Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
(Attributed)
Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Letters to Lucilius [Epistulae morales ad Lucilium], letter 71, sec. 3 “On the Supreme Good” [tr. Grummere (1918)]
(Source)
Alt trans.: "If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable."
Life’s like a play; it’s not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Letters to Lucilius [Epistulae morales ad Lucilium], letter 77
Alt trans. by R. Gummere: "It is with life as it is with a play, - it matters not how long the action is spun out, but how good the acting is." Full text.
The willing, Destiny guides them; the unwilling, Destiny drags them.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Letters to Lucilius [Epistulae morales ad Lucilium], “On Obedience to the Universal Will”
Conversation has a kind of charm about it, an insinuating and insidious something that elicits secrets from us just like love or liquor.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Letters to Lucilius [Epistulae morales ad Lucilium]
It is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one.
[Utrumque enim vitium est et omnibus credere et nulli.]
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Letters to Lucilius [Epistulae morales ad Lucilium], letter 3 “On True and False Friendship” [tr. Gummere]
(Source)
Alt. trans.: "For it is both a vice to believe everyone and no-one."
It is dangerous for a man too suddenly, or too easily, to believe himself. Wherefore let us examine, watch, observe, and inspect our own hearts; for we are ourselves our own greatest flatterers: we should every night call ourselves to account, “What infirmity have I mastered to-day? what passion opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired?” Our vices will abate of themselves, if they be brought every day to the shrift.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Essays, “On the Happy Life” [De Vita Beata]” [tr. L’Estrange (1834)]
(Source)
Sometimes incorrectly quoted as "Our vices will abort of themselves ...."
The poor one is not the man who has little, but the man who craves more.
[Non qui parum habet, sed qui plus cupit, pauper est.]
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Letters to Lucilius [Epistulae morales ad Lucilium], letter 2 “On Discursiveness in Reading,” sec. 6
Alt trans. (Gummere (1918)): "It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor."
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
(Attributed)
Often either unattributed or sometimes attributed to Seneca the Elder.
As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
(Attributed)
BATMAN: Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb.
Lorenzo Semple, Jr. (1922-2014) American screenwriter
Batman (the movie) (1966)
As Batman runs around the pier trying to dispose of a large bomb, repeatedly running into drunks, the Salvation Army, nuns, a baby stroller, lovers in a boat, and ducklings in the water.
Wrong? What could be wrong with our child, Robert?
David Seltzer (b. 1940) American screenwriter, director, producer
The Omen (1976)
Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law, but because it is an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to confute him.
John Selden (1584-1654) English jurist, antiquary, politician, Orientalist
Table Talk, “Law” (1686)
While you are upon the earth, enjoy the good things that are here (to the end that they were given), and be not melancholy, and wish yourself in Heaven.
John Selden (1584-1654) English jurist, antiquary, politician, Orientalist
Table Talk, “Pleasure” (1686)
‘Twas an unhappy division that has been made betwixt faith and works; though in my intellect I may divide them just as in the candle, I know there is both heat and light; but yet put out the candle, and they are both gone: one remains not without the other.
John Selden (1584-1654) English jurist, antiquary, politician, Orientalist
Table Talk, ch. 42 “Faith and Works” (1686)
Where lipstick is concerned, the important thing is not color, but to accept God’s final word on where your lips end.
Jerry Seinfeld (b. 1954) American comedian
(Attributed)
Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.
Jerry Seinfeld (b. 1954) American comedian
(Attributed)
There’s very little advice in men’s magazines, because men don’t think there’s a lot they don’t know. Women do. Women want to learn. Men think, “I know what I’m doing, just show me somebody naked.”
Jerry Seinfeld (b. 1954) American comedian
(Attributed)
What? Men dodging this way for single bullets? What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? I am ashamed of you. They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.
John Sedgwick (1813-1864) American army officer
Report by General Martin T. McMahon
(Nearly) last words by General Sedgwick to his troops during the Battle of Spotsylvania, shortly before being shot and killed by a sniper. Source. Some paraphrases have the last word cut off.
Seeing death as the end of life is like seeing the horizon as the end of the ocean.
David Searls (b. 1947) American journalist, columnist, blogger
(Attributed)
Who o’er the herd would wish to reign,
Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain!
Vain as the leaf upon the stream,
And fickle as a changeful dream;
Fantastic as a woman’s mood,
And fierce as Frenzy’s fever’d blood.
Thou many-headed monster thing,
Oh who would wish to be thy king!Walter Scott (1771-1832) Scottish writer, historian, biographer
Lady of the Lake, Canto 5, XXX (1810)
The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.
Who ever walked behind anyone to freedom? If we can’t go hand in hand, I don’t want to go.
Hazel Scott (1920-1981) Trinidad-American pianist, singer, writer
Ms., “Great (Hazel) Scott!,” by Margo Jefferson (Nov. 1974)
I have always respected everyone’s religion. As I say, there is only one God and a lot of confused people.
