At the approach of danger there are always two voices that speak with equal force in the heart of man: one very reasonably tells the man to consider the nature of the danger and the means of avoiding it; the other even more reasonable says that it is too painful and harassing to think of the danger, since it is not a man’s power to provide for everything and escape from the general march of events; and that it is therefore better to turn aside from the painful subject till it has come, and to think of what is pleasant. In solitude a man generally yields to the first voice; in society to the second.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
War and Pestle, Book 10, ch. 17 (1865-1869)
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
(Misattributed)
Misattributed to many modern authors besides Russell, including John Lennon, T. S. Elliot, and Soren Kierkegaard.
The frequent misattribution to Russell is from the phrase being used by Lawrence J. Peter in Peter's Quotations (1977) about a different Russell quote ("The thing that I should wish to obtain from money would be leisure with security"). In turn, the words were not original with Peter: the earliest citation for this quote is Marthe Troly-Curtin, Phyrnette Married, ch. 29 (1912).
More information on the history of this quotation: Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Wasted Time – Quote Investigator®.
Fear and Gain are great Perverters of Mankind, and where either prevails the Judgment is violated.
William Penn (1644-1718) English writer, philosopher, politician, statesman
Some Fruits of Solitude, #127 (1693)
I am a sporting man. I always like to give trains and aeroplanes a fair chance of getting away.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
(Attributed)
Regarding his unpunctuality.
Many hands make light warke.
John Heywood (1497?-1580?) English playwright and epigrammist
Proverbes, Part 2, ch. 5 (1546)
(Source)
The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.
Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961) British conductor
(Attributed)
In Atkins and Newman, Beecham Stories (1978)
Acquire knowledge. It enables its possessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lights the way to Heaven; it is our friend in the desert, our society in solitude, our companion when friendless; it guides us to happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is an ornament among friends and an armor against enemies.
Muhammad (570-632) Arabian merchant, prophet, founder of Islam [Mohammed]
The Sayings of Muhammad, #290 [tr. Al-Suhrawardy (1941)]
Despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, ch. 2 “The Council of Elrond” [Gandalf] (1954)
(Source)
Habit converts luxurious enjoyments into dull and daily necessities.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
Point Counter Point (1928)
The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.
Jane Wagner (b. 1935) American humorist, writer, director
Material written for Lily Tomlin
Quoted by Tomlin in "Thoughts on the Business of Life," Forbes (4 Mar 1991)
Christianity is not one ideology over against other ideologies. It is a life inspired by the Holy Spirit. Its victories are nothing but victories over itself, not over others. It propagates itself through humility and self-examination, not through triumphs.
Paul Tournier (1848-1986) Swiss physician, writer, philosopher
The Whole Person in a Broken World (1964)
Justice without might is helpless; might without justice is tyrannical.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) French scientist and philosopher
Pensées, #298 (1670) [tr. Trotter (1931)]
He ’s armed without that’s innocent within.
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Epistles, Book 1, Epistle 1, l. 94 (c. 20 BC and 14 BC) [tr. Pope]
I hold it, therefore, certain, that to open the doors of truth, and to fortify the habit of testing everything by reason, are the most effectual manacles we can rivet on the hands of our successors to prevent their manacling the people with their own consent.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to John Tyler (28 Jun 1804)
(Source)
Administrivia: The Pause that Refreshes
I’m headed off on holiday, so WIST will likely be much more sporadic for the next few weeks. I didn’t have time to queue up daily quotes, but I will have a laptop with me and so may get the opportunity to do some quotational goodness.
Or perhaps I’ll simply feel fulfilled sipping prosecco and watching the sun drop down into the Mediterranean. Either way, we will resume our normal posting schedule around 6 June.
A man who has not been in Italy is always conscious of an inferiority.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (11 Apr 1776)
In J. Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
The most wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed.
[La plus perdue de toutes les journées est celle où l’on n’a pas ri.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées], ch. 1, # 80 (1795) [tr. Morley (1887)]
(Source)
Often attributed to a more contemporary comedian (Groucho Marx, Charlie Chaplin) or writers such as Ben Burroughs, Grigori Alexandrov. It is arguably a clear enough sentiment that others might reinvent it.
