Believe in fate, but lean forward where fate can see you.
Quentin Crisp (1908-1999) English writer and raconteur [b. Denis Pratt]
(Attributed)
The most successful politician is he who says what everybody else is thinking most often and in the loudest voice.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
(Attributed)
Often attributed, but rarely sourced. It appears to be first quoted as a personal anecdote by Alfred George Gardiner, The Pillars of Society (1927)
The man who is admired for the ingenuity of his larceny is almost always rediscovering some earlier form of fraud. The basic forms are all known, have all been practiced. The manners of capitalism improve. The morals may not.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Age of Uncertainty, ch. 2 (1977)
Communism reduces men to a cog in the wheel of the state. The communist may object, saying that in Marxian theory the state is an “interim reality” that will “wither away” when the classless society emerges. True — in theory; but it is also true that, while the state lasts, it is an end in itself. Man is a means to that end. He has no inalienable rights. His only rights are derived from, and conferred by, the state. Under such a system the fountain of freedom runs dry.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)
A Wounded Deer — leaps highest —
Answers are a luxury enjoyed only every now and then. So early on, learn to love the questions themselves.
Neil deGrasse Tyson (b. 1958) American astrophysicist, author, orator
Comment on “I am Neil deGrasse Tyson — Ask Me Anything” (1 Mar 2012)
(Source)
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Letter to Gerrit Smith (30 Mar 1849)
I don’t beleave in fighting; i am solemly aginst it; but if a man gits teu fighting, i am also solemly aginst hiz gitting licked. After a fight iz once opened, all the virtew thare iz in it iz tew lick the other party.
[I don’t believe in fighting; I am solemnly against it; but if a man gets to fighting, I am also solemnly against his getting licked. After a fight is once opened, all the virtue there is in it is to lick the other party.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 148 “Affurisms: Ink Brats” (1874)
(Source)
The only obligation to which in advance we may hold a novel without incurring the accusation of being arbitrary, is that it be interesting.
Henry James (1843-1916) American writer
“The Art of Fiction,” Longman’s Magazine (4 Sep 1884)
(Source)
My experience in life is that it is not divided up into genres; it’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you’re lucky.
There isn’t a bit of philanthropy in it. Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent, because anything that won’t sell hasn’t reached the acme of success. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.
Thomas Edison (1847-1931) American inventor and businessman
Interview, New York World (1888)
(Source)
A politician should have three hats: one for throwing in the ring, one for talking through, and one for pulling rabbits out of if elected.
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) American poet, biographer
(Attributed)
Few things are so immutable as the addiction of political groups to the ideas by which they have once won office.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Affluent Society, ch. 13, sec. 4 (1958)
We must honestly admit that capitalism has often left a gulf between superfluous wealth and abject poverty, has created conditions permitting necessities to be taken from the many to give luxuries to the few, and has encouraged small-hearted men to become cold and conscienceless so that, like Dives before Lazarus, they are unmoved by suffering, poverty-stricken humanity. The profit motive, when it is the sole basis of an economic system, encourages cutthroat competition and selfish ambition that inspire men to be more I-centered than thou-centered.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)
You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best you have to give.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
(Attributed)
For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And along the way, lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.
Neil deGrasse Tyson (b. 1958) American astrophysicist, author, orator
Comment on “I am Neil deGrasse Tyson — Ask Me Anything” (1 Mar 2012)
(Source)
Often shortened as "I am driven by two main philosophies: know more about the world than I knew yesterday, and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you."
Being president is like running a cemetery; you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening.
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) American politician, US President (1993-2001)
Speech, Galesburg, Illinois (Jan 1995)
If ever you find yourself environed with difficulties and perplexing circumstances out of which you are at a loss how to extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured that that will extricate you the best out of the worst situations. Though you cannot see when you take one step what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice and plain dealing, and never fear their leading you out of the labyrinth in the easiest manner possible. The knot which you thought a Gordian one will untie itself before you. Nothing is so mistaken as the supposition that a person is to extricate himself from a difficulty by intrigue, by chicanery, by dissimulation, by trimming, by an untruth, by an injustice. This increases the difficulties tenfold; and those who pursue these methods get themselves so involved at length that they can turn no way but their infamy becomes more exposed.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Peter Carr (19 Aug 1785)
(Source)
Our losses should frequently be put on the credit side.
