It is easier to forgive an Enemy than to forgive a Friend!
William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion (c. 1803–20)
(Source)
What is now proved was once only imagined.
William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, “Proverbs of Hell” (1790–93)
(Source)
A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
“Auguries of Innocence,” l.53 (1803)
(Source)
The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar’s laurel crown.William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
“Auguries of Innocence,” l. 97 (1803)
(Source)
You never know what is enough until you know what is more than enough.
William Blake (1757-1827) English poet, mystic, artist
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, “Proverbs of Hell”, l. 46 (1790-93)
(Source)
When there is too much naívetë around, the universe has no choice but to crystallize out some betrayal.
Robert Bly (b. 1926) American poet, story teller, lecturer
Iron John: A Book About Men, ch. 3 “The Road of Ashes, Descent and Grief” (1990)
(Source)
I think “immoral” is probably the wrong word to use. I prefer the word “unethical.”
Ivan Boesky (b. 1937) American investment banker, inside trader
(Attributed)
In John B. Stewart, Den of Thieves (1991).
Of course I don’t believe in it. But I understand that it brings you luck whether you believe in it or not.
Niels Bohr (1885-1962) Danish physicist
(Attributed)
When asked why he had a horseshoe on his wall.Variants:
- "Of course I don't believe in such nonsense. However, I've been told that a horseshoe brings you good luck whether you believe in it or not."
- "I believe in no such thing, my good friend. Not at all. I am scarcely likely to believe in such foolish nonsense. However, I am told that a horseshoe will bring you good luck whether you believe in it or not."
If imagination is not set to the task of building a creative life, it busies itself with weaving a web of inner fears and doubts, blame and excuse.
Laurence G. Boldt (b. 1954) American writer, philospher
(Attributed)
MORE: If we lived in a State where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us good, and greed would make us saintly. And we’d live like animals or angels in the happy land that needs no heroes. But since in fact we see that avarice, anger, envy, pride, sloth, lust and stupidity commonly profit far beyond humility, chastity, fortitude, justice and thought, and have to choose, to be human at all . . . why then perhaps we must stand fast a little — even at the risk of being heroes.
ROPER: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
MORE: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
ROPER: Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that!
MORE: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ’round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake!
Everyone is guilty at one time or another of throwing out questions that beg to be ignored, but mothers seem to have a market on the supply. “Do you want a spanking or do you want to go to bed?” Don’t you want to save some of the pizza for your brother?” Wasn’t there any change?”
I remember buying a set of black plastic dishes once, after I saw an ad on television where they actually put a blowtorch to them and they emerged unscathed. Exactly one week after I bought them, one of the kids brought a dinner plate to me with a large crack in it. When I asked what happened to it, he said it hit a tree. I don’t want to talk about it.
It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis.
Margaret Wander Bonanno (1950-2021) American writer
(Attributed)
I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks.
Daniel Boone (c.1734-1820) American pioneer
(Attributed)
Variants:
- "I can't say as ever I was lost, but I was bewildered once for three days." (J. Faragher, Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer (1993))
- "I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days." (Missouri: A Guide to the "Show Me" State (The WPA Guide to Missouri) (1941)
Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.
Louis E. Boone (1941-2005) American business writer
(Attributed)
Who is blinder than he that will not see?
Andrew Boorde (c.1490-1549) English physician and writer
Breviary of Helthe (1547)
ARTHUR: Merlin, where are you going?
MERLIN: Where do you think? You have a kingdom to rule.
ARTHUR: But how? I don’t know how.
MERLIN: You knew how to draw the sword from the stone.
ARTHUR: That was easy.
MERLIN: Was it? I couldn’t have done it.
Celebrity-worship and hero-worship should not be confused. Yet we confuse them every day, and by doing so we come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all real models. We lose sight of the men and women who do not simply seem great because they are famous but are famous because they are great. We come closer and closer to degrading all fame into notoriety.
The hero is known for achievements; the celebrity for well-knownness. The hero reveals the possibilities of human nature. The celebrity reveals the possibilities of the press and media. Celebrities are people who make news, but heroes are people who make history. Time makes heroes but dissolves celebrities.
Truth is like a well-known whore. Everyone knows her, but it is embarrassing to encounter her on the street.
Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947) German writer
(Attributed)
The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That’s where we come in; we’re computer professionals. We cause accidents.
Any life, however long and complicated it may be, actually consists of a single moment — the moment when a man knows forever more who he is.