Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.
Dr. Seuss (1904-1991) American author, illustrator [pseud. of Theodor Geisel]
(Attributed)
Often attributed to Dr. Seuss without a citation of source. Also sometimes attributed, without citation to Gabriel García Márquez: "No llores porque ya se terminó ... sonríe, porque sucedió."
I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) English historian
(Attributed)
Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
James 4:17 (NRSV)
- KJV: Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
- NIV: If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them.
Pay no attention to appearing. Being is alone important.
André Gide (1869-1951) French author, Nobel laureate
Journal, “Rule of Conduct” (Nov 1890)
There are few things that we so unwillingly give up, even in advanced age, as the supposition that we still have the power of ingratiating ourselves with the fair sex.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment to George Stevens
In "Johnsoniana," The European Magazine and London Review (Jan 1785). From an anecdote by George Stevens.
He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.
Groucho Marx (1890-1977) American comedian [b. Julius Henry Marx]
(Attributed)
Do keep a thesaurus, but in the shed at the back of the garden or behind the fridge, somewhere that demands travel or effort. Chances are the words that come into your head will do fine, e.g., “horse”, “ran”, “said”.
Roddy Doyle (b. 1958) Irish novelist, dramatist, screenwriter
In “Ten Rules for Writing Fiction,” The Guardian (20 Feb 2010)
(Source)
The quickest way to do many things is to do one thing at a time.
(Other Authors and Sources)
American proverb (New England)
Agreement in likes and dislikes — this, and this only, is what constitutes true friendship.
[Nam idem velle atque idem nolle, ea demum firma amicitia est.]
Catiline (108-62 BC) Roman politician [Lucius Sergius Catilina]
Quoted in Sallust, Catiline’s War [Bellum Catilinae], 20.4 (42 BC) [tr. Rolf]
Alt. trans.: "For to like the same things and to dislike the same things, only this is a strong friendship."
Now, as Crowley would be the first to protest, most demons weren’t deep down evil. In the great cosmic game they felt they occupied the same position as tax inspectors — doing an unpopular job, maybe, but essential to the overall operation of the whole thing. If it came to that, some angels weren’t paragons of virtue; Crowley had met one or two who, when it came to righteously smiting the ungodly, smote a good deal harder than was strictly necessary. On the whole, everyone had a job to do, and just did it. And on the other hand, you got people like Ligur and Hastur, who took such a dark delight in unpleasantness you might even have mistaken them for human.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 6. “Saturday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Proverbs 26:4 [KJV (1611)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:Do not answer a fool in the terms of his folly for fear you grow like him yourself.
[JB (1966)]If you answer a silly question, you are just as silly as the person who asked it.
[GNT (1976)]Do not answer a fool in the terms of his folly for fear you grow like him yourself.
[NJB (1985)]Don’t answer fools according to their folly,
or you will become like them yourself.
[CEB (2011)]Do not answer fools according to their folly,
lest you be a fool yourself.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]Do not answer a dullard in accord with his folly,
Else you will become like him.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]
It is the flag just as much of the man who was naturalized yesterday as of the man whose people have been here many generations.
Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. (1850-1924) American politician and historian
“What the Flag Means” (1915)
The State exists for man, not man for the State.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
“The Road to Peace,” New York Times (22 Nov 1931)
(Source)
In The World As I See It [tr. Harris (1934)], given as "The State is made for man, not man for the State."
Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter to Thomas Jefferson Smith, “A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life,” #2 (21 Feb 1825)
(Source)
It has been remarked (by a lady infinitely cleverer than the present author) how kindly disposed the world in general feels to young people who either die or marry. Imagine then the interest that surrounded Miss Wintertowne! No young lady ever had such advantages before: for she died upon the Tuesday, was raised to life in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and was married upon the Thursday; which some people thought too much excitement for one week.
Susanna Clarke (b. 1949) British author
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (2004)
The Russian government is an absolute monarchy tempered by assassination.
