One time I figured out this: if you aren’t brave, it doesn’t matter what other virtues you have, because you aren’t going to act them out. What good does it do to be able to see truth if you’re too chickenshit to act on the basis of what you see? I finally reduced all human virtues to one: bravery.
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.
Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) American writer
Introduction, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon, ed. Mark Hurst and Paul Williams (1985)
Fear can make you do more wrong than hate or jealousy. If you’re afraid, you don’t commit yourself to life completely; fear makes you always, always hold something back.
Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) American writer
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (1974)
“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
A Christmas Carol (1843)
I say, David, to the young this is a world for action, and not for moping and droning in.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
David Copperfield, ch. 10 (Mr. Murdstone) (1850)
Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. Fill your glass again, with a merry face and contented heart. Our life on it, but your Christmas shall be merry, and your new year a happy one!
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
Sketches by Boz, “Characters,” ch. 2 “A Christmas Dinner” (1833-36)
(Source)
My life is one demd horrid grind.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
The Life And Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, ch. 64 (Mr Mantalini) (1839)
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
A Tale of Two Cities, ch. 1 (1859)
If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in Vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one Pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet
“If I can stop one heart from breaking”
They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse.
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet
Letter
Fame is a bee
It has a song —
It has a sting —
Ah, too, it has a wing.Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet
“Fame is a bee” (undated)
Inebriate of air am I,
And debauchee of dew,
Reeling, through endless summer days,
From inns of molten blue.Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet
“I taste a liquor never brewed,” l. 5
Because I could not stop for Death–
He kindly stopped for me–
The Carriage held but just Ourselves–
And ImmortalityEmily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet
“Because I could not stop for Death”
There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it.
Denis Diderot (1713-1784) French editor, philosopher
(Attributed)
From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step.
Denis Diderot (1713-1784) French editor, philosopher
Essai sur le Mérite de la Vertu [Essay on Merit and Virtue] (1745)
Diderot’s essay is a translation of Shaftesbury’s Essay on the Merit of Virtue (1699).
Disturbances in society are never more fearful than when those who are stirring up the trouble can use the pretext of religion to mask their true designs.
Denis Diderot (1713-1784) French editor, philosopher
“Observations on the Drawing Up of Laws” (1774)
It is the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.
Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) German-American actress, singer
(Attributed)
The weak are more likely to make the strong weak than the strong are likely to make the weak strong.
Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) German-American actress, singer
Marlene Dietrich’s ABC, “Weakness” (1962)
(Source)
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
Annie Dillard (b. 1945) American author
The Writing Life (1989)
Love, with very young people, is a heartless business. We drink at that age from thirst, or to get drunk; it is only later in life that we occupy ourselves with the individuality of our wine.
Isak Dinesen (1885-1962) Danish writer [pseud. of Karen Christence, Countess Blixen]
“The Old Chevalier,” Seven Gothic Tales (1934)
(Source)
All things can be cured by salt water: sweat, tears, or the ocean.
Isak Dinesen (1885-1962) Danish writer [pseud. of Karen Christence, Countess Blixen]
(Attributed)
If they’re selling elephants two for a quarter, that’s a great bargain. But only if you have a quarter — and only if you need elephants.
David N. Dinkins (1927-2020) American politician, lawyer, author
(Attributed)
On a great land deal for the city; quoted by Leonard Buder, New York Times
In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it’s the exact opposite.
Paul Dirac (1902-1984) physicist
(Attributed)
quoted in H. Eves, Mathematical Circles Adieu (1977)
Man is a being born to believe. And if no church comes forward with its title-deeds of truth to guide him, he will find altars and idols in his own heart and his own imagination.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
Speech (25 Nov. 1864)
It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.
Walt Disney (1901-1966) American entrepreneur, animator, film producer, showman
(Attributed)
A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.
Everett Dirksen (1896-1969) American politician
(Attributed)
Frequently attributed to Dirksen, but not found in his writings or speeches. An anonymous reference is made in "Topics of the Times," New York Times (10 Jan 1938): "Well, now, about this new budget. It's a billion here and a billion there, and by and by it begins to mount up into money."
