What I like most about myself is that I is that I’m so understanding when I do something wrong.
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots, #1189
Sometimes I make a mental note, but then forget where I put it.
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots, #2836
It’s hopeless! Tomorrow there’ll be even more books I should have read than there are today.
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots, #2918
I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent.
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots, #0433
Been through Hell? Whaddya bring back for me?
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots
Why is everybody behaving as if there were no reason to panic?
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots, #0305
My life has a superb cast but I can’t figure out the plot.
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots, #0144
The one function that TV news performs very well is that, when there is no news, we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.
David Brinkley (1920-2003) American broadcast journalist
(Attributed)
Life may have no meaning. Or even worse, it may have a meaning of which I disapprove.
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots, #1347
I don’t have any solution, but I certainly admire the problem.
Ashleigh Brilliant (b. 1933) Anglo-American epigramist, aphorist, cartoonist
Pot-Shots, #0759
No good revolutionary leader would ever bunt.
Crane Brinton (1898-1968)
The Anatomy of Revolution, 7.4 (1952)
The least questioned assumptions are often the most questionable.
Paul Broca (1824-1880) French pathologist, neurosurgeon, anthropologist
“Quelques propositions sur les tumeurs dites cancéreuses” (16 Apr 1849)
ELWOOD: Years ago my mother used to say to me, she’d say, “In this world, Elwood, you must be” — she always called me Elwood — “In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.” Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.
Oscar Brodney (1905-2008) American screenwriter, lawyer
Harvey (1950) [with Mary Chase]
ELWOOD: Well, I’ve wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it.
Oscar Brodney (1905-2008) American screenwriter, lawyer
Harvey (1950)
with Mary Chase (playwright)
No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.
Jacob Bronowski (1908-1974) Polish-English humanist and mathematician
Encounter (Jul. 1971)
There is always a “but” in this imperfect world.
Anne Brontë (1820-1849) British novelist, poet [pseud. Acton Bell]
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, ch. 22 [Helen] (1848)
But he that dares not grasp the thorn
Should never crave the rose.
Feeling without judgement is a washy draught indeed; but judgement untempered by feeling is too bitter and husky a morsel for human deglutition.
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) British novelist [pseud. Currer Bell]
Jane Eyre (1847)
Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) British novelist [pseud. Currer Bell]
Jane Eyre, Preface, 2nd edition (21 Dec 1847)
I’ve dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas: they’ve gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind.
Emily Brontë (1818-1848) British novelist, poet [pseud. Ellis Bell]
Wuthering Heights (1847)
Love is like the wild-rose briar;
Friendship is like the holly-tree.
The holly is dark when the rose briar blooms,
But which will bloom most constantly?Emily Brontë (1818-1848) British novelist, poet [pseud. Ellis Bell]
“Love and Friendship” (1839)
Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.
Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. (b. 1931) American computer scientist, academician
The Mythical Man-Month (1975)
Look, I really don’t want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you’re alive, you’ve got to flap your arms and legs, you’ve got to jump around a lot, you’ve got to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death.
Mel Brooks (b. 1926) American comedic actor, writer, producer [b. Melvyn Kaminsky]
(Attributed)
Humor is just another defense against the universe.
Mel Brooks (b. 1926) American comedic actor, writer, producer [b. Melvyn Kaminsky]
(Attributed)
O, do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) American clergyman, hymnist
“Going Up to Jerusalem,” Selected Sermons [ed. William Scarlett (1949)]
The true way to be humble is not to stoop till thou art smaller than thyself, but to stand at thy real height against some higher nature that will show thee what the real smallness of thy greatness is.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) American clergyman, hymnist
(Attributed)
Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) American clergyman, hymnist
(Attributed)
Great is Truth and it shall prevail.
[Magna est veritas et prævalebit.]
Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) English Puritan divine, writer
The Crown and Glory of Christianity (1662)
Alternate translation: "Truth is mighty and will prevail."
Whenever people say “we mustn’t be sentimental,” you can take it they are about to do something cruel. And if they add, “we must be realistic,” they mean they are going to make money out of it.
Brigid Brophy (1929-1995) Anglo-Irish writer, novelist, playwright
Unlived Life
Americans have a lazy habit of defining themselves in terms of what they are against rather than what they believe in.
A. Whitney Brown (b. 1952) American comic actor, writer
(Attributed)
I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants.
