WIST Quotations

Carlyle, Thomas -- Lecture (1840-05-08), “The Hero as Prophet,” Home House, Portman Square, London

Dave — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 21:22:09 +0000

His Religion is not an easy one: with rigorous fasts, lavations, strict complex formulas, prayers five times a day, and abstinence from wine, it did not “succeed by being an easy religion.” As if indeed any religion, or cause holding of religion, could succeed by that! It is a calumny on men to say that they are roused to heroic action by ease, hope of pleasure, recompense, — sugar-plums of any kind, in this world or the next! In the meanest mortal there lies something nobler.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-08), “The Hero as Prophet,” Home House, Portman Square, London
(Source)

Speaking of Muhammad and Islam.

The lecture notes were collected by Carlyle into On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History, Lecture 2 (1841).

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 1, ch. 56 (1.56), “Of Prayers [Des prieres]” (1572-1580) [tr. Screech (1987)]

Dave — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 21:56:37 +0000

The miser prays God for the vain and superfluous preservation of his hoard; the ambitious man, for success and the achievement of his desires; the thief uses God to help him overcome the dangers and difficulties which obstruct his nefarious designs or else thanks God when he finds it easy to slit the gizzard of some passer-by. At the foot of the mansion which they are about to climb into and blow up, men say their prayers, while their purposes and hopes are full of cruelty, lust, and greed.

[L’avaricieux le prie pour la conservation vaine & superflue de ses thresors : l’ambitieux pour ses victoires, & conduite de sa fortune : le voleur l’employe à son ayde, pour franchir le hazard & les difficultez, qui s’opposent à l’execution de ses meschantes entreprinses : ou le remercie de l’aisance qu’il a trouvé à desgosiller un passant. Au pied de la maison, qu’ils vont escheller ou petarder, ils font leurs prieres, l’intention & l’esperance pleine de cruauté, de luxure, & d’avarice.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 1, ch. 56 (1.56), “Of Prayers [Des prieres]” (1572-1580) [tr. Screech (1987)]
(Source)

Most of the passage appeared in the 1st (1580) edition; the last example (the military assault) appeared in the 3rd (1595) edition.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

The covetous man sueth and praieth unto him for the vaine encrease and superfluous preservation of his wrong-gotten treasure. The ambitious, he importuneth God for the conduct of his fortune, and that he may have the victorie of all his desseignes. The theefe, the pirate, the murtherer, yea and the traitor, all call upon him, all implore his ayde, and all solicite him, to give them courage in their attempts, constancie in their resolutions, to remove all lets and difficulties, that in any sorte may withstand their wicked executions, and impious actions; or give him thanks, if they have had good successe; the one if he have met with a good bootie, the other if he returne home rich, the third if no man have seene him kill his enemie, and the last, though he have caused any execrable mischiefe. The Souldier, if he but go to besiege a cottage, to scale a Castle, to robbe a Church, to Pettard a gate, to force a religious house, or any villanous act, before he attempt-it, praieth to God for his assistance, though his intents and hopes be full-fraught with crueltie, murther, covetise, luxurie, sacriledge, and all iniquitie.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

The covetous man prays for the vain and superfluous preservation of his riches; the ambitious, for victory and the conduct of his fortune; the thief calls God to his assistance to deliver him from the dangers and difficulties that obstruct his wicked designs; or returns him thanks for the facility he has met with in cutting a traveller's throat. At the door of the house they are going to storm, or break into by force of a petard, they fall to prayers for success, having their intention and hopes full of cruelty, avarice, and luxury.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

The covetous man prays for the conservation of his vain and superfluous riches; the ambitious for victory and the good conduct of his fortune; the thief calls Him to his assistance, to deliver him from the dangers and difficulties that obstruct his wicked designs, or returns Him thanks for the facility he has met with in cutting a man’s throat; at the door of the house men are going to storm or break into by force of a petard, they fall to prayers for success, their intentions and hopes of cruelty, avarice, and lust.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

The avaricious man prays to him for the vain and superfluous of his riches; the ambitious man for his triumphs and the guidance of his passion; the thief employs him for aid in overcoming the risk and difficulties which impede the execution of his evil enterprises, or thanks him for the ease with which a traveler has had his throat cut. At the wall of the house they are about to scale or blow up, they say their prayers, their purpose and hope being full of cruelty, lust, greed.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

The miser prays to him for the vain and superfluous conservation of his treasures; the ambitious man, for his victories and the guidance of this passion; the thief uses his help to pass through the risks and difficulties that oppose the execution of his wicked enterprises, or thanks him for having found it easy to cut a passer-by's throat. Standing beside the house they are going to scale or blow up, they say their prayers, with their intention and hopes full of cruelty, lust, and avarice.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 10, ch. 9 / sec. 20 (10.9/10.20) (43-02 BC) [tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]

Dave — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 16:52:59 +0000

So glorious is the recovery of liberty that in regaining liberty we must not shrink even from death.

[Ita praeclara est recuperatio libertatis ut ne mors quidem sit in repetenda libertate fugienda.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Philippics [Philippicae; Antonian Orations], No. 10, ch. 9 / sec. 20 (10.9/10.20) (43-02 BC) [tr. Ker (Loeb) (1926)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

The recovery of freedom is so splendid a thing that we must not shun even death when seeking to recover it.
[tr. Yonge (1903)]

So glorious is the reclamation of freedom that not even death should be avoided when freedom must be regained.
[tr. @sentantiq (2017)]

Thoreau, Henry David -- Speech (1859-10-30), “A Plea for Captain John Brown,” Concord, Massachusetts

Dave — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 21:13:47 +0000

“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).

