Advertising reaches out to touch the fantasy part of people’s lives. And you know, most people’s fantasies are pretty sad.
Frederik Pohl (1919-2013) American science fiction writer, editor
The Way the Future Was (1978)
When the candles are out, all women are fair.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Morals [Moralia], “Conjugal Precepts” #46
(Source)
Alt. trans.: "All women are alike when the lamp is put out."
He who cheats with an oath acknowledges that he is afraid of his enemy, but that he also thinks little of God.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Parallel Lives, “Lysander”
To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
(Attributed)
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
Morals [Moralia], “On Listening to Lectures”
Alt trans.: "The correct analogy for the mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting."
An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit.
Pliny the Younger (c. 61-c. 113) Roman politician, writer [Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus]
Letters, Book II, letter 15
Grief has limits, whereas apprehension has none. For we grieve only for what has happened, but we fear all that possibly may happen.
Pliny the Younger (c. 61-c. 113) Roman politician, writer [Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus]
Letters, Book VIII, letter 17
My definition of an expert in any field is a person who knows enough about what’s really going on to be scared.
P. J. Plauger (b. 1944) American writer, computer scientist [Philip James Plauger]
Computer Language (Mar 1983)
Let us carefully observe those good qualities wherein our enemies excel us; and endeavor to excel them, by avoiding what is faulty, and imitating what is excellent in them.
Plutarch (AD 46-127) Greek historian, biographer, essayist [Mestrius Plutarchos]
(Attributed)
Sometimes attributed to Plato.
Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind.
Plato (c.428-347 BC) Greek philosopher
The Republic, Book VII.536
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
Plato (c.428-347 BC) Greek philosopher
(Attributed)
The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government is to live under the government of worse men.
Plato (c.428-347 BC) Greek philosopher
Republic, Book 1, 347c
In Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Eloquence," Society and Solitude (1870).
Alt. trans.:More discussion here.
- "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics, is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
- The Constitution Party (1952-68) used on their letterhead the variant, "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."
- "The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men."
- "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber."
In context (Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 [tr. Shorey (1969)]):[346e] "Then, Thrasymachus, is not this immediately apparent, that no art or office provides what is beneficial for itself -- but as we said long ago it provides and enjoins what is beneficial to its subject, considering the advantage of that, the weaker, and not the advantage the stronger? That was why, friend Thrasymachus, I was just now saying that no one of his own will chooses to hold rule and office and take other people's troubles in hand to straighten them out, but everybody expects pay for that, [347a] because he who is to exercise the art rightly never does what is best for himself or enjoins it when he gives commands according to the art, but what is best for the subject. That is the reason, it seems, why pay must be provided for those who are to consent to rule, either in form of money or honor or a penalty if they refuse." "What do you mean by that, Socrates?" said Glaucon. "The two wages I recognize, but the penalty you speak of and described as a form of wage I don't understand." "Then," said I, "you don't understand the wages of the best men [347b] for the sake of which the finest spirits hold office and rule when they consent to do so. Don't you know that to be covetous of honor and covetous of money is said to be and is a reproach?" "I do," he said. "Well, then," said I, "that is why the good are not willing to rule either for the sake of money or of honor. They do not wish to collect pay openly for their service of rule and be styled hirelings nor to take it by stealth from their office and be called thieves, nor yet for the sake of honor, [347c] for they are not covetous of honor. So there must be imposed some compulsion and penalty to constrain them to rule if they are to consent to hold office. That is perhaps why to seek office oneself and not await compulsion is thought disgraceful. But the chief penalty is to be governed by someone worse if a man will not himself hold office and rule. It is from fear of this, as it appears to me, that the better sort hold office when they do, and then they go to it not in the expectation of enjoyment nor as to a good thing, but as to a necessary evil and because they are unable to turn it over to better men than themselves [347d] or to their like. For we may venture to say that, if there should be a city of good men only, immunity from office-holding would be as eagerly contended for as office is now, and there it would be made plain that in very truth the true ruler does not naturally seek his own advantage but that of the ruled; so that every man of understanding would rather choose to be benefited by another than to be bothered with benefiting him. "
The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.