A. Whitney Brown (b. 1952) American comic actor, writer
The Big Picture: An American Commentary (1991)
Appeasers believe that if you keep on throwing steaks to a tiger, the tiger will turn vegetarian.
Heywood Broun (1888-1939) American journalist, author
(Attributed)
(Source)
Quoted in Lin Yutang, The Wisdom of China and India (1942).
Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
H. Jackson "Jack" Brown, Jr. (b. 1940) American writer
Life’s Little Instruction Book (1991)
Success is getting what you want. Happiness is liking what you get.
H. Jackson "Jack" Brown, Jr. (b. 1940) American writer
A Father’s Book of Wisdom (compiler) (1989)
The baby rises to its feet, takes a step, is overcome with triumph and joy — and falls flat on its face. It is a pattern for all that is to come! But learn from the bewildered baby. Lurch to your feet again. You’ll make the sofa in the end.
Pamela Brown (1924-1989) British writer, actress, television producer
The Swish of the Curtain (1938)
Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.
H. Jackson "Jack" Brown, Jr. (b. 1940) American writer
Life’s Little Instruction Book (1991)
Morals are private. Decency is public.
Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual (1988)
I became a lesbian out of devout Christian charity. All those women out there are praying for a man and I gave them my share.
Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
Venus Envy (1993)
(Source)
Frequently paraphrased as: "My lesbianism is an act of Christian charity. All those women out there are praying for a man, and I'm giving them my share."
Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance.
Sam W. Brown, Jr. (b. 1943) American activist, academic, diplomat
Washington Post (26 Jan. 1977)
There is surely a piece of divinity in us, something that was before the elements, and owes no homage to the sun.
Thomas Browne (1605-1682) English physician and author
Religio Medici, II.11 (1643)
I desire to exercise my faith in the most difficult point, for to credit ordinary and visible objects is not faith, but persuasion. Some believe the better for seeing Christ’s Sepulchre, and when they have seen the Red Sea, doubt not the miracle. Now contrarily I bless myself, and am thankful that I lived not in the days of miracles, that I never saw Christ nor His Disciples; I would not have been one of those Israelites that passed the Red Sea, nor one of Christ’s patients, on whom He wrought His wonders; then had my faith been thrust upon me, nor should I enjoy that greater blessing pronounced to all that believe and saw not.
Thomas Browne (1605-1682) English physician and author
Religio Medici, I.9 (1643)
But the iniquity of oblivion blindely scattereth her poppy, and deals with the memory of men without distinction to merit of perpetuity. […] Who knows whether the best of men be known? or whether there be not more remarkable persons forgot, then any that stand remembred in the known account of time?
Thomas Browne (1605-1682) English physician and author
Hydriotaphia, or Urne-Buriall, ch. 5 (1658)
(Source)
There is another man within me that’s angry with me.
Thomas Browne (1605-1682) English physician and author
Religio Medici, II.7 (1643)
No man can justly censure or condemn another, because indeed no man truly knows another.
Thomas Browne (1605-1682) English physician and author
Religio Medici, II.4 (1643)
No, when the fight begins within himself,
A man’s worth something.Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet
“Bishop Blougram’s Apology,” l. 693 (1855)
Men get opinions as boys learn to spell: by reiteration chiefly.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) English poet
Aurora Leigh, Bk. VI (1857)
I have so fixed my contemplations on Heaven, that I have almost forgot the Idea of Hell, and am afraid rather to lose the joyes of the one than endure the misery of the other; to be deprived of them is a perfect hell, & needs me thinkes no addition to compleate our afflictions; that terrible terme hath never detained me from sin, nor do I owe any good action to the name thereof: I feare God, yet am not afraid of him, his mercies make me ashamed of my sins, before his judgements afraid thereof: these are the forced and secondary method of his wisedome, which he useth but as the last remedy, and upon provocation, a course rather to deterre the wicked, than incite the vertuous to his worship. I can hardly thinke there was ever any scared into Heaven, they goe the fairest way to Heaven, that would serve God without a Hell, other Mercenaries that crouch unto him in feare of Hell, though they terme themselves the servants, are indeed but the slaves of the Almighty.
Thomas Browne (1605-1682) English physician and author
Religio Medici, Part 1, sec. 52 (1643)
(Source)
Think not thy time short in this World since the World itself is not long. The created World is but a small Parenthesis in Eternity, and a short interposition for a time between such a state of duration, as was before it and may be after it.
