WIST Quotations

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 4.6 “Solitude and Society”

Dave — Fri, 15 May 2026 17:23:42 +0000

Solitude is the climax of the negative virtues. When we go to bed after a solitary day we can tell ourselves that we have not been unkind nor dishonest nor untruthful; and the negative virtues are agreeable to that dangerous faculty we call the conscience. That they should ever be admitted for a part of virtue is what I cannot explain. I do not care two straws for all the nots.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 4.6 “Solitude and Society”
(Source)

A collection of aphorisms and musings, first published in the Edinburgh Edition of his Works, vol. 28 (1898).

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady -- Journal (1880-11-12)

Dave — Wed, 06 May 2026 15:03:54 +0000

I have no sympathy with the old idea that children owe such immense gratitude to their parents that they can never fulfill their obligations to them. I think the obligation is all on the other side.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) American social activist, abolitionist, woman's suffragist
Journal (1880-11-12)
(Source)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 1.1 “Justice and Justification”

Dave — Fri, 01 May 2026 18:06:33 +0000

It is the business of this life to make excuses for others, but none for ourselves. We should be clearly persuaded of our own misconduct, for that is the part of knowledge in which we are most apt to be defective.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 1.1 “Justice and Justification”
(Source)

A collection of aphorisms and musings, first published in the Edinburgh Edition of his Works, vol. 28 (1898).

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Incorporation,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1885-10-03)

Dave — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 22:26:19 +0000

INCORPORATION, n. The act of uniting several persons into one fiction called a corporation, in order that they may be no longer responsible for its actions. A, B and C are a corporation. A robs, B steals and C (it is necessary that there be one gentleman in the concern) cheats. It is a plundering, thieving, swindling corporation. But A, B and C, who have jointly determined and severally executed every crime of the corporation, are blameless. It is wrong to mention them by name when censuring their acts as a corporation, but right when praising.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Incorporation,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1885-10-03)
(Source)

Not collected in later books.

Arendt, Hannah -- Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Postscript (1963)

Dave — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:38:09 +0000

When I speak of the banality of evil, I do so only on the strictly factual level, pointing to a phenomenon which stared one in the face at the trial. Eichmann was not Iago and not Macbeth, and nothing would have been farther from his mind than to determine with Richard III “to prove a villain.” Except for an extraordinary diligence in looking out for his personal advancement, he had no motives at all. And this diligence in itself was in no way criminal; he certainly would never have murdered his superior in order to inherit his post. He merely, to put the matter colloquially, never realized what he was doing.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, Postscript (1963)
(Source)

Marlowe, Christopher -- The Jew of Malta, Act 4, sc. 1 (c. 1590)

Dave — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 04:51:32 +0000

FRIAR BARNARDINE: Thou hast committed —

BARABAS: Fornication? but that was in another Country;
And besides, the Wench is dead.

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Jew of Malta, Act 4, sc. 1 (c. 1590)
(Source)

Barabas trying to distract the friars from pressing him about the poisoning of the nunnery.

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas

Dave — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 21:21:28 +0000

We grudge no man a fortune which represents his own power and sagacity, when exercised with entire regard to the welfare of his fellows. […] We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used. It is not even enough that it should have gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community. This, I know, implies a policy of a far more active governmental interference with social and economic conditions in this country than we have yet had, but I think we have got to face the fact that such an increase in governmental control is now necessary.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas
(Source)

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2087 (1727)

Dave — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 15:32:01 +0000

Don’t be seduc’d by a Multitude. Thou wilt stand alone when thou diest; and shalt be call’d to give thy Account by thyself.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 2087 (1727)
(Source)

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 522 (1820)

Dave — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 20:22:29 +0000

Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads. No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with unlimited power; for, whatever qualifications he may have evinced to entitle him to the possession of so dangerous a privilege, yet when possessed, others can no longer answer for him, because he can no longer answer for himself.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 522 (1820)
(Source)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1861-03-04), Inaugural Address, Washington, D. C.

Dave — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 21:42:33 +0000

In ‘your’ hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in ‘mine’, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail ‘you’. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. ‘You’ have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to “preserve, protect, and defend it.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1861-03-04), Inaugural Address, Washington, D. C.
(Source)

Lincoln spent most of his first Inaugural addressing the Southern states, trying to forestall their secession. This was the penultimate paragraph (before the "better angels of our nature" one) in the speech as given.

