It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.
Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek dramatist (Æschylus)
Fragment 385
Any excuse will serve a tyrant.
Aesop (620?-560? BC) Legendary Greek storyteller
Fables [Aesopica], “The Wolf and the Lamb” (6th C BC) [tr. Jacobs (1894)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:
- "'Tis an Easie Matter to find a Staff to Beat a Dog." [tr. L'Estrange (1692)]
- "A tyrant never wants a plea." [tr. James (1848)]
- "The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny." [tr. Townsend (1887)]
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Aesop (620?-560? BC) Legendary Greek storyteller
Fables [Aesopica], “The Lion and the Mouse” (6th C BC)
Alternate translation: "Kindness is seldom thrown away" [tr. James (1848)]
Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.
Howard Aiken (1900-1973) American mathematician
(Attributed)
Quoted in E. Weiss, A Computer Science Reader : Selections from Abacus (1988). Alternate: "Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats." Quoted in R. Slater, Portraits in Silicon (1987)
Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night.
Leo Aikman (1908-1978) American writer, newspaper editor, humorist
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Say not unto thyself, Behold, truth breedeth hatred, and I will avoid it; dissimulation raiseth friends, and I will follow it. Are not the enemies made by truth, better than the friends obtained by flattery?
Akhenaten (d. 1336 BC) King of Egypt (1353-36 BC), religious reformer [Akhenaton, Akhnaten, Amenhotep IV, Ikhn-aton]
(Attributed)
True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance.
Akhenaten (d. 1336 BC) King of Egypt (1353-36 BC), religious reformer [Akhenaton, Akhnaten, Amenhotep IV, Ikhn-aton]
(Attributed)
Usually attributed to Akhenaten. Sometimes attributed as a writing of Noble Drew Ali (1886-1929), ostensibly from the Koran, or as an ancient Brahmin writing.
Know thyself as the pride of His creation, the link uniting divinity and matter; behold a part of God Himself within thee; remember thine own dignity nor dare descend to evil or meanness.
Akhenaten (d. 1336 BC) King of Egypt (1353-36 BC), religious reformer [Akhenaton, Akhnaten, Amenhotep IV, Ikhn-aton]
(Attributed)
Unsourced, sometimes given as a Brahminic writing.
The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-distrust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciple.
Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888) American transcendentalist, teacher, writer
Orphic Sayings, “The Teacher” (1840)
To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.
Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888) American transcendentalist, teacher, writer
Table Talk, “Discourse” (1877)
Nothing overshadows truth so much as authority.
Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) Genoan Renaissance Man [also "Leone"]
Momus, or De Principe (1520)
I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American writer
Little Women, ch. 44 [Amy] (1868)
Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American writer
Work: A Story of Experience ch. 12 [Christie] (1875)
(Source)
Here’s my Golden Rule for a tarnished age: be fair with others, but then keep after them until they’re fair with you.
Alan Alda (b. 1936) American actor [b. Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo]
Commencement Speech, Connecticut College (1980)
Full text.
It isn’t necessary to be rich and famous to be happy. It’s only necessary to be rich.
Alan Alda (b. 1936) American actor [b. Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo]
(Attributed)
PERCHIK: Money is the world’s curse.
TEVYE: May the Lord smite me with it! And may I never recover!Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916) Russian-Jewish humorist [pseud. for Sholem Rabinowitz]
Fiddler on the Roof [with Joseph Stein] (1971)
Civilization is the distance man has placed between himself and his excreta.
Brian Aldiss (1925-2017) English writer, editor
The Dark Light Years, ch. 5 (1964)
Better to abolish serfdom from above than wait till it begins to abolish itself from below.
Alexander II (1818-1881) Russian Czar (1867-81)
Speech in Moscow (30 Mar 1856)
The sad thing is that excellence makes people nervous.
Shana Alexander (1925-2005) American journalist
“Neglected Kids — the Bright Ones,” The Feminine Eye (1966)
The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted thirty years of his life.
Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) American boxer, activist [b. Cassius Clay]
Interview, Playboy (Nov 1975)
We give advice by the bucket, but take it by the grain.
William Rounseville Alger (1822-1905) American writer, minister, translator
(Attributed)
BRIAN: Screw Maximilian!
SALLY: I do!
BRIAN: So do I!Jay Presson Allen (1922-2006) American screenwriter, playwright
Cabaret (1972)
(screenplay with J. Masteroff, J. Van Druten, C. Isherwood)
They laughed at Joan of Arc, but she went right ahead and built it.
Gracie Allen (1906-1964) American comedian
(Attributed)
A conference is a gathering of important people who, singly, can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.
Fred Allen (1894-1956) American humorist [b. John Florence Sullivan]
Letter to William McChesney Martin (25 Jan 1940)
(Source)
The letter, to the then-President of the New York Stock Exchange, was written as an apology for a joke Allen had made about Wall Street, and was re-published in TIME magazine (4 Feb 1940).
Allen apparently used the line, and variations of it, at various times in his career. A variant more commonly quoted than the original shows up, without citation, in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations:
Committee -- A group of men who individually can do nothing but as a group decide that nothing can be done.
Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.
Saul Alinsky (1909-1972) American community organizer, writer.
Rules for Radicals, “The Purpose” (1971)
(Source)
Men will take almost any kind of criticism except the observation that they have no sense of humor.
Steve Allen (1922-2000) American composer, entertainer, and wit.
(Attributed)
We are entitled to make almost any reasonable assumption, but should resist making conclusions until evidence requires that we do so.
Steve Allen (1922-2000) American composer, entertainer, and wit.
(Attributed)
One of the nice things about problems is that a good many of them do not exist except in our imaginations.
Steve Allen (1922-2000) American composer, entertainer, and wit.
