We must guard against being too individualistic and elitist in our understanding of spirituality. Some Christians talk endlessly about the importance of one’s interior life and how to develop it more fully, forgetting that Christ is born to bring hope and joy also to whole communities of people — the exiles, the deported, the tortured, the silenced.

William Sloane Coffin, Jr. (1924-2006) American minister, social activist
Credo, “Faith, Hope, and Love” (2004)
    (Source)
 
Added on 29-Feb-08 | Last updated 26-Feb-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Coffin, William Sloane

You cannot change the conclusion of the brain by torture; nor by social ostracism. But I will tell you what you can do by these, and what you have done. You can make hypocrites by the million. You can make a man say that he has changed his mind; but he remains of the same opinion still. Put fetters all over him; crush his feet in iron boots; stretch him to the last gasp upon the holy rack; burn him, if you please, but his ashes will be of the same opinion still.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child” (1877)
    (Source)
 
Added on 29-Feb-08 | Last updated 4-Feb-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Ingersoll, Robert Green

It has always been thought perfectly womanly to be a scrub-woman in the Legislature and to take care of the spittoons; that is entirely within the charmed circle of woman’s sphere; but for women to occupy any of those official seats would be degrading.

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) American reformer, aboltionist, sufferagist
Address to National Woman Suffrage Association, Atlanta (31 Jan 1895)

Regarding the argument that women's involvement in politics would "degrade" them. Quoted in Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper, History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 15 (1902).
 
Added on 29-Feb-08 | Last updated 29-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Anthony, Susan B.

The composition of this book has been for the author a long struggle of escape, and so must the reading of it be for most readers if the author’s assault upon them is to be successful, — a struggle of escape from habitual modes of thought and expression. The ideas which are here expressed so laboriously are extremely simple and should be obvious. The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds.

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) English economist
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Preface (1936)
 
Added on 28-Feb-08 | Last updated 28-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Keynes, John Maynard

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 7 “Strider” (1954)
    (Source)

A poem by Bilbo, recorded in a letter from Gandalf to Frodo, referring to Aragorn. Bilbo later repeats the poem at the Council of Elrond.
 
Added on 28-Feb-08 | Last updated 2-Jun-22
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Tolkien, J.R.R.

TOWER: Flight two-zero niner, you’re cleared for take-off.
CAPT. CLARENCE OVEUR: Roger.
ROGER MURDOCK: Huh?
TOWER: L.A. departure frequency one two three point niner.
CAPT. CLARENCE OVEUR: Roger.
ROGER MURDOCK: Huh?
VICTOR BASTA: Request vector, over.
CAPT. CLARENCE OVEUR: Huh?
TOWER: Flight two-zero niner, cleared for vector three-two-four.
ROGER MURDOCK: We have clearance, Clarence.
CAPT. CLARENCE OVEUR: Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?
TOWER: Tower Radio, clearance, over.
CAPT. CLARENCE OVEUR: That’s ‘Clarence Oveur’, over.
TOWER: Roger.
ROGER MURDOCK: Huh?
TOWER: Roger, over.
ROGER MURDOCK: What?
CAPT. CLARENCE OVEUR: Huh?
VICTOR BASTA: Who?

David Zucker (b. 1947) American writer-director
Airplane (1980)

(with Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker)
 
Added on 28-Feb-08 | Last updated 28-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Zucker, David

Of the best rulers
The people (only) know that they exist;
The next best they love and praise;
The next they fear;
And the next they revile.
When they do not command the people’s faith,
Some will lose faith in them,
And then they resort to oaths!
But (of the best) when their task is accomplished, their work done,
The people all remark, “We have done it ourselves.”

Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
The Wisdom of Laotse, ch 17 (1948) [tr. Lin Yutang]

Alt. trans. [Tao-te Ching tr. Wing-Tsit Chan]:
"The best are those whose existence is merely known by the people.
The next best are those who are loved and praised.
The next are those who are feared. And the next are those who are reviled.
The great rulers accomplish their task; they complete their work.
Nevertheless their people say that they simply follow Nature."
 