Hazel Scott (1920-1981) Trinidad-American pianist, singer, writer
Interview with Arthur Taylor, Notes and Tones (1977)
Original interview Dec 1972.
I’ve always known I was gifted, which is not the easiest thing in the world for a person to know, because you’re not responsible for your gift, only for what you do with it.
Hazel Scott (1920-1981) Trinidad-American pianist, singer, writer
Interview with Arthur Taylor, Notes and Tones (1977)
Original interview Dec 1972.
Knowing all truth is less than doing a little bit of good.
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Alsatian philosopher, physician, philanthropist, polymath
The Thoughts of Albert Schweitzer
I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Alsatian philosopher, physician, philanthropist, polymath
(Attributed)
Not one of us knows what effect his life produces, and what he gives to others; that is hidden from us and must remain so, though we are often allowed to see some little fraction of it, so that we may not lose courage. The way in which power works is a mystery.
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Alsatian philosopher, physician, philanthropist, polymath
The Spiritual Life: Selected Writings of Albert Schweitzer (1947)
As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more mysterious.
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Alsatian philosopher, physician, philanthropist, polymath
(Attributed)
A man can only do what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Alsatian philosopher, physician, philanthropist, polymath
(Attributed)
Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of their way, but must accept their lot calmly, even if people roll a few stones upon it.
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Alsatian philosopher, physician, philanthropist, polymath
The Spiritual Life: Selected Writings of Albert Schweitzer (1947)
I believe forgiving them is God’s function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting.
Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012) American military leader
(Attributed)
On the 9/11 terrorists. Repeated (regarding Osama bin-Ladin) on Meet the Press (8 Feb 2003). There's some question, though, as to whether he uttered the original.
I admire men of character, and I judge character not by how men deal with their superiors, but mostly how they deal with their subordinates, and that, to me, is where you find out what the character of a man is.
Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012) American military leader
Journal-World (27 March 1991)
You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Of course, you could do even better with a dead squirrel.
Fred Schwartz (contemp.)
(Attributed)
CHARLIE BROWN: Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, “Where have I gone wrong?” Then a voice says to me, “This is going to take more than one night.”
Charles Schulz (1922-2000) American cartoonist
Peanuts
LINUS: There’s no heavier burden than a great potential.
Charles Schulz (1922-2000) American cartoonist
Peanuts (1963)
Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.
Charles Schulz (1922-2000) American cartoonist
Peanuts (13 Jun 1980)
CHARLIE BROWN: I have a new philosophy. I’m only going to dread one day at a time.
Charles Schulz (1922-2000) American cartoonist
Peanuts
KEATING: We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
If the code and the comments disagree, then both are probably wrong.
Norm Schryer (1933-2016) American computer scientist, mathematician
(Attributed)
When we say the Pledge of Allegiance, we say, “…with liberty and justice for all.” Well what part of “all” don’t people understand?
Patricia Schroeder (b. 1940) American politician
Speech at Gay and Lesbian March, Washington (25 Apr. 1993)
Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.
[Jeder hält das Ende seines Gesichtskreises für das der Welt.]
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 2, ch. 26 “Psychological Observations [Psychologische Bemerkungen],” § 338 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translation:
Everyone regards the limits of his field of vision as those of the world.
[tr. Payne (1974)]
Let everyone, then, do something, according to the measure of his capacities. To have no regular work, no set sphere of activity — what a miserable thing it is! How often long travels undertaken for pleasure make a man downright unhappy; because the absence of anything that can be called occupation forces him, as it were, out of his right element. Effort, struggles with difficulties! that is as natural to a man as grubbing in the ground is to a mole. To have all his wants satisfied is something intolerable — the feeling of stagnation which comes from pleasures that last too long. To overcome difficulties is to experience the full delight of existence.
[Inzwischen treibe jeder etwas, nach Maßgabe seiner Fähigkeiten. Denn wie nachteilig der Mangel an planmäßiger Tätigkeit, an irgend einer Arbeit, auf uns wirke, merkt man auf langen Vergnügungsreisen, als wo man, dann und wann, sich recht unglücklich fühlt; weil man, ohne eigentliche Beschäftigung, gleichsam aus seinem natürlichen Elemente gerissen ist. Sich zu mühen und mit dem Widerstande zu kämpfen ist dem Menschen Bedürfnis, wie dem Maulwurf das Graben. Der Stillstand, den die Allgenugsamkeit eines bleibenden Genusses herbeiführte, wäre ihm unerträglich. Hindernisse überwinden ist der Vollgenuß seines Daseins.]
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 5 “Counsels and Maxims [Paränesen und Maximen],” § 2.17 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translation:
Nevertheless, everyone should do something according to the measure of his abilities. For on long pleasure-trips we see how pernicious is the effect on us of not having any systematic activity or work. On such trips we feel positively unhappy because we are without any proper occupation and are, so to speak, torn from our natural element. Effort, trouble, and struggle with opposition are as necessary to man as grubbing in the ground is to a mole. The stagnation that results from being wholly contented with a lasting pleasure would be for him intolerable. The full pleasure of his existence is in overcoming obstacles.
