Th’ only way t’ entertain some folks is t’ listen t’ em.
Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868-1930) American caricaturist and humorist
Hoss Sense and Nonsense (1926)
To govern is not to write resolutions and distribute directives, to govern is to control the implementation of the directives.
Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Georgian revolutionary and Soviet dictator
(Attributed)
Quoted in Neil McInes, The Communist Parties of Western Europe, ch. 3 (1975)
With aching hands and bleeding feet
We dig and heap, lay stone on stone;
We bear the burden and the heat
Of the long day and wish’t were done.
Not till the hours of light return
All we have built do we discern.
Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c.540-c.480 BC) Greek philosopher [Ἡράκλειτος, Herákleitos, Heracleitus]
Fragment
Play every game … as if your job depended on it. It just might.
Casey Stengel (1890-1975) American athlete, coach, manager [Charles Dillon Stengel]
The Gospel According to C*A*S*E*Y, ch. 7 [ed. Berkow and Kaplan] (1992)
We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
East of Eden (1952)
The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
A Brief History of Time (1988)
Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third — [“Treason!” cried the Speaker] — may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.
Patrick Henry (1736-1799) American revolutionary and orator
Speech on the Stamp Act, Virginia House of Burgesses (29 May 1765)
Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.
Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004) American historian, professor, attorney, writer
“A Case of Hypochondria,” Newsweek (6 Jul 1970)
Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some such way as this. divide his paper into 4. chapters, heading the 1st. Truths. 2d. Probabilities. 3d. Possibilities. 4th. Lies. The 1st. chapter would be very short, as it would contain little more than authentic papers, and information from such sources as the editor would be willing to risk his own reputation for their truth. The 2d. would contain what, from a mature consideration of all circumstances, his judgment should conclude to be probably true. This however should rather contain too little than too much. The 3d. & 4th. should be professedly for those readers who would rather have lies for their money than the blank paper they would occupy.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to John Norvell (14 Jun 1807)
(Source)
Nineteen people flew into the towers. It seems hard for me to imagine that we could go to war enough to make the world safe enough that nineteen people wouldn’t want to do harm to us. So it seems like we have to rethink a strategy that is less military-based.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
The Daily Show (2008-09-18)
(Source)
Interview with Tony Blair.
There are events which are so great that if a writer has participated in them his obligation is to write truly rather than assume the presumption of altering them with invention.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
Preface to Gustav Regler, The Great Crusade (1940)
The experience of being disastrously wrong is salutary; no economist should be denied it, and not many are.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
A Life in Our Times, ch. 11 (1981)
Most editors are failed writers — but so are most writers.
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
(Attributed) (1946)Quoted by Robert Geroux, "A Personal Memoir," in Tate, Allen, ed. T. S. Eliot: The Man and his Work (1967) (orig. printed in the Sewanee Review, vol. 74 (1966)):
I first met T. S. Eliot in 1946, when I was an editor at Harcourt, Brace, under Frank Morley. I was just past thirty, and Eliot was in his late fifties. [...] agreed with the definition that most editors are failed writers, and he replied: `Perhaps, but so are most writers.'
Sometimes given as "Some editors ..." and prefixed with "I suppose most ..." and "I suppose some ..."
But every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world’s phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again. That is why every man’s story is important, eternal, sacred; that is why every man, as long as he lives and fulfills the will of nature, is wondrous, and worthy of every consideration.
Herman Hesse (1877-1962) German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter
Demian (1919)
Courage: to bear unflinchingly what heaven sends.
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Heracles, l. 1225 [tr. W. Arrowsmith (1956)]
Without the aid of prejudice and custom, I should not be able to find my way across the room; nor know how to conduct myself in any circumstances, nor what to feel in any relation of life.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Men and Manners, “On Prejudice” (1852)
The best authors are always the severest critics of their own works; they revise, correct, file, and polish them, till they think they have brought them to perfection.
Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #253 (6 May 1751)
(Source)
Too much and for too long, we seem to have surrendered personal excellence and community value in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over eight hundred billion dollars a year, but that GNP — if we judge the United States of America by that — that GNP counts air pollution and cigarette advertising and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and it counts nuclear warheads, and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
Robert Francis Kennedy (1925-1968) American politician
Speech, U. of Kansas, Lawrence (18 Mar 1968)
My people and I have come to an agreement which satisfies both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.
Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (a.k.a. Frederick the Great)
(Attributed)
In matters of national security emotion is no substitute for intelligence, nor rigidity for prudence. To act coolly, intelligently and prudently in perilous circumstances is the test of a man — and also a nation.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Radio address (11 Apr 1955)
Who’d have thought we were fighting this war against a bunch of jerks.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
(Attributed, 1946)
On seeing the line-up of Nazi war criminals accused at Nuremburg. In Alex Ross, "Watching for a Judgment of Real Evil," New York Times (12 Nov 1995)
Believe in the ethics of Christianity. Can’t accept the mumbo jumbo.
Clement Attlee (1883-1967) English politician and Prime Minister (1945-51)
Interview with his Kenneth Harris, his biographer
Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) English poet and critic
Literature and Dogma, preface (1873)
One must never make a show of false emotions to one’s men. The ordinary soldier has a surprisingly good nose for what is true and what false.
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German field marshal
Letter (Jun 1942), The Rommel Papers, ch. 9 [ed. B. H. Liddell Hart, (1953)]
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)
Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c.540-c.480 BC) Greek philosopher [Ἡράκλειτος, Herákleitos, Heracleitus]
(Attributed)
A wife lasts only for the length of the marriage, but an ex-wife is there for the rest of your life.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
(Attributed)
I guess this is why I hate governments. It is always the rule, the fine print, carried out by the fine print men. There’s nothing to fight, no wall to hammer with frustrated fists.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
Travels With Charley: In Search of America, Part 2 (1962)
My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“The Science of Second-Guessing”, interview by Deborah Solomon, New York Times (12 Dec 2004)
Almost anything is easier to get into than to get out of.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Agnes Allen, “Agnes Allen’s Law,” in S.Morris, “You Make the Laws,” Omni (May 1979)
That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.
Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) American astronaut, aviator, educator
Words after first stepping onto the Moon (20 Jul 1969)The sound recording does not seem to have the "a" before man. Armstrong long insisted that he said it but it was lost in transmission; his preference has been for the "a" to be included in parentheses. Computer analysis of the recordings have yielded contradictory conclusions as to whether he said it.
I think the metric by which television is considered liberal is literally based on the metric of liberalism in each person’s soul. Peoples’ senses of humor tend to go about as far as their ideology.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
“No News Is Good News,” interview by Adam Bulger, The Hartford Advocate (2008-06-12)
(Source)
On whether The Daily Show is liberal.
If the book is good, is about something that you know, and is truly written, and reading it over you see that this is so, you can let the boys yip and the noise will have that pleasant sound coyotes make on a very cold night when they are out in the snow and you are in your own cabin that you have built or paid for with your work.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
“Old Newsman Writes: A Letter from Cuba,” Esquire (Dec 1934)
The modern world … holds certain dogmas so strongly that it does not know that they are dogmas.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
Heretics, ch. 20 (1905)
Courage charms us becaue it indicates that a man loves an idea better than all the things in the world, that he is thinking neither of his bed, nor his dinner, nor hismoney, but will venture all to put in act the invisible thought of his mind.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1859, Fall)
The mind of man is like a clock that is always running down, and requires to be as constantly wound up.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Men and Manners, “On Cant and Hypocrisy” (1852)
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance — it is the illusion of knowledge.
Daniel J. Boorstin (1914-2004) American historian, professor, attorney, writer
In Carol Krucoff, “The 6 O’Clock Scholar,” Washington Post (29 Jan 1984)
Full text.In his book, Cleopatra's Nose (1995), Boorstin wrote: "The history of Western science confirms the aphorism that the great menace to progress is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge."
Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c.540-c.480 BC) Greek philosopher [Ἡράκλειτος, Herákleitos, Heracleitus]
(Attributed)
Any theory and set of practices is dogmatic which is not based upon critical examination of its own underlying principles.