Added on 28-Feb-08 | Last updated 6-Apr-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Lao-tzu

It is not death therefore that is burdensome, but the fear of death.

St Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan (339-397) Roman theologian, statesman, Christian prelate, saint, Doctor of the Church [Aurelius Ambrosius]
De bono mortis, 8, 31
 
Added on 27-Feb-08 | Last updated 27-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Ambrose of Milan

There’s nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book.

Carson McCullers (1917–1967), American writer (b. Lula Carson Smith)
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, “The Sojourner” [Ferris] (1951)
 
Added on 27-Feb-08 | Last updated 27-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by McCullers, Carson

Our true history is scarcely ever deciphered by others. The chief part of the drama is a monologue, or rather an intimate debate between God, our conscience, and ourselves. Tears, griefs, depressions, disappointments, irritations, good and evil thoughts, decisions, uncertainties, deliberations—all these belong to our secret, and are almost all incommunicable and intransmissible, even when we try to speak of them, and even when we write them down.

Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Journal Intime, entry for 27 Oct 1856 (1882)

trans. Mrs. Humphrey Ward (1892)
 
Added on 27-Feb-08 | Last updated 27-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Amiel, Henri-Frédéric

I think any argument that states that comics (or radio or film or a musical or the novel or insert your favourite medium here…) by its nature trivialises its subject matter is foolish, shortsighted, dim, lazy and wrong. You can say, “This is a bad comic.” You can’t say, “This is bad because it’s a comic.”

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Blog entry (2008-02-21), “Coraline Trailer”
    (Source)
 
Added on 26-Feb-08 | Last updated 18-Apr-24
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Gaiman, Neil

I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.

E. B. White (1899-1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
(Attributed)
 
Added on 26-Feb-08 | Last updated 26-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by White, E. B.

If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
“Selections from the Allen Notebooks,” New Yorker (5 Nov 1973)

Reprinted in Without Feathers (1976).
 
Added on 26-Feb-08 | Last updated 26-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Allen, Woody

Even if we think religion insoluble, we cannot think it irrelevant. Even if we ourselves have no view of the ultimate verities, we must feel that wherever such a view exists in a man it must be more important than anything else in him.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“Heretics and Heresies” (1874)
    (Source)
 
Added on 25-Feb-08 | Last updated 2-Feb-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , ,
More quotes by Ingersoll, Robert Green

New-born desires, after all, have inexplicable charms, and all the pleasure of love is in variety.

Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Dom Juan, I.ii (1665)
 
Added on 25-Feb-08 | Last updated 25-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Moliere

A relationship, I think, is like a shark, you know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Annie Hall (1977)

Script with Marshall Brickman.
 
Added on 25-Feb-08 | Last updated 25-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Allen, Woody

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) American political philosopher and writer
“The American Crisis” #1 (19 Dec 1776)
 
Added on 22-Feb-08 | Last updated 14-Jan-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Paine, Thomas

Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.

Saul Alinsky (1909-1972) American community organizer, writer.
Rules for Radicals, “Tactics” (1971)
 
Added on 22-Feb-08 | Last updated 22-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Alinsky, Saul

It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.

Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) American boxer, activist [b. Cassius Clay]
Quoted in NY Times (6 Apr 1977)
 
Added on 22-Feb-08 | Last updated 22-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Ali, Muhammad

Exactly! It is absurd — improbable — it cannot be. So I myself have said. And yet, my friend, there it is! One cannot escape from the facts.

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) English writer
Murder on the Orient Express [Poirot] (1934)
 
Added on 21-Feb-08 | Last updated 21-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Christie, Agatha

The dead do not suffer. And if they live again, their lives will surely be as good as ours. We have no fear. We are all children of the same mother, and the same fate awaits us all. We, too, have our religion, and it is this: Help for the living, hope for the dead.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“At a Child’s Grave” (8 Jan 1882)
    (Source)
 
Added on 21-Feb-08 | Last updated 2-Feb-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Ingersoll, Robert Green

Risk for risk, for myself I had rather take my chance that some traitors will escape detection than spread abroad a spirit of general suspicion and distrust, which accepts rumor and gossip in place of undismayed and unintimidated inquiry.

