I always presume, because it helps me get up in the morning, that most people are people of goodwill and would like to restrain themselves from offending people if they knew what was offensive.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Interview (1995-03-06) by Virginia Shea, “Miss Mannners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Internet Behavior,” Computerworld, Vol. 29, No. 10
(Source)
MIRANDA: Do you love me?
FERDINAND: O heaven, O Earth, bear witness to this sound,
And crown what I profess with kind event
If I speak true; if hollowly, invert
What best is boded me to mischief. I,
Beyond all limit of what else i’ th’ world,
Do love, prize, honor you.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Tempest, Act 3, sc. 1, l. 80ff (3.1.80-86) (1611)
(Source)
Many speak the truth, when they say that they despise riches and preferment, but they mean the riches and preferment possessed by other men.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 371 (1820)
(Source)
Our minds are better employed in bearing the misfortunes that do befall us than in foreseeing those that may.
[Il vaut mieux employer notre esprit à supporter les infortunes qui nous arrivent qu’à prévoir celles qui nous peuvent arriver.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶174 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
(Source)
Appeared in the 1st edition as this variant:[Il vaut mieux employer notre son esprit à supporter les infortunes qui arrivent qu’à pénétrer celles qui peuvent arriver.]
(Source (French)). Other translations:A mans Wits are Employed to better purpose in bearing up under the misfortunes that lie upon him at present, than in foreseeing those that may come upon him hereafter.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶175]It is a better employment of the understanding to bear the misfortunes that actually befal us, than to penetrate into those that may.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶463; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶167]The understanding is better employed in bearing actual misfortune, than in penetrating into that which possibly may befal us.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶393]It is better to employ; our minds in supporting the misfortunes which actually happen, than in anticipating those which may happen to us.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶177]It is far better to accustom our mind to bear the ills we have than to speculate on those which may befall us.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶174]We make better use of our abilities by endeavoring to bear our misfortunes, than in seeking to forestall possible catastrophes.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶174]It is better to devote our minds to endurance of present misfortunes than to anticipation of those which the future may bring.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶174]Our wits are better employed in helping us endure present misfortunes than in anticipating those that may yet be to come.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶174]It is better for our minds to help us bear existing misfortunes than prevent possible future ones.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶174]It is better to employ our mind in bearing misfortunes which actually happen to us, than in predicting those which could occur in future.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶174]
A campaign addressed not to men’s minds and to their best instincts, but to their passions, emotions and prejudices, is unworthy at best — now, with the fate of the nation at stake, it is unbearable.
When a fact can be demonstrated, force is unnecessary; when it cannot be demonstrated, an appeal to force is infamous. In the presence of the unknown all have an equal right to think.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1873-12) “Individuality,” Chicago Free Religious Society
(Source)
Full title "Arraignment of the Church and a Plea for Individuality." Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876).
If you have a radio, the next three months is a good time to have it get out of fix. All you will hear from now until the 4th of November will be: “We must get our government out of the hands of predatory wealth.” “The good people of this great country are burdened to death with taxes; now what I intend to do is ….”
What he intends to do is try and get elected. That’s all any of them intend to do.Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1924-08-03), “Weekly Article: Random Shots at the News of a Week” [No. 86]
(Source)
In short, if youth is not quite right in its opinions, there is a strong probability that age is not much more so.
O Fortune, cruellest of heavenly powers,
Why make such game of this poor life of ours?[Heu, Fortuna, quis est crudelior in nos
Te Deus? Ut semper gaudes illudere rebus
Humanis!]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 8, “Ut Nasidieni,” l. 61ff (2.8.61-63) (30 BC) [tr. Conington (1874)]
(Source)
When "disaster" befalls the dinner party of Nasidienus (Rufus), Nomentanus tries to snap him out of a funk by philosophically / melodramatically bemoaning how Fortune treats humanity.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Some mourne and blame their sorie fate, why Fortune shoulde be suche,
That they suche blouddes shoulde nothinge have, and others overmuche.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Fortune our Foe, thou art a scurvy Puss!
Ah what a cruel Vixen th' art! ah how
Do'st thou delight to mock us here below!
[tr. I. W. Esq.; ed. Brome (1666)]Unlucky Chance what God is so unkind,
Thou lov'st to break the measures Man design'd.
[tr. Creech (1684)]Fortune, thou cruelest of powers divine,
To joke poor mortals is a joke of thine.
[tr. Francis (1747)]Ah cruel Fortune, foe to human bliss!
Invidious power, it seems thy sole delight
All our enjoyments in the bud to blight.
[tr. Howes (1845)]Alas! O fortune, what god is more cruel to us than thou? How dost thou always take pleasure in sporting with human affairs!
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]O Fortune, what divinity so cruel against us as thou? What joy to thee 'tis ever to frustrate the plans of men!
[tr. Millington (1870)]Ah Fortune, what divine power is more cruel towards us than thou! How thou delightest ever to make sport of human affairs!
[tr. Wickham (1903)]Ah, Fortune, what god is more cruel toward us than thou! How thou dost ever delight to make sport of the life of man!
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]Oh, Fortune, what god
Is more cruel to us than you are! You always have fun
Making fun of mankind!
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]Ah, Fortune! What god more cruel to us than you?
You always like to play around with mankind’s hopes!
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]Ah, Fortune! Is there a crueler god?
How you love to toy with us, playing with our lives!
[tr. Raffel (1983)]What god,
O Fortune, is more cruel toward us than Thou?
How you rejoice in upsetting man’s hopes!
[tr. Alexander (1999)]Fortune, most cruel of all the gods, what
would you do for laughs without us humans?
[tr. Matthews (2002)]Shame on you Lady Luck!
No other god is so cruel. What pleasure you get from mocking
the plans of men!
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]O Fortune, what deity treats us more
Cruelly than you? How you always delight in mocking
Human affairs!
[tr. Kline (2015)]
It is difficult to think of any politician who has lived to be eighty and still been regarded as a success. What we call a “great” statesman normally means one who dies before his policy has had time to take effect. If Cromwell had lived a few years longer he would probably have fallen from power, in which case we should now regard him as a failure. If Pétain had died in 1930, France would have venerated him as a hero and patriot. Napoleon remarked once that if only a cannon-ball had happened to hit him when he was riding into Moscow, he would have gone down to history as the greatest man who ever lived.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-05), “Second Thoughts on James Burnham,” Polemic Magazine
(Source)
Published separately as a pamphlet, James Burnham and the Managerial Revolution (1946).
ELMIRE: No, amorous men are gullible. Their conceit
So blinds them that they’re never hard to cheat.[Non; on est aisément dupé par ce qu’on aime.
Et l’amour-propre engage à se tromper soi-même.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 4, sc. 3 (1669) [tr. Wilbur (1963)]
(Source)
When her maid is concerned that Tartuffe will see through Elmire's stratagem.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:No, People are easily Dup'd by what they love, and Self-love helps 'em to deceive themselves.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]No; people are easily duped by those whom they love, and conceit is apt to deceive itself.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]No, we are easily duped by those we love, and we deceive ourselves through our own conceit.
[tr. Wall (1879)]No, people are easily duped by what they like; and self-love helps them to deceive themselves.
[tr. Mathew (1890), 4.2]No; people are easily duped by those whom they love. Self-love leads the way to self-deceit.
[tr. Waller (1903)]Oh no! A lover's never hard to cheat,
And self-conceit leads straight to self-deceit.
[tr. Page (1909)]No, one is easily fooled by one's belovèd,
And self-conceit will end in self-deception.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]Oh, no! A lover is not hard to cheat,
And self-deception springs from self-conceit.
[tr. Frame (1967)]He loves me, and he's also vain,
That double drug will dull his brain.
[tr. Bolt (2002)]No, it's easy to be fooled by what we want; our vanity is always ready to betray us.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]We long to be fooled by the one we love,
And pride lends a hand in its own downfall.
[tr. Campbell (2013)]
The Utopia of a modern dreamer must needs differ in one fundamental aspect from the Nowheres and Utopias men planned before Darwin quickened the thought of the world. Those were all perfect and static States, a balance of happiness won for ever against the forces of unrest and disorder that inhere in things. […] But the Modern Utopia must be not static but kinetic, must shape not as a permanent state but as a hopeful stage, leading to a long ascent of stages. Nowadays we do not resist and overcome the great stream of things, but rather float upon it. We build now not citadels, but ships of state.
H. G. Wells (1866-1946) British writer [Herbert George Wells]
A Modern Utopia, ch. 1, § 1 (1905)
(Source)
We derive a certain satisfaction from being sinned against. It is not only that a grievance adds content to our lives, but also that it makes less monstrous the flame of malice which like a vigil light flickers in the dimness of our souls.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 120 (1955)
(Source)
Cheerfullness makes the plainest features butiful, the severest winter agreeable; it elevates the lowly, and adds a charm tew grateness, all its own.
[Cheerfulness makes the plainest features beautiful, the severest winter agreeable; it elevates the lowly, and adds a charm to greatness.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 281 “Variety: Bred and Butter” (1874)
(Source)
But out of very many evils which he has inflicted on the Commonwealth, there has emerged this much good: the Roman people has now learned how much to trust each man, on whom to rely, of whom to beware.
[Sed ex plurimis malis quae ab illo rei publicae sunt inusta hoc tamen boni est quod didicit iam populus Romanus quantum cuique crederet, quibus se committeret, a quibus caveret.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 2, ch. 46 / sec. 117 (2.46/2.117) (44-10-24 BC) [tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]
(Source)
Speaking of Julius Caesar and public awareness of who backed or opposed him.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:But amid all the many evils which he has branded on the state, this good result there is, that the Roman people has now learned how far each man deserves its confidence, to whom it may entrust itself, of whom it should beware.
[tr. King (1877)]But from the many evils which by him have been burned into the republic, there is still this good, that the Roman people has now learned how much to believe every one, to whom to trust itself, and against whom to guard.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]But out of the many evils which Caesar inflicted on our country, there has come one good thing: the Roman people have now learned how far they can trust each person, whom they can rely on, and whom they should beware of.
[tr. Berry (2006)]But, from the many evils which he branded on the Republic, this much that was good still came about: that the Roman people learnt how much to trust anyone, to whom they could entrust themselves and against whom they should be on their guard.
[tr. McElduff (2011)]
Fear to do ill, and you need fear nought else.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1740 ed.)
(Source)
Is it not possible that an individual may be right and a government wrong? Are laws to be enforced simply because they were made? or declared by any number of men to be good, if they are not good? Is there any necessity for a man’s being a tool to perform a deed of which his better nature disapproves? Is it the intention of law-makers that good men shall be hung ever?
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1859-10-30), “A Plea for Captain John Brown,” Concord, Massachusetts
(Source)
Speaking of John Brown and his raid on Harpers Ferry. Collected in A Yankee in Canada (1866).
I believe that the recent course of our history has demonstrated that, while we may utilize their expert knowledge of certain problems and the special facilities with which they are familiar, we cannot allow our economic life to be controlled by that small group of men whose chief outlook upon the social welfare is tinctured by the fact that they can make huge profits from the lending of money and the marketing of securities — an outlook which deserves the adjectives “selfish” and “opportunist.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Speech (1932-05-22), Commencement, Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, Georgia
(Source)
WATSON: Pink. You got all that because you realized the case would be pink?
HOLMES: Well, it had to be pink, obviously.
WATSON: Why didn’t I think of that?
HOLMES: Because you’re an idiot. [WATSON looks up, insulted.] No, no, no, don’t be like that. Practically everyone is.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Sherlock, 01×01 “A Study in Pink” (2010-07-25)
(Source)
(Source (Video); dialog verified)
There are four hundred thousand words in the English language, and there are seven of them you can’t say on television. What a ratio that is: 399,993 to 7. They must really be bad; they’d have to be outrageous to be separated from a group that large! “All of you over here. You seven? BAD WORDS.” That’s what they told us they were, remember? “That’s a bad word!” No bad words; bad thoughts, bad intentions … and words.
You know the seven, don’t you, that you can’t say on television? Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. Those are the heavy seven. Those are the ones that will infect your soul, curve your spine, and keep the country from winning the war.George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Show (1972-05-27), Class Clown, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California
(Source (Audio))
Carlin's famous "Seven Words" sketch -- which led to his arrest at some venues where he performed it.
The War on Drugs is the perfect substitute for the Cold War. We can continue to pursue policies that don’t work on the cheerful assumption that if we just do more of what doesn’t work, it will solve the problem.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1990-02), “The Czar is Hooked,” The Progressive
(Source)
Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).
The man who has double my salary is doubtless tortured by the thought that someone else in turn has twice as much as he has, and so it goes on. If you desire glory, you may envy Napoleon. But Napoleon envied Caesar, Caesar envied Alexander, and Alexander, I daresay, envied Hercules, who never existed. You cannot, therefore, get away from envy by means of success alone, for there will always be in history or legend some person even more successful than you are. You can get away from envy by enjoying the pleasures that come your way, by doing the work that you have to do, and by avoiding comparisons with those whom you imagine, perhaps quite falsely, to be more fortunate than yourself
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 6 “Envy” (1930)
(Source)
In the disastrous Accidents of our Lives, wherein thy own Industry and Strength will not help thee, thy Patience must.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2041 (1727)
(Source)
To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy, and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations, or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1859-09-30), Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee
(Source)
It is my belief that Peter Pan is a great and refining and uplifting benefaction to this sordid and money-mad age; and that the next best play on the boards is a long way behind it as long as you play Peter.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Letter (1906-10-09) to Maude Adams, advertisement in the Boston Globe
(Source)
(Source (Image)). Adams played Peter Pan during its New York debut in 1905, and had the role when Twain saw it in November of that year; Twain submitted the advertisement to the Globe prior to the show's opening in Boston.
Quoted in Maria Tatar, The Annotated Peter Pan (2011) and in Phyllis Robbins, Maude Adams: An Intimate Portrait (1956) (also referenced contemporaneously here).
When you were a bird you knew the fairies pretty well, and you remember a good deal about them in your babyhood, which it is a great pity you can’t write down, for gradually you forget, and I have heard of children who declared that they had never once seen a fairy. Very likely if they said this in the Kensington Gardens, they were standing looking at a fairy all the time. The reason they were cheated was that she pretended to be something else. This is one of their best tricks.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
The Little White Bird, ch. 16 “Lock-Out Time,” Scribner’s Magazine, Vol. 32 (1902-10)
(Source)
This book was the first appearance of (a prototype) Peter Pan. This portion of the serial is in ch. 16 of the fully collected novel (1902), and in ch. 4 of the abridged Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906).
MENELAUS:But so it has to be.
For the saying is not mine, but it was wisely said,
that nothing has more strength than dire necessity.[ΜΕΝΕΛΈΩΣ:ἀλλ᾽ ἀναγκαίως ἔχει.
λόγος γάρ ἐστιν οὐκ ἐμός, σοφὸν δ᾽ ἔπος,
δεινῆς ἀνάγκης οὐδὲν ἰσχύειν πλέον.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Helen [Ἑλένη], l. 512ff (412 BC) [tr. Lattimore (1956)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:But hard necessity constrains: not mine
This saying, but the sentence of the sage,
Nothing is stronger than Necessity.
[tr. Potter (1783), l. 560ff]But thus hath Fate ordained.
Nor is it my assertion, but a maxim
Among the wise established, that there's nought
More powerful than the dread behests of Fate.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]But it needs must be. For it is not my saying, but the saying of wise men: naught has a greater power than terrible necessity.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]But it is necessary. The saying is not mine, but it is a wise word: nothing is stronger than dreadful necessity.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Yet it needs must be.
Not mine the saying is, but wisdom's saw --
"Stronger is nought than dread Necessity."
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1912)]There's no other way.
"Needs must," the proverb says; and so I say
"Needs must," and my necessities obey.
[tr. Sheppard (1925)]But necessity compels.
It is not my saying, but it is a weighty one,
that nothing has more strength than hard necessity.
[tr. Warner (1951)]Well, I must. Nothing is stronger than necessity -- I did not invent that proverb, but it’s true none the less, and very well known.
[tr. Vellacott (1954)]But this is what things have come to.
He spoke wisely -- it wasn't I -- who said:
there is no arm strong enough to bend back dread necessity.
[tr. Meagher (1986)]But there is no alternative. It is not my own saying, but a wise man's none the less, that nothing is as strong as stern necessity.
[tr. Davie (2002)]Still needs must I. Yea, this is no saying of mine, but a word of wisdom, "Naught in might exceedeth dread necessity."
[tr. Athenian Society (2006)]But -- "beggars can't be choosers". Hardly an original proverb,
But wise words indeed.
[tr. A. Wilson (2007)]Still, I must bow to necessity. A wise man, not I, once said that there’s no mightier force than dire necessity.
[tr. Theodoridis (2011)]Still, ‘necessity offers us no choice’.
I didn’t make that up, but it sounds smart.
[Ambrose et al. (2018)]But it is necessary. The saying is not mine, but it is a wise [sophon] word [epos]: nothing is stronger than dreadful [deinē] necessity.
[tr. Coleridge / Helen Heroization Team]
The dignity and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the people and every blessing of society, depends so much upon an upright and skillful administration of justice, that the judicial power ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive, and independent upon both, that so it may be a check upon both, as both should be checks upon that.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter (1776-04) to George Wythe, “Thoughts on Government”
(Source)
This is taken from the printed edition of the influential essay, believed to be from the version Adams sent to George Wythe of Virginia.
If I knew something that would be useful to my nation and ruinous to another nation, I would not bring it before my prince, because I am a man before being a Frenchman, or again, because I am necessarily a man but am only a Frenchman by choice.
