Yesterday the greatest Question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater perhaps, never was or will be decided among Men. A Resolution was passed without one dissenting Colony “that these united Colonies, are, and of right ought to be free and independent States, and as such, they have, and of Right ought to have full Power to make War, conclude Peace, establish Commerce, and to do all the other Acts and Things, which other States may rightfully do.” You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the Causes, which have impell’d Us to this mighty Revolution, and the Reasons which will justify it, in the Sight of God and Man. A Plan of Confederation will be taken up in a few days.
John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1776-07-03, a.m.) to Abigail Adams
(Source)
Independence was voted on and approved by the Continental Congress on 1776-07-02, and the final text of the justifying Declaration of Independence approved and signed on 1776-07-04. Adams was writing on the day in-between.
I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear like a fool but be wise.
[J’ai toujours vu que, pour réussir parfaitement bien dans le monde, il alloit avoir l’air fou et être sage.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 1004 / 1013 (1720-1755)
This a common English translation since at least 1896 (original source unknown).
(Source (French)). Other translations:To succeed perfectly well in the world, I have always seen that you have to appear mad while being wise.
[tr. Clark (2012)]
The proud man can learn humility, but he will be proud of it.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 3 (1963)
(Source)
The man who will live above his present circumstances is in great danger of living in a little time much beneath them; or as the Italian proverb runs, “The man who lives by hope, will die by hunger.”
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-10-09), The Spectator, No. 191
(Source)
“Honesty” in social life is often used as a cover for rudeness. But there is quite a difference between being candid in what you’re talking about, and people voicing their insulting opinions under the name of honesty.
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Interview (2011-08), “Q and A with Miss Manners,” by Arcynta Ali Childs, Smithsonian magazine
(Source)
PROSPERO: Though with their high wrongs I am struck to th’ quick,
Yet with my nobler reason ’gainst my fury
Do I take part. The rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Tempest, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 32ff (5.1.32-36) (1611)
(Source)
There is no such thing as death.
In nature nothing dies.
From each sad remnant of decay
Some forms of life arise.Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Poem (1849?), “There Is No Such Thing as Death”
This poem is widely attributed to Mackay, but there is reason to doubt this. I was unable to find the poem in any collection of Mackay poetry.
The earliest reference I can find to the passage is in Eliza Cook's Journal, No. 34 (1849-12-22), where this is part of st. 3 of the poem. It is identified there as being written by Charlotte Young. I cannot find any other attributions to Young for this poem (and cannot find out anything more about a poet by that name who would have been writing in 1849).
The poem (with various numbers of stanzas) was very popular in the last half of the 19th Century, appearing as newspaper filler, memorial bulletins, and books of hymns and sacred poetry alike. All of these uses of it have the poem unattributed or "Anonymous" (earliest: 1857-02, 1859-11, 1859-11-17, 1859-12-17, 1860-02-15, 1860-08-28). Further use of the poem, unattributed, continue through the rest of the 19th Century.
In an "Answers from Readers" column in the New York Times (1913-11-23), the poem (well, the full stanza) is asserted to have written by Mackay; that is the earliest such attribution I can find.
In Kate Louis Roberts, ed., Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1922), it (just this portion) is also identified as being written by Mackay; after that, Mackay is credited in all sources I can find.
In summary, Mackay has become associated with this poem, most strongly by an attribution the popular Hoyt's in 1922, though there is at least one earlier reference. Prior to that it was identified for a number of decades, even after Mackay's death, as Anonymous, with the earliest reference I can find attributing it to a Charlotte Young.
Our repentance is not so much regret for the evil we have done, as fear of its consequences to us.
[Notre repentir n’est pas tant un regret du mal que nous avons fait, qu’une crainte de celui qui nous en peut 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], ¶180 (1665-1678) [ed. Gowens (1851), ¶187]
(Source)
Appeared in the 1st edition as:Notre repentir n’est pas une douleur du mal que nous avons fait ; c’est une crainte de celui qui nous en peut arriver.
In the manuscript, it reads:Notre repentir ne vient point du regret de nos actions, mais du dommage qu’elles nous causent.
(Source (French)). Other translations:Our Repentance proceeds not from the remorse coneiv'd at our Actions, but from the prejudice we are apt to receive thereby.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶35]Our Repentances are generally not so much a Concern and Remorse for the Ills we have done, as a Dread of those we were in danger of suffering.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶181]Repentance is not so much remorse for what we have done, as the fear of consequences.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶384; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶172]Our repentance is not so much sorrow for the ill we have done as fear of the ill that may happen to us.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶180]Repentance is less a sorrow at having sinned than a fear of the possible consequences.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶184]Repentance is not so much regret for the evil we have done as fear of that which may befall us.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶180]Our repentance is less a regret for the evil we have done than a precaution against the evil that may be done to us.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶180]Our repentance is less a regret for ills we have caused than a fear of ills we may encounter.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶180]Repentance is not so much regret for the evil we have done as fear of the evil that may befall us as a result.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶180]Our repentance is not so much regret for the evil we have done, as fear of the evil which may yet happen to us in future.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶180]
It has always seemed absurd to suppose that a god would choose for his companions, during all eternity, the dear souls whose highest and only ambition is to obey.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, 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).
You know, it don’t take near as good a man to be a Candidate as it does to hold the office. That’s why we wisely defeat more than we elect.
Since we have explored the maze so long without result, it follows, for poor human reason, that we cannot have to explore much longer; close by must be the centre, with a champagne luncheon and a piece of ornamental water. How if there were no centre at all, but just one alley after another, and the whole world a labyrinth without end or issue?
In sharpness of vision you’re no match for Lynceus,
but you don’t despise ointment if you have sore eyes;
and though you’ll never match unbeaten Glycon’s strength,
you guard yourself against attacks of crippling gout.
We advance part way even if we can’t go further.[Non possis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus,
non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungui;
nec quia desperes invicti membra Glyconis,
nodosa corpus nolis prohibere cheragra.
Est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra.]Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1 “To Maecenas,” l. 28ff (1.1.28-32) (20 BC) [tr. Fuchs (1977)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:Though one cannot lyke Linceus with pearsing eyesight see,
To mende his sighte he maye not grudge inoynted for to be.