Learned Hand (1872-1961) American jurist
“A Plea for the Open Mind and Free Discussion,” speech, University of the State of New York, Albany (1952-10-24)
    (Source)
 
Added on 20-Feb-08 | Last updated 27-Mar-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Hand, Learned

Everyone has the same God; only people differ.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904) Russian playwright and writer
The Duel [Kerbalai] (1891)
 
Added on 20-Feb-08 | Last updated 20-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Chekhov, Anton

One’s religion is whatever he is most interested in.

James Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist
The Twelve-Pound Look (1910)
 
Added on 19-Feb-08 | Last updated 19-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Barrie, James

When playing Russian roulette the fact that the first shot got off safely is little comfort for the next.

Richard Feynman (1918-1988) American physicist
Rogers Commission Report into the Challenger Crash, Appendix F “Personal Observations on Reliability of Shuttle” (Jun 1986)

Full report
 
Added on 19-Feb-08 | Last updated 10-Jan-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Feynman, Richard

Education begins a gentleman, conversation completes him.

(Other Authors and Sources)
English proverb (18th Century)

Collected in Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia (1732).
 
Added on 19-Feb-08 | Last updated 19-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by ~Other

The first of the four cardinal virtues of the Roman Catholic Church is “prudentia,” which basically means damn good thinking. Christ came to take away our sins, not our minds.

William Sloane Coffin, Jr. (1924-2006) American minister, social activist
Credo, “Faith, Hope, Love” (2004)
    (Source)
 
Added on 18-Feb-08 | Last updated 11-Mar-24
Link to this post | 2 comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Coffin, William Sloane

Here Men from The Planet Earth
First Set Foot upon The Moon
July, 1969 AD
We Came in Peace for All Mankind

(Other Authors and Sources)
Plaque left on the Moon by the Apollo 11 mission (1969)
 
Added on 18-Feb-08 | Last updated 18-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by ~Other

It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts, for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) US President (1913-20), educator, political scientist
Address to Congress (2 Apr 1917)
 
Added on 15-Feb-08 | Last updated 15-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Wilson, Woodrow

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master — that’s all.”

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) English writer and mathematician [pseud. of Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]
Through the Looking-Glass, ch. 6 (1872)
 
Added on 15-Feb-08 | Last updated 15-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Carroll, Lewis

Next to God, we are indebted to women, first for life itself, and then for making it worth having.

Christian Nestell Bovee (1820-1904) American epigrammatist, writer, publisher
Thoughts, Feelings, and Fancies (1857)
 
Added on 14-Feb-08 | Last updated 17-Jan-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Bovee, Christian Nestell

When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory — must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God the Father fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle — be Thou near them! With them — in spirit — we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it — for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.”

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
“The War Prayer” (1904–1905)
 
Added on 14-Feb-08 | Last updated 26-Jan-19
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Twain, Mark

Among the calamities of war, may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates, and credulity encourages.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Idler, #30 (11 Nov 1758)
 
Added on 14-Feb-08 | Last updated 10-Oct-12
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Johnson, Samuel

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
    (Source)
 
Added on 13-Feb-08 | Last updated 9-Nov-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by King, Martin Luther

Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.

Horace Mann (1796-1859) American educator
Baccalaureate address, Antioch College, Ohio (1859)

Final public address.
 
Added on 13-Feb-08 | Last updated 16-Jun-17
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Mann, Horace

It is not our affluence, or our plumbing, or our clogged freeways that grip the imagination of others. Rather, it is the values upon which our system is built. These values imply our adherence not only to liberty and individual freedom, but also to international peace, law and order, and constructive social purpose. When we depart from these values, we do so at our peril.