Astolphe-Louis-Léonor, Marquis de Custine (1790-1857) French aristocrat and writer
La Russie en 1839, Vol. 1 (1843)
Dead he is not, but departed — for the artist never dies.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
“Nuremberg,” st. 13
Wanting to meet an author because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like paté.
Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Canadian writer, literary critic, environmental activist
Negotiating with the Dead, ch. 2 “Duplicity: The jekyll hand, the hyde hand, and the slippery double” (2002)
(Source)
Usually directly attributed to Atwood, but she made it clear that it was not hers:There's an epigram tacked to my office bulletin board, pinched from a magazine -- [the quotation]. That's a light enough comment upon the disappointments of encountering the famous, or even the moderately well-known -- they are always shorter and older and more ordinary than you expected -- but there's a more sinister way of looking at it as well. In order for the paté to be made and then eaten, the duck must first be killed. And who is it that does the killing?
Life is a journey. Time is a river. The door is ajar.
Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Dead Beat (2005)
Washington acted as the representative of the needs, the ideas, the enlightened men, the opinions of his age; he supported, not thwarted, the stirrings of intellect; he desired only what he had to desire, the very thing to which he had been called: from which derives the coherence and longevity of his work. That man who struck few blows because he kept things in proportion has merged his existence with that of his country: his glory is the heritage of civilisation; his fame has risen like one of those public sanctuaries where a fecund and inexhaustible spring flows.
François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) French writer, politican, diplomat
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave [Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe], Book 6, ch. 8 (1848-1850) [tr. Kline]
On George Washington.
What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
Speech, Dundee (10 Oct 1908)
Do not be hasty to praise or blame; speak always as though you were giving testimony before the judgment seat of the gods.
Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC-AD 65) Roman statesman, philosopher, playwright [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]
Moral Essays, “De moribus,” 76
In short, I believe in an America that is on the march — an America respected by all nations, friends and foes alike — an America that is moving, doing, working, trying — a strong America in a world of peace. That peace must be based on world law and world order, on the mutual respect of all nations for the rights and powers of others and on a world economy in which no nation lacks the ability to provide a decent standard of living for all of its people. But we cannot have such a world, and we cannot have such a peace, unless the United States has the vitality and the inspiration and the strength. If we continue to stand still, if we continue to lie at anchor, if we continue to sit on dead center, if we content ourselves with the easy life and the rosy assurances, then the gates will soon be open to a lean and hungry enemy.
War would end if the dead could return.
Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947) British Conservative politician, Prime Minister
(Attributed)
Wars can be prevented just as surely as they can be provoked, and we who fail to prevent them must share the guilt for the dead.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
(Attributed)
TURHAN: The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast, terrible in-between.
J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 2×09 “The Coming of Shadows” (1 Feb 1995)
He that scattereth Thorns must not go Barefoot.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #2289 (1732)
(Source)
No sin is so light that it may be overlooked; no sin is so heavy that it may not be repented of.
Moses ibn Ezra (c. 1055 - after 1138) Spanish Jewish philosopher, linguist, rabbi, poet
(Attributed)
Handsome is that handsome does.
Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
A History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Book 4, ch. 12 (1749)
Self-love is often rather arrogant than blind; it does not hide our faults from ourselves, but persuades us that they escape the notice of others, and disposes us to resent censures lest we should confess them to be just.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #155 (10 Sep 1751)
(Source)
What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Mark 8:36 (KJV)
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
Elmore Leonard (1925-2013) American novelist and screenwriter
In Newsweek (22 Apr 1985)
Good & quickly seldome meete.
George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 580 (1640 ed.)
(Source)
For harmony makes small states great, while discord undermines the mightiest empires.
[Nam concordia parvae res crescunt, discordia maxumae dilabuntur.]
