There is no unemployed force in Nature. All decomposition is recomposition.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Man of Letters,” Lectures and Biographical Sketches (1883)
The individual who refuses to defend his rights when called by his Government, deserves to be a slave, and must be punished as an enemy of his country and friend to her foe.
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) American politician, general, US President (1829-1837)
“Proclamation to the People of Louisiana” (21 Sep 1814)
I do not believe the President’s sex life is any of our business. After thirty years of political reporting, I have been unable to establish a link between marital fidelity and high performance in public office. It really doesn’t matter who they screw in private, as long as they don’t screw the public.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
The Progressive (Mar 1998)
More cranks take up unfashionable errors than unfashionable truths.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish,” Unpopular Essays (1950)
If the fire rages uncontrolled in a house, we call it a disastrous conflagration; if it burns in a smelting furnace, we call it a useful industrial force. In other words, our drives and impulses as they live within us are neither good nor bad, right nor wrong.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian psychoanalyst and neurologist
(Attributed)
Quoted in Helen Walker Puner, Freud: His Life and His Mind, ch. 10 (1947).
The true creator is necessity, which is the mother of our invention.
Plato (c.428-347 BC) Greek philosopher
The Republic, 2.369 [tr. Jowett (1894)]
Popularly: "Necessity is the mother of invention."
As long as we love we will hope to live, and when the one dies that we love we will say: “Oh, that we could meet again,” and whether we do or not it will not be the work of theology. It will be a fact in nature. I would not for my life destroy one star of human hope, but I want it so that when a poor woman rocks the cradle and sings a lullaby to the dimpled darling, she will not be compelled to believe that ninety-nine chances in a hundred she is raising kindling wood for hell.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“What Must We Do To Be Saved?” Sec. 11 (1880)
(Source)
In inner-party politics, these methods lead, as we shall yet see, to this: the party organization substitutes itself for the party, the Central Committee substitutes itself for the organization, and, finally, a “dictator” substitutes himself for the Central Committee.
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) Russian politician, Marxist, intellectual, revolutionary [b. Lev Davidovich Bronstein]
Our Political Tasks (1904)
Regarding Lenin's suggestion in What Is To Be Done? that workers would not revolt on their own and needed the party's trained revolutionaries to lead them.
To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor. Non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. The oppressed must never allow the conscience of the oppressor to slumber. Religion reminds every man that he is his brother’s keeper. To accept injustice or segregation passively is to say to the oppressor that his actions are morally right. It is a way of allowing his conscience to fall asleep. At this moment the oppressed fails to be his brother’s keeper. So acquiescence — while often the easier way — is not the moral way. It is the way of the coward.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)
(Source)
Timid men are more likely to be moved to trepidation than daring in the face of great opportunities.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Prolems of Peace, 1812-1822, 1.2 (1957)
We should often blush at our noblest deeds if the world were to see all their underlying motives.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #409 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
It’s déjà vu all over again.
Yogi Berra (1925-2015) American baseball player, coach, manager [b. Lawrence Peter Berra]
What Time Is It? You Mean Now? (2003)
Men with the muckrake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck, and to look upward to the celestial crown above them. … If they gradually grow to feel that the whole world is nothing but muck their power of usefulness is gone.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Address, Laying the Cornerstone of the House Office Building, Washington (14 Apr 1906)
Nonconformity, Holy Disobedience, becomes a virtue and indeed a necessary and indispensable measure of spiritual self-preservation, in a day when the impulse to conform, to acquiesce, to go along, is the instrument which is used to subject man to totalitarian rule and involve them in permanent war.
A. J. Muste (1885-1967) Dutch-American minister, labor and civil rights activist, pacifist [Reverend Abraham Johannes Muste]
“Of Holy Disobedience” (1952)
Thou strong seducer, Opportunity!
John Dryden (1631-1700) English poet, dramatist, critic
The Conquest of Granada, 2.4.3 (1672)
Man is a rational animal — so at least I have been told. Throughout a long life, I have looked diligently for evidence in favor of this statement, but so far I have not had the good fortune to come across it.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish,” Unpopular Essays (1950)
Freedom and liberty lose out by default because good people are not vigilant.
Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) South African cleric, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Nobel Laureate
Speech (Nov 1984), Hope and Suffering (1985)
BRUTUS: There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves
Or lose our ventures.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 4, sc. 3, l. 249ff (4.3.249-255) (1599)
(Source)
Yes! ready money is Aladdin’s lamp.
Recessions catch what the auditors miss.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Interview with Robert Cornwell, The Independent (1 Jul 2002)
Full text.
The surest way of spoiling a pleasure [is] to start examining your satisfaction.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
Surprised by Joy (1955)
Be very wary of opinions that flatter your self-esteem.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish,” Unpopular Essays (1950)
Since I do not foresee that atomic energy will prove to be a boon within the near future, I have to say that, for the present, it is a menace. Perhaps it is well that it should be. It may intimidate the human race into bringing order to its international affairs, which, without the pressure of fear, undoubtedly would not happen.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
“Einstein on the Atomic Bomb,” Interview with Raymond Swing, Atlantic (Nov 1945)
(Source)
Man is neither villain nor hero; he is rather both villain and hero.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 11 “What Is Man?” (1963)
(Source)
Describing a more realistic view of humanity neither in "the thesis of pessimistic materialism nor the antithesis of optimistic humanism."
A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 68 (1955)
(Source)
History, like beauty, depends largely on the beholder, so when you read that, for example, David Livingstone discovered the Victoria Falls, you might be forgiven for thinking that there was nobody around the Falls until Livingstone arrived on the scene.
Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) South African cleric, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Nobel Laureate
“Fortieth Anniversary of the Republic,” speech (1981)
See Richard Cumberland.
THE OBSTINATE MAN does not hold Opinions, but they hold him; for when he is once possessed with an Error, ’tis, like the Devil, not to be cast out but with great Difficulty.
Samuel Butler (1612-1680) English poet, satirist, painter, philosopher [Hudibras Butler]
“The Obstinate Man”
Full text.
A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket and write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought are commonly the most valuable, and should be secured because they seldom return.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
(Attributed)
You cannot escape necessities, but you can overcome them.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Letters to Lucilius [Epistulae morales ad Lucilium], letter 37, sec. 3 “On Allegiance to Virtue” [tr. Gummere (1918)]
And I believe, too, in the gospel of Liberty, in giving to others what we claim for ourselves. I believe there is room everywhere for thought, and the more liberty you give away, the more you will have. In liberty extravagance is economy. Let us be just. Let us be generous to each other.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“What Must We Do To Be Saved?” Sec. 11 (1880)
(Source)
A sledgehammer breaks glass but forges steel.
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) Russian politician, Marxist, intellectual, revolutionary [b. Lev Davidovich Bronstein]
“We Do Not Change Our Course” (1938)
I think that if the atomic bomb did nothing more, it scared the people to the point where they realized that either they must do something about preventing war or there is a chance that there may be a morning when we would not wake up.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
News Conference (3 Jan 1946)
Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.
Sig Lines
Grey’s Law
Good and Evil, Reward and Punishment, are the only Motives to a rational Creature: These are the Spur and the Reins whereby all Mankind are set on Work and guided.
John Locke (1632-1704) English philosopher
Some Thoughts Concerning Education, 54 (1693)
If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.
Yogi Berra (1925-2015) American baseball player, coach, manager [b. Lawrence Peter Berra]
When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! (2002)
A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man is entitled to, and less than that no man shall have.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech, Springfield, Illinois (4 Jul 1903)
What greater evil could you wish a miser than a long life?
Publilius Syrus (d. 42 BC) Assyrian slave, writer, philosopher [less correctly Publius Syrus]
Sententiae [Moral Sayings], # 69 [tr. Lyman (1862)]
If the government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong I condemn.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
“Civil Disobedience” (1849)
Man is very much a creature of habit.
Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) American statesman, author
The Federalist #27 (Dec 1787)
Whenever we proclaim the uniqueness of a religion, a truth, a leader, a nation, a race, a part or a holy cause, we are also proclaiming our own uniqueness.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 37 (1955)
(Source)
The wonderful thing about God’s love is that maybe we are going to be surprised at the people we find in Heaven that we didn’t expect, and possibly we’ll be surprised at those we’d thought would be there and aren’t. God has a particularly soft spot for sinners. Remember, Jesus says there is greater joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine needing no repentance. Ultimately it all hinges on one thing: our response to the divine invitation. There is hope for us all. God’s standards are quite low.
Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) South African cleric, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Nobel Laureate
Interview with Gyles Brandreth, Sunday Times (15 Apr 2001)
(Source)
Often paraphrased (possibly the version printed in the Sunday Times): "We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low."
Orthodoxy:
- In religion, that state of mind which congratulates itself on being absolutely right, and a belief that all who think otherwise are wholly wrong.
- A faith in the fixed — a worship of the static.
- The joy that comes from thinking that most everybody is lined up for Limbus with no return ticket.
- A condition brought about by the sprites of Humor, according to the rule that whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.
- The zenith of selfishness and the nadir of egotism.
- Mephisto with a lily in his hand.
- A corpse that does not know it is dead.
- Spiritual constipation.
- That peculiar condition where the patient can neither eliminate an old idea or absorb a new one.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Roycroft Dictionary (1914)
(Source)
Success is a consequence and must not be a goal.
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) French writer, novelist
Letter (Feb 1876)
“Money isn’t everything,” — according to those who have it.
Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American billionaire
The Sayings of Chariman Malcolm, “Nobody’s Capitalist Fool” (1978)
People are the common denominator of progress. So, paucis verbis, no improvement is possible with unimproved people, and advance is certain when people are liberated and educated. It would be wrong to dismiss the importance of roads, railroads, power plants, mills, and the other familiar furniture of economic development. At some stages of development — the stage that India and Pakistan have reached, for example — they are central to the strategy of development. But we are coming to realize, I think, that there is a certain sterility in economic monuments that stand alone in a sea of illiteracy. Conquest of illiteracy comes first.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Economic Development (1964)
Many things — such as loving, going to sleep, or behaving unaffectedly — are done worst when we try hardest to do them.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1966)
I’m a pessimist about probabilities; I’m an optimist about possibilities.
Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) American writer, philosopher, historian, architect
In Carey Winfrey, “Lewis Mumford Remembers,” New York Times (6 Jul 1977)
Orthodoxy means not thinking — not needing to think. Orthdoxy is unconsciousness.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Nineteen Eighty-Four, Part 1, ch. 5 [Symes] (1949)
(Source)
Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
“Of Nature in Men,” Essays, No. 38 (1625)
(Source)
The day has been, I grieve to say in many places it is not yet past, in which the greater part of the species, under the denomination of slaves, have been treated by the law exactly upon the same footing as, in England for example, the inferior races of animals are still. The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of tyranny. The French have already discovered that the blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor. It may one day come to be recognized that the number of legs, the villosity of the skin, or the termination of the os sacrum are reasons equally insufficient for abandoning a sensitive being to the same fate. What else is it that should trace the insuperable line? Is it the faculty of reason, or perhaps the faculty of discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day or a week or even a month, old. But suppose they were otherwise, what would it avail? The question is not Can they reason?, nor Can they talk?, but Can they suffer?
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) English jurist and philosopher
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, ch. 17 “Of the Limits of the Penal Branch of Jurisprudence” (1789; 1823)
Full text.
There are three things one must not do in the face of electoral disaster. Whine. Despair. Or fall for that specious old radical crap: “Things have to get worse before they can get better.” The only possible response to that one is, “Not with my child’s life.” Nor is it helpful to sit around hoping that given enough rope, the R’s will hang themselves. They’ll hang us along with them. The only thing to do is to fight harder and smarter.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
“Fight Harder,” The Progressive (Dec 2002)
Our wretched species is so made that those who walk the beaten path always throw stones at those who teach a new path.
Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
Philosophical Dictionary, “Literature and Writers” (1764) [tr. Besterman (1971)]
Necessity makes an honest man a knave.
Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731) English journalist and novelist
Serious Reflections during the Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, ch. 2 (1720)
We have had too many of these solemn people. Whenever I see an exceedingly solemn man, I know he is an exceedingly stupid man. No man of any humor ever founded a religion — never. Humor sees both sides. While reason is the holy light, humor carries the lantern, and the man with a keen sense of humor is preserved from the solemn stupidities of superstition.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“What Must We Do To Be Saved?” Sec. 11 (1880)
(Source)
There rise authors now and then, who seem proof against the mutability of language, because they have rooted themselves in the unchanging principles of human nature. They are like gigantic trees that we sometimes see on the banks of a stream; which, by their vast and deep roots, penetrating through the mere surface, and laying hold on the very foundations of the earth, preserve the soil around them from being swept away by the ever-flowing current, and hold up many a neighboring plant, and perhaps worthless weed, to perpetuity.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
“The Mutabilities of Literature,” The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819-20)
True modesty does not consist in an ignrance of our merits, but in due estimate of them.