Hugo, Victor -- Les Misérables, Part 4 “Saint Denis,” Book 12 “Corinth,” ch. 4 (4.12.4) (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]

Dave — Wed, 14 May 2025 15:59:53 +0000

Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.

[Les grands périls ont cela de beau qu’ils mettent en lumière la fraternité des inconnus.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Les Misérables, Part 4 “Saint Denis,” Book 12 “Corinth,” ch. 4 (4.12.4) (1862) [tr. Wilbour (1862)]
(Source)

On the varied Parisians working together at building the barricades.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Great dangers have this beauty about them, that they throw light on the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]

Great perils have this fine characteristic, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Hapgood (1887)]

It is the ennobling quality of danger that it brings to light the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Denny (1976)]

Great perils share this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]

That is the beauty of great danger, it brings out the fraternity of strangers.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]

Orwell, George -- Essay (1939), “Charles Dickens,” sec. 6, Inside the Whale (1940-03-11)

Dave — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 16:05:24 +0000

When one reads any strongly individual piece of writing, one has the impression of seeing a face somewhere behind the page […] Well, in the case of Dickens I see a face that is not quite the face of Dickens’s photographs, though it resembles it. It is the face of a man of about forty, with a small beard and a high colour. He is laughing, with a touch of anger in his laughter, but no triumph, no malignity. It is the face of a man who is always fighting against something, but who fights in the open and is not frightened, the face of a man who is generously angry — in other words, of a nineteenth-century liberal, a free intelligence, a type hated with equal hatred by all the smelly little orthodoxies which are now contending for our souls.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1939), “Charles Dickens,” sec. 6, Inside the Whale (1940-03-11)
(Source)

Closing words of the essay.

Martin, George R. R. -- Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone

Dave — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:06:39 +0000

World War I is much more typical of the wars of history than World War II — the kind of war you look back afterward and say, “What the hell were we fighting for? Why did all these millions of people have to die? Was it really worth it to get rid of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, that we wiped out an entire generation, and tore up half the continent? Was the War of 1812 worth fighting? The Spanish-American War? What the hell were these people fighting for?”

George R. R. Martin (b. 1948) American author and screenwriter [George Raymond Richard Martin]
Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone
(Source)

Rogers, Will -- Column (1934-09-11), “Daily Telegram”

Dave — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 18:35:00 +0000

Nobody wants his cause near as bad as he wants to talk about his cause.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1934-09-11), “Daily Telegram”
(Source)

Written while in London.

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1716-06-29), The Freeholder, No. 55

Dave — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 22:41:07 +0000

A good Cause doth not want any Bitterness to support it, as a bad one cannot subsist without it. It is indeed observable, that an Author is scurrilous in proportion as he is dull; and seems rather to be in a Passion, because he cannot find out what to say for his own Opinion, than because he has discovered any pernicious Absurdities in that of his Antagonists.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1716-06-29), The Freeholder, No. 55
(Source)

Ebner-Eschenbach, Marie von -- Aphorisms [Aphorismen], No. 97 (1880) [tr. Scrase/Mieder (1994)]

Dave — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 14:31:31 +0000

Much less evil would be done on earth if evil could not be done in the name of good.

[Es würde sehr wenig Böses auf Erden getan werden, wenn das Böse niemals im Namen des Guten getan werden könnte.]

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) Austrian writer
Aphorisms [Aphorismen], No. 97 (1880) [tr. Scrase/Mieder (1994)]
(Source)

(Source (German)). Alternate translation:

But little evil would be done in the world if evil could never be done in the name of good.
[tr. Wister (1883)]

Camus, Albert -- Algerian Chronicles [Chroniques Algérienne], Preface (1948) [tr. Goldhammer (2013)]

Dave — Thu, 16 May 2024 15:51:52 +0000

No matter what cause one defends, it will suffer permanent disgrace if one resorts to blind attacks on crowds of innocent people in which the killer knows in advance that he will kill women and children.

Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
Algerian Chronicles [Chroniques Algérienne], Preface (1948) [tr. Goldhammer (2013)]
(Source)

Criticizing the Front de Libération Nationalale (FLN), the movement for Algerian independence (after similarly criticizing the French government for its violent activity).

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 7, § 38 (1951)

Dave — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 18:09:05 +0000

The fiercest fanatics are often selfish people who were forced, by innate shortcomings or external circumstances, to lose faith in their own selves. They separate the excellent instrument of their selfishness from their ineffectual selves and attach it to the service of some holy cause. And though it be a faith of love and humility they adopt, they can be neither loving nor humble.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 7, § 38 (1951)
(Source)

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, Act 2, sc. 2 [Israel Bertuccio] (1821)

Dave — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 14:40:44 +0000

They never fail who die
In a great cause.

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, Act 2, sc. 2 [Israel Bertuccio] (1821)
(Source)

Dyson, Freeman -- Disturbing the Universe, ch. 4 (1979)

Dave — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 14:43:53 +0000

A good cause can become bad if we fight for it with means that are indiscriminately murderous. A bad cause can become good if enough people fight for it in a spirit of comradeship and self-sacrifice. In the end it is how you fight, as much as why you fight, that makes your cause good or bad.

