OSTROW: But the Krell forgot one thing. Monsters, John! Monsters from the Id!
Cyril Hume (1900-1966) American screenwriter, author
Forbidden Planet [with Fred McLeod Wilcox] (1956)
Always keep your composure. You can’t score from the penalty box; and to win, you have to score.
Bobby Hull (b. 1939) Canadian hockey pro [Robert Marrin Hull, Jr.]
(Attributed)
The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves — say rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
[Le suprême bonheur de la vie, c’est la conviction qu’on est aimé; aimé pour soi-même, disons mieux, aimé malgré soi-même.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 1 “Fantine,” Book 5 “The Descent,” ch. 4 (1.5.4) (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
The supreme happiness of life is the conviction of being loved for yourself, or, more correctly speaking, loved in spite of yourself.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]
The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
[E.g. (1873)]
The supreme happiness of life consists in the conviction that one is loved; loved for one's own sake -- let us say rather, loved in spite of one's self.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]
The supreme happiness in life is the assurance of being loved; of being loved for oneself, even in spite of oneself.
[tr. Denny (1976)]
The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves -- say rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that you are loved, loved for yourself, better still, loved despite yourself.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
Laughter is sunshine; it chases winter from the human face.
[Le rire, c’est le soleil; il chasse l’hiver du visage humain.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Vol. 2 “Cosette,” Book 8 “Cemeteries Take What is Given Them,” ch. 9 “The Close” (1862) [tr. Wilbour]
Alt trans. [Denny (1980)]: "Laughter is a sun that drives out winter from the human face." Full text. Cited as Part II, ch. 8 "Cemeteries Take What They Are Given."
The best religion is tolerance.
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
(Attributed)
It is nothing to die; it is horrible not to live.
[Ce n’est rien de mourir; c’est affreux de ne pas vivre.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Vol. 5 “Jean Valjean,” Book 9 “Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn,” ch. 5 “Night Behind Which Is Dawn” (1862) [tr. Wilbour]
Alt trans.: "It is nothing to die; it is frightful not to live."
Thought is the labor of the intellect, reverie is its pleasure.
[La pensée est le labeur de l’intelligence, la rêverie en est la volupté.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Vol. 4 “St. Denis,” Book 2 “Eponine,” ch. 1 “The Field of the Lark” (1862) [tr. Wilbour]
Alt trans. [Denny (1980)]: "Thought is the work of the intellect, reveries its self-indulgence." Cited as Part IV, ch. 2 "Eponine."
Adversity makes men; prosperity makes monsters.
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
(Attributed)
The greatest follies, like the stoutest ropes, are often composed of a multitude of strands. Take the cable thread by thread, take separately each petty determining motive, and you can snap them one by one and say, “There’s no more to it than that!” Braid them and twist them together, and what you have is momentous.
[Les fortes sottises sont souvent faites, comme les grosses cordes, d’une multitude de brins. Prenez le câble fil à fil, prenez séparément tous les petits motifs déterminants, vous les cassez l’un après l’autre, et vous dites: Ce n’est que cela! Tressez-les et tordez-les ensemble, c’est une énormité.]Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 2 “Cosette,” Book 5 “Dark Hunt, Mute Mutts,” ch. 10 (2.5.10) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres. Take the cable thread by thread, take separately all the little determining motives, you break them one after another, and you say: that is all. Wind them and twist them together, they become an enormity.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]
Great follies are often made, like stout ropes, of a multitude of fibers. Take the cable, thread by thread, catch hold of the small determining motives separately, and you break them one after the other, and say to yourself, “It is only that”; but twist them together and you have an enormity.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]
The greatest follies are often composed, like the largest ropes, of a multitude of strands. Take the cable thread by thread, take all the petty determining motives separately, and you can break them one after the other, and you say, "That is all there is of it!" Braid them, twist them together; the result is enormous.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]
The greatest blunders, like the thickest ropes, are often compounded of a multitude of strands. Take the rope apart, separate it into the small threads that compose it, and you can break them one by one. You think, 'That is all there was!' But twist them all together, and you have something tremendous.
[tr. Denny (1976)]
Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibers. Take the cable thread by thread, take all the little determining motives separately, you break them one after another, and you say: That is all it is. Braid them and twist them together, they become an enormity.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
One can dream of something more terrible than a hell where one suffers; it’s a hell where one would get bored.
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
(Attributed)
There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees.