(Source (French)). Alternate translation:The most lost of all days, is that in which we have not laughed.
[Source (1803)]The most completely lost of all days is that on which one has not laughed.
[Source (1891)]The worst wasted of all days is that during which one has not laughed.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902), "The Cynic's Breviary"]Of all days, the day on which one has not laughed is the one most surely wasted.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]That of all days is the most completely wasted in which one did not once laugh.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]The day that we have most lost is the one on which we have not laughed.
[Source]
Other versions:More history of the quotation: A Day Without Laughter is a Day Wasted – Quote Investigator®
- "A day without laughter is a day wasted." [Chaplin]
- "The most lost of all days is that in which one has not laughed."
- "The most wasted day of all is that in which we have not laughed."
Happiness depends more on the inward Disposition of Mind than on the outward Circumstances.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (Nov 1757)
SUSAN: Sally, does it ever occur to you that age brings wisdom and greater confidence?
SALLY: Susan, age brings you more to shave.Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Coupling, “Flushed” (12 May 2000)
There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult — to begin a war and to end it.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Democracy in America, Vol. 2, Book 3, ch. 22 (1840)
Up, Sluggard, and waste not life;
in the grave will be sleeping enough.Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Alamanack (Sep 1741)
Repeated as "There will be enough sleeping in the Grave" in "The Way of Wealth" (7 Jul 1756).
Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 58 (1955)
(Source)
Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur’s Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand.J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, ch. 2 “The Council of Elrond” (1954)
(Source)
Boromir's prophetic dream, which brought him to Rivendell.
What the cinema can do better than literature or the spoken drama is to be fantastic.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
“Where are the Movies Moving?”, Essays Old and New (1926)
In science, “fact” can only mean “confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.” I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms.
Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) American paleontologist, geologist, biologist
“Evolution as Fact and Theory” in Speak Out Against the New Right [ed. Herbert Vetter] (1982)
Full text.
Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
A Christmas Carol, stave 1
We can best get justice by doing justice.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
“National Duties” (2 Sep 1901)
I am displeased when sometimes even the worthy Homer nods
[Indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus]
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Ars Poetica, l. 359 (c. 18 BC)
Source of the expression, "Even Homer nods" (i.e., nobody one is perfect, even the wisest make mistakes).
The firmness with which the people have withstood the late abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false, and to form a correct judgment between them. As little is it necessary to impose on their senses, or dazzle their minds by pomp, splendor, or forms. Instead of this artificial, how much surer is that real respect, which results from the use of their reason, and the habit of bringing everything to the test of common sense.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to John Tyler (28 Jun 1804)
(Source)
Sloth (like Rust) consumes faster than Labor wears:
the used Key is always bright.Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (Jul 1744)
Ye poor posterity, think not that ye are the first. Other fools before ye have seen the sun rise and set, and the moon change her shape and her hour. As they were so ye are; and yet not so great; for the pyramids my people built stand to this day; whilst the dustheaps on which ye slave, and which ye call empires, scatter in the wind even as ye pile your dead sons’ bodies on them to make yet more dust.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
Caesar and Cleopatra
For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
Speech, House of Commons (23 Jan 1948)
(Source)
Sometimes given: "History will bear me out, particularly as I shall write that history myself." More discussion here: Churchillisms: "Leave the Past to History" (which He will Write).
Experience: The name every one gives to his mistakes.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Roycroft Dictionary (1914)
(Source)
Everything comes in time to him who knows how to wait.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
War and Peace, Book 10, ch. 16 (1865-1869)
Monty Python’s usual schoolboy humour is here let loose on a period of history appropriately familiar to every schoolboy in the West, and a faith which could be shaken by such good-humoured ribaldry would be a very precarious faith indeed.
(Other Authors and Sources)
The British Board Of Film Censors, Report on Life of Brian (1979)
The great lesson to draw from revolutions is not that they devour humanity but rather that tyranny never fails to generate them.
Pierre Trudeau (1919–2000) Canadian politician
“When the People Are in Power” (1958)
The happiest excitement in life is to be convinced that one is fighting for all one is worth on behalf of some clearly seen and deeply felt good, and against some greatly scorned evil.
