People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Letter to the family of Michele Besso after learning of his death (Mar. 1955)
Quoted in Science and the Search for God Disturbing the Universe (1979) by Freeman Dyson. Probable source of the common attribution: "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Attributed)
quoted in Quest by L. Infeld (1942)
A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
“Atomic Education Urged by Einstein,” New York Times (25 May 1946)
This may be the source of some otherwise unsourced Einstein quotes:Einstein revisited this theme in "The Real Problem Is in the Hearts of Men," New York Times Magazine (23 Jun 1946): "Many persons have inquired concerning a recent message of mine that 'a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels.' [...] Past thinking and methods did not prevent world wars. Future thinking must prevent wars."
- "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them"
- "The world we have created today as a result of our thinking thus far has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them."
- "The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking."
- "This problem will not be solved by the same minds that created it."
- "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
[Wer es unternimmt, auf dem Gebiet der Wahrheit und der Erkenntnis als Autoritat aufzutreten, scheitert am Gelachter der Gotter.]
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
“Neun Aphorismen” (23 May 1953), Essays Presented to Leo Baeck on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday (1954) [Einstein Archives 28-962]
(Source)
Original German. Alternate translation: "He who endeavors to present himself as an authority in matters of truth and cognition, will be wrecked by the laughter of the gods."
This subject brings me to that vilest offspring of the herd mind — the odious militia. The man who enjoys marching in line and file to the strains of music falls below my contempt; he received his great brain by mistake — the spinal cord would have been amply sufficient. This heroism at command, this senseless violence, this accursed bombast of patriotism — how intensely I despise them! War is low and despicable, and I had rather be smitten to shreds than participate in such doings.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
“What I Believe,” Forum and Century (Oct 1930)
(Source)
Einstein crafted and recrafted his credo multiple times in this period, and specifics are often muddled by differing translations and by his reuse of certain phrases in later writing. The Forum and Century entry appears to be the earliest. Some important variants:This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor. That a man cant take pleasure in marching in fours to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; unprotected spinal marrow was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them! How vile and despicable seems war to me! I would rather be hacked in pieces than take part in such an abominable business.
— "The World As I See It [Mein Weltbild] [tr. Bargmann (1954)]This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military system, which I abjor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism by order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that does by the name of patriotism -- how I hate them! War seems to me a mean, contemptible thing: I would rather be hacked in pieces than take part in such an abominable business.
— "The World As I See It [Mein Weltbild] [tr. Harris (1934)]
I would rather be an optimist and a fool than be a pessimist and correct.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Attributed)
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Sign in Einstein’s Princeton office
It's not established this was original to Einstein. Sometimes quoted in reverse: "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hopes of reward after death.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
“Religion and Science,” New York Times Magazine (9 Nov 1930)
(Source)
Strange is our situation here upon the earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Attributed)
quoted from James A. Haught, ed., 2000 Years of Disbelief
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Spurious)
Not found in Einstein's writings. There is no evidence of Einstein saying or writing anything like this. It's deemed probably not an Einstein quotation by Einstein scholar Alice Calaprice, The Expanded Quotable Einstein (2000).
Variants:As Einstein has pointed out, common sense is actually nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind prior to the age of eighteen.
[Lincoln Barnett, "The Universe and Dr. Einstein, Part 2," Harper's Magazine (May 1948), reprinted in The Universe and Dr. Einstein (1950); Einstein wrote the foreword to the book.]Common sense is that layer of prejudices which we acquire before we are sixteen.
[E. T. Bell, Mathematics, Queen and Servant of the Sciences (1951)]
More discussion of this quotation: Common Sense Is Nothing More Than a Deposit of Prejudices Laid Down in the Mind Before Age Eighteen – Quote Investigator.
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Attributed)
Reader's Digest, Oct 1977
The most important human endeavor is striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depends on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to our lives.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Attributed)
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
“What Life Means to Einstein,” Interview with G. Viereck, Saturday Evening Post (26 Oct 1929)
(Source)
Quoted as "I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world," in Viereck, Glimpses of the Great (1930).