In Lincoln's "First Edition" of the address, a somewhat harsher version of this paragraph was the actual ending of the speech:

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you, unless you first assail it. You can have no conflict, without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to “preserve, protect, and defend” it. You can forbear the assault upon it; I can not shrink from the defense of it. With you, and not with me, is the solemn question of “Shall it be peace, or a sword?"

Lincoln offered William Seward, one of his political rivals, an opportunity to review and suggest changes to the draft. Seward offered a number of edits, including in this portion scratching out the last two sentences Lincoln had written, as well as the "first assail" clause.

Seward also added an additional paragraph after this, rather than leaving it as the ending.

Omar Khayyam -- Rubáiyát [رباعیات] [tr. Le Gallienne (1897), # 92]

Dave — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:08:11 +0000

From God’s own hand this earthly vessel came,
He shaped it thus, be it for fame or shame;
If it be fair — to God be all the praise,
If it be foul — to God alone the blame.

Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات] [tr. Le Gallienne (1897), # 92]
(Source)

Given Le Gallienne's paraphrasing, I am unable to align this with an original quatrain or other translations.

Granville, George -- “Epistle to Mrs. Higgons,” l. 79ff (1690)

Dave — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 20:42:19 +0000

Happy the man, of mortals happiest he,
Whose quiet mind from vain desires is free;
Whom neither hopes deceive, nor fears torment,
But lives at peace, within himself content;
In thought, or act, accountable to none
But to himself, and to the gods alone.

George Granville (1666-1735) English politician, poet, playwright [1st Baron Lansdowne]
“Epistle to Mrs. Higgons,” l. 79ff (1690)
(Source)

Truman, Harry S -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 17:40:04 +0000

Truman’s desk sign

The buck stops here.

Harry S Truman (1884-1972) US President (1945-1953)
(Misattributed)

Not a quote from Truman, but popularized by him through a sign he kept on his White House desk, displaying the message It had been sent to him from the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma in late 1945. On the reverse side it reads, "I'm from Missouri." Truman occasionally referenced the sign and phrase in speeches.

The phrase -- which itself refers to "passing the buck," or handing responsibility off to another -- predates Truman's administration, and may have been coined by Brigadier General A. B. Warfield in 1939 or earlier.

More discussion about this quotation and its origin:

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Accountability,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)

Dave — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 05:59:57 +0000

ACCOUNTABILITY, n. The mother of caution.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Accountability,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)

Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911).

Originally published in his "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1904-07-09) and "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1904-07-17) as "the mother of remorse and great first cause of penitence."

Porter, Katherine Anne -- Letter draft to Mary Doherty (1932-10-21)

Dave — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 14:08:03 +0000

Death cancels our engagements, but it does not affect the consequences of our acts in life.

Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980) American journalist, essayist, author, political activist [b. Callie Russell Porter]
Letter draft to Mary Doherty (1932-10-21)
(Source)

In Isabel Bayley, ed., Letters of Katherine Anne Porter, Sec. 2 (1990). Discussing the suicide of her friend, Hart Crane.

Rogers, Will -- Column (unpublished), “Weekly Article”

Dave — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 16:48:39 +0000

That’s the problem with a Politician’s life, somebody is always interrupting it with an election.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (unpublished), “Weekly Article”
(Source)

Benn, Tony -- Speech, House of Commons (16 Nov 1998)

Dave — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 15:26:15 +0000

The House will forgive me for quoting five democratic questions that I have developed during my life. If one meets a powerful person — Rupert Murdoch, perhaps, or Joe Stalin or Hitler — one can ask five questions: what power do you have; where did you get it; in whose interests do you exercise it; to whom are you accountable; and, how can we get rid of you? Anyone who cannot answer the last of those questions does not live in a democratic system.

Tony Benn (1925-2014) British politician, writer, diarist
Speech, House of Commons (16 Nov 1998)
(Source)

Benn used this set of questions -- often with different examples -- on multiple occasions.

Huxley, T. H. -- Letter to Anton Dohrn (1873-10-17)

Dave — Mon, 03 May 2021 19:11:00 +0000

You must make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation.

