He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind’s eye, and you will be drawn toward it.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No stream or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
Living Under Tension (1941)
Religion is not a burden, not a weight, it is wings.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
The fact that astronomies change while the stars abide is a true analogy of every realm of human life and thought, religion not least of all. No existent theology can be a final formulation of spiritual truth.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
The Living of These Days (1956)
I do believe that the buck stops here, that I cannot rely upon public opinion polls to tell me what is right. I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.
Gerald R. Ford (1913-2006) American politician, US President (1974-77) [b. Leslie Lynch King, Jr.]
Announcing his decision to pardon Nixon (8 Sep. 1974)
I swear: some people will not be happy until the people who are usually happy aren’t.
James Lileks (b. 1958) American journalist, columnist
The Bleat (29 Jun. 2004)
http://www.lileks.com/bleats/archive/04/0604/062904.html
Religion, a subject on which I have ever been most scrupulously reserved. I have considered it as a matter between every man and his maker, in which no other, & far less the public, had a right to intermeddle.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Richard Rush (31 May 1813)
(Source)
Make mistakes. Make great mistakes, make wonderful mistakes, make glorious mistakes. Better to make a hundred mistakes than to stare at a blank piece of paper too scared to do anything wrong, too scared to do anything.
Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Speech, Harvey Awards (2004)
Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish” (1943)
You know, most of the people I’ve known in this business, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, were good people, honest people, and they did what they thought was right. And I hope that I’ll live long enough to see American politics return to vigorous debates where we argue who’s right and wrong, not who’s good and bad.
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) American politician, US President (1993-2001)
Comments at his offical portrait unveiling (14 Jun. 2004)
Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell on the right.
John McCain (1936-2018) American naval aviator, politician
(Attributed)
When we put aside partisanship, embrace the best ideas regardless of where they come from and work for principled compromise, we can move America not left or right, but forward.
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (b. 1946) American politician, US President (1993-2001)
News conference (8 Nov. 1996)
Idealism without pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism without idealism is meaningless. The key to effective leadership is pragmatic idealism.
Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994) American politician, writer, US President (1967-74)
(Attributed)
This is a time for courage and a time of challenge. Neither conformity nor complacency will do. Neither fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a Party is not to our Party alone, but to the Nation, and, indeed to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Undelivered speech (22 Nov. 1963)
Extreme opposites resemble the other. Each believes that we have only two choices: appeasement or war, suicide or surrender, humiliation or holocaust, to be either Red or dead.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
(Attributed)
The future lies with those wise political leaders who realize that the great public is interested more in Government than in politics.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
(Attributed)
We … hold the just balance and set ourselves as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
An Autobiography, ch. 8 “The New York Governorship” (1913)
There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, it to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter to Jonathan Jackson (2 Oct 1789)
Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Inaugural Address (4 Mar 1801)
(Source)
I am not a Federalist, because I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in any thing else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all. Therefore I protest to you I am not of the party of federalists. But I am much farther from that of the Antifederalists.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Francis Hopkinson (13 Mar 1789)
(Source)
It is only common sense to recognize that the great bulk of Americans, whether Republican or Democrat, face many common problems and agree on a number of basic objectives.
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
(Attributed)
For you I am a bishop, but with you I am a Christian. The first is an office accepted; the second is a gift received. One is danger; the other is safety. If I am happier to be redeemed with you than to be placed over you, then I shall, as the Lord commanded, be more fully your servant.
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
Sermon 340
via Rev. Bonnie Spencer (favorite quote)
Silence is not damage control. Silence is standing by hoping that if you don’t pay attention to the fires and the water rushing into the hold, it will all magically go away. Swift, forthright, honest communication: that’s damage control. Because what’s usually damaged most in a crisis is trust, and you can only be trusted if you show yourself trustworthy.
Graham Ericsson (b. 1947) American writer, aphorist
The Crisis of the Day (2004)
Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Book of Common Prayer, p. 327, Eucharistic Prayer C (1979)
Luck is the residue of design.
Branch Rickey (1881-1965) American baseball executive
Lecture title (1950)
It amazes me that people understand what it means to line up to get a driver’s license renewed or convince the city to enforce a no parking zone but still attribute divine competence to the CIA, FBI or their equivalents in the UK or elsewhere. They may be spooks but they are still civil servants working in massive government bureaucracies. I imagine that for many people it is more comforting to believe a malevolent force is running the show than face the fact that most of the time nobody knows with much certainty what the heck is going on.