Freeman Dyson (1923-2020) English-American theoretical physicist, mathematician, futurist
Disturbing the Universe, ch. 4 (1979)
(Source)

Serling, Rod -- Commencement Address, Ithaca College, New York (13 May 1972)

Dave — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 15:53:41 +0000

Remember that you can’t necessarily sanctify a cause by virtue of the fact that men die for it. A death in a worthless or even questionable cause is a pointless, meaningless, tragically premature death.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Commencement Address, Ithaca College, New York (13 May 1972)
(Source)

Serling, Rod -- Commencement Address, Binghamton Central High School, Binghamton, New York (28 Jan 1968)

Dave — Tue, 03 May 2022 14:32:17 +0000

Too many wars are fought almost as if by rote. Too many wars are fought out of sloganry, out of battle hymns, out of aged, musty appeals to patriotism that went out with knighthood and moats. Love your country because it is eminently worthy of your affection. Respect it because it deserves your respect. Be loyal to it because it cannot survive without your loyalty. But do not accept the shedding of blood as a natural function or a prescribed way of history, even if history points this up by its repetition. That men die for causes does not necessarily sanctify that cause. And that men are maimed and torn to pieces every fifteen and twenty years does not immortalize or deify the act of war.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Commencement Address, Binghamton Central High School, Binghamton, New York (28 Jan 1968)
(Source)

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-10-02), The Spectator, No. 185

Dave — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 14:38:44 +0000

And that this is the Case very often, we may observe from the Behaviour of some of the most zealous for Orthodoxy, who have often great Friendships and Intimacies with vicious immoral Men, provided they do but agree with them in the same Scheme of Belief.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-10-02), The Spectator, No. 185
(Source)

Lec, Stanislaw -- More Unkempt Thoughts [Myśli nieuczesane nowe] (1964) [tr. Gałązka (1969)]

Dave — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 14:53:34 +0000

It is the high priests that make demands — not the gods they serve.

Stanislaw Lec (1909-1966) Polish aphorist, poet, satirist
More Unkempt Thoughts [Myśli nieuczesane nowe] (1964) [tr. Gałązka (1969)]
(Source)

Hazlitt, Henry -- Thinking As A Science, ch. 1, opening words (1916)

Dave — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 19:43:34 +0000

Every man knows there are evils in this world which need setting right. Every man has pretty definite ideas as what these evils are. But to most men one in particular stands out vividly. To some, in fact, this stands out with such startling vividness that they lose sight of other evils, or look upon them as the natural consequence of their own particular evil-in-chief.

Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993) American business and economics journalist
Thinking As A Science, ch. 1, opening words (1916)
(Source)

Du Bois, W.E.B. -- The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, ch. 12, sec. 93 (1896)

Dave — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 18:53:30 +0000

There is always a certain glamour about the idea of a nation rising up to crush an evil simply because it is wrong. Unfortunately, this can seldom be realized in real life; for the very existence of the evil usually argues a moral weakness in the very place where extraordinary moral strength is called for.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) American writer, historian, social reformer [William Edward Burghardt Du Bois]
The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, ch. 12, sec. 93 (1896)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- “Can Socialists Be Happy?” Tribune (1943-12-20) [as John Freeman]

Dave — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 21:18:09 +0000

Men use up their lives in heart-breaking political struggles, or get themselves killed in civil wars, or tortured in the secret prisons of the Gestapo, not in order to establish some central-heated, air-conditioned, strip-lighted Paradise, but because they want a world in which human beings love one another instead of swindling and murdering one another. And they want that world as a first step. Where they go from there is not so certain, and the attempt to foresee it in detail merely confuses the issue.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“Can Socialists Be Happy?” Tribune (1943-12-20) [as John Freeman]
(Source)

Fussell, Paul -- “The Initial Shock,” Interview by Sheldon Hackney, Humanities (Nov/Dec 1996)

Dave — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 19:06:06 +0000

I’m a pacifist about certain things. I’m a pacifist in the way I define national interest. I use this example frequently: If the Mexicans decided to cross the Texas border with firearms, I would be down there in a moment with a rifle and a whistle to direct the troops to repel them. If the United States is attacked, I will defend it. My problem is the United States’ defending the interests of the Union Oil Company or the United Fruit Company. Those are not American interests. They’re private-money interests, and that bothers me a great deal.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012) American cultural and literary historian, author, academic
“The Initial Shock,” Interview by Sheldon Hackney, Humanities (Nov/Dec 1996)
(Source)

Solzhenitsen, Alexander -- The Gulag Archipelago, Vol. 1, Part 1, ch. 4 (1973) [tr. Whitney]

Dave — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 15:20:13 +0000

Macbeth’s self-justifications were feeble — and his conscience devoured him. Yes, even Iago was a little lamb, too. The imagination and spiritual strength of Shakespeare’s evildoers stopped short at a dozen corpses. Because they had no ideology.

Ideology — that is what gives evildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination. That is the social theory which helps to make his acts seem good instead of bad in his own and others’ eyes, so that he won’t hear reproaches and curses but will receive praise and honors. That was how the agents of the Inquisition fortified their wills: by invoking Christianity; the conquerors of foreign lands, by extolling the grandeur of their Motherland; the colonizers, by civilization; the Nazis, by race; and the Jacobins (early and late), by equality, brotherhood, and the happiness of future generations.

