Fun I love, but too much Fun is of all things the most loathsome. Mirth is better than Fun & Happiness is better than Mirth.
William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
Letter to Rev. Dr. Trusler (23 Aug 1799)
The need to exert power, when thwarted in the open fields of life, is the more likely to assert itself in trifles.
Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) American sociologist
Human Nature and the Social Order, rev. ed., ch. 5 (1922 (1902))
Freedom for the pike is death for the minnow.
R. H. Tawney (1880-1962) English writer, economist, historian, social critic [Richard Henry Tawney]
Equality (1931)
Sometimes cited an English proverb, or attributed to Isaiah Berlin.
There is hardly any error into which men may not easily be led if they base their conduct upon reason only.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
Erewhon, ch. 21 (1872)
Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #2 (24 Mar 1750)
(Source)
Let me tell you something. I’ve had enough of Irish Americans who haven’t been back to their country in twenty or thirty years come up to me and talk about the resistance, the revolution back home; and the glory of the revolution, and the glory of dying for the revolution. Fuck the revolution! They don’t talk about the glory of killing for the revolution. What’s the glory of taking a man from his bed and gunning him down in front of his wife and his children? Where’s the glory in that? Where’s the glory of bombing a Remembrance Day parade of old-age-pensioners, their medals taken out and polished up for the day? Where’s the glory in that? To leave them dying, or crippled for life, or dead, under the rubble of the revolution that the majority of the people in my country don’t want. No more! Sing No more!
Bono (b. 1960) Irish musician, philanthropist [b. Paul David Hewson]
Rattle and Hum (1987)
Statement to audience made before a live performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday".
Let them hate, if only they fear.
[Oderint, dum metuant.]
Lucius Accius (170-c. 86 BC) Roman tragic poet, literary scholar [a.k.a. Lucius Attius]
“Atreus”
Quoted in Cicero, De officiis, 1.28 [tr. Miller (1913)]. Also quoted in Seneca, Dialogues, Books 3-5 "De Ira", I, 20, 4 ("Let them hate, so long as they fear.").
Ever since the world’s far-off lands were discovered, what has been the conduct of the white peoples to the coloured ones? […] Who can describe the injustice and the cruelties that in the course of centuries they have suffered at the hands of Europeans? […] If a record could be compiled of all that has happened between the white and the coloured races, it would make a book containing numbers of pages which the reader would have to turn over unread because their contents would be too horrible. We and our civilization are burdened, really, with a great debt. We are not free to confer benefits on these men, or not, as we please; it is our duty. Anything we give them is not benevolence but atonement.
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Alsatian philosopher, physician, philanthropist, polymath
On the Edge of the Primeval Forest, ch. 11 (1922) [tr. Campion (1928)]
It is unbecoming for a cardinal to ski badly.
Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) Polish-born Catholic Pontiff (1978-2005) [b. Karol Józef Wojtyła]
(Attributed)
When asked if it was becoming for a cardinal to ski (Cardinal Wojtyła was an avid skier). In Frank Pakenham Longford, Pope John Paul II: an authorized biography (1982).
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable Rights; that among these, are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness; that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
“Declaration of Independence” (1776-07-04)
(Source)
As modified and approved by the Continental Congress. Compare to Jefferson's original draft.
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don’t settle.
Steve Jobs (1955-2011) American computer inventor, entrepreneur
Commencement Address, Stanford University (2005)
(Source)
Harvey and I sit in the bars… And they come over… and they sit with us… and they drink with us… and they talk to us. They tell about the big terrible things they’ve done and the big wonderful things they’ll do. Their hopes, and their regrets, and their loves, and their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. And then I introduce them to Harvey… and he’s bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And when they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back; but that’s envy, my dear. There’s a little bit of envy in the best of us.
Mary Chase (1906-1981) American journalist, playwright and screenwriter
Harvey [Elwood P. Dowd] (1950)
The President must have not only the courage of his convictions, but also the courage to change his convictions.