[Si je savais une chose utile à ma nation qui fût ruineuse a une autre, je ne la proposerais pas à mon prince, parce que je suis homme avant d’être Français … parce que je suis nécessairement homme, et que je ne suis Français que par hasard.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Pensées [Thoughts], # 350 (1720-1755) [tr. Clark (2012), #350]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Other translation:If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman; necessarily I am a man, only accidentally am I French.
[ed. Guterman (1963)]
A parallel, later thought:If I knew something that was useful to me and harmful to my family, I would banish it from my mind. If I knew something useful to my family but not to my Country, I would seek to forget it. If I knew something useful to my Country and harmful to Europe, or else useful to Europe and harmful to the human race, I would regard it as a crime.
[tr. Clark (2012), #741]
[Si je savais quelque chose qui me fût utile et qui fût préjudiciable à ma famille, je le rejetterais de mon esprit. Si je savais quelque chose qui fût utile à ma famille et qui ne le fût pas à ma patrie, je chercherais à l’oublier. Si je savais quelque chose utile à ma patrie et qui fût préjudiciable à l’Europe et au genre humain, je le regarderais comme un crime]
[Source]
When you let money speak for you, it drowns out anything else you meant to say.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 9 (1966)
(Source)
And now we are stirring up the question whether or not Islam is a warlike religion, ignoring the question, much more urgent for us, whether or not Christianity is a warlike religion. There is no hope in this. Islam, Judaism, Christianity — all have been warlike religions. All have tried to make peace and rid the world of evil by fighting wars. This has not worked. It is never going to work. The failure belongs inescapably to all of these religions insofar as they have been warlike, and to acknowledge this failure is the duty of all of them. It is the duty of all of them to see that it is wrong to destroy the world, or risk destroying it, to get rid of its evil.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 4, Citizenship Papers (2003)
(Source)
This passage did not appear in the original (abridged) full-page ad in the New York Times (2003-02-06) or the Orion Magazine (2003-03/04) publication of the essay.
So long as the body is affected through the mind, no audacious device, even of the most manifestly dishonest character, can fail of producing occasional good to those who yield it an implicit or even a partial faith.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Lecture (1842), “Homœopathy and Its Kindred Delusions,” Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
(Source)
Collected in Medical Essays, 1842-1882, ch. 1 (1891 ed.).
There are plenty of people who say, “We don’t care about etiquette, but we can’t stand the way so-and-so behaves, and we don’t want him around!” Etiquette doesn’t have the great sanctions that the law has. But the main sanction we do have is in not dealing with these people and isolating them because their behavior is unbearable.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Interview (1995-03-06) by Virginia Shea, “Miss Mannners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Internet Behavior,” Computerworld, Vol. 29, No. 10
(Source)
ARIEL: While you here do snoring lie,
Open-eyed conspiracy
His time doth take.
If of life you keep a care,
Shake off slumber and beware.
Awake, awake!William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Tempest, Act 2, sc. 1, l. 344ff (2.1.344-349) (1611)
(Source)
Warning the sleeping Gonzalo of Antonio and Sebastian's plot to kill Alonso.
Whoever worships, abdicates. Whoever believes at the command of power, tramples his own individuality beneath his feet, and voluntarily robs himself of all that renders man superior to the brute.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1873-12) “Individuality,” Chicago Free Religious Society
(Source)
Full title "Arraignment of the Church and a Plea for Individuality." Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876).
With the election coming on, you are going to be fed a lot of hooey about a lot of things. Naturally both sides are going to put their best side forward.
They are now trying to figure out which side is their best.
Remember, all
Who live on earth are mortal, great and small:
Then take, good sir, your pleasure while you may;
With life so short ’twere wrong to lose a day.[Carpe viam, mihi crede, comes, terrestria quando
mortalis animas vivunt sortita neque ulla est
aut magno aut parvo leti fuga: quo, bone, circa,
dum licet, in rebus jucundis vive beatus;
vive memor quam sis aevi brevis.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 6, “Hoc erat in votis,” l. 93ff (2.6.93-97) (30 BC) [tr. Conington (1874)]
(Source)
The (Epicurean) town mouse encouraging the country mouse to come visit the city.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Our earthelie soule is ruinouse, not possible to flye
From dinte of death, by any meanes, the longeste livde muste dye.
Wherfore good sister, whilste thou maiste, do bayth they selfe in blisse,
Remember aye, how shadowye, and shorte this lyfe time is.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Since all shall die, and when
We go, our Mortal souls resolve to dust,
Live happy whil'st thou may'st, as one that must
Be nothing a while hence.
[tr. R. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]Since all must dye, and must resign their Breath,
Nor great, nor little is secure from Death;
Then spend thy days in Pleasure, Mirth and Sport.
And live like One, that Minds his Life is short.
[tr. Creech (1684)]Since animals but draw their breath,
And have no being after death;
Since nor the little, nor the great,
Can shun the rigour of their fate;
At least be merry while you may,
The life of mice is but a day:
Come then, my friend, to pleasure give
The little life you have to live.
[tr. Francis (1747)]And, since in every creature upon earth
Lurk seeds of dissolution from its birth, --
Since soon or late, however great or small,
Inexorable Death awaits us all, --
Be wise, be happy; revel while you may,
And lengthen by enjoyment life's short day.
[tr. Howes (1845)]Since mortal lives are allotted to all terrestrial animals, nor is there any escape from death, either for the great or the small. Wherefore, my good friend, while it is in your power, live happy in joyous circumstances: live mindful of how brief an existence you are.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]Since creatures earthly all possess by lot but transitory lives, and since and following few lines, there's no escape from death for great or small: -- because of this, I say, dear friend, while you've the chance, live happy in a pleasant state, and well remember how short-lived you are.
[tr. Millington (1870)]Since all that is on earth is mortal, and there is no escape from death for great or small, draw the true conclusion, my dear sir, and live whilst you may in the enjoyment of what is pleasant; live, and remember how short the time is!
[tr. Wickham (1903)]Inasmuch as all creatures that live on earth have mortal souls, and for neither great nor small is there escape from death, therefore, good sir, while you may, live happy amid joys; live mindful ever of how brief your time is!
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]All earthly creatures, after all, have drawn as their lot
A mortal life: there is no escape from death
For large or small. Therefore, while you still can,
Enjoy a happy career, my good man, live well;
Live mindful of how short life really is.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]For nature gives
us earthly creatures mortal souls, and there's no escaping death
for anyone, large or small. That's why I say, old buddy,
live happily while you can with things that you enjoy;
live mindful of the shortness of your time.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]For no one
Lives forever, not on this earth, and everyone
Dies, rich and poor alike. So
Be happy, live well, while you can.
Remember, it’s not for long!
[tr. Raffel (1983)]All earth's creatures
have mortal souls. And there is no way
to flee this destiny, neither for the great
nor for the humble; all the more reason,
my dear fellow, to live happily
so long as you can amidst pleasures,
keeping ever in mind how brief
are your days.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]We're all slated for death,
whether we be grand or ordinary;
thus we should avidly pursue life's joys
the whole of our short course on earth.
[tr. Matthews (2002)]All earthly creatures have been given mortal souls;
large or small they have no means of escaping death.
So my dear chap, while there's still time, enjoy the good things
of life, and never forget your days are numbered.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]Since all terrestrial creatures
Are mortal, and there’s no escape from death for great
Or small, then live happily, good friend, while you may
Surrounded by joyful things: mindful while you live
How brief existence is.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
All historical changes finally boil down to the replacement of one ruling class by another. All talk about democracy, liberty, equality, fraternity, all revolutionary movements, all visions of Utopia, or ‘the classless society’, or ‘the Kingdom of Heaven on earth’, are humbug (not necessarily conscious humbug) covering the ambitions of some new class which is elbowing its way into power.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-05), “Second Thoughts on James Burnham,” Polemic Magazine
(Source)
Summarizing Burnham's view of history as given in The Machiavellians (1942). Orwell does not agree with Burnham's thesis.
Published separately as a pamphlet, James Burnham and the Managerial Revolution (1946).
I would not change the song the flute-girl sings
For all the diadems of weary kings,
His joys the Sultan shares with all the world,
His cares he keeps — a chain of glittering rings.Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات] [tr. Le Gallienne (1897), # 201]
(Source)
Given LeGallienne's paraphrasing, I am unable to align this with an original quatrain or other translations. The only thing close was:I would sell the diadem of the khan, the crown of the king, to purchase the song of the flute girl. Let us sell the turban, yea, and the garment of silk, for a cup of wine; let us sell the chaplet which alone contains a multitude of hypocrisy.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 191]
CLÉANTE: Most men are strangely made; they always stray
Out of the natural and proper way;
Rejecting reason’s bounds as limitations,
They range about amid their aberrations;
Even the noblest things they often mar
By forcing them and pushing them too far.[Les hommes, la plupart, sont étrangement faits;
Dans la juste nature on ne les voit jamais:
La raison a pour eux des bornes trop petites,
En chaque caractère ils passent ses limites;
Et la plus noble chose, ils la gâtent souvent,
Pour la vouloir outrer et pousser trop avant.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 1, sc. 6 (1669) [tr. Frame (1967)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Men, generally are odd Creatures: They never keep up to true Nature. The Bounds of Reason are too narrow for them. In every Character they over-act their Parts, and the noblest Designs very often suffer in their Hands, because they will be running things into Extremes, and always carry things too far.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]Men, for the most part, are strange creatures, and never keep the right mean; reason's boundaries are too narrow for them; in every character they overact their parts; and they often spoil the noblest designs, because they exaggerate, and carry them too far.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]Men are really strange beings; they never keep to simple nature. The bounds of reason seem too narrow for them, and in every character they over-act their parts; they often spoil even the noblest thing by exaggeration.
[tr. Wall (1879)]Men for the most part are strange creatures; they never see nature in its true light; the bounds of reason are too narrow for them. In every character they over-act their parts, and often spoil the noblest things; because they will run into extremes, and push matters too far.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]Men, truly, are strange beings! They are never seen in their proper nature; reason's boundaries are too limited from them; in every character they over-act the part; and they often mar that which is most noble by too much exaggeration and by willful extremes.
[tr. Waller (1903)]Men, for the most part, are strange creatures, truly!
You never find them keep the golden mean;
The limits of good sense, too narrow for them,
Must always be passed by, in each direction;
They often spoil the noblest things, because
They go too far, and push them to extremes.
[tr. Page (1909)]Really, humanity is most peculiar!
Men won't remain in the mean middle way;
The boundaries of reason are too narrow.
They force their character beyond its limits,
And often spoil even most noble aims
By exaggeration, carrying things too far.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]Ah, Brother, man's a strangely fashioned creature
Who seldom is content to follow Nature,
But recklessly pursues his inclination
Beyond the narrow bounds of moderation,
And often, by transgressing Reason's laws,
Perverts a lofty aim or noble cause.
[tr. Wilbur (1963), 1.5]We humans are a curious lot
The fact is, few of us have got
A sense of Nature's golden mean,
We can't keep straight, we have to lean
To one, extreme and dangerous side;
The bounds of reason aren't that wide,
Staying within them is a feat
Beyond our scope -- you seldom meet
A man who'll tread its narrow way
If there's a chance for him to stray.
[tr. Bolt (2002)]What strange creatures men are! They're always off balance; they think being reasonable is too limiting; they spoil what’s best by pushing things too far.
[tr. Steiner (2008), 1.5]The majority of men are strangely made!
[tr. Campbell (2013)]
Luv kan’t liv on buty; it must hav sum hash, or it will fade and di.
[Love can’t live on beauty; it must have some hash, or it will fade and die.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 281 “Variety: Bred and Butter” (1874)
(Source)
He won over the ignorant masses with shows, building projects, largesses, and banquets. His followers he bound to him by rewards, his opponents by an apparent clemency. In short, he succeeded in bringing a free country, partly because of its fear, partly because of its passivity, to an acceptance of servitude.
[Muneribus, monumentis, congiariis, epulis multitudinem imperitam delenierat; suos praemiis, adversarios clementiae specie devinxerat. Quid multa? Attulerat iam liberae civitati partim metu partim patientia consuetudinem serviendi.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 2, ch. 45 / sec. 116 (2.45/2.116) (44-10-24 BC) [tr. Berry (2006)]
(Source)
Talking of Julius Caesar and his ambitions of becoming a king.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:He had conciliated the ignorant multitude with gladiatorial shows, with the erection of public buildings, with largesses, with feasts; he had bound his own followers to him with rewards, his opponents with a show of clemency; he had already rendered slavery familiar to a free state, partly by fear, partly by patience.
[tr. King (1877)]He had conciliated the ignorant multitude by presents, by monuments, by largesses of food, and by banquets; he had bound his own party to him by rewards, his adversaries by the appearances of clemency. Why need I say much on such a subject? He had already brought a free city, partly by fear, partly by patience, into a habit of slavery.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]He had won the affections of the ignorant populace by means of entertainments, banquets, largesses, and other public benefactions, while he had bound his immediate followers to him by his liberality, his opponents by an appearance of clemency. In a word, he had so revolutionised public feeling, that partly from fear, and partly from acquiescence, a state which prided itself upon its freedom had become accustomed to subjection.
[ed. Harbottle (1906)]By shows, buildings, largesses, banquets he had conciliated the ignorant crowd; his own followers he had bound to him by rewards, his adversaries by a show of clemency: in brief, he had already brought to a free community -- partly by fear, partly by endurance -- a habit of servitude.
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]He softened up the ignorant masses with games, buildings, gifts and feasts. He bound his followers to himself with rewards, his opponents with the appearance of clemency. Why go on? He brought to a free state acceptance of slavery, partly through fear, partly through familiarity.
[tr. McElduff (2011)]
Thou hadst better eat salt with the Philosophers of Greece, than sugar with the Courtiers of Italy.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1740 ed.)
(Source)
Once it is realized that business monopoly in America paralyzes the system of free enterprise on which it is grafted, and is as fatal to those who manipulate it as to the people who suffer beneath its impositions, action by the government to eliminate these artificial restraints will be welcomed by industry throughout the nation.
For idle factories and idle workers profit no man.Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Message (1938-04-29) to Congress, On Curbing Monopolies
(Source)
HOLMES: Dear God, what is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Sherlock, 01×01 “A Study in Pink” (2010-07-25)
(Source)
Assist the afflicted with something real, if thou canst: As for Tears they are but Water, what good can they do?
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2023 (1727)
(Source)
Merely to realize the causes of one’s own envious feelings is to take a long step towards curing them. The habit of thinking in terms of comparison is a fatal one.
REASONABLE, adj. Accessible to the infection of our own opinions. Hospitable to persuasion, dissuasion and evasion.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Reasonable,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner.
If you ask your mother whether she knew about Peter Pan when she was a little girl she will say, “Why, of course, I did, child,” and if you ask her whether he rode on a goat in those days she will say, “What a foolish question to ask; certainly he did.” Then if you ask your grandmother whether she knew about Peter Pan when she was a girl, she also says, “Why, of course, I did, child,” but if you ask her whether he rode on a goat in those days, she says she never heard of his having a goat. Perhaps she has forgotten, just as she sometimes forgets your name and calls you Mildred, which is your mother’s name. Still, she could hardly forget such an important thing as the goat. Therefore there was no goat when your grandmother was a little girl. This shows that, in telling the story of Peter Pan, to begin with the goat (as most people do) is as silly as to put on your jacket before your vest.
Of course, it also shows that Peter is ever so old, but he is really always the same age, so that does not matter in the least.J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
The Little White Bird, ch. 14 “Peter Pan,” Scribner’s Magazine, Vol. 32 (1902-10)
(Source)
This book was the first appearance of (a prototype) Peter Pan. This portion of the serial is in ch. 14 of the fully collected novel (1902), and in ch. 2 of the abridged Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906).
CHORUS: Come away, dear ones, come away.
To the camp, to the place of the ships, to the sea,
To the strange new life of slavery,
For all are the slaves of Destiny.[ΧΟΡΟΣ: ἴτε πρὸς λιμένας σκηνάς τε, φίλαι,
τῶν δεσποσύνων πειρασόμεναι
μόχθων: στερρὰ γὰρ ἀνάγκη.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 1293ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Sheppard (1924)]
(Source)
Closing lines, as the Trojan women captives (including Hecuba) are taken back to Greece.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:To the haven go,
And to the tents, my friends, t'endure the toils
Our lords impose: for thus harsh fate enjoins.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Come, my friends, to the harbor, and the tents, to undergo the tasks imposed by our masters. For necessity is relentless.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]To the tents, O friends, to the haven fare;
The yoke of thraldom our necks must bear.
Fate knows not pity, fate will not spare.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Away to the harbour and the tents, my friends, to prove the toils of slavery! for such is fate's relentless hest.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]File to the tents,
file to the harbor.
There we embark
on life as slaves.
Necessity is harsh.
Fate has no reprieve.
[tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]Go to the shoreline and our masters' tents. Find out from them what work we're forced to do. We've got no choice. No choice at all. We're slaves.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]Go, my friends! Go to the ports and to the tents, my friends! Go and taste the hardship of slavery!
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]-- To the harbor now. -- To the tents.
-- It is time to embark. -- It is time to board
our new lives as slaves. -- But the taste
is bitter. -- Necessity is hard.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]
The principal difficulty lies, and the greatest care should be employed in constituting this Representative Assembly. It should be in miniature, an exact portrait of the people at large. It should think, feel, reason, and act like them. That it may be the interest of this Assembly to do strict justice at all times, it should be an equal representation, or in other words equal interest among the people should have equal interest in it. Great care should be taken to effect this, and to prevent unfair, partial, and corrupt elections.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter (1776-04) to George Wythe, “Thoughts on Government”
(Source)
This is taken from the printed edition of the influential essay, believed to be from the version Adams sent to George Wythe of Virginia.