Sallust (c. 86-35 BC) Roman historian and politician [Gaius Sallustius Crispus]
The War with Jugurtha [Bellum Iugurthinum], Part 10 [tr. Loeb (1921)]
So computers are tools of the Devil? thought Newt. He had no problem believing it. Computers had to be the tools of somebody, and all he knew for certain was that it definitely wasn’t him.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 6. “Saturday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)
Two souls, alas, are housed within my breast,
And each will wrestle for the mastery there.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Faust, 1, “Outside the City Gate” (1808-1832) [tr. Wayne (1959)]
To read the front pages, you might conclude that Americans are mostly out for themselves, venal, grasping, and mean-spirited. The front pages have room only for defense contractors who cheat and politicians with their hands in the till. But you can’t travel the back roads very long without discovering a multitude of gentle people doing good for others with no expectation of gain or recognition. The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.
Charles Kuralt (1934-1997) American journalist
On the Road with Charles Kuralt (1985)
You’re in the Army now,
You’re not behind a plow;
You’ll never get rich
A-diggin’ a ditch,
You’re in the Army now.William "Tell" Taylor (1876-1937) American vaudevillian, singer, playwright, composer, lyricist
“You’re in the Army Now” (1917) [with Ole Olsen]
Self-made men are most alwus apt tew be a leetle too proud ov the job.
[Self-made men are almost always apt to be a little too proud of the job.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax for 1873, “05 – May,” “Kold Slau” (1873)
(Source)
Upon my word, there is nothing in the world so easy to explain as failure — it is, after all, what everybody does all the time.
Susanna Clarke (b. 1949) British author
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (2004)
I do not know how the Third World War will be fought, but I can tell you what they will use in the Fourth — rocks!
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
Interview with Alfred Werner, Liberal Judaism (April-May 1949)
Abstract art? A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.
Al Capp (1909-1979) American cartoonist and humorist [Alfred Gerald Caplin]
In The National Observer (1 Jul 1963)
The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority.
Stanley Milgram (1933-1984) American social psychologist
Obedience To Authority, ch. 1 (1974)
Fear is a part of life. It’s a warning mechanism. That’s all. It tells you when there’s danger around. Its job is to help you survive. Not cripple you into being unable to do it.
Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Dead Beat (2005)
I remember Castelnau: like me Ambassador to England, who wrote like me a narrative of his life in London. On the last page of Book VII, he says to his son: “I will deal with this event in Book VIII,” and Book VIII of Castelnau’s Memoirs does not exist: that warns me to take advantage of being alive.
François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) French writer, politican, diplomat
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave [Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe], Book 6, ch. 8 (1848-1850) [tr. Kline]
The difference between the Japanese and the American is summed up in their opposite reactions to the proverb (popular in both nations), “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” Epidemiologist S. Leonard Syme observes that to the Japanese, moss is exquisite and valued; a stone is enhanced by moss; hence a person who keeps moving and changing never acquires the beauty and benefits of stability. To Americans, the proverb is an admonition to keep rolling, to keep from being covered with clinging attachments.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Carol Tavris, Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion, ch. 4 (1982)
Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)
There are two considerations which always imbitter the heart of an avaricious man — the one is a perpetual thirst after more riches, the other the prospect of leaving what he has already acquired.
Henry Fielding (1707-1754) English novelist, dramatist, satirist
(Attributed)
Attributed in Maturin M. Ballou, Treasury of Thought (1884)
But I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high — to permit the customary passions of political debate. We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
“The New Frontier,” Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, Democratic National Convention, Los Angeles (15 Jul 1960)
We need something larger than ourselves — that’s a real religious activity. That’s what space travel can be — relating ourselves to the universe.
I’m rarely bored alone; I am often bored in groups and crowds.
Laurie Helgoe (b. 1960) American psychologist and author
Introvert Power, ch. 1 (2008)
(Source)
Usually attributed to Helgoe, but cited in the book to "Don, Minnesota."
If a donkey bray at you, don’t bray at him.