Alexander Solzhenitsen (1918-2008) Russian novelist, emigre [Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn]
The Gulag Archipelago, Vol. 1, Part 1, ch. 4 (1973) [tr. Whitney]
(Source)

Orwell, George -- “Notes on Nationalism” (May 1945)

Dave — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 14:25:57 +0000

I think one must engage in politics — using the word in a wide sense — and that one must have preferences: that is, one must recognise that some causes are objectively better than others, even if they are advanced by equally bad means. As for the nationalistic loves and hatreds that I have spoken of, they are part of the make-up of most of us, whether we like it or not. Whether it is possible to get rid of them I do not know, but I do believe that it is possible to struggle against them, and that this is essentially a moral effort. It is a question first of all of discovering what one really is, what one’s own feelings really are, and then of making allowance for the inevitable bias.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“Notes on Nationalism” (May 1945)
(Source)

Catt, Carrie Chapman -- Personal Motto

Dave — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 20:46:01 +0000

To the wrong that needs resistance
To the right that needs assistance
To the future in the distance
Give yourself!

Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947) American women's suffrage activist
Personal Motto
(Source)

Conveyed in a letter from Catt to Aletta Jacobs, after the death of Jacobs' husband.

Aeschylus -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 18:06:32 +0000

Truth is the first casualty in war.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek dramatist (Æschylus)
(Misattributed)

Variant: "Truth is the first casualty of war."

Not found, as such, in Aeschylus' works. The closest (Fragm. Incert, xi.) is his phrase "God is not averse to deceit in a just cause." Attribution to of the subject phrase to Aeschylus dates only back to 1965. The first recorded use of the phrase as such is from 1915, but even there it is offered as a quotation from an unnamed source.

More discussion of the history of this phrase can be found here and here.

Orwell, George -- Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)

Dave — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 16:43:25 +0000

History is thought of largely in nationalist terms, and such things as the Inquisition, the tortures of the Star Chamber, the exploits of the English buccaneers (Sir Francis Drake, for instance, who was given to sinking Spanish prisoners alive), the Reign of Terror, the heroes of the Mutiny blowing hundreds of Indians from the guns, or Cromwell’s soldiers slashing Irishwomen’s faces with razors, become morally neutral or even meritorious when it is felt that they were done in the “right” cause. If one looks back over the past quarter of a century, one finds that there was hardly a single year when atrocity stories were not being reported from some part of the world; and yet in not one single case were these atrocities — in Spain, Russia, China, Hungary, Mexico, Amritsar, Smyrna — believed in and disapproved of by the English intelligentsia as a whole. Whether such deeds were reprehensible, or even whether they happened, was always decided according to political predilection.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)
(Source)

Young, Andrew -- Interview by Peter Ross Range, Playboy (Jul 1977)

Dave — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 21:39:52 +0000

It’s a blessing to die for a cause, because you can so easily die for nothing.

Andrew Young (b. 1932) American politician, diplomat, activist
Interview by Peter Ross Range, Playboy (Jul 1977)
(Source)

West, Rebecca -- “World of Books: The Greek Way,” Sunday Times of London (23 Aug 1942)

Dave — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 22:27:42 +0000

A good cause has to be careful of the company it keeps.

Rebecca West (1892-1983) British author, journalist, literary critic, travel writer [pseud. for Cicily Isabel Fairfield]
“World of Books: The Greek Way,” Sunday Times of London (23 Aug 1942)

Weldon, Fay -- Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen (1984)

Dave — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 20:07:10 +0000

Because one cause is bad does not make the opposing cause good.

Fay Weldon (b. 1931) English author, essayist, playwright
Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen (1984)
(Source)

Shakespeare, William -- Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 121 (5.1.121) (1597)

Dave — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 19:06:37 +0000

HENRY: God befriend us as our cause is just.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry IV, Part 1, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 121 (5.1.121) (1597)
(Source)

Sanger, Margaret -- Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography, ch. 32 (1938)

Dave — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 23:10:14 +0000

As a cause becomes more and more successful, the ideas of the people engaged in it are bound to change.

Margaret Sanger (1879-1966) American birth control activist, sex educator, nurse
Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography, ch. 32 (1938)
(Source)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1843-02-22), Temperance Address, Washington Temperance Society, Second Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Illinois

Dave — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 20:33:36 +0000

When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and a true maxim, that a “drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.” So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great high road to his reason, and which, when once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause really be a just one.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1843-02-22), Temperance Address, Washington Temperance Society, Second Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Illinois
(Source)

Reported in the Sangamo Journal (1843-03-25).

Jones, Laurie Beth -- Jesus, CEO, “He Was Willing to Do an End Run” (1995)

Dave — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 19:48:52 +0000

If you believe you have a just cause, an important message, or a key contribution to make, you will be just as innovative as a college freshman desperate to see his girlfriend six hundred miles away. You will get there any way you can.

Laurie Beth Jones (b. 1952) American author, motivational speaker, leadership coach
Jesus, CEO, “He Was Willing to Do an End Run” (1995)
(Source)

Goldman, Emma -- “What I Believe,” New York World (19 Jul 1908)

Dave — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 21:03:40 +0000

One need not go back two thousand years to the time when those who believed in the gospel of Jesus were thrown into the arena or hunted into dungeons to realize how little great beliefs or earnest believers are understood. The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance, the black man’s right to his body, or woman’s right to her soul. If, then, from time immemorial, the New has met with opposition and condemnation, why should my beliefs be exempt from a crown of thorns?