J. William Fulbright (1905-1995) American politician
Remarks in the Senate (29 Jun 1961)
 
Added on 13-Feb-08 | Last updated 13-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Fulbright, J. William

It is so easy to be solemn; it is so hard to be frivolous.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
All Things Considered, “The Case for the Ephemeral” (1908)
 
Added on 12-Feb-08 | Last updated 12-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Chesterton, Gilbert Keith

This liberty will look easy by and by when nobody dies to get it.

Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959) American playwright, author, poet, reporter, lyricist
Valley Forge, Act III, final sentence [George Washington] (1937)
 
Added on 12-Feb-08 | Last updated 12-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Anderson, Maxwell

Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions.

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) English writer
The ABC Murders, ch. 17 (1936)
 
Added on 12-Feb-08 | Last updated 12-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Christie, Agatha

The man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a traitor to himself and to his fellow-men.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child” (1877)
    (Source)
 
Added on 12-Feb-08 | Last updated 4-Feb-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Ingersoll, Robert Green

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) American political philosopher and writer
“The American Crisis” (23 Dec 1776)

Written after Washington retreated from New Jersey.
 
Added on 12-Feb-08 | Last updated 14-Jan-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Paine, Thomas

For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) English writer
“The Law of the Jungle,” The Second Jungle Book (1899)
 
Added on 8-Feb-08 | Last updated 21-Oct-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Kipling, Rudyard

Books won’t stay banned. They won’t burn. Ideas won’t go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.

Whitney Griswold
Whitney Griswold (1906–1963) American historian, educator [Alfred Whitney Griswold]
“A Little Learning,” speech, Phillips Academy, Andover (1952, Spring)
    (Source)

Reprinted in The Atlantic Monthly (1952-11) and Griswold's Essays in Education (1954).
 
Added on 8-Feb-08 | Last updated 5-Apr-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Griswold, Whitney

Hell is truth seen too late — duty neglected in its season.

Tryon Edwards (1809-1894) American theologian, writer, lexicographer
A Dictionary of Thoughts (1891)
 
Added on 7-Feb-08 | Last updated 7-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Edwards, Tryon

Why should man be afraid to think, and why should he fear to express his thoughts? Is it possible that an infinite Deity is unwilling that a man should investigate the phenomena by which he is surrounded? Is it possible that a god delights in threatening and terrifying men? What glory, what honor and renown a god must win on such a field! The ocean raving at a drop; a star envious of a candle; the sun jealous of a fire-fly.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“Heretics and Heresies” (1874)
    (Source)
 
Added on 7-Feb-08 | Last updated 2-Feb-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Ingersoll, Robert Green

These times of ours are serious and full of calamity, but all times are essentially alike. As soon as there is life there is danger.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Public and Private Education,” lecture, Boston (1864-11-27)
 
Added on 7-Feb-08 | Last updated 27-Mar-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , ,
More quotes by Emerson, Ralph Waldo

LONDO: There comes a time when you look into the mirror, and you realize that what you see is all that you will ever be. Then you accept it, or you kill yourself. Or you stop looking into mirrors.

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 1×22 “Chrysalis” (3 Oct 1994)
 
Added on 6-Feb-08 | Last updated 17-Jul-20
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , ,
More quotes by Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe"

I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
Column, Illustrated London News (3 Jun 1922)
 
Added on 6-Feb-08 | Last updated 6-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Chesterton, Gilbert Keith

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) British playwright and critic
Everybody’s Political What’s What?, ch. 30 (1944)
 
Added on 6-Feb-08 | Last updated 6-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Shaw, George Bernard

There is only one success … to be able to spend your life in your own way, and not to give others absurd maddening claims upon it.

Christopher Morley (1890-1957) American journalist, novelist, essayist, poet
Where the Blue Begins, ch. 8 (1922)
 
Added on 5-Feb-08 | Last updated 18-Nov-14
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , ,
More quotes by Morley, Christopher

Already I had learned from thee that because a thing is eloquently expressed it should not be taken to be as necessarily true; nor because it is uttered with stammering lips should it be supposed false. Nor, again, is it necessarily true because rudely uttered, nor untrue because the language is brilliant. Wisdom and folly both are like meats that are wholesome and unwholesome, and courtly or simple words are like town-made or rustic vessels — both kinds of food may be served in either kind of dish.