(Other Authors and Sources)
English proverb
The only sin is to be unkind.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
A Thousand and One Epigrams (1911)
Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man’s task.
Epictetus (c.55-c.135) Greek (Phrygian) Stoic philosopher
The Discourses (c. AD 101-108)
There is no wisdom in useless and hopeless sorrow, but there is something in it so like virtue, that he who is wholly without it cannot be loved.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Letter to Hester Thrale (12 Apr 1781)
People who insist that the sacredness of Scripture depends on belief in creation in a literal six days seem never to insist on a literal reading of “to him who asks, give,” or “sell what you have and give the money to the poor.” In fact, their politics and economics align themselves quite precisely with those of their adversaries, who yearn to disburden themselves of the weak, and to unshackle the great creative forces of competition. The defenders of “religion” have made religion seem foolish while rendering it mute in the face of a prolonged and highly effective assault on the poor.
Marilynne Robinson (b. 1943) American novelist and essayist
“Darwinism,” The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought (1998)
Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph.
Roddy Doyle (b. 1958) Irish novelist, dramatist, screenwriter
In “Ten Rules for Writing Fiction,” The Guardian (20 Feb 2010)
(Source)
Well done is quickly done.
Augustus (63 BC - AD 14) Roman Emperor, statesman [Imperator Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus; b. Gaius Octavius]
(Attributed)
In Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, 2.25 [tr. Graves and Grant (1979)]
Your spirit, youth, and valour give me heart, not to mention necessity, which makes even the timid brave.
[Animus, aetas, virtus vostra me hortantur, praeterea necessitudo, que etiam timidos fortis facit.]
Sallust (c. 86-35 BC) Roman historian and politician [Gaius Sallustius Crispus]
Bellum Catilinae [The War of Catiline; The Conspiracy of Catiline], ch. 58, sent. 19 [tr. Rolfe (1931)]
(Source)
Catiline, addressing his troops. Usually shortened to "Necessity makes even the timid brave" [Necessitas etiam timidos fortes facit.]. Original Latin.
Alt. trans.:
- "From your youthful vigor and undaunted courage I expect every advantage. Even the difficulties of our situation inspire me with confidence; for difficulties have often produced prodigies of valor." [tr. Murphy (1807)]
- "Your spirit, your age, your virtue encourage me; and our necessity, too, which even inspires cowards with bravery." [tr. Rose (1831), ch. 61]
- "Your spirit, your age, your valour encourage me, the necessity moreover which makes even the timid brave." [Source (1841)]
- "Your spirit, your age, your valor, give me confidence; to say nothing of necessity, which makes even cowards brave." [tr. Watson (1867)]
- "Your resolution, your age, and your courage, and above all the inevitable nature of the encounter, which often makes even the timid brave, exhort me to this." [tr. Pollard (1882)]
Three very crowded hours went past. They involved quite a lot of phone calls, telexes, and faxes. Twenty-seven people were got out of bed in quick succession and they got another fifty-three out of bed, because if there is one thing a man wants to know when he’s woken up in a panic at 4:00 A.M., it’s that he’s not alone.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 4. “Thursday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)
The principal source of the harm done by the State is the fact that power is its chief end.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Principles of Social Reconstruction, ch. 2 (1916)
I may stand alone,
But would not change my free thoughts for a throne.
One picture in ten thousand, perhaps, ought to live in the applause of mankind, from generation to generation until the colors fade and blacken out of sight or the canvas rot entirely away.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) American writer
The Marble Faun (1860)
The movie of my life must be really low budget.
Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Dead Beat (2003)
How small man is on this little atom where he dies! But how great his intelligence! He knows when the face of the stars must be masked in darkness, when the comets will return after thousands of years, he who lasts only an instant! A microscopic insect lost in a fold of the heavenly robe, the orbs cannot hide from him a single one of their movements in the depth of space. What destinies will those stars, new to us, light? Is their revelation bound up with some new phase of humanity? You will know, race to be born; I know not, and I am departing.