Sydney Warren (b. 1916) American author, historian
The President as World Leader, ch. 23 (1964)
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist
Memories, Dreams, Reflections [Erinnerungen, Träume, Gedanken], ch. 11 [ed. A.Jaffe (1962)]
One lesson you better learn if you want to be in politics is that you never go out on a golf course and beat the President.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Comment (1964) to Larry O’Brien III
(Source)
On the occasion of O'Brien beating Johnson by one stroke on a nine-hole golf outing. Noted by his father in his book, No Final Victories: A Life in Politics, ch. 8 "LBJ" (1974).
See Gracian.
If we but try to live uprightly, then we shall be all right, even though we shall inevitably experience true sorrow and genuine disappointments, and also probably make real mistakes and do wrong things, but it’s certainly true that it is better to be fervent in spirit,30 even if one accordingly makes more mistakes, than narrow-minded and overly cautious. It is good to love as much as one can, for therein lies true strength, and he who loves much does much and is capable of much, and that which is done with love is well done.
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Dutch painter
Letter to Theo Van Gogh (3 Apr 1878)
(Source)
Alt. trans.:
- "If only we try to live sincerely, it will go well with us, even though we are certain to experience real sorrow, and great disappointments, and also will probably commit great faults and do wrong things, but it certainly is true, that it is better to be high-spirited, even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent. It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love, is well done." [tr. Constable (1927)]
- "Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well."
Administrivia: Reducing page turns
I’ve bumped up the number of quotes that can appear on a page to 200 — which, at this point, means that all my authors will be fit on a single page. This should make it a bit easier to find stuff or sift through a given author’s quotes without going from page to page. The rendering time also seems to still be pretty decent that way, even on a smartphone.
If you have any problems, let me know.
Computer games don’t affect kids, I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music.
Marcus Brigstocke (b. 1973) English comedian, actor, satirist
Live at the Apollo (2006)
It takes two to make a quarrel.
Socrates (c.470-399 BC) Greek philosopher
In Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, 2.5 [tr. Hicks (1925)]
The average “educated” American has been made to believe that, somehow, the United States must lead the world even though hardly anyone has any information at all about those countries we are meant to lead. Worse, we have very little information about our own country and its past.
Gore Vidal (1925-2012) American novelist, dramatist, critic
“William Dean Howells” (1983)
Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us. I ask nothing of the nation except that it so behave as each farmer here behaves with reference to his own children. That farmer is a poor creature who skins the land and leaves it worthless to his children. The farmer is a good farmer who, having enabled the land to support himself and to provide for the education of his children leaves it to them a little better than he found it himself. I believe the same thing of a nation.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
“The New Nationalism,” speech, Osawatomie, Kansas (31 Aug 1910)
(Source)
You mustn’t force sex to do the work of love, or love to do the work of sex.
Mary McCarthy (1912-1989) American author, critic, political activist
The Group (1962)
What is Grand is necessarily obscure to Weak men. That which can be made Explicit to the idiot is not worth my care.
William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
Letter to Rev. Dr. Trusler (23 Aug 1799)
That the greatest of evils is idleness, that the poor are the victims, not of circumstances, but of their own “idle, irregular, and wicked courses,” that the truest charity is not to enervate them by relief, but so to reform their characters that relief may be unnecessary — such doctrines turned severity from a sin into a duty, and froze the impulse of natural pity with an assurance that, if indulged, it would perpetuate the suffering which it sought to allay.
R. H. Tawney (1880-1962) English writer, economist, historian, social critic [Richard Henry Tawney]
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, ch. 4, sec. 4 (1926)
(Source)
Morality is not properly the doctrine [of] how we should make ourselves happy, but how we should make ourselves worthy of happiness.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher
Critique of Practical Reason [Kritik der praktischen Vernunft], 1.2.2.5 (1788) [tr. Abbott (1873)]
Thousands upon thousands are yearly brought into a state of real poverty by their great anxiety not to be thought poor.
