Nature intended illusions for the wise as well as for fools, let the former should be rendered too miserable by their wisdom.
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Maxims and Thoughts, ch. 1 (1796) [tr. Merwin (1984)]
He will through life be master of himself and a happy man who from day to day can have said, “I have lived: tomorrow the Father may fill the sky with black clouds or with cloudless sunshine.”
[Ille potens sui
laetusque deget, cui licet in diem
dixisse “vixi: cras vel atra
nube polum pater occupato
vel sole puro.”]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina] Book 3, Ode 24, l. 41 (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
Indecision has rendered all my faculties barren.
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Journal (14 Oct 1872) [tr. Ward (1887)]
Full text.
It’s always hard to see hope with a hangover.
P. J. O'Rourke (b. 1947) American humorist, editor
Holidays in Hell (1989)
What are all the records of history, but narratives of successive villainies, of treasons and usurpations, massacres and wars?
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #175 (19 Nov 1751)
(Source)
Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don’t stare at it. It’s too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away.
Jerry Seinfeld (b. 1954) American comedian
(Attributed)
The chief reason warfare is still with us is neither a secret death wish of the human species, nor an irrepressible instinct of aggression, nor, finally and more plausibly, the serious economic and social dangers inherent in disarmament, but the simple fact that no substitute for this final arbiter in international affairs has yet appeared on the political scene.
The most important thing a man can know is that, as he approaches his own door, someone on the other side is listening for the sound of his footsteps.
Clark Gable (1901-1960) American film actor [b. William Clark Goebel]
(Attributed)
In Ronald Reagan, Where's the Rest of Me?, ch. 18 (1965). Quoted as something Reagan wrote to his first son, Michael, before his marriage. Alternately given as, "There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of the day knowing someone on the other side of the door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps," in Julia Baumgold, "Ronald Reagan's Total Woman," New York Magazine, 28 Jul 1980.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
David Copperfield, ch. 12 (1850)
At one time kings were anointed by Deity, so the problem was to see to it that Deity chose the right candidate. In this age the myth is “the will of the people” … but the problem changes only superficially.
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress [Bernardo de la Paz] (1966)
Useful undertakings which require sustained attention and vigorous precision in order to succeed often end up by being abandoned, for, in America, as elsewhere, the people move forward by sudden impulses and short-lived efforts.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Democracy in America, Vol. 1, ch. 5 (1835)
What this country needs is a short, victorious war to stem the tide of revolution.
Vyacheslav von Pléhve (1846-1904) Russian Tsarist security director, Interior Minister [Vyacheslav Konstantinovich von Plehve, or Pleve; Вячесла́в Константи́нович фон Пле́ве]
Comment (1903) [tr. Walder (1974)]
(Source)
Regarding the impending Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). Possibly apocryphal; the comment is quoted in the memoirs of Count Sergei Witte, an opponent of Plehve, several years later (and well after Plehve's 1904 assassination). Witte recounted it as a retort by Plehve to General Alexey Nikolayevich Kuropatkin, who accused Plehve of supporting the conflict for adventurist/expansionist reasons.
Russia, though considered much stronger than Japan militarily, ended up losing the war, destabilizing the government and ironically leading to revolutions in 1905 and 1917.
Alternate translations:
- "We need a little victorious war to stem the tide of revolution." [tr. Yarmolinsky (1921)]
- "We need a little, victorious war to stem the revolution." [tr. Harcave (1990)]
- "To contain the revolution, we need a short victorious war." [tr Hodson (2017)]
HENRY: A speaker is but a prater, a rhyme is but a ballad, a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon, or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me.
Many people consider the things which government does for them to be social progress, but they consider the things government does for others as socialism.
Earl Warren (1891-1974) American jurist and politician; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1953-69)
Speech, Madison, Wisconsin (Jun 1955)
As for “literature of expression” and “literature of escape” — this is critics’ jargon, a use of abstract words as if they had absolute meanings. Everything written with vitality expresses that vitality: there are no dull subjects, only dull minds.
Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) American novelist
“The Simple Art of Murder,” Atlantic Monthly (Dec 1944)
When the skie falth we shall have Larkes.
[When the sky falls, we shall have larks.]
John Heywood (1497?-1580?) English playwright and epigrammist
Proverbes, Part 1, ch. 4 (1546)
(Source)
Administrivia: Doing the Numbers: 3/2011
We last updated the numbers back in April 2010, but since I’m thinking about it, here’s where we are now.
I moved a few other things from “Miscellaneous” into authored categories, but the overall quotations made a very nice increase over the last year (if I’d waited until the end of April, I’d be a full thousand more quotes). I’ve also added a good number of new authors.
Speaking of authors, here’s the current Top 10 (expanded a bit, due to ties). The ones in italics have jumped into the list since last year.
There’s now a listing in the sidebar (“Prolific Authors”) to show this info dynamically.
