Love what you do. Get good at it. Competence is a rare commodity in this day and age. And let the chips fall where they may.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
Commencement Address, College of William & Mary (2004-05-20)
(Source)
Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
In A. E. Hotchner, Papa Hemingway, Pt. 1, ch. 4 “Havana, 1951-53” (1966)
When told Faulkner said Hemingway was not courageous enough to use words a reader might need to look up in the dictionary. Full text.
Cannon and fire-arms are cruel and damnable machines. I believe them to have been the direct suggestion of the devil. Against the flying ball, no valour avails; the soldier is dead ‘ere he sees the means of his destruction.
Martin Luther (1483-1546) German religious reformer
Table Talk, # 820 [tr. W. Hazlitt (1848)]
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Steve Jobs (1955-2011) American computer inventor, entrepreneur
Commencement Address, Stanford University (2005)
(Source)
Diplomacy and defense are not substitutes for one another. Either alone would fall.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Speech, University of Washington, Seattle (16 Nov 1961)
A courageous effort consecrates an unhappy end.
Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) American writer, philosopher, historian, architect
The Conduct of Life, 9.10 (1951)
The true barbarian is he who thinks every thing barbarous but his own tastes and prejudices.
In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
Despair is a greater deceiver than hope.
Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715-1747) French moralist, essayist, soldier
Reflections and Maxims [Réflexions et maximes], #455 (1746) [tr. Stevens (1940)]
When as in silks my Julia goes,
Then, then, methinks how sweetly flows
That liquefaction of her clothes.
Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave vibration each way free;
Oh how that glittering taketh me!
The orthodox of all persuasions — Jews and Christians and Muslims, theists and atheists, leftists and rightists — get so wrapped up in their eternal quests, their conversion campaigns, their apocalypses and their utopias, the Rapture and the Revolution, that they forget to ENJOY their infinitesimal time on earth. They forget LIFE, LOVE, LAUGHTER and LIBERTY. Why would anyone make that mistake? God only knows.
Marty Beckerman (b. 1983) American alternative journalist, humorist, author
Dumbocracy, Part III “The Promised Land” (2008)
What do I believe? As an American I believe in generosity, in liberty, in the rights of man. These are social and political faiths that are part of me, as they are, I suppose, part of all of us. Such beliefs are easy to express. But part of me too is my relation to all life, my religion. And this is not so easy to talk about. Religious experience is highly intimate and, for me, ready words are not at hand. I am profoundly aware of the magnitude of the universe, that all is ruled by law, including my finite person. I believe in the infinite wisdom that envelops and embraces me and from which I take direction, purpose, strength.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Essay, This I Believe, Vol. 2 (1952) [ed. E. Murrow]
Here shall the Press the People’s right maintain,
Unaw’d by influence and unbrib’d by gain;
Here patriot Truth her glorious precepts draw,
Pledg’d to Religion, Liberty, and Law.Joseph Story (1779-1845) American lawyer, jurist, Supreme Court Justice (1811-1845)
Motto of the Salem Register newspaper
For man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments. This you may say of man — when theories change and crash, when schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic, grow and disintegrate, man reaches, stumbles forward, painfully, mistakenly sometimes. Having stepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back. This you may say and know it and know it. This you may know when the bombs plummet out of the black planes on the market place, when prisoners are stuck like pigs, when the crushed bodies drain filthily in the dust. You may know it in this way. If the step were not being taken, if the stumbling-forward ache were not alive, the bombs would not fall, the throats would not be cut. Fear the time when the bombs stop falling while the bombers live — for every bomb is proof that the spirit has not died. And fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live — for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken. And this you can know — fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
The Grapes of Wrath, ch. 14 (1939)
Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“The Science of Second-Guessing”, interview by Deborah Solomon, New York Times (12 Dec 2004)
What comes out of a man is what makes him “unclean.” For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man “unclean.”
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Mark 7:20-23 (NIV)
If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.
Herodotus (c.484-c.420 BC) Greek historian
Histories, Book 2, ch. 173
Pilots take no special joy in walking: pilots like flying. Pilots generally take pride in a good landing, not in getting out of the vehicle.
Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) American astronaut, aviator, educator
(Attributed)
On walking on the moon. In F. French, C. Burgess, In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)
The show in general we feel like is a privilege. Even the idea that we can sit in the back of the country and make wise cracks … which is really what we do. We sit in the back and throw spitballs — but never forgetting that it is a luxury in this country that allows us to do that. That is, a country that allows for open satire, and I know that sounds basic and it sounds like it goes without saying. But that’s really what this whole situation is about. It’s the difference between closed and open. The difference between free and … burdened. And we don’t take that for granted here, by any stretch of the imagination.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
The Daily Show (2001-09-20)
(Source)
How simple the writing of literature would be if it were only necessary to write in another way what has been well written. It is because we have had such great writers in the past that a writer is driven far out past where he can go, out to where no one can help him.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
Speech, accepting the Nobel prize (10 Dec 1954)
Full text.