Socrates (c.470-399 BC) Greek philosopher
(Spurious)
Often claimed as a passage from Socrates via Plato, but actually a paraphrase from a synthesis of complaints about youth in antiquity by Kenneth John Freeman, in his 1907 Cambridge dissertation "Schools of Hellas: an Essay on the Practice and Theory of Ancient Greek Education from 600 to 300 BC." See here for more discussion.
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.
Max Planck (1858-1947) German physicist
Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers, trans. Frank Gaynor (1950)
Our Savior has nowhere promised to make us infallibly happy in this world.
Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) Roman Catholic pontiff
Letter
It is true, the bill is said to be founded on necessity; but what is this? Is it not necessity, which has always been the plea of every illegal exertion of power, or exercise of oppression? Is not necessity the pretence of every usurpation? Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
You shouldn’t speak until you know what you’re talking about. That’s why I get uncomfortable with interviews. Reporters ask me what I feel China should do about Tibet. Who cares what I think China should do? I’m a f—ing actor! They hand me a script. I act. I’m here for entertainment, basically, when you whittle everything away. I’m a grown man who puts on makeup.
Brad Pitt (b. 1963) American actor
Time, interview (13 Oct. 1997)
The world comes to us in an endless stream of puzzle pieces that we would like to think all fit together somehow, but that in fact never do.
Robert Pirsig (1928-2017) American philosopher, writer
Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals (1991)
To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.
Robert Pirsig (1928-2017) American philosopher, writer
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)
The moment you open your mouth to say one thing about the nature of reality, you automatically have a whole set of enemies who’ve already said reality is something else.
Robert Pirsig (1928-2017) American philosopher, writer
(Attributed)
The truth knocks on the door and you say, “Go away, I’m looking for the truth,” and so it goes away. Puzzling.
Robert Pirsig (1928-2017) American philosopher, writer
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, ch. 1 (1974)
One geometry cannot be more true than another; it can only be more convenient. Geometry is not true, it is advantageous.
Robert Pirsig (1928-2017) American philosopher, writer
(Attributed)
Life is full of infinite absurdities, which, strangely enough, do not even need to appear plausible, since they are true.
Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) Italian novelist and dramatist
Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921)
“Help!”
“Sorry! ‘monmywaytochurch.”
The deepest sins are camouflaged as holiness.Kenneth L. Pike (1912-2001)
(Attributed)
Life is what we make it, and the world is what we make it. The eyes of the cheerful and of the melancholy man are fixed upon the same creation; but very different are the aspects which it bears to them.
Albert Pike (1809-1891) American author, orator, jurist, Freemason
Morals and Dogma, ch. 12 (1871)
Virtue is but heroic bravery, to do the thing thought to be true, in spite of all enemies of flesh or spirit, in despite of all temptations or menaces.
Albert Pike (1809-1891) American author, orator, jurist, Freemason
Morals and Dogma, ch. 2 (1871)
Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader. Don’t fall victim to what I call the Ready-Aim-Aim-Aim Syndrome. You must be willing to fire.
T. Boone Pickens (1928-2019) American business magnate and financier
(Attributed)
Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor
Quote Magazine (24 Mar 1957)
Also trans., "The chief enemy of creativity is 'good' taste."
There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor
(Attributed)
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
[Los ordenadores son inútiles. Sólo pueden darte respuestas.]
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor
(Attributed)
The above is a later paraphrase of the original, in William Fifield, "Pablo Picasso: A Composite Interview," The Paris Review (Summer/Fall 1964): "I feel I am nibbling on the edges of this world when I am capable of getting what Picasso means when he says to me -- perfectly straight-facedly -- later of the enormous new mechanical brains or calculating machines: 'But they are useless. They can only give you answers.' How easy and comforting to take these things for jokes—boutades!" More here.
Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor
(Attributed)
As an artist, all I need is my paints and brushes — and someone to drag me away when the canvas is done.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor
(Attributed)
We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand.
[Todos sabemos que el arte no es verdad. El arte es una mentira que no acerca a la verdad, al menos, a aquella verdad que se nos da para entendar.]
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor
“Picasso Speaks: A Statement by the Artist,” interview with Marius de Zayas, The Arts (May 1923)
(Source)
Discussing cubism. Translated in Quote Magazine (21 Sep 1958) as "Art is not truth; art is the lie which makes us see the truth."
I am always doing things I can’t do. That’s how I get to do them.