[De certaines pensées sont des prières. Il y a des moments où, quelle que soit l’attitude du corps, l’âme est à genoux.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “Saint Denis,” Book 5 “The End of Which Does Not Resemble the Beginning,” ch. 4 (4.5.4) (1862) [tr. Denny (1976)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]
Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when the soul is kneeling, no matter what the attitude of the body may be.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]
Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the attitude of the body may be, the soul is on its knees.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]
Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
If you play it safe in life, you’ve decided that you don’t want to grow anymore.
Shirley Hufstedler (1925-2016) American jurist, US Secty of Education (1979-81)
(Attributed)
I never, ever say, “I can’t,” about anything. I might say, “I don’t have the authority to make that decision,” or, “Building A is too heavy for me to lift,” or, “I will need training before I pilot that space shuttle.”
(Other Authors and Sources)
Mike Huber, Techwr-L
Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while.
Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868-1930) American caricaturist and humorist
(Attributed)
Variant: "'Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation."
When a feller says, “It hain’t th’ money, but th’ principle o’ th’ thing,” it’s th’ money.
[When a fellow says, “It ain’t the money, but the principle of the thing,” it’s the money.]
Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868-1930) American caricaturist and humorist
Hoss Sense and Nonsense (1926)
Honesty pays, but it don’t seem to pay enough to suit some people.
Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868-1930) American caricaturist and humorist
(Attributed)
Quoted in Time (2 Jul 1973) Also given as "It pays t'be honest, but it don't pay enough t'suit some fellers."
Live so that you can at least get the benefit of the doubt.
Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868-1930) American caricaturist and humorist
(Attributed)
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Philistine, Vol. 13, #5 (Nov 1901)
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Philistine, Vol. 23, #4 (Sep 1906)
If you would escape moral and physical assassination, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing — court obscurity, for only in oblivion does safety lie.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
Little Journeys to the Homes of American Statemen, “William H. Seward” (1916)
(Source)
Variants show up elsewhere in Hubbard's writings and and his quote epigrams.Often misattributed to Aristotle.
- To escape criticism -- do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
- To avoid unkind criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
- There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.
Life is just one damned thing after another.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
A Thousand and One Epigrams (1911)
Variant: "Life is just one damn thing after another."
Every man is a dam fool at least ten minutes a day. Wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Philistine, Vol. 29, #6 (Nov 1909)
Full text.
Sometimes given: "Every man is a damn fool at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit."
I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Notebook of Elbert Hubbard [ed. E. Hubbard II] (1927)
Although gold dust is precious, when it gets in your eyes it obstructs your vision.
Hsi-Tang Chih Tsang (735-814) Chinese Zen master
(Attributed)
Lean too much on the approval of people, and it becomes a bed of thorns.
Tehyi Hsieh (1884-1972) Chinese philosopher, educator, diplomat
Chinese epigrams inside out, and proverbs (1948)
There is a coherent plan in the universe, though I don’t know what it’s a plan for.
Fred Hoyle (1915-2001) English astronomer, author
(Attributed)
Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards.
Fred Hoyle (1915-2001) English astronomer, author
(Attributed)
Quoted in "Sayings of the Week", The Observer (9 Sep 1979)
Don’t abuse your friends and expect them to consider it criticism.
Edgar Watson "Ed" Howe (1853-1937) American journalist and author [E. W. Howe]
(Attributed)
A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice.
Edgar Watson "Ed" Howe (1853-1937) American journalist and author [E. W. Howe]
Country Town Sayings (1911)
Abuse a man unjustly, and you will make friends for him.
Edgar Watson "Ed" Howe (1853-1937) American journalist and author [E. W. Howe]
Country Town Sayings (1911)
Three minutes thought would suffice to find this out; but thought is irksome and three minutes is a long time.
A. E. Housman (1859-1936) English scholar and poet [Alfred Edward Housman]
Saturae of Juvenal (1905)
And how am I to face the odds
Of man’s bedevilment, and God’s?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.A. E. Housman (1859-1936) English scholar and poet [Alfred Edward Housman]
Last Poems, No. 12, l. 15-18 (1922)
Success lies, not in achieving what you aim at, but in aiming at what you ought to achieve, and pressing forward, sure of achievement here, or if not here, hereafter.
R. F. Horton (1855-1934) English nonconformist minister, reformer [Robert Forman Horton]
Success and Failure (1897)
Why are you laughing? Just change the name, and the story could be told of you.
[Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te / fabula narratur.]
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Sermonum, I.1.69
Sometimes "... fabula de te narratur."