Try not to become a success, but rather try to become a man of value.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Attributed)
Quoted by LIFE magazine (2 May 1955)
Insofar as statements of mathematics refer to reality, they are uncertain, and insofar as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
[Insofern sich die Sätze der Mathematik auf die Wirklichkeit beziehen, sind sie nicht sicher, und insofern sie sicher sind, beziehen sie sich nicht auf die Wirklichkeit.]
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
“Geometry and Experience [Geometrie und Erfahrung],” lecture (27 Jan 1921)
(Source)
Sometimes given as "Insofar as the statements of geometry speak about reality, they are not certain, and in so far as they are certain, they do not speak about reality. [Sofern die Sätze der Geometrie streng gültig sind, beziehen sie sich nicht auf de Wirklichkeit; sofern sie sich auf dei Wirklichkeit beziehen, sind sie nicht streng gültig.]" -- this version was popularized by Karl Popper, but it was from a misquote by Morris Schlick.
I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Attributed)
Subtle is God, but malicious He is not.
[Raffiniert ist der Herr Gott, aber boshaft ist er nicht.]
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Remark at Princeton University (Apr. 1921)
Later inscribed in Fine Hall, Princeton University. Quoted in Einstein, ch. 14, R.W. Clark (1973). Einstein in 1946 gave a looser translation: "God is slick, but he ain’t mean."
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Memoirs of William Miller, quoted in Life (2 May 1955)
(Source)
The world is a dangerous place to live in, not because of the people that do evil; but because of the people that stand by and let them do it.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Attributed)
Perfection of means and confusion of ends seem to characterize our age.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Out of My Later Years, ch. 14 (1950)
We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Out of My Later Years, ch. 51 (1950)
You don’t promote the cause of peace by talking only to people with whom you agree.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
News conference (20 Jan 1957)
History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Inaugural Address (20 Jan 1953)
As quickly as you start spending federal money in large amounts, it looks like free money.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
(Attributed)
Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
News conference, Washington (6-Feb-1957)
The world moves and ideas that were good once are not always good.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Press Conference. Washington. D.C. (31 Aug. 1955)
The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, it’s usually lousy.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
(Attributed)
Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book, as long as that document does not offend your own ideas of decency. That should be the only censorship.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Commencement Speech, Dartmouth College (14 Jun 1953)
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Inaugural Address (20 Jan 1953)
You don’t lead by hitting people over the head — that’s assault, not leadership.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
(Attributed)
People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray areas. Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Note (Nov 1963)
(Source)
The earliest reference I could find was second-hand, in William Safire, The New Language of Politics, "middle of the road" (1968) (later published as Safire's Political Dictionary, and including the entry through the 2008 edition).
Unless each day can be looked back upon by an individual as one in which he has had some fun, some joy, some real satisfaction, that day is a loss.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
(1963)
The ideals men die for often become the prejudices their descendents kill for.
Paul Eldridge (1888-1982) American educator, novelist, poet
Maxims for a Modern Man (1965)
I’m not denyin’ the women are foolish; God Almighty made ’em to match the men.
George Eliot (1819-1880) English novelist [pseud. of Mary Ann Evans]
Adam Bede (1859)
Blows are sarcasms turned stupid: wit is a form of force that leaves the limbs at rest.
George Eliot (1819-1880) English novelist [pseud. of Mary Ann Evans]
Felix Holt, the Radical (1866)
For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
George Eliot (1819-1880) English novelist [pseud. of Mary Ann Evans]
Middlemarch (1871)
(last sentence of the book)
Half the harm that is done in this world
Is due to people who want to feel important.
They don’t mean to do harmT. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Cocktail Party” (1949)
Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.
George Eliot (1819-1880) English novelist [pseud. of Mary Ann Evans]
The Impressions of Theophrastus Such, ch. 4 (1879)
(Source)
To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
(Attributed)
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
The Rock, Chorus (1934)
The responsibility of tolerance lies in those who have the wider vision.