[tr. Payne (1974)]
The worst of what is called good society is not only that it offers us the companionship of people who are unable to win either our praise or our affection, but that it does not allow of our being that which we naturally are; it compels us, for the sake of harmony, to shrivel up, or even alter our shape altogether. Intellectual conversation, whether grave or humorous, is only fit for intellectual society; it is downright abhorrent to ordinary people, to please whom it is absolutely necessary to be commonplace and dull. This demands an act of severe self-denial; we have to forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to become like other people.
[Demnach hat die Gesellschaft, welche man die gute nennt, nicht nur den Nachtheil, daß sie uns Menschen darbietet, die wir nicht loben und lieben können, sondern sie läßt auch nicht zu, daß wir selbst seien, wie es unsrer Natur angemessen ist; vielmehr nöthigt sie uns, des Einklanges mit den Anderen wegen, einzuschrumpfen, oder gar uns selbst zu verunstalten. Geistreiche Reden oder Einfälle gehören nur vor geistreiche Gesellschaft: in der gewönlichen sind sie geradezu verhaßt; denn um in diser zu gefallen, ist durchaus notwendig, daß man platt und bornirt sei. In solcher Gesellschaft wir daher, mit schwerer Selbstverleugnung, 3/4 unsrer selbst aufgeben, um uns den Andern zu verähnlichen.]
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 5 “Counsels and Maxims [Paränesen und Maximen],” § 2.9 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translation:
Accordingly, society that is called good not only has the drawback of offering us men whom we cannot praise and like, but also it will not allow us to be ourselves in harmony with our nature. On the contrary, it compels us, for the sake of agreeing with others, to shrivel up and even alter our shape. Intellectual talking and ideas are fit only for intellectual society; in ordinary society they are positively loathed, for here in order to go down well it is absolutely necessary to be dull and narrow-minded. In such society, therefore, we must practise great self-denial and give up three-quarters of our own individuality in order to become like other people.
[tr. Payne (1974)]
It is a great piece of folly to sacrifice the inner for the outer man, to give the whole or the greater part of one’s quiet, leisure, and independence for splendor, rank, pomp, titles and honor.
[Es ist eine große Thorheit, um nach Außen zu gewinnen, nach Innen zu verlieren, d. h. für Glanz, Rang, Prunk, Titel und Ehre, seine Ruhe, Muße und Unabhängingkeit ganz oder großen Theils hinzurgeben.]
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 2 “Personality, or What Man Is [Von dem, was einer ist]” (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translation:
It is a great folly to lose the inner man in order to gain the outer, that is, to give up the whole or the greater part of one's quiet, leisure, and independence for splendor, rank, pomp, titles and honors.
[tr. Payne (1974)]
Martyrdom has always been a proof of the intensity, never of the correctness, of a belief.
Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931) Austrian physician, playwright, novelist
B
A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished.
Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) German poet, playwright, critic [Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller]
“On Grace and Dignity”, Aesthetical and Philosophical Essays
Alt trans.: "The enemy which only is overturned can rise up again, but the enemy reconciled is truly vanquished." Source.
When the wine goes in, strange things come out.
Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) German poet, playwright, critic [Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller]
The Piccolomini and the Death of Wallenstein, II.xii (1799)
There’s no cap on success. The jury stays out till you take your last breath.
Judith Scheindlin (b. 1940) American judge, author, television personality [a.k.a. Judge Judy]
(Attributed)
The more impact your decisions have, the more you have to question your motives.
Stephan Schambach (b. 1970) German-American entrepreneur, technologist
(Attributed)
I must note, however, that, in my view, it is quite impossible to come to an objective assessment of (at least) literary or artistic value, there being many accomplished people who have found literature in Dada, and art in the replication of a soup can. Since ratiocination has little to do with esthetics, the fabled “reasonable man” is of little help in the inquiry, and would have to be replaced with, perhaps, the “man of tolerably good taste” — a description that betrays the lack of an ascertainable standard. If evenhanded and accurate decisionmaking is not always impossible under such a regime, it is at least impossible in the cases that matter. I think we would be better advised to adopt as a legal maxim what has long been the wisdom of mankind: De gustibus non est disputandum. Just as there is no use arguing about taste, there is no use litigating about it.
As I grow older and older
And totter towards the tomb,
I find I care less and less
Who goes to bed with whom.Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) English author, translator
“That’s Why I Never Read Modern Novels”
Recalled on her death (17 Dec 1957)
True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.
George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695) English politician and essayist
“Some Cautions Offered to the Consideration of Those Who Are to Choose Members to Serve in the Ensuing Parliament,” sec. 16 (1695)
(Source)
A Man who is a Master of Patience is Master of everything else.
George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695) English politician and essayist
“Patience,” Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections (1750)
(Source)
Nothing hath an uglier Look to us than Reason, when it is not on our side.
George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695) English politician and essayist
“Reason and Passion,” Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections (1750)
(Source)