Alternate translations:
- "Do you but change the name / Of you is saide the same."
- "Change but the name, of you the tale is told."
- "Change only the name and this story is also about you."
- "Change but the name, and the tale is told of you."
- "What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke's on you."
- "You laugh? Well, just change the name and you'll find that this story, / as a matter of fact, means YOU." (tr. S.P. Bovie (2002))
Many brave men lived before Agamemnon, but all unwept and unknown they sleep in endless night, for they had no poets to sound their praises.
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 4, Ode 9, l. 25
Alt. trans.: "Brave men were living before Agamemnon."
Now is the time for drinking, now is the time to beat the earth with unfettered foot.
[Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
pulsanda tellus.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 1, Ode 37, l. 1 (c. 23 BC)
He will always be a slave who does not know how to live upon a little.
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
(Attributed)
As we speak, cruel time is fleeing. Seize the day, leave as little as possible to tomorrow.
[… dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 1, Ode 11, l. 8 (c. 23 BC)
Alt trans. "... believing as little as possible in the morrow."
When your neighbor’s wall is on fire, it becomes your business.
[Num tua res agitur paries cum proximus ardet.]
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Epistles, Book 1, Epistle 18, l. 84 (c. 20 BC and 14 BC)
Alt trans.: "It is your concern when your neighbor's wall is on fire."
It is sweet to let the mind unbend on occasion.
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
(Attributed)
A host is like a general. It takes a mishap to reveal his genius.
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Satires, Book II, Satire 8 (35 BC)
A jest often decides matters of importance more effectively and happily than seriousness.
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
(Attributed)
Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
(Attributed)
Anger is momentary madness, so control your passion or it will control you.
[Ira furor brevis est: animum rege: qui nisi paret imperat.]
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
Epistles, Book 1, Epistle 2, l. 62 (c. 20 BC and 14 BC)
Alt. trans.: "Anger is a short madness." "Anger is a short-lived madness." "Anger is a brief lunacy."
To know all things is not permitted.
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
(Attributed)
No-one is so savage that he cannot soften.
[Nemo adeo ferus est ut non mitescere possit.]
Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet and satirist [Quintus Horacius Flaccus]
(Attributed)
Go ahead and do it, it is easier to apologize than to get permission.
Grace Hopper (1906-1992) American admiral, computer scientist, educator
(Attributed)
The function of government is to protect me from others. It’s up to me, thank you, to protect me from me.
Arthur W. "Art" Hoppe (1925-2000) American newspaper columnist, humorist, satirist
Column, San Francisco Chronicle (2 Sep 1992)
Who knows? Maybe my life belongs to God. Maybe it belongs to me. But I do know one thing: I’m damned if it belongs to the government.
Arthur W. "Art" Hoppe (1925-2000) American newspaper columnist, humorist, satirist
(Attributed)
When the outcome of a meeting is to have another meeting, it has been a lousy meeting.
Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, President of the US (1928-32)
(Attributed)
Ours is a practical people, to whom ideals furnish the theory of political action, upon which they want not only firm assurance, but also effective practice. They want programmes, but they want action to flow from them. They want constructive common sense. They want the development of the common will, not the views of a single individual. They are beginning to realize that words without action are the assassins of idealism.
Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, President of the US (1928-32)
In the New York Tribune (29 Apr 1920)
On the 1920 Presidential campaign.
It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.
Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, President of the US (1928-32)
Speech, Colby College (8 Nov 1937)
Full text.
Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.
Richard Hooker (1554-1600) English theologian
(Attributed)
Quoted in Samuel Johnson, preface to A Dictionary of the English Language (1755).
If you hire only those people you understand, the company will never get people better than you are. Always remember that you often find outstanding people among those you don’t particularly like.
Soichiro Honda (1906-1991) Japanese industrialist
(Attributed)
All things are best when done without excess: it is as wrong to hurry off a guest who does not wish to leave as to detain a man who longs for home. Kind care for those who stay — and warm farewells for those who go.
[ἶσόν τοι κακόν ἐσθ᾽, ὅς τ᾽ οὐκ ἐθέλοντα νέεσθαι
ξεῖνον ἐποτρύνει καὶ ὃς ἐσσύμενον κατερύκει.
χρὴ ξεῖνον παρεόντα φιλεῖν, ἐθέλοντα δὲ πέμπειν.]Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 15, l. 72ff (15.72) [Menelaus to Telemachus] (c. 700 BC) [tr. Mandelbaum (1990)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:
A like ill ’tis, to thrust out such a guest
As would not go, as to detain the rest.