The worst thing about sex is that we use it to hurt each other. It ought never to hurt; it should bring happiness, or at least, pleasure.
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
Stranger in a Strange Land, ch. 33 [Jubal] (1961; 1991 ed.)
(Source)
The text is the same in both the originally published and uncut versions.
There are a handful of people whom money won’t spoil, and we all count ourselves among them.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 9 (1966)
(Source)
A measure of day-dreaming is a good thing, like a drug prudently used; it allays the sometimes virulent fever of the over-active mind, like a cool wind blowing through the brain to smooth the harshness of untrammelled thought; it bridges here and there the gaps, brings things into proportion and blunts the sharper angles. But too much submerges and drowns.
[Une certaine quantité de rêverie est bonne, comme un narcotique à dose discrète. Cela endort les fièvres, quelquefois dures, de l’intelligence en travail, et fait naître dans l’esprit une vapeur molle et fraîche qui corrige les contours trop âpres de la pensée pure, comble çà et là des lacunes et des intervalles, lie les ensembles et estompe les angles des idées. Mais trop de rêverie submerge et noie.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “Saint Denis,” Book 2 “Eponine,” ch. 1 (4.2.1) (1862) [tr. Denny (1976)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:A certain amount of reverie is good, like a narcotic in discreet doses. It soothes the fever, sometimes high, of the brain at work, and produces in the mind a soft and fresh vapour which corrects the too angular contours of pure thought, fills up the gaps and intervals here and there, binds them together, and blunts the sharp corners of ideas. But too much reverie submerges and drowns.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]A certain amount of reverie is good, like a narcotic taken in discreet doses. It lulls to sleep the at times harsh fevers of the working brain, and produces in the mind a soft and fresh vapor which corrects the too sharp outlines of pure thought, fills up gaps and spaces here and there, and rounds the angles of ideas. But excess of reverie submerges and drowns.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]A certain amount of dreaming is good, like a narcotic in discreet doses. It lulls to sleep the fevers of the mind at labor, which are sometimes severe, and produces in the spirit a soft and fresh vapor which corrects the over-harsh contours of pure thought, fills in gaps here and there, binds together and rounds off the angles of the ideas. But too much dreaming sinks and drowns.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]A certain amount of reverie is good, like a narcotic in discreet doses. It soothes the fever, occasionally high, of the brain at work, and produces in the mind a soft, fresh vapor that corrects the all too angular contours of pure thought, fills up the gaps and intervals here and there, binds them together, and dulls the sharp corners of ideas. But too much reverie submerges and drowns.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]A certain amount of daydreaming does you good, like a narcotic in small doses. It sedates the sometimes severe fevers of the toiling intellect and produces in the mind a cool and gentle mist that softens the over-harsh contours of pure thought, fills in the gaps and intervals here and there, creates cohesion and smooths the sharp edges of ideas. But too much daydreaming drags you down and overwhelms you.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
Every one that has been long dead has a due proportion of praise allotted him, in which, whilst he lived, his friends were too profuse, and his enemies too sparing.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101
(Source)
I once inhaled a pretty full dose of ether, with the determination to put on record, at the earliest moment of regaining consciousness, the thought I should find uppermost in my mind. The mighty music of the triumphal march into nothingness reverberated through my brain, and filled me with a sense of infinite possibilities, which made me an archangel for the moment. The veil of eternity was lifted. The one great truth which underlies all human experience, and is the key to all the mysteries that philosophy has sought in vain to solve, flashed upon me in a sudden revelation. Henceforth all was clear: a few words had lifted my intelligence to the level of the knowledge of the cherubim. As my natural condition returned, I remembered my resolution; and, staggering to my desk, I wrote, in ill-shaped straggling letters, the all-embracing truth still glimmering in my consciousness. The words were these (children may smile; the wise will ponder): “A strong smell of turpentine prevails throughout.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Speech (1870-06-29), “Mechanism in Thought and Morals,” Phi Beta Kappa Society, Harvard University
(Source)
You can deny all you want that there is etiquette, and a lot of people do in everyday life. But if you behave in a way that offends the people you’re trying to deal with, they will stop dealing with you.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Interview (1995-03-06) by Virginia Shea, “Miss Mannners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Internet Behavior,” Computerworld, Vol. 29, No. 10
(Source)
But there is another form that life can take. We can learn about it from exceptional people of our own culture, and from other cultures less destructive than ours. I am speaking of the life of a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children; who has undertaken to cherish it and do it no damage, not because he is duty-bound, but because he loves the world and loves his children; whose work serves the earth he lives on and from and with, and is therefore pleasurable and meaningful and unending; whose rewards are not deferred until “retirement,” but arrive daily and seasonally out of the details of the life of his place; whose goal is the continuance of the life of the world, which for a while animates and contains him, and which he knows he can never encompass with his understanding or desire.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
The Unforeseen Wilderness: An Essay on Kentucky’s Red River Gorge, ch. 2 “The One-Inch Journey” (1971)
(Source)
In the quotation above is embedded "the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children," which appears to be the modern origin of a wide array of quotations to that effect.
The chapter was reprinted as "The One-Inch Journey" in Audubon magazine (1971-05).
The basic phrase and variants first achieved popularity in the early 1970s, showing up in a variety of forms (and often attributed to J. J. Audubon himself). Among those variants:Those variants, and more discussion about the origins of this quotation, can be found at: Quote Origin: We Do Not Inherit the Earth from Our Ancestors; We Borrow It from Our Children – Quote Investigator®.
- We have not inherited the land from our fathers, we have borrowed it from our children.
- We have not inherited the earth from our fathers and are hence entitled to use it according to our wishes. We have rather borrowed it from our children ...
- The world is not given by his fathers but borrowed from his children.
- We don’t inherit the earth from our fathers, we borrow it from our children.
- We have not inherited the earth from our fathers, we are borrowing it from our children.
- We have not inherited the earth from our parents, we have borrowed it from our children.
- We have not inherited the land from our parents, we are borrowing it from our children.
- We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
- We did not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrowed it from our descendants.
- We did not inherit our future from our ancestors, we have borrowed it from our children..
Note that in the 1991 edition, the passage in question is omitted in the re-edit:But there is another form that life can take. We can learn about it from exceptional people of our own culture, and from other cultures less destructive than ours. I am speaking of the lives of people who have undertaken to cherish the world and do it no damage, not because they are duty-bound, but because they love the world and love their children; whose work serves the earth they live on and from and with, and is therefore pleasurable and meaningful and unending; whose rewards are not deferred until “retirement,” but arrive daily and seasonally out of the details of the life of their place; whose goal is the continuance of the life of the world, which for a while animates and contains them, and which they know they can never encompass with their understanding or desire.
No one dies but some one is glad of it.
Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802-1838) English poet and novelist [a/k/a L.E.L.]
Lady Anne Granard, ch. 1 (1842)
(Source)
Opening words.
“This is most uncalled-for. Couldn’t you have arranged a less awkward time?”
Only by consultation with your murderer.
“It all seems very badly organized. I wish to make a complaint. I pay my taxes, after all.
I am Death, not Taxes. I turn up only once.
I know some politicians who tell us that we don’t need allies. Life would certainly be much simpler if that were so, for our friends can be highly irritating. But it is not so.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1955-04-11), “New China Policy” (radio address)
(Source)
If one could recover the uncompromising spirit of one’s youth, one’s greatest indignation would be for what one has become.
[Si l’on pouvait recouvrer l’intransigeance de la jeunesse, ce dont on s’indignerait le plus, c’est de ce qu’on est devenu.]
André Gide (1869-1951) French author, Nobel laureate
The Counterfeiters [Les Faux-monnayeurs], ch. 18 [La Pérouse] (1925) [tr. Bussy (1927)]
(Source)
The Church hates a thinker precisely for the same reason a robber dislikes a sheriff, or a thief despises the prosecuting witness. Tyranny likes courtiers, flatterers, followers, fawners, and superstition wants believers, disciples, zealots, hypocrites, and subscribers.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1873-12) “Individuality,” Chicago Free Religious Society
(Source)
Full title "Arraignment of the Church and a Plea for Individuality." Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876).
Personally I think the Camera has done more harm for Politics than any other one faction. Everybody would rather get their picture than their ideas in the paper. What does the platform of a Political party amount to compared to the photography?
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1928-07-08), “Weekly Article: Where Are the Eyes of the World Now?” [No. 289]
(Source)
In civilised life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper (the words are not offensive) but in such a voice, or at such a moment, that they are not far short of a blow in the face.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
The Screwtape Letters, Letter 3 (1942)
(Source)
CLÉANTE: These are the arguments of all your kind:
Since they can’t see, they think that no one ought;
Whoever does, is tainted with free thought;
Whoever balks at pious affectation
Fails to hold piety in veneration.
Come now, for all your talk, I’m not afraid;
Heaven sees my heart, and I know what I’ve said.[Voilà de vos pareils le discours ordinaire:
Ils veulent que chacun soit aveugle comme eux;
C’est être libertin que d’avoir de bons yeux;
Et qui n’adore pas de vaines simagrées
N’a ni respect ni foi pour les choses sacrées.
Allez, tous vos discours ne me font point de peur;
Je sais comme je parle, et le ciel voit mon cœur.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 1, sc. 6 (1669) [tr. Frame (1967), 1.5]
(Source)
On being warned by Orgon that his impiety and free-thinking will get him in trouble some day.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:This is the usual Strain of such as you. They would have every body as blind as themselves: To be clear-sighted is Libertinism, and such as don't dote on empty Grimaces, have neither Faith nor Respect to sacred things. Come, come, all this Discourse of yours frights not me; I know what I say, and Heaven sees my Heart.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]The usual clap-trap of your set; they wish everyone to be blind like themselves. To keep one's eyes open is to be a free-thinker; and whosoever does not worship pretentious affection has neither respect for, nor faith in holy things. Go along; all your speeches do not frighten me; I know what I am saying, and Heaven sees my heart.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]Tut! This is the usual way of talking with such as you. They want everybody to be as blind as they are: to see clearly is to be a freethinking; and not to worship empty show is to act from a want of faith and of respect for holy things. Believe me, all your denunciations do not frighten me: I know what I say, and God sees my heart.
[tr. Wall (1879)]This is the usual style of such as you. They would have every one as blind as themselves; to be clear-sighted is libertinism, and those who do not like foolish grimaces, have neither faith nor respect for holy things. All your talk does not frighten me, I know how I speak, and heaven sees my heart.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]That is the usual style of talking among your set; they want everyone to be as blind as themselves. To be clear-sighted is to be a free-thinker, and he who does not bow down to idle affectations has neither respect for nor faith in sacred things. I tell you none of your sermons frighten me: I know what I say, and Heaven sees my heart.
[tr. Waller (1903)]That is the usual strain of all your kind;
They must have every one as blind as they.
They call you atheist if you have good eyes;
And if you don't adore their vain grimaces,
You've neither faith nor care for sacred things.
No, no; such talk can't frighten me; I know
What I am saying; heaven sees my heart.
[tr. Page (1909)]I've heard that kind of talk from others like you.
They want to make the whole world blind like them.
It's irreligion just to have open eyes!
If you're not taken in by mummery,
They say you've no respect for sacred things.
You cannot scare me with that sort of language.
I know what I say, and heaven can see my heart.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]So I've been told before by dupes like you:
Being blind, you'd have all others blind as well;
The clear-eyed man you call an infidel,
And he who sees through humbug and pretense
Is charged, by you, with want of reverence.
Spare me your warnings, Brother; I have no fear
Of speaking out, for you and Heaven to hear.
[tr. Wilbur (1963), 1.5]Your kind
All talk like that -- because you're blind
You'd rather others didn't see,
You deem perceptiveness to be
A kind of sin! Let us adore
The idols that you kneel before
Or else be damned! Well listen here;
Your sermons don't fill me with fear:
I know my subject, for a start
And Heaven sees into my heart.
[tr. Bolt (2002)]People like you always say things like that. They want everyone to be as blind as they are. They think that seeing clearly is impiety, that those who refuse to worship false idols have no respect for true faith and true religion. Such talk doesn’t frighten me; I know what I’m saying, and Heaven itself knows what I think.
[tr. Steiner (2008), 1.5]That's how people like you always talk:
You want everyone else to be as blind as you are.
It's disrespectful to have a pair of functioning eyes, is it?
And anyone who doesn't love empty pretence and show and mindless drivel
Has no respect for faith or sacred things.
Come on, all your nonsense doesn't scare me at all:
Heaven sees my heart.
[tr. Campbell (2013)]
But thou who settest in the way a snare,
With threats of hell for all who stumble there,
Almighty Spirit, whom the spheres obey,
Is mine the sin, or Thine the greater share?
Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 148 [tr. Roe (1906), # 73]
(Source)
(Source (Persian)). Alternate translations:Oh Thou who didst with Pitfall and with Gin
Beset the Road I was to wander in,
Thou wilt not with Predestination round
Enmesh me, and impute my Fall to Sin?
[tr. FitzGerald, 1st ed. (1859), # 57]Oh Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin
Beset the Road I was to wander in,
Thou wilt not with Predestin'd Evil round
Enmesh, and then impute my Fall to Sin?
[tr. FitzGerald, 2nd ed. (1868), # 87]Oh Thou, who didst with pitfall and with gin
Beset the Road I was to wander in,
Thou wilt not with Predestin'd Evil round
Enmesh, and then impute my Fall to Sin!
[tr. FitzGerald, 3rd ed. (1872), # 80; 4th ed. (1879); 5th ed. (1889)]Thou settest snares around us manifold, and sayest, "Death to ye, if ye enter therein." Thou layest the lures Thyself, and then givest over Thy victim to doom.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 296]Thou dost with frequent snare beset the way
The pilgrim's wandering footsteps to betray,
And all poor wretches tangled in thy snares
Dost seize as prisoners and as rebels slay.
[tr. Winfield (1882), # 224]With many a snare Thou dost beset my way,
And threatenest, if I fall therein, to slay;
Thy rule resistless sways the world, yet Thou
Imputest sin, when I do but obey!
[tr. Whinfield (1883), # 243 or 432]Thou hast prepared a Way with many a Snare,
And set with many a Prize to lure us there,
And still, Oh God, 'tis said, Thou wilt not spare,
The Man whose Foot-steps stumble unaware.
[tr. Garner (1887), 2.3]Thou hast prepared a way with many a snare
And decked with many a prize to lure us there.
And yet. Oh, God, 'tis said Thou wilt not spare
The man whose footsteps stumble unaware.
[tr. Garner (1898), # 87]An hundred thousand snares my path within Thou settest
And "Thee," quoth Thou, "I'll slay, if foot therein thou settest."
'Tis Thou that sett'st the snares; and whoso in them falleth
Thou slay'st and on his name the brand of sin Thou settest!
[tr. Payne (1898), # 822]In a thousand places on the road I walk, Thou placest snares,
Thou sayest, "I will catch thee if thou placest step in them";
in no smallest thing is the world independent of Thee,
Thou orderest all things, and callest me rebellious.
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 148]A thousand snares Thou settest in my way,
And threatenest if I step therein to slay;
Thou mak'st Thy law and me dost rebel call,
Though nowise is the world free from Thy sway!
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 539]In every step I take Thou sett'st a snare,
Saying, "Thus will I entrap thee, so beware!"
And, while all things are under Thy command,
That I a rebel am Thou dost declare.
[tr. Talbot (1908), # 148]You lay your snares around our ear and eye,
And warn us not to step in, lest we die;
Thus snares you lay, if therein one but strays,
You catch and kill him saying "Sinner fie!"
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 11.9]On every path I take, Your snares are spread
To entrap me, should I walk without due care.
Utter extremes acknowledge Your vast sway.
You order all things -- yet You call me rebel?
[tr. Graves & Ali-Shah (1967), # 85]O Life, you put many traps in my way
Dare to try, is what you clearly say
All that is, thy command must obey
You lead me away and call me astray.
[tr. Shahriari (1998)]
To rabbits, everything unknown is dangerous.
He who don’t luv himself vents hiz spleen bi hating everyboddy else.
[He who doesn’t love himself vents his spleen by hating everybody else.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 281 “Variety: Bred and Butter” (1874)
(Source)
Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American writer, lecturer
(Attributed)
Widely attributed to Carnegie. The only place I can find this phrase actually used by him "officially" is in Dale Carnegie's Scrapbook (1959) [ed. Dorothy Carnegie], where (four years after his death) the quote is described as "from the writings of Dale Carnegie" but with no further citation.
I was unable to find it online in any books by him. I did find a variant in an essay (1938-09-12) published in newspapers, regarding Alexander de Seversky (possibly one of Carnegie's "5-Minute Biographies" columns):What are the qualities that make for success? Superior knowledge? Yes, sometimes; but more frequently it is flaming enthusiasm backed up by horse-sense and persistence.
The article also ran in papers on 1946-07-29.
In the 1946 (Vol. 68-70) archive of the Fireman's Fund Record, I did find text reading "... they have flaming enthusiasm backed by horse sense and dauntless courage," but could not confirm the context or whether it was attributed to Carnegie.
The world as it stands is no illusion, no phantasm, no evil dream of a night; we wake up to it again for ever and ever; we can neither forget it nor deny it nor dispense with it.