Ruth Benedict (1887-1947) American anthropologist
Journal, undated (1915-1934)
We have discovered that what a year ago seemed to be a neglected house is essentially a ruin. This is not a pleasant fact, and it is not surprising that all of us are rather annoyed and disappointed about it.
Václav Havel (1936-2011) Czech playwright, essayist, dissident, politician
New Year’s Address to the Nation, Prague (1 Jan 1991)
Commerce is naturally adverse to all the violent passions; it loves to temporize, takes delight in compromise, and studiously avoids irritation. It is patient, insinuating, flexible, and never has recourse to extreme measures until obliged by the most absolute necessity. Commerce renders men independent of each other, gives them a lofty notion of their personal importance, leads them to seek to conduct their own affairs, and teaches how to conduct them well; it therefore prepares men for freedom, but preserves them from revolutions.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Democracy in America, Vol. 2, Book 3, ch. 21 (1840)
Alt. trans.: "Trade is the natural enemy of all violent passions. Trade loves moderation, delights in compromise, and is most careful to avoid anger. It is patient, supple, and insinuating, only resorting to extreme measures in cases of absolute necessity. Trade makes men independent of one another and gives them a high idea of their personal importance: it leads them to want to manage their own affairs and teaches them to succeed therein. Hence it makes them inclined to liberty but disinclined to revolution."
From the perspective of society the highest moral ideal is justice. From the perspective of the individual the highest ideal is unselfishness. Society must strive for justice even if it is forced to use means, such as self-assertion, resistance, coercion and perhaps resentment, which cannot gain the moral sanction of the most sensitive moral spirit.
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) American theologian and clergyman
“Pacifism Against the Wall,” The American Scholar (Spring 1936)
Full text.
Ever’ once in a while we meet a feller that’s too proud t’ beg, an’ too honest t’ steal, an’ too lazy t’ work.
Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868-1930) American caricaturist and humorist
Abe Martin’s Almanack
Full text.
Judgment is to be made of actions according to the times in which they were performed.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Parallel Lives, “Policola and Colon Compared” [Dryden Ed. (1693)]
If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
(Spurious)
This hasn't been found in Churchill's writings, and is generally believed by researchers (and the Churchill Centre) to be spurious. It's also misaligned with the ideological cycle of Churchill's own career.
See Clemenceau for more discussion about this general quotation form.
But he was at home there, he might speake his will,
Every cocke is proud on his owne dunghill.John Heywood (1497?-1580?) English playwright and epigrammist
Proverbes, Part 1, ch. 11 (1546)
(Source)
Laff every good chance ya kan git, but don’t laff unless yu feal like it, for there ain’t nothing in this world more harty than a good honest laff, nor nothing more hoollow than a hartless one.
[Laugh every good chance you can get, but don’t laugh unless you feel like it, for there ain’t nothing in this world more hearty than a good, honest laugh, nor nothing more hollow than a heartless one.]
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, “Laffing” (1874)
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (18 Apr 1775)
In James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing:
the last whose realm was fair and free
between the Mountains and the Sea.His sword was long, his lance was keen,
his shining helm afar was seen;
the countless stars of heaven’s field
were mirrored in his silver shield.But long ago he rode away
and where he dwelleth none can say;
for into darkness fell his star
in Mordor where the shadows are.J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 11 “A Knife in the Dark” [Sam] (1954)
(Source)
Sam says he was taught it by Bilbo, who claimed to have written it. Aragorn corrects him, saying it is part of a lay called "The Fall of Gil-galad," though Bilbo appears to have translated it from the Elvish.
It almost seems that nobody can hate America as much as native Americans. America needs new immigrants to love and cherish it.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
“Thoughts of Eric Hoffer,” New York Times Magazine (25 Apr 1971)
Maybe we should always show pictures. Bin Laden, pictures of our wounded service people, pictures of maimed innocent civilians. We can only make decisions about war if we see what war actually is — and not as a video game where bodies quickly disappear, leaving behind a shiny gold coin.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
The Daily Show (2011-05-04)
A musicologist is a man who can read music but can’t hear it.
Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961) British conductor
(Attributed)
In H. Proctor-Gregg, Beecham Remembered (1976)
He who is only just is cruel; who
Upon the earth would live were all judged justly?George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, Act 5, sc. 1 [Angiolina] (1821)
(Source)
Struggling to be brief
I become obscure.[Brevis esse laboro,
obscurus fio.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Ars Poetica, l. 25 (c. 18 BC)
Alt. trans.: "Aiming at brevity, I become obscure."
My opinion is that there would never have been an infidel, if there had never been a priest. The artificial structures they have built on the purest of all moral systems, for the purpose of deriving from it pence and power, revolts those who think for themselves, and who read in that system only what is really there.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Mrs. Samuel H. Smith [Margaret Bayard Smith] (6 Aug 1816)
Vulgarity in a king flatters the majority of the nation.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
Man and Superman, “Maxims for Revolutionists: Royalty” (1903)
Wouldn’t it be great if we all grew up to be what we wanted to be? The world would be full of nurses, firemen, and ballerinas.
Lily Tomlin (b. 1939) American comedian and actress
Saturday Night Live (22 Nov 1975)
History is not, of course, a cookbook, offering pretested recipes. It teaches by analogy, not by maxims.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
White House Years, ch. 3 (1979)
Genius is often only the power of making continuous efforts. The line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it — so fine that we are often on the line and do not know it. How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience, would have achieved success. As the tide goes clear out, so it comes clear in. In business sometimes prospects may seem darkest when really they are on the turn. A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
Electrical Review (c. 1895)
Original source not found, but as such in Evelyn Briggs Baldwin, The Search for the North Pole (1896). Later published in various works by Hubbard, including FRA Magazine : A Journal of Affirmation (1915), and An American Bible (1918) (ed. Alice Hubbard).
You will die — and it will all be over. You will die and find out everything — or cease asking.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
War and Peace, Book 5, ch. 1 (1865-1869)
What no human soul desires there is no need to prohibit; it is automatically excluded. The very emphasis of the commandment, Thou shalt not kill, makes it certain that we spring from an endless ancestry of murderers, with whom the lust for killing was in the blood, as possibly it is to this day with ourselves.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian psychoanalyst and neurologist
“Reflections upon War and Death” (2) (1915) [tr. Mayne (1963)]
Sail, quoth the King; hold, saith the Wind.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #4064 (1732)
(Source)
Human happiness konsists in having what yu want, and wanting what yu hav.
[Human happiness consists in having what you want, and wanting what you have.]
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. 131 “Affurisms: Plum Pits (1)” (1874)
(Source)
It would be very unreasonable to understand the sad legacy of the last forty years as something alien, which some distant relative bequeathed to us. On the contrary, we have to accept this legacy as a sin we committed against ourselves. If we accept it as such, we will understand that it is up to us all, and up to us alone to do something about it. We cannot blame the previous rulers for everything, not only because it would be untrue, but also because it would blunt the duty that each of us faces today: namely, the obligation to act independently, freely, reasonably and quickly.
Václav Havel (1936-2011) Czech playwright, essayist, dissident, politician
New Year’s Address to the Nation, Prague (1 Jan 1990)
In the United States, the majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals, who are thus relieved from the necessity of forming opinions of their own.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Democracy in America, Vol. 2, Book 1, ch. 2 (1840)
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Japanese proverb
Special mercy arouses more gratitude than universal mercy.
Richard Baxter (1615-1691) English Puritan clergyman and writer
The Saints’ Everlasting Rest, “The Splendor of the Saints’ Rest” (1650)
Distrust your judgment the moment you can discern the shadow of a personal motive in it.
[Mißtraue deinem Urteil, sobald du darin den Schatten eines persönlichen Motivs entdecken kannst.]
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) Austrian writer
Aphorisms [Aphorismen], No. 548 (1880) [tr. Scrase/Mieder (1994)]
(Source)
He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
It hurteth not the toung to give faire words.
John Heywood (1497?-1580?) English playwright and epigrammist
Proverbes, Part 1, ch. 9 (1546)
(Source)
It’s not whether God is on our side or whether we’re doing God’s will, it’s being so narcissistic as to think that God is telling you what to do.
Lily Tomlin (b. 1939) American comedian and actress
Interview with Alonso Duralde, “Thoroughly Modern Lily” The Advocate (15 Mar 2005)
Let us put aside resolutely that great fright, tenderly and without malice, daring to be wrong in something important rather than right in some meticulous banality, fearing no evil while the mind is free to search, imagine, and conclude, inviting our countrymen to try other instruments than coercion and suppression in the effort to meet destiny with triumph, genially suspecting that no creed yet calendared in the annals of politics mirrors the doomful possibilities of infinity.
Charles Beard (1874-1948) American historian
Address, American Political Science Assoc., St. Louis, Missouri (29 Dec 1926)
Reprinted as "Time, Technology, and the Creative Spirit in Political Science," The American Political Science Review, (February 1927)
That is just the way with some people. They get down on a thing when they don’t know nothing about it.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, ch. 1 (1884)
But either in his dreams or out of them, he could not tell which, Frodo heard a sweet singing running in his mind: a song that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to silver and glass, until at last it was rolled back, and a far green country opened before him under a swift sunrise.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 8 “Fog on the Barrow-Downs” (1954)
(Source)
How frighteningly few are the persons whose death would spoil our appetite and make the world seem empty.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
“Thoughts of Eric Hoffer,” New York Times Magazine (1971-04-25)
(Source)
Vengeance is counterproductive, always. Not to mention the fact it gets your soul all sticky.
Spider Robinson (b. 1948) American-Canadian author
Callahan’s Con, ch. 2 [Lady Sally] (2003)
My evangelistic brethren confuse an objection to compulsion with an objection to religion. It is possible to hold a faith with enough confidence that what should be rendered to God does not need to be decided and collected by Caesar.
Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941-54), lawyer, jurist, politician
Zorach v. Clauson, 343 US 306, 324-325 (1952) [dissent]
We can remember minutely and precisely only the things which never really happened to us.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
“Thoughts of Eric Hoffer,” The New York Times Magazine (25 Apr 1971)
It is a curious fact (or it isn’t) that of all the illusions that beset mankind none is quite so curious as that tendency to suppose that we are mentally and morally superior to those who differ from us in opinion.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard [ed. Ben Hubbard] (1922)
Full text.
He who feared that he would not succeed sat still.
[Sedit qui timuit ne non succederet.]
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Epistles, Book 1, Epistle 17, l. 37 (c. 20 BC and 14 BC)
But the whole history of these books [the Bible] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been plaid with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to John Adams (24 Jan 1814)
(Source)
Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule.
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) English historian
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. 7 (1776-88)
There are more Fools than Knaves in the World,
Else the Knaves would not have enough to live upon.Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
Prose Observations, “Sundry Thoughts”
(Source)
The most persistent sound which reverberates through history is the beating of war drums.
Alfred Koestler (1905-1983) Hungarian-English novelist, essayist
Janus: A Summing Up, Prologue (1978)
Piety is the tinfoil of pretense.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Philistine (Sep 1908)
Full text.
Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the one thing we are interested in here.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
War and Peace, Book 4, ch. 11 (1865-1869)
Calamity and Prosperity are the Touchstones of Integrity.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (Mar 1752)
I might repeat to myself slowly and soothingly, a list of quotations beautiful from minds profound — if I can remember any of the damn things.
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) American writer
“The Little Hours,” Here Lies (1939)
The original and essential office of government is that of protecting its subjects against aggression external and internal.
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) English philosopher, naturalist
“Representative Government — What Is It Good For?” Westminster Review (Oct 1857)
No one can understand history without continually relating the long periods which are constantly mentioned to the experiences of our own short lives. Five years is a lot. Twenty years is the horizon to most people. Fifty years is antiquity. To understand how the impact of destiny fell upon any generation of men one must first imagine their position and then apply the time-scale of our own lives.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Vol. 1 “The Birth of Britain” (1956-58)
By hooke or crooke.