Lyke lustie Glyco thou dispayres in lymmes to be so stoute
Yet maye thou exercyse thy selfe to shun the knottie gowte.
A man maye clim a step, or twayne thoughe he goe not beyonde.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Thy eyes will never pierce like Lynceus eye,
Scorn not to noint them though if sore they are:
Nor, of a Wrastlers strength if thou despair,
Neglect to salve the knotted Gout. If more
'S deni'd, 'tis something to have gon thus fur.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]Yours cannot be as good as Lynceus Eyes,
What then, when Sore must I fit Cures despise?
You cannot Hope to have your Limbs as great
As Glyco's, nor so strong and firmly set,
Yet to prevent the Gout hast Thou no care?
What, if of farther progress you despair,
'Tis somewhat surely to have gone thus far.
[tr. Creech (1684)]You cannot hope for Lynceus' piercing eyes:
But will you then a strengthening salve despise?
You wish for matchless Glycon's limbs, in vain,
Yet why not cure the gout's decrepit pain?
Though of exact perfection you despair,
Yet every step to virtue's worth your care.
[tr. Francis (1747)]Though not a Lynceus, one may sure apply
The lenient salve to a distemper'd eye;
Nor would you scorn from chalk-stones to preserve
Joints that despair of Glycon's lion nerve.
Though hopeless to surmount fair virtue's hill,
To climb a certain height is something still.
[tr. Howes (1845)]Your sight is not so piercing as that of Lynceus; you will not however therefore despise being anointed, if you are sore-eyed: nor because you despair of the muscles of the invincible Glycon, will you be careless of preserving your body from the knotty gout. There is some point to which we may reach, if we can go no further.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]Your eyes will never see like Lynceus'; still
You rub them with an ointment when they're ill.
You cannot hope for Glyco's stalwart frame,
Yet you'd avoid the gout that makes you lame.
Some point of moral progress each may gain,
Though to aspire beyond it should prove vain.
[tr. Conington (1874)]No Lynceus you, yet will you not despise,
Because of that, a salve for aching eyes.
Glycon in thews may beat you out and out,
Shall you not, therefore, keep at bay the gout?
Fair wisdom's goal may not be reached, but you
May on the road advance a stage or two.
[tr. Martin (1881)]You may be unable to see so far as Lyncæus, yet you do not on this account, being a blear-eyed man, despise ointment. You may despair of possessing limbs like those of the unconquered gladiator Glycon, yet you will endeavour to preserve yourself from the hand-crippling gout. It is permitted us to attain a certain point, though denied us beyond it.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]You may not be able, with your eyes, to see as far as Lynceus, yet you would not on that account scorn to anoint them, if sore. Nor, because you may not hope for unconquered Glycon's strength of limb, would you decline to keep your body free from the gnarls of gout. It is worth while to take some steps forward, though we may not go still further.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]Your eyes aren’t as keen
As Lynceus’, but this doesn’t mean that if they’re inflamed
You shouldn’t put drops in them. Glycon’s muscular limbs
Will never be yours, but still, you ought to take steps
To insure that the gout doesn’t tie your body in knots.
Your strides may be modest: they'll still take you further along.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]Your eyes will never see as Lynkeus
Saw, riding with Jason, but when your eyes
Hurt, you rub them with slave. Olympic
Winners are stronger, alas, than you
Can ever be, but you too protect
Yourself form the wringing pain of gout.
It pays to go as far as our feet will take us,
Though there's farther to go,
And we can never go that far.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]Suppose you don't have eyes as good as Lynceus;
That doesn't mean that if they're sore you wouldn't
Use salve to make them better; suppose you haen't
A chance int he world of competing with undefeated
Glycon the strongman, that doesn't mean you wouldn't
Try everythihng you could by exercise
To keep away rheumatic aches and pains.
You can't do everything, but you have to do
Everything you can.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]You might not be able to rival Lynceus in length of vision,
but that wouldn’t make you refuse a salve if your eyes were sore.
You'll never enjoy the physique of Glyco the champeon athlete,
but you'd still want to keep your body free from the knots of gout.
We can all make some progress, in spite of our limitations.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]You mightn’t be able to match Lynceus’ eyesight,
But you wouldn’t not bathe your eyes if they were sore:
And just because you can’t hope to have Glycon’s peerless
Physique, you’d still want your body free of knotty gout.
We should go as far as we can if we can’t go further.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
But a normal human being does not want the Kingdom of Heaven: he wants life on earth to continue. This is not solely because he is “weak”, “sinful” and anxious for a “good time”. Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise. Ultimately it is the Christian attitude which is self-interested and hedonistic, since the aim is always to get away from the painful struggle of earthly life and find eternal peace in some kind of Heaven or Nirvana. The humanist attitude is that the struggle must continue and that death is the price of life.
CHORUS: From jigging veins of rhyming mother-wits,
And such conceits as clownage keeps in pay,
We’ll lead you to the stately tent of war,
Where you shall hear the Scythian Tamburlaine
Threatening the world with high astounding terms,
And scourging kingdoms with his conquering sword.
View but his picture in this tragic glass,
And then applaud his fortunes as you please.
I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it, I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.
Gene Fowler (1890-1960) American journalist, author, and dramatist. [b. Eugene Devlan]
Skyline: A Reporter’s Reminiscence of the ’20s, ch. 8 (1961)
(Source)
Fowler used this exact phrase in his autobiographical book, published posthumously, and I can find no other published reference to the phrase prior to 1960 (a review of the upcoming book).
The phrase is also attributed in many places to the American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950), but with no citation and no searchable use of the phrase during her lifetime.
Almost all of us want to be richer than we are, even if we are very rich indeed. To be sure, there are exceptions; saints, ascetics, those who travel light and will not add even the weight of a wallet, a few whose material ambitions are fully satisfied and who therefore truly want nothing further. But the rest of us want more than we have, and the specially thoughtful sometimes wonder whether there could ever come a time when we didn’t.
