Habits form a second nature.
Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) French natural historian
Philosophie Zoologique, part II, ch 7 (1809)
Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
Texts and Pretexts (1932)
It seems to me that the great thing about the flag is that it symbolizes something inherently indestructible: the concept of freedom. You can burn the flag as many times as you want and the concept of freedom is not only still there – it’s stronger. I like that about my flag. I would go so far as to say it’s my flag’s best feature.
Scott Adams (b. 1957) American cartoonist
The Dilbert Blog (30 Jun. 2006)
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2006/06/burning_flags.html
How many pessimists end up by desiring the things they fear, in order to prove that they are right?
Robert Mallet (1915-2002) French novelist, poet, playwright, academician
Apostilles (1972)
The Humvee has a feature that allows you to inflate or deflate your tires as you drive. In a perfect guy universe this would seriously impress women.
GUY: “Look! I can inflate the tires as I drive!”
WOMAN: “Pull over right now, so we can engage in wanton carnality!”
Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t work this way. I know this because when I took my wife for a ride in the Humvee, we had this conversation:
ME: “Look! I can inflate the tires as I drive!”
MY WIFE: “Why?”
Dave Barry (b. 1947) American humorist
Miami Herald (7 Jan. 2001)
Toddlers have plenty of energy. During a standard restaurant meal, a standard toddler can easily toddle fifty-eight miles in totally random directions, while your hamburger cools and eventually reverts to a frozen patty. You have to follow toddlers closely at all times, because they could cheerfully toddle right out the door and into the path of a cement truck.
Dave Barry (b. 1947) American humorist
Miami Herald (18 Feb. 2001)
http://hollandsentinel.com/stories/021801/fea_duck.shtml
I gave up on new poetry myself thirty years ago, when most of it began to read like coded messages passing between lonely aliens in a hostile world.
Russell Baker (1925-2019) American journalist, author, humorist
The Norton Book of Light Verse, Introduction (1986)
There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) South African revolutionary, politician, statesman
A Long Walk to Freedom (1994)
Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.
Willis Whitney (1887-1958) American industrial researcher
(Attributed)
FIRST STRANGER: Men must learn now with pity to dispense,
For policy sits above conscience.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Timon of Athens, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 93ff (3.2.93-94) (1606) [with Thomas Middleton]
(Source)
VOLUMNIA: You might have been enough the man you are
With striving less to be so.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Coriolanus, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 23ff (3.2.23-24) (c. 1607)
(Source)
FLORIZELL: But as th’ unthought-on accident is guilty
To what we wildly do, so we profess
Ourselves to be the slaves of chance, and flies
Of every wind that blows.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Winter’s Tale, Act 4, sc. 4, l. 543ff (4.4.543-546) (1611)
(Source)
ARCHBISHOP:O thoughts of men accursed!
Past and to come seems best; things present, worst.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry IV, Part 2, Act 1, sc. 3, l. 112ff (1.3.112-113) (c. 1598)
(Source)
He who praises everybody, praises nobody.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
(Attributed)
In "Johnsoniana," The European Magazine and London Review (Jan 1785). From an anecdote by George Stevens.
Never build a dungeon you wouldn’t be happy to spend the night in yourself. The world would be a happier place if more people remembered that.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Guards! Guards! [Lord Vetinari] (1989)
(Source)
Said while imprisoned in the dungeon. A few scenes later, he adds, to himself, Never build a dungeon you couldn’t get out of, while escaping.
On the necessary points, unity. On the questionable points, liberty. In everything, love.
[In necessariis unites, in non necessariis libertas, in omnibus caritas.]
Rupertus Meldenius (1582-1651) German writer [pseud. of Peter Meiderlin]
Paraenesis Votiva pro Pace Ecclesiae ad Theologos Augustanae Confessionis [Votive Counsel for the Peace of the Church, to the Theologians of the Augustan Confession] (1626)
Also translated as "essentials" and "non-essentials."
Paraphrase of final lines of the work:Verbo dicam: Si nos servaremus IN necesariis Unitatem, IN non-necessariis Libertatem, IN UTRISQUE Charitatem, optimo certe loco essent res nostrae.
[In a word, were we to observe unity in essentials, liberty in incidentals, and in all things charity, our affairs would be certainly in a most happy situation.]
Commonly attributed to St Augustine, but also to John Wesley, Richard Baxter, and several others.
Coincidence is the word we use when we can’t see the levers and pulleys.
Emma Bull (b. 1954) American writer
Bone Dance (1991)
We try to make virtues of those faults that we do not wish to correct.
[Nous essayons de nous faire honneur des défauts que nous ne voulons pas corriger.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #442 (1665-1678)
Why is it that we have enough memory to recall the most trivial occurrences that have happened to us, but not enough memory to remind us how often we have told them to the same person?
[Pourquoi faut-il que nous ayons assez de mémoire pour retenir jusqu’aux moindres particularités de ce qui nous est arrivé, et que nous n’en ayons pas assez pour nous souvenir combien de fois nous les avons contées à une même personne?]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Maxims], #313 (1665-1678)
ZOE: You sanguine about the kind of reception we’re apt to receive on an Alliance ship, Captain?
MAL: Absolutely. What’s sanguine mean?
ZOE: Sanguine — hopeful. Plus, point of interest, it also means bloody.
MAL: Well, that pretty much covers all the options, don’t it?Joss Whedon (b. 1964) American screenwriter, author, producer [Joseph Hill Whedon]
Firefly (2003)
By all means let the Church guard and preserve her faith, order, and discipline, her creeds, her ministry, and her worship. But let her neither indulge the weak fear that these are really endangered or compromised by the fullest freedom conceded to and exercised by her members, nor imagine that danger or harm can be averted by the suppression or by the expulsion of that freedom. If our desire is to propagate error, there is no surer way than to prosecute, suppress, and exclude liberty. Let the Church not be afraid to keep herself in perpetual question by her own children. If their questionings be true, let her have all the benefit of them. If they be false, let her meet them, and be able to meet and answer them, with the truth.
Willam Archer DuBose (1836-1918) American theologian
Turning Points in My Life, ch. 7, “Liberty and Authority in Christian Truth”
The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
(Spurious)
This has been cited as in an 1803 letter objecting to building churches on government land, but, while not out of keeping with Madison's rhetoric, it has not actually been found in Madison's writings.
The whole point of the rule of law is the certainty it gives the citizen. There is no greater injustice than for a citizen to be unable to determine what legal consequences would flow from an action contemplated.
Matthew Parris (b. 1949) British political writer, politician
Times of London, “This is no sort of way to make a law – and no sort of law to make” (Opinion) (25 Jun 2005)
Source article
In trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity affords a relief denied even to prayer.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
In Albert Bigelow Paine, Mark Twain: A Biography, ch. 38 (1912)
(Source)
Life is a process of accreting meaning to unimportant things until they become important.
Doyce Testerman (b. 1971) American writer
Average Bear, “#5” (23 May 2005)
http://www.average-bear.com/archive/005045.html
JIM HACKER: Don’t tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers:
The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country;
The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country;
The Times is read by people who actually do run the country;
The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country;
The Financial Times is read by people who own the country;
The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country;
And the Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.
SIR HUMPHREY: Prime Minister, what about the people who read the Sun?
BERNARD WOOLLEY: Sun readers don’t care who runs the country, as long as she’s got big tits.(Other Authors and Sources)
Yes, Prime Minister
JIM HACKER: So they insult me and then expect me to give them more money?
SIR HUMPHREY: Yes, I must say it’s a rather undignified posture. But it is what artists always do: crawling towards the government on their knees, shaking their fists.(Other Authors and Sources)
Yes, Prime Minister
You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.
James Thurber (1894-1961) American cartoonist and writer
“The Owl Who Was God,” New Yorker (29 Apr. 1939)
“If you don’t like change, you’re going to hate obsolescence.”
Sig Lines
~
The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth. A Galileo could no more be elected President of the United States than he could be elected Pope of Rome. Both high posts are reserved for men favored by God with an extraordinary genius for swathing the bitter facts of life in bandages of soft illusion.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
(1918)
The idea that any kind of free society can be constructed in which people will never be offended or insulted is absurd. So too is the notion that people should have the right to call on the law to defend them against being offended or insulted. A fundamental decision needs to be made: do we want to live in a free society or not? Democracy is not a tea party where people sit around making polite conversation. In democracies people get extremely upset with each other. They argue vehemently against each other’s positions. (But they don’t shoot.)
Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) Indian novelist
“Do we have to fight the battle for the Enlightenment all over again?” The Independent (22 Jan 2005)
(Source)
At Cambridge University I was taught a laudable method of argument: you never personalise, but you have absolutely no respect for people’s opinions. You are never rude to the person, but you can be savagely rude about what the person thinks. That seems to me a crucial distinction: people must be protected from discrimination by virtue of their race, but you cannot ring-fence their ideas. The moment you say that any idea system is sacred, whether it’s a religious belief system or a secular ideology, the moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible.
Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) Indian novelist
“Do we have to fight the battle for the Enlightenment all over again?” The Independent (22 Jan 2005)
(Source)
Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
“What Paul Bourget Thinks of Us?” (1899)
(Source)
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from works, and I by my works will show you faith.The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
James 2:14-18 [NRSV (2021 ed.)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
[KJV (1611)]Take the case, my brothers, of someone who has never done a single good act but claims that he has faith. Will that faith save him? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, 'I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty', without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead. This is the way to talk to people of that kind: 'You say you have faith and I have good deeds; I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds -- now you prove to me that you have faith without any good deeds to show.'
[JB (1966)]My friends, what good is it for one of you to say that you have faith if your actions do not prove it? Can that faith save you? Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!”—if you don't give them the necessities of life? So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.
But someone will say, “One person has faith, another has actions.” My answer is, “Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions.”
[GNT (1976)]How does it help, my brothers, when someone who has never done a single good act claims to have faith? Will that faith bring salvation? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, 'I wish you well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty,' without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? In the same way faith, if good deeds do not go with it, is quite dead. But someone may say: So you have faith and I have good deeds? Show me this faith of yours without deeds, then! It is by my deeds that I will show you my faith.
[NJB (1985)]My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it? Imagine a brother or sister who is naked and never has enough food to eat. What if one of you said, “Go in peace! Stay warm! Have a nice meal!”? What good is it if you don’t actually give them what their body needs? In the same way, faith is dead when it doesn’t result in faithful activity. Someone might claim, “You have faith and I have action.” But how can I see your faith apart from your actions? Instead, I’ll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action.
[CEB (2011)]
BLUE: So just remember: the Internet can be a very scary place if you’re not prepared.
RED: How do you recommend they prepare?
BLUE: I dunno. Try going to your local middle school chess club, hand out crystal meth and guns. That might be good practice.(Other Authors and Sources)
Red vs. Blue: “Real Life vs. the Internet” (2005)
http://files.redvsblue.com/NYC2/RvB_NYC2.mov
I’m completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
(Attributed)
There is no such thing as The Gospel in the same way that there is no such thing as a circle. The Good News, like the perfect circle, lies forever beyond us and out of our reach. What we have is the gospel according to. Nothing more and nothing less.
Gordon Atkinson (contemp.) American minister, writer [a.k.a. Real Live Preacher]
The Christian Century, “The Gospel According to Anna” (25 Jan. 2005)
Full text.
We must accept truth even if it changes our point of view.
George Sand (1804-1876) French novelist, feminist [pseud. for Aurore Dupin]
(Attributed)
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood; that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“I Have a Dream,” speech, Washington, DC (28 Aug 1963)
Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden (11 Dec 1964)
As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence. If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Most Durable Power,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (6 Nov 1956)
Is the appointment of Chaplains to the two Houses of Congress consistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom? In strictness the answer on both points must be in the negative. The Constitution of the U.S. forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion. The law appointing Chaplains establishes a religious worship for the national representatives, to be performed by Ministers of religion, elected by a majority of them; and these are to be paid out of the national taxes. Does not this involve the principle of a national establishment, applicable to a provision for a religious worship for the Constituent as well as of the representative Body, approved by the majority, and conducted by Ministers of religion paid by the entire nation.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
“Detached Memoranda”
Prior to the Revolution, the Episcopal Church was established by law in this State. On the Declaration of independence it was left with all other sects, to a self-support. And no doubt exists that there is much more of religion among now than there ever was before the change; and particularly in the Sect which enjoyed the legal patronage. This proves rather more than, that the law is not necessary to the support of religion.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter to Edward Everett (19 Mar. 1823)
Among the features peculiar to the Political system of the United States, is the perfect equality of rights which it secures to every religious Sect. And it is particularly pleasing to observe in the good citizenship of such as have been most distrusted and oppressed elsewhere, a happy illustration of the safety and success of this experiment of a just and benignant policy. Equal law protecting equal rights, are found as they ought to be presumed, the best guarantee of loyalty and love of country; as well as best calculated to cherish that mutual respect and good will among Citizens of every religious denomination which are necessary to social harmony and most favorable to the advancement of truth.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter to Jacob de la Motta (Aug. 1820)
Torrents of blood have been spilt in the old world, by vain attempts of the secular arm, to extinguish Religious discord, by proscribing all difference in Religious opinion. Time has at length revealed the true remedy. Every relaxation of narrow and rigorous policy, wherever it has been tried, has been found to assuage the disease.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
“A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,” letter to the Virginia Assembly (20 Jun 1785)
On a proposed law to have the state financially support "Teachers of the Christian Religion."Full text.
There is not a shadow of right in the general government to intermeddle with religion. Its least interference with it, would be a most flagrant usurpation. I can appeal to my uniform conduct on this subject, that I have warmly supported religious freedom.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Journal (12 Jun. 1788)
Having ever regarded the freedom of religious opinion & worship as equally belonging to every sect, & the secure enjoyment of it as the best human provision for bringing all either into the same way of thinking, or into that mutual charity which is the only substitute, I observe with pleasure the view you give of the spirit in which your Sect partake of the blessings offered by our Govt. and Laws.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter to Mordecai Noah (15 May 1818)
In the Papal System, Government and Religion are in a manner consolidated, & that is found to be the worst of Govts. In most of the Govts. of the old world, the legal establishment of a particular religion and without or with very little toleration of others makes a part of the Political and Civil organization and there are few of the most enlightened judges who will maintain that the system has been favorable either to Religion or to Govt.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter to Jasper Adams (1832?)
We are teaching the world the great truth that Govts. do better without Kings & Nobles than with them. The merit will be doubled by the other lesson that Religion flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Govt.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter to Edward Livingston (10 Jul. 1822)
The experience of the United States is a happy disproof of the error so long rooted in the unenlightened minds of well-meaning Christians, as well as in the corrupt hearts of persecuting usurpers, that without legal incorporation of religious and civil polity, neither could be supported. A mutual independence is found most friendly to practical Religion, to social harmony, and to political prosperity.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter to F.L. Schaeffer (3 Dec. 1821)
[T]he number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood, & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church from the State.
James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
Letter to Robert Walsh (2 Mar. 1819)
Life is not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) American journalist, writer
(Attributed)
CALVIN: They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.
HOBBES: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re in a tragedy or a farce.
CALVIN: We need more special effects and dance numbers.Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin & Hobbes (11 Dec 1990)
If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.
Abba Eban (1915-2002) Israeli politician and diplomat [b. Aubrey Solomon Eban]
(Attributed)
on the UN General Assembly
Administrivia: Sidebar messiness
In upgrading to MovableType 3.11, the plug-ins that segregated the sidebars so nicely (for site news vs the alphabetical listings) aren’t working. Sorry for the mess … excuse our dust … your blog donation dollars at work …
UPDATE: Thanks to the FilterCategories and CatX plugins for MT, all is well.
CALVIN: The more you know, the harder it is to take decisive action. Once you become informed, you start seeing complexities and shades of gray. You realize that nothing is as clear and simple as it first appears. Ultimately, knowledge is paralyzing. Being a man of action, I can’t afford to take that risk.
HOBBES: You’re ignorant, but at least you act on it.Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin & Hobbes (21 Sep. 1993?)
If life is a movie and everyone is their own lead character, then we’re also lesser characters in other “movies.” And since you never know whose movie will be a hit, you might as well milk your lines.
Administrivia: WIST swag!
Now there’s a WIST store at CafePress, where you can get t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, and other goodies with the WIST logo and some quotation-oriented quotations. Being stylish, chic, and erudite was never this simple! Drop on by and see what you think! (And if you think of a design or quote you’d like to see, let me know!)
If I am inclined to doubt, steady my faith.
If I am tempted, make me strong to resist.
If I should miss the mark, give me courage to try again.(Other Authors and Sources)
Marine Corps Prayer
http://www.uspharmd.com/usmc/marineprayer.html
But the greatest menace to our civilization today is the conflict between giant organized systems of self-righteousness — each system only too delighted to find that the other is wicked — each only too glad that the sins give it the pretext for still deeper hatred and animosity.
Sir Herbert Butterfield (1900-1979) British historian, historiographer
Christianity, Diplomacy and War (1953)
The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality of happiness, and by no means a necessity of life.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
Androcles and the Lion, Preface (1912)
(Source)
To a valet no man is a hero.
[Es gibt fur den Kammerdiener keiner Helden.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Wahlverwandtschaften, II, 5, Aus Ottilien’s Tagebuche (1805)
There is nothing more fearful than imagination without taste.
[Es ist nichts furchterlicher als Einbildungskraft ohne Geschmack.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Spruche in Prosa [Proverbs in Prose], 3 (1819)
He who is ignorant of foreign languages, knows not his own.
[Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Über Kunst und Alterthum (1821)
(Source)
Alt. trans.:
- "He who knows not foreign languages, knows nothing of his own."
- "No man who knows only his own language knows even that."
- "He who knows but one language knows none."
- "He who knows one language, knows none."
- "A man who has no acquaintance with foreign languages knows nothing of his own." [tr. Bailey Saunders]
Too rigid scruples are concealed pride.
[Zu strenge Ford’rung ist verborgner Stolz.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Iphigenia auf Tauris, Act 4, sc. 4, l. 120 (1787)
Where there is much light, the shadows are deepest.
[Wo viel Licht is, ist starker Schatten.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Gotz von Berlichingen, I, 24 (1773)
The words you’ve bandied are sufficient;
‘Tis deeds that I prefer to see.[Der Worte sind genug gewechselt,
Lasst mich auch endlich Thaten sehn.]Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Faust, “Vorspiel auf dem Theater,” l.214 (trans. Bayard Taylor) (1808)
Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to errors that counts.
Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943) American poet, commentator, activist, educator [b. Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr.]
Black Feeling/Black Talk/Black Judgment, “Of Liberation,” st. 16 (1968)
In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.
Newt Gingrich (b. 1943) American politician [Newton Leroy Gingrich]
International Herald Tribune, Paris (1 Aug 1988)
He who sees the truth, let him proclaim it, without asking who is for it or who is against it.
Henry George (1839-1897) American economist
The Land Question (1881)
Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.
Bill Gates (b. 1955) American software magnate [William Henry Gates III]
(Attributed)
Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spam every day. Much of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick. It would be funny if it weren’t so irritating.
Bill Gates (b. 1955) American software magnate [William Henry Gates III]
Wall Street Journal, “Why I Hate Spam” (2003)
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ofnote/06-23wsjspam.asp
Don’t expect faith to clear things up for you. It is trust, not certainty.
Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964) American writer [Mary Flannery O'Connor]
(Attributed)
Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Letter to Pres. Kennedy (3 Mar 1962)
Quoted in Galbraith, Ambassador’s Journal (1969).
I have only three enemies. My favorite enemy, the one most easily influenced for the better, is the British Empire. My second enemy, the Indian people, is far more difficult. But my most formidable opponent is a man named Mohandas K. Gandhi. With him I seem to have very little influence.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
Let us grant then that theology is conversant with the loftiest divine contemplation, and occupies the regal throne among sciences by dignity but acquiring the highest authority in this way. lf she does not descend to the lower and humbler speculations of the subordinate sciences and has no regard for them because they are not concerned with blessedness, then her professors should not arrogate to them-selves the authority to decide on controversies in professions which they have neither studied nor practiced. Why, this would be as if an absolute despot, being neither a physician nor an architect but knowing himself free to command, should undertake to administer medicines and erect buildings according to his whim-at grave peril of his poor patients’ lives, and the speedy collapse of his edifices.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Italian scientist and mathematician
Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany (1615)
http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/212gal.html
It is very pious to say and prudent to affirm that the holy Bible can never speak untruth — whenever its true meaning is understood. But I believe nobody will deny that it is often very abstruse, and may say things which are quite different from what its bare words signify.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Italian scientist and mathematician
Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany (1615)
http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/212gal.html
And who can doubt that it will lead to the worst disorders when minds created free by God are compelled to submit slavishly to an outside will? When we are told to deny our senses and subject them to the whim of others? When people devoid of whatsoever competence are made judges over experts and are granted authority to treat them as they please? These are the novelties which are apt to bring about the ruin of commonwealths and the subversion of the state.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Italian scientist and mathematician
Dialogue on Two Chief World Systems, marginal note (1632)
Take note, theologians, that in your desire to make matters of faith out of propositions relating to the fixity of sun and earth you run the risk of eventually having to condemn as heretics those who would declare the earth to stand still and the sun to change position — eventually, I say, at such a time as it might be proved that the earth moves and the sun stands still.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Italian scientist and mathematician
Dialogue on Two Chief World Systems (1632)
I would say here something that was heard from an ecclesiastic of the most eminent degree; “That the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how the heaven goes.”