T. H. Huxley (1825-1895) English biologist [Thomas Henry Huxley]
Letter to Anton Dohrn (1873-10-17)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- Essay (1969-02-27), “Reflections on Violence,” The New York Review of Books

Dave — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 21:41:13 +0000

Where all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very magnitude of the crime the best excuse for doing nothing.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1969-02-27), “Reflections on Violence,” The New York Review of Books
(Source)

Revised and collected in Crises of the Republic, "On Violence" (1972).

Arendt, Hannah -- Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine

Dave — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 18:35:20 +0000

In a courtroom there is no system on trial, no History or historical trend, no ism, anti-Semitism for instance, but a person, and if the defendant happens to be a functionary, he stands accused precisely because even a functionary is still a human being, and it is in this capacity that he stands trial.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine
(Source)

On war crimes trials in general, and the Eichmann trial in particular.

Collected in Responsibility and Judgment, Part 1 "Responsibility" (2003).

Pratchett, Terry -- Good Omens, 6. “Saturday” [Adam] (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]

Dave — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 18:06:59 +0000

Anyway, if you stop tellin’ people it’s all sorted out after they’re dead, they might try sorting it all out while they’re alive.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 6. “Saturday” [Adam] (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Introduction (1977)

Dave — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 16:49:27 +0000

If, as I suggested before, the ability to tell right from wrong should turn out to have anything to do with the ability to think, then we must be able to “demand” its exercise from every sane person, no matter how erudite or ignorant, intelligent or stupid, he may happen to be.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Introduction (1977)
(Source)

Originally published as an essay (1977-11-14), "Thinking -- I," The New Yorker (1977-11-21).

Arendt, Hannah -- Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine

Dave — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 14:21:03 +0000

For behind the unwillingness to judge lurks the suspicion that no one is a free agent, and hence the doubt that anyone is responsible or could be expected to answer for what he has done. The moment moral issues are raised, even in passing, he who raises them will be confronted with this frightful lack of self-confidence and hence of pride, and also with a kind of mock-modesty that in saying, Who am I to judge? actually means We’re all alike, equally bad, and those who try, or pretend that they try, to remain halfway decent are either saints or hypocrites, and in either case should leave us alone.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine
(Source)

Collected in Responsibility and Judgment, Part 1 "Responsibility" (2003).

Arendt, Hannah -- Lecture (1965-1966), “Some Questions of Moral Philosophy,” New School for Social Research, New York City

Dave — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 16:54:03 +0000

It is not murder which is forgiven but the killer, his person as it appears in circumstances and intentions. The trouble with the Nazi criminals was precisely that they renounced voluntarily all personal qualities, as if nobody were left to be either punished or forgiven. They protested time and again that they had never done anything out of their own initiative, that they had no intentions whatsoever, good or bad, and that they only obeyed orders.
To put it another way: the greatest evil perpetrated is the evil committed by nobodies, that is, by human beings who refuse to be persons.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Lecture (1965-1966), “Some Questions of Moral Philosophy,” New School for Social Research, New York City
(Source)

This is from a series of lectures Arendt gave at the New School for Social Research in NYC (1965), and at the University of Chicago ("Basic Moral Propositions," 1966). These were reworked and collected under this title in Responsibility and Judgment, Part 1 "Responsibility" (2003).

Newman, John -- Letter to Mrs. William Froude (27 Jun 1848)

Dave — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 00:10:21 +0000

We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) English prelate, Catholic Cardinal, theologian
Letter to Mrs. William Froude (27 Jun 1848)
(Source)

In C. S. Dessain (ed.), Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, vol. 12 "Rome to Birmingham" (1961).

~Other -- “God’s Minute”

Dave — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 17:47:08 +0000

I have only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me,
Can’t refuse it,
Didn’t seek it,
Didn’t choose it
But it’s up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it
Give account if I abuse it
Just a tiny little minute
but eternity is in it.

(Other Authors and Sources)
“God’s Minute”

This poem, and variants of it, have a wide trail of misattribution. It was used frequently by Elijah Cummings, US Representative, including during his first floor speech, and is often connected with him. Cummings in turn said it was a favorite of Parren Mitchell, US Representative. It is most correctly attributed in turn to civil right leader Benjamin May, but May claimed it was from an anonymous source. It has also been attributed to Welcome McCullough, history teacher Saugus High School, MA, in the 1940s, though without primary citation that I can find.