Julius Hare (1795-1855) English cleric, theologian
Guesses at Truth: First Series [with A. W. Hare] (1827)
Nonconformity is an empty goal, and rebellion against prevailing opinion merely because it is prevailing should no more be praised that acquiescence to it. Indeed, it is often a mask for cowardice and few are more pathetic than those who flaunt outer differences to expiate their inner surrender.
William Hollingsworth "Holly" Whyte, Jr. (1917-1999) American sociologist, journalist, and civic planner
The Organization Man, ch. 1 (1956)
Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
“Courage,” Rectoral Address, University of St. Andrews, Scotland (1922-05-03)
(Source)
The future ain’t what it used to be.
Yogi Berra (1925-2015) American baseball player, coach, manager [b. Lawrence Peter Berra]
When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! (2002)
Our aim is not to do away with corporations; on the contrary, these big aggregations are an inevitable development of modern industrialism, and the effort to destroy them would be futile unless accomplished in ways that would work the utmost mischief to the entire body politic. We can do nothing of good in the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
State of the Union address (2 Dec 1902)
In the midst of this American society, so well policed, so sententious, so charitable, a cold selfishness and complete insensibility prevails when it is a question of the natives of the country. Ths Americans of the United States do not let their dogs hunt the Indians as do the Spaniards in Mexico, but at bottom it is the same pitiless feeling which here, as everywhere else, animates the European race. The world belongs to us, they tell themelves every day: the Indian race is destined for final destruction which one cannot prevent and which it is not desirable to delay. Heaven has not made them to become civilized; it is necessary that they die. Besides I do not at all want to get mixed up in it. I will not do anything against the,: I will limit myself to providing everything that will hasten their ruin. In time I will have their lands and will be innocent of their death. Satisfied with his reasoning, the American goes to the church where he hears the minister of the gospel repeat every day that all men are brothers, and the Eternal Being who has made them all in like image, has given them all the duty to help one another.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Notebook, 20 Jul 1831, Journey to America, ch., 7 [tr. Lawrence (1971)]
Allow me to furnish the interior of my head as I please, and I shall put up with a hat like everybody else’s.
Henri-Louis Bergson (1859-1941) French philosopher
The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, “Final Remarks” (1932) [tr. Auda and Brereton (1935)]
Every man lives behind bars, which he carries within him.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer
In G. Janouch, Conversations with Kafka [tr. G. Rees (1953)]
It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from the sense of inadequacy and impotence. They hate not wickedness but weakness. When it is their power to do so, the weak destroy weakness wherever they see it.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 41 (1955)
(Source)
Good is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate; light is stronger than darkness; life is stronger than death. Victory is ours, through him who loves us.
Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) South African cleric, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Nobel Laureate
The Rainbow People of God (1994)
Unless both sides win, no agreement can be permanent.
Jimmy Carter (b. 1924) American politician, US President (1977-1981), Nobel laureate [James Earl Carter, Jr.]
Charlie Rose television interview, PBS (17 Jan 1995)
With whom does the greatest danger for the whole human future lie? Is it not with the good and just? — with those who say and feel in their hearts: “We already know what is good and just, we possess it, too; woe to those who are still searching for it!”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
Thus Spoke Zarathustra [Also sprach Zarathustra], “Of Old and New Law-Tables” (26) (1883-85) [tr. Hollingdale (1961)]
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more.George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto 4, st. 178 (1818)
(Source)
Secrecy is an instrument of conspiracy; it ought not, therefore, to be the system of a regular government.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) English jurist and philosopher
“On Publicity,” The Works of Jeremy Bentham, vol 2, part 2 (1836)
Full text.
It’s hard to convince people you are bombing that you’re doing it for their own good.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
“Foolish Military Strategy,” The Progressive (Dec 2001)
Women, in consequence of the greater predisposition imparted to their bodies by menstruation, and parturition, and to their minds, by living so much alone in their families, are more predisposed to madness than men.
Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) American physician, writer, educator, humanitarian
Medical Inquiries and Observations Upon the Diseases of the Mind, 2nd ed., ch. 2 (1818)
A man who is “ill-adjusted to the world” is always on the point of finding himself. One who is adjusted to the world neer finds himself, but gets to be a cabinet minister.
Herman Hesse (1877-1962) German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter
Reflections, #149 [ed. Michels (1974)]
Necessity never made good bargain.
James Howell (c. 1594 - 1666) British historian and writer
“Divers Centuries of New Sayings,” Paroimiographia (1659)
I propose good fellowship — good friends all around. No matter what we believe, shake hands and let it go. That is your opinion; this is mine: let us be friends. Science makes friends; religion, superstition, makes enemies. They say: Belief is important. I say: No, actions are important. Judge by deed, not by creed. Good fellowship — good friends — sincere men and women — mutual forbearance, born of mutual respect.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“What Must We Do To Be Saved?” sec. 11 (1880)
(Source)
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.
Washington Irving (1783-1859) American author [pseud. for Geoffrey Crayon]
“Philip of Pokanoket : An Indian Memoir,” The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–20)
Sometimes presented in a longer form: "Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them." This version, as quoted by Elbert Hubbard, is found as early as 1897, but has not been located in Irving's works.
Why should we be in such a desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different rummer. Let him step to the music that he hears, however measured or far away.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden, “Conclusion” (1854)
Give me but virtuous actions, and I will not quibble and chicane about the motives.
Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #161 (5 Sep 1748)
(Source)
Always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise they won’t go to yours.
Yogi Berra (1925-2015) American baseball player, coach, manager [b. Lawrence Peter Berra]
When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! (2002)
Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures. But there is another harm; and it is evident that we should try to do away with that. The great corporations which we have grown to speak of rather loosely as trusts are the creatures of the State, and the State not only has the right to control them, but it is duty bound to control them wherever the need of such control is shown.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech, Providence, Rhode Island (23 Aug 1902)
Moderation has been declared a virtue so as to curb the ambition of the great and console lesser folk for their lack of fortune and merit.
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #308 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
Freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of the substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.
Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941-54), lawyer, jurist, politician
West Virginia State Board v. Barnette (1943)
Man partly is and wholly hopes to be.
Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet
“A Death in the Desert,” l. 586, Dramatis Personae (1864)
Wordiness is a sickness of American writing. Too many words dilute and blur ideas.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Letter to Mrs. Blumberg (27 Sep 1977)
Isn’t it desperately sad that, at a time when we face formidable problems — poverty, HIV/AIDS, conflict — that the Anglican Communion can invest so much energy on disagreements about human sexuality? A communion that used to boast that one of its distinctive characteristics was something called comprehensiveness, that our communion, the Anglican Church, included just about everybody. Even if you had the most weird theology you could come in, you were allowed. And now we, who used to be held up in admiration by many because of this inclusiveness, are now spending time working out how we can excommunicate one another. God looks on and God weeps. God weeps.
Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) South African cleric, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Nobel Laureate
“And God Smiles,” sermon at All Saints Church, Pasadena, California (6 Nov 2005)
Society is always trying in some way or other to grind us down to a single flat surface.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
The Professor at the Break-fast Table, ch. 2 (1860)
Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.
Barry Goldwater (1909-1998) American politician
Discussion with John Dean (Nov 1994)
Quoted in John Dean, Conservatives Without Conscience (2006). Full text.
It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.
Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
Erewhon, ch. 20 (1872)
See Bible, 1 Timothy 6:10
In the usual (though certainly not in every) public decision on economic policy, the choice is between courses that are almost equally good or equally bad. It is the narrowest decisions that are most ardently debated. If the world is lucky enough to enjoy peace, it may even one day make the discovery, to the horror of doctrinaire free-enterprisers and doctrinaire planners alike, that what is called capitalism and what is called socialism are both capable of working quite well.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
“The American Economy: Its Substance and Myth” (1949)
‘You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you,’ said the Lion.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Silver Chair (1953)
Conventional people are roused to fury by departure from convention, largely because they consider such departures as a criticism of themselves. They will pardon much unconventionality in a man who has enough jollity and friendliness to make it clear, even to the stupedist, that he is not engaged in criticizing them.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
The Conquest of Happiness, ch. 9 (1930)
You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.
Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American billionaire
(Attributed)
Quoted in Earl Wilson, "Coco Offered Fatty Arbuckle Role," Hartford Courant (6 Aug 1972); earliest reference found for Forbes. A variant is found in The Sayings of Chairman Malcolm (1978): “You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.”
The earliest version of the sentiment appears to be Paul Eldridge.
[Middle age is] the time when a man is always thinking that in a week or two he will feel just as good as ever.
Don Marquis (1878-1937) American journalist and humorist
(Attributed)
Earliest reference found in The American Magazine (1932)
It is with government, as with medicine. They have both but a choice of evils. Every law is an evil, for every law is an infraction of liberty: And I repeat that government has but a choice of evils: In making this choice, what ought to be the object of the legislator? He ought to assure himself of two things; 1st, that in every case, the incidents which he tries to prevent are really evils; and 2ndly, that if evils, they are greater than those which he employs to prevent them.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) English jurist and philosopher
Principles of Legislation, ch. 10 “Analysis of Political Good and Evil” (1830)
Sunday-morning chatter announced in horror: “People may think the rich can buy their way out of the justice system.” No shit. Been going to Texas prisons for a long time. Seen nobody rich on Death Row yet. You mean MONEY has something to do with justice in this country? … Wake me when impending egalitarianism is a problem. In the meantime, oligarchy is eating our ass, our dreams, our country, our heritage, our democracy, our justice, and our tax code.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
“Injustice and Inequality,” The Progressive (Apr 2001)
A liberal is a man or a woman or a child who looks forward to a better day, a more tranquil night, and a bright, infinite future.
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer, pianist
Statement (1953)
Once the curtain is raised, the actor ceases to belong to himself. He belongs to his character, to his author, to his public. He must do the impossible to identify himself with the first, not to betray the second, and not to disappoint the third. And to this end the actor must forget his personality and throw aside his joys and sorrows. He must present the public with the reality of a being who for him is only a fiction. With his own eyes, he must shed the tears of the other. With his own voice, he must groan the anguish of the other. His own heart beats as if it would burst, for it is the other’s heart that beats in his heart. And when he retires from a tragic or dramatic scene, if he has properly rendered his character, he must be panting and exhausted.
Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) French actress
The Art of the Theatre (1925)
[T]he Supreme Court has made its judgment and a good many people obviously will disagree with it. Others will agree with it. But I think that it is important for us if we are going to maintain our constitutional principle that we support the Supreme Court decisions even when we may not agree with them. In addition, we have in this case a vary easy remedy and that is to pray ourselves. And I would think that it would be a welcome reminder to every American family that we can pray a good deal more at home, we can attend our churches with a good deal more fidelity, and we can make the true meaning of prayer much more important in the lives of all of our children. That power is very much open to us.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Speech (1962)
On the Supreme Court's ruling in Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), which forbade government-written school prayers.
Such a book has of course its predestined readers, even now more numerous and more critical than is always realised. To them a reviewer need say little, except that here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron; here is a book that will break your heart.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
“The Gods Return to Earth,” Time and Tide (14 Aug 1954)
Book review of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. Full text.
I have always been fond of the West African proverb “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Letter to Henry L. Sprague (26 Jan 1900)
Full text. This is the first known use by Roosevelt of his future catch phrase. It attained more fame when he used it in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair (2 Sep 1901) (there are transcript variants):More discussion here:
- "There is a homely adage which runs 'Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.' If the American nation will speak softly and yet build and keep at a pitch of highest training a thoroughly efficient Navy, the Monroe Doctrine will go far."
- "Right here let me make as vigorous a plea as I know how in favor of saying nothing that we do not mean, and of acting without hesitation up to whatever we say. A good many of you are probably acquainted with the old proverb, 'Speak softly and carry a big stick -- you will go far.' If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble, and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power. In private life there are few beings more obnoxious than the man who is always loudly boasting, and if the boaster is not prepared to back up his words, his position becomes absolutely contemptible. So it is with the nation. It is both foolish and undignified to indulge in undue self-glorification, and, above all, in loose-tongued denunciation of other peoples. Whenever on any point we come in contact with a foreign power, I hope that we shall always strive to speak courteously and respectfully of that foreign power."
Never let the other fellow set the agenda.
James Baker III (b. 1930) American attorney, politician, political advisor
Quoted in The Daily Telegraph (15 Nov 1988)