Emma Goldman (1869-1940) Lithuanian-American anarchist, activist
“What I Believe,” New York World (19 Jul 1908)
(Source)

Hobbes, Thomas -- Leviathan, Part 1, ch. 11 (1651)

Dave — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 20:50:39 +0000

Ignorance of remote causes disposeth men to attribute all events to the causes immediate and instrumental: for these are all the causes they perceive.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) English philosopher
Leviathan, Part 1, ch. 11 (1651)
(Source)

Madison, James -- The Federalist Papers, #41 (19 Jan 1788)

Dave — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 19:10:14 +0000

A bad cause seldom fails to betray itself.

James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
The Federalist Papers, #41 (19 Jan 1788)
(Source)

James, William -- Letter to E. L. Godkin (24 Dec 1895)

Dave — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 17:13:45 +0000

We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.

William James (1842-1910) American psychologist and philosopher
Letter to E. L. Godkin (24 Dec 1895)
(Source)

Gandhi, Mohandas -- Non-Violence in Peace and War, Vol. 2 (1949)

Dave — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 16:31:15 +0000

Truth never damages a cause that is just.

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist [Mahatma Gandhi]
Non-Violence in Peace and War, Vol. 2 (1949)
(Source)

Sinclair, Upton -- The Jungle, ch. 28 (1906)

Dave — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 16:05:49 +0000

There is no wilderness where I can hide from these things, there is no haven where I can escape them; though I travel to the ends of the earth, I find the same accursed system — I find that all the fair and noble impulses of humanity, the dreams of poets and the agonies of martyrs, are shackled and bound in the service of organized and predatory Greed! And therefore I cannot rest, I cannot be silent; therefore I cast aside comfort and happiness, health and good repute — and go out into the world and cry out the pain of my spirit!

Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) American writer, journalist, activist, politician
The Jungle, ch. 28 (1906)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Nature,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 20:07:17 +0000

Great causes are never tried on their merits; but the cause is reduced to particulars to suit the size of the partisans, and the contention is ever hottest on minor matters.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Nature,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Churchill, Winston -- BBC Radio broadcast (16 Jun 1941)

Dave — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 17:47:13 +0000

When great causes are on the move in the world, stirring all men’s souls, drawing them from their firesides, casting aside comfort, wealth, and the pursuit of happiness in response to impulses at once awe-striking and irresistible, we learn that we are spirits, not animals, and that something is going on in space and time, and beyond space and time, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
BBC Radio broadcast (16 Jun 1941)
(Source)

First published in the Imperial Review (28 Jun 1941).

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor -- “Critical Articles: Introduction,” Complete Collected Works (1895)

Dave — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 01:13:33 +0000

A just cause is not ruined by a few mistakes.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Russian novelist
“Critical Articles: Introduction,” Complete Collected Works (1895)

Jay, John -- The Federalist #4 (7 Nov 1787)

Dave — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 19:33:59 +0000

It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it; nay, absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for the purposes and objects merely personal, such as thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition, or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families or partisans. These and a variety of other motives, which affect only the mind of the sovereign, often lead him to engage in wars not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of his people.

John Jay (1745-1829) American statesman, diplomat, abolitionist, politician, Chief Justice (1789-1795)
The Federalist #4 (7 Nov 1787)
(Source)

Catt, Carrie Chapman -- “The Making of A Pioneer Suffragette,” in The American Scrap Book (1928)

Dave — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 23:11:04 +0000

I give it as my firmest conviction that service to a just cause rewards the worker with more real happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life.

Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947) American women's suffrage activist
“The Making of A Pioneer Suffragette,” in The American Scrap Book (1928)
(Source)

Catt, Carrie Chapman -- “Is Woman Suffrage Progressing?” speech, Sixth Convention of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, Stockholm (13 Jun 1911)

Dave — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 19:14:07 +0000

When a just cause reaches its flood-tide … whatever stands in the way must fall before its overwhelming power.

Carrie Chapman Catt (1859-1947) American women's suffrage activist
“Is Woman Suffrage Progressing?” speech, Sixth Convention of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, Stockholm (13 Jun 1911)
(Source)

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor -- Aids to Reflection, “Prudential Aphorisms II” (1831 ed.)

Dave — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 23:08:26 +0000

If it be true, that men are miserable because they are wicked, it is likewise true, that many are wicked because they are miserable.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) English poet and critic
Aids to Reflection, “Prudential Aphorisms II” (1831 ed.)
(Source)

Carville, James -- Interview with Joan Walsh, Salon (11 Mar 2002)

Dave — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 23:50:03 +0000

What I’m suggesting is, stand for yourself, be for something and the hell with it. Because the hand-wringers and the editorialists and the sigh-and-pontificate crowd will be against you, whatever you do.

James Carville (b. 1944) American political consultant
Interview with Joan Walsh, Salon (11 Mar 2002)
(Source)

Kempton, Murray -- Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties, ch. 1 “The Sheltered Life” (1955)

Dave — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 21:17:39 +0000

For the Communists offer one precious, fatal boon: they take away the sense of sin. It may or may not be debatable whether a man can live without God; but, if it were possible, we should pass a law forbidding a man to live without the sense of sin.