The variant used by Cummings:

I only have a minute,
Sixty seconds in it,
Forced upon me,
I did not choose it,
But I know that I must use it,
Give account if I abuse it,
Suffer if I lose it.
Only a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.

Paine, Thomas -- Rights of Man (1791)

Dave — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 22:36:13 +0000

Because a body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody, ought not to be trusted by anybody.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) American political philosopher and writer
Rights of Man (1791)
(Source)

Reason Four why an aristocratic body of hereditary legislators (such as the United Kingdom's House of Lords) is a bad idea.

Martial -- Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 5, epigram 20 (5.20.11-14) (AD 90) [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]

Dave — Fri, 25 May 2018 22:24:14 +0000

To you and me
Life is not full; we see
The good days fly
And, ah, how grievously
Their sum doth mount,
Set all to our account;
Why dally we
Who know what life should be?

[Nunc vivit necuter sibi, bonosque
Soles effugere atque abire sentit,
Qui nobis pereunt et inputantur.
Quisquam vivere cum sciat, moratur?]

Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis]
Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 5, epigram 20 (5.20.11-14) (AD 90) [tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]

The phrase pereunt et imputantur (they [the days] pass by, and are put to our account) is often found on sundials.

"To Julius Martialis." (Source (Latin)).

Alternate translations:

Now, to himself, alas! Does neither live,
But sees good suns, of which we are to give
A strict account, set, and march quick away:
Know a man how to live, and does he stay?
[tr. Cowley (1656)]

We behold the good suns shine, and pass away; lost are they for ever, yet, nevertheless, they are counted in our reckoning. Is it possible that anyone who knows how to live delays to live accordingly?
[tr. Amos (1858), ch. 3, #14; identified as ep. 21]

As it is, neither of us lives for himself, but sees his good days flee from him and vanish; days which are ever being lost to us, and set down to our account. Should any one, then, delay to live, when he knows how?
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

Now neither lives unto himself, alas!
And the good suns we see, that flash and pass
And perish; and the bell that knells them cries,
"Another gone: O when will ye arise?"
[tr. Stevenson (1884)]

Today neither lives for himself, and he feels the good days are flitting and passing away, our days that perish and are cored to our account. Does any man, when he knows how to live, delay?
[tr. Ker (1919)]

Now neither of us truly lives at all.
Suns rise and set and swell the reckoning. Say,
Does life mean anything? Then live today.
[tr. Francis & Tatum (1924), #230, "To His Cousin"]

Now neither lives his life, but he
Marks precious days that pass and flee.
These days are lost, but their amount
Is surely set to our account.
Knowledge the clue to life can give;
Then wherefore hesitate to live?
[tr. Duff (1929)]

But as things are now, neither one of us
Lives for himself, while ever glorious
Days slip by unlived, never to come
Again, deducted always from that sum
Allotted us. Why then do we not live,
We who know the joys that life can give?
[tr. Marcellino (1968)]

But as it is, we, both and each,
Miss the rich life within our reach,
We watch the good sun speed and set
And the lost day goes down as debt.
Would any man, if he knew how
To live, not do it here and now?
[tr. Michie (1972)]

Now, twin lives are not our own.
Our good suns flee & disappear,
Debited, as they die, to us.
Who hesitates that's learned to live?
[tr. Whigham (1987)]

We toil too much for others. Days
flicker by and then are billed,
one by one, to our accounts. Since we know
how, let's start really living now.
[tr. Matthews (1992)]

We feel our good days slip away and leave us; they are wasted, and put to our account. Does any man, knowing the way to live, defer it?
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

Now neither lives
his life. We feel our good days flee,
Numbered and spent. Knowing the way
to live, why should a man delay.
[tr. McLean (2014)]

As it is now, neither of us lives for his own benefit, each of us can feel his best days slipping away and leaving us behind. They're gone, they've been debited from our account. What kind of person knows how to live, but keeps putting it off?
[tr. Nisbet (2015)]

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich -- Letter to Renate and Eberhard Bethge (1944)

Dave — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:46:40 +0000

Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) German Lutheran pastor, theologian, martyr
Letter to Renate and Eberhard Bethge (1944)
(Source)

Alt. trans.: "It is not the thought but readiness to take responsibility that is the mainspring of action."