William Cobbett (1763-1835) English politician, agriculturist, journalist, pamphleteer
Advice to Young Men and (Incidentally) to Young Women, Letter 2, #58 (1829)
(Source)
War may not be Hell itself but it definitely does weaken the barriers between us and the dark regions
— Glen Cook,Glen Cook (b. 1944) American author
Faded Steel Heat, ch. 12 (1999)
Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
Orthodoxy, ch. 3 (1909)
Ah! let not Censure term our fate our choice,
The stage but echoes back the public’s voice;
The drama’s laws the drama’s patrons give,
For we that live to please must please to live.Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Opening of Drury Lane Theatre, Prologue (1747)
It’s an amazing thing to think that ours is the first generation in history that really can end extreme poverty, the kind that means a child dies for lack of food in its belly. That should be seen as the most incredible, historic opportunity but instead it’s become a millstone around our necks. We let our own pathetic excuses about how it’s “difficult” justify our own inaction. Be honest. We have the science, the technology, and the wealth. What we don’t have is the will, and that’s not a reason that history will accept.
Bono (b. 1960) Irish musician, philanthropist [b. Paul David Hewson]
Interview, World Association of Newspapers, World Press Freedom Day (3 May 2004)
If at first you don’t succeed, that’s one data point.
Randall Munroe (b. 1984) American webcomic writer, roboticist, programmer
XKCD, #1154 “Resolution” [rollover] (31 Dec 2012)
(Source)
Almost all propaganda is designed to create fear. Heads of government and their officials know that a frightened people is easier to govern, will forfeit rights it would otherwise defend, is less likely to demand a better life, and will agree to millions and millions being spent on “Defense.”
J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) English author, dramatist [John Boyne Priestley]
“The Root is Fear,” Outcries and Asides (1974)
Compulsion in religion is distinguished peculiarly from compulsion in every other thing. I may grow rich by art I am compelled to follow, I may recover health by medicines I am compelled to take agt. my own judgment, but I cannot be saved by a worship I disbelieve & abhor.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
“Notes on Religion” (1776-10?)
(Source)
Labeled by Jefferson "Scraps Early in the Revolution."
Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
Steve Jobs (1955-2011) American computer inventor, entrepreneur
Commencement Address, Stanford University (2005)
(Source)
Money has only one use — to give one independence from his enemies.
Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) American actor
(Attributed)
I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the word. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Most Durable Power,” sermon, Montgomery, Alabama (6 Nov 1956)
You see, for me that God of the clergy is as dead as a doornail. But does that make me an atheist? Clergymen consider me one — que soit — but you see, I love, and how could I feel love if I were not alive myself or if others were not alive, and if we are alive there is something wondrous about it. Now call that God or human nature or whatever you like, but there is a certain something I cannot define systematically, although it is very much alive and real, and you see, for me that something is God or as good as God. You see, when in due course my time comes, one way or other, to die, well, what will keep me going even then? Won’t it be the thought of love (moral or immoral love, what do I know about it?)
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) Dutch painter
Letter to Theo Van Gogh (c. 21-23 Dec 1881) [tr. van Gogh-Bonger]
(Source)
Alt trans.:
- "That God of the clergymen, He is for me as dead as a doornail. But am I an atheist for all that? The clergymen consider me as such -- be it so; but I love, and how could I feel love if I did not live, and if others did not live, and then, if we live, there is something mysterious in that. Now call that God, or human nature or whatever you like, but there is something which I cannot define systematically, though it is very much alive and very real, and see, that is God, or as good as God. To believe in God for me is to feel that there is a God, not a dead one, or a stuffed one, but a living one, who with irresistible force urges us toward aimer encore [more love]; that is my opinion."