François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) French writer, politican, diplomat
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave [Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe], Book 42, ch. 18 (1848-1850) [tr. Kline]
Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down. They know its power. Thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, founded in injustice and wrong, are sure to tremble, if men are allowed to reason of righteousness, temperance, and of a judgment to come in their presence.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
“A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston,” speech (9 Dec 1860)
(Source)
Think before you speak is criticism’s motto; speak before you think, creation’s.
E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“The Raison d’E’tre of Criticism in the Arts,” Two Cheers for Democracy (1951)
Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3 (1860)
(Source)
Our national strength matters, but the spirit which informs our strength matters just as much.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) US President (1961-63)
Speech, Amherst College (26 Oct 1963)
Science fiction is also a great way to pretend you are writing about the future when in reality you are attacking the recent past and the present.
There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.
John Andrew Holmes (1874-1937) American physician and writer
(Attributed)
In a Debate, rather pull to Pieces the Argument of thy Antagonist than offer him any of thy own; for thus thou wilt fight him in his own Country.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 766 (1725)
(Source)
Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin.
(Other Authors and Sources)
The Book of the Golden Precepts, 2.17 [tr.Blavatsky (1889)]
If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
(Attributed)
Attributed to Einstein, but no definitive citation found. See here for more discussion.
Composition is, for the most part, an effort of slow diligence and steady perseverance, to which the mind is dragged by necessity or resolution, and from which the attention is every moment starting to more delightful amusements.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Adventurer, #138 (2 Mar 1754)
He didn’t say “That’s weird.” He wouldn’t have said “That’s weird” if a flock of sheep had cycled past playing violins. It wasn’t the sort of thing a responsible engineer said.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 4. “Thursday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)
Soon ripe, soon rotten.
John Clarke (d. 1658) British educator
Proverbs: English and Latine [Paroemiologia Anglo-Latina] (1639)
But we ask neither for power nor for riches, the usual causes of wars and strife among mortals, but only for freedom, which no true man gives up except with his life.
[At nos non imperium neque divitias petimus, quarum rerum causa bella atque certamina omnia inter mortales sunt, sed libertatem, quam nemo bonus nisi cum anima simul amittit.]
Sallust (c. 86-35 BC) Roman historian and politician [Gaius Sallustius Crispus]
Bellum Catilinae [The War of Catiline; The Conspiracy of Catiline], ch. 33, sent. 5 [tr. Rolfe (1931)]
(Source)
Plea from Catiline's army to the Roman general Quintus Marcius. Original Latin. Alt. trans.:"Our enterprise has no such object in view; we have neither ambition nor avarice, the two grand springs of human actions, the constant cause of all the strife, and all the wars that disturb the world. We demand a reform of the laws; we stand for the rights of man, and equal liberty; that liberty, which no good man will resign but with life itself." [tr. Murphy (1807)]"As for us, we neither desire power nor riches, which are the sources of all the wars and contests among men: liberty is our aim; that liberty which no brave man will lose but with his life." [tr. Rose (1831); ch. 34]"But we neither seek power nor riches, for the sake of which things wars and contests arise among men, but liberty, which no brave man loses but with his life." [Source (1841); ch. 34]"But at power or wealth, for the sake of which wars, and all kinds of strife, arise among mankind, we do not aim; we desire only our liberty, which no honorable man relinquishes but with life." [tr. Watson (1867)]"We, however, ask for neither rule nor riches, though these are the cause of every war and struggle among men; we ask only for that freedom which no brave man ever abandoned while life remained." [tr. Pollard (1882)]
It’s possible to tell your mind what to do only when your mind agrees with you.
Rex Stout (1886-1975) American writer
A Family Affair, ch. 2 [Goodwin] (1975)
Yes, we love peace, but we are not willing to take wounds for it, as we are for war.