Nicholas Packwood (contemp.) Canadian essayist and academic
Ghost of a Flea, “Conspiracy” (17 May 2004)
http://www.ghostofaflea.com/archives/002160.html
Those who “abjure” violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“Notes on Nationalism” Polemic, (Oct. 1945)
Source essay. Commonly misquoted as "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." This is not found in Orwell's works, but was a paraphrase of this and other Orwell writings by Richard Grenier, "Perils of Passive Sex," Washington Times (6 Apr 1973). See here for more information.
TIMON: ‘Tis not enough to help the feeble up,
But to support him after.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Timon of Athens, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 107ff (1.1.107-108) (1606) [with Thomas Middleton]
(Source)
TOUCHSTONE: I do now remember a saying, “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
As You Like It, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 30ff (5.1.30-32) (1599)
(Source)
POET: The fire i’the flint
Shows not till it be struck.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Timon of Athens, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 28ff (1.1.28-29) (1606) [with Thomas Middleton]
(Source)
THERSITES: The devil Luxury, with his fat rump and potato finger …
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Troilus and Cressida, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 66 (5.2.66) (1602)
(Source)
IAGO: Pleasure and action make the hours seem short.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Othello, Act 2, sc. 3, l. 400 (2.3.400) (1603)
(Source)
FALSTAFF: Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5, sc. 4, l. 148 (5.4.148) (1597)
(Source)
ISABELLA:Truth is truth
To the very end of reckoning.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Measure for Measure, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 51ff (5.1.51-52) (1604)
(Source)
ROMEO: Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 202 (2.2.202) (c. 1594)
(Source)
PEMBROKE: And oftentimes excusing of a fault
Doth make the fault the worse by th’ excuse,
As patches set upon a little breach
Discredit more in hiding of the fault
Than did the fault before it was so patched.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King John, Act 4, sc. 2, l. 30ff (4.2.30-34) (1596)
(Source)
I demand to know how much longer the so-called “authorities” intend to continue ignoring the international spate of alarming incidents involving bosoms.
At this point you’re thinking: “WHAT international spate of alarming incidents involving bosoms?” Unless, of course, you’re a man, in which case you’re thinking only: “Bosoms!” The male brain has an entire lobe devoted to this topic.Dave Barry (b. 1947) American humorist
(29 Apr. 2001)
SHEPHERD’S SON: He seems to be of
great authority. Close with him, give him gold; and
though authority be a stubborn bear, yet he is oft
led by the nose with gold.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Winter’s Tale, Act 4, sc. 4, l. 932ff (4.4.932-935) (1611)
(Source)
You must watch my life, how I live, eat, sit, talk, behave in general. The sum total of all those in me is my religion.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
I am the vessel. The draught is God’s. And God is the thirsty one.
Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961) Swedish diplomat, author, UN Secretary-General (1953-61)
(Attributed)
He who carves the Buddha never worships him.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Chinese proverb
DILBERT: Lately, the only think keeping me from being a serial killer is my distaste for manual labor.
Scott Adams (b. 1957) American cartoonist
Dilbert (11 Jan. 2001)
Fellowship in woe doth woe assuage.
We cannot get grace from gadgets. In the Bakelite house of the future, the dishes may not break, but the heart can. Even a man with ten shower baths may find life flat, stale and unprofitable.
J. B. Priestley (1894-1984) English author, dramatist [John Boyne Priestley]
(Attributed)
And thou wilt give thyself relief if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last, laying aside all carelessness and passionate aversion from the commands of reason, and all hypocrisy, and self-love, and discontent with the portion which has been given to thee.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations, Book 2, #5 [tr. Long (1862)]
(Source)
Usually modernized, "And you will give yourself relief, if you do every act of your life as if it were the last, laying aside all carelessness and passionate aversion from the commands of reason, and all hypocrisy, and self-love, and discontent with the portion which has been given to you," and the source of the more common (and mixed-message) reduction of this aphorism, "Do every act of your life as if it were your last."
Alternate translations:
Go about every action as thy last action, free from all vanity, all passionate and wilful aberration from reason, and from all hypocrisy, and self-love, and dislike of those things, which by the fates or appointment of God have happened unto thee.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), #2]
Perform every action as if it were your last; if your appetites and passions do not cross upon your reason; if you keep clear of rashness, and have nothing of insincerity and self-love to infect you, and do not complain of your destiny.
[tr. Zimmern (1887)]
Do each act as though it were your last, freed from every random aim, from wilful turning away from the directing Reason, from pretence, self-love and displeasure with what is allotted to you.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]
Approach each action as though it were your last, dismissing the wayward thought, the emotional recoil from the commands of reason, the desire to create an impression, the admiration of self, the discontent with your lot.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]
Perform every action in your life as if it were your last, putting aside all aimlessness and emotional resistance to the choices of reason, and all pretense, selfishness, and discontent with what has been allotted to you.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]
No object is mysterious; the mystery is in your eye.
Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) Irish author
The House in Paris (1935)
The man of honor thinks of his character, the inferior man of his position. The man of honor desires justice, the inferior man favor.
[君子懷德、小人懷土、君子懷刑、小人懷惠。]
Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)]
The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 4, verse 11 (4.11) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Soothill (1910)]
(Source)
(Source (Chinese)). Alternate translations:
The superior man thinks of virtue; the small man thinks of comfort. The superior man thinks of the sanctions of law; the small man thinks of favours which he may receive.
[tr. Legge (1861)]
The masterly man has an eye to virtue, the common man, to earthly things; the former has an eye to penalties (for error), the latter, to favour.
[tr. Jennings (1895)]
A wise man regards the moral worth of a man; a fool, only his position. A wise man expects justice; a fool expects favours.
[tr. Ku Hung-Ming (1898)]
The proper man is concerned with examining his consciousness and acting on it, the small man is concerned about land; the superior man about legality, the small man about favors.
[tr. Pound (1933)]
Where gentlemen set their hearts upon moral force (tê), the commoners set theirs upon the soil. Where gentlemen think only of punishments, the commoners think only of exceptions.
[tr. Waley (1938)]
The perfect gentleman cherishes high moral conduct; the mean man, well-being. The perfect gentleman cherishes the penal code; the mean man, ex¬ emptions therefrom.
[tr. Ware (1950)]
While the gentleman cherishes benign rule, the small man cherishes his native land. While the gentleman cherishes a respect for the law, the small man cherishes generous treatment.
[tr. Lau (1979)]
The gentleman cherishes virtue, but the small man cherishes the soil; the gentleman cherishes the rigors of the law, but the small man cherishes leniency.
[tr. Dawson (1993)]
A gentleman seeks virtue; a small man seeks land. A gentleman seeks justice; a small man seeks favors.
[tr. Leys (1997)]
The gentleman cherishes virtue; the small man cherishes land. The gentleman cherishes institutions; the small man cherishes favors.
[tr. Huang (1997)]
The gentlemen are concerned about the virtuousness; the mean persons are concerned about the land. The gentlemen are concerned about the status; the mean persons are concerned about the benefit.
[tr. Cai/Yu (1998), #77]
Exemplary persons (junzi) cherish their excellence; petty persons cherish their land. Exemplary persons cherish fairness; petty persons cherish the thought of gain.
[tr. Ames/Rosemont (1998)]
The gentleman likes virtue; the little man likes partiality. The gentleman likes justice; the little man likes mercy.
[tr. Brooks/Brooks (1998)]
while the noble-minded cherish integrity, little people cherish territory. And while the noble-minded cherish laws, little people cherish privilege.
[tr. Hinton (1998)]
The gentleman cherishes virtue, whereas the petty person cherishes physical possessions. The gentleman thinks about punishments, whereas the petty person thinks about exemptions.
[tr. Slingerland (2003)]
The gentleman has his mind fixed on virtue; the petty man has his mind fixed on land. The gentleman has his mind fixed on penalties; the petty man has his mind fixed on bounty.
[tr. Watson (2007)]
The gentleman [junzi] worries about the condition of his moral character, while the common man [xiaoren] worries about [whether he can hold on to] his land. The gentleman is conscious of [not breaking] the law, while the common man is conscious of what benefits he might reap [from the state].
[tr. Chin (2014)]
A Jun Zi cares about virtuous and righteous principles, whereas a Xiao Ren cares about worldly matters. A Jun Zi cares about rules and discipline, whereas a Xiao Ren cares about benefits.
[tr. Li (2020)]
The superior man seeks what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable.
[Source]
ISABELLA:O, it is excellent
To have a giant’s strength, but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Measure for Measure, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 135ff (2.2.135-137) (1604)
(Source)
IAGO: Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Othello, Act 1, sc. 3, l. 362ff (1.3.362-363) (1603)
(Source)
To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point; we just do what we should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism.
Shunryū Suzuki (1905-1971) Japanese Zen Buddhist master
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (1973)
We think in generalities, but we live in detail.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician and philosopher
(Attributed)
The angry man will defeat himself in battle as well as in life.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Samurai saying
I do want to get rich but I never what to do what there is to do to get rich.
Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) American expatriate author, feminist
Everybody’s Autobiography, ch. 3 (1937)