We should a guest love, while he loves to stay,
And, when he likes not, give him loving way.
[tr. Chapman (1616)]
I purpose not to make you longer stay;
For I conceive ’tis not a good man’s part,
To make too much or little of his guest,
To hold him when he gladly would depart,
Or press him to begone e’er he thinks best.
In hospitality this rule is true:
Love him that stays, help forth the going guest.
[tr. Hobbes (1675), l. 60ff]
Alike he thwarts the hospitable end,
Who drives the free, or stays the hasty friend:
True friendship's laws are by this rule express'd,
Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.
[tr. Pope (1725)]
The middle course is best; alike we err,
Him thrusting forth whose wish is to remain,
And hind’ring the impatient to depart.
This only is true kindness -- To regale
The present guest, and speed him when he would.
[tr. Cowper (1792), l. 82ff]
Let us in all things the true mean apply;
Roughness offends, and over-courtesy.
He to my mind an equal sin doth show
Who, when a guest would linger, hints good-bye,
And who, if one desire to part, says no.
Love well the tarrying guest, and speed him fain to go.
[tr. Worsley (1861), st. 9]
An equal wrong it is to drive away
The guest, who fain would tarry; and to keep
Against his will the guest who fain would go!
'Tis right to treat with love the tarrying guest;
And speed on his way the guest, who wills to go!
[tr. Bigge-Wither (1869), l. 72ff]
Those acts which to strict equity conform
Are worthiest ever: and the selfsame wrong
Doth he commit who from his home would drive
The guest who fain would linger there, -- with him
Who stays the man that on his way would speed.
[tr. Musgrave (1869), l. 113ff]
He does equal wrong who speeds a guest that would fain abide, and stays one who is in haste to be gone. Men should lovingly entreat the present guest and speed the parting.
[tr. Butcher/Lang (1879)]
For in all things measure is best.
And good is neither fashion, to thrust out the willing guest
Who is fain to abide, or to stay him who longeth to be on the road;
But to cherish the guest that abideth and to speed the departer is good.
[tr. Morris (1887), l. 71ff]
It is an equal fault to thrust away the guest who does not care to go, and to detain the impatient. Best make the stranger welcome while he stays, and speed him when he wishes.
[tr. Palmer (1891)]
Moderation is best in all things, and not letting a man go when he wants to do so is as bad as telling him to go if he would like to stay. One should treat a guest well as long as he is in the house and speed him when he wants to leave it.
[tr. Butler (1898)]
'Tis equal wrong if a man speed on a guest who is loath to go, and if he keep back one that is eager to be gone. One should make welcome the present guest, and send forth him that would go.
[tr. Murray (1919)]
There should be moderation in all things, and it is equally offensive to speed a guest who would like to stay and to detain one who is anxious to leave. What I say is, treat a man well while he’s with you, but let him go when he wishes.
[tr. Rieu (1946)]
It is equally bad when one speeds on the guest unwilling to go, and when he holds back one who is hastening. Rather one should befriend the guest who is there, but speed him when he wishes.
[tr. Lattimore (1965)]
Balance is best in all things. It’s bad either way,
spurring the stranger home who wants to linger,
holding the one who longs to leave -- you know,
‘Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest!’
[tr. Fagles (1996)]
It's just as wrong to rush a guest's departure
When he doesn't want to go, as it is
To hold him back when he is ready to leave.
Make a guest welcome for as long as he stays
And send him off whenever he wants to go.
[tr. Lombardo (2000), l. 74ff]
There should be moderation in all things, and it is equally offensive to speed a guest who would like to stay and to detain one who is anxious to leave. Treat a man well while he's with you, but let him go when he wishes.
[tr. DCH Rieu (2002)]
It is, I think, an equal failing to speed a guest's departure when he is reluctant to leave and to detain him when eager to go. One must care for the guest in one's house, but send him on when he wishes.
[tr. Verity (2016)]
To force a visitor to stay is just as bad as pushing him to go. Be kind to guests while they are visiting, then help them on their way.
[tr. Wilson (2017)]
It's just as wrong to urge a guest's departure against his will as to keep him when it's itching to be off. Treat your guest well while he's there, let him go when he wants.
[tr. Green (2018)]
It’s bad when someone does not want to leave
to be too quick to send him on his way,
but just as bad is holding someone back
when he’s ready to depart. For a host
should welcome any guest in front of him
and send away the one who wants to go.
[tr. Johnston (2019), l. 94ff]