Thomas Browne (1605-1682) English physician and author
Christian Morals, Part 3, sec. 24 (1716)
(Source)
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet
Andrea del Sarto, l. 97 (1855)
A man in armor is his armor’s slave.
Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet
Herakles
There’s a great text in Galatians,
Once you trip on it, entails
Twenty-nine distinct damnations,
One sure, if another fails.Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet
“Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister,” st. 7 (1842)
Take away the right to say “fuck” and you take away the right to say, “Fuck the government.”
Lenny Bruce (1925-1966) American comic
(Attributed)
Perhaps this is one of the most disarming of human traits: our sheer, dogged capacity for disbelief.
Stephanie Brush (b. 1954) American humorist, columnist
“And Into the Tunnel”
Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) Italian philosopher
The Heroic Furies
No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Jhereg (1983)
Everything is normal. It’s just that some normal things are weirder than other normal things.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Teckla (1987)
I sometimes wonder if my entire adult life has been spent in an effort to avoid dirty dishes. One could, I suppose, have worse goals.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Teckla (1987)
I’d rather go through trauma than discomfort, which may be my whole problem.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
“A Dream of Passion” (1986)
Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies among his worshippers.William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) American poet and editor
“The Battle-Field,” l. 33
The error of youth is to believe that intelligence is a substitute for experience, while the error of age is to believe experience is a substitute for intelligence.
Lyman L. Bryson (1888-1959) American academic, educator
(Attributed)
Philosophers are capable of almost endless enjoyment of mutual misunderstanding.
Lyman L. Bryson (1888-1959) American academic, educator
(Attributed)
They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
Carl W. Buehner (1898-1974) German-American Mormon leader and politician
(Attributed)
This quotation is widely quoted but never sourced. In addition to Carl W. Buehner, it's also attributed to Carl W. Büchner, and Carl Buechner.
I learned early to understand that there is no such condition in human affairs as absolute truth. There is only truth as people see it, and truth, even in fact, may be kaleidoscopic in its variety. The damage such perception did to me I have felt ever since … I could never belong entirely to one side of any question.
Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
My Several Worlds (1954)
The Revolution is like Saturn — it eats its own children.
Karl Georg Büchner (1813-1837) German dramatist
Danton’s Death, Act I (1835)
Also attributed to Pierre Vergniaud, Girondin politician, speaking at the French National Assembly (16 Mar 1793): "Citizens, we now have cause to fear that the Revolution, like Saturn successively devouring his children, has finally given way to despotism and all the calamities that despotism implies."
The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible — and achieve it, generation after generation.
Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
(Attributed)
I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008) American writer, editor
(Attributed)
I profoundly believe it takes a lot of practice to become a moral slob.
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008) American writer, editor
(Attributed)
If the Government is going to intrude upon the sacred ground of the First Amendment and tell its citizens that their exercise of protected speech could land them in jail, the law imposing such a penalty must clearly define the prohibited speech not only for the potential offender but also for the potential enforcer.
Ronald L. Buckwalter (b. 1936) US District Court Judge
ACLU, et al., v. Janet Reno, 96-963 (1996)
Believe nothing because it is written in books. Believe nothing because wise men say it is so. Believe nothing because it is religious doctrine. Believe it only because you yourself know it to be true.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
It is wrong to think that misfortunes come from the east or from the west; they originate within one’s own mind. Therefore, it is foolish to guard against misfortunes from the external world and leave the inner mind uncontrolled.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
To insist on a spiritual practice that served you in the past is to carry the raft on your back after you have crossed the river.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Just as a picture is drawn by an artist, surroundings are created by the activities of the mind.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
To utter pleasant words without practicing them, is like a fine flower without fragrance.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
The Kalama Sutta
You begin saving the world by saving one person at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) German-American author, poet
Tales of Ordinary Madness, “Too Sensitive” (1967)
Fate laughs at probabilities.
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and politician
Eugene Aram, Book I, ch. 10 (1832)
The easiest person to deceive is one’s own self.
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and politician
The Disowned, ch. 42 (1828)
RICHELIEU: Beneath the rule of men entirely great
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanter’s wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyze the Caesars — and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it!Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and politician
Richelieu, Act 2, sc. 2 (1839)
(Source)
Video games, not parents, are to blame for many of these teenage crimes. I’m certain it was Frogger that taught my son to jaywalk.