The current Top Quotes (by views) are always shown in the sidebar, too (“Popular Quotables”). As a snapshot, and with author:
- ↑ Robert Frost: “The Lesson for Today,” A Witness Tree (1942) (888)
- ↑ Michel de Montaigne: “That to Philosophize Is to Learn to Die,” Essays (1588) [tr. D. Frame (1958)] (760)
- ↑ John Steinbeck: Nobel prize acceptance speech (10 Dec 1962) (728)
- ↓ Seneca the Younger: Moral Essays, “On Tranquility of Mind De Tranquillitate Animi“, 17.10 [tr. W. Langsdorf (1900)] (702)
- ♥ Bertrand Russell: “The Triumph of Stupidity” (10 May 1933) (667)
- ↓ Theodore Roosevelt: “The New Nationalism,” speech, Osawatomie, Kansas (31 Aug 1910) (655)
- ♥ Aeschylus: Agamemnon, l. 179 (597)
- ♥ Albert Einstein: “Science, Philosophy and Religion: a Symposium” (1941) (505)
- ↓ Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter, “Introduction: The Custom-House” (1850) (463)
- ↓ Lord Chesterfield: Letter to his son (9 Oct 1746) (415)
I’ve noted where each quote has risen or fallen in the rankings, or is new in the Top 10 from last time (♥). Quotes that fell off were Robert Louis Stevenson (“Aes Triplex” (1878)), William Henley (“Invictus” (1875)), and Patrick Henry (Speech, Virginia Ratifying Convention (5 Jun 1788)).
As far as traffic goes, according to Google Analytics I averaged about 107 visits a day in the last month, which looks to be up from the previous period, averaging around a thousand page views a week. Not too shabby — hardly fortune and glory, but a nice validation for my hobby.
Who Rank Quotes
There is no belief, however grotesque and even villainous, that cannot be made a part of human nature if it is inculcated in childhood and not contradicted in the child’s hearing.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism, ch. 18 (1928)
See Schopenhauer.
Religion — it’s given people hope in a world torn apart by religion.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
The Daily Show
Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (Oct 1755)
There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Hobbit, ch. 18 “The Return Journey” [Thorin] (1937)
(Source)
Our doubts about ourselves cannot be banished except by working at that which is the one and only thing we know we ought to do. Other people’s assertions cannot silence the howling dirge within us. It is our talents rusting unused within us that secrete the poison of self-doubt into our bloodstream.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Entry (1955) in “Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook” by Tom Bethell, Harper’s Magazine (July 2005)
We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope. Only in this way shall we live without the fatigue of bitterness and the drain of resentment.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 10 “Shattered Dreams,” sec. 2 (1963)
(Source)
Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim Gun, and they have not.Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) Franco-British writer, historian [Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc]
The Modern Traveller, ch. 6 (1898)
On British imperialism in Africa.
Ideal: An excuse for murder, tyranny, or for self-aggrandizement. Any theory that justifies our secret itch.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Roycroft Dictionary (1914)
Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 6 (1782)
(Source)
Administrivia: We are experiencing hemispherical difficulties … please stand by …
I realized yesterday that WIST has been “dark” for a week and a half. My apologies — I’ve been on business in Australia and South America, which has been both fascinating and exhausting and otherwise disorienting enough to have broken my daily WIST-posting habit.
We will resume our normal quotational broadcasts on Monday.
My wife should be as much free from suspicion of a crime as she is from a crime itself.
[Meos tam suspicione quam crimine iudico carere oportere.]
Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) Roman general and statesman [Gaius Julius Caesar]
In Suetonius, Life of Caesar
Popularly, "Caesar’s wife must be above reproach" or "beyond reproach."
Caesar was called to be a witness against Clodius, who was charge with having defiled sacred rites and having an affair with Pompeia, Caesar's wife. Caesar said he had investigated and found out nothing to prove the Pompeia's fidelity. When asked why, then, he had divorced her, he gave this answer.
Alt. trans.: "I judge it necessary for my kin to be as free from suspicion as from the charge of wrongdoing."
Alt. trans.: "I wished my wife to be not so much as suspected." [in Plutarch, “Caesar,” Parallel Lives [tr. Dryden (1693)]].
Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.
Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Canadian writer, literary critic, environmental activist
Cat’s Eye, Part 2 (1988)
(Source)
They rejoiced competing with all Hellenes, since oblivion belongs to those who do not take part.
Pindar (c. 522–443 BC) Greek lyric poet
Fourth Isthmian Ode (479 BC)
The better part of happiness is to wish to be what you are.
Desiderius Erasmus (1465-1536) Dutch humanist philosopher and scholar
The Praise of Folly, ch. 10 (1509) [tr. Hudson (1941)]
“The will of the nation” is one of those expressions which have been most profusely abused by the wily and the despotic of every age.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Democracy in America, Vol. 1, ch. 4 (1835)
I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.