Elizabeth Bibesco (1897-1945) Romanian-English writer
Haven (1951)
He that is valiant and dares fight, though drubbed, can lose no honor by ‘t.
Samuel Butler (1612-1680) English poet, satirist, painter, philosopher [Hudibras Butler]
“Hudibras,” Part 1, canto 3
(Source)
What gets measured, gets managed.
Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005) Austrian-American business consultant
(Attributed)
Frequently cited, but not sourced. Cf. Lord Kelvin.
The value of an idea has nothing whatever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
“Oscariana” (1909)
I think “taste” is a social concept and not an artistic one. I’m willing to show good taste, if I can, in somebody else’s living room, but our reading life is too short for a writer to be in any way polite. Since his words enter into another’s brain in silence and intimacy, he should be as honest and explicit as we are with ourselves.
John Updike (1932-2009) American writer
Interview, New York Times Book Review (10 Apr 1977)
No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned. Every dollar received should represent a dollar’s worth of service rendered — not gambling in stocks, but service rendered. The really big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the mere fact of its size acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree from what is possessed by men of relatively small means. Therefore, I believe in a graduated income tax on big fortunes, and in another tax which is far more easily collected and far more effective — a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
“The New Nationalism,” speech, Osawatomie, Kansas (31 Aug 1910)
(Source)
I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success … Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) Serbian-American inventor, physicist, engineer, futurist
In Cleveland Moffitt, “A Talk With Tesla,” Atlanta Constitution (7 Jun 1896)
Here is the secret: A man is a very small thing whilst he works by and for himself but an immense and omnipotent worker as soon as he puts himself right with the law of nature. … It is as when you come to a conflagration with your fire engine — no matter how good the machine, you will make but a feeble spray, whilst you draw from your own tub. But once you get your hose … dipped in the river, or in the harbor, and you can ump as long as the sea holds out.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1855)
"Notebook WO Liberty"
“Familiarity breeds kontempt.” This only applies tew men, not tew hot bukwheat slapkakes, well buttered and sugared.
[“Familiarity breeds contempt.” This only applies to men, not to hot buckwheat slapcakes, well buttered and sugared.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings: His Works, Complete (1873)
See Apuleius.
It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance, for our consideration and application of these things, and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of its process.
Henry James (1843-1916) American writer
Letter to H.G. Wells (10 July 1915)
Administrivia: A new way to show sources and context
One of the things I pride myself on with WIST is doing my Googley best to provide citations for all my quotations. Often, when I have to research the sources of a quote, I end up with an online copy of the original, primary text.That’s useful information, both to “prove” the quotation is real, and to provide context to it. (Not to mention providing fodder for future research for good quote.)
In the past, I’ve simply added a note at the bottom of the quotation (in the “more” text in WordPress, for those interested in the technicalities) saying something like “Full text“, with text being a hyperlink to that source material — a web page, a news article, a Gutenberg archive, or, increasingly often, a Google Book.
I’ve now added custom field in WIST (using a WordPress custom field, for those technically interested) to store the “source” hyperlink info. This will tuck up right under the citation, showing as “(Source)”, which should improve some of the formatting and take up a scosh less space on the page. It will only show up if I have a source / context hyperlink to put in, and, in general, will only point to primary materials.
Obviously I have some thousands of the “Full text” notes in WIST, and I won’t be methodically going in and changing them over. But over time, as I update quote, review/update authors, etc., I’ll convert them to the new style.
Let me know what you think, if you have a strong impression one way or another.
Forgive me for noting that conservatives seem to believe that the rich will work harder if we give them more, and the poor will work harder if we give them less.