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Cocktail Party” (1949)
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
Preface to Transit of Venus: Poems by Harry Crosby (1931)
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous —
Almost, at times, the Fool.T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-British poet, critic, playwright [Thomas Stearns Eliot]
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1917)
I think laughter may be a form of courage. As humans we sometimes stand tall and look into the sun and laugh, and I think we are never more brave than when we do that.
Linda Ellerbee (b. 1944) American broadcast journalist
McCall’s (Jan. 1993)
on cancer treatment
The problem with the future is that it’s boring. Its big secret is that it’s the present, and the present is never as attractive as the future. It should be, but it’s not.
Warren Ellis (b. 1968) English writer
www.warrenellis.com (16 Jan 2001)
The two most abundant things in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.
Harlan Ellison (1934-2018) American writer
(Attributed)
used in Who's Who bio entry
My philosophy of life is that the meek shall inherit nothing but debasement, frustration, and ignoble deaths
Harlan Ellison (1934-2018) American writer
The Harlan Ellison Hornbook (9 Aug. 1973)
The only way to have a friend is to be one.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Friendship,” Essays: First Series (1841)
The human soul, the world, the universe are laboring on to their magnificent consummation. We are not fashioned
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1820-12-05)
Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey the laws too well.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Politics,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)
All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man had taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Powers and Laws of Thought,” Natural History of Intellect, Lecture 1, Harvard (1870, Spring)
(Source)
Our debt to tradition through reading and conversation is so massive, our protest or private addition so rare and insignificant, — and this commonly on the ground of other reading or hearing, — that, in a large sense, one would say there is no pure originality. All minds quote. Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment. There is no thread that is not a twist of these two strands. By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)
(Source)
Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circumstances — it was somebody’s name, or he happened to be there at the time, or it was so then, and another day would have been otherwise. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6 (1860)
(Source)
Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Prudence,” Essays: First Series, ch. 7 (1841)
We aim above the mark to hit the mark.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Nature,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)
Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Natural Religion” (1861-02-03)
It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
Charles Dudley Warner (1829–1900) American essayist and novelist
Backlog Studies, Fifth Study, sec. 3 (1872)
(Source)
Originally published in Scribner's Monthly (Apr 1872). Frequently misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.
A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Friendship,” Essays: First Series (1841)
The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
(Misattributed)
Though widely credited to Emerson, this appears to be a misattributed variation of a Leo Rosten quotation. More discussion of the connection here: The Purpose of Life Is Not To Be Happy But To Matter – Quote Investigator.
Every observation of history inspires a confidence that we shall not go far wrong; that things will mend.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Young American,” lecture, Mercantile Library Association, Boston (1844-02-07)
(Source)
Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)
No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician and philosopher
“Harvard: The Future,” sec. 5, The Atlantic Monthly (Sep 1936)
(Source)
Reprinted in Essays in Science and Philosophy, Part 3 (1947). Often misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Let us be silent, — so we may hear the whisper of the gods.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Friendship,” Essays: First Series (1841)
Sometimes misquoted as "whispers of the gods."
We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Nature,” Introduction, Nature: Addresses and Lectures (1849)
(Source)
The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it. There is no event greater in life than the appearance of new persons about our hearth, except it be the progress of the character which draws them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Domestic Life,” Society and Solitude (1870)
(Source)
What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)
Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves, but deal in our privacy with the last honesty and truth.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Illusions,” The Conduct of Life (1860)
Culture is one thing — and varnish another.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1868)
You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God; you shall not have both.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1842-10)
Nature is too thin a screen, — the glory of the One breaks in everywhere.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Religion,” The Present Age Lecture 7, Boston (1840-01-29)
(Source)
Lecture series initially presented 4 Dec 1839 - 12 Feb 1840. This particular phrase can be found in Emerson's writing going back to 1837. It also was reused in his Cambridge lecture, "The Preacher" (5 May 1879), in a somewhat different context.