It is easier to suppress the first Desire than to satisfy all that follow it.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (1751)
(Source)
Included in his summary piece, "The Way to Wealth" (1757).
The details vanish in the bird’s-eye view; but so does the bird’s-eye view vanish in the details.
William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
“The Importance of Individuals,” The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.
Josephine Hart (1942-2011) Irish writer, theatrical producer, television presenter
Damage, ch. 12 (1991)
Corruption comes by degrees.
Juvenal (c.55-127) Roman satirist [Decimus Junius Juvinalis]
Satires, 2.84 [tr. P. Green (1967)]
Every man, in his own opinion, forms an exception to the ordinary rules of morality.
Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) American lawyer, statesman, politician, orator
Speech, Washington, DC (22 Feb 1899)
Good men should not shrink from hardships and difficulties, nor complain against fate; they should take in good part whatever happens and should turn it to good. Not what you endure, but how you endure, is important.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Essays, “On Providence,” 2.4 [tr. J. Basore (1928)]
What are we? How are we? Why are we? These questions have haunted Mankind since the dawn of civilization. Those who claim to know the Answers — and feel the need to force their conclusions on others — are responsible for unspeakable bloodshed throughout history; it matters not if their conclusion is Godliness or Atheism. A fundamentalist is a fundamentalist, a butcher is a butcher, and an asshole is an asshole.
Marty Beckerman (b. 1983) American alternative journalist, humorist, author
Dumbocracy, Part III “The Promised Land” (2008)
I profoundly believe that there is on this horizon, as yet only dimly perceived, a new dawn of conscience. In that purer light, people will come to see themselves in each other, which is to say they will make themselves known to one another by their similarities rather than by their differences. Man’s knowledge of things will begin to be matched by man’s knowledge of self. The significance of a smaller world will be measured not in terms of military advantage, but in terms of advantage for the human community. It will be the triumph of the heartbeat over the drumbeat.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech, Springfield Illinois (24 Oct 1952)
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
“The Soul of Man Under Socialism,” Fortnightly Review (Feb 1881)
A man’s accomplishments in life are the cumulative effect of his attention to detail.
John Foster Dulles (1888-1959) American politician and diplomat
(Attributed)
In Leonard Mosley, Dulles, ch. 25 (1978)
The first qualification of a diplomat is the ability to keep silent.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) French emperor, military leader
Letter to Talleyrand (4 Jul 1802)
I reject the idea there are just two sides. I think that with the amount of ideas and thoughts there are, it’s not even going to be consistent with the same person. People can hold liberal and conservative dogma points at the same time. They’re not living their lives via platforms. They’re living their lives. The whole thing is an awfully tired construct.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
“No News Is Good News,” interview by Adam Bulger, The Hartford Advocate (2008-06-12)
(Source)
All things truly wicked start from an innocence.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
A Moveable Feast, ch. 17 (1964)
So the courageous person is the one who endures and fears — and likewise is confident about — the right things, for the right reason, in the right way, and at the right time.
[ὁ μὲν οὖν ἃ δεῖ καὶ οὗ ἕνεκα ὑπομένων καὶ φοβούμενος, καὶ ὡς δεῖ καὶ ὅτε, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ θαρρῶν, ἀνδρεῖος.]
Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 3, ch. 7 (3.7.5) / 1115b.19 (c. 325 BC) [tr. Crisp (2000)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:
He is Brave then who withstands, and fears, and is bold, in respect of right objects, from a right motive, in right manner, and at right times.
[tr. Chase (1847), ch. 10]
He then who with the right end in view faces what he ought, and fears it, and does so as he ought, and when he ought, and who in a similar manner faces with confidence that which ought to be so faced, -- he is brave.
[tr. Williams (1869), sec. 52]
Thus he who faces and fears the right things for the right motive and in the right way and at the right time, and whose confidence is similarly right, is courageous.
[tr. Welldon (1892), ch. 10]
He, then, that endures and fears what he ought from the right motive, and in the right manner, and at the right time, and similarly feels confidence, is courageous.
[tr. Peters (1893)]
The man, then, who faces and who fears the right things and from the right motive, in the right way and from the right time, and who feels confidence under the corresponding conditions, is brave.