Murray Kempton (1917-1997) American journalist.
Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties, ch. 1 “The Sheltered Life” (1955)
(Source)

~Other -- Mills E. Godwin, Governor of Virginia (Dec 1966)

Dave — Mon, 11 May 2020 17:18:38 +0000

Men of faith know that throughout history the crimes committed in liberty’s name have been exceeded only by those committed in God’s name.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Mills E. Godwin, Governor of Virginia (Dec 1966)

On KKK cross-burnings. Quoted in various papers of the time.

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Fourth Annual Republican Women’s National Conference, Washington, DC (6 Mar 1956)

Dave — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 00:53:26 +0000

If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Fourth Annual Republican Women’s National Conference, Washington, DC (6 Mar 1956)
(Source)

Trumbo, Dalton -- Johnny Got His Gun, ch. 10 (1938)

Dave — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 23:30:33 +0000

You can always hear the people who are willing to sacrifice somebody else’s life. They’re plenty loud and they talk all the time. You can find them in churches and schools and newspapers and congresses. That’s their business. They sound wonderful. Death before dishonor. This ground sanctified by blood. These men who died so gloriously. They shall not have died in vain. Our noble dead.
Hmmmm.
But what do the dead say?
Did anybody ever come back from the dead any single one of the millions who got killed did any one of them ever come back and say by god I’m glad I’m dead because death is always better than dishonor? Did they say I’m glad I died to make the world safe for democracy? Did they say I like death better than losing liberty? Did any of them ever say it’s good to think I got my guts blown out for the honor of my country? Did any of them ever say look at me I’m dead but I died for decency and that’s better than being alive? Did any of them ever say here I am, I’ve been rotting for two years in a foreign grave but it’s wonderful to die for your native land? Did any of them say hurray I died for womanhood and I’m happy, see how I sing even though my mouth is choked with worms?
Nobody but the dead know whether all these things people talk about are worth dying for or not. And the dead can’t talk.

Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976) American screenwriter and novelist [James Dalton Trumbo]
Johnny Got His Gun, ch. 10 (1938)
(Source)

Debs, Eugene V. -- Statement to the Court (1918-09-18)

Dave — Fri, 25 May 2018 22:32:01 +0000

Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind then that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; and while there is a criminal element, I am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926) American union leader, activist, socialist, politician
Statement to the Court (1918-09-18)
(Source)

On being convicted of sedition for urging resistance to the draft. Often paraphrased:

As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I am of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Kennedy, Florynce -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 03:12:14 +0000

The biggest sin is sitting on your ass.

Florynce "Flo" Kennedy (1916-2000) American lawyer, feminist, civil rights activist
(Attributed)
(Source)

Quoted in Gloria Steinem, "The Verbal Karate of Florynce R. Kennedy, Esq.," Ms. (Mar 1973).

Full quote: "Some people say they won’t work 'inside the system' -- they’re 'waiting for the revolution.' Well, when the ramparts are open, honey, I'll be there. But until then, I'm going to go right on zapping the business and government delinquents, the jockocrats, the fetus fetishists, and all the other niggerizers any way I can. The biggest sin is sitting on your ass."

King, Martin Luther -- “Give Us the Ballot,” Speech, Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, Washington, DC (1957)

Dave — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 04:20:24 +0000

This is no day for the rabble-rouser, whether he be Negro or white. We must realize that we are grappling with the most weighty social problem of this nation, and in grappling with such a complex problem there is no place for misguided emotionalism. We must work passionately and unrelentingly for the goal of freedom, but we must be sure that our hands are clean in the struggle. We must never struggle with falsehood, hate, or malice. We must never become bitter. I know how we feel sometime. There is the danger that those of us who have been forced so long to stand amid the tragic midnight of oppression—those of us who have been trampled over, those of us who have been kicked about — there is the danger that we will become bitter. But if we will become bitter and indulge in hate campaigns, the new order which is emerging will be nothing but a duplication of the old order.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Give Us the Ballot,” Speech, Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, Washington, DC (1957)
(Source)

Barrie, James -- The Twelve-Pound Look (1910)

Dave — Wed, 24 May 2017 17:43:08 +0000

SIR HARRY: Ambition — it is the last infirmity of noble minds.

J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish novelist and dramatist [James Matthew Barrie]
The Twelve-Pound Look (1910)

Broun, Heywood -- New York World (6 Feb 1928)

Dave — Wed, 24 May 2017 17:42:07 +0000

Just as every conviction begins as a whim so does every emancipator serve his apprenticeship as a crank. A fanatic is a great leader who is just entering the room.

Heywood Broun (1888-1939) American journalist, author
New York World (6 Feb 1928)
(Source)

Beecher, Henry Ward -- Life Thoughts (1858)

Dave — Wed, 17 May 2017 15:35:13 +0000

A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man by one which is lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other, ambition. Ambition is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) American clergyman and orator
Life Thoughts (1858)
(Source)

Sometimes misattributed to Marcus Aurelius.

Parker, Robert -- Promised Land (1974)

Dave — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 21:11:19 +0000

Zealots were always hard. Zeal distorts them. Makes the normal impulses convolute. Makes people fearless and greedless and loveless and finally monstrous. I was against zeal. But being against it didn’t make it go away.

Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) American writer
Promised Land (1974)

Gervais, Ricky -- Interview with Chris Heath, GQ (15 May 2013)

Dave — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 03:44:57 +0000

GERVAIS: Whenever I do a thing about animals, there’s always someone that goes, “What about children dying in Syria?” Yeah, that’s bad, too — can’t we care about both? Sometimes I go, “You carry on all your good work for the fucking children in Syria, and I’ll do this.” I love the fact that there’s a hierarchy of things that you’ve got to care about. I tweeted “I love humans — they’re just not my favorite animal.” That was to annoy people.

GQ: True, though?

GERVAIS: No, I’m not a maniac. Of course humans are my favorite animal. [pauses] But I’ve never met an animal who was a cunt.

Ricky Gervais (b. 1961) English comedian, actor, director, writer
Interview with Chris Heath, GQ (15 May 2013)
(Source)

Adams, John Quincy -- Journal (11 Dec 1838)

Dave — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 01:58:06 +0000

The conflict between the principle of liberty and the fact of slavery is coming gradually to an issue. Slavery has now the power, and falls into convulsions at the approach of freedom. That the fall of slavery is predetermined in the counsels of Omnipotence I cannot doubt; it is a part of the great moral improvement in the condition of man, attested by all the records of history. But the conflict will be terrible, and the progress of improvement perhaps retrograde before its final progress to consummation.

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) US President (1825-29)
Journal (11 Dec 1838)

King, Martin Luther -- “Where Do We Go From Here?” Southern Christian Leadership Conference Presidential Address (16 Aug 1967)

Dave — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 04:51:27 +0000

I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will be still rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may again with tear-drenched eyes have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Where Do We Go From Here?” Southern Christian Leadership Conference Presidential Address (16 Aug 1967)
(Source)

Chambers, Oswald -- “My Utmost For His Highest” (1927)

Dave — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 04:49:55 +0000

If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men.

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) Scottish evangelist and teacher
“My Utmost For His Highest” (1927)

Aeschylus -- Agamemnon

Dave — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 03:07:00 +0000

Hell to ships, hell to men, hell to cities.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek dramatist (Æschylus)
Agamemnon

Speaking of Helen of Troy. The literal translation is "Ship-destroyer, man-destroyer, city-destroyer."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Politics,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 00:26:11 +0000

What the tender poetic youth dreams, and prays, and paints to-day, but shuns the ridicule of saying aloud, shall presently be the resolutions of public bodies, then shall be carried as grievance and bill of rights through conflict and war, and then shall be triumphant law and establishment for a hundred years, until it gives place, in turn, to new prayers and pictures.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Politics,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

This quotation is more often given as the paraphrase used by another speaker of the era, the abolitionist Wendell Phillips:

What the tender and poetic youth dreams to-day, and conjures up with inarticulate speech, is to-morrow the vociferated result of public opinion, and the day after is the charter of nations.

Phillips used this phrase, prefixed with, "As Emerson says," and in quotation marks, at least twice. First in his lecture "Harper's Ferry" (1 Nov 1859), Brooklyn. Second, in a different context, in "The Scholar in a Republic" (30 Jun 1881), a famous speech at the centennial of the Phi Beta Kappa society at Harvard University.

Emerson did not use this shorter phrasing, however, in any of his written works, and frequent attributions of it to him are in error.

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)

Cooke, Alistair -- Talk About America, ch. 6 (1981)

Dave — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 02:32:47 +0000

All presidents start out to run a crusade, but after a couple of years they find they are running something less heroic and much more intractable: namely, the presidency.

Alistair Cooke (1908-2004) Anglo-American essayist and journalist
Talk About America, ch. 6 (1981)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1830-08-18)

Dave — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 21:14:53 +0000

The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1830-08-18)

Bryan, William Jennings -- Speech, National Democratic Convention, Chicago (Jul 1896)

Dave — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 18:04:47 +0000

The humblest citizen of all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of Error.

William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) American lawyer, statesman, politician, orator
Speech, National Democratic Convention, Chicago (Jul 1896)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- (Attributed)

Dave — Tue, 24 May 2016 13:56:33 +0000

Yes, Haven, most of us enjoy preaching, and I’ve got such a bully pulpit!

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
(Attributed)

In George Haven Putnam, The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, Vol. 9, Introduction (1926). Roosevelt's reply when, during his first presidential term, Putnam accused him of tending to preach to people.

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 475 (1820)

Dave — Wed, 18 May 2016 14:17:14 +0000

If a cause be good, the most violent attack of its enemies will not injure it so much as an injudicious defense of it by its friends.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 475 (1820)
(Source)

See Nietzsche (1882).

Browne, Thomas -- Religio Medici, Part 1, sec. 25 (1643)

Dave — Wed, 18 May 2016 14:15:54 +0000

This is a vice in them, that were a vertue in us; for obstinacy in a bad cause, is but constancy in a good.

Thomas Browne (1605-1682) English physician and author
Religio Medici, Part 1, sec. 25 (1643)
(Source)

Kempton, Murray -- “To Save a Nation,” America Comes of Age (1963)

Dave — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 16:06:38 +0000

There are things a man must not do even to save a nation.