John Bumbry (contemp.) systems analyst
(Attributed)
It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean. For those who do not think, it is best to at least rearrange their prejudices once in a while.
Luther Burbank (1849-1926) American horticulturist
(Attributed)
The state is never so efficient as when it wants money.
Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) English novelist
(Attributed)
If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead.
Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) American humorist and illustrator
(Attributed)
Common paraphrase. In Look Eleven Years Younger (1937), Burgess gives two versions of the quotation:See for more discussion.
- "When you find you haven’t discarded a major opinion for years, or acquired a new one, you should stop and investigate to see if you’re not growing senile."
- "If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one investigate and see if you’re not growing senile."
Our patience will achieve more than our force.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
All persons possessing any portion of power ought to be strongly and awfully impressed with an idea that they act in trust.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
Never despair; but if you do, work on in despair.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
(Attributed)
All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Speech on Conciliation with America (22 Mar 1775)
Nobody makes a greater mistake then he who does nothing because he could only do a little.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
(Attributed)
There is, however, a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Observations on a Late Publication, “The Present State of the Nation” (1769)
Custom reconciles us to everything.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
On the Sublime and the Beautiful, Sect. xviii. vol. i. (1756)
A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
(Source)
The use of force alone is temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again; and a nation is not governed which is perpetually to be conquered.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
“On Conciliation with America” (speech) (22 Mar 1775)
No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
On the Sublime and Beautiful, Part II, Sec. 2 (1756)
When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
“Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents” (23 Apr 1770)
May be the origin of the attributed (but never located in Burke's works): "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."See also Mill.
Certainly, Gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinions high respect; their business unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasure, his satisfactions, to theirs, — and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own.
But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure, — no, nor from the law and the Constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Speech to the electors of Bristol (3 Nov 1774)
The people no longer believe in principles, but will probably periodically believe in saviors.
Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (1818-1897) Swiss historian
(Attributed)
At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope that it can be done, then they see that it can be done
Frances Burnett (1849-1924) American writer [nee Hodgson]
The Secret Garden, ch. 27 (1911)
Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism.
David M. Burns (contemp.) American medical professor, researcher
(Attributed)
Actually, it only takes one drink to get me loaded. Trouble is, I can’t remember if it’s the thirteenth or fourteenth.
George Burns (1896-1996) American comedian
(Attributed)
I’d rather be a failure at something I enjoy than a success at something I hate.
George Burns (1896-1996) American comedian
(Attributed)
I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we’re lead to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it’s worse than fear – it’s active disengagement.
Ken Burns (b. 1953) American filmmaker
The Shambala Sun, “E Pluribus Unum,” Interview (Nov. 1997)
http://www.shambhalasun.com/Archives/Features/1997/Nov97/KenBurns.htm
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An’ foolish notion ….Robert Burns (1759-1796) Scottish national poet
“To a Louse,” l.43-46 (1786)
The poem is reprinted in various forms and anglicizations of Burns' Scottish, e.g.,O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An foolish notionO would some Power the gift to give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:
I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.
John Burroughs (1837-1921) American naturalist
(Attributed)
Nature does not care whether the hunter slays the beast or the beast the hunter. She will make good compost of both, and her ends are prospered whichever succeeds.
John Burroughs (1837-1921) American naturalist
Birds & Poets, ch. 2 (1877)
http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04/7bpoe10.txt
All Faith is false, all Faith is true: truth is the shattered mirror strown
In myriad bits; while each believes his little bit the whole to own.Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) British explorer and orientalist
The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû Al-Yazdi (1900)
(Source)
One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: “To rise above the little things.”
John Burroughs (1837-1921) American naturalist
(Attributed)
Love each day as if it were your last because one of these days you’re going to be right.
Leo Buscaglia (1925-1998) American psychologist, writer
(Attributed)
No, I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.
George H. W. Bush (1924-2018) American politician, diplomat, US President (1989-1993)
News Conference, O’Hare Airport, Chicago (27 Aug. 1987)
Just as Poland had a rebellion against totalitarianism, I am rebelling against broccoli, and I refuse to give ground. I do not like broccoli, and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.
George H. W. Bush (1924-2018) American politician, diplomat, US President (1989-1993)
Comment at State Dinner for Polish PM Tadeusz Mazowiecki (21 Mar 1990)
In a free society, diversity is not disorder. Debate is not strife. And dissent is not revolution.