John Dewey (1859-1952) American teacher and philosopher
Experience and Education, ch. 1 (1938)
A brave colonel makes a brave battalion.
Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (a.k.a. Frederick the Great)
(Attributed)Quoted in R.R. Palmer, "Frederick the Great, Guibert, Bulow: From Dynastic to National War," in E. Earle (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy (1943)
I have said what I meant and meant what I said. I have not done as well as I should like to have done, but I have done my best, frankly and forthrightly; no man can do more, and you are entitled to no less.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (3 Nov 1952)
The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.
Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
(Attributed)
The still small voice within you must always be the final arbiter when there is a conflict of duty.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
Young India (4 Aug 1920)
We cannot kindle when we will
The fire that in the heart resides,
The spirit bloweth and is still,
In mystery our soul abides; —
But tasks, in hours of insight willed,
Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German field marshal
Infanterie greift an (1937) [tr. Attacks, ed. L. Allen (1979)]
It is an old habit with theologians to beat the living with the bones of the dead.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“Reply to Archdeacon Farrar” (1890)
(Source)
Administrivia: But the flesh is weak
Apologies for the silence this week — the H1N1 flu grabbed me and threw me down on the couch the past few days. I’m feeling much better, and so will be resuming with the regular WIST posts, starting … about … now.
Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #103 (12 Mar 1751)
(Source)
I don’t recommend being a bachelor, but it helps if you want to write.
Nelson Algren (1909–1981) American writer [b. Nelson Ahlgren Abraham]
(Attributed)
Doctrines are always vague; it would ruin a doctrine to define it, because then it could be analyzed, tested, criticised, and verified.
William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) American minister, sociologist, anthropologist.
“War” (1903), War and Other Essays [ed. A. Keller (1911)]
Religions must all be tolerated and the state has to keep an eye that none of them shall derogate the other, because here everyone must find his salvation in his own way.
[Die Religionen müssen alle toleriert werden und der Fiscal muß nur das Auge darauf haben, dass Keine der Andern abruch tue, denn hier muß ein jeder nach seiner Fasson selig werden.]
Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (a.k.a. Frederick the Great)
Reply to his secretaries
On whether Catholic schools should be forbidden in Prussia, which was officially Lutheran.Alt trans.: "All religions must be tolerated ...; for in this country every man must get to heaven his own way."
Unreason and anti-intellectualism abominate thought. Thinking implies disagreement; and disagreement implies nonconformity; and nonconformity implies heresy; and heresy implies disloyalty — so, obviously, thinking must be stopped. But shouting is not a substitute for thinking and reason is not the subversion but the salvation of freedom.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Call to Greatness, ch. 3 “America’s Burden” (1954)
(Source)
Adapted from his "A Troubled World," Godkin Lectures, Harvard University (1954-03-17 - 1954-03-20)
Dogma: A hard substance which forms in a soft brain; a coprolitic idea.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Roycroft Dictionary (1914)
(Source)
Yet the will is free;
Strong is the soul, and wise, and beautiful;
The seeds of god-like power are in us still;
Gods are we, bards, saints, heroes, if we will!
Courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility.
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German field marshal
Letter (9 Nov 1942)
Quoted in B. H. Liddell Hart (ed), The Rommel Papers (1982)
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)
I believe that we must find a way to bring ethical considerations to bear upon the direction of scientific development, especially in the life sciences. By invoking fundamental ethical principles, I am not advocating a fusion of religious ethics and scientific inquiry. Rather, I am speaking of what I call “secular ethics,” which embrace the principles we share as human beings: compassion, tolerance, consideration of others, the responsible use of knowledge and power. These principles transcend the barriers between religious believers and non-believers; they belong not to one faith, but to all faiths.
The Dalai Lama (b. 1935) Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader [The 14th Dalai Lama; a/k/a Lhama Thondup / Lhama Dhondrub; b. Tenzin Gyatso]
“Our Faith in Science,” essay, New York times (12 Nov 2005)
Full text.