Henry James (1843-1916) American writer
Essay (1874-04), “Iwan Turgéniew,” sec. 3, North American Review, Vol. 98, Art. 4
(Source)
Reviewing Ivan Turgenev's Frühlingsfluthen and Ein König Lear des Dorfes (1873). Collected in French Poets and Novelists, "Ivan Turgénieff," sec. 3 (1878)
FEAR is the foundation of most governments; but is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men, in whose breasts it predominates, so stupid, and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter (1776-04) to George Wythe, “Thoughts on Government”
(Source)
This is taken from the printed edition of the influential essay, believed to be from the version Adams sent to George Wythe of Virginia.
Such do not know that like the seed is the fruit, and that, in the moral world, when good seed is planted, good fruit is inevitable, and does not depend on our watering and cultivating; that when you plant, or bury, a hero in his field, a crop of heroes is sure to spring up. This is a seed of such force and vitality, that it does not ask our leave to germinate.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1859-10-30), “A Plea for Captain John Brown,” Concord, Massachusetts
(Source)
Collected in A Yankee in Canada (1866).
No people, least of all a democratic people, will be content to go without work or to accept some standard of living which obviously and woefully falls short of their capacity to produce. No people, least of all a people with our traditions of personal liberty, will endure the slow erosion of opportunity for the common man, the oppressive sense of helplessness under the domination of a few, which are overshadowing our whole economic life.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Message (1938-04-29) to Congress, On Curbing Monopolies
(Source)
The wise man thinks about his troubles only when there is some purpose in doing so; at other times he thinks about other things, or, if it is night, about nothing at all.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 5 “Fatigue” (1930)
(Source)
Thou art not bound to believe any one positively against thy Reason, which God hath given thee to be thy Guide.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2019 (1727)
(Source)
Whatever you think you have to do is simply what you want to do.
[Was Du zu müssen glaubst, ist das, was Du willst.]
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) Austrian writer
Aphorisms [Aphorismen], No. 60 (1880) [tr. Scrase/Mieder (1994)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translation:What you wish to do you are apt to think you ought to do.
[tr. Wister (1883)]
YEVGRAF: I told myself it was beneath my dignity to arrest a man for pilfering firewood. But nothing ordered by the Party is beneath the dignity of any man. And the Party was right: one man desperate for a bit of fuel is pathetic; five million people desperate for fuel will destroy a city.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Doctor Zhivago, film (1965)
(Source)
Watching Yuri scavenging wood from a fence.
This line is not in the 1957 Boris Pasternak novel.
REASON, v.i. To weight probabilities in the scales of desire.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Reason,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner.
AGAMEMNON: Perhaps, for you, barbarians, it is easy to kill your guests but for us, Greeks, this is a thing of shame. How, then can I escape blame if I do not judge you guilty? I can’t do it. Since you could endure performing such a dishonourable deed, then you must also endure its awful consequences.
[ἈΓΑΜΈΜΝΩΝ: τάχ᾽ οὖν παρ᾽ ὑμῖν ῥᾴδιον ξενοκτονεῖν:
ἡμῖν δέ γ᾽ αἰσχρὸν τοῖσιν Ἕλλησιν τόδε.
πῶς οὖν σε κρίνας μὴ ἀδικεῖν φύγω ψόγον;
οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην. ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεὶ τὰ μὴ καλὰ
πράσσειν ἐτόλμας, τλῆθι καὶ τὰ μὴ φίλα.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 1247ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Theodoridis (2007)]
(Source)
Passing judgment on Polymestor for the death of Hecuba's son and theft of the Trojan treasure entrusted to him.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Perhaps the murder of your guests seems light,
We Greeks esteem it base. If I acquit thee
How shall I scape reproach? Indeed, I cannot:
since thou hast dar'd to perpetrate the crime,
Endure the consequences.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Perhaps with you it is a slight thing to kill your guests; but with us Grecians this thing is abhorred. How then, in giving my decision that thou hast not injured, can I escape blame? I can not; but as thou hast dared to do things dishonorable, endure now things unpleasant.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]Haply with you guest-murder is as nought,
But to us which be Greeks foul shame is this.
How can I uncondemned adjudge thee guiltless?
I cannot. Forasmuch as thou hast dared
To do foul deeds, even drain thy bitter cup.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Perhaps among you it is a light thing to murder guests, but with us in Hellas it is a disgrace. How can I escape reproach if I judge you not guilty? I could not. No, since you endured your horrid crime, endure as well its painful consequence.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]Perhaps you think it is a trifling matter
to kill a guest.
We Greeks call it murder.
How, therefore, could I acquit you now
without losing face among men?
I could not do it.
You committed a brutal crime; therefore accept
the consequences of your act.
[tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]Perhaps for lesser breeds it's no great thing to kill a guest, but to us Greeks it is. If I say you did no wrong I can't escape the censure and the blame that I'll incur. Since you were tough enough to do such deeds be tough enough to suffer the results.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]Maybe you think
killing a guest -- in this case a child who’d been
put in your care -- is a small matter in the larger
scheme of things. But we Greeks think of it
as heinous murder. How could I rule you innocent
and maintain a shred of credibility? I can’t.
You committed a brutal crime; be prepared,
therefore, for a justly brutal punishment.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]
Our world is not divided by race, color, gender, or religion. Our world is divided into wise people and fools. And fools divide themselves by race, color, gender, or religion.
Mohamad Safa (b. 1991) Lebanese diplomat, politician
Facebook (2020-08-06)
(Source)
Frequently misattributed to Nelson Mandela.
Safa also posted it on Twitter the same day, and, as it went viral (and began being misattributed), reiterated his authorship on Facebook (2020-09-06).
More discussion:
Our world is not divided by race, color, gender, or religion. Our world is divided into wise people and fools. And fools divide themselves by race, color, gender, or religion.
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) South African revolutionary, politician, statesman
(Misattributed)
Widely attributed to Mandela, but not found in his works or news record. It appears to actually have been said by Lebanese diplomat Mohamad Safa.
That said, the sentiment and language aligns with other statements by Mandala, such as in a speech (1999-04-16) in Durban, South Africa:But let us re-affirm this one thing here today; it is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.
Or a speech (1994-10-03) before the United Nations General Assembly:We must ensure that color, race and gender become only a God-given gift to each one of us and not an indelible mark or attribute that accords a special status to any.
More discussion about this quotation:
Often the secret vice that concerns you most is of no interest whatsoever to anyone whose opinion you dread.
He had stopped working, and nothing is more dangerous than to stop working. It is a habit you lose. A habit easy to give up and difficult to resume.
[Il avait discontinué son travail, et rien n’est plus dangereux que le travail discontinué ; c’est une habitude qui s’en va. Habitude facile à quitter, difficile à reprendre.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “Saint Denis,” Book 2 “Eponine,” ch. 1 (4.2.1) (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Nothing is more dangerous than discontinued labour; it is habit lost. A habit easy to abandon, difficult to resume.
[tr. Wilbour (1862); [Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]Nothing is more dangerous than discontinued work, for it is a habit which a man loses -- a habit easy to give up, but difficult to re-acquire.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]Nothing is more dangerous than discontinued work; it is a habit which vanishes. A habit which is easy to get rid of, and difficult to take up again.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]Nothing is more dangerous than to stop working. It is a habit that can soon be lost, one that is easily neglected and hard to resume.
[tr. Denny (1976)]
No matter how brilliantly an idea is stated, we will not really be moved unless we have half-thought of it ourselves.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)
(Source)
Persons in great stations have seldom their true characters drawn till several years after their deaths. Their personal friendships and enmities must cease, and the parties they were engaged in be at an end, before their faults or their virtues can have justice done to them.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101
(Source)
I would never use a long word, even, where a short one would answer the purpose. I know there are professors in this country who ‘ligate’ arteries. Other surgeons only tie them, and it stops the bleeding just as well.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Lecture (1867-11-06), “Scholastic and Bedside Training,” Introductory Lecture, Harvard University School of Medicine
(Source)
Collected in his Medical Essays 1842-1882 (1891).
If you see fraud and do not say fraud, you are a fraud.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, Prologue (2012)
(Source)
What we have come to, through a combination of popular psychology and expanding technology, is a presumption that all our thoughts and feelings are worth uttering.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (2009-11-19)
(Source)
ARIEL: Full fathom five thy father lies.
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes.
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell.
Ding dong.
Hark, now I hear them — ding dong, bell.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Tempest, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 474ff (1.2.474-482) (1611)
(Source)
Mysterious song from the invisible sprite to Ferdinand.
When I have folded up this tent
And laid the soiled thing by,
I shall go forth ‘neath different stars,
Under an unknown sky.Frederic Lawrence Knowles (1869-1905) American poet
“The Last Word,” st. 1, Love Triumphant (1904)
(Source)
There are some truths, the force and validity of which we readily admit, in all cases except our own; and there are other truths so self-evident that we dare not deny them, but so dreadful, that we dare not believe them.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 370 (1820)
(Source)
It has been observed, that they who most loudly clamour for liberty do not most liberally grant it. What we know of Milton’s character, in domestic relations, is, that he was severe and arbitrary. His family consisted of women; and there appears in his books something like a Turkish contempt of females, as subordinate and inferior beings. That his own daughters might not break the ranks, he suffered them to be depressed by a mean and penurious education. He thought woman made only for obedience, and man only for rebellion.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Milton” (1781)
(Source)
Also known as Lives of English Poets and Lives of the Poets.
California is happy today. It’s raining! It’s raining!
That might mean just another mud hole to some places, but brother, when you haven’t seen a drop of water that hasn’t come through a faucet in ten months, why rain looks like a miracle from the government. Give California two months of rain in the year, and nothing can stop us but a lack of adjectives.Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1933-01-16), “Daily Telegram: Mr. Rogers, Singing in the Rain, Sounds a Warning to Florida” [No. 2013]
(Source)
You need repent none of your youthful vagaries. They may have been over the score on one side, just as those of age are probably over the score on the other. But they had a point; they not only befitted your age and expressed its attitude and passions, but they had a relation to what was outside of you, and implied criticisms on the existing state of things, which you need not allow to have been undeserved, because you now see that they were partial.
Now give attention and your gowns refold,
Who thirst for fame, grow yellow after gold,
Victims to luxury, superstition blind,
Or other ailment natural to the mind:
Come close to me and listen, while I teach
That you’re a pack of madmen, all and each.[Audire atque togam iubeo conponere, quisquis
Ambitione mala aut argenti pallet amore,
Quisquis luxuria tristive superstitione
Aut alio mentis morbo calet ; hue propius me,
Dum doceo insanire omnes, vos ordine adite.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 3, “Si raro scribes,” l. 77ff (2.3.77-81) (30 BC) [tr. Conington (1874)]
(Source)
Damasippus quoting to Horace the words of Stertinius, the Stoic, whose lecture is the remainder of the Satire.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Ye lecherouse, luxuriouse, ye supersticiouse:
Ye shottishe, dotishe, doultish dawes, that nothing can discusse,
Draw on my Clyents one by one, be not agreist ne sad,
Stand stil in stound, kepe whishte (I say) whilst I do prove you mad.
I charge you, you Ambitious, and you that mucker good,
To gerde your gownes, to sit and harcke whilst I do prove you wood.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Come, sayes Stertinius, hearken; nay, come near,
And mind what I shall tell you, whosoe're
Is by a vain and lewd ambition swai'd,
And he whom sordid avarice has made
Look like a Skeleton, all those that be
Given up to a destructive luxury,
To doating superstition are inclin'd,
Or any such distemper of the mind.
Are all stark mad.
[tr. "A. B."; ed. Brome (1666)]Sit still and hear, those whom proud thoughts do swell,
Those that look pale by loving Coin too well;
Whom Luxury Corrupts, or fancy'd fears
Oppress, and empty superstitious Cares;
Or any other Vice disturbs, draw near,
I'le prove that all are mad, sit still, and hear.
[tr. Creech (1684)]Come all, whose breasts with bad ambition rise,
Or the pale passion, that for money dies,
With luxury, or superstition's gloom,
Whate'er disease your health of mine consume,
Compose your robes; in decent ranks draw near,
And, that ye all are mad, with reverence hear.
[tr. Francis (1747)]Haste and adjust the mantle's decent fold,
All ye that madden with the thirst of gold, --
Whose bosoms kindle with ambition's fires, --
Whose blood ferments with lechery's wild desires, --
Who superstition's slavish fear molests, --
In short, whatever frensy rack your breasts,
Approach in ranks, be patient if you can,
And hear me prove you maniacs to a man!
[tr. Howes (1845)]Whoever grows pale with evil ambition, or the love of money: whoever is heated with luxury, or gloomy superstition, or any other disease of the mind, I command him to adjust his garment and attend: hither, all of ye, come near me in order, while I convince you that you are mad.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]I bid you list to me, and now prepare to carefully attend, all you whose cheeks are pale through that pernicious quest of rank or greed of gain; all you whose passions are inflamed by luxury, or hearts distressed by gloomy superstition, or by any possible disease of mind; approach in order nearer me, while I explain that all are mad.
[tr. Millington (1870)]Now I bid my class arrange their gowns neatly and listen. Every one of you who is pale from a bad attack of ambition, or avarice, or in a fever with extravagance or gloomy superstition, or some other mental malady, come nearer to me and hear the oracle each in his turn, as I explain to you that all are mad.
[tr. Wickham (1903)]Now give heed, I bid you, arrange your robes, and whoever of you is pale with sordid ambition or avarice, whoever is feverish with extravagance or gloomy superstition, or some other mental disorder. Hither, come nearer to me, while I prove that you are mad, all of you from first to last.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]Now I bid you arrange your togas and listen to me,
(1) Whoever is pale with passionate love for money,
(2) Whoever is chill int he gruesome grip of ambition,
(3) Whoever is running a fever for luxury living,
(4) Whoever is all inflamed with religious fears
Or some other mental disease. Draw near to me,
And I'll prove that you all are mad, from the first to the last.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]"Settle yourself and listen well." So I order everyone
turned sickly pale by a warped ambition or by lust for cash,
all who run a fever from high living, or superstition,
or any other illness that may affect the mind. Come closer,
and I'll explain why you;re all mad. Come on, get in line.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]“Ahem: students: arrange your robes, open your ears:
Anyone whom ambition turns pale, anyone enamored of money,
Anyone feverish for luxuries, sad with superstition, or suffering
From any disease of the mind: come closer, pay attention, I’ll prove
You mad, each and every one of you: come closer!"
[tr. Raffel (1983)]"Now, listen
quietly to me, smooth out the folds
of your toga.
"Whoever grows unhappy
over sordid ambitions, or
out of greed for money; whoever
burns with the fever for luxury,
or miserable superstitions
or other mental ailments,
come here: draw closer to me,
in file, all in a row; and
I will demonstrate to you that
you're all mad: every single one of you.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]Settle down then please and pay attention, I'm talking to all
who are plagued by the curse of ambition or a morbid craving for money,
all who are obsessed with self-indulgence or gloomy superstition,
or any other fever of the soul; come here to me
and I'll convince you, one by one, that you're all mad.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]Settle down then, please, and pay attention, all you
Who are pale with fierce ambition or love of gold,
Fevered by excess, sad superstition, or another
Disorder of mind: sit nearer to me while I show
That every one of you from first to last is mad.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope that the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny that he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned.
Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929-33)
Memoirs: Years of Adventure, 1874–1920, ch. 11 “The Profession of Engineering” (1952)
(Source)
While treating this as the definitive version of this litany, a number of variations can be found in Hoover's writing and speaking prior to this. The earliest is same text is found in his essay (1916), "Engineering as a Profession" (reprinted as a 1954 article in Engineer's Week). Some of the other variants follow.
Speech (1950-02-09), "Engineering Society of the Moles," New York City:The engineer has certain disadvantages compared to the other professions. His works are out in the open where all men can see them. He cannot deny he did it. The doctors’ mistakes are buried in the grave. The voters forget when the politician changes the alphabetical names of his failing projects. The trees and ivy may cover the architects’ failures. The lawyers can blame the Judge or the Jury. Unlike the clergyman, the engineer cannot blame his failures on the devil.
Moreover, if his works do not work, he is damned.
Speech (1951-11-07), "Engineers," Columbia University Engineering Campaign Center, New York City:The engineer’s work is out in the open where all men can see it. If he makes a mistake, he cannot, like the doctor, bury it in a grave. He cannot, like the architect, obscure it by trees and ivy. He cannot, like the lawyer, blame it on the judge or jury. He cannot, like the politician, claim his constituents demanded it. Nor can he, like the public official, change the name of it and hope the voters will forget. Unlike the clergyman, he cannot blame it on the devil. Worse still, if his works do not work, he is damned.
For more discussion of possible precursors of this quotation, see: Quote Origin: The Architect Can Only Advise His Client to Plant Vines – Quote Investigator®. (To which end, see also Frank Lloyd Wright (1930).)
We dabble in the Qur’án now and then,
Read, and repent, yet fall from Grace again;
But in the goblet is engraved a text
That greets eternally the eyes of men.قرآن که بهین کلام خوانند اورا
گه گاه نه بر دوام خوانند اورا
در خطِ پیاله آیتی روشن هست
کاندر همه جا مدام خوانند اوراOmar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 6 [tr. Talbot (1908)]
(Source)
(Source (Persian)). Alternate translations:The Koran, which men call the Holy Word, is none the less read only from time to time, and not with steadfast study, while on the lip of the cup there runs a luminous verse which we love to read always and ever.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 24]Men say the Koran holds all heavenly lore,
But on its pages seldom care to pore;
The lucid lines engraven on the bowl, --
That is the text they dwell on evermore.