- "Look, I find the clergymen’s God as dead as a doornail. But does that make me an atheist? The clergymen think me one – be that as it may – but look, I love, and how could I feel love if I myself weren't alive and others weren't alive? And if we live, there's something wondrous about it. Call it God or human nature or what you will, but there’s a certain something that I can't define in a system, even though it's very much alive and real, and you see, for me it’s God or just as good as God. Look, if I must die in due course in one way or another, fine, what would there be to keep me alive? Wouldn't it be the thought of love (moral or immoral love, what do I know about it?)." (Source)
No member of our generation who wasn’t a Communist or a dropout in the thirties is worth a damn.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Comment (1960)
(Source)
Comment regarding wealthy campaign donors, made to friends and reporters while flying back from a campaign event in Binghamton, New York. Quoted in David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest, ch. 20 (1972)
You’ve got to be carefully taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
Of people whose skin is a different shade,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate.
You’ve got to be carefully taught.Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) American librettist, theatrical producer, and director
“You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught,” South Pacific (1949)
There is no nation on earth so dangerous as a nation fully armed, and bankrupt at home.
Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. (1850-1924) American politician and historian
Speech, National Security League, Washington (22 Jan 1916)
My father had a deep and lifelong contempt for politicians in general (“They tell lies,” he used to say with wonder, “even when they don’t have to”).
Gore Vidal (1925-2012) American novelist, dramatist, critic
“On Flying” (1985)
I believe in national friendships and heartiest good-will to all nations; but national friendships, like those between men, must be founded on respect as well as on liking, on forbearance as well as upon trust. I should be heartily ashamed of any American who did not try to make the American Government act as Justly toward the other nations in international relations as he himself would act toward any individual in private relations. I should be heartily ashamed to see us wrong a weaker power, and I should hang my head forever if we tamely suffered wrong from a stronger power.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
“The New Nationalism,” speech, Osawatomie, Kansas (31 Aug 1910)
(Source)
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company … a church … a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past … we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. […] I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … we are in charge of our attitudes.
Charles Rozell "Chuck" Swindoll (b. 1934) American evangelist, author, educator
“Attitude”
A sermon on Paul's Letter to the Philippians, ch. 2.
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water’d heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
Songs of Experience, “The Tyger”, st. 5 (1794)
There is a continent — Africa — being consumed by flames.
I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did — or did not do — to put the fire out in Africa.
History, like God, is watching what we do.Bono (b. 1960) Irish musician, philanthropist [b. Paul David Hewson]
Speech, National Prayer Breakfast (2 Feb 2006)
(Source)
The ruling Passion, be what it will,
The ruling Passion conquers Reason still.Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet
Moral Essays, 3.153 (1731-35)
Not that indeed I imitated the sceptics, who only doubt for the sake of doubting, and pretend to be always uncertain; for, on the contrary, my design was only to provide myself with good ground for assurance, and to reject the quicksand and mud in order to find the rock or clay.
[Non que j’imitasse pour cela les sceptiques, qui ne doutent que pour douter, et affectent d’être toujours irrésolus; car, au contraire, tout mon dessein ne tendoit qu’à m’assurer, et à rejeter la terre mouvante et le sable pour trouver le roc ou l’argile.]
René Descartes (1596-1650) French philosopher, mathematician
Discourse on Method [Discours de la méthode], Part 3 (1637) [tr. Haldane & Ross (1911)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Not that I therein imitated the Scepticks, who doubt onely to the end they may doubt, and affect to be always unresolved: For on the contrary, all my designe tended onely to fix my self, and to avoid quick-mires and sands, that I might finde rock and clay.
[tr. Newcombe ed. (1649)]Not that in this I imitated the sceptics who doubt only that they may doubt, and seek nothing beyond uncertainty itself; for, on the contrary, my design was singly to find ground of assurance, and cast aside the loose earth and sand, that I might reach the rock or the clay.
[tr. Veitch (1901)]For all that, I did not imitate the sceptics who doubt only for doubting's sake, and pretend to be always undecided; on the contrary, my whole intention was to arrive at a certainty, and to dig away the drift and the sand until I reached the rock or the clay beneath.
[tr. Huxley (1870)]In doing this I was not copying the sceptics, who doubt only for the sake of doubting and pretend to be always undecided; on the contrary, my whole aim was to reach certainty -- to cast aside the loose earth and sand so as to come upon rock or clay.