The phrase is also rendered "Nature is too thin a screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere."
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,
Adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
(Spurious)
Frequently ascribed to him, especially in recent decades, but not found in his works.
More discussion about this quotation:
It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Heroism,” Essays: First Series (1841)
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Art,” Essays: First Series (1841)
Our chief want in life is someone who shall make us do what we can. This is the service of a friend. With him we are easily great.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7 (1860)
The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
(Attributed)
A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life; he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Works and Days,” Society and Solitude, ch. 7 (1870)
(Source)
It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.
Let us treat men and women well; treat them as if they were real; perhaps they are.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think to-day in words as hard as cannon-balls and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)
Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Art,” Essays: First Series, No. 12
(Source)
The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“New England Reformers,” lecture, Boston (1844-03-03), Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)
Reprinted in Essays: Second Series (1844).
I stir in it for the sad reason that no other mortal will move, and if I do not, why, it is left undone. The amount of it, be sure, is merely a Scream; but sometimes a scream is better than a thesis.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1838)
Referring to his attempts to stop the US Government's forced expulsion of the Cherokee from their land.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
I could never think well of a man’s intellectual or moral character, if he was habitually unfaithful to his appointments.
Nathaniel Emmons (1745-1840) American Calvinist preacher
(Attributed)
Traditionally, most of Australia’s imports come from overseas.
Keppel "Kep" Enderbery (1926-2015) Australian politician and jurist
(Attributed)
The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate.
Douglas Engelbart (1925-2013) American computer scientist, pioneer
(Attributed)
http://www.bootstrap.org/chronicle/press/tiaobrian/part1.htm
No, folks don’t like the truth. … It’s easier lyin’. Stops us havin’ to fess up to trouble when it comes along. To do right insteada wrong. … But I hate a lie, Cass. My own most of all. They keep us crawlin’ in the dust when we could an’ should be climbin’ for the stars.
Garth Ennis (b. 1970) Irish writer
Preacher, #31, “Underworld”
What is the first business of one who studies philosophy? To part with self-conceit. For it is impossible for any one to begin to learn what he thinks that he already knows.
Epictetus (c.55-c.135) Greek (Phrygian) Stoic philosopher
The Discourses, ch. 17, “How To Apply General Principles to Particular Cases” (c. AD 101-108)
Alt. trans.: "It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows." [tr. Long (1890)]
In my sex fantasy, nobody ever loves me for my mind.
Nora Ephron (1941-2012) American screenwriter, author, journalist, director
(Attributed)
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
Epictetus (c.55-c.135) Greek (Phrygian) Stoic philosopher
The Discourses, ch. 23, “Concerning Such as Read and Dispute Ostentatiously” (c. AD 101-108)
Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things.
Epictetus (c.55-c.135) Greek (Phrygian) Stoic philosopher
The Enchiridion (c. 135)
Alt. trans.: "We suffer not from the events in our lives, but from our judgment about them."
The impious one is not the one who takes away the gods of the masses, but rather the one who imposes the ideas of the masses on the gods.
Epicurus (341-270 BC) Greek philosopher
Letter to Menoeceus
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
Epicurus (341-270 BC) Greek philosopher
The Vatican Sayings
Your anxiety is directly proportional to your forgetfulness of nature, for you bring on yourself unlimited fears and desires.
Epicurus (341-270 BC) Greek philosopher
Fragment
It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confidence of their help.
Epicurus (341-270 BC) Greek philosopher
The Vatican Sayings
Alt. trans.: "It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us."
For me, writing is foremost a mode of thinking and, when it works well, an act of discovery.
Joseph Epstein (b. 1937) American writer
The Bedford Reader, “Postscript on Process” (ed. Kennedy and Kennedy, 2d ed.) (1985)
When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes.
Desiderius Erasmus (1465-1536) Dutch humanist philosopher and scholar
(Attributed)