[tr. Whinfield (1883), # 7; elsewhere # 10]The Koran's word, oft called "the word sublime,"
Is seldom read, and not in every clime;
But on the goblet's rim there is a verse
Men read in every place and through all time.
[tr. Garner (1898), # 23]The Koran, though The Word Sublime folk style it.
But here and there they read and once-a-while it:
Upon the cup-marge there's a bright verse written,
All-where-and-when folk read, though some revile it.
[tr. Payne (1898), # 20]The Qurán which men call the best word
They read at intervals but not continually
On the lines upon the goblet there is a luminous text
Which they read at all times and in all places.
[tr. Heron-Allen (1897), Calcutta #6]The Qur'an, which men call the Supreme Word,
they read at intervals but not continually,
but on the lines upon the goblet a text is engraved
which they read at all times and in all places.
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 6]Men call the Koran, God's Almighty word,
Yet read it rarely, or forget it quite;
Yet doth a graven verse the cup engird
That all men con, and all their tongues recite.
[tr. Cadell (1899), # 3]Men call the Koran "Fount of Sacred Lore,"
"The Word Supreme," and, hasty, glance it o'er;
But on the goblet's rim a text is writ
That all shall read and ponder evermore.
[tr. Roe (1906), # 47]The Koran though as "Word sublime" read o'er.
Men sometimes on its page, but not long, pore;
There is a bright verse in the cup's lines, for
Within men everywhere read, evermore.
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 6]The Qur'án, which people call the Best Word, they
read it from time to time, not constantly
On the lines of the cup a sacred verse is engraved
which they read everywhere and always.
[tr. Christensen (1927), # 41]The Koran they call the best of texts,
Yet oft-times they do not read it with application.
Around the goblet is engraved a verse
Which everywhere is read incessantly.
[tr. Rosen (1928), # 4]"The scriptures are divine" thus we declare,
We read them seldom, kiss them oft and swear;
But in this cup of life, lo! shines the Word! --
The Truth unchained by bounds of when and where.
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 9.12]They call the Koran the Ultimate Word,
They read it occasionally but not all the time;
A text stands round the inside of the cup,
This they con at all times and in all places.
[tr. Avery/Heath-Stubbs (1979), # 145]
The truth unquestionably is, that the only path to a subversion of the republican system of the Country is, by flattering the prejudices of the people, and exciting their jealousies and apprehensions, to throw affairs into confusion, and bring on civil commotion. Tired at length of anarchy, or want of government, they may take shelter in the arms of monarchy for repose and security.
Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) American statesman, author
Letter (1792-08-18) to George Washington, Enclosure: “Objections and Answers Respecting the Administration,” Objection 14
(Source)
Thare iz more weak men in this world than thare iz wicked ones.
[There are more weak men in this world than there are wicked ones.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 281 “Variety: Bred and Butter” (1874)
(Source)
Although fear was turning you into a good citizen, fear is only in the short term a teacher of duty; and that unscrupulousness of yours, which never deserts you so long as you are not afraid, has turned you into a scoundrel.
[Quamquam bonum te timor faciebat, non diuturnus magister officii, improbum fecit ea, quae, dum timor abest, a te non discedit, audacia.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 2, ch. 36 / sec. 90 (2.36/2.90) (44-10-24 BC) [tr. Berry (2006)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:However, the cause of your loyalty was fear, no lasting monitor of duty, while your worthlessness springs from that audacity which is ever present with you while you are free from fear.
[tr. King (1877)]Fear is not a lasting teacher of duty.
[Timor non est diuturnus magister officii.]
[ed. Hoyt (1883)]However, it was fear -- no steadfast teacher of duty -- that made you good: what made you unprincipled was that which, in the absence of fear, never departs from you, audacity.
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]Although it was fear that was then making you a good citizen, which is never a lasting teacher of duty; your own audacity, which never departs from you as long as you are free from fear, has made you a worthless one.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]Although fear (not a long-lasting teacher of one’s duty) was making you a decent person then, your arrogance, which never leaves you as long as fear is absent, has made you shameless.
[tr. McElduff (2011)]
CLÉANTE: And just as there is nothing I more revere
Than a soul whose faith is steadfast and sincere,
Nothing that I more cherish and admire
Than honest zeal and true religious fire,
So there is nothing that I find more base
Than specious piety’s dishonest face.[Et, comme je ne vois nul genre de héros
Qui soient plus à priser que les parfaits dévots,
Aucune chose au monde et plus noble et plus belle
Que la sainte ferveur d’un véritable zèle,
Aussi ne vois-je rien qui soit plus odieux
Que le dehors plâtré d’un zèle spécieux.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 1, sc. 6 (1669) [tr. Wilbur (1963), 1.5]
(Source)
The references to plaster, whitewashing, etc., come from the Bible, Matthew 23:27-28, condemning hypocrisy.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:And as I see no Character in Life more great or valuable than to be truly devout, nor any thing more noble, or more beautiful, than the Fervor of a sincere Piety; so I think nothing more abominable than the outside Daubing of a pretended Zeal.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]And as I know no character more worthy of esteem than the truly devout, nor anything in the world more noble or beautiful than the holy fervour of sincere piety, so I know nothing more odious than the whited sepulchre of a pretended zealot, than those downright imposters, those devotees for public show.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]And as I know nothing in the world so noble and so beautiful as the holy fervour of genuine piety, so there is nothing, I think, so odious as the whitewashed outside of a specious zeal.
[tr. Wall (1879)]And as I see nothing in life more noble or beautiful than the fervour of sincere piety, so I think nothing more odious than the plastered exterior of a false zeal.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]And since I do not know any character more admirable than the truly devout, nor anything in the world more noble and more beautiful than the righteous fervor of a sincere piety, neither do I know anything more odious than the whited sepulchre of a specious zeal.
[tr. Waller (1903)]And as I find no kind of hero more
To be admired than men of true religion,
Nothing more noble or more beautiful
Than is the holy zeal of true devoutness;
Just so I think there's naught more odious
Than whited sepulchres of outward unction.
[tr. Page (1909)]And as I see no kind of character
More honorable than true devotion is,
Nothing more noble and more beautiful
Than fervent, genuine, holy piety,
So I find nothing on earth more odious
Than the false show of whited sepulchres.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]And, as there are no heroes I revere
More than those whose devoutness is sincere,
And nothing worthier of veneration
Than genuine religious dedication,
So, nothing seems more odious to me
Than the disguise of specious piety.
[tr. Frame (1967)]What jewel more precious can there be
Than perfect, unfeigned piety,
A fervour that is felt, and real?
But this ... this squashed flea kind of zeal,
Worn, as a lady wears her paint,
The posturing of the plaster saint,
This, above all things, I deplore.
Nothing on earth disgusts me more.
[tr. Bolt (2002)]I don’t know any heroes more worthy of respect than the truly pious or anything more noble and beautiful than holy passion and saintly zeal. And I don’t know anything more hateful than those whited sepulchres, the phony zealots.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]
Tricks and Treachery are the Practice of Fools, that have not Wit enough to be honest.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1740 ed.)
(Source)
Borrowed without attribution from La Rochefoucauld (1665).
“To be eccentric,” says Miss Webster, dead for fifteen years, in the back of my head, her voice dry, her elocution perfect, “you must first know your circle.” Know the rules before you break them. Learn how to draw, then break the rules of drawing. Learn to craft a story and then show people things they’ve seen before in ways they’ve never seen.
Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Foreword (1993) to Harlan Ellison, The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World (1969)
(Source)
The effect of continually reading inferior newspapers, or hearing trivial sermons, is not so mischievous by its direct influence upon our thoughts, as it is by gradually making us fancy that the poorest thoughts may be worth public expression.
John Frederick Boyes (1811-1879) English scholar, classicist
Lacon in Council, “Literature, Poetry, Oratory, Genius, &c.” (1865)
(Source)
If you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that you play that determines if it’s good or bad.
Miles Davis (1926-1991) American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer. [Miles Dewey Davis III]
(Attributed)
(Source)
Related by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, whom Davis startled when, after Hancock struck the wrong chord, Davis improvised and riffed off the chord for the remainder of the set. Attributed in W. Richard Patterson, Thinking Straight (2023)
Wise and free Nations have made it their Rule, never to vote their Donations of Money to their Kings to enable them to carry on the Affairs of Government, until they had Opportunities to examine the State of the Nation, and to remonstrate against Grievances and demand and obtain the Redress of them.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Diary (1772, Spring), “Notes for a Oration at Braintree”
(Source)
“But he won’t gain anything by it.” Well, no, I don’t suppose he could get four-and-sixpence a day for being hung, take the year round; but then he stands a chance to save a considerable part of his soul, — and such a soul! — when you do not. No doubt you can get more in your market for a quart of milk than for a quart of blood, but that is not the market that heroes carry their blood to.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1859-10-30), “A Plea for Captain John Brown,” Concord, Massachusetts
(Source)
Speaking of John Brown and his raid on Harpers Ferry. Collected in A Yankee in Canada (1866).
Competition, of course, like all other good things, can be carried to excess. Competition should not extend to fields where it has demonstrably bad social and economic consequences. The exploitation of child labor, the chiseling of workers’ wages, the stretching of workers’ hours, are not necessary, fair or proper methods of competition.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Message (1938-04-29) to Congress, On Curbing Monopolies
(Source)
As a horse when he has run, a dog when he has tackled the game, a bee when it has made the honey, so a man when he has done a good act does not call out for others to come and see, but he goes on to another act, as a vine goes on to produce again the grapes in season.
[ἵππος δραμών, κύων ἰχνεύσας, μέλισσα μέλι ποιήσασα, ἄνθρωπος δ̓ εὖ ποιήσας οὐκ ἐπιβοᾶται, ἀλλὰ μεταβαίνει ἐφ̓ ἕτερον, ὡς ἄμπελος ἐπὶ τὸ πάλιν ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ τὸν βότρυν ἐνεγκεῖν.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 5, ch. 6 (5.6) (AD 161-180) [tr. Long (1862)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:As a horse after a race, and a hunting dog when he hath hunted, and a bee when she hath made her honey, look not for applause and commendation; so neither doth that man that rightly doth understand his own nature when he hath done a good turn: but from one doth proceed to do another, even as the vine after she hath once borne fruit in her own proper season, is ready for another time.
[tr. Casaubon (1634)]A Fleet Horse or Greyhound, don't use to make a Noise when they have perform'd handsomly, nor a Bee neither when she has made a little Hony: And thus a Man that's rightly Kind, never proclaims a Good Turn, but does another as soon as he can; just like a Vine that bears again the next Season.
[tr. Collier (1701)]The horse, when he hath run his course, the hound, when he has followed the track, the bee, when it has made its honey, and the Man, when he hath done good to others, don’t make a noisy boast of it, but go on to repeat the like actions, as the vine in its season produces its new clusters again.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]This same is applicable to the horse that has finished his course, to the hound that has ended his chase, and to the bee that has produced its honey. Let the man, then, who has done a beneficent action, not look for applause; but repeat it the first opportunity; as the vine again yields its fruit at the proper season.
[tr. Graves (1792), 5.5]A fleet horse or greyhound do not make a noise when they have done well, nor a bee neither when she has made a little honey. And thus a man that has done a kindness never proclaims it, but does another as soon as he can, just like a vine that bears again the next season.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]As the horse that runs, the hound that hunts, the bee that hives its honey, so the man who does the kindness does not raise a shout, but passes on to the next act, as a vine to the bearing of clusters for next season.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]The horse when he has run his course, the hound when he has followed the track, the bee when it has made its honey, and the man when he has done good to others, make no noisy boast of it, but set out to do the same once more, as the vine in its season produces its new clusters again.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)][...] a steed when it has run its course, a hound when it has singled out the trail, a bee when she hath made her comb. And so a man when he hath done one thing well, does not cry it abroad, but betakes himself to a second, as a vine to bear afresh her clusters in due season.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]A horse runs, a hound tracks, bees make honey, and a man does good, but doesn't know that he has done it and passes on to a second act, like a vine to bear once more its grapes in due season.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)][...] a horse that has run its race, a hound that has tracked his quarry, or a bee that has hived her honey. Like them, the man who has done one good action does not cry it aloud, but passes straight on to a second, as the vine passes on to the bearing of another summer's grapes.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)][...] a horse when it has run its race, or a dog when it has followed a trail, or a bee when it has mades its honey. And so such a person, when he has done a good deed, does not cry it abroad, but passes straight on to the next, as the vine yields new clusters of grapes when the season comes around.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]A horse at the end of the race ...
A dog when the hunt is over ...
A bee with its honey stored ...
And a human being after helping others.
They don't make a fuss about it. They just go on to something else, as the vine looks forward to bearing fruit again in season.
[tr. Hays (2003)]A horse that has raced, a dog that has tracked, a bee that has made honey, and a man that has done good -- none of these knows what they have done, but they pass on to the next action, just as the vine passes on to bear grapes again in due season.
[tr. Hammond (2006)][...] a horse when it has run its race, or a dog when it has followed its trail, or a bee when it has made its honey. And so such a person, when he has done a good deed, does not shout about it, but passes straight on to the next one, as the vine yields new clusters of grapes when the season comes around.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)][...] a horse which has run a race, a dog which has followed the scent, or a bee which has made its honey. A person who has done something good does not make a big fuss about it, but goes on to the next action, as a vine goes on to produce grapes again in season.
[tr. Gill (2013), sec. 3-4]A man does not proclaim a good deed, but proceeds to another, as a vine bears grapes again in season.
[ed. Taplin (2016)]
Our doings are not so important as we naturally suppose; our successes and failures do not after all matter very much. Even great sorrows can be survived; troubles which seem as if they must put an end to happiness for life, fade with the lapse of time until it becomes almost impossible to remember their poignancy. But over and above these self-centered considerations is the fact that one’s ego is no very large part of the world. The man who can center his thoughts and hopes upon something transcending self can find a certain peace in the ordinary troubles of life which is impossible to the pure egoist.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 5 “Fatigue” (1930)
(Source)
If thou art virtuous meerly that thou may’st be famed for it, thou art no better than a vain-glorious Sinner.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2008 (1727)
(Source)
A judgment can be refuted, but never a prejudice.
[Ein Urtheil läßt ſich widerlegen, aber niemals ein Vorurtheil.]
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) Austrian writer
Aphorisms [Aphorismen], No. 4 (1880) [tr. Scrase/Mieder (1994)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translation:An opinion can be controverted; a prejudice, never.
[tr. Wister (1883)]
YEVGRAF: Happy men don’t volunteer. They wait their turn, and thank God if their age or work delays it.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Doctor Zhivago, Part 1, film (1965)
(Source)
On army recruitment. This line is not in the 1957 Boris Pasternak novel.
CALVIN: I’m writing a fund-raising letter. The secret to getting donations is to depict everyone who disagrees with you as the enemy. Then you explain how they’re systematically working to destroy everything you hold dear. It’s a War of Values! Rational discussion is hopeless! Compromise is unthinkable! Our only hope is well-funded antagonism, so we need your money to keep up the fight!
HOBBES: How cynically unconstructive.
CALVIN: Enmity sells.
Nothing is better than a justified enthusiasm.
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1814 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)
I could not find an analog in other translations of the Pensées.
REALLY, adv. Apparently.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Really,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner.
A dweller in a house may impress his personality upon the walls, but subtly the walls too, may impress their own shape upon the ego of the man.
C. L. Moore (1911-1987) American writer, feminist [Catherine Lucille Moore, Catherine Kuttner]
Story (1944-12), “No Woman Born,” Astounding Science Fiction, Vol. 34, No. 4
(Source)
We see, by the Sketches I have given you, that all the great Kingdoms of Europe have once been free. But that they have lost their Liberties, by the Ignorance, the Weakness, the Inconstancy, and Disunion of the People. Let Us guard against these dangers, let us be firm and stable, as wise as Serpents and as harmless as Doves, but as daring and intrepid as Heroes.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Diary (1772, Spring), “Notes for a Oration at Braintree”
(Source)
The serpents/doves reference is from the New Testament, Matthew 10:16.
We have to call it “freedom”: who’d die for “a lesser tyranny”?
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)
(Source)
So I’m leaving you now, my children. Love each other always. That’s about the only thing in the world that matters: loving each other.
[ Je vais donc m’en aller, mes enfants. Aimez-vous bien toujours. Il n’y a guère autre chose que cela dans le monde: s’aimer.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 5 “Jean Valjean,” Book 9 “Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn,” ch. 5 (5.9.5) [Jean Valjean] (1862) [tr. Donougher (2013)]
(Source)
Jean Valjean to Marius and Cosette, on his death bed.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:So I am going away, my children. Love each other dearly always. There is scarcely anything else in the world but that: to love one another.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]I am going away, my children. Love each other dearly and always. There is no other thing in the world but that; love one another.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]I am on the verge of departure, my children. Love each other well and always. There is nothing else but that in the world: love for each other.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]And now I must leave you, my children. Love one another always. There is nothing else that matters in this world except love.