John Heywood (1497?-1580?) English playwright and epigrammist
Proverbes, Part 1, ch. 11 (1546)
(Source)
The phrase most likely derives from English tenant rights to gather firewood "by hook or by crook" -- as much loose timber as could be pulled down from branches by a (shepherd's) crook, or cut with from underbrush by a (pruning) billhook. The phrase first appears in the 14th Century.
Integrity and firmness is all I can promise; these, be the voyage long or short, never shall forsake me although I may be deserted by all men. For of the consolations which are to be derived from these (under any circumstances) the world cannot deprive me.
George Washington (1732-1799) American military leader, Founding Father, US President (1789-1797)
Letter to Henry Knox (1 Apr 1789)
Written four weeks before assuming the Presidency.
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches?
Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives
or fall among the slain.The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Isaiah 10:1-3 [NIV (2011 ed.)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain.
[KJV (1611)]You are doomed! You make unjust laws that oppress my people. That is how you keep the poor from having their rights and from getting justice. That is how you take the property that belongs to widows and orphans. What will you do when God punishes you? What will you do when he brings disaster on you from a distant country? Where will you run to find help? Where will you hide your wealth? You will be killed in battle or dragged off as prisoners.
[GNT (1976)]Woe to those who enact unjust decrees, who compose oppressive legislation to deny justice to the weak and to cheat the humblest of my people of fair judgement, to make widows their prey and to rob the orphan. What will you do on the day of punishment, when disaster comes from far away? To whom will you run for help and where will you leave your riches, to avoid squatting among the captives or falling among the slain?
[NJB (1985)]Ha! Those who write out evil writs and compose iniquitous documents, to subvert the cause of the poor, to rob of their rights the needy of My people; that widows may be their spoil, and fatherless children their booty! What will you do on the day of punishment, When the calamity comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help, And how will you save your carcasses from collapsing under [fellow] prisoners, from falling beneath the slain?
[JPS (1985)]Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, to make widows their spoil and to plunder orphans! What will you do on the day of punishment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth, so as not to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain?
[NRSV (1989 ed.)]
Many men easily do without truth, but none is strong enough to do without illusions.
Gustave LeBon (1841-1931) German psychologist
(Attributed)
He is not poor who has enough of things to use.
If it is well with your belly, chest and feet,
the wealth of kings can give you nothing more.[Pauper enim non est, cui rerum suppetit usus.
si ventri bene, si lateri est pedibusque tuis, nil
divitiae poterunt regales addere maius.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Epistles, Book 1, Epistle 12, l. 4 (c. 20 BC and 14 BC)
Any manifest error on the part of an enemy should make us suspect some stratagem.
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) Italian politician, philosopher, political scientist
The Discourses on Livy, Book 3, ch. 48 (1517) [tr. Detmold (1882)]
One genetic evil of an institution of any kind is that people who have identified themselves with it are prone to make an idol of it.
Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) English historian
An Historian’s Approach to Religion, 2d ed., ch. 19 (1956; 1979)
History is made out of the failures and heroism of each insignificant moment. If one throws a stone into a river, it produces a succession of ripples. But most men live without being conscious of a responsibility which extends beyond themselves. And that — I think — is the root of our misery.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer
In Gustav Janouch, Conversations with Kafka [tr. Rees (1953)]
The notion that the church, the press, and the universities should serve the state is essentially a Communist notion. In a free society these institutions must be wholly free –- which is to say that their function is to serve as checks upon the state.
Alan Barth (1906-1979) American journalist
The Rights of Free Men: An Essential Guide to Civil Liberties (1984)
PRAXAGORA: I want all to have a share of everything and all property to be in common; there will no longer be either rich or poor; […] I shall begin by making land, money, everything that is private property, common to all. […]
BLEPYRUS: But who will till the soil?
PRAXAGORA: The slaves.Aristophanes (c. 450-c. 388 BC) Athenian comedic playwright
Ecclesiazusae, ll. 590-591, 597-598, 651 (392 BC) [tr. O’Neill (1938)]
Full text.
Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
Back to Methuselah, ch. 5 (1921)
The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
Cannery Row (1945)