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter and sculptor
(Attributed)
Who Moved My Cheese? calendar, 2002
The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
Eden Phillpotts (1862-1960) English novelist, poet, playwright
A Shadow Passes (1918)
Sometimes misattributed to Yeats or Shaw. More here.Variants / paraphrases:
- "The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to sharpen."
- "The world is full of magic things patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper."
If words are to enter men’s minds and bear fruit, they must be the right words shaped cunningly to pass men’s defenses and explode silently and effectually within their minds.
Rev. J.B. Phillips (1906-1982) British religious writer, translator [John Bertram Phillips]
(Attributed)
And always remember the last words of my Grandfather, who said, “A truck …!”
Emo Philips (b. 1956) American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, producer [b. Phil Soltanec]
(Attributed)
I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.
Emo Philips (b. 1956) American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, producer [b. Phil Soltanec]
(Attributed)
I read somewhere that 77 per cent of all the mentally ill live in poverty. Actually, I’m more intrigued by the 23 per cent who are apparently doing quite well for themselves.
Emo Philips (b. 1956) American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, producer [b. Phil Soltanec]
(Attributed)
at the Montreal Comedy Festival
Capital punishment turns the state into a murderer. But imprisonment turns the state into a gay dungeon-master.
Emo Philips (b. 1956) American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, producer [b. Phil Soltanec]
(Attributed)
at the Montreal Comedy Festival
Some mornings, it’s just not worth chewing through the leather straps.
Emo Philips (b. 1956) American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, producer [b. Phil Soltanec]
(Attributed)
Don’t cheer, men; those poor devils are dying.
Jack Philip (1840-1900) American naval officer [John Woodward Philip]
Comment, Battle of Santiago de Cuba (1898)
As commander of the USS Texas, as it passed the burning wreck of the Spanish cruiser Vizcaya.
I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget.
William Lyon Phelps (1865-1943) American educator and critic
(Attributed)
Appears to be from "Why Not with Love?," The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 11, No. 8 (Nov 1940), but contents not verified.
The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.
Edward John Phelps (1822-1920) American diplomat, lawyer
Speech at Manor House (1899)
Cito rumpes arcum si habueris semper tensum, at si laxaris erit utilis cum voles
[You will soon break the bow if you keep it always stretched, but if you slacken it, it will be fit for use when you wish.]Phaedrus (15 BC-AD 50) Roman fabulist, poet
Fables, Book 3, #14, “Aesop Playing”
We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. Presumably the plans for our employment were being changed. I was to learn later in life that, perhaps because we are so good at organizing, we tend as a nation to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.
Charlton Ogburn, Jr. (1911-1998) American journalist, author
“Merrill’s Marauders: The truth about an incredible adventure,” Harper’s Magazine (Jan 1957)
In his 1959 book, The Marauders, Ogburn rephrased this as: "As a result, I suppose, of high-level changes of mind about how we were to be used, we went through several reorganizations. Perhaps because Americans as a nation have a gift for organizing, we tend to meet any new situation by reorganization, and a wonderful method it is for creating the illusion of progress at a mere cost of confusion, inefficiency and demoralization."
Sometimes incorrectly cited to Gaius Petronius Arbiter. For more on this quotation, see here.
BOB: How’s your head?
ELVIRA: I’ve never had any complaints.Cassandra Peterson (b. 1951) American comic actress [a.k.a. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark]
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (with Sam Egan, Joel Paragon) (1988)
Most of us, when all is said and done, like what we like and make up reasons for it afterwards.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Soren F. Peterson
God does indeed forbid that we should make more of our virtues or our failings than is due. More than your due you shall not have of, neither praise nor blame.
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
The Rose Rent (1986)
The step from perfectly ordinary things into the miraculous seems to me so small, almost accidental, that I wonder why it astonishes you at all, or why you trouble to reason about it. If it were reasonable it could not be miraculous, could it?
Ellis Peters (1913-1995) English writer, translator [pseud. of Edith Mary Pargeter, who also wrote under the names John Redfern, Jolyon Carr, Peter Benedict]
The Holy Thief (1992)
If you don’t know where you’re going, you will probably end up somewhere else.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
The Peter Principle (1969)
Going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you a car.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)
An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)
In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
The Peter Principle, ch. 1 (1969)
Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by confessing our parents’ shortcomings.
Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
(Attributed)