E. J. Dionne, Jr. (b. 1952) American journalist and political commentator [Eugene Joseph Dionne, Jr.]
“Can this campaign be constructive?” Washington Post (3 Jun 2012)
(Source)
I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.
William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907) Scottish physicist
“Electrical Units of Measurement,” lecture (3 May 1883)
Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think it’s important.
Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005) American politician, poet, activist
Comment (1968)
People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage. Intellectual myopia, often called stupidity, is no doubt a reason.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Age of Uncertainty, Chapter 1, (1977)
On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be beaten and robbed as they make their journey through life. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“A Time to Break Silence,” speech, Clergy and Laity Concerned meeting, Riverside Church, New York City (4 Apr 1967)
(Source)
This address was reworked the following year into his book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, ch. 6, "The World House," sec. 3 (1968), in a slightly altered form:We are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be beaten and robbed as they make their journey through life. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it understands that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But westward, look, the land is bright.Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861) English poet
“Say Not The Struggle Naught Availeth” (1849)
Stupidity is not my strong suit.
Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic, author, polymath
Monsieur Teste (1919)
Within the first few months I discovered that being a President is like riding a tiger. A man has to keep riding or be swallowed. The fantastically crowded nine months of 1945 taught me that a President either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt I could let up for a single moment.
Harry S Truman (1884-1972) US President (1945-1953)
Memoirs: Years of Trial and Hope, Opening Words (1956)
I may have erred at times — no doubt I have erred; this is the law of human nature. For honest errors, however, indulgence may be hoped.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to the Gentlemen of the Senate (Feb 1801)
(Source)
On retiring as President of the Senate (Vice President) as he approached his inauguration as President. This is sometimes mis-cited as being part of a letter to Thomas Lomax (25 Feb 1801).
We are bound to those we love by their imperfections — their perfections help us to explain them to others.
Elizabeth Bibesco (1897-1945) Romanian-English writer
Haven (1951)
As to ecclesiastical parties; we may observe, that, in all ages of the world, priests have been enemies to liberty; and it is certain, that this steady conduct of theirs must have been founded on fixed reasons of interest and ambition. Liberty of thinking, and of expressing our thoughts, is always fatal to priestly power, and to those pious frauds, on which it is commonly founded; and, by an infallible connexion, which prevails among all kinds of liberty, this privilege can never be enjoyed, at least has never yet been enjoyed, but in a free government.
David Hume (1711-1776) Scottish philosopher, economist, historian, empiricist
“Of the Parties of Great Britain,” Essays, Political and Moral, vol. 1 (1741)
(Source)
Si l’Etat est fort, il nous ecrase, s’il est faible, nous perissons.
[If the state is strong, it crushes us. If it is weak, we perish.]
Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic, author, polymath
Reflections on the World Today [Regards sur le monde actuel], “Fluctuations sur la liberté” (1931)Alt trans.:
- "If power is too strong, it overwhelms us, if it is too weak, we perish."
- "If the state is strong, we are annihilated; if it is weak, we perish."
- "When the state is strong it will crush us, when it is weak, we perish."
This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Speech (1964-01-08), “State of the Union,” Joint Session of Congress, Washington, D. C.
(Source)
COSMO: There’s a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it’s not about who’s got the most bullets. It’s about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think — it’s all about the information!
Phil Alden Robinson (b. 1950) American screenwriter, director, producer
Sneakers (1992) [with Lawrence Lasker, Walter Parkes]
Habit is thus the enormous fly-wheel of society, its most precious conservative agent. It alone is what keeps us all within the bounds of ordinance, and saves the children of fortune from the envious uprisings of the poor.
William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
Principles of Psychology, ch. 4 (1890)
(Source)
Once we had wooden chalices and golden priests, now we have golden chalices and wooden priests.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Preacher,” lecture, Cambridge (1879-05-05)
(Source)
As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it.
Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) US President, 1837-41
(Attributed)
We use ideas merely to justify our evil, and speech merely to conceal our ideas.
Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
Le Chapon et al Poularde, ch. 14 (1766)
The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one’s obsessions, is what distinguishes artists from entertainers, and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all.
John Updike (1932-2009) American writer
In Studies in J. D. Salinger : Reviews, Essays, and Critiques of The Catcher in the Rye and other Fiction, ed. M. Laser and N. Fruman (1963)
On J. D. Saliger, from a review of Salinger's Franny and Zooey.
In our complex industrial civilization of today the peace of righteousness and justice, the only kind of peace worth having, is at least as necessary in the industrial world as it is among nations. There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, Oslo (5 May 1910)
(Source)
HOLMES: I’m not a psychopath, Anderson, I’m a high-functioning sociopath, do your research.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Sherlock, “A Study in Pink” (2010) [with Mark Gatiss]
The painter should not paint what he sees, but what will be seen.
Paul Valéry (1871-1945) French poet, critic, author, polymath
Mauvaises Pensées et Autres (1941)
The lust for power is not rooted in strength but in weakness.
Erich Fromm (1900-1980) American psychoanalyst and social philosopher
Escape from Freedom, 5.1 (1941)
Dangers are sum like a kold bath, very dangerous while you stand stripped on the bank, but often not only harmless, but invigorating, if you pitch into them.
[Dangers are some like a cold bath ….]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings: His Works, Complete (1873)
People talk about the conscience, but it seems to me one must just bring it up to a certain point and leave it there. You can let your conscience alone if you’re nice to the second housemaid.
Henry James (1843-1916) American writer
The Awkward Age, Book 6, ch. 3 [Mrs. Brookenham] (1899)
(Source)
Pizza is like a lady’s breasts. There’s good pizza. And there’s great pizza. But there isn’t bad pizza.
Richard Jeni (1957-2007) American comedian
(Attributed)
Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
James 4:11-12 (NIV)
Alt. trans. (KJV): "Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? "
If you want to succeed in politics, you must keep your conscience well under control.
David Lloyd George (1863-1945) Welsh politician, statesman, UK Prime Minister (1916-22)
Comment to Lord Riddell
Frequently attributed, but not cited. Also sometimes attributed to William Gladstone.
The study of money, above all other fields in economics, is the one in which complexity is used to disguise truth or to evade truth, not to reveal it.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went, ch. 1 (1975)
Truth is found neither in traditional capitalism nor in classical communism. Each represents a partial truth. Capitalism fails to see the truth in collectivism. Communism fails to see the truth in individualism. Capitalism fails to realize that life is social. Communism fails to realize that life is personal.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)
You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something, sometime in your life.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
(Attributed)
The great principles of right and wrong are legible to every reader; to pursue them requires not the aid of many counsellors. The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest. Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.
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)
Addressed to King George III.
We learn nothing by being right.
Elizabeth Bibesco (1897-1945) Romanian-English writer
Haven (1951)
Would the boy you were be proud of the man you are?
Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)
The poor man’s conscience is clear; yet he is ashamed. … He feels himself out of the sight of others, groping in the dark. Mankind takes no notice of him: he rambles and wanders unheeded. In the midst of a crowd, at church, in the market … he is in as much obscurity as he would be in a garret or a cellar. He is not disapproved, censured, or reproached: he is only not seen. … To be wholly overlooked, and to know it, are intolerable.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Discourses on Davila, ch. 5 (1790)
A bad fittin’ suit never wears out.
Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868-1930) American caricaturist and humorist
Abe Martin’s Almanac for 1909 (1908)
Full text.
COSMO: What’s wrong with this country Marty? Money. You taught me that. Evil defense contractors had it, noble causes did not. Politicians are bought and sold like so much chattel. Our problems multiplied. Pollution, crime, drugs, poverty, disease, hunger, despair; we throw gobs of money at them! The problems always get worse. Why is that? Because money’s most powerful ability is to allow bad people to continue doing bad things at the expense of those who don’t have it.