[tr. Cottingham, Stoothoff (1985)]
It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentional lying that there is so much falsehood in the world.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Dr. Johnson’s Table Talk (1807)
No sane person with a life really wants to be a political activist. When activism is exciting, it tends to involve the risk of bodily harm or incarceration, and when it’s safe, it is often tedious, dry, and boring. Activism tends to put one into contact with extremely unpleasant people, whether they are media interviewers, riot cops, or at times, your fellow activists. Not only that, it generates enormous feelings of frustration and rage, makes your throat sore from shouting, and hurts your feet.
Starhawk (b. 1951) American writer, activist, feminist theologian [b. Miriam Simos]
“Toward an Activist Spirituality,” Reclaiming Quarterly (Fall 2003)
(Source)
No man should be in politics unless he would honestly rather not be there.
Henry Adams (1838-1918) American journalist, historian, academic, novelist
Letter to Henry Cabot Lodge (15 Nov 1881)
For in a republic, who is “the Country”? Is it the Government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the Government is merely a servant — merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. Who, then, is “the country?” Is it the newspaper? Is it the pulpit? Is it the school-superintendent? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the whole of it; they have not command, they have only their little share in the command. They are but one in the thousand; it is in the thousand that command is lodged; they must determine what is right and what is wrong; they must decide who is a patriot and who isn’t.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Papers of the Adams Family, Part 6 “Two Fragments from a Suppressed Book Called ‘Glances at History’ or ‘Outlines of History'” (1939)
The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.
Adolph Hitler (1889-1945) German leader
Mein Kampf, 1.6 (1924) [tr. Manheim (1943)]
In the middle ages of Christianity opposition to the State opinions was hushed. The consequence was, Christianity became loaded with all the Romish follies. Nothing but free argument, raillery, and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
“Notes on Religion” (1776-10?)
(Source)
Labeled by Jefferson "Scraps Early in the Revolution." Modern phrasing. Original:In the middle ages of Xty opposition to the State opins was hushed. The consequence was, Xty became loaded with all the Romish follies. Nothing but free argument, raillery & even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Steve Jobs (1955-2011) American computer inventor, entrepreneur
Commencement Address, Stanford University (2005)
(Source)
At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
Human, All-Too-Human [Menschliches, Allzumenschliches], #536 (1878)
(Source)
‘Tis much safer for thee to reconcile an Enemy than conquer him. Victory may deprive him of his Power for the present; but Reconciliation disarms his Will.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 782 (1725)
(Source)
In a life short and uncertain, it seems heartless to do anything that might deprive people of the consolation of faith when science cannot remedy their anguish. Those who cannot bear the burden of science are free to ignore its precepts. But we cannot have science in bits and pieces, applying it where we feel safe and ignoring it where we feel threatened — again, because we are not wise enough to do so.
Carl Sagan (1934-1996) American scientist and writer
The Demon-Haunted World (1995)
This world, where much is to be done and little to be known.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Prayers and Meditations, Against Inquisitive and Perplexing Thoughts (1785)
Sexual integrity means honestly recognizing our own impulses and desires and honoring them, whether or not we choose to act on them. If we value integrity, we must also value diversity in sexual expression and orientation, recognizing that there is no one truth, or one way, that fits everyone. Sexuality is sacred because through it we make a connection with another self — but it is misused and perverted when it becomes an arena of power-over, a means of treating another — or oneself — as an object.
Starhawk (b. 1951) American writer, activist, feminist theologian [b. Miriam Simos]
Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex and Politics, ch. 3 “The Ethics of Magic” (1982)
Against our traditions we are now entering upon an unjust and trivial war, a war against a helpless people, and for a base object — robbery. At first our citizens spoke out against this thing, by an impulse natural to their training. Today they have turned, and their voice is the other way. What caused the change? Merely a politician’s trick — a high-sounding phrase, a blood-stirring phrase which turned their uncritical heads: Our Country, right or wrong! An empty phrase, a silly phrase. It was shouted by every newspaper, it was thundered from the pulpit, the Superintendent of Public Instruction placarded it in every schoolhouse in the land, the War Department inscribed it upon the flag. And every man who failed to shout it or who was silent, was proclaimed a traitor — none but those others were patriots. To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, “Our Country, right or wrong,” and urge on the little war. Have you not perceived that that phrase is an insult to the nation?