George W. Bush (b. 1946) US President (2001-2009)
Speech in Beijing, China (Feb. 2002)
You do not reform a world by ignoring it.
George H. W. Bush (1924-2018) American politician, diplomat, US President (1989-1993)
Commencement Speech, Yale University (27 May 1991)
Absence is to love what wind is to fire;
It extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.[L’absence est a l’amour ce qu’est au feu le vent;
Il eteint le petit, il allume le grand.]Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy (1618-1693) French soldier, libertine, writer [a.k.a. Roger Bussy-Rabutin]
Histoire amoureuse des Gaules, “Maximes d’amour [Maxims of Love]” (1660)
See Propertius.
The function of the expert is not to be more right than other people, but to be wrong for more sophisticated reasons.
David Butler (b. 1924) British social scientist, psephologist
The Observer (1969)
Such as do build their faith upon
The holy text of pike and gun …
And prove their doctrine orthodox
By apostolic blows and knocks.Samuel Butler (1612-1680) English poet, satirist, painter, philosopher [Hudibras Butler]
Hudibras, Part i. Canto i. Line 199 (1662; 1663; 1678)
He that complies against his Will
Is of his own opinion still.Samuel Butler (1612-1680) English poet, satirist, painter, philosopher [Hudibras Butler]
Hudibras, Part III, canto 3, l. 547 (1662; 1663; 1678)
There is no such source of error as the pursuit of absolute truth.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)
The first undertakers in all great attempts commonly miscarry, and leave the advantages of their losses to those that came after them.
Samuel Butler (1612-1680) English poet, satirist, painter, philosopher [Hudibras Butler]
Prose Observations (1660-80)
If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)
Life is one long process of getting tired.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)
Going away: I can generally bear the separation, but I don’t like the leave-taking.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
(Attributed)
The one serious conviction that a man should have is that nothing is to be taken too seriously.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)
Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule. Nevertheless one had better know the rules, for they sometimes guide in doubtful cases, though not often.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1, “Life” (1912)
(Source)
Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1 “Life,” ix (1912)
Full text.
There are two great rules in life, the one general and the other particular. The first is that every one can in the end get what he wants if he only tries. This is the general rule. The particular rule is that every individual is more or less of an exception to the general rule.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)
(Source)
Half the vices that the world condemns most loudly have seeds of good in them and require moderate use rather than total abstinence.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Way of All Flesh, ch. 52 (1903)
(Source)
To know God better is only to realize how impossible it is that we should ever know him at all. I know not which is more childish, to deny him, or define him.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)
The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself, too.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, “Dogs” (1912)
(Source)
Death, like life, is an affair of being more frightened than hurt.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
Erewhon (1872)
Christ and The Church: If he were to apply for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, adultery and desertion, he would probably get one.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)
Laziness grows on people; it begins in cobwebs and ends in iron chains. The more one has to do, the more he is able to accomplish.
Sir Thomas Buxton (1786-1845) English philanthropist
(Attributed)
(also attrib. Sir Matthew. Hale, Sir Matthew Hale (1609-76))
You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.
Charles Buxton (1823-1871) English brewer, philanthropist, writer, politician
Notes of Thought, #488 (1873)
(Source)
Old is when your wife says “Let’s go upstairs and make love,” and you answer, “Honey, I can’t do both.”
Red Buttons (1919-2006) American comic [b. Aaron Chwatt]
(Attributed)
Never raise your hands to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected.
Red Buttons (1919-2006) American comic [b. Aaron Chwatt]
(Attributed)
All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1 “Life” (1912)
(Source)
Give wind and tide a chance to change.
Admiral Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957) American aviator
(Attributed)
And I will war, at least in words (and — should
My chance so happen — deeds), with all who war
With Thought; — and of Thought’s foes by far most rude,
Tyrants and sycophants have been and are.
I know not who may conquer: if I could
Have such a prescience, it should be no bar
To this my plain, sworn, downright detestation
Of every despotism in every nation.
And if I laugh at any mortal thing,
‘Tis that I may not weep.
Christians have burnt each other, quite persuaded
That all the Apostles would have done as they did.
I wish men to be free
As much from mobs as kings — from you as me.
All tragedies are finish’d by a death,
All comedies are ended by a marriage;
The future states of both are left to faith.
