lives, but all her usefulness is past.”Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1882), “Uselessness,” Maurine and Other Poems (1882 ed.)
(Source)
If one lived for ever the joys of life would inevitably in the end lose their savour. As it is, they remain perennially fresh.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 2 “Byronic Unhappiness” (1930)
(Source)
That’s why it’s called Establishment journalism. You concentrate on the people at the top, the people with power; you watch, you study how they make their moves, you get fascinated by it, and pretty soon you can’t see anything else — just the top, just the power. And the others, the people, the readers, matter so little that you don’t even bother to let them know what’s going on. You start to think like the people you cover. It can happen on any beat — business, police, politics, education. The stuff you want is from the top — you want to quote the chief, the superintendent, the chairman of the board. There are no reliable sources who earn less than $10,000 a year.
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).
I should like to know if, taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle, and making exceptions to it, where will it stop? If one man says it does not mean a negro, why not another say it does not mean some other man? If that declaration is not the truth, let us get the Statute book, in which we find it, and tear it out! Who is so bold as to do it? If it is not true let us tear it out!
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1858-07-10), Chicago, Illinois
(Source)
Just as a savage will sacrifice his whole subsistence to his hunger, the despot sacrifices his authority to his love of power; his reign devours the reign of his successors.
[Comme le sauvage sacrifie sa subsistance à sa faim, le despote sacrifie sa puissance à son pouvoir; son règne dévore le règne de ses successeurs.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 14 “Des Gouvernements [On Governments],” ¶ 16 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 13, ¶ 7]
(Source)
(Source (French)). No other translations of the thought found amongst those consulted.
Q: What would be some examples of what being fully human means to you?
A: Day to day it means engaging, encountering all the different people who cross my path. To recognize another’s humanity is a huge part of finding my own. It means to stop censoring myself so that what comes out of my mouth are only pearls and jewels and perhaps to let some slobbery stuff come out as well. It means worrying less about being perfect, and being concerned more with being authentic or real with other people, maybe in hopes of evoking some of their own realness, because a lot of us are busy pretending to be someone instead of being someone.
Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Interview (2006-06-08) by Bob Abernathy, PBS
(Source)
MRS. DARLING: (from the window) Peter, where are you? Let me adopt you too. (She is the loveliest age for a woman, but too old to see PETER clearly.)
PETER: Would you send me to school?
MRS. DARLING: (obligingly) Yes.
PETER: And then to an office?
MRS. DARLING: I suppose so.
PETER: Soon I should be a man?
MRS. DARLING: Very soon.
PETER: (passionately) I don’t want to go to school and learn solemn things. No one is going to catch me, lady, and make me a man. I want always to be a little boy and to have fun.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 5 (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
In Barrie's novelization, Peter and Wendy, ch. 17 "When Wendy Grew Up" (1911), this is rendered:Mrs. Darling came to the window, for at present she was keeping a sharp eye on Wendy. She told Peter that she had adopted all the other boys, and would like to adopt him also.
“Would you send me to school?” he inquired craftily.
“Yes.”
“And then to an office?”
“I suppose so.”
“Soon I should be a man?”
“Very soon.”
“I don’t want to go to school and learn solemn things,” he told her passionately. “I don’t want to be a man. O Wendy’s mother, if I was to wake up and feel there was a beard!”
“Peter,” said Wendy the comforter, “I should love you in a beard;” and Mrs. Darling stretched out her arms to him, but he repulsed her.
“Keep back, lady, no one is going to catch me and make me a man.”
HECUBA: For from darkness and the endearments of the night mortals have their keenest joys.
[ἙΚΆΒΗ: ἐκ τοῦ σκότου τε τῶν τε νυκτερησίων
φίλτρων μεγίστη γίγνεται βροτοῖς χάρις.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 831ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Coleridge (1938)]
(Source)
Reminding a reluctant Agamemnon that he's been sleeping with her daughter, Cassandra, to enlist him in avenging the death of her son, Polydorus.
This passage of the text is elided in some translations. Where present, it is sometimes noted as a speculated or fragmentary insertion.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:In the soul of man
The endearments of the night, by darkness veil'd,
Create the strongest interest.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]For from the secret shade, and from night's joys, the greatest delight is wont to spring to mortals.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]For of the darkness and the night's love-spells
Cometh on men the chiefest claim for thank.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]I know how men adore the dark of night.
[tr. McGuinness (2004)]The greatest benefit to humans springs from the night and the delights of love within it.
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]
Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are.
[Μὴ θησαυρίζετε ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅπου σὴς καὶ βρῶσις ἀφανίζει καὶ ὅπου κλέπται διορύσσουσιν καὶ κλέπτουσιν· θησαυρίζετε δὲ ὑμῖν θησαυροὺς ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὅπου οὔτε σὴς οὔτε βρῶσις ἀφανίζει καὶ ὅπου κλέπται οὐ διορύσσουσιν οὐδὲ κλέπτουσιν· ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρός σου, ἐκεῖ ἔσται καὶ ἡ καρδία σου.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 6: 19-21 (Jesus) [GNT (1966)]
(Source)
This passage is paralleled in Luke 12:33-34.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
[KJV (1611)]Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
[JB (1966)]Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be too.