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Papers of the Adams Family, Part 6 “Two Fragments from a Suppressed Book Called ‘Glances at History’ or ‘Outlines of History'” (1939)
If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come, and offer your gift.
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Matthew 5:23-24
In the view of the primitive simplicity of their minds, [the masses] more easily fall a victim to a big lie than to a little one.
Adolph Hitler (1889-1945) German leader
Mein Kampf, 1.10 (1924) [tr. Manheim (1943)]
Truth will do well enough if left to shift for herself. She seldom has received much aid from the power of great men to whom she is rarely known & seldom welcome. She has no need of force to procure entrance into the minds of men. Error indeed has often prevailed by the assistance of power or force. Truth is the proper & sufficient antagonist to error.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
“Notes on Religion” (1776-10?)
(Source)
Labeled by Jefferson "Scraps Early in the Revolution."
Sometimes I believe in God, sometimes I don’t. I think it’s 50-50 maybe. But ever since I’ve had cancer, I’ve been thinking about it more. And I find myself believing a bit more. I kind of — maybe it’s ’cause I want to believe in an afterlife. That when you die, it doesn’t just all disappear. The wisdom you’ve accumulated. Somehow it lives on, but sometimes I think it’s just like an on-off switch. Click and you’re gone. And that’s why I don’t like putting on-off switches on Apple devices.
Steve Jobs (1955-2011) American computer inventor, entrepreneur
(Attrbuted)
Quoted by his biographer, Walter Isaacson, in a 60 Minutes interview (Oct 2011)
No sackcloth and fasting avail, but repentance and good deeds.
The Talmud (AD 200-500) Collection of Jewish rabbinical writings
(Unreferenced)
A stable social structure thrives not on triumphs but on reconciliations.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh, and the Problems of Peace, 1812-1822, 11.1 (1957)
Man’s only legitimate end in life is to finish God’s work — to bring to full growth the capacities and talents implanted in us.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Ordeal of Change, ch. 11 (1964)
If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: “President Can’t Swim.”
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
(Attributed)
Frequently attributed to Johnson, usually referencing the last year or two of his presidency, when public opinion turned against him over Vietnam. I am unable to find any actual citable source.
I have often thought that the best way to define a man’s character would be to seek out the particular mental or moral attitude in which, when it came upon him, he felt himself most deeply and intensely active and alive. At such moments there is a voice inside which speaks and says: “This is the real me!”
William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
Letter to Alice Gibbons James (1878)
No human being is so bad as to be beyond redemption.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
In Young India (26 Mar 1931)
When I face the desolate impossibility of writing 500 pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day’s work is all that I can permit myself to contemplate.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
Travels With Charley (1962)
HENRY: What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted?
Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just,
And he but naked, though locked up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.
Religions are manipulated in order to serve those who govern society and not the other way around.
Gore Vidal (1925-2012) American novelist, dramatist, critic
“Sex Is Politics” (1979)
I have felt a slightly contemptuous amusement over the discussion that has been going on for several months about my popularity or waning popularity or absence of popularity. I am not a college freshman […] and therefore I am not concerned about my “popularity” save in exactly so far as it is an instrument which will help me to achieve my purposes.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Letter to Sereno S. Pratt (1 Mar 1906)
(Source)
All theories of morality agree in considering that conduct whose total results, immediate and remote, are beneficial, is good conduct; while conduct whose total results, immediate and remote, are injurious, is bad conduct. The happiness or misery caused by it are the ultimate standards by which all men judge of behavior.