[Iam ergo abs te didiceram nec eo debere videri aliquid verum dici, quia eloquenter dicitur, nec eo falsum, quia incomposite sonant signa labiorum; rursus nec ideo verum, quia impolite enuntiatur, nec ideo falsum, quia splendidus sermo est, sed perinde esse sapientiam et stultitiam sicut sunt cibi utiles et inutiles, verbis autem ornatis et inornatis sicut vasis urbanis et rusticanis utrosque cibos posse ministrari.]

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
Confessions, Book 5, ch. 6 / ¶ 10 (5.6.10) (c. AD 398) [tr. Outler (1955)]
    (Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Of Thyself therefore had I now learned, that neither ought any thing to seem to be spoken truly, because eloquently; nor therefore falsely, because the utterance of the lips is inharmonious; nor, again, therefore true, because rudely delivered; nor therefore false, because the language is rich; but that wisdom and folly are as wholesome and unwholesome food; and adorned or unadorned phrases as courtly or country vessels; either kind of meats may be served up in either kind of dishes.
[tr. Pusey (1838)]

Of Thyself, therefore, had I now learned that neither ought anything to seem to be spoken truly, because eloquently; nor therefore falsely, because the utterance of the lips is inharmonious; nor, again, therefore true, because rudely delivered; nor therefore false, because the language is rich; but that wisdom and folly are as wholesome and unwholesome food; and adorned or unadorned phrases, as courtly or country vessels: either kind of meats may be served up in either kind of dishes.
[ed. Shedd (1860)]

From Thee, therefore, I had now learned, that because a thing is eloquently expressed, it should not of necessity seem to be true; nor, because uttered with stammering lips, should it be false nor, again, perforce true, because unskillfully delivered; nor consequently untrue, because the language is fine; but that wisdom and folly are as food both wholesome and unwholesome, and courtly or simple words as town-made or rustic vessels, -- and both kinds of food may be served in either kind of dish.
[tr. Pilkington (1876)]

I had learned, then, from Thee, that neither ought a thing to be regarded as true because it is eloquently uttered, nor on the other hand false because awkwardly expressed; neither is it true because the diction is ungraceful, nor false because clothed in glowing language; but that truth and folly are like wholesome and hurtful food, and language ornate and bald like fine and plain dishes, and either kind of meat may be served in either kind of dish.
[tr. Hutchings (1890)]

Already I had learned from Thee, that nothing ought to seem true because it is well expressed, nor false because the word-symbols are inelegant; yet again, that nothing is true because rudely delivered, nor false because the diction is brilliant; but that wisdom and folly are like meats that are wholesome or unwholesome, and that either kind of meat can be served up in silver or in delf, that is to say, in courtly or in homely phrase.
[tr. Bigg (1897), 5.6.2]

From You then I learned that a thing was not bound to be true because uttered eloquently, nor false because the utterance of the lips is ill-arranged; but that on the other hand a thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently. For it is with wisdom and folly as with wholesome and unwholesome food: just as either kind of food can be served equally well in rich dishes or simple, so plain or beautiful language may clothe either wisdom or folly indifferently.
[tr. Sheed (1943)]

Already, therefore, I had learned from you that nothing should be held true merely be-cause it is eloquently expressed, nor false because its signs sound harsh upon the lips. Again, I learned that a thing is not true because rudely uttered, nor is it false because its utterance is splendid. I learned that wisdom is like wholesome food and folly like unwholesome food: they can be set forth in language ornate or plain, just as both kinds of food can be served on rich dishes or on peasant ware.
[tr. Ryan (1960)]

But in your wonderful, secret way, my God, you had already taught me that a statement is not necessarily true because it is wrapped in fine language or false because it is awkwardly expressed. I believe that it was you who taught me this, because it is the truth and there is no other teacher of the truth besides yourself, no matter how or where it comes to light. You had already taught me this lesson and the converse truth, that an assertion is not necessarily true because it is badly expressed or false because it is finely spoken. I had learnt that wisdom and folly are like different kinds of food. Some are wholesome and others are not, but both can be served equally well on the finest china dish or the meanest earthenware. In just the same way, - wisdom and folly can be clothed alike in plain words or the finest flowers of speech.
[tr. Pine-Coffin (1961)]