[tr. Denny (1976)]So I am going away, my children. Love each other dearly always. There is scarcely anything else in the world but that: to love one another.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
If men of eminence are exposed to censure on one hand, they are as much liable to flattery on the other. If they receive reproaches which are not due to them, they likewise receive praises which they do not deserve. In a word, the man in a high post is never regarded with an indifferent eye, but always considered as a friend or an enemy.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101
(Source)
Dream on! Though Heaven may woo our open eyes,
Through their closed lids we look on fairer skies;
Truth is for other worlds, and hope for this;
The cheating future lends the present’s bliss;
Life is a running shade, with fettered hands,
That chases phantoms over shifting sands;
Death a still spectre on a marble seat,
With ever clutching palms and shackled feet;
The airy shapes that mock life’s slender chain,
The flying joys he strives to clasp in vain,
Death only grasps; to live is to pursue, —
Dream on! there’s nothing but illusion true!Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Poem (1861), “The Old Player” (closing lines), Songs in Many Keys (1862)
(Source)
Know how to rank beliefs not according to their plausibility but by the harm they may cause.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Black Swan, Part 2, ch. 13 “Appelles the Painter, or What Do You Do If You Cannot Predict” (2007)
(Source)
Honesty is a virtue, but not the only one. If you’re in a courtroom, you need the whole truth and nothing but the truth; in the living room, sometimes you need anything but. Often.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Essay (1996-03/04), Modern Maturity magazine
ARIEL:Not a soul
But felt a fever of the mad, and played
Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners
Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel,
Then all afire with me. The King’s son, Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring — then like reeds, not hair —
Was the first man that leaped; cried “Hell is empty,
And all the devils are here.”William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Tempest, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 246ff (1.2.246-253) (1611)
(Source)
Ariel telling Prospero of the effects of the conjured tempest, and Ariel's tricks, on the crew of the ship.
My friend, there will come one day to you a Messenger, whom you cannot treat with contempt. He will say, “Come with me;” and all your pleas of business cares and earthly loves will be of no avail. When his cold hand touches yours, the key of the counting-room will drop forever, and he will lead you away from all your investments, your speculations, your bank-notes and real estate, and with him you will pass into eternity, up to the bar of God. You will not be too busy to die.
Abbott Eliot "A. E." Kittredge (1834-1912) American clergyman and Presbyterian leader
(Attributed)
(Source)
In Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (ed.), Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1883). I could not find any primary source that Gilbert borrowed from.
You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.
Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith (1905-1982) American sportswriter, journalist
(Attributed)
Attributed in Water Winchell, in his syndicated column (1949-04-06):Red Smith was asked if turning out a daily column wasn't quite a chore ... "Why, no," deadpanned Red. "You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed."
In an article (1969-09-01), "The Press: Good Sports," Time magazine, this variant attributed to Smith was given (in an allusion to the Bible, Luke 22:44):“Writing a column is easy,” he once said. “You just sit at your typewriter until little drops of blood appear on your forehead.”
This quotation, and many variants, have a hotly contested ledger of attributions and misattributions. The metaphor of blood and bleeding as part of the painful, personal creative process resonates with many writers. Variations are attributed to Ernest Hemmingway, Thomas Wolfe, Gene Fowler, Paul Gallico, Jeff MacNelly, and more, some with justification, others spurious.
Some variants:Discussion about and research into this quotation:
- Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.
- There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
- There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
- Writing is easy. Just put a piece of paper in the typewriter and start bleeding.
Strange roads have strange guides.
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) American writer
The Farthest Shore, “Lorbanery” [Sparrowhawk] (1972)
(Source)
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.
Anne Lamott (b. 1954) American novelist and non-fiction writer
Post (2015-04-08), Facebook
(Source)
Reprinted in her essay (2015-04-10), "Anne Lamott shares all that she knows," Salon.
Collected in Almost Everything, ch. 4 "Unplugged" (2018). (The quote is the full chapter.)
Beware the student of one teacher. A good idea spirals into dogma when it gets applied to everything and stretched beyond the areas where it is useful. Remain open and embrace a lot of teachers.
[…] [P]redatory wealth — of the wealth accumulated on a giant scale by all forms of iniquity, ranging from the oppression of wageworkers to unfair and unwholesome methods of crushing out competition, and to defrauding the public by stock jobbing and the manipulation of securities.
Certain wealthy men of this stamp, whose conduct should be abhorrent to every man of ordinarily decent conscience, and who commit the hideous wrong of teaching our young men that phenomenal business success must ordinarily be based on dishonesty, have during the last few months made it apparent that they have banded together to work for a reaction. Their endeavor is to overthrow and discredit all who honestly administer the law, to prevent any additional legislation which would check and restrain them, and to secure if possible a freedom from all restraint which will permit every unscrupulous wrongdoer to do what he wishes unchecked provided he has enough money.Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Message (1908-01-31) to Congress, on Workers Compensation
(Source)
Is it unreasonable, then, to expect that some man possessed of the loftiest genius, coupled with ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost stretch, will at some time spring up among us? And when such an one does, it will require the people to be united with each other, attached to the government and laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate his designs.
Distinction will be his paramount object, and although he would as willingly, perhaps more so, acquire it by doing good as harm, yet, that opportunity being past, and nothing left to be done in the way of building up, he would set boldly to the task of pulling down.Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1838-01-27), “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions,” Young Men’s Lyceum, Springfield, Illinois
(Source)
If I were God, I would not wait the years
To solve the mystery of human tears;
And, unambiguous, I would speak my will,
Nor hint it darkly to the dreaming seers.Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات] [tr. Le Gallienne (1897), # 116]
(Source)
Given LeGallienne's paraphrasing, I am unable to align this with an original quatrain or other translations.
The true friend of property, the true conservative, is he who insists that property shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth; who insists that the creature of man’s making shall be the servant and not the master of the man who made it. The citizens of the United States must effectively control the mighty commercial forces which they have called into being. There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains. To put an end to it will be neither a short nor an easy task, but it can be done.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas
(Source)
I consider that peace at any price with our fellow-citizens is preferable to civil war.
[Mini enim omnis pax cum civibus, bello civili utilior videbatur.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 2, ch. 15 / sec. 37 (2.15/2.37) (44-10-24 BC) [ed. Harbottle (1906)]
(Source)
A topic Cicero wrote and spoke about often. See also here and here.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:For I conceived that any peace between citizens was more expedient than civil war.
[tr. King (1877)]For to me any peace with citizens seemed more profitable than civil war.
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]For any sort of peace with our fellow-citizens appeared to me more desirable than civil war.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]So for me any peace that could unite our citizens seemed preferable to a war that tore them apart.
[tr. Grant (1960)]And I thought any kind of peace with fellow-citizens preferable to civil war.
[tr. Berry (2006)]For peace with fellow-citizens seemed considerably better to me than civil war.
[tr. McElduff (2011)]
This haz alwus bin the rule, and alwus will be — no man iz grate unless he iz good.
[This has always been the rule, and always will be — no man is great unless he is good.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 281 “Variety: Bred and Butter” (1874)
(Source)
Liberty, under every conceivable Form of Government is always in Danger. It is so even under a simple, or perfect Democracy, more so under a mixed Government, like the Republic of Rome, and still more so under a limited Monarchy.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Diary (1772, Spring), “Notes for a Oration at Braintree”
(Source)
Others, craven-hearted, said disparagingly, that “he threw his life away,” because he resisted the government. Which way have they thrown their lives, pray? — such as would praise a man for attacking singly an ordinary band of thieves or murderers.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1859-10-30), “A Plea for Captain John Brown,” Concord, Massachusetts
(Source)
Speaking of John Brown and his raid on Harpers Ferry. Collected in A Yankee in Canada (1866).
Among us today a concentration of private power without equal in history is growing. This concentration is seriously impairing the economic effectiveness of private enterprise as a way of providing employment for labor and capital and as a way of assuring a more equitable distribution of income and earnings among the people of the nation as a whole.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933-1945)
Message (1938-04-29) to Congress, On Curbing Monopolies
(Source)
A great many worries can be diminished by realizing the unimportance of the matter which is causing the anxiety.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 5 “Fatigue” (1930)
(Source)
Though thou art too much a man to be without all Passion; yet thou art not to be so much a Beast, as to be governed by it.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2000 (1727)
(Source)
The only thing that smells worse than an oil refinery is a feedlot. Texas has a lot of both.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1972), “Texas Observed,” Place
(Source)
Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).
Of what value is fame, when one cannot enjoy posthumous fame?
[Was liegt am Ruhm, da man den Nachruhm nicht erleben kann?]
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) Austrian writer
Aphorisms [Aphorismen], No. 293 (1880) [tr. Wister (1883)]
(Source)
An eye can threaten like a loaded and leveled gun, or can insult like hissing or kicking; or, in its altered mood, by beams of kindness, it can make the heart dance with joy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Behavior,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 5
(Source)
Based on a course of lectures, "The Conduct of Life," delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).
MURRAY: If you’re insubordinate with me, Lawrence, I’ll put you under arrest!
LAWRENCE: It’s my manner, sir.
MURRAY: What?
LAWRENCE: My manner, sir. It looks insubordinate, but it isn’t really.
MURRAY: I can’t make out whether you’re bloody bad-mannered or just half-witted.
LAWRENCE: I have the same problem, sir.
MURRAY: Shut up!
LAWRENCE: Yes, sir.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Lawrence of Arabia, Part 1, sc. 38 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]
(Source)
In the movie, the dialog is nearly identical:MURRAY: If you're insubordinate with me, Lawrence, I shall put you under arrest.
LAWRENCE: It's my manner, sir.
MURRAY: Your what?
LAWRENCE: My manner, sir. It looks insubordinate, but it isn't really.
MURRAY: Well, I can't make out whether you're bloody bad-mannered or just half-witted.
LAWRENCE: I have the same problem, sir.
MURRAY: Shut up.
LAWRENCE: Yes, sir.
My dreams are more amorous than my actions have ever been.
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1805 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)
I could not find an analog in other translations of the Pensées.
REALITY, n. The dream of a mad philosopher.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Reality,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner.
With rapturous face he produces his pipes, and the Never birds and the fairies gather closer till the roof of the little house is so thick with his admirers that some of them fall down the chimney. He plays on and on till we wake up.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter Pan, Act 5, closing lines (1904, pub. 1928)
(Source)
HECUBA: The clear actions of a man,
Agamemnon, should speak louder than any words.
good words should get their goodness from our lives
and nowhere else; the evil we do should show,
a rottenness that festers in our speech
and what we say, in capable of being glozed
with a film of pretty words.
There are men, I know,
sophists who make a science of persuasion,
glozing evil with the slick of loveliness;
but in the end a speciousness will show.
The imposters are punished; not one escapes
his death.[ἙΚΆΒΗ: Ἀγάμεμνον, ἀνθρώποισιν οὐκ ἐχρῆν ποτε
τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν γλῶσσαν ἰσχύειν πλέον:
ἀλλ᾽, εἴτε χρήστ᾽ ἔδρασε, χρήστ᾽ ἔδει λέγειν,
εἴτ᾽ αὖ πονηρά, τοὺς λόγους εἶναι σαθρούς,
καὶ μὴ δύνασθαι τἄδικ᾽ εὖ λέγειν ποτέ.
σοφοὶ μὲν οὖν εἰσ᾽ οἱ τάδ᾽ ἠκριβωκότες,
ἀλλ᾽ οὐ δύνανται διὰ τέλους εἶναι σοφοί,
κακῶς δ᾽ ἀπώλοντ᾽: οὔτις ἐξήλυξέ πω.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 1186ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]
(Source)
Hecuba to Agamemnon, after Polymestor tried to defend his actions in murdering her son and stealing the Trojan treasure.
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:O Agamemnon, never ought the tongue
To have a greater influence o'er mankind
Than actions; but whoever hath done well
Ought to speak well; and he whose deeds are base,
To use unseemly language, nor find means
By specious words to colour o'er injustice.
Full wise indeed are they to whom such art
Is most familiar: but to stand the test
Of time not wise enough; for they all perish,
Not one of them e'er scapes.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Agamemnon, it never were fitting among men that the tongue should have greater force than actions. But if a man has acted well, well should he speak; if on the other hand basely, his words likewise should be unsound, and never ought he to be capable of speaking unjust things well. Perhaps indeed they who have brought these things to a pitch of accuracy are accounted wise, but they can not endure wise unto the end, but perish vilely, nor has any one yet escaped this.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]Agamemnon, never should this thing have been,
That words with men should more avail than deeds,
But good deeds should with reasonings good be paired,
And caitiff deed be ranged by baseless plea,
And none avail to gloze injustice o'er.
There be whose craft such art hath perfected;
Yet cannot they be cunning to the end:
Foully they perish: never one hath 'scaped.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Agamemnon, never ought the tongues of men
To plead more eloquently than the truth.
Good men should prove good speakers, and the bad,
Their very argument grown rank, should find
No specious words to colour evil deeds.
Oh, they are strict professors of the art,
And they are wise; yet in the end of all,
Not wise enough. They perish. None escapes.
[tr. Sheppard (1924)]Never ought words to have outweighed deeds in this world, Agamemnon. No! if a man's deeds were good, so should his words have been; if, on the other hand, evil, his words should have been unsound, instead of its being possible at times to speak injustice well. There are, it is true, clever persons, who have made a science of this, but their cleverness cannot last for ever; a miserable end awaits them; no one ever yet escaped.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]Agamemnon,
A man should talk as he acts.
Good speaks for itself --
The best make bad liars.
The opposite is also true,
Though it ought not to be.
Men with brains can conceal
Whatever they want concealed.
But the brain grows weary.
A bad end's in.
[tr. McGuinness (2004)]Agamemnon, men shouldn't believe a speech counts for far more than actions ever did. If a man is good in deed, he's good in word. But bad deeds make a man's word rotten, too, and he can't give his injustice a fair gloss. They're clever with their tongues so finely tuned but you couldn't call them clever in the end. Their punishment will come. No one escapes.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]Never, Agamemnon, should words have greater sway for men than do their deeds. When a man does good, his words ought to be good; when he does evil then his words should be unsound. No one should speak well of injustice. About this last thing, there are those clever fellows who have performed it to perfection but they will all, in the end, be destroyed. None of them have escaped so far.
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]Agamemnon, never in the affairs of men
Should the tongue have more power than facts,
Rather, when someone acts well, he should speak well,
And if the opposite, his words should be rotten.
Glib rhetoric may win us over for a while,
but in the end the smooth talkers die foully.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]
But this is an unalterable Truth, that the People can never be enslaved but by their own Tameness, Pusillanimity, Sloth or Corruption. They may be deceived, and their Symplicity, Ignorance, and Docility render them frequently liable to deception. And of this, the aspiring, designing, ambitious few are very sensible. He is the Statesman qualifyed by Nature to scatter Ruin and Destruction in his Path who by deceiving a Nation can render Despotism desirable in their Eyes and make himself popular in Undoing.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Diary (1772, Spring), “Notes for a Oration at Braintree”
(Source)
The past is strapped to our backs. We do not have to see it; we can always feel it.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 10 (1963)
(Source)
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, Part 5 “Jean Valjean,” Book 9 “Supreme Shadow, Supreme Dawn,” ch. 5 (5.9.5) [Jean Valjean] (1862) [tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
(Source)
Spoken to Cosette and Marius (and his doctor) as he is dying.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:It is nothing to die; it is frightful not to live.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]It is nothing to die, but it is frightful not to live.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]It is nothing to die; it is dreadful not to live.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]To die is nothing; but it is terrible not to live.
[tr. Denny (1976)]It’s nothing to die. It’s dreadful not to live.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
“Censure,” says a late ingenious author, “is the tax a man pays for being eminent.” It is a folly for an eminent man to think of escaping it, and a weakness to be affected with it. All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and indeed of every age in the world, have passed through this fiery persecution. There is no defense against reproach but obscurity; it is a kind of concomitant to greatness, as satires and invectives were an essential part of a Roman triumph.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101
(Source)
The quotation is from Jonathan Swift.
Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent.
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) English writer and churchman
Essay (1706-10), “Thoughts on Various Subjects”
(Source)
Alas, one cannot assert authority by accepting one’s own fallibility. Simply, people need to be blinded by knowledge — we are made to follow leaders who can gather people together because the advantages of being in groups trump the disadvantages of being alone. It has been more profitable for us to bind together in the wrong direction than to be alone in the right one. Those who have followed the assertive idiot rather than the introspective wise person have passed us some of their genes. This is apparent from a social pathology: psychopaths rally followers.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Black Swan, Part 2, ch. 12 “Epistemocracy, a Dream” (2007)
(Source)
Rules that are arbitrary may be nonetheless crucial. Whether we drive on the right or left side of the road is arbitrary, but it is crucial to obey the prevailing rule.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (2015-02-01)
(Source)
ARIEL: All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure. Be ’t to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curled clouds, to thy strong bidding task
Ariel and all his quality.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Tempest, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 224ff (1.2.224-228) (1611)
(Source)
Fear makes us blind, and we touch each fear with all the avid curiosity of self-interest, trying to make a whole out of a hundred parts, like the blind men with their elephant.
We sense the shape. Children grasp it easily, forget it, and relearn it as adults. The shape is there, and most of us come to realize what it is sooner or later: it is the shape of a body under a sheet. All our fears add up to one great fear, all our fears are part of that great fear — an arm, a leg, a finger, an ear. We’re afraid of the body under the sheet. It’s our body. And the great appeal of horror fiction through the ages is that it serves as a rehearsal for our own deaths.
Each man thought: one of the others is bound to say something soon, some protest and then I will murmur agreement, not actually say anything. I am not as stupid as that, but definitely murmur very firmly, so that the others will be in no doubt that I thoroughly disapprove, because at a time like this it behooves all decent men to nearly stand up and be almost heard …
But no one said anything. The cowards, each man thought.
One of the reasons why there are so few reasonable and pleasant conversationalists is that almost everyone concentrates on what he wishes to say, rather than attempting to give accurate and clear replies to what is said to him.
[Une des choses qui fait que l’on trouve si peu de gens qui paroissent raisonnables et agréables dans la conversation, c’est qu’il n’y a presque personne qui ne pense plutôt à ce qu’il veut dire qu’à répondre précisément à ce qu’on lui dit.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶139 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶139]
(Source)
Present in the 1st (1665) edition. A 1665 variant read "quasi personne" rather than "presque personne."