Lincoln, Abraham -- Message (1862-12-01) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union)

Dave — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:59:41 +0000

In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and in eternity.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Message (1862-12-01) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union)
(Source)

Lee, Stan -- Amazing Fantasy (Aug 1962)

Dave — Sat, 21 Jan 2017 00:10:11 +0000

With great power there must also come — great responsibility!

Stan Lee (1922-2018) American comic-book writer, publisher, media personality [b. Stanley Martin Lieber]
Amazing Fantasy (Aug 1962)

Used in the original Spider-Man story.

Agar, Herbert -- “The Perils of Democracy” (1966)

Dave — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 05:13:51 +0000

This is the affirmation on which democracy rests … [W]e can all be responsible … We become what we do. So does the world we live in, if enough of us do it — whether “it” be good or detestable. This is the burden of freedom: that it is all our fault or our credit.

Herbert Agar (1897-1980) American journalist and historian
“The Perils of Democracy” (1966)

Mill, John Stuart -- On Liberty, ch. 1 “Introductory” (1859)

Dave — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 00:17:31 +0000

A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 1 “Introductory” (1859)
(Source)

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Book 9. Letter to the Galatians 6: 7 (Gal 6:7) [KJV (1611)]

Dave — Wed, 25 May 2016 16:57:34 +0000

For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

[ὃ γὰρ ἐὰν σπείρῃ ἄνθρωπος τοῦτο καὶ θερίσει.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Book 9. Letter to the Galatians 6: 7 (Gal 6:7) [KJV (1611)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Where a man sows, there he reaps.
[JB (1966)]

You will reap exactly what you plant.
[GNT (1976)]

Whatever someone sows, that is what he will reap.
[NJB (1985)]

A person will harvest what they plant.
[CEB (2011)]

For you reap whatever you sow.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 1072 (1725)

Dave — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 21:13:50 +0000

Let the Care of one’s Business be committed but to one Person; for otherwise, besides Disagreement which may arise when Account is taken, everyone’s Answer is, That he thought others had done it.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 1072 (1725)
(Source)

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 52 (1820)

Dave — Mon, 11 May 2015 12:44:30 +0000

The only things in which we can be said to have any property are our actions. Our thoughts may be bad, yet produce no poison; they may be good, yet produce no fruit. Our riches may be taken away from us by misfortune, our reputation by malice, our spirits by calamity, our health by disease, our friends by death. But our actions must follow us beyond the grave; with respect to them alone, we can not say that we shall carry nothing with us when we die, neither that we shall go naked out of the world.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 52 (1820)
(Source)

Hemry, John G. -- The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Invincible (2012)

Dave — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 12:02:41 +0000

Security is not a license for people in authority to hide tactics they would never openly admit to using.

John G. Hemry (b. 1956) American naval officer, author [pseud. Jack Campbell]
The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Invincible (2012)

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 575 (1725)

Dave — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 12:13:27 +0000

As we must account for every idle Word, so must we likewise for every idle Silence.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 575 (1725)
(Source)

Bourget, Paul -- Cosmopolis, ch. 5 (1892) [tr. Arnot (1905)]

Dave — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 13:02:53 +0000

There are conditions of blindness so voluntary that they become complicity.

Paul Bourget (1852-1935) French critic, poet, novelist
Cosmopolis, ch. 5 (1892) [tr. Arnot (1905)]
(Source)

Alternate translation:

There is such a thing as voluntary blindness which is little better than collusion.
[tr. Moffett (1898)]

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas

Dave — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:03:41 +0000

I believe that the officers, and, especially, the directors, of corporations should be held personally responsible when any corporation breaks the law.