My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
Lothair, ch. 41 (Lothair) (1870)
Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
(Attributed)
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
(Attributed)
Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
(Attributed)
The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
(Attributed)
Frank and explicit: That is the right line to take when you wish to conceal your mind and confuse the minds of others.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
Sybil, “The Gentleman in Downing Street,” bk 6, ch 1 (1845)
Next to knowing when to seize an opportunity, the most important thing in life is to know when to forego an advantage.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
The Infernal Marriage (1834)
Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
Coningsby, bk. 3, ch. 1 (1844)
I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
Campaign speech, High Wycombe, England (27 Nov. 1832)
http://www.bartleby.com/73/314.html
What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
Henrietta Temple, bk. 2, ch. 4 (1837)
No sacramental act achieves anything unless it is an outward symbol of what really happens inwardly in experience. The test of that is the reality of the new life as exhibited in its ethical consequences. “How can we who are dead to sin live any longer in sin?” If baptism is a real dying and rising again, then it is indeed a profound revolution in the personal life, a revolution which is simply bound to show itself in a new moral character.
C. Harold Dodd (1884-1973) American religious writer
The Meaning of Paul for Today (1958)
Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way.
E. L. Doctorow (1931-2015) American author, editor
Writers at Work, 8th ed., ed. by George Plimpton (1988)
It is much easier to be critical than to be correct.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) English politician and author
Speech, House of Commons (24 Jan 1860)
Emperors are necessarily wretched men since only their assassination can convince the public that the conspiracies against their lives are real.
[Condicionem principum miserrimam aiebat, quibus de coniuratione comperta non crederetur nisi occisis.]Domitian (51-96) Roman Emperor
(Attributed)
Suetonius, Life of Domitian, ch. 21
All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God
John Donne (1572-1631) English poet
Devotions on Emergent Occasions, Meditation XVII (1624)
Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls;
For, thus friends absent speak.John Donne (1572-1631) English poet
Verse Letter to Sir Henry Wotton (1597)
Death be not proud, though some have callèd thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.John Donne (1572-1631) English poet
Holy Sonnets, No. 10, “Death Be Not Proud,” ll. 1-4 (1609)
(Source)
No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
John Donne (1572-1631) English poet
Devotions on Emergent Occasions, Meditation 17 (1624)
Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
“Celebrating a Lie”
Originality and the feeling of one’s own dignity are achieved only through work and struggle.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
Diary of a Writer (1877)
Man has such a predilection for systems and abstract deductions that he is ready to distort the truth intentionally, he is ready to deny the evidence of his senses only to justify his logic.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
Notes from the Underground (1864)
Every man has some reminiscences which he would not tell to everyone, but only to his friends. He has others which he would not reveal even to his friends, but only to himself, and that in secret. But finally there are still others which a man is even afraid to tell himself, and every decent man has a considerable number of such things stored away. That is, one can even say that the more decent he is, the greater the number of such things in his mind.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
Notes from the Underground (1864)
But men love abstract reasoning and neat systematization so much that they think nothing of distorting the truth, closing their eyes and ears to contrary evidence to preserve their logical constructions.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
(Attributed)
If a man harbors any sort of fear, it percolates through all his thinking, damages his personality, makes him landlord to a ghost.
Lloyd Douglas (1877-1951) American Congregationalist clergyman and novelist
(Attributed)
If you want to know about a man you can find out an awful lot by looking at who he married.
Kirk Douglas (1916-2020) American actor
The Daily Mail (London) (9 Sep. 1988)
What is all wisdom save a collection of platitudes? But the man who orders his life according to their teachings cannot go far wrong.
Norman Douglas (1868-1952) Austro-British writer
South Wind, ch. 16 (1917)
The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.
William O. Douglas (1898-1980) US Supreme Court justice (1939-75)
Roth vs. United States, 354 U.S. 476, dissenting opinion (1957)
Justice is too good for some people and not good enough for the rest.
Norman Douglas (1868-1952) Austro-British writer
Good-bye to Western Culture (1930)
Living in Los Angeles is not blameworthy per se.
William O. Douglas (1898-1980) US Supreme Court justice (1939-75)
Lambert v. California (1958)