(Attributed)
Quoted in Reader's Digest (Nov 1989)
Nothing is better than the unintended humor of reality.
Steve Allen (1922-2000) American composer, entertainer, and wit.
(Attributed)
It is no secret that organized crime in America takes in over forty billion dollars a year. This is quite a profitable sum, especially when one considers that the Mafia spends very little for office supplies.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
New Yorker, “A Look at Organized Crime” (1970)
Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Without Feathers (1976)
The Early Essays
I’m astounded by people who want to ‘know’ the universe when it’s hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Getting Even (1978)
There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Side Effects (1989)
New Yorker Essays, 1970s
To YOU I’m an atheist; to God, I’m the Loyal Opposition.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Stardust Memories (1980)
I think you should defend to the death their right to march, and then go down and meet them with baseball bats.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
On the KKK Skokie march
I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Without Feathers (1975)
Sex without love is an empty experience, but as empty experiences go, it’s one of the best.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
(Attributed)
I’d call him a sadistic, hippophilic necrophile, but that would be beating a dead horse.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
What’s up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
The difference between sex and death is that with death you can do it alone and no one is going to make fun of you.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
New York Tribune (1975)
(quoted)
Love is the answer; but while you re waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty good questions.
Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
(Attributed)
People who are aware of, and ashamed of, their prejudices are well on the road to eliminating them.
Gordon Allport (1897-1967) American psychology professor
(Attributed)
As the Sun colours flowers, so art colours life.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) Dutch-British painter
Inscription on his seal
A man who has bought a theory will fight a furious rear guard action against the facts.
Joseph R. Alsop, Jr. (1910-1989) American journalist
(Attributed)
To get maximum attention, it’s hard to beat a good, big mistake.
Joseph R. Alsop, Jr. (1910-1989) American journalist
(Attributed)
(also attrib. David D. Hewitt)
They do greatly err who acknowledge that the flesh of man was taken on Himself by Christ, but deny that the affections of man were taken; and they contravene the purpose of the Lord Jesus Himself, since thus they take away from man what constitutes man, for man cannot be man without human affections.
Ambrose of Milan (339-397) Roman theologian, statesman, Christian prelate, saint, Doctor of the Church [Aurelius Ambrosius]
“On Psalm 61”
Look around the table. If you don’t see a sucker, get up, because you’re the sucker.
"Amarillo Slim" Preston (1928-2012) American gambler [Thomas Austin Preston, Jr.]
(Attributed)
Though he used the phrase, he did not take credit for it. More information here. Variants:
- "If after ten minutes at the poker table you do not know who the patsy is -- you are the patsy."
- "If you sit in on a poker game and don't see a sucker, get up. You're the sucker."
- "If you enter a poker game and you don't see a sucker, get up and leave -- you’re it."
PAIGE: I tell you, Nicole, when the cafeteria has pizza for lunch, it’s like all my troubles disappear. I mean, who cares about a dumb Shakespeare quiz?! Who cares that I’ve got a lab report due?! Who cares that I left my book bag at home?! I’m going to have pizza! Well, I’d better get in line.
NICOLE: Don’t you keep your wallet in your book bag? You can have my yogurt …
PAIGE: The Irony Gods must be rolling on the floor.Bill Amend (b. 1962) American cartoonist
Foxtrot
When I am in Rome, I fast as the Romans do; when I am at Milan, I do not fast. So likewise you, whatever church you come to, observe the custom of the place.
[Cum Romanum venio, ieiuno Sabbato; cum hic sum, non ieiuno: sic etiam tu, ad quam forte ecclesiam veneris, eius morem serva, si cuiquam non vis esse scandalum nec quemquam tibi.]
Ambrose of Milan (339-397) Roman theologian, statesman, Christian prelate, saint, Doctor of the Church [Aurelius Ambrosius]
In Augustine, Epistulae, Letter 36 (c. AD 400)
Alt trans.:Various Augustine citations described:
- Popularly, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
- "When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the church where you are."
- "When I am here, I do not fast on the Sabbath; when I am in Rome, I fast on the Sabbath."
- Alternately given as "If you are at Rome, live in the Roman style; if you are elsewhere, live as they live there. [Si fueris Romae, Romano vivito more; / Si fueris alibi, vivito sicut ibi.]" in J. Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience, I.i.5 (1660).
- Epistulae 36, 14 or 32
- Letter 54 to Januarius
- Epistle to Januarius, 2, sec. 18
- Epistle to Casualanus, 36, sec. 32
The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life and you must accept regret.
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Amiel’s Journey (1872)
Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one’s liberty.
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Journal Intime
We are always making God our accomplice so that we may legalize our own inequities. Every successful massacre is consecrated by a Te Deum, and the clergy have never been wanting in benedictions for any victorious enormity.
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Journal Intime (6 Oct. 1866)
A belief is not true because it is useful.
Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Entry, Journal (15 Nov 1876)
(Source)
Written laws are like spider’s webs; they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.
Anacharsis (fl. 6th C BC) Scythian traveler and philosopher
In Plutarch’s Parallel Lives “Solon” bk. 5, sec. 2.
Alt trans.: "These decrees of yours are no different from spiders' webs. They'll restrain anyone weak and insignificant who gets caught in them, but they'll be torn to shreds by people with power and wealth." [tr. by R. Waterfield, Plutarch's Greek Lives (1998)]
A man’s felicity consists not in the outward and visible blessing of fortune, but in the inward and unseen perfections and riches of the mind.
Anacharsis (fl. 6th C BC) Scythian traveler and philosopher
in Plutarch, “The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men”
You’re just an empty cage, girl, if you kill the bird.
Tori Amos (b. 1963) American singer/songwriter [b. Myra Ellen Amos]
Little Earthquakes, “Crucify” (1991)