Jack Kerouac (1922–1969) Canadian-American novelist and poet
On the Road, Part 2, ch. 4 (1957)
(Source)
There is but one blasphemy, and that is injustice.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture, Chicago (20 Sep 1880)
Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe, #231 [tr. T. Bailey Saunders (1892)]
“Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!” he said to himself, and it became a favorite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Hobbit, ch. 12 “Inside Information” (1937)
(Source)
A multitude of words is probably the most formidable means of blurring and obscuring thought. There is no thought, however momentous, that cannot be expressed lucidly in 200 words.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Entry (1954) in “Eric Hoffer and the Art of the Notebook” by Tom Bethell, Harper’s Magazine (July 2005)
He that loseth his honesty hath nothing else to lose.
John Lyly (c. 1553-1606) was an English writer [also Lilly or Lylie]
Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit, “Euphues” (1579)
Remove justice, and what are kingdoms but gangs of criminals on a large scale?
[Remota itaque iustitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia?]Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
City of God [De Civitate Dei], Book 4, ch. 4 (4.4) (AD 412-416) [tr. Bettenson (1972)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:
Set justice aside, then, and what are kingdoms but fair thievish purchases?
[tr. Healey (1610)]
Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies?
[tr. Dods (1871)]
In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized brigandage?
[tr. Zema/Walsh (1950)]
And so if justice is left out, what are kingdoms except great robber bands?
[tr. Green (Loeb) (1963)]
Justice removed, then, what are kingdoms but great bands of robbers?
[tr. Dyson (1998)]
Remove justice, then, and what are kingdoms but large gangs of robbers?
[tr. Babcock (2012)]
In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?
[E.g.]
There is an ideal standard somewhere and only that matters: and I cannot find it. Hence this aimlessness.
T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935) British officer, diplomat, linguist, memoirist, writer [Thomas Edward Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia"]
Letter to Eric Kennington (6 Aug 1934)
We rarely find anyone who can say he has lived a happy life, and who, content with his life, can retire from the world like a satisfied guest.
[Inde fit ut raro, qui se vixisse beatum
dicat et exacto contentus tempore vita
cedat uti conviva satur, reperire queamus.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Satires, Book 1, Satire 1, l. 117 (c. 35 BC)
Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the Trinity. It is the mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of Jesus.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Francis Adrian Van der Kemp (30 Jul 1816)
(Source)
The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.
Robert Wilson Lynd (1879-1949) British writer, literary essayist, journalist, and Irish nationalist
(Attributed)
The ingratitude of the world can never deprive us of the conscious happiness of having acted with humanity ourselves.
Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774) Irish poet, playwright, novelist
The Good-Natur’d Man, ch. 3 (1768)
History is invaluable in increasing our knowledge of human nature because it shows how people may be expected to behave in new situations. Many prominent men and women are completely ordinary in character and only exceptional in their circumstances.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Understanding History, And Other Essays, “How to Read and Understand History” (1957)
If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected — those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most! — and listens to their testimony.
James Baldwin (1924-1987) American novelist, playwright, activist
No Name in the Street (1972)
Sex is hardly ever just about sex.
Shirley MacLaine (b. 1934) American actress, dancer, activist, author
(Attributed)
No human being can make another one happy.
W. H. Auden (1907-1973) Anglo-American poet [Wystan Hugh Auden]
The Dyer’s Hand and Other Essays, “Postscript: The Frivolous & the Earnest” (1962)
I told you that “juvenile delinquent” is a contradiction in terms. “Delinquent” means “failing in duty.” But duty is an adult virtue — indeed a juvenile becomes an adult when, and only when, he acquires a knowledge of duty and embraces it as dearer than the self-love he was born with. There never was, there cannot be a “juvenile delinquent.” But for every juvenile criminal there are always one or more adult delinquents — people of mature years who either do not know their duty, or who, knowing it, fail.
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
Starship Troopers, ch. 8 [Dubois] (1959)
I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men, and where the profounder contempt is expressed for the theory of the permanent equality of property.
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Democracy in America, Vol. 1, ch. 3, part 1 (1835)
Everyone … has a feeling of inferiority. But the feeling of inferiority is not a disease; it is rather a stimulant to health, normal striving and development. It becomes a pathological condition only when the sense of inadequacy overwhelms the individual and, far from stimulating him to useful activity, makes him depressed and incapable of development.
Alfred Adler (1870-1937) Austrian psychologist
The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler: A Systematic Presentation in Selections From His Writings, 9.D.2 (1929) [ed. Ansbacher & Ansbacher (1956)]
There can be no rule of God in the present state of iniquitous inequalities in which a few roll in riches and the masses do not get enough to eat.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
In Harijan (1 Jun 1947)
The aggregate happiness of the society, which is best promoted by the practice of a virtuous policy, is, or ought to be, the end of all government.
George Washington (1732-1799) American military leader, Founding Father, US President (1789-1797)
Letter to Comte de Moustier (1 Nov 1790)
The private detective of fiction is a fantastic creation who acts and speaks like a real man. He can be completely realistic in every sense but one, that one sense being that in life as we know it such a man would not be a private detective.
Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) American novelist
Letter (19 Apr 1951)
Published in Raymond Chandler Speaking (1962).
The obstinacy of cleverness and reason is nothing to the obstinacy of folly and inanity.
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) American author
Little Foxes, ch. 4 (1865)