The crucial question, though, leaving out of consideration the exempted categories, is: what are we willing to do to increase our wealth?Bernard Levin (1928-2004) British journalist, critic, broadcaster, satirist
Essay (1989-03-23), “Do You Seriously Want to Be Swindled?” The Times, London
Collected in Now Read On (1980).
A weapon is a device for making your enemy change his mind.
Lois McMaster Bujold (b. 1949) American author
The Vor Game, ch. 5 (1990)
(Source)
Protagonist Miles Vorkosigan recalling a saying of his father's.
Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
(Attributed)
Widely attributed to Shaw (also to Oscar Wilde), but no actual source has been found.
For more discussion of this quotations origin, see Quote Origin: Youth Is Wasted on the Young – Quote Investigator®.
My first reaction was to be afraid
This ardor was a snare the Devil had laid;
And I avoided you as a temptation
That might stand in the way of my salvation.
But finally I knew, O gracious beauty,
That passion need not be at odds with duty,
That I can reconcile it with propriety;
And so I yield to it without anxiety.
[D’abord j’appréhendai que cette ardeur secrète
Ne fût du noir esprit une surprise adroite;
Et même à fuir vos yeux mon cœur se résolut,
Vous croyant un obstacle à faire mon salut.
Mais enfin je connus, ô beauté tout aimable!
Que cette passion peut n’être point coupable,
Que je puis l’ajuster avecque la pudeur;
Et c’est ce qui m’y fait abandonner mon cœur.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 3, sc. 3 (1669) [tr. Frame (1967)]
(Source)
Tartuffe plays the "It can't be wrong if it feels so right" seduction card. "Modesty" is used here in many of the translations in its meaning of moderate behavior or avoidance of sexual explicitness.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:At first I was under Apprehension lest this secret Flame might be a dexterous Surprize of the foul Fiend; and my Heart even resolv'd to avoid your Eyes, believing you an Obstacle to my future Happiness. But at length I perceiv'd, most lovely Beauty, that my passion could not be blameable, that I could reconcile it with Modesty, and this made me abandon my Heart to it.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]At first I feared that this secret ardour might be nothing but a cunning snare of the foul fiend; and my heart even resolved to fly your presence, thinking that you might be an obstacle to my salvation. But at last I found, oh most lovely beauty, that my passion could not be blameable; that I could reconcile it with modesty; and this made me feely indulge it.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]At first I feared that this secret tenderness might be a skilful assault of the evil one; I event hought I would avoid your presence, fearing you might prove a stumbling-block to my salvation. But I have learnt, O adorable beauty, that my passion need not be a guilty one; that i can reconcile it with modesty; and I have given up my whole soul to it.
[tr. Wall (1879)]At first I was afraid lest this secret flame might be a subtle surprise of the evil one; and my heart resolved to avoid your eyes as an obstacle to my future happiness; but at length I perceived, most lovely beauty, that: my passion could not be guilty; that I could reconcile it with the rules of modesty, and this made me yield my heart to it.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]At first I feared lest this secret tenderness might be but an artful assault of the evil one; and my heart even resolved to flee from your eyes, fearing you might be a stumbling-block in the way of my salvation. But at last I learnt, ah! most entrancing beauty, that this passion need not be a guilty one, that I cuold reconcile it with modesty, and so I have let my heart give way to it.
[tr. Waller (1903)]At first I trembled lest this secret love
Might be the Evil Spirit's artful snare;
I even schooled my heart to flee your beauty,
Thinking it was a bar to my salvation.
But soon, enlightened, O all lovely one,
I saw how this my passion may be blameless,
How I may make it fit with modesty,
And thus completely yield my heart to it.
[tr. Page (1909)]At first I trembled, lest my secret flame
Should be a stratagem of the Evil One;
Even, I was resolved to flee your presence,
A possible obstacle to my salvation.
But finally I realized, my fair one,
That there need be no guilt in such a passion.
That I can make it chime with modesty;
And so I let my heart follow its bent.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]At first, I trembled, lest that love should be
A subtle snare that Hell had laid for me;
I vowed to flee the sight of you, eschewing
A rapture that might prove my soul's undoing;
But soon, fair being, I became aware
That my deep passion could be made to square
With rectitude, and with my bounden duty.
I thereupon surrendered to your beauty.
[tr. Wilbur (1963)]At first I feared that this secret passion was a clever temptation of the Evil One, and I even tried to avoid you, thinking you might be an obstacle to my salvation. But at last, most adorable beauty, I recognized that such love need not be sinful, that I could reconcile it with decency, and I surrendered to it.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]
Some comfort it would have been, could I, like a Faust, have fancied myself tempted and tormented of the Devil; for a Hell, as I imagine, without Life, though only diabolic Life, were more frightful: but in our age of Down-pulling and Disbelief, the very Devil has been pulled down, you cannot so much as believe in a Devil. To me the Universe was all void of Life, of Purpose, of Volition, even of Hostility: it was one huge, dead, immeasurable Steam-engine, rolling on, in its dead indifference, to grind me limb from limb.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 2, ch. 7 (1834)
(Source)
Quoting Herr Teufelsdröckh.
This chapter first appeared in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 9, No. 51 (1834-03).
The people we meet are the playwrights and stage managers of our lives: they cast us in a role, and we play it whether we will or not. It is not so much the example of others we imitate as the reflection of ourselves in their eyes and the echo of ourselves in their words.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 130 (1955)
(Source)
Lieing is the lowest grade of sin, — it is more cowardly than stealing, bekause thare is less risk in it — it is more demoralising than burglary, bekause there is no cure for it, — it is more dangerous than swareing, bekause swareing don’t hurt enny boddy else, — it waz the fust sin committed, bekause it was the easiest and most natral, and it will probably be the last one committed, bekause no man ever gits so poor and degraded but what he kan tell quite a respectabel lie.
[Lying is the lowest grade of sin — it is more cowardly than stealing, because there is less risk in it — it is more demoralizing than burglary, because there is no cure for it — it is more dangerous than swearing, because swearing doesn’t hurt anybody else — it was the first sin committed, because it was the easiest and most natural, and it will probably be the last one committed, because no man ever gets so poor and degraded but what he can tell quite a respectable lie.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things, ch. 23 “Lying” (1868)
(Source)
Nothing is more detestable than disgrace, nothing more shameful than slavery. We have been born for glory and freedom — let us either hold on to these things or die with dignity.