The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.
Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) French statesman and soldier
(Attributed)
In "Some General Comments, <i>Entre Nous</i> ...," <i>Time</i> (8 Dec 1967) (full text), reviewing the book, La Tragedie du General by Jean-Raymond Tournoux, collecting sayings and quotes by De Gaulle.
Nothing is more curious than the self-satisfied dogmatism with which mankind at each period of its history cherishes the delusion of the finality of its existing modes of knowledge.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician and philosopher
“John Dewey and His Influence” (1), The Philosophy of John Dewey [ed. P. Schlipp] (1939)
Time is the only critic without ambition.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
“On Critics,” Writers at Work, Fourth Series [ed. G. Plimpton] (1977)
The victim should have the right to end his life, if he wants. But I think it would be a great mistake. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
Press conference, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (14 Jun 2006)
Full text.
A cult is a religion with no power.
Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938) American writer
In Our Time, ch. 2 (1980)
Sometimes the path you’re on is not as important as the direction you’re heading.
Kevin Smith (b. 1970) American writer, film director, actor
(Attributed)
Music’s exclusive function is to structure the flow of time and keep order in it.
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) American composer
(Attributed)In G. Szamosi, The Twin Dimensions: Inventing Time and Space (1986)
You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)
Dogmatism is the anti-Christ of learning.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician and philosopher
Modes of Thought, 1.3 (1938)
In peace sons bury fathers, but in war fathers bury sons.
Herodotus (c.484-c.420 BC) Greek historian
Histories, Book 1, Ch. 87
To be effective a doctrine must not be understood, but has to be believed in. We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand. A doctrine that is understood is shorn of its strength.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 13, § 57 (1951)
(Source)
Young people have many pleasures and many sorrows, because they only have themselves to think of, so every wish and every notion assume importance; every pleasure is tasted to the full, but also every sorrow ….
Herman Hesse (1877-1962) German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter
Gertrude (1910) [tr. H. Rosner]
A timid man sees dangers that do not exist.
Publilius Syrus (d. 42 BC) Assyrian slave, writer, philosopher [less correctly Publius Syrus]
Sententiae [Moral Sayings], # 688 [tr. Lyman (1862)]
If mankind had wished for what is right, they might have had it long ago.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
The Plain Speaker, “On the Pleasure of Hating” (1826)
I see nothing inconsistent between being proud of oneself and one’s ancestors and, at the same time, seeing oneself first and foremost a member of the commonwealth of all races and creeds.
Arthur Ashe (1943-1993) American athlete
Days of Grace : A Memoir (1994)
Just as appetite comes by eating, so work brings inspiration, if inspiration is not discernible at the beginning.
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) American composer
An Autobiography (1936)
The great foe of democracy now and in the near future is plutocracy. Every year that passes brings out this antagonism more distinctly. It is to be the social war of the twentieth century. In that war militarism, expansion and imperialism will all favor plutocracy. In the first place, war and expansion will favor jobbery, both in the dependencies and at home. In the second place, they will take away the attention of the people from what the plutocrats are doing. In the third place, they will cause large expenditures of the people’s money, the return for which will not go into the treasury, but into the hands of a few schemers. In the fourth place, they will call for a large public debt and taxes, and these things especially tend to make men unequal, because any social burdens bear more heavily on the weak than on the strong, and so make the weak weaker and the strong stronger. Therefore expansion and imperialism are a grand onslaught on democracy.
William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) American minister, sociologist, anthropologist.
“The Conquest of the United States by Spain” (1899)
Full text.
If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview.
The Dalai Lama (b. 1935) Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader [The 14th Dalai Lama; a/k/a Lhama Thondup / Lhama Dhondrub; b. Tenzin Gyatso]
“Our Faith in Science,” editorial, New York times (12 Nov 2005)
Full text.
Illness is a convent which has its rule, its austerity, its silences, and its inspirations.
Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
Notebooks: 1942-1951, Notebook 4, Jan 1942 – Sep 1945 [tr. O’Brien/Thody (1963)
(Source)
Once a doctrine, however irrational, has gained power in a society, millions of people will believe in it rather than feel ostracized and isolated.