Hereditary bondsmen! know ye not
Who would be free themselves must strike the blow?George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 2, st. 76 (1812)
(Source)
Speaking of the Greeks, whose nation was still controlled by the Ottoman Empire. The lines were used by W. E. B. DuBois, along with a line from st. 74, as the epigraph of ch. 3 of The Souls of Black Folks (1903).
Always laugh when you can; it is cheap medicine.
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
(Attributed)
Widely attributed to Byron, but no source cited.
All bad precedents begin with justifiable measures.
Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) Roman general and statesman [Gaius Julius Caesar]
“On the Punishment of the Catiline Conspirators,” 9 (63 BC)
The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.
James Branch Caball (1879-1958) American novelist and essayist
The Silver Stallion (1926)
People readily believe what they want to believe.
Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) Roman general and statesman [Gaius Julius Caesar]
The Gallic Wars [De Bello Gallico], Book 3, sec. 18 (49 BC)
Alt. trans.: "Men believe that willingly which they wish to be true."
Study first Propriety: for she is indeed the Pole-star.
Charles Stuart Calverley (1831-1884) English poet and parodist
Proverbial Philosophy, “Of Propriety”
Assuredly there is but one way in which to achieve what is not merely difficult but utterly against human nature: to love those who hate us, to repay their evil deeds with benefits, to return blessings for reproaches. It is that we remember not to consider men’s evil intention but to look upon the image of God in them, which cancels and effaces their transgressions, and with its beauty and dignity allures us to love and embrace them.
John Calvin (1509-1564) French theologian and reformer
The Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536)
God not only provides for men’s necessity… but that in his goodness he deals still more bountifully with them by cheering their hearts with wine. It is lawful to use wine not only in cases of necessity but also thereby to make us merry.
John Calvin (1509-1564) French theologian and reformer
Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 104:15 (1557)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom11.all.html#xiii.iii
But those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known.
John Calvin (1509-1564) French theologian and reformer
The Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536)
The perils of ambulatory reading. If you have never said “Excuse me” to a parking meter or bashed your shins on a fireplug, you are probably wasting too much valuable reading time.
Sherri Chasin Calvo (contemp.) American computer scientist
(Attributed)
BISHOP: I’m afraid I have some bad news.
HUDSON: Well that’s a switch.James Cameron (b. 1954) Canadian film director, producer, screenwriter
Aliens (1986)
Now that they are called masters, they are ashamed again to become disciples.
Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639) Italian philosopher and monk
The Defense of Galileo (1616)
Does it really matter what these affectionate people do — so long as they don’t do it in the streets and frighten the horses!
Beatrice Campbell (1865-1940) English actress [Mrs. Patrick Campbell, née Beatrice Stella Tanner]
(Attributed)
Apocryphally a rebuke c. 1910 to a young actress who criticized an older actor as seeming too affectionate toward the handsome leading man in the production. Most famously given in this form in Alan Dent, Mrs. Patrick Campbell (1961).
Further discussion and variants:
Be good at something, good enough so that you can take quiet pride in knowing that you are a valuable person, that you can do at least one thing well.
David H. Campbell, Jr. (contemp.) American careers expert
If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, You’ll Probably End Up Somewhere (1974)
History does not always repeat itself. Sometimes it just yells “Can’t you remember anything I told you?” and lets fly with a club.
John W. Campbell (1910-1971) American writer and editor
(Attributed)
Discipline is remembering what you want.
David H. Campbell, Jr. (contemp.) American careers expert
(Attributed)
Why should it be that whenever men have looked for something solid on which to found their lives, they have chosen not the facts in which the world abounds, but the myths of an immemorial imagination.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) American writer, professor of literature
The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology (1987)
The myth is the public domain and the dream is the private myth. If your private myth, your dream, happens to coincide with that of the society, you are in good accord with your group. If it isn’t, you’ve got a long adventure in the dark forest ahead of you.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) American writer, professor of literature
(Attributed)
When people think that they, or their guru, have The Truth — ‘This is It!’ — they are what Nietzsche calls ‘epileptics of the concept’: people who have gotten an idea that’s driven them crazy.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) American writer, professor of literature
(Attributed)
One thing that comes out in myths is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) American writer, professor of literature
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1972)
Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.
Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
Resistance, Rebellion, and Death (1960)
A free press can of course be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom it will never be anything but bad. … Freedom means nothing but a chance to be better, whereas enslavement is a certainty of the worse.
Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
Resistance, Rebellion and Death (1960)
You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.
Alphonse Capone (1899-1957) American gangster
(Attributed)
And what if you were told: One more hour?
Elias Canetti (1905-1994) Bulgarian-British author
The Secret Heart of the Clock: Notes, Aphorisms, Fragments (1985)
tr. Joel Agee, 1989.
It’s like the thing with violent video games now. What violent video game did Jack the Ripper play? Did Hitler play Risk in high school and that’s why he wanted to take over the world? It’s insane logic.
Drew Carey (b. 1958) American comedian
Maxim, interview (Sep. 1999)
http://www.maximonline.com/world_o_sex/articles/article_1807.html
If you can’t beat them, arrange to have them beaten.
George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes [Part 2]”
(Source)
Those who dance are considered insane by those who can’t hear the music.
George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Book (1997), Brain Droppings, “Short Takes (Part 1)”
(Source)
This phrase, or its meaning, pre-dates Carlin. Carlin himself attributes it to "Anon." in the epigraph of his next book, Napalm and Silly Putty (2001).
A version of it is often misattributed to Friedrich Nietzsche in this English form:And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.
While this English quotation does show up back into the 19th Century, there is no evidence that Nietzsche said it.
For more discussion, see:The phrase and its meaning are related to Thoreau's metaphor of "marching to the beat of a different drummer."
- Quote Origin: Those Who Dance Are Considered Insane by Those Who Can’t Hear the Music – Quote Investigator®.
- Nietzsche Didn't Say That... But He Would've Agreed.
Have you ever noticed when driving that anyone who is driving slower than you is an idiot? And anyone driving faster than you is a maniac? “Say, look at this idiot here! Will you just look at this idiot, just creeping along — whoa, look at that maniac go!” I mean, it’s a wonder we ever get anywhere at all, with all the idiots and maniacs there are.
George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Show (1984-04-19), On Campus, “Cars and Driving,” University of California, Los Angeles
(Source (Video); dialog verified)
This skit was put in text in Napalm & Silly Putty, "Cars and Driving, Part 1," "Idiots and Maniacs" (2001):Have you ever noticed when you're drivin', anyone goin' slower than you is an idiot? And anyone goin' faster than you is a maniac? "Will you look at this idiot!" [points right] "Look at him! Just creepin' along!" [swings head left] "Holy shit! Look at that maniac go!" Why, I tell ya, folks, it's a wonder we ever get anywhere at all these days, what with all the idiots and maniacs out there.
Which was in turn recorded as an audiobook by Carlin. Note the audio version of the book adds "Whoa!" in front of "Holy shit!" and omits the words "these days."
How about “just be yourself, and the people who like you will like you for who you really are, and not who you are pretending to be”? You should be polite to the others because we need more politeness, but otherwise they can just go screw themselves with a shattered-glass-encrusted baseball bat.
Marc Carlson (contemp.) American librarian, historian
Belief-L
Remember, earthquakes are God’s gentle little reminders that “Excuse me, I’m putting a mountain right where you are standing.”
Marc Carlson (contemp.) American librarian, historian
Belief-L (16 Feb. 2001)
May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Show (1986-05-02), “Hello-Goodbye,” Playin’ With Your Head, Beverly Theatre, Los Angeles (HBO)
Explained in the routine as part of a series of rotating "good-bye" phrases he uses.
(Source (Video)). Routine collected in Napalm & Silly Putty (2001).
[T]here seems to be with some people a feeling that you can tell a deeper truth by way of myths. I disagree with it in principle; I can not always disagree with it in practice.
Marc Carlson (contemp.) American librarian, historian
Belief-L (13 Jul. 2000)
At the very least, experience furnishes the houses of our lives — but we choose whether to live in them.
Marc Carlson (contemp.) American librarian, historian
Belief-L
My ancestors evolved to stop eating fish.
Marc Carlson (contemp.) American librarian, historian
(Attributed)
To put it bluntly, if we lived in a universe where all things were decided by God, and “free will” were nothing but a polite lie, then the universe would be nothing but masturbatory exercises of the Almighty, pre-scripted and acted out by the well-trained monkey people led about by “God’s Will”. I choose to not accept this possibility, since the universe would then have no purpose that could possibly interest me.