[Nihil est detestabilius dedecore, nihil foedius servitute. Ad decus et ad libertatem nati sumus; aut haec teneamus aut cum dignitate moriamur.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 3, ch. 14 / sec. 36 (3.14/3.36) (44-12-20 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2019)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:Nothing is more detestable than disgrace, nothing fouler than servitude. It is to glory and to liberty we were born; let us either hold fast to these or die with dignity.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]There is nothing more detestable than disgrace; nothing more shameful than slavery. We have been born to glory and to liberty; let us either preserve them or die with dignity.
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]Nothing is more abominable than disgrace, nothing is uglier than slavery. We were born for honor and freedom: let us either retain them or die with dignity.
[tr. Manuwald (2007)]
Lend Money to an Enemy, and thou’lt gain him, to a Friend and thou’lt lose him.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1740 ed.)
(Source)
It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue.
John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1775-10-29) to Abigail Adams
(Source)
When a noble deed is done, who is likely to appreciate it? They who are noble themselves.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1860-07-04), “The Last Days of John Brown,” North Elba, Massachusetts
(Source)
Collected in A Yankee in Canada (1866).
HOLMES: That’s the frailty of genius, John. It needs an audience.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Sherlock, 01×01 “A Study in Pink” (2010-07-25)
(Source)
(Source (Video); dialog confirmed)
And now, ladies and gentlemen, that we’ve enjoyed some good times this evening, and enjoyed some laughter together, I feel it is my obligation to remind you of some of the negative, depressing, dangerous, life-threatening things that life is really all about; things you have not been thinking about tonight, but which will be waiting for you as soon as you leave the theater or as soon as you turn off your television sets. Anal rape, quicksand, body lice, evil spirits, gridlock, acid rain, continental drift, labor violence, flash floods, rabies, torture, bad luck, calcium deficiency, falling rocks, cattle stampedes, bank failure, evil neighbors, killer bees, organ rejection, lynching, toxic waste, unstable dynamite, religious fanatics, prickly heat, price fixing, moral decay, hotel fires, loss of face, stink bombs, bubonic plague, neo-Nazis, friction, cereal weevils, failure of will, chain reaction, soil erosion, mail fraud, dry rot, voodoo curse, broken glass, snake bite, parasites, white slavery, public ridicule, faithless friends, random violence, breach of contract, family scandals, charlatans, transverse myelitis, structural defects, race riots, sunspots, rogue elephants, wax buildup, killer frost, jealous coworkers, root canals, metal fatigue, corporal punishment, sneak attacks, peer pressure, vigilantes, birth defects, false advertising, ungrateful children, financial ruin, mildew, loss of privileges, bad drugs, ill-fitting shoes, widespread chaos, Lou Gehrig’s disease, stray bullets, runaway trains, chemical spills, locusts, airline food, shipwrecks, prowlers, bathtub accidents, faulty merchandise, terrorism, discrimination, wrongful cremation, carbon deposits, beef tapeworm, taxation without representation, escaped maniacs, sunburn, abandonment, threatening letters, entropy, nine-mile fever, poor workmanship, absentee landlords, solitary confinement, depletion of the ozone layer, unworthiness, intestinal bleeding, defrocked priests, loss of equilibrium, disgruntled employees, global warming, card sharks, poisoned meat, nuclear accidents, broken promises, contamination of the water supply, obscene phone calls, nuclear winter, wayward girls, mutual assured destruction, rampaging moose, the greenhouse effect, cluster headaches, social isolation, Dutch elm disease, the contraction of the universe, paper cuts, eternal damnation, the wrath of God, and PARANOIA!!
George Carlin (1937-2008) American comedian
Show (1986-05-02/03), Playin’ with Your Head, “Things to Watch Out For,” Beverly Theater, Los Angeles
(Source)
In a word, there is only one thing here worth the minding, and that is, to be true and just, and to show benevolence, even to the untrue and unjust.
[Ἓν ὧδε πολλοῦ ἄξιον, τὸ μετ᾿ ἀληθείας καὶ δικαιοσύνης εὐμενῆ τοῖς ψεύσταις καὶ ἀδίκοις διαβιοῦν.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 6, ch. 47 (6.47) (AD 161-180) [tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:One thing there is, and that only, which is worth our while in this world, and ought by us much to be esteemed; and that is, according to truth and righteousness, meekly and lovingly to converse with false, and unrighteous men.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 6.42]In a word. There's only one thing here worth the minding; And that is, not to imitate the Degeneracy of Mortals: But to be True, Honest, and Good-natur'd, even amongst Knaves, and Sharpers.
[tr. Collier (1701)]The one thing valuable in this life, is, to spend it in a steady course of truth, justice, and humanity, toward even the false and unjust.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]In short, there is nothing here much worth our attention, but to act on all occasions with a regard to truth and justice, and to live peaceably even with those who act with fraud and injustice.
[tr. Graves (1792), 6.41]One thing here is worth a great deal, to pass thy life in truth and justice, with a benevolent disposition even to liars and unjust men.
[tr. Long (1862)]Here one thing is of real worth, to live out life in truth and justice, with charity even to the false and the unjust.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]The one precious thing in life is to spend it in a steady course of truth and justice, with kindliness even for the false and the unjust.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]One thing on earth is worth much -- to live out our lives in truth and justice, and in charity with liars and unjust men.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]One thing here is of great price, to live out life with truth and righteousness, gracious to liars and to the unrighteous.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]In this life one thing only is of precious worth: to live out one's days in truthfulness and fair dealing, and in charity even with the false and unjust.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]In this world there is only one thing of real value, to pass our days in truth and justice, and yet be gracious to those who are false and unjust.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]The only thing that isn’t worthless: to live this life out truthfully and rightly. And be patient with those who don't.