John Andrew Holmes (1874-1937) American physician and writer
Wisdom in Small Doses (1927)
It is only when they cannot answer your reasons, that they wish to knock you down.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Assault upon Mr. Sumner,” speech, Concord (1856-05-26)
(Source)
Sin begins as a spider’s web and becomes as a ship’s rope.
Akiva ben Joseph (AD c. 40 - c. 137) Jewish Rabbi, sage
In Midrash Halakha
[F]or cheerfulness and content are great beautifiers, and are famous preservers of youthful looks, depend upon it.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) English writer and social critic
Barnaby Rudge, ch. 82 (1841)
(Source)
Often given as "Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks."
Piety practised in solitude, like the flower that blooms in the desert, may give its fragrance to the winds of heaven, and delight those unbodied spirits that survey the works of God and the actions of men; but it bestows no assistance upon earthly beings, and however free from taints of impurity, yet wants the sacred splendour of beneficence.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Adventurer, #126 “Praises of Solitude”
(Source)
If Men are to be precluded from offering their Sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of Speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.
George Washington (1732-1799) American military leader, Founding Father, US President (1789-1797)
Speech to the Officers at Newburgh (15 Mar 1783)
(Source)
Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies.
Terri Guillemets (b.1973) American quotation anthologist
(Attributed)
Whoever is in a hurry shows that the thing he is about is too big for him.
Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #190 (20 Aug 1749)
(Source)
Women are random clusters of vagaries.
Rex Stout (1886-1975) American writer
The Father Hunt, ch. 8 [Wolfe] (1968)
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
“A Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston,” speech (9 Dec 1860)
Always a friend to peace, & believing it to promote eminently the happiness & prosperity of mankind, I am ever unwilling that it should be disturbed, as long as the rights & interests of the nation can be preserved. but whensoever hostile aggressions on these require a resort to war, we must meet our duty, & convince the world that we are just friends & brave enemies.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1806-12-03) to Andrew Jackson
(Source)
I don’t consider myself dovish and I certainly don’t consider myself hawkish. Maybe I would describe myself as owlish — that is, wise enough to understand that you want to do everything possible to avoid war.
Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012) American military leader
In New York Times (28 Jan 1991)
One of the signs of passing youth is the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings, as we take our place among them.
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) English modernist writer [b. Adeline Virginia Stephen]
“Hours in a Library,” Times Literary Supplement (London) (30 Nov 1916)
The Foreign Secretary was a quite peerless orator. No matter how low the Government stood in the estimation of everyone, when the Foreign Secretary stood up and spoke — ah! how different everything seemed then! How quickly was every bad thing discovered to be the fault of the previous administration (an evil set of men who wedded general stupidity to wickedness of purpose).
Susanna Clarke (b. 1949) British author
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (2004)
We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.
Anaïs Nin (1903-1977) Catalan-Cuban-French author, diarist
(Attributed)
Buy old masters. They fetch a better price than old mistresses.
Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook (1879-1964) Anglo-Canadian business tycoon, publisher, politician, writer
(Attributed)
He who is firmly seated in authority soon learns to think security, and not progress, the highest lesson of statecraft.
James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) American diplomat, essayist, poet
New England Two Centuries Ago (1865)
Most people, given the choice to face a hideous or terrifying truth or to conveniently avoid it, choose the convenience and peace of normality. That doesn’t make them strong or weak people, or good or bad people. It just makes them people.
Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Turn Coat (2009)
Memory is often the attribute of stupidity; it generally belongs to heavy spirits whom it makes even heavier by the baggage it loads them down with.
François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) French writer, politican, diplomat
Memoirs from Beyond the Grave [Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe], Book 2, ch. 1 (1848-1850) [tr. Kline]
There is no business like show business — except sports business.
William J. Baker (contemp.) American historian, academic, writer
Sports in the Western World, ch. 19 (1982)
A word spoken is past recalling.
John Clarke (d. 1658) British educator
Proverbs: English and Latine [Paroemiologia Anglo-Latina] (1639)