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) English philosopher, naturalist
Education: Intellectual, Moral, and Physical, ch. 3 (1860)
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
in the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
Songs of Experience, “The Tyger”, st. 1 (1794)
Each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak. And it is a solemn and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the bullying of pulpit, press, government, or the empty catch-phrases of politicians. Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may. If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to your convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by your country — hold up your head! You have nothing to be ashamed of.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Papers of the Adams Family, Part 6 “Two Fragments from a Suppressed Book Called ‘Glances at History’ or ‘Outlines of History'” (1939)
Have I ever heard a skeptic wax superior and contemptuous? Certainly. I’ve even sometimes heard, to my retrospective dismay, that unpleasant tone in my own voice. There are human imperfections on both sides of this issue. Even when it’s applied sensitively, scientific skepticism may come across as arrogant, dogmatic, heartless and dismissive of the feelings and deeply held beliefs of others. And, it must be said, some scientists and dedicated skeptics apply this tool as a blunt instrument, with little finesse. Sometimes it looks as if the skeptical conclusion came first, that contentions were dismissed before, not after, the evidence was examined. All of us cherish our beliefs. They are, to a degree, self-defining. When someone comes along who challenges our belief system as insufficiently well based — or who, like Socrates, merely asks embarrassing questions that we haven’t thought of, or demonstrates that we’ve swept key underlying assumptions under the rug — it becomes much more than a search for knowledge. It feels like a personal assault.
Carl Sagan (1934-1996) American scientist and writer
The Demon-Haunted World, ch. 17 (1995)
(Source)
If you can’t eat their food, drink their booze, screw their women and then vote against them, you have no business being up here.
Jesse Unruh (1922-1987) American politican
(Attributed)
(Source)
On lobbyists. In Lou Cannon, Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power, ch.13 "Adversary" (2003). A bowderized version of the quote can be found in Lester Velie, "This Is How Payola Works in Politics (by Assemblyman X as told to Lester Velie)," Reader's Digest (Aug 1960); Unruh was "Assemblyman X".
A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table, than when his wife talks Greek.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
(Attributed)
Quoted in Sir John Hawkins, "Apophthegms, Sentiments, Opinions and Occasional Reflections" (1787-89), in George Birbeck Hill (ed.), Johnsonian Miscellanies, Vol. 2 (1897)
The Trickster represents the quality of randomness and chance in the universe, without which there could be no freedom. In the Craft the Goddess is not omnipotent. The cosmos is interesting rather than perfect, and everything is not part of some greater plan, nor is all necessarily under control. Understanding this keeps us humble, able to admit that we cannot know or control or define everything.
Starhawk (b. 1951) American writer, activist, feminist theologian [b. Miriam Simos]
The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess (1979)
You’ve got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn body’s sermon on how to behave.
Billie Holiday (1915-1959) American jazz singer and songwriter [b. Eleanora Harris]
Lady Sings the Blues (1956) [with William Duffy]
(Source)Part of the in-concert narration that New York Times writer Gilbert Millstein used for the live recordings of Holiday's Carnegie Hall records in Nov. 1956.
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in. If you challenge your own, you won’t be so quick to accept the unchallenged assumptions of others. You’ll be a lot less likely to be caught up in bias or prejudice or be influenced by people who ask you to hand over your brains, your soul, or your money because they have everything all figured out for you.
Alan Alda (b. 1936) American actor [b. Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo]
Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, ch. 2 “Lingering at the Door” (2007)
(Source)
Originally given at the commencement speech at Connecticut College in May, 1980, where his daughter Eve was graduating.
A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
(Spurious)
First attributed to Twain in 1945, but not found in his works. Earliest appearances of the quote date back to 1910, but are unattributed. It's often attributed to Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby), but she didn't say it until 1966. See here for more information.Variants:
- "Who can see the barely perceptible line between the man who can not read at all and the man who does not read at all? The literate who can, but does not, read, and the illiterate who neither does nor can? [Original form.]