[tr. Hays (2003)]In this world there is only one thing of value, to live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]In this world there is only one thing of real value, to pass our days in truth and justice, and yet be gracious to those who are false and unjust.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]So there is one thing that is of most value: to live out your life in truth and justice and be kind to those who are false and unjust.
[tr. Gill (2013)]So one thing is worth much: to keep on living with truth and justice and in good will even among liars and unjust men.
[tr. @sentantiq (2019)]
If we were all given by magic the power to read each other’s thoughts I suppose the first effect would be that almost all friendships would be dissolved.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 8 “Persecution Mania” (1930)
(Source)
The Time will come when thou shalt desire one Day, or even one Hour to amend in, and I cannot say it will be granted thee.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2058 (1727)
(Source)
“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best –” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 10 “An Enchanted Place” (1928)
(Source)
HELEN: From the moment my mother bore me I was pointed at for a freak. It’s not usual in Hellas or anywhere else for a woman to produce her young enclosed in a white shell — which is the way Leda is said to have borne me, with Zeus for my father!
[ἙΛΈΝΗ: ἆρ᾽ ἡ τεκοῦσά μ᾽ ἔτεκεν ἀνθρώποις τέρας;
γυνὴ γὰρ οὔθ᾽ Ἑλληνὶς οὔτε βάρβαρος
τεῦχος νεοσσῶν λευκὸν ἐκλοχεύεται,
ἐν ᾧ με Λήδαν φασὶν ἐκ Διὸς τεκεῖν.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Helen [Ἑλένη], l. 256ff (412 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1954)]
(Source)
The egg-laying passage here is bracketed or elided by some translators, indicating it is possibly spurious or not in all manuscript traditions.Leda was Helen's mother, with Zeus, the father, having seduced/raped her while disguised as a swan. Leda then lay a clutch of eggs (one with Helen, one containing the twins Castor and Pollux, another Clytemnestra). The ravishment of Leda is a common theme in art; showing the resulting eggs is much more rare (da Vinci being an exception).
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:Was not my birth a prodigy to men?
For never Grecian or Barbaric dame
From the white shell her young ones gave to light,
As Leda brought me forth, fame says, to Jove.
[tr. Potter (1783), l. 286ff]Did not my mother, as a prodigy
Which wondering mortals gaze at, bring me forth?
For neither Greician nor barbaric dame
Till then produced an egg, in which her children
Enveloped lay, as they report, from Jove
Leda engendered.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]Did not my mother bring me forth as a prodigy to men? For neither Greek nor barbarian woman has given birth to a white vessel of younglings, in which they say Leda begot me by Jove.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]Did my mother bear me as a wonder to mankind? [For no other woman, Hellene or barbarian, gives birth to a white vessel of chicks, in which they say Leda bore me to Zeus.]
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Bore not my mother a portent unto men?
For never Hellene nor barbarian dame
Brought forth white vial of a fledgling brood,
Wherein to Zeus men say that Leda bare me.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1912)]My very birth
A portent -- for it is not known in nature
That any woman, Greek or barbarous,
Should bear her children as they say that I
Was born to Zeus by Leda, cased about
In a white hollow shell.
[tr. Sheppard (1925)]And did my mother bear me as some kind of monster?
For certainly no Greek or foreign woman yet
travailed with the white circle of an egg for birds,
as Leda bore me, so they say, from Zeus.
[tr. Warner (1951)]Was I born a monster among mankind?
[No woman, neither in Greece nor yet in Barbary,
is hatched from the white envelope that contains young birds,
yet thus Leda bore me to Zeus, or so they say.]
[tr. Lattimore (1956)]Was I born to be some kind of freak,
carrion for men's scavenging eyes?
I am a freak ... a monster,
and I lead a monstrous life.
[tr. Meagher (1986)]Did my mother bring me into the world for people to stare at as a freak? My life has certainly been grotesque.
[tr. Davie (2002)]Did not my mother bear me to be a monster to the world? For no woman, Hellene or barbarian, gives birth to babes in eggs inclosed, as they say Leda bare me to Zeus.
[tr. Athenian Society (2006)]I've been handicapped -- to judge by the way people stare --
Since birth; and all my life I've lived under the shadow
Of my deformity.
[tr. A. Wilson (2007)]My mother has brought me to this world to be nothing more than a monstrous freak! No woman -- neither Greek nor barbarian -- has given birth to the egg of a white bird, yet, they say, that this is what my mother has done. Leda, they say, delivered me inside the shell of a bird’s egg. Zeus is my father.
[tr. Theodoridis (2011)]Did my mother bear me as a freak among mankind?
No woman -- no Greek, no barbarian -- gives birth to
her baby in an eggshell cask,
they say Leda bore me to Zeus.
[tr. Ambrose et al. (2018)]Did my mother bear me as a wonder to mankind? [For no other woman, Hellene or barbarian, gives birth to a white vessel of chicks, in which they say Leda bore me to Zeus.]
[tr. Coleridge / Helen Heroization Team]
To delight in reading is to trade life’s dreary moments for moments of pure joy.
[Aimer à lire, c’est faire un échange des heures d’ennui que l’lon doit avoir en sa vie contre des heures délicieuses.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 1632 / 1143 (1720-1755) [ed. Guterman (1963)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Other translations:A fondness for reading changes the inevitable dull hours of our life into exquisite hours of delight.
[E.g. (1900)]To love to read is to exchange hours of ennui for hours of delight.
[E.g. (1936)]To love to read is to make an exchange of the inevitable hours of boredom in one's life, for some delightful hours.
[tr. Clark (2012)]
Injure a businessman and he’ll try to make you sorry; injure an artist and he’ll try to make you immortal.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 7 (1963)
(Source)
He is asleep. Though his mettle was sorely tried,
He lived, and when he lost his angel, died.
It happened calmly, on its own,
The way night comes when day is done.[Il dort. Quoique le sort fût pour lui bien étrange,
Il vivait. Il mourut quand il n’eut plus son ange,
La chose simplement d’elle-même arriva,
Comme la nuit se fait lorsque le jour s’en va.]Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 5 “Jean Valjean,” Book 9 “Supreme Shadow, Surpreme Dawn,” ch. 6 (5.9.6) (1862) [tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]
(Source)
These final lines of the book are an epitaph once penciled on the stone over Valjean's unmarked grave. Wilbour and Wraxall leave the lines in French.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:He sleeps. Although his fate was very strange, he lived. He died when he had no longer his angel. The thing came to pass simply, of itself, as the night comes when day is gone.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]He sleeps; although so much he was denied,
He lived. And when his dear love left him, died.