Murray Kempton (1917-1997) American journalist.
“To Save a Nation,” America Comes of Age (1963)

Carnegie, Andrew -- “A Plea for Peace,” New York Times (7 Apr 1907)

Dave — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 17:30:28 +0000

Are there no ideals more stirring than those of martial glory? Is this generation conscious of calls to the service of native land in ways no more worthy than the way of taking a musket and killing somebody? You ask, in the language of Prof. James, for a moral equivalent for war. A patriot needs only look about to find numberless causes that ought to warm the blood and stir the imagination. The dispelling of ignorance and the fostering of education, the investigation of disease and the searching out of remedies that will vanquish the giant ills that decimate the race, the inculcation of good feeling in the industrial world, the cause of the aged, the cause of the men and women who had so little chance — tell me, has war anything that beckons as these things beckon with alluring and compelling power? Whoso wants to share the heroism of battle let him join the fight against ignorance and disease — and the mad idea that war is necessary.

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) American industrialist and philanthropist
“A Plea for Peace,” New York Times (7 Apr 1907)
(Source)

Lorde, Audre -- “Learning from the 60s,” speech, Malcolm X weekend, Harvard University (Feb 1982)

Dave — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 15:58:38 +0000

There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, because we do not lead single-issue lives.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) American writer, feminist, civil rights activist
“Learning from the 60s,” speech, Malcolm X weekend, Harvard University (Feb 1982)
(Source)

Reprinted in Sister Outsider (1984).

Inge, William Ralph -- “Our Present Discontents,” Outspoken Essays: First Series (1919)

Dave — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 12:30:55 +0000

Like other idealisms, patriotism varies from a noble devotion to a moral lunacy.

William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge]
“Our Present Discontents,” Outspoken Essays: First Series (1919)

Dylan, Bob -- “Gotta Serve Somebody” (1979)

Dave — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 17:37:55 +0000

It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

Bob Dylan (b. 1941) American singer, songwriter
“Gotta Serve Somebody” (1979)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Republican Campaign Picnic, Gettysburg (12 Sep 1956)

Dave — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 13:27:56 +0000

The essence of leadership is to get others to do something because they think you want it done and because they know it is worth while doing — that is what we are talking about.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
Speech, Republican Campaign Picnic, Gettysburg (12 Sep 1956)

Lewis, Sinclair -- (Spurious)

Dave — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 16:53:21 +0000

When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.

Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) American novelist, playwright
(Spurious)

Not found in Lewis' writing. Variants:

James Waterman Wise, Jr., Christian Century (5 Feb 1936): "In a recent address here before the liberal John Reed club said that Hearst and Coughlin are the two chief exponents of fascism in America. If fascism comes, he added, it will not be identified with any 'shirt' movement, nor with an 'insignia,' but it will probably be 'wrapped up in the American flag and heralded as a plea for liberty and preservation of the constitution.'"
Halford E. Luccock, Keeping Life Out of Confusion (1938): "When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled 'made in Germany'; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism; it will be called, of course, 'Americanism.'"
Harrison Evans Salisbury, The Many Americas Shall Be One (1971): "Sinclair Lewis aptly predicted in It Can't Happen Here that if fascism came to America it would come wrapped in the flag and whistling 'The Star Spangled Banner.'" [The quotation is not found in that book.]

Gandhi, Mohandas -- In Harijan (6 Feb 1939)

Dave — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 17:04:11 +0000

If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist [Mahatma Gandhi]
In Harijan (6 Feb 1939)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1839-12-26), “The Sub-Treasury,” Illinois House of Representatives, Springfield

Dave — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 12:54:12 +0000

The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1839-12-26), “The Sub-Treasury,” Illinois House of Representatives, Springfield
(Source)

On defeating Martin Van Buren, the incumbent Democratic President, in the next election. Van Buren was in fact defeated in 1840 by Whig candidate William Henry Harrison.

Huxley, Aldous -- “Knowledge and Understanding,” Vedanta and the West (May-Jun 1956)

Dave — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 13:37:37 +0000

For at least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice, and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism, and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
“Knowledge and Understanding,” Vedanta and the West (May-Jun 1956)
(Source)

Revision of a 1955 lecture given at the Vedanta Society of Southern California; this phrase, however, does not occur in it (the surrounding text is found around the 10:00 mark). Reprinted in Adonis and the Alphabet, and Other Essays (in the US Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and Other Essays) (1956).

Banks, Iain -- Against a Dark Background, ch. 24 “Fall into the Sea” (1993)

Dave — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:12:32 +0000

Sorry? Of course he was sorry. People were always sorry. Sorry they had done what they had done, sorry they were doing what they were doing, sorry they were going to do what they were going to do; but they still did whatever it was. The sorrow never stopped them; it just made them feel better. And so the sorrow never stopped. Fate, I’m sick of it all. […]
Sorrow be damned, and all your plans. Fuck the faithful, fuck the committed, the dedicated, the true believers; fuck all the sure and certain people prepared to maim and kill whoever got in their way; fuck every cause that ended in murder and a child screaming.

Iain Banks (1954-2013) Scottish author
Against a Dark Background, ch. 24 “Fall into the Sea” (1993)
(Source)

Often paraphrased as "Fuck every cause that ends in murder and children crying."

Adams, John -- Letter (1816-02-02) to Thomas Jefferson

Dave — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 12:14:56 +0000

Power always Sincerely, conscientiously, de très bon Foi, believes itself Right. Power always thinks it has a great Soul and vast Views, beyond the Comprehension of the Weak; and that it is doing God Service when it is violating all his Laws.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1816-02-02) to Thomas Jefferson
(Source)

De très bon foi = "very candidly."

Burgh, James -- The Dignity of Human Nature, Book 1, sec. 5 “Miscellaneous Thoughts on Prudