There is tonic in the things that men do not love to hear. Free speech is to a great people what the winds are to oceans … and where free speech is stopped miasma is bred, and death comes fast.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American clergyman and orator
Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit (1887)
Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American clergyman and orator
“Subtleties of Book Buyers,” Star Papers (1855)
A man is only as good as what he loves.
Saul Bellow (1915-2005) Canadian-American writer
Seize the Day (1956)
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
SAGRAMORE: If there were aught I could say, aught I could do to save thee…
HANK: Well, ain’t there aught?
SAGRAMORE: Naught.Edmund Beloin (1910-1992) American screenwriter, producer
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949)
(book by Mark Twain)
It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.
Robert Benchley (1889-1945) American humorist
(Attributed)
In Nathaniel Benchley, Robert Benchley, ch. 1 (1955)
Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed be doing at that moment.
Robert Benchley (1889-1945) American humorist
(Attributed)
In Robert E. Drennan, The Algonquin Wits (1968)
Anything I’ve ever done that ultimately was worthwhile … initially scared me to death.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Betty Bender
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
Texas Bix Bender (contemp.) American cowboy philosopher, announcer, actor, writer [stage name for Steve Arwood]
Don’t Squat with Yer Spurs On! (1992)
The trouble is not that we are never happy — it is that happiness is so episodical.
Ruth Benedict (1887-1947) American anthropologist
An Anthropologist at Work, Journal (1912-1916), [ed. Margaret Mead] (1959)
Full text.
If we justify war, it is because all peoples always justify the traits of which they find themselves possessed, not because war will bear an objective examination of its merits.
Ruth Benedict (1887-1947) American anthropologist
Patterns of Culture, I (1934)
No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking.
Ruth Benedict (1887-1947) American anthropologist
Patterns of Culture, I (1934)
I have made mistakes, but have never made the mistake of claiming I never made one.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr. (1841-1918) American editor, newspaper publisher
(Attributed)
Happiness is like a cat — if you coax it or call it, it will avoid you; it won’t come. But if you pay no attention to it and go about your business, you will find it rubbing against your legs and jumping into your lap.
William J. Bennett (b. 1943) American politician, moralist
Commencement Address, George Mason University (22 May 1999)
(Source)
I don’t deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either.
Jack Benny (1894-1974) American comedian [b. Benjamin Kubelsky]
(Attributed)
The worst sorrows in life are not in its losses and misfortune, but its fears.
A. C. Benson (1862-1925) English writer [Arthur Christopher Benson]
(Attributed)
How desperately difficult it is to be honest with oneself. It is much easier to be honest with other people.
E. F. Benson (1867-1940) English novelist, biographer, memoirist and short story writer [Edward Frederic Benson]
A Reaping, “March” (1909)
Full text. (Sometimes misattributed to Edward White Benson)
He rather hated the ruling few than loved the suffering many.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) English jurist and philosopher
Comment on James Mill
(Source)
In the journal of Caroline Fox (7 Aug 1840), regarding the father of John Stuart Mill. James Mill was a proponent of Bentham's philosophy. The observation was recalled in conversation with John Bowring, Bentham's executor.
Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.
Bernard Berenson (1865-1959) Lithuanian-American art critic and historian
Notebook (1892)
There is no obstacle which cannot be broken down by wills sufficiently keyed up, if they deal with it in time. There is thus no inescapable historic law.
Henri-Louis Bergson (1859-1941) French philosopher
The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, “Final Remarks” (tr. R. Ashley Audra and Cloudesley Brereton, 1935) (1932)
The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.
Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
Tempest-tost (1951)
Commonly misattributed to Henri-Louis Bergson.
It may be that the whole is simple, and that we are looking at it from the wrong point of view.
Henri-Louis Bergson (1859-1941) French philosopher
The Two Sources of Morality and Religion, “Dynamic Religion” (1932)
I don’t care if you burn.
Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) French actress
(Attributed)
When Oscar Wilde asked, "Do you mind if I smoke?"
He who says there is no such thing as an honest man, you may be sure is himself a knave.
George Berkeley (1685-1753) Irish philosopher, Anglican bishop
Maxims Concerning Patriotism (1750)
It is impossible that a man who is false to his friends and neighbours should be true to the public.
George Berkeley (1685-1753) Irish philosopher, Anglican bishop
Maxims Concerning Patriotism (1750)
Age is no mark of merit unless you do something constructive with it.
Irving Berlin (1888-1989) American songwriter [b. Isidore Beilin]
(c. 1980)
A committee is a group that keeps the minutes and loses hours.
Milton Berle (1908-2002) American comic
(1 Jul. 1954)
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.
[Le temps est un grand maître, dit-on; le malheur est qu’il soit un maître inhumain qui tue ses élèves.]
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) French composer
Letter (Nov 1856)
Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one has not time to write down.
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) French composer
Mémoires, ch. 46, “The Capture of Constantine,” 1837 [tr. Newman (1966)] (1870)
PICARD: Mr. Worf, do you know Gilbert and Sullivan?
WORF: No sir. I have not had a chance to meet all the new crew members since I have been back.Rick Berman (b. 1945) American screenwriter, producer
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
with Michael Pillar
Errors are refuted by argument, not by fire.
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) French religious, Doctor of the Church, saint
(Attributed)
The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only hope.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
The Unsettling of America (1977)
Yeah, but we’re making good time.
Yogi Berra (1925-2015) American baseball player, coach, manager [b. Lawrence Peter Berra]
(Spurious)
When told by Joe Garagiola (or Phil Rizzuto) the car they were in was lost, according to Merle Jones in 1963. Berra says he used the phrase, but with his family in 1972. The joke (not by Berra) can be found dated back to at least the late 1940s. More here.
Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside our own limited experience is absurd.
Annie Besant (1847-1933) English theosophist, Indian political leader [pseud. Ajax]
(Attributed)
I had an immense advantage over many others dealing with the problem inasmuch as I had no fixed ideas derived from long-established practice to control and bias my mind, and did not suffer from the general belief that whatever is, is right.
Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) English engineer and inventor
An Autobiography, ch. 6 (on the development of the cane press)
We should live as though our life would be both long and short.
Bias of Priene (fl. c. 650) Greek philosopher
(Attributed)
To others we are not ourselves but a performer in their lives, cast for a part we do not even know that we are playing.
Elizabeth Bibesco (1897-1945) Romanian-English writer
Haven (1951)
EGOTIST, n. A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Egotist,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1884-05-17).
DEBAUCHEE, n. One who has so earnestly pursued pleasure that he has had the misfortune to overtake it.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Debauchee,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911).
Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1881-12-02).
DIARY, n. A daily record of that part of one’s life, which he can relate to himself without blushing.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Diary,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1882-05-24).
CYNIC, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things the way they are, and not as they ought to be.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Cynic,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911).
Originally appeared in his "The Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1881-10-28).
In his "Town Crier" column in the News Letter (1872-03-09), he wrapped up his personal philosophy so: "And, finally, most important of all, endeavor to see things as they are, not as they ought to be."
DESTINY, n. A tyrant’s authority for crime, and a fool’s excuse for failure.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Destiny,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
POLITICS, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Politics” (1911)
PREJUDICE, n. A vagrant opinion without visible means of support.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Prejudice” (1911)
PEACE, n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Peace” (1911)
POSITIVE, adj. Mistaken at the top of one’s voice.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Positive” (1911)
(Source)
REFERENDUM, n. A law for submission of proposed legislation to a popular vote to learn the nonsensus of public opinion.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Referendum” (1911)
RESOLUTE, adj. Obstinate in a course that we approve.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Resolute” (1911)
SCRIPTURES, n. The sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Scriptures” (1911)
RECONSIDER, v. To seek a justification for a decision already made.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Reconsider” (1911)
RASH, adj. Insensible to the value of our advice.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Rash” (1911)
QUOTATION, n. The act of repeating erroneously the words of another. The words erroneously repeated.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Quotation” (1911)
(Source)
RADICALISM, n. The conservatism of to-morrow injected into the affairs of to-day.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Radicalism” (1911)
Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.
Groucho Marx (1890-1977) American comedian [b. Julius Henry Marx]
(Attributed)
Quoted by Ever Star, "Inside TV," Greensboro Record (3 Nov 1954). Also attributed to Ambrose Bierce, Henry Ward Beecher, and Lawrence J. Peter. More research and discussion here.
RUMOR, n. A favorite weapon of the assassins of character.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Rumor” (1911)
DISCUSSION, n. A method of confirming others in their errors.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Discussion,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1882-04-02).
PRAY, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner confessedly unworthy.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Pray” (1911)
EDUCATION, n. That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Education,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1882-12-23).
IMPIETY, n. Your irreverence toward my deity.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Impiety,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1885-09-12).
DISTANCE, n. The only thing that the rich are willing for the poor to call theirs, and keep.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Distance,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1882-04-02).
MISFORTUNE, n. The kind of fortune that never misses.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Misfortune” (1911)
SELF-EVIDENT, adj. Evident to one’s self and to nobody else.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Self-Evident” (1911)
There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are lots of old things we don’t know.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
(Attributed)
SELFISH, adj. Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Selfish” (1911)
In religion we believe only what we do not understand, except in the instance of an intelligible doctrine that contradicts an incomprehensible one. In that case we believe the former as a part of the latter.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Trinity” (1911)
REVERENCE, n. The spiritual attitude of a man to a god and a dog to a man.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
The Devil’s Dictionary, “Reverence” (1911)
DIPLOMACY, n. The patriotic art of lying for one’s country.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Diplomacy,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1882-03-24).
We regard our living together not as an unfortunate mishap warranting endless competition among us, but as a deliberate act of God to make us a community of brothers and sisters jointly involved in the quest for a composite answer to the varied problems of life.
Stephen Biko (1946-1977) South African civil rights activist
Paper at conference in Natal, S. Africa (1971)
What the moral army needs just now is more rank and file and fewer brigadier generals.
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
(Attributed)
Every man has his follies — and often they are the most interesting thing he had got.
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
(Attributed)
Thare iz plenty ov happiness in this life if we only knu it: and one way tew find it iz, when we hav got the old rumatiz tew thank Heaven that it aint the old gout.
[There is plenty of happiness in this life if we only knew it: and one way to find it is, when we have got the old rheumatism to thank Heaven that it ain’t the old gout.]
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. 137 “Affurisms: Tadpoles” (1874)
(Source)
In Fred Lewis Pattee, A History of American Literature Since 1870 (1915), this is paraphrased "The best cure for rheumatism is to thank the Lord it ain't the gout."
In a similar vein, in Josh Billings' Old Farmer's Allminax, 1870-1879, January 1878, "Chips" (1902):The best relief for the rumatiz, that haz been diskovered yet, iz to find sum phellow who haz got the gout bad, and then pitty him.
[The best relief for the rheumatism that has been discovered yet is to find some fellow who has got the gout bad, and then pity him.]
and in H. Montague, ed., Wit and Wisdom of Josh Billings (1913)The best remedy for RHEUMATISM that's ever yet been discovered is to find some fellow who has a bad case of the gout, pity him and forget yourself.
Consider the postage stamp: Its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
(Attributed)
As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand.
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings: His Sayings (1865)
Nature never makes any blunders; when she makes a fool she means it.
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings: His Sayings (1865)
Flattery iz like Kolone water, tew be smelt ov, not swallowed.
[Flattery is like cologne water, to be smelt of, not swallowed.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings: His Sayings (1865)
Politeness haz won more viktorys than logick ever haz.
[Politeness has won more victories than logic ever has.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings: His Sayings (1865)
Human knowledge is very short, and don’t reach but a little ways, and even that little ways iz twilite; but faith lengthens out the road, and makes it light, so that we kan see tew read the letterings on the mile stuns.
[Human knowledge is very short, and doesn’t reach but a little way, and even that little way is twilight; but faith lengthens out the road, and makes it light, so that we can see to read the lettering on the milestones.]
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. 9 “Essays: Faith” (1874)
(Source)
This may be the source of an attributed Billings quote I cannot find in his writings: "Faith was given to man to lengthen out his reason."
People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war, or before an election.
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) Prussian statesman
(Attributed)
But they think they know it. And their idea is all the same. You can trace it to the same thing, doesn’t make any difference what it is, what their experience is, or why they’re mad with the Court. It’s all because each one of them believes that the Constitution prohibits that which they think should be prohibited, and it permits that which they think should be permitted.
Hugo Black (1886-1971) American politician and jurist, US Supreme Court Justice (1937-71)
Interview with Eric Serverid and Martin Agronsky, CBS News (1968-12-09)
On the public's misunderstanding of the Constitution. Reprinted in "Newsmakers, Objection Overruled," Newsweek (1968-12-09), and in "Justice Black and the Bill of Rights," Southwestern University Law Review (1977).
Black used the same idea on multiple occasions, e.g., at a news conference in Washington, D.C. (1971-02-25):The layman's Constitutional view is that what he likes is constitutional and that which he doesn't like is unconstitutional. That about measures up the Constitutional acumen of the average person.
When you say that you agree to a thing in principle you mean that you have not the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice.
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) Prussian statesman
(Attributed)Variants:
- "When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of putting it into practice."
- "When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice."
The Framers knew, better perhaps than we do today, the risks they were taking. They knew that free speech might be the friend of change and revolution. But they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny. With this knowledge they still believed that the ultimate happiness and security of a nation lies in its ability to explore, to change, to grow and ceaselessly to adapt itself to new knowledge born of inquiry free from any kind of governmental control over the mind and spirit of man. Loyalty comes from love of good government, not fear of a bad one.
Hugo Black (1886-1971) American politician and jurist, US Supreme Court Justice (1937-71)
James Madison Lecture, NYU School of Law (1960-02-17)
(Source)
The inaugural Madison lecture. Reprinted as "The Bill of Rights," NYU Law Review, Vol. 35 (Apr 1960).
My view is, without deviation, without exception, without any ifs, buts or whereases, that freedom of speech means that you shall not do something to people either for the views they have or the views they express or the words they speak or write.
Hugo Black (1886-1971) American politician and jurist, US Supreme Court Justice (1937-71)
Interview by Edmond Cahn, New York University Law School (1962)
Published in "Mr. Justice Black and First Amendment Absolutes: A Public Interview," New York University Law Review 37 (1962): 549, and referenced in "Minority Opinion," Time (1962-06-22).
Black reiterated his absolutist point in his third Carpentier Lecture at Columbia University (1968-03-21), collected in A Constitutional Faith (1968):My view is, without deviation, without exception, without any ifs, buts or whereases, that freedom of speech means that government shall not do anything to people, or, in the words of the Magna Carta, move against people, either for the views they have or the views they express or the words they speak or write.
Freedom to discuss public affairs and public officials is unquestionably, as the Court today holds, the kind of speech the First Amendment was primarily designed to keep within the area of free discussion. To punish the exercise of this right to discuss public affairs or to penalize it through libel judgments is to abridge or shut off discussion of the very kind most needed. This Nation, I suspect, can live in peace without libel suits based on public discussions of public affairs and public officials. But I doubt that a country can live in freedom where its people can be made to suffer physically or financially for criticizing their government, its actions, or its officials.
Hugo Black (1886-1971) American politician and jurist, US Supreme Court Justice (1937-71)
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 296-297 (1964) [concurring]
(Source)
It is easier to forgive an Enemy than to forgive a Friend!
William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion (c. 1803–20)
(Source)
He’s a Blockhead who wants a proof of what he Can’t Perceive
And he’s a Fool who tries to make such a Blockhead believe.William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
Notebooks (1793)
What is now proved was once only imagined.
William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, “Proverbs of Hell” (1790–93)
(Source)
I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
Songs of Experience, “A Poison Tree”, st. 1 (1794)
A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
“Auguries of Innocence,” l.53 (1803)
(Source)
The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar’s laurel crown.William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
“Auguries of Innocence,” l. 97 (1803)
(Source)
You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough.
William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, “Proverbs of Hell”, l. 46 (1790-93)
(Source)
The pride of the peacock is the glory of God.
The lust of the goat is the bounty of God.
The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God.
The nakedness of a woman is the work of God.William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93)
There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.
Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789-1849) English socialite, writer
(Attributed)
The chief prerequisite for a escort is to have a flexible conscience and an inflexible politeness.
Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789-1849) English socialite, writer
(Attributed)
When there is too much naívetë around, the universe has no choice but to crystallize out some betrayal.
Robert Bly (b. 1926) American poet, story teller, lecturer
Iron John: A Book About Men, ch. 3 “The Road of Ashes, Descent and Grief” (1990)
(Source)