It happened of itself, in the calm way
That in the evening night-time follows day.
[tr. Denny (1976)]He sleeps. Though fate dealt with him strangely,
He lived. Bereft of his angel, he died.
It came about simplly, of itself,
As night follows when the day is ended.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]
In nuclear or biological warfare, in which we know we cannot limit effects, how do we distinguish our enemies from our friends — or our enemies from ourselves? Does this not bring us exactly to the madness of terrorists who kill themselves in order to kill others?
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.
I have somewhere met with the epitaph of a charitable man, which has very much pleased me. I cannot recollect the words, but the sense of it is to this purpose: What I spent I lost; what I possessed is left to others; what I gave away remains with me.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-09-27), The Spectator, No. 177
(Source)
The epitaph was on a tomb in St. George's Church at Doncaster, Yorkshire, and read:How now, who is heare?
I Robin of Doncastere,
And Margaret, my feare [wife]:
That I spent, that I had,
That I gave, that I have,
That I left, that I lost
A. D. 1579.
Quoth Robertus Byrks, who in this World did reign Three score years and seven, & yet lived not one.
(There are variation of spelling in various records of this epitaph, e.g., 1, 2, 3)
People will say, “Seventy isn’t old, it’s middle-aged,” and I think, middle of what — 140?
Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Essay (1996-03/04), Modern Maturity magazine
The horror writer always brings bad news: you’re going to die, he says; he’s telling you to never mind Oral Roberts and his “something good is going to happen to you,” because something bad is also going to happen to you, and it may be cancer and it may be a stroke, and it may be a car accident, but it’s going to happen. And he takes your hand and he enfolds it in his own, and he takes you into the room and he puts your hands on the shape under the sheet … and tells you to touch it here … here … and here …
Sam Vimes could parallel process. Most husbands can. They learn to follow their own line of thought while at the same time listening to what their wives say. And the listening is important, because at any time they could be challenged and must be ready to quote the last sentence in full. A vital additional skill is being able to scan the dialogue for telltale phrases such as “and they can deliver it tomorrow” or “so I’ve invited them for dinner” or “they can do it in blue, really quite cheaply.”
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld Series No. 24, The Fifth Elephant (1999)
(Source)
You may seek comfort at the feet of false leaders, who like medicine doctors beat drums to ward off evil spirits. You may listen to false leaders who tell you that there is an easy way — that all you have to do is to elect them and thereafter relax in a tax-free paradise, the political equivalent of sending 10¢ to cover the cost of postage. You may, fearing to face the facts squarely, be distracted by phony issues that have no bearing upon the life-or-death controversy of our time. But deluded you run the risk of being beguiled to destruction, for there is no easy way.
Is it desirable that all should be exactly alike in their religious convictions? Is any such thing possible? Do we not know that there are no two persons alike in the whole world? No two, trees, no two leaves, no two anythings that are alike? Infinite diversity is the law. Religion tries to force all minds into one mould. Knowing that all cannot believe, the church endeavors to make all say they believe. She longs for the unity of hypocrisy, and detests the splendid diversity of individuality and freedom.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, 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).
And therefore all my trifling Songs adieu,
I now design to seek what’s good and true,
And that alone; I scorn my wanton Muse,
And lay up Precepts, such as I may use.[Nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono;
quid verum atque decens curo et rogo et omnis in hoc sum;
condo et compono quae mox depromere possim.]Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 1 “To Maecenas,” l. 10ff (1.1.10-12) (20 BC) [tr. Creech (1684)]
(Source)
This epistle was written when Horace was 45 and decided to quit writing lyric poetry, having finished his third book of Odes.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:And therefore now I lay my rimes. and other toyes asyde
Devysing things of honestie, and therin holy byde.
That whych may serve to guide my selfe I muse uppon and make.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Therefore Love-songs, and all those toyes adieu,
My work is now to search what's good, what's true:
I lay in precepts, which I straight may draw
Out for my use.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]Then here farewell the amusements of my youth:
Farewell to verses; for the search of truth
And moral decency hath fill'd my breast,
Hath every thought and faculty possest;
And I now form my philosophic lore,
For all my future life a treasur'd store.
[tr. Francis (1747)]Henceforth adieu then to the toys of youth!
Adieu to wit's light sport, and welcome truth!
To con the maxims of the good and wise,
To search where honour and where fitness lies,
Careful to store what after-life may need --
This be my task; for this is wealth indeed!
[tr. Howes (1845)]Now therefore I lay aside both verses, and all other sportive matters; my study and inquiry is after what is true and fitting, and I am wholly engaged in this: I lay up, and collect rules which I may be able hereafter to bring into use.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]So now I bid my idle songs adieu,
And turn my thoughts to what is right and true;
I search and search, and when I find, I lay
The wisdom up against a rainy day.
[tr. Conington (1874)]So verses now and all such toys I quit,
Work night and day to find the true and fit.
The lore of sages cull where'er I may.
And hive it up for use some future day.
[tr. Martin (1881)]Now, therefore, I resign verse composition and sportive measures. What is true and fitting I care for, and inquire about, and am absorbed in it. I am piling up and arranging what I may presently make public.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]So now I lay aside my verses and all other toys. What is right and seemly is my study and pursuit, and to that am I wholly given. I am putting by and setting in order the stores on which I may some day draw.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]So now I lay aside
Not only verses but all other toys:
I want to find the true and fitting joys,
And all engrossed in this pursuit am I.
I treasure and arrange what by and by
I may draw forth for guidance from my store.
[tr. Murison; ed. Kramer, Jr. (1936)]So I lay down my poems and other toys of my youth
To devote myself to one main subject: the truth.
What is right and honest? This I would like to know.