Erich Fromm (1900-1980) American psychoanalyst and social philosopher
Psychoanalysis and Religion, ch. 3 (1950)
Being divorced is like being hit by a Mack truck. If you live through it, you start looking very carefully to the right and to the left.
Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Mary, Mary, ch. 1 (1960)
It is always a bad sign in an army when scapegoats are habitually sought out and brought to sacrifice for every conceivable mistake. It usually shows something very wrong in the highest command. It completely inhibits the willingness of junior commanders to make decisions, for they will always try to get chapter and verse for everything they do.
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German field marshal
(Dec. 1942), The Rommel Papers, 18 (ed. B. H. Liddell Hart) (1953)
In this country the Episcopalians have done some good, and I want to thank that church. Having on an average less religion than the others — on an average you have done more good to mankind. You preserved some of the humanities. You did not hate music; you did not absolutely despise painting, and you did not altogether abhor architecture, and you finally admitted that it was no worse to keep time with your feet than with your hands. And some went so far as to say that people could play cards, and that God would overlook it, or would look the other way. For all these things accept my thanks.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Sec. 7 (1880)
(Source)
In the real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day.
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) American writer [Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald]
“Handle with Care,” Esquire (Mar 1936)
Many married couples separate because they quarrel incessantly; but just as many separate because they were never honest enough or courageous enough to quarrel when they should have.
Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
Syndicated column, Chicago Daily News (1965)
Trust him no further than you can throw him.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #5286 (1732)
(Source)
To a monster the norm must seem monstrous, since everyone is normal to himself.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
East of Eden (1952)
It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“Return of the Time Lord,” interview by Emma Brockes, Guardian (27 Sep 2005)Full text.
Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.
Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986) Anglo-American columnist, journalist, author
(Attributed)
There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy, but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
“The American Ambassador,” Foreign Service Journal (Jun 1969)
Divorce isn’t caused because 50% of marriages end in gayness.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
The Daily Show (2006-06-06)
(Source)
Debating gay marriage with William Bennett and the assertion that marriage equality will weaken the institution.
No writer who knows the great writers who did not receive the Prize can accept it other than with humility. There is no need to list these writers. Everyone here may make his own list according to his knowledge and his conscience.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
Speech accepting the Nobel Prize (10 Dec 1954)Full text.
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
“Return to Tipasa,” Summer (1954)
There are two kinds of “disabled” persons: Those who dwell on what they have lost and those who concentrate on what they have left.
Thomas Szasz (1920-2012) Hungarian-American psychiatrist, educator
“Personal Conduct,” The Untamed Tongue (1990)
That’s the way it is when you love. It makes you suffer, and I have suffered much in the years since. But it matters little that you suffer, so long as you feel alive with a sense of the close bond that connects all living things, so long as love does not die!
Herman Hesse (1877-1962) German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter
Peter Camenzind (1904)
Fearlessness is the first requisite of spirituality. Cowards can never be moral.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
In Young India (13 Oct 1921)
Those only deserve a monument who do not need one; that is, who have raised themselves a monument in the minds and memories of men.
No matter who you are or what you plan to do in life, learn to type!
Liz Smith (1923-2017) American entertainment journalist [Mary Elizabeth Smith]
(Attributed)
Do not turn away, through cowardice, from despair. Go through it. … Pass beyond. On the other side of the tunnel you will find light again.
André Gide (1869-1951) French author, Nobel laureate
Journal, detatched pages (1928) [tr. J. O’Brien (1951)]
Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 4, § 23 (1951)
(Source)
Don’t forget your great guns, which are the most respectable arguments of the rights of kings.
Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (a.k.a. Frederick the Great)
Letter to his brother, Prince Henry (21 Apr 1759)
All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions. All change is the result of a change in the contemporary state of mind. Don’t be afraid of being out of tune with your environment, and above all pray God that you are not afraid to live, to live hard and fast.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
“The Educated Citizen,” Address, Princeton University (22 Mar 1954)Full text.