[NJB (1985)]Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
[CEB (2011)]Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
At a certain level of wretchedness a kind of spectral indifference takes over, and you see human beings as ghostly presences. Those closest to you are often no more than vague shadowy forms, barely distinct from life’s nebulous background and easily reabsorbed by the invisible.
[À un certain degré de misère, on est gagné par une sorte d’indifférence spectrale, et l’on voit les êtres comme des larves. Vos plus proches ne sont souvent pour vous que de vagues formes de l’ombre, à peine distinctes du fond nébuleux de la vie et facilement remêlées à l’invisible.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “St. Denis,” Book 6 “Little Gavroche,” ch. 1 (4.6.1) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:At a certain depth of misery, men are possessed by a sort of spectral indifference, and look upon their fellow beings as upon goblins. Your nearest relatives are often but vague forms of shadow for you, hardly distinct from the nebulous background of life, and easily reblended with the invisible.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]In a certain stage of misery people are affected by a sort of spectral indifference and regard human beings as ghosts. Your nearest relatives are often to you no more than vague forms of the shadow, hardly to be distinguished from the nebulous back-ground of life, and which easily become blended. again with the invisible.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]When a certain degree of misery is reached, one is overpowered with a sort of spectral indifference, and one regards human beings as though they were spectres. Your nearest relations are often no more for you than vague shadowy forms, barely outlined against a nebulous background of life and easily confounded again with the invisible.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]There is a level of poverty at which we are afflicted with a kind of indifference which causes all things to seem unreal: those closest to us become no more than shadows, scarcely distinguishable against the dark background of our daily life, and easily lost to view.
[tr. Denny (1976)]At a certain depth of misery, people are possessed by a sort of spectral indifference, and look at their fellow beings as at ghosts. Your nearest relatives are often merely vague shadowy forms for you, hardly distinct from the nebulous background of life, and easily blended with the invisible.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
Your children tell you casually years later what it would have killed you with worry to know at the time.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 2 (1966)
(Source)
Even if one has been to the moon, one has still to earn a living.
H. G. Wells (1866-1946) British writer [Herbert George Wells]
The First Men in the Moon, ch. 21 (1901)
(Source)
I stood in Venice, on the “Bridge of Sighs”;
A Palace and a prison on each hand:
I saw from out the wave her structures rise
As from the stroke of the Enchanter’s wand:
A thousand Years their cloudy wings expand
Around me, and a dying Glory smiles
O’er the far times, when many a subject land
Looked to the wingéd Lion’s marble piles,
Where Venice sat in state, throned on her hundred isles!George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 4, st. 1 (1818)
(Source)
This stanza was written by at least 1817-07-01. Much of the legend of the "Bridge of Sighs" (Ponte de' Sospiri) was made up or misunderstood by Byron, but created a myth that tour guides in Venice repeat to this day.
Someone said to Donne, the English satirist, “Thunder against the sins, but spare the sinners.” “What,” he said, “damn the cards and pardon the card-sharps?”
[On disait au satirique anglais Donne: « Tonnez sur les vices, mais ménagez les vicieux. – Comment, dit-il, condamner les cartes, et pardonner aux escrocs? »]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionnée], Part 2 “Characters and Anecdotes [Caractères et Anecdotes],” ¶ 721 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]
(Source)
I was unable to find this quotation in Donne's work.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Someone said to the English satirist Donne: "Thunder against vice, but be considerate with the vicious. "What," he said, "condemn cards and forgive cheats?"
[tr. Pearson (1973)]Someone said to Donne, the English satirist, “Thunder against the sins, but spare the sinners.” “What,” he said, “damn the cards and pardon the card-sharps?"
[tr. Dusinberre (1992), ¶ 721; quoting Merwin]Someone said to the English satirist Donne: "Thunder against vices, but spare the people with them." -- "How;" he said, "condemn the cards and pardon the swindlers?"
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994), ¶ 720]Somebody said to John Donne" "You must condemn the sin but forgive the sinner." "What?" he exclaimed, "Blame the cards and absolve the card-sharpers?!"
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 436]
Only when the temporarily able-bodied come to accept disabilities as a common human condition will we have a truly civilized society.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners’ Guide to Rearing Perfect Children, ch. 1 “Theory and Skills,” “For Auditors” (1984)
(Source)
THESEUS: The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to Earth, from Earth to heaven,
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, sc. 1, ll. 10ff (5.1.10-14) (1605)
(Source)
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, Part 2, 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, Part 1, 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)
(Source)
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)
(Source)
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
(Source)
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)