- "The person who does not read has no advantage over the person who cannot read." ["Dear Abby", 19 Oct 1966]
- "The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
The greatest triumphs of propaganda have been accomplished, not by doing something, but by refraining from doing. Great is the truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
Brave New World, 1946 Foreward (1932)
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
“A Summary View of the Rights of British America” (1774-06)
(Source)
Originally written as a draft of resolutions for the Virginia Convention (Aug 1774) as instructions for the Virginia delegates to the first Continental Congress. Never delivered, as Jefferson was unable to attend the convention, it was given this title by friends who printed up copies without his knowledge.
I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.
Steve Jobs (1955-2011) American computer inventor, entrepreneur
“Steve Jobs: Iconoclast and salesman” interview by Brian Williams, MSNBC (25 May 2006)
(Source)
TALBOT: The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.
Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) German poet, playwright, critic [Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller]
Maria Stuart (1800)
The idea of growth for its own sake is precisely the philosophy of the cancer cell.
Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight, ch. 2 (1982)
There must be in this world a task with an appeal so strong that were we to have a taste of it we would hold on and be rid for good of our restlessness.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Ordeal of Change, ch. 16 (1964)
Every President wants to do right.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Quoted in George Christian, The President Steps Down, ch. 1, sec. 3 (1970).
(Source)
Christian, who was Johnson's press secretary, says this was a frequent comment by Johnson, who would then go on to defend previous Administrations, Democratic and Republican, from the worst accusations of their then-detractors.
The deadliest enemies of nations are not their foreign foes; they always dwell within their borders. And from these internal enemies civilization is always in need of being saved. The nation blest above all nations is she in whom the civic genius of the people does the saving day by day, by acts without external picturesqueness; by speaking, writing, voting reasonably; by smiting corruption swiftly; by good temper between parties; by the people knowing true men when they see them, and preferring them as leaders to rabid partisans or empty quacks.
William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
“Robert Gould Shaw: Oration upon the Unveiling of the Shaw Monument” (31 May 1897)
Our differences are policies; our agreements, principles.
William McKinley (1843-1901) US President (1897-1901)
Speech, Des Moines, Iowa (1901)
The press is the hired agent of a monied system, and set up for no other purpose than to tell lies where their interests are involved. One can trust nobody and nothing.
Henry Adams (1838-1918) American journalist, historian, academic, novelist
The Letters of Henry Adams [ed. W. C. Ford (1930-38)]
Great quarrels often arise from small occasions but never from small causes.
(Other Authors and Sources)
English saying
It is reasonable to assume that, by and large, what is not read now will not be read, ever. It is also reasonable to assume that practically nothing that is read now will be read later. Finally, it is not too far-fetched to imagine a future in which novels are not read at all.
Gore Vidal (1925-2012) American novelist, dramatist, critic
“Thomas Love Peacock: The Novel of Ideas” (1980)
The absence of effective State, and, especially, National, restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power. The prime need is to change the conditions which enable these men to accumulate power which is not for the general welfare that they should hold or exercise. We grudge no man a fortune which represents his own power and sagacity, when exercised with entire regard to the welfare of his fellows.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
“The New Nationalism,” speech, Osawatomie, Kansas (31 Aug 1910)
(Source)
To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.
[Sich mit Wenigem begnügen ist schwer, sich mit Vielem begnügen noch schwerer.]
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) Austrian writer
Aphorisms [Aphorismen], No. 89 (1880) [tr. Wister (1883)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translation:To be satisfied with little is hard, to be satisfied with a lot is impossible.
[tr. Scrase/Mieder (1994)]
All things […] are best to those who know no better.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
“Ignorance”
(Source)
Full passage:The less Judgment any Man ha's the Better he is perswaded of his owne abilities, because he is not capable of understanding anything beyond it, and all things how mean so ever, are best to those who know no better: for beside the naturall affection that he has for himself, which go's very farre, the less he is able to improve and mend his Judgment, the higher value he sets upon it, and can no more correct his own false opinions, when he is at his height, than outgrow his own Stature.