Marc Carlson (contemp.) American librarian, historian
Belief-L (8 Jan. 1999)
In some cases, all it requires is that you rationally point out that there is a problem. In others, all you can do is turn the other cheek. At the far end of the spectrum are those for whom the only appropriate response is to carve out their still-beating heart and force them to eat it.
Marc Carlson (contemp.) American librarian, historian
Belief-L
Tell a man he is brave, and you help him to become so.
Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one rascal less in the world.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
(Attributed)
This can also be found quoted as "one less rascal" and "one less scoundrel." I cannot find an original source for it.
For if a good speaker — an eloquent speaker — is not speaking the truth, is there a more horrid kind of object in creation?
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Speech (1866-04-02), “On the Choice of Books,” Inaugural Address as Lord Rector, University of Edinburgh
(Source)
Often rendered: "Can there be a more horrible object in existence than an eloquent man not speaking the truth?"
Regarding oration/declamation as an academic subject, and deemphasizing the importance of how something is said than what is being said.
See also Euripides (405 BC), Publilius Syrus (c. 40 BC).
Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1829-06), “Signs of the Times,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 49, No. 98, Art. 7
(Source)
Review of three 1829 books: Anticipation; or, an Hundred Years Hence; The Rise, Progress, and Present State of Public Opinion in Great Britain; Edward Irvine, The Last Days; or, Discourses on These Our Times.
The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-08), “The Hero as Prophet,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)
The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 2 (1841).
The fine arts once divorcing themselves from truth are quite certain to fall mad, if they do not die, and get flown away with by the Devil, which latter is only the second-worst result for us. Truth, fact, is the life of all things; falsity, “fiction” or whatever it may call itself, is certain to be death, and is already insanity, to whatever thing takes up with it.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1850-08-01), “Jesuitism,” Latter-Day Pamphlets, No. 8
(Source)
The block of granite which was an obstacle in the path of the weak, becomes a steppingstone in the path of the strong.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
(Attributed)
His religion at best is an anxious wish, — like that of Rabelais, a great Perhaps.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
“Burns,” Edinburgh Review No. 96, Art. 1 (1828-12)
(Source)
A review of Lockhart, The Life of Robert Burns (1828).
Every new opinion, at its starting, is precisely in a minority of one. In one man’s head alone, there it dwells as yet. One man alone of the whole world believes it; there is one man against all men.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-08), “The Hero as Prophet,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)
The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 2 (1841).
Trust not the heart of that man for whom old clothes are not venerable.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 3, ch. 6 (1834)
(Source)
Quoting Herr Teufelsdröckh.
This chapter first appeared in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 10, No. 55 (1834-07).
Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity there are a hundred that will stand adversity.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-19), “The Hero as Man of Letters,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)
The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 5 (1841).
I grow daily to honor Facts more and more, and Theory less and less.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Letter (1836-04-29) to Ralph Waldo Emerson
(Source)
In every object there is inexhaustible meaning; the eye sees in it what the eye brings means of seeing.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
(Misattributed)
Carlyle uses this phrase in his The French Revolution: A History, Part 1, Book 1, ch. 2 (1.1.2) (1837), but brackets it in quotations, and prefaces it with "For indeed it is well said ...." Nevertheless, the phrase is often misattributed directly to Carlyle.
The second half of the phrase (and sometimes the whole thing) has also been misattributed to Johann von Goethe, as "The eye sees only what the eye brings means of seeing." This is not found in Goethe's work, but may be distorted from a line in the Prologue to Goethe's Faust: "Each one sees what he carries in his heart."
The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
(Attributed)
Beautiful it is to see and understand that no worth, known or unknown, can die even in this earth. The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green; it flows and flows, it joins itself with other veins and veinlets; one day, it will start forth as a visible perennial well.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
“Varnhagen von Ense’s Memoirs,” London and Westminster Review, No. 62 (1838-12)
(Source)
A review of three books involving Lady Rahel Varnhagen von Ense.
Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) American industrialist and philanthropist
(Attributed)
Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American writer, lecturer
(Attributed)
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) American industrialist and philanthropist
(Attributed)
Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain — and most fools do.
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American writer, lecturer
How to Win Friends and Influence People, Part 1, ch. 1 (1936)
(Source)
Also attributed to Ben Franklin; this may be due to the preceding paragraph quoting Franklin.
Fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American writer, lecturer
(Attributed)
One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon — instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American writer, lecturer
(Attributed)