I am laying up stores, setting them all in a row,
Of the only thing that will keep on helping me grow.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]So now I lay my verses down, and all my other games,
to study what is true and good, totally involved in that.
I gather and accumulate supplies that I'll soon use.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]So I've put away poetry
And other games. I study
Right and wrong. I store up,
Now, what someday I'll need, I lay
It all out.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]And so I'm giving up my verses and all
Other foolishness of the sort, and now
Devote myself entirely to the study
Of what is genuine and right for me,
Storing up what I learn for the sake of the future.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]So now I am laying aside my verses and other amusements.
My sole concern is the question "What is right and proper?"
I'm carefully storing things for use in the days ahead.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]So now I’m setting aside my verse, and other tricks:
My quest and care is what’s right and true, I’m absorbed
In it wholly: I gather, then store for later use.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
Then [President Coolidge] said he wished I had the time to go up into Canada and see what kind of deal I could make in the way of annexation, that Canada was just about on the verge of seeing the advantage of having a working connection with some live growing concern. […]
Now from what I can see, there don’t seem to be any demand in Canada to join in with us and be murdered or run over with us. They strike me as entirely too sane a nation to fit in our scheme of things down home. Why, you can still buy a drink without having to take a whole case, and can believe in Evolution. You can do both of these things and not be considered an Atheist up here.
They have the queerest ideas of what is right and wrong that way. Now I have no idea but what we could take them over and make a paying proposition out of them, for the country now is supplying about everything we use in the way of raw materials. But I hate to interrupt a friendship that has been going on now pretty steady since the battle of Lake Erie. You see they don’t owe us and they still think we are pretty good neighbors, so if we can just keep from annexing them, and keep from loaning them anything in the way of a government debt, why we ought to be friends for years to come. […]
What we need is some good country to annex us.Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1926-10-17), “Weekly Article: Will Rogers Back in U. S. Wants To Hear About Your Vote” [No. 201]
(Source)
Shorter versions of this are given in Bryan Sterling (ed.), Will Rogers Speaks (2023):
Undying hope is co-ruler of the human bosom with infallible credulity. A man finds he has been wrong at every preceding stage of his career, only to deduce the astonishing conclusion that he is at last entirely right.
A love of heavenly beauty does not preclude
A proper love for earthly pulchritude.[L’amour qui nous attache aux beautés éternelles
N’étouffe pas en nous l’amour des temporelles.]Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite [Le Tartuffe, ou L’Imposteur], Act 3, sc. 3 (1669) [tr. Wilbur (1963)]
(Source)
When Elmire suggests that the (falsely) pious Tartuffe must surely be focused solely on Heaven.
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:The Love which engages us to eternal Beauties, does not extinguish in us the Love of temporal ones.
[tr. Clitandre (1672)]The love which attaches us to eternal beauties does not stifle in us the love of earthly things.
[tr. Van Laun (1876)]Our love for the beauty which is eternal, stifles not in us love for that which is fleeting and temporal.
[tr. Wall (1879)]The love which leads us to eternal beauties does not extinguish in us the love of temporal ones.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]Our love for the beauty which is eternal does not stifle in us the love for things fleeting.
[tr. Waller (1903)]Love for the beauty of eternal things
Cannot destroy our love for earthly beauty.
[tr. Page (1909)]The love which draws us to eternal beauty
Does not exclude the love of temporal things.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]To love eternal beauties far above
Is not to be immune to other love.
[tr. Frame (1967)]The love that draws us to eternal beauty does not stifle love of this world.
[tr. Steiner (2008)]The love that binds us to eternal beauties
Does not entirely stifle in us the love of temporal.
[tr. Campbell (2013)]
It is a mathematical fact that the casting of this pebble from my hand alters the center of gravity of the Universe.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 3, ch. 7 (1834)
(Source)
Quoting Herr Teufelsdröckh. This chapter first appeared in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 10, No. 55 (1834-07).
Thare iz no man so necessary in this world, but that when he dies hiz plase iz quickly filled, and he iz soon forgotten.
[There is no man so necessary in this world, but that when he dies his place is quickly filled, and he is soon forgotten.]
No person is so foolish that they don’t understand that if we remain asleep at this moment we will have to live through a rule that is not only cruel and arrogant but ignoble and disgraceful too. You know this man’s arrogance, his friends, and his whole household. To serve shameful lusts, bullies, disgusting and irreverent thieves, those drunkards — well, that is the worst suffering married to the greatest dishonor.
[Nemo est tam stultus qui non intellegat, si indormierimus huic tempori, non modo crudelem superbamque dominationem nobis sed ignominiosam etiam et flagitiosam ferendam. Nostis insolentiam Antoni, nostis amicos, nostis totam domum. Libidinosis, petulantibus, impuris, impudicis, aleatoribus, ebriis servire, ea summa miseria est summo dedecore coniuncta.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 3, ch. 14 / sec. 34-35 (3.14/3.34-35) (44-12-20 BC) [tr. @sentantiq (2021)]
(Source)
Warning of Mark Antony's intentions to succeed Julius Caesar. Once Antony was in power, under the Triumvirate, he had Cicero killed.
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:There is no one so foolish as not to perceive that if we go to sleep over this opportunity we shall have to endure a tyranny which will be not only cruel and haughty, but also ignominious and flagitious. You know the insolence of Antonius; you know his friends, you know his whole household. To be slaves to lustful, wanton, debauched, profligate, drunken gamblers, is the extremity of misery combined with the extremity of infamy.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]No man is so foolish as not to understand that, if we sleep on this crisis, we must bear a tyranny, not merely cruel and arrogant, but also ignominious and infamous. You know Antonius' insolence, you know his friends, you know his whole household. Slavery under men lustful, wanton, foul, unchaste, gamblers and drunkards, this is the utmost misery allied with the utmost disgrace.
[tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]No man is so dull as not to realize that if we doze over this crisis we shall have to endure a despotism not only cruel and arrogant but ignominious and disgraceful. You now Antonius' insolence, you know his friends, you know his whole retinue. To be slave to libertines, bullies, foul profligates, gamblers, drunkards, that is the ultimate in misery joined with the ultimate in dishonor.