See also Proverbs 18:13.
(Source (French)). Other translations:There may be several causes assigned why we meet with so few persons, whom we allow to be rational and divertive in conversation. Of which this is one, that there is hardly any body, whose thoughts are not rather taken up with what he hath a mind to say himself, than in precisely answering what had been said to him; and that persons of greatest abilities and complaisance think it.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶186]One reason, why we find so very few Men of Sense and agreeable Conversation, is, That almost every bodies mind is more intent upon what he himself hath a mind to say, than upon making pertinent Replies to what the rest of the Company say to him.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶140]One reason why we meet with so few people who are reasonable and agreeable in conversation is, that there is scarce any body who does not think more of what he has to say, than of answering what is said to him.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶64; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶134]We meet with few men who are agreeable in conversation: the reason is, we think more of what we have to advance, than of what they have to answer.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶53]One thing which makes us find so few people who appear reasonable and agreeable in conversation is, that there is scarcely any one who does not think more of what he is about to say than of answering precisely what is said to him.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶142]One of the reasons that we find so few persons rational and agreeable in conversation is there is hardly a person who does not think more of what he wants to say than of his answer to what is said.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶139]One reason why so few people converse agreeably or logically is that a man pays more attention to his own utterances than to giving an exact answer to questions put to him.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶139]One of the reasons why so few people show themselves intelligent and agreeable in conversation is that almost every one is intent on what he wants to say himself rather than on replying with exactness to what is said to him.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶139]One reason why so few people are intelligent and attractive in conversation is that almost everybody thinks of what he wants to say instead of how to answer properly what has been said to him.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶139]One of the reasons so few people are to be found who seem sensible and pleasant in conversation is that almost everybody is thinking about what he wants to say himself rather than about answering clearly what is being said to him.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶139]One reason why we find so few people who appear reasonable and agreeable in conversation, is that there is almost no one who does not think more about what he wishes to say than about pertinently replying to what is said to him.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶139]
The idea of immortality, that like a sea has ebbed and flowed in the human heart, with its countless waves of hope and fear, beating against the shores and rocks of time and fate, was not born of any book, nor of any creed, nor of any religion. It was born of human affection, and it will continue to ebb and flow beneath the mists and clouds of doubt and darkness as long as love kisses the lips of death. It is the rainbow — Hope shining upon the tears of grief.
Well, here in California, people were thinking and voting on whether to keep a governor four years or eight. I think a good, honest governor should get four years, and the others life!
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1927-11-08), “Daily Telegram: Will Rogers Has An Idea About Terms for Governors” [No. 405]
(Source)
Now listen while I show you, how the rest
Who call you madman, are themselves possessed.
Just as in woods, when travellers step aside
From the true path for want of some good guide,
This to the right, that to the left hand strays,
And all are wrong, but wrong in different ways,
So, though you’re mad, yet he who banters you
Is not more wise, but wears his pigtail too.[Nunc accipe, quare
desipiant omnes aeque ac tu, qui tibi nomen
insano posuere. Velut silvis, ubi passim
palantis error certo de tramite pellit,
ille sinistrorsum, hic dextrorsum abit, unus utrique
error, sed variis inludit partibus: hoc te
crede modo insanum, nihilo ut sapientior ille
qui te deridet caudam trahat.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 2, # 3, “Si raro scribes,” l. 46ff (2.3.46-53) (30 BC) [tr. Conington (1874)]
(Source)
Horace may be quoting or paraphrasing Stertinus here.
The odd "tail" metaphor was a proverbial expression for unknowingly being a fool. Apparently Roman children would tie sheep or other animal tails to the backs of innocent passers-by, then laugh at them.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Now leane thyne eares, and listen well, perceave howe all be mad,
Yea those who earste to make the woorse, such mockeries have had.
Admit there be through darkesum wood a speedie footepathe way,
On ryghte syde sum, on lefte syde sum, and all do go a stray
Through wilsumnes of wildernes: the error is all one,
Though through miswandringe diverslye, they diverslye have gone.
Thou maist be mad, frend Damasipp, thou maiste be muche unwyse,
Thy mockers staringe mad also, though in an other guyse.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Nay give me leave, and I'le demonstrate how
He who calls thee fool's as much fool as thou.
Like Trav'lers passing through a Wood, when they
Range up and down missing their ready way,
This to the right that to the left hand strayes,
One error fools them both, though several wayes.
And tho thou think'st thou'rt mad, yet even he
Is not a jot less mad that laughs at thee,
Both to Fool-coats have like propriety.
[tr. "A. B."; ed. Brome (1666)]Some call Thee mad, but those that call Thee so,
Observe, I'll prove them quite as mad as You:
As Men that lose their ways in Woods, divide;
Some go on this, and some on t'other side,
The Error is the same, all miss the Road,
Altho in different Quarters of the Wood.
Thus as they call thee, think that thou art mad;
But those that call thee so are quite as bad.
[tr. Creech (1684)]And they who call you fool, with equal claim
May plead an ample title to the name.
When in a wood we leave the certain way
One error fools us, though we various stray:
Some to the left, some turn to t'other side:
So he, who dares thy madness to deride,
Though you may frankly own yourself a fool,
Behind him trails his mark of ridicule.
[tr. Francis (1747)]Hear now why those who proudly call you mad,
In reason's view are every whit as bad.
As, when bewilder'd in a wood by night
This trav'ller takes the left and that the right,
Each strays, though in a different path he strays,
Mock'd by the self-same error various ways, --
So is it here; and he that laughs at you
May wear the cap; for he is crack-brain'd too.
[tr. Howes (1845)]Now learn, why all those, who have fixed the name of madman upon you, are as senseless as yourself. As in the woods, where a mistake makes people wander about from the proper path; one goes out of the way to the right, another to the left; there is the same blunder on both sides, only the illusion is in different directions: in this manner imagine yourself mad; so that he, who derides you, hangs his tail not one jot wiser than yourself.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]Now listen to the reason why all those who've called you "madman" are as mad as you. As in the woods, when some mistake drives from the beaten track men vaguely wandering, one goes off to the right, another to the left, -- they make the same mistake, but in quite opposite directions; -- so think that you're mad, and that the man who mocks you is no saner than yourself, and a fit laughingstock for boys.
[tr. Millington (1870)]Now let me show you why all who have dubbed you "madman" are quite as crazy as you. When men miss the path in a forest and go astray in every direction, all miss it equally, though one is led wrong on the right side of the road and one on the left. So for yourself, believe that if you are mad it is only in such a sense that the man who is laughing at you drags his tail also.
[tr. Wickham (1903)]Now learn why all, who have given you the name of madman, are quite as crazy as yourself. Just as in a forest, where some error drives men to wander to and fro from the proper path, and this one goes off to the left and that one to the right: both are under the same error, but are led astray in different ways: so believe yourself to be insane only so far that he who laughs at you drags a tail behind him, no whit the wiser man.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]Now learn
Why it is that all who have fastened the name on you
Are quite as crazy as you. Just as men in a forest,
Whom confusion forces to wander away from the right path,
Will veer off, one to the left, the other to the right,
Misled by the same mistake but misled in different
Directions, so you may consider yourself deluded
To the exact degree of the man who makes fun of you,
Who is dragging a tail behind himself all unawares.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]Now, hear why you're no madder
than all those others, who bestowed on you the name
‘insane.’ Think of travelers in a forest who get lost
and leave the proper path: one might wander over
to the left, the other to the right. They're deceived
in different ways, but it's the same mistake. Similarly,
you think you're insane, but who is any wiser
among those tail-draggers who make fun of you?
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]Listen: here is why everyone
Who calls you mad is just as senseless himself.
It's like a forest, where people wander this way and that,
Hunting the path and never finding it, not right, or left,
Or center, all confused, all equally lost, but all
Lost in different directions. Believe yourself mad,
If you like, but as sane as the man who laughs at you
And never sees the tail tied behind him.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]Now hear me: why all those who have
called you crazy are brainless like yourself.
As in the woods folk wander off
the true path in error and scatter
here and there, this one to the left,
this one to the right, both of them in
different directions; in the same way
you may consider yourself insane.
Yet you know full well that he who
derides you is no wiser than you
but drags a tail behind him.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]Now, here’s how
those who call you mad are mad. In a wood,
error diverts men from the strict path, some
left, some right. They’re all wrong, each in his
way. Who says he’s right is of course wrong —
is he the one you’ll let pronounce you wrong?
[tr. Matthews (2002)]Now this is the reason
why those who call you mad are every bit as crazy
as you are: You know how people lose their way in the woods --
one goes wandering off to the left, another to the right;
both are equally wrong, though each has strayed in a different
direction. So you may rest assured that if you're to be counted
mad the fellow who laughs at you is no saner himself.
He too has straw in his hair.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]Now learn why all those who call
You insane, are every bit as foolish themselves.
It’s like a wood, where error leads men to wander
Here and there, from the true path, one off to the left,
Another off to the right, the same error both times,
But leading them in different directions: so know
You’re only as mad as the man no wiser than you
Who laughs at you, but still has a tail pinned behind.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
The Marquis de Carabas looked up at him. His eyes were very white in the moonlight. And he whispered, “What’s it like being dead? It’s very cold, my friend. Very dark, and very cold.”
Go to! Cast dust on those deaf skies, who spurn
Thy orisons and bootless prayers, and learn
To quaff the cup, and hover round the fair;
Of all who go, did ever one return?
Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 97 [tr. Whinfield (1883), # 267]
(Source)
Given as # 149 in Whinfield's 1882 edition. Calcutta manuscript # 271. Alternate translations:Behold the dawn arise, O fountain of delights. Drink your wine and touch your lute, for the life of those who sleep will be but brief; and of those who have gone hence, not one will e'er return.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 44]Go, on the earth and the heavens cast dust and all their care;
Drink wine and follow the trace of the pleasant-visaged fair.
Where is the good of obedience? Where is the profit of prayer?
Of all that have gone before us, there's none returneth e'er.
[tr. Payne (1898), # 463]Go! throw dust upon the face of the heavens,
drink wine, and consort with the fair of face;
what time is this for worship? and what time is this for supplication?
since, of all those that have departed, not one has returned?
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 97]Go, thou, cast dust on the heaven above us,
Drink ye wine, and beauty seek today!
What use in adoration? What need for prayer?
For of all the gone no one comes again.
[tr. Cadell, after Nicholas (1879), # 228]Go then, cast dust on heaven's sapphire stair,
Drink wine, love beauty, in this world of men.
What place for pious deeds? What need for prayer?
Of the departed, none comes back again.
[tr. Cadell (1899), # 105]Go! On earth's face, in Heaven's face high in air
Flung dust, drink wine and woo the sweet-faced fair!
What time is there for worship? What for prayer?
For none of all those gone returneth e'er.
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 312]Fling dust at heaven, that every offering spurns;
Drink wine, and love while thy desire yet burns;
What time is this to worship or to pray?
Of all that have departed, none returns.
[tr. Talbot (1908), # 97]Go! throw dust upon the head of the heavens and the
world. Drink ever wine and hover about the fair-faced ones.
What place is there for worship? what place for prayer?
for of all those who are gone not one has come back.
[tr. Christensen (1927), # 56]Go, throw dust on the Sphere of this world,
Drink wine and court those whose face is resplendent like the moon.
What place is this for worship and for prayer?
Since from all who have left no news returns.
[tr. Rosen (1928), # 174]Ascend the skies, fling the dust on earth, 'tis base,
Yea seek His love, and linger on His face.
Thy rites and prayers will not profit there,
The path you once have plied you can't retrace.
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 3.49]
Beauty without intelligence is like a hook without bait.
Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
(Misattributed)
Widely attributed to Moliere, and usually to his play Tartuffe. An extensive look across multiple translations of that and other Moliere plays finds no reference to any of those four nouns that at all resembles this sentiment.
Instead, the phrase appears to originate from Ninon de Lenclos (1620-1705), French letter writer, courtesan, and salonnière. Moliere knew her when he was a child. Attributed to her is the phrase "La beauté sans grâce est un hameçon sans appât," which sometimes is translated as above, or as "Beauty without grace ...."
The most dangerous men we hav in this world are thoze who are alwus repenting ov the sins they hav made up their mind tew commit.
[The most dangerous men we have in this world are those who are always repenting of the sins they have made up their mind to commit.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 281 “Variety: Bred and Butter” (1874)
(Source)
Yet however grim circumstances are, human beings, if they really are human, occasionally relax.
[Homines quamvis in turbidis rebus sint, tamen, si modo homines sunt, interdum animis rexantur.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 2, ch. 16 / sec. 39 (2.16/2.39) (44-10-24 BC) [tr. Grant (1960)]
(Source)
To Antony's accusations of his inappropriately telling jokes while in camp with Pompey's army.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:Men, so long as they are men, relax at times even amid the heaviest perplexities.
[tr. King (1877)]Men, in whatever anxiety they may be, if they are men, sometimes indulge in relaxation.
[ed. Hoyt (1896)]But men, in however troublous times -- if only they are human -- sometimes relax their minds.
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]Although men are in great difficulties, still, provided they are men, they sometimes relax their minds.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]In whatever trouble men may be, yet so long as they are men, they must occasionally have their moments of cheerfulness.
[ed. Harbottle (1906)]Human beings, even in times of crisis, do sometimes unwind, if they are human at all.
[tr. Berry (2006)]Even when they are in troubled situations, men, if they are human, still relax their minds from time to time.
[tr. McElduff (2011)]
Sometimes Kings have courted the People in Opposition to the Nobles. At other Times the Nobles have united with the People in Opposition to Kings. But Kings and Nobles have much oftener combined together, to crush, to humble and to Fleece the People.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Diary (1772, Spring), “Notes for a Oration at Braintree”
(Source)
Taking it all together, keep always in view that human life is transitory and cheap: yesterday a drop of semen, tomorrow a buried corpse or ashes. So make your way through this brief moment in time in line with nature and let go of your life gladly, as an olive might fall when ripe, blessing the earth that bore it and grateful to the tree that gave it growth.
[τὸ γὰρ ὅλον, κατιδεῖν ἀεὶ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ὡς ἐφήμερα καὶ εὐτελῆ καὶ ἐχθὲς μὲν μυξάριον, αὔριον δὲ τάριχος ἢ τέφρα. τὸ ἀκαριαῖον οὖν τοῦτο τοῦ χρόνου κατὰ φύσιν διελθεῖν καὶ ἵλεων καταλῦσαι, ὡς ἂν εἰ ἐλαία πέπειρος γενομένη ἔπιπτεν, εὐφημοῦσα τὴν ἐνεγκοῦσαν καὶ χάριν εἰδυῖα τῷ φύσαντι δένδρῳ.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 4, ch. 48 (4.48) (AD 161-180) [tr. Gill (2013)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:For herein lieth all indeed, ever to look upon all worldly things, as things for their continuance, that are but for a day: and for their worth, most vile, and contemptible, as for example, What is man? That which but the other day when he was conceived was vile snivel; and within few days shall be either an embalmed carcass, or mere ashes. Thus must thou according to truth and nature, throughly consider how man's life is but for a very moment of time, and so depart meek and contented: even as if a ripe olive falling should praise the ground that bare her, and give thanks to the tree that begat her.
[tr. Casaubon (1634) 4.39]Mankind are poor Transitory Things! They are one Day in the Rudiments of Life, and almost the next, turn'd to Mummie, or Ashes. Your way is therefore to manage this Minute Wisely, and part with it chearfully; And like a ripe Nut when you drop out of the Husk, be sure to speak well of the Season, and make your Acknowledgments to the Tree that bore you.
[tr. Collier (1701)]And, in general, all human affairs are mean, and but for a day. What yesterday was a trifling embryo, to morrow shall be an embalmed carcase, or ashes. Pass this short moment of time according to nature, and depart contentedly; as the full ripe olive falls of its own accord, applauding the earth whence it sprung, and thankful to the tree that bore it.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]On the whole, then, a wise man will consider all human affairs as of a day's continuance, contemptible, and of little importance. Man himself is to-day in embryo, to-morrow a mummy or a handful of ashes.
Let us then employ properly this moment of time allotted us by fate, and leave the world contentedly; like a ripe olive dropping from its stalk, speaking well of the soil that produced it, and of the tree that bore it.
[tr. Graves (1792)]To conclude, always observe how ephemeral and worthless human things are, and what was yesterday a little mucus, to-morrow will be a mummy or ashes. Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew.