Phil Alden Robinson (b. 1950) American screenwriter, director, producer
Sneakers (1992) [with Lawrence Lasker, Walter Parkes]
Pretend what we may, the whole man within us is at work when we form our philosophical opinions. Intellect, will, taste, and passion co-operate just as they do in practical affairs; and lucky it is if the passion be not something as petty as a love of personal conquest over the philosopher across the way.
William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
“The Sentiment of Rationality” (1882)
Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know to be desperate.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
Heretics, ch. 12 “Paganism and Mr. Lowes Dickenson” (1905)
Full text.
Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech, Washington, DC (11 Apr 1865).
His last public address.
Ideas won’t keep. Something must be done about them.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician and philosopher
Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead, 28 Apr 1939 (1954)
Do not praise an undeserving man because of his riches.
Bias of Priene (fl. c. 650) Greek philosopher
In Diogenes Laërtius, The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 230) [tr. Yonge]
Our aim is to recognize what Lincoln pointed out: The fact that there are some respects in which men are obviously not equal; but also to insist that there should be an equality of self-respect and of mutual respect, an equality of rights before the law, and at least an approximate equality in the conditions under which each man obtains the chance to show the stuff that is in him when compared to his fellows.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
State of the Union address (3 Dec 1907)
Better be cheated in the price than in the quality of goods.
[Más vale ser engañado en el precio que en la mercadería.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 157 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:It is better to be deceived in the Price, than in the Commodity.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]Far better to be cheated in the price, than in the goods.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]Better to be cheated by the price than by the merchandise.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
To have doubted one’s own first principles is the work of a civilized man.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935) American jurist, Supreme Court Justice
“Ideals and Doubts,” Illinois Law Review (May 1915)
Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except upon the side of mercy.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“Abraham Lincoln,” Lecture (1894)
(Source)
Ingersoll used the final phrase here frequently about Lincoln, e.g., in The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child, an 1877 lecture, he wrote: "Abraham Lincoln was, in my judgment, in many respects, the grandest man ever president of the United States. Upon his monument these words should be written: 'Here sleeps the only man in the history of the world, who, having been clothed with almost absolute power, never abused it, except on the side of mercy.'"
The phrase "But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power" is often attributed, without citation, to Lincoln.
The lion and the lamb may, possibly, sumtime lay down in this world together for a fu minnits, but when the lion kums tew git up, the lamb will be missing.
[The lion and the lamb may, possibly, sometime lay down in this world together for a few minutes, but when the lion comes to get up, the lamb will be missing.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 134 “Affurisms: Slips of the Pen” (1874)
(Source)
A reference (using the more common phrasing) to Isaiah 11:6.
A tradition is kept alive only by something being added to it.
Henry James (1843-1916) American writer
“Robert Louis Stevenson,” Century Magazine (April 1888)
The secret of happiness is not discovered in the absence of trials, but in the midst of them.
Ted Nace (b. 1956) American writer, publisher, environmentalist
(Attributed)
It is only a sentimental half-truth that the best things in life are free; while they may be, it is equally true that we need the money to buy the time to enjoy them.
Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Pieces of Eight, ch. 4 (1982)
A conservative Republican is one who doesn’t believe anything new should be tried for the first time. A liberal Republican is one who does believe something should be tried for the first time — but not now.
Mort Sahl (1927-2021) Canadian-American comedian, actor, social satirist
In The Milwaukee Sentinel, “Marilyn Dons Snappy Garters” (8 Apr 1958)
Full text.
Among all the world’s races, some obscure Bedouin tribes possibly apart, Americans are the most prone to misinformation. This is not the consequence of any special preference for mendacity, although at the higher levels of their public administration that tendency is impressive. It is rather that so much of what they themselves believe is wrong.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
“The United States,” New York magazine (15 Nov 1971)
A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)
The world is like a game in which there are both honest and dishonest players, so that a prince who plays in this game must learn how to cheat, not in order to do it, but in order not to be the dupe of others.
Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (a.k.a. Frederick the Great)
Anti-Machiavel, ch. 18 (1740) [tr. Sonnino (1981)]
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
Warren Buffett (b. 1930) American investor and financier
“About Investing: Know the Difference Between Price and Value,” Warren Buffett Speaks, comp. J. Lowe (1997)
When the President does it, that means that it’s not illegal.
Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994) American politician, writer, US President (1967-74)
Interview with David Frost (20 May 1977)
Not every defeat of authority is a gain for individual freedom, nor every judicial rescue of a convict a victory for liberty.
Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941-54), lawyer, jurist, politician
“The Task of Maintaining Our Liberties: The Role of the Judiciary,” speech, Boston (24 Aug 1953)
(Source)
Dinner address at the American Bar Association Diamond Jubilee dinner. Reprinted in the American Bar Association Journal (Nov 1953) [citation 39 A.B.A. J. 961 (1953)].
The image of ourselves in the minds of others is the picture of a stranger we shall never see.
Elizabeth Bibesco (1897-1945) Romanian-English writer
Haven (1951)
True religion does not draw men out of the world but enables them to live better in it and excites their endeavors to mend it.
William Penn (1644-1718) English writer, philosopher, politician, statesman
No Cross, No Crown (1682)
Written while a prisoner in the Tower of London (1668-69).
Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it.
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) American physicist
(Attributed)
Many variations can be found for this quotation (none of them with citation); the word "Science" and "Physics" are often interchanged:As noted here, Frank Oppenheimer (a colleague of Feynman's) was quoted saying, "There's a lot of practical fruits to understanding, but it's like sex. There are practical fruits to sex, but nobody would say that's why you do it, normally." Feynman and Oppenheimer may well have collaborated on the general phrasing, or taken it from one another.
- "Science is like sex, it has its practical purposes, but that's not why we do it."
- "Science is like sex. Sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not why we are doing it."
- Physics is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it."
A pessimist is a man who looks both ways before crossing a one-way street.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations (1977)
JULIET: If you need me, just call. You know how to dial, don’t you? You just put your finger in the hole and make tiny little circles.
Steve Martin (b. 1945) American comedian, actor, writer, producer, musician
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) [with Carl Reiner, George Gipe]
Romeo wants Juliet as the filings want the magnet; and if no obstacles intervene he moves towards her by as straight a line as they. But Romeo and Juliet, if a wall be built between them, do not remain idiotically pressing their faces against its opposite sides like the magnet and the filings with the card. Romeo soon finds a circuitous way, by scaling the wall or otherwise, of touching Juliet’s lips directly. With the filings the path is fixed; whether it reaches the end depends on accidents. With the lover it is the end which is fixed, the path may be modified indefinitely.
William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
The Principles of Psychology, ch. 1 “The Scope of Psychology” (1890)
Full text.
No sinner is ever saved after the first twenty minutes of a sermon.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Hannibal Courier-Post (6 Mar 1835)
Do not think of knocking out another person’s brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago.
The instinct of conventionality, the horror of uncertainty, and vested interests, all militate against the acceptance of a new idea.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“Individual Liberty and Public Control,” Atlantic (1917-07)
Seek to please all the citizens, even though
Your house may be in an ungracious city.
For such a course will favour win from all:
But haughty manners oft produce destruction.Bias of Priene (fl. c. 650) Greek philosopher
In Diogenes Laërtius, The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 230) [tr. Yonge]
A heavy progressive tax upon a very large fortune is in no way such a tax upon thrift or industry as a like would be on a small fortune. No advantage comes either to the country as a whole or to the individuals inheriting the money by permitting the transmission in their entirety of the enormous fortunes which would be affected by such a tax; and as an incident to its function of revenue raising, such a tax would help to preserve a measurable equality of opportunity for the people of the generations growing to manhood.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
State of the Union address (3 Dec 1907)
Being young is greatly overestimated … any failure seems so total. Later on you realize you can have another go.
Mary Quant (b. 1934) Welsh fashion designer
Interview in The Observer (5 May 1996)
A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
(Attributed)