[tr. Ross (1908)]
The courageous man then is he that endures or fears the right things and for the right purpose and in the right manner and at the right time, and who shows confidence in a similar way.
[tr. Rackham (1934)]
So a person is courageous who endures and fears the things he should, in the way he should, when he should, and is similarly confident.
[tr. Reeve (1948)]
The brave man is the man who faces or fears the right thing for the right purpose in the right manner at the right moment.
[tr. J. Thomson (1953)]
So he who faces and fears those fearful things which he should, and for the right cause, and in the right manner, and at the right time, and who shows courage in a similar manner, is a brave man.
[tr. Apostle (1975)]
The man who faces and fears (or similarly feels confident about) the right things for the right reason and in the right way and at the right time is courageous.
[tr. Thomson/Tredennick (1976)]
Hence whoever stands firm against the right things and fears the right things, for the right end, at the right time, and is correspondingly confident, is the brave person.
[tr. Irwin/Fine (1995)]
He, then, who endures and fears what he ought and for the sake of what he ought, and in the way he ought and when, and who is similarly confident as well, is courageous.
[tr. Bartlett/Collins (2011)]
Always behind what we imagine are our best deeds stands the devil, patting us paternally on the shoulder and whispering, “Well done!”
Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist
“A Psychological View of Conscience” (1958)
No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails it. For by its very tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more securely; the fragile trees are those that have grown in a sunny valley.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Essays, “On Providence,” 4.16 [tr. J. Basore (1928)]
Opinions are like genitals: if you force others to swallow yours, something is seriously wrong with you.
Marty Beckerman (b. 1983) American alternative journalist, humorist, author
Dumbocracy, Introduction (2008)
If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech, University of Wisconsin, Madison (8 Oct 1952)
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
“Return to Tipasa,” Summer (1954)
The stronger one’s real position, the less one needs to rub in the other side’s discomfiture. It is rarely wise to inflame a setback with an insult. An important aspect of the art of diplomacy consists of doing what is necessary without producing extraneous motives for retaliation, leaving open the option of later cooperation on other issues.
Henry Kissinger (b. 1923) German-American diplomat
Years of Upheaval, ch. 21 (1982)
Nothing is so easy but it is difficult when you do it reluctantly.
Terence (186?-159 BC) African-Roman dramatist [Publius Terentius Afer]
Heuton timoroumenos [The Self-Tormentor], l. 806 [tr. J. Sergeaunt (1912)]
Alt trans: "There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly."
The commander must try, above all, to establish personal and comradely contact with his men, but without giving away an inch of his authority.
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German field marshal
(1944), The Rommel Papers, ch. 23 (ed. B. H. Liddell Hart) (1953)
I have no reverence for any book that teaches a doctrine contrary to my reason; no reverence for any book that teaches a doctrine contrary to my heart; and, no matter how old it is, no matter how many have believed it, no matter how many have died on account of it, no matter how many live for it, I have no reverence for that book, and I am glad of it.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“Reply to Rev. Drs. Thomas and Lorimer,” speech, Chicago (26 Nov 1882)
(Source)
Our names are labels, plainly printed on the bottled essence of our past behavior.
Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946) American-English essayist, editor, anthologist
(Attributed)
It is the old practice of despots to use a part of the people to keep the rest in order.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to John Taylor (4 Jun 1798)
(Source)
We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours.
Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961) Swedish diplomat, author, UN Secretary-General (1953-61)
Markings (1950) [tr. L Sjoberg, W H Auden (1964)]
It don’t take no nerve to do somepin when there ain’t nothin’ else you can do.
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American writer
The Grapes of Wrath [Tom] (1939)
My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) English physicist, author
“The Science of Second-Guessing”, interview by Deborah Solomon, New York Times (12 Dec 2004)
Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.
Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) American playwright, screenwriter
The Little Foxes, Act I (1939)
A modern dictator with the resources of science at his disposal can easily lead the public on from day to day, destroying all persistency of thought and aim, so that memory is blurred by the multiplicity of daily news and judgment baffled by its perversion.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Vol 1 (1956–58)
On the spread of the news of the Murder of the Princes in the Tower. Sometimes cited to The Second World War (1948-53)
“It is destiny” — phrase of the weak human heart; dark apology for every error. The strong and the virtuous admit no destiny.
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and politician
The Last of the Barons, 8.6 (1843)
We declared war on terror — it’s not even a noun, so, good luck. After we defeat it, I’m sure we’ll take on that bastard ennui.
Jon Stewart (b. 1962) American satirist, comedian, and television host. [b. Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz]
Commencement Address, College of William & Mary (2004-05-20)
(Source)
When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
Death in the Afternoon, ch. 16 (1932)