[tr. Long (1862)]In short, mankind are poor, transitory things! They are one day in the rudiments of life, and almost the next turned to mummy or ashes. Your way is therefore to manage this minute in harmony with nature, and part with it cheerfully; and like a ripe olive when you droop, be sure to speak well of the mother that bare you.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]In a word, look at all human things, behold how fleeting and how sorry -- but yesterday a mucus-clot, to-morrow dust or ashes! Spend your brief moment then according to nature's law, and serenely greet the journey's end, as an olive falls when it is ripe, blessing the branch that bears it and giving thanks to the tree which gave it life.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]In sum, look upon human things, and behold how short-lived and how vile they are; mucus yesterday, tomorrow ashes or pickled carrion. Spend, then, the fleeting remnant of your time in a spirit that accords with Nature, and depart contentedly. So the olive falls when it is grown ripe, blessing the ground from whence it sprung, and thankful to the tree that bore it.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]In a word, fail not to note how short-lived are all mortal things, and how paltry -- yesterday a little mucus, to-morrow a mummy or burnt ash. Pass then through this tiny span of time in accordance with Nature, and come to thy journey's end with a good grace, just as an olive falls when it is fully ripe, praising the earth that bare it and grateful to the tree that gave it growth.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]This is the whole matter: see always how ephemeral and cheap are the things of man -- yesterday, a spot of albumen, to-morrow, ashes or a mummy. Therefore make your passage through this span of time in obedience to Nature and gladly lay down your life, as an olive, when ripe, might fall, blessing her who bare it and grateful to the tree which gave it life.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]Observe, in short, how transient and trivial is all mortal life; yesterday a drop of semen, tomorrow a handful of spice or ashes. Spend, therefore, these fleeting moments on earth as Nature would have you spend them, and then go to your rest with good grace, as an olive falls in its season, with a blessing for the earth that bore it and a thanskgiving to the tree that gave it life.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]In a word, never cease to observe how evanescent are all things human, and how worthless: today a drop of mucus, and tomorrow a mummy or a pile of ash. So make your eay through this brief moment of time as one who is obedient to nature, and accept your end with a cheerful heart, just as an olive might ripen and fall, blessing the earth that bare it and grateful to the tree that gave it growth.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.); Hard (2011 ed.)]In general, consider always how ephemeral and cheap human affairs are; yesterday slime, tomorrow pickle or ashes. Go through this momentary time in accordance with nature, and come to an end cheerfully, like an olive that falls when it is ripe, speaking well of the earth who bore it you and giving thanks to the tree that begat you.
[tr. Hard? (1997 ed.)]In short, know this: Human lives are brief and trivial. Yesterday a blob of semen; tomorrow embalming fluid, ash.
To pass through this brief life as nature demands. To give it up without complaint.
Like an olive that ripens and falls.
Praising its mother, thanking the tree it grew on.
[tr. Hays (2003)]The conclusion of this? You should always look on human life as short and cheap. Yesterday sperm: tomorrow a mummy or ashes.
So one should pass through this tiny fragment of time in tune with nature, and leave it gladly, as an olive might fall when ripe, blessing the earth which bore it and grateful to the tree which gave it growth.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]So always keep in mind how short-lived and insignificant human things really are: yesterday a glob of mucous, tomorrow a corpse or a pile of ashes. So pass this brief amount of time in accordance with Nature and dissolve graciously, just as a ripe olive falls to the ground praising both he earth which gave it life and the tree which nourished it.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man, yesterday in infancy, tomorrow embalmed or in ashes. For the hairsbreadth of time assigned to thee, live rationally, and part with life gracefully, as a ripe olive falls, blessing the season that bore it and thanking the tree that gave it life.
[ed. Yeroulanos (2016)]
You owe the companies nothing. You especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.
Banksy (b. 1974?) England-based pseudonymous street artist, political activist, film director
Wall and Piece, “Art,” “Brandalism” (2005)
(Source)
If you dare to sail first o’er a new thought track,
For a while it will scourge and score you;
Then, coming abreast with a skillful tack,
It will clasp your hand and slap your back,
And vow it was there before you.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “The World” st. 2, Once A Week, Vol. 10, No. 6 (1892-11-19)
(Source)
Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 5 “Fatigue” (1930)
(Source)
Books should be chosen, as Friends ought to be; few, but choice ones; yet thou may’st have many Acquaintance.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 1995 (1727)
(Source)
What’s really astounding about these brickheads who claim to be in touch with the original intent of the founders is (1) none of them seem to have read what the founders wrote, from Thomas Jefferson’s essays to Jamie Madison’s notes, and (2) you know damn well if they had been alive at the time of the American Revolution, they all would have been Tories.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1987-09-11), “We the People,” Texas Observer
(Source)
Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).
CORPORAL: [trying to copy Lawrence’s snuffing a match with his fingers] Ow! It damn well ‘urts!
LAWRENCE: Certainly it hurts.
CORPORAL: Well what’s the trick then?
LAWRENCE: The trick, William Potter, is not minding if it hurts.
Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Lawrence of Arabia, Part 1, sc. 18 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]
(Source)
(Source (Video)). In the actual film, the last line is given, "not minding that it hurts."
When we think what we do not feel, we lie to ourselves. We must always think with our whole being, soul and body.
[Penser ce que l’on ne sent pas, c’est mentir à soi-même. Tout ce qu’on pense, il faut le penser avec son être tout entier, âme et corps.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 9 “De la Sagesse, de la Vertu, etc. [On Wisdom and Virtue],” ¶ 52, 1798 entry (1850 ed.) [tr. Collins (1928), ch. 8]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:To think what we do not feel, is to lie to ourselves. Whatever we think, we should think with our whole being, will and body.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 9]To think what we do not feel is to lie to one's-self. Whatever we think should be thought by our whole being, soul and body.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 140]To think what we do not feel, is to lie to ourselves. Everything that we think we must think with our whole being, soul and body
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 8, ¶ 38]To think what we do not feel is to lie to ourselves, in the same way that we lie to others when we say what we do not think. Everything we think must be thought with our entire being, body and soul.
[tr. Auster (1983), 1798 entry]
As you look at Wendy, you may see her hair becoming white, and her figure little again, for all this happened long ago. Jane is now a common grown-up, with a daughter called Margaret; and every spring cleaning time, except when he forgets, Peter comes for Margaret and takes her to the Neverland, where she tells him stories about himself, to which he listens eagerly. When Margaret grows up she will have a daughter, who is to be Peter’s mother in turn; and thus it will go on, so long as children are gay and innocent and heartless.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Peter and Wendy, ch. 17 “When Wendy Grew Up” (1911)
(Source)
Final lines of the novel.
Barrie's novelization of the play Peter Pan (1904, but first published 1928) incorporated a coda to the story from his 1908 sequel, When Wendy Grew Up, An Afterthought, which had this line, Wendy speaking to Nana:WENDY: This is how I planned it if he ever came back. Every Spring Cleaning, except when he forgets, I'll let Jane fly away with him to the darling Never Never Land, and when she grows up I hope she will have a little daughter, who will fly away with him in turn – and in this way may I go on for ever and ever, dear Nana, so long as children are young and innocent.
Let the one fight for his flag, and the other for his ideal, and let both of them imagine that they are fighting for their country; the struggle will be colossal.
[Que l’un combatte pour son drapeau, et que l’autre combatte pour son idéal, et qu’ils s’imaginent tous les deux combattre pour la patrie; la lutte sera colossale.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 5 “Jean Valjean,” Book 1 “The War Between Four Walls,” ch. 21 (5.1.21) (1862) [tr. Hapgood (1887)]
(Source)
On soldiers and revolutionaries.(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Let the one fight for his flag, and the other for his ideal, and let them both imagine that they are fighting for the country; the strife will be colossal.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]Let one fight for his flag and the other combat for his ideal, and let them both imagine that they are contending for their country, and the struggle will be colossal.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]Let the one fight for his flag, and the other for his ideal, and let them both imagine they are fighting for the country; the strife will be colossal.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]Let the one fight for his flag and the other for his ideal, and let both imagine they are fighting for their country. The struggle will be tremendous.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
You’d be amazed how quickly traditions and policies can be undermined by men and women with clever minds, clever tongues, and no principles.
John G. Hemry (b. 1956) American naval officer, author [pseud. Jack Campbell]
Triumphant, ch. 16 (2019) [as Jack Campbell]
(Source)
What you were sure of yesterday, you know now to be false, but what you are sure of today is absolutely true.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 10 (1963)
(Source)
There is not so variable a thing in Nature as a lady’s head-dress.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-22), The Spectator, No. 98
(Source)
You can never be too cautious in your prognosis, in the view of the great uncertainty of the course of any disease not long watched, and the many unexpected turns it may take.
I think I am not the first to utter the following caution : —
Beware how you take away hope from any human being. Nothing is clearer than that the merciful Creator intends to blind most people as they pass down into the dark valley. Without very good reasons, temporal or spiritual, we should not interfere with his kind arrangements. It is the height of cruelty and the extreme of impertinence to tell your patient he must die, except you are sure that he wishes to know it, or that there is some particular cause for his knowing it. I should be especially unwilling to tell a child that it could not recover; if the theologians think it necessary, let them take the responsibility. God leads it by the hand to the edge of the precipice in happy unconsciousness, and I would not open its eyes to what he wisely conceals.Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Speech (1859-03-10), Valedictory Address, Harvard University School of Medicine
(Source)
Sometimes paraphrased, "Beware how you take away hope from another human being."
Collected in The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 58, No. 8 (1858-03-25).
Being an executive does not require very developed frontal lobes, but rather a combination of charisma, a capacity to sustain boredom, and the ability to shallowly perform on harrying schedules. Add to these tasks the “duty” of attending opera performances.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (b. 1960) Lebanese-American essayist, statistician, risk analyst, aphorist
The Black Swan, Part 2, ch. 11 “How to Look for Bird Poop” (2007)
(Source)
When someone has tried to please you, it is rude, as well as disheartening, to respond by announcing that the effort was a failure.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
“Miss Manners,” syndicated column (2015-01-27)
(Source)
Often an opinion, a custom, seems absurd when we are young, and advancing in life, we find the reason. Mustn’t we conclude that certain habits aren’t so ridiculous? One is lead to think sometimes that they were established by people who had read the entire book of life, and that they are judged by people who, despite their esprit, have only read a few pages.
[Souvent une opinion, une coutume commence à paraître absurde dans la première jeunesse, et en avançant dans la vie, on en trouve la raison; elle paraît moins absurde. En faudrait-il conclure que de certaines coutumes sont moins ridicules? On serait porté à penser quelquefois qu’elles ont été établies par des gens qui avaient lu le livre entier de la vie, et qu’elles sont jugées par des gens qui, malgré leur esprit, n’en ont lu que quelques pages.]
Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 1, ¶ 21 (1795) [tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]
(Source)
Compare to also Chamfort.(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Often in early youth an opinion or custom seems absurd to us, which, with advancing years, we discover has some justification and so appears less absurd. Ought we to conclude from this that certain customs are not so ridiculous as others? One might sometimes be tempted to think that they were established by people who had read the book of life through, and that they are judged by those who, despite their intelligence, have only glanced at a few pages.
[tr. Hutchinson (1902)]Often an opinion or custom seems absurd to us in early youth; but as we advance in life we see the reason for it, and it appears less fatuous. Must we conclude from this that certain customs actually are less absurd? One is sometimes led to suppose that they have been established by folk who have read the whole of the book of life, and that they are criticized by those who, in spite of their intelligence, have only read a page or two at best.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]Often an opinion, a custom, seems absurd to begin with, when one is very young, and as one advances in life one learns the reason for it, and it seems less so. Must one conclude, then, that certain customs have become less ridiculous? At times one is drawn to the conclusion that they were established by persons who had read the book of life entire, and are judged by others who have read only a few pages.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]Often an opinion, or a custom, begins to seem absurd in one's early youth, and, as life advances, one finds the reason for it; it seems less absurd. Is one ot conclude that certain customs are less ridiculous? One would sometimes be inclined to think that they had been laid down by people who had read the entire book of life, and that they are judged by people who, in spite of their intellect, have only read a few pages of it.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]To the very young some opinions or customs seem absurd, but as you grow older you realize the reason behind them and they seem less absurd. Are we to conclude that certain customs aren't as ridiculous as they seem? There are times when you feel that they've been created by people who've read the book of life from cover to cover and that they're being judged by those who, however intelligent, have read only a few pages.
[tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 20]
Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads. No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with unlimited power; for, whatever qualifications he may have evinced to entitle him to the possession of so dangerous a privilege, yet when possessed, others can no longer answer for him, because he can no longer answer for himself.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 522 (1820)
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Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you’re aboard, there’s nothing you can do. You can’t stop the plane, you can’t stop the storm, you can’t stop time. So one might as well accept it calmly, wisely.
Golda Meir (1898-1978) Russian-American-Israeli politician, teacher; Prime Minister of Israel (1969-1974)
Interview (1972-11) by Oriana Fallaci, Ms. (1973-04)
(Source)
Answering to the charge that she is hard and inflexible, countering that she is very sensitive and feeling in most matters.
The full interview was reprinted in Fallaci, Interview with History, ch. 4 "Golda Meir" (1974) [tr. Shepley (1976)], but slightly rephrased:Old age is like an airplane flying in a storm. Once you're in it, there's nothing you can do. You can't stop a plane, you can't stop a storm, you can't stop time. So you might as well take it easy, with wisdom.
Was this re-edited (and in which instance?), or is it a matter of different translation? It's unclear in what language the interview was conducted, but the original edition of the book (Intervista con la Storia) was in Italian, Fallaci's native language, which gave the passage as follow:La vecchiaia é come un aereo che vola nella tempesta. Una volta che ci sei dentro, non puoi farci pid nulla. Non si ferma un aereo, non si ferma una tempesta, non si ferma il tempo. Quindi tanto vale pigliarsela calma, in saggezza.
There can be nothing more utterly subversive of all that is really valuable than the suppression of honest thought. No man, worthy of the form he bears, will at the command of church or state solemnly repeat a creed his reason scorns.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1873-12) “Individuality,” Chicago Free Religious Society
(Source)
Full title "Arraignment of the Church and a Plea for Individuality." Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876)
I love to stroll down in the old parts of Beverly Hills because I know of old places that have been built for four or five years.
When the old man waggles his head and says, “Ah, so I thought when I was your age,” he has proved the youth’s case. Doubtless, whether from growth of experience or decline of animal heat, he thinks so no longer; but he thought so while he was young; and all men have thought so while they were young, since there was dew in the morning or hawthorn in May; and here is another young man adding his vote to those of previous generations and riveting another link to the chain of testimony.
MME. PERNELLE: The tongues of spite are busy night and noon.
And to their venom no man is immune.[Les langues ont toujours du venin à répandre,
Et rien n’est ici-bas qui s’en puisse défendre.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 5, sc. 3 (1669) [tr. Wilbur (1963)]
(Source)
Dismissing the accusations against Tartuffe by her son, Orgon.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:Tongues never want for Venom to spit; nothing here below can be Proof against them.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]Evil tongues have always venom to scatter abroad, and nothing here below can guard against it.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]Evil tongues have always some venom to pour fourth; and here below there is nothing proof against them.
[tr. Wall (1879)]Tongues never lack venom to spread about. Nothing in this world can be proof against them.
[tr. Mathew (1890), 5.2]Tongues are always ready to spit venom: nothing here below is proof against them.
[tr. Waller (1903)]Their tongues for spitting venom never lack,
There's nothing here below they'll not attack.
[tr. Page (1909)]Many a tongue is ready to spread slander,
And nothing in this world is proof against it.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]Venom is what their tongues will never lack,
And nothing here below escapes attack.
[tr. Frame (1967)]No -- slanderous tongues on every hand,
All poisonous talk.
[tr. Bolt (2002)]Nothing in this world can deflect the venom of malice.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]Wicked tongues will always have poison to spread about.
[tr. Campbell (2013)]
There are as many forms of fun as there are ways to tie a cravat. And just like cravat knots, some entertainments are quite subtle and others quite vulgar, and most are a matter of personal taste unfortunately foisted upon the world.
Gail Carriger (b. 1976) American archaeologist, author [pen name of Tofa Borregaard]
Ambush or Adore (2022)
“Happy as a king,” iz a libel on happiness, and on the king to.
[“Happy as a king,” is a libel on happiness, and on the king, too.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 “Affurisms: Embers on the Harth” (1874)
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Well then, is there anyone — besides those who were glad that he had turned into a king — who did not want this deed to happen, or failed to approve of it afterwards? So all are guilty. All loyal citizens, so far as was in their power, killed Caesar. Not everyone had a plan, not everyone had the courage, not everyone had the opportunity — but everyone had the will.
[Ecquis est igitur exceptis eis qui illum regnare gaudebant qui illud aut fieri noluerit aut factum improbarit? Omnes ergo in culpa. Etenim omnes boni, quantum in ipsis fuit, Caesarem occiderunt: aliis consilium, aliis animus, aliis occasio defuit; voluntas nemini.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 2, ch. 12 / sec. 29 (2.12/2.29) (44-10-24 BC) [tr. Berry (2006)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:Is there anyone, then, except those who rejoiced in his kingly sway, who either was unwilling that the deed should be done or has impugned it since? All therefore share in the fault, for all loyal citizens, so far as rested with them, took part in Cæsar's death. Some wanted the necessary powers of contrivance, some the courage, some the opportunity; but not one the will.
[tr. King (1877)]Is there then any man, except those that were glad of his reign, who repudiated that deed, or disapproved of it when it was done? All therefore are to blame, for all good men, so far as their own power went, slew Caesar; some lacked a plan, others courage, others opportunity: will no man lacked.
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]Is there any one then, except you yourself and these men who wished him to become a king, who was unwilling that that deed should be done, or who disapproved of it after it was done? All men, therefore, are guilty as far as this goes. In truth, all good men, as far as it depended on them, bore a part in the slaying of Caesar. Some did not know how to contrive it, some had not courage for it, some had no opportunity, -- every one had the inclination.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]Yet, with the exception of the men who wanted to make an autocratic monarch of him, all were happy for this to happen -- or were glad when it had happened. So everyone is guilty! For every decent person, in so far as he had any say in the matter, killed Caesar! Plans, courage, opportunities were in some case lacking; but the desire nobody lacked.
[tr. Grant (1960)]Is there anyone, with the exception of those who were happy that he was our king, who did not want it done or disapproved that it was done? Everyone is at fault, then. Indeed, all decent men, as far as they could, killed Caesar; some may have lacked a plan, others courage, and still others the opportunity, but no one lacked the desire.
[tr. McElduff (2011)]