[tr. Manuwald (2007)]
A Flatterer never seems absurd:
The Flatter’d always take his Word.Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1740 ed.)
(Source)
MYCROFT: You’ve met him. How many friends do you imagine he has? I’m the closest thing to a friend that Sherlock Holmes is capable of having.
WATSON: And what’s that?
MYCROFT: An enemy.
WATSON: An enemy?
MYCROFT: In his mind, certainly. If you were to ask him, he’d probably say an arch-enemy. He does love to be dramatic.
WATSON: Well, thank God you’re above all that.
Steven Moffat (b. 1961) Scottish television writer, producer
Sherlock, 01×01 “A Study in Pink” (2010-07-25)
(Source)
(Source (Video); dialogue confirmed)
Gordon Way’s astonishment at being suddenly shot dead was nothing to his astonishment at what happened next.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Dirk Gently No. 1, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, ch. 7 (1987)
(Source)
Take heed not to be transformed into a Caesar, not to be dipped in the purple dye; for it does happen.
[Ὅρα μὴ ἀποκαισαρωθῇς, μὴ βαφῇς: γίνεται γάρ.]
Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) Roman emperor (161-180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 6, ch. 30 (6.30.1) (AD 161-180) [tr. Farquharson (1944)]
(Source)
Advising himself on the dangers of becoming emperor. Marcus coined a new Greek verb here (ἀποκαισαρόομαι), "to become like Caesar" (more broadly, "to assume the monarchy").
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:Take heed, lest of a philosopher thou become a mere Caesar in time, and receive a new tincture from the court. For it may happen if thou dost not take heed.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 6.27]Have a care you han't too much of an Emperour in you, and that you don't fall into the liberties and Pride of your Predecessors. These Humours are easily learn'd, therefore guard against the Infection.
[tr. Collier (1701)]Take care you don’t degenerate into the manners of the Cesars, or be tinctured by them.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]Beware, when you take the title of Cæsar, that you do not insensibly assume too much of the Emperor; nor be infected with the haughty manners of some of your predecessors; for there is a possibility of such an event.
[tr. Graves (1792), 6.27]Take care that thou art not made into a Caesar, that thou art not dyed with this dye; for such things happen.
[tr. Long (1862)]Have care that you have not too much of a Cæsar in you, and that you are not dyed with that dye. This is easily learned, therefore guard against the infection.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]See that you be not be-Cæsared, steeped in that dye, as too often happens.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]See to it that you fall not into Caesarism: avoid that stain, for it may come to you.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]See thou be not Caesarified, nor take that dye, for there is the possibility.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]Be careful not to affect the monarch too much, or to be too deeply dyed with the purple; for this can well happen.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]Take care that you are not turned into a Caesar, that you are not stained with the purple; for such things do come about.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.; 2011 ed.)]To escape imperialization -- that indelible stain. It happens.
[tr. Hays (2003)]Take care not to be Caesarified, or dyed in purple: it happens.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]Take care you are not turned into a Caesar, or stained with the purple; these things do happen.
[tr. Gill (2013)]Beware of being Caesarified, be not stained by desire for power.
[ed. Taplin (2016)]
The happiness that is genuinely satisfying is accompanied by the fullest exercise of our faculties, and the fullest realization of the world in which we live.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 7 “The Sense of Sin” (1930)
(Source)
Drive away and never endure Tale-bearers: Whoever entertains thee with the Faults of others, designs to serve thee in the same Kind.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2057 (1727)
(Source)
The most disturbing development among the Washington press corps is a collective amnesia about the purpose of a newspaper — which is to gather news. The mortal sins of the press have always been our sins of omission, not our sins of commission, no matter what you may have heard about bias, hubris, or anything else. It is the stories we don’t get, the ones we miss, pass over, fail to recognize, don’t pick up on, that will send us to hell.
Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1990-02), “Mimic Men,” Mother Jones
(Source)
Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).
REDEMPTION, n. Deliverance of sinners from the penalty of their sin, through their murder of the deity against whom they sinned. The doctrine of Redemption is the fundamental mystery of our holy religion, and whoso believeth in it shall not perish, but have everlasting life in which to try to understand it.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Redemption,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)
Originally published in The Devil's Dictionary [A-Z] as Vol. 7 of his Collected Works.
“I don’t see much sense in that,” said Rabbit.
“No,” said Pooh humbly, “there isn’t. But there was going to be when I began it. It’s just that something happened to it on the way.”A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 7 “Tigger Is Unbounced” (1928)
(Source)
The best of our fiction is by novelists who allow that it is as good as they can give, and the worst by novelists who maintain that they could do much better if only the public would let them.
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
Essay (1891-03), “Mr. Kipling’s Stories,” Contemporary Review, Vol. 59
(Source)
It seems to me that it is the part of common sense for the world as a whole to protest in its own interest against wholesale persecution, because none of us by ourselves would be strong enough to stand against a big enough group which decided to treat us in the same way. We may have our individual likes and dislikes, but this is a question which far transcends prejudices or inclinations.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1943-08-13), “My Day”
(Source)
On the persecution of Jews in Europe.
Solemnity is the fool’s shield and buckler.
[La gravité est la bouclier des sots.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 1637 / 1051 (1720-1755) [ed. Guterman (1963)]
(Source)
(Source (French), # 1051). Other translations:Gravity is the shield of fools.
[tr. Clark (2012), # 1637]Solemnity is the shield of idiots.
[E.g.]
Cash is the one gift everyone despises and no one turns down.
Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 9 (1963)
(Source)
Man is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in life, we are continually adding grief to grief, and aggravating the common calamity by our cruel treatment of one another.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-09-13), The Spectator, No. 169
(Source)
Memory is a net; one finds it full of fish when he takes it from the brook; but a dozen miles of water have run through it without sticking.
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, freethinker, 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 journalist, essayist, 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, freethinker, 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)]Consider, Mice, like Men, must die,
Both small and great, both you and I:
Then spend your life in Joy and Sport,
(This doctrine, Friend, I learnt at Court.)
[tr. Pope (1733–38)]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 journalist, essayist, 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, freethinker, 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.
