Take away the right to say “fuck” and you take away the right to say, “Fuck the government.”
Lenny Bruce (1925-1966) American comic
(Attributed)
Perhaps this is one of the most disarming of human traits: our sheer, dogged capacity for disbelief.
Stephanie Brush (b. 1954) American humorist, columnist
“And Into the Tunnel”
Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) Italian philosopher
The Heroic Furies
No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Jhereg (1983)
Everything is normal. It’s just that some normal things are weirder than other normal things.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Teckla (1987)
I sometimes wonder if my entire adult life has been spent in an effort to avoid dirty dishes. One could, I suppose, have worse goals.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Teckla (1987)
I’d rather go through trauma than discomfort, which may be my whole problem.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
“A Dream of Passion” (1986)
Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies among his worshippers.William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) American poet and editor
“The Battle-Field,” l. 33
The error of youth is to believe that intelligence is a substitute for experience, while the error of age is to believe experience is a substitute for intelligence.
Lyman L. Bryson (1888-1959) American academic, educator
(Attributed)
Philosophers are capable of almost endless enjoyment of mutual misunderstanding.
Lyman L. Bryson (1888-1959) American academic, educator
(Attributed)
They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
Carl W. Buehner (1898-1974) German-American Mormon leader and politician
(Attributed)
This quotation is widely quoted but never sourced. In addition to Carl W. Buehner, it's also attributed to Carl W. Büchner, and Carl Buechner.
I learned early to understand that there is no such condition in human affairs as absolute truth. There is only truth as people see it, and truth, even in fact, may be kaleidoscopic in its variety. The damage such perception did to me I have felt ever since … I could never belong entirely to one side of any question.
Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
My Several Worlds (1954)
The Revolution is like Saturn — it eats its own children.
Karl Georg Büchner (1813-1837) German dramatist
Danton’s Death, Act I (1835)
Also attributed to Pierre Vergniaud, Girondin politician, speaking at the French National Assembly (16 Mar 1793): "Citizens, we now have cause to fear that the Revolution, like Saturn successively devouring his children, has finally given way to despotism and all the calamities that despotism implies."
The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible — and achieve it, generation after generation.
Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American writer
(Attributed)
I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008) American writer, editor
(Attributed)
I profoundly believe it takes a lot of practice to become a moral slob.
William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008) American writer, editor
(Attributed)
If the Government is going to intrude upon the sacred ground of the First Amendment and tell its citizens that their exercise of protected speech could land them in jail, the law imposing such a penalty must clearly define the prohibited speech not only for the potential offender but also for the potential enforcer.
Ronald L. Buckwalter (b. 1936) US District Court Judge
ACLU, et al., v. Janet Reno, 96-963 (1996)
Believe nothing because it is written in books. Believe nothing because wise men say it is so. Believe nothing because it is religious doctrine. Believe it only because you yourself know it to be true.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
It is wrong to think that misfortunes come from the east or from the west; they originate within one’s own mind. Therefore, it is foolish to guard against misfortunes from the external world and leave the inner mind uncontrolled.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
To insist on a spiritual practice that served you in the past is to carry the raft on your back after you have crossed the river.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Just as a picture is drawn by an artist, surroundings are created by the activities of the mind.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
To utter pleasant words without practicing them, is like a fine flower without fragrance.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
(Attributed)
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
Buddha (c.563-483 BC) Indian mystic, philosopher [b. Siddharta Gautama]
The Kalama Sutta
You begin saving the world by saving one person at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) German-American author, poet
Tales of Ordinary Madness, “Too Sensitive” (1967)
Fate laughs at probabilities.
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and politician
Eugene Aram, Book I, ch. 10 (1832)
The easiest person to deceive is one’s own self.
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and politician
The Disowned, ch. 42 (1828)
Beneath the rule of men entirely great
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanter’s wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyze the Caesars — and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it!Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) English novelist and politician
Richelieu, Act 2, sc. 2 [Richelieu] (1839)
(Source)
See Shakespeare.
Video games, not parents, are to blame for many of these teenage crimes. I’m certain it was Frogger that taught my son to jaywalk.
John Bumbry (contemp.) systems analyst
(Attributed)
It is well for people who think to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean. For those who do not think, it is best to at least rearrange their prejudices once in a while.
Luther Burbank (1849-1926) American horticulturist
(Attributed)
The state is never so efficient as when it wants money.
Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) English novelist
(Attributed)
If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead.
Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) American humorist and illustrator
(Attributed)
Common paraphrase. In Look Eleven Years Younger (1937), Burgess gives two versions of the quotation:See for more discussion.
- "When you find you haven’t discarded a major opinion for years, or acquired a new one, you should stop and investigate to see if you’re not growing senile."
- "If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one investigate and see if you’re not growing senile."
Our patience will achieve more than our force.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
All persons possessing any portion of power ought to be strongly and awfully impressed with an idea that they act in trust.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
Never despair; but if you do, work on in despair.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
(Attributed)
All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Speech on Conciliation with America (22 Mar 1775)
Nobody makes a greater mistake then he who does nothing because he could only do a little.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
(Attributed)
There is, however, a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Observations on a Late Publication, “The Present State of the Nation” (1769)
Custom reconciles us to everything.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
On the Sublime and the Beautiful, Sect. xviii. vol. i. (1756)
A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
(Source)
The use of force alone is temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again; and a nation is not governed which is perpetually to be conquered.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
“On Conciliation with America” (speech) (22 Mar 1775)
No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
On the Sublime and Beautiful, Part II, Sec. 2 (1756)
When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
“Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents” (23 Apr 1770)
May be the origin of the attributed (but never located in Burke's works): "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." See also Mill.
Certainly, Gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinions high respect; their business unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasure, his satisfactions, to theirs, — and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own.
But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure, — no, nor from the law and the Constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Speech to the electors of Bristol (3 Nov 1774)
The people no longer believe in principles, but will probably periodically believe in saviors.
Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (1818-1897) Swiss historian
(Attributed)
At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope that it can be done, then they see that it can be done
Frances Burnett (1849-1924) American writer [nee Hodgson]
The Secret Garden, ch. 27 (1911)
Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism.
David M. Burns (contemp.) American medical professor, researcher
(Attributed)
Actually, it only takes one drink to get me loaded. Trouble is, I can’t remember if it’s the thirteenth or fourteenth.
George Burns (1896-1996) American comedian
(Attributed)
I’d rather be a failure at something I enjoy than a success at something I hate.
George Burns (1896-1996) American comedian
(Attributed)
I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we’re lead to is a life not fully lived. Cynicism is fear, and it’s worse than fear – it’s active disengagement.
Ken Burns (b. 1953) American filmmaker
The Shambala Sun, “E Pluribus Unum,” Interview (Nov. 1997)
http://www.shambhalasun.com/Archives/Features/1997/Nov97/KenBurns.htm
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An’ foolish notion ….Robert Burns (1759-1796) Scottish national poet
“To a Louse,” l.43-46 (1786)
The poem is reprinted in various forms and anglicizations of Burns' Scottish, e.g.,O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An foolish notionO would some Power the gift to give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:
I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.
John Burroughs (1837-1921) American naturalist
(Attributed)
Nature does not care whether the hunter slays the beast or the beast the hunter. She will make good compost of both, and her ends are prospered whichever succeeds.
John Burroughs (1837-1921) American naturalist
Birds & Poets, ch. 2 (1877)
http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04/7bpoe10.txt