I had now learned this from you: that a thing is not necessarily true for being expressed eloquently, nor necessarily false if the sounds made by the lips are imperfectly pronounced; nor, on the other hand, is a thing true simply because it is expressed in a rough and ready way, nor false because it is uttered in a fine style. For with wisdom and folly the same thing holds good as with wholesome and unwholesome food. You can have silver or earthenware dishes on the table, just as you can have a decorated or undecorated use of language; either kind of food can be served in either kind of dish.
[tr. Warner (1963)]

I believe that because you taught me and I had already learned from you that nothing should be deemed truly spoken because it is eloquently spoken, nor false because the indications of the lips are ill-arranged. Conversely, uncouth expression does not make something true, nor polished delivery make truth false. As with wholesome and unwholesome food, so it is with wisdom and folly, and as with adorned and unadorned language, so good food and bad can be served up in elegant or rustic dishes.
[tr. Blaiklock (1983)]

 
Added on 5-Feb-08 | Last updated 8-May-23
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Augustine of Hippo

Anyone who says the computer always gets things right is trying to sell you a computer.

No picture available
Graham Ericsson (b. 1947) American writer, aphorist
Tangled Web (2004)
 
Added on 5-Feb-08 | Last updated 5-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Ericsson, Graham

No matter that we may mount on stilts, we still must walk on our own legs. And on the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom.

[Si, avons nous beau monter sur des échasses, car sur des échasses encore faut-il marcher de nos jambes. Et au plus élevé trône du monde, si ne sommes assis que sur notre cul.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 3, ch. 13 (1580) [tr. Zeitlin (1936)]

Alt. trans.: "Even on the most exalted throne in the world we are only sitting on our own bottom." [Jacob Zeitlin (1936)]
 
Added on 4-Feb-08 | Last updated 25-Jan-13
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Montaigne, Michel de

Men and women have been burned for thinking there is but one God; that there was none; that the Holy Ghost is younger than God; that God was somewhat older than his son; for insisting that good works will save a man without faith; that faith will do without good works; for declaring that a sweet babe will not be burned eternally, because its parents failed to have its head wet by a priest; for speaking of God as though he had a nose; for denying that Christ was his own father; for contending that three persons, rightly added together, make more than one; for believing in purgatory; for denying the reality of hell; for pretending that priests can forgive sins; for preaching that God is an essence; for denying that witches rode through the air on sticks; for doubting the total depravity of the human heart; for laughing at irresistible grace, predestination and particular redemption; for denying that good bread could be made of the body of a dead man; for pretending that the pope was not managing this world for God, and in the place of God; for disputing the efficacy of a vicarious atonement; for thinking the Virgin Mary was born like other people; for thinking that a man’s rib was hardly sufficient to make a good-sized woman; for denying that God used his finger for a pen; for asserting that prayers are not answered, that diseases are not sent to punish unbelief; for denying the authority of the Bible; for having a Bible in their possession; for attending mass, and for refusing to attend; for wearing a surplice; for carrying a cross, and for refusing; for being a Catholic, and for being a Protestant; for being an Episcopalian, a Presbyterian, a Baptist, and for being a Quaker.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“Heretics and Heresies” (1874)
    (Source)
 
Added on 4-Feb-08 | Last updated 2-Feb-16
Link to this post | No comments
Topics: , , , , , , , , ,
More quotes by Ingersoll, Robert Green

A safe but sometimes chilly way of recalling the past is to force open a crammed drawer. If you are searching for anything in particular you don’t find it, but something falls out at the back that is often more interesting.

James Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist
Peter Pan, “To the Five — A Dedication” (1930)
 
Added on 4-Feb-08 | Last updated 4-Feb-08
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Barrie, James