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Italian scientist and mathematician
Letter to the Grand Duchess Christine (1615)
http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/212gal.html
Administrivia: Updates A-F
I’ve researched citations for E and F entries, added some quotes as I came across them, and have re-uploaded everything for A-F (plus the Authors list).
Slow slogging, though I’ve discovered two new tools to use:
- WikiQuote is an offshoot of Wikipedia. Some good info there, though very uneven and a work-in-progress.
- Amazon now has full-text searches for many of its books. A great way to find more detailed cites (though the Amazon search engine is fairly limited in its options).
The work continues …
Life is a unique gift and challenge, not to be measured in terms of anything else, and no sensible answer can be given to the question whether it is ‘worth while’ living, because the question does not make any sense.
Erich Fromm (1900-1980) American psychoanalyst and social philosopher
The Sane Society (1955)
Children and Princes will quarrel for Trifles.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack
Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) German-American psychologist, writer
Man’s Search for Meaning (1959)
Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the end of [achieving] a free society.
Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965) US Supreme Court Justice, jurist and teacher
New York Times (28 Nov. 1954)
If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law, every man can. That means first chaos, then tyranny. Legal process is an essential part of the democratic process.
Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965) US Supreme Court Justice, jurist and teacher
United States v. Mine Workers, 330 U.S. 312 (concurring) (1946)
The world often looks with contempt upon piety because it pictures the pious as men of downcast and sorrowful faces, but Christ himself testifies that the inner life is a soft, sweet, and happy one.
François de Sales (1567-1622) French bishop, saint, writer [a.k.a. Francis de Sales, b. François de Boisy]
Introduction to a Devout Life (1618)
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace!
Where there is hatred let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) Italian Franciscan mystic, reformer, saint [b. Giovanni di Pietro di Bunardone]
“Prayer of St Francis” (Attributed)
The poem (in French) appears to date back no further than 1912, and was first misattributed to St. Francis in 1927. The first English translation (as above) is in 1936. More information on its origin here and here. The original French (La Clochette magazine, #12 (Dec 1912):
Belle prière à faire pendant la Messe
Seigneur, faites de moi un instrument de votre paix.
Là où il y a l'offense, que je mette le pardon.
Là où il y a la discorde, que je mette l'union.
Là où il y a l'erreur, que je mette la vérité.
Là où il y a le doute, que je mette la foi.
Là où il y a le désespoir, que je mette l'espérance.
Là où il y a les ténèbres, que je mette votre lumière.
Là où il y a la tristesse, que je mette la joie.
Ô Maître, que je ne cherche pas tant à être consolé qu'à consoler, à être compris qu'à comprendre, à être aimé qu'à aimer, car c'est en donnant qu'on reçoit, c'est en s'oubliant qu'on trouve, c'est en pardonnant qu'on est pardonné, c'est en mourant qu'on ressuscite à l'éternelle vie.
Don’t simply retire from something; have something to retire to.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
God is not a cosmic bell-boy for whom we can press a button to get things done.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind’s eye, and you will be drawn toward it.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No stream or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
Living Under Tension (1941)
Religion is not a burden, not a weight, it is wings.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
The fact that astronomies change while the stars abide is a true analogy of every realm of human life and thought, religion not least of all. No existent theology can be a final formulation of spiritual truth.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
The Living of These Days (1956)
I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right. I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.
Gerald R. Ford (1913-2006) American politician, US President (1974-77) [b. Leslie Lynch King, Jr.]
Announcing his decision to pardon Nixon (8 Sep. 1974)
I swear: some people will not be happy until the people who are usually happy aren’t.
James Lileks (b. 1958) American journalist, columnist
The Bleat (29 Jun. 2004)
http://www.lileks.com/bleats/archive/04/0604/062904.html
Religion, a subject on which I have ever been most scrupulously reserved. I have considered it as a matter between every man and his maker, in which no other, & far less the public, had a right to intermeddle.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Richard Rush (31 May 1813)
(Source)
Make mistakes. Make great mistakes, make wonderful mistakes, make glorious mistakes. Better to make a hundred mistakes than to stare at a blank piece of paper too scared to do anything wrong, too scared to do anything.
Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Speech, Harvey Awards (2004)