Lincoln, Abraham -- Message (1861-12-03) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union)

Dave — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 15:29:20 +0000

It is as much the duty of government to render prompt justice against itself, in favor of citizens, as it is to administer the same between private individuals.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Message (1861-12-03) to Congress, Annual Message (State of the Union)
(Source)

Mill, John Stuart -- On Liberty, ch. 5 “Applications” (1859)

Dave — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:22:28 +0000

The individual is not accountable to society for his actions in so far as these concern the interests of no person but himself. Advice, instruction, persuasion, and avoidance by other people, if thought necessary by them for their own good, are the only measures by which society can justifiably express its dislike or disapprobation of his conduct.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 5 “Applications” (1859)
(Source)

Gaiman, Neil -- Sandman, Book 9. The Kindly Ones, # 60 “The Kindly Ones: 4” (1994-06)

Dave — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:57:42 +0000

ROSE: I didn’t say it was my fault. I said it was my responsibility. I know the difference.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Sandman, Book 9. The Kindly Ones, # 60 “The Kindly Ones: 4” (1994-06)
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- The Human Condition, Part 5, ch. 33 “Irreversibility and the Power to Forgive” (1958)

Dave — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:47:23 +0000

Without being bound to the fulfillment of promises, we would never be able to keep our identities; we would be condemned to wander helplessly and without direction in the darkness of each man’s lonely heart, caught in its contradictions and equivocalities — a darkness which only the light shed over the public realm through the presence of others, who confirm the identity between the one who promises and the one who fulfills, can dispel.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Human Condition, Part 5, ch. 33 “Irreversibility and the Power to Forgive” (1958)
(Source)

Stevenson, Adlai -- Speech (1952-07-21), Welcoming Address, Democratic National Convention, International Amphitheatre, Chicago

Dave — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:08:13 +0000

Self-criticism is the secret weapon of democracy.

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1952-07-21), Welcoming Address, Democratic National Convention, International Amphitheatre, Chicago
(Source)

Stevenson, who was not a declared candidate, gave the convention welcoming address as Governor of Illinois. He was later nominated for President.

Acton, John Dalberg (Lord) -- Letter (1887-04-05) to Mandell Creighton

Dave — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:04:54 +0000

I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way against holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.

John Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834-1902) British historian, politician, writer
Letter (1887-04-05) to Mandell Creighton
(Source)

Often paraphrased, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

There is an alternate, probably spurious version of this quote, for which I have been unable to find an actual citation (except where it is mis-cited to this letter to Bp. Creighton): "And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." As the word "gangster" has only been traced back to 1886, and that in the US, its use by Acton (esp. in a modern sense) seems unlikely.

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Corporation,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

CORPORATION, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Corporation,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)

Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911).

Moliere -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.

[Ce n’est pas seulement pour ce que nous faisons que nous sommes tenus responsables, mais aussi pour ce que nous ne faisons pas.]

Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
(Attributed)
(Source)

The French phrase comes up in search, but, again, without citation beyond "Molière".

The earliest reference I can find to this phrase (in English) is in Maturin Ballou's Treasury of Thought (1871), without citation to where Molière might have said it. It is likely a paraphrase, but I can find no source material that recalls it. A more recent (but no better documented) variant:

It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.

See also Marcus Aurelius (c. AD 170), Fuller (1725), Mill (1859), Sewell (1877), Harris (1953), Nash (1959) (also), Masson (1988).

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Essay (1918-05-07), “Sedition, A Free Press, and Personal Rule,” Kansas City Star

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Essay (1918-05-07), “Sedition, A Free Press, and Personal Rule,” Kansas City Star
(Source)

This passage was added to later editions of his essay, "Lincoln and Free Speech,", as printed in The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, vol. 21, The Great Adventure, ch. 7 (1925). It does not appear in the original version of the essay or book.

See also Roosevelt and Roosevelt.

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1787-08-10) to Peter Carr

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

In fine, I repeat that you must lay aside all prejudice on both sides, and neither believe nor reject any thing because any other person, or description of persons have rejected or believed it. Your own reason is the only oracle given you by heaven, and you are answerable not for the rightness but uprightness of the decision.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1787-08-10) to Peter Carr
(Source)

On urging him to read and determine for himself the divinity or non-divinity of Christ.

O'Rourke, P. J. -- “The Liberty Manifesto,” speech, Cato Institute, Washington, DC (1993-05-06)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.

P. J. O'Rourke (b. 1947) American humorist, editor
“The Liberty Manifesto,” speech, Cato Institute, Washington, DC (1993-05-06)
(Source)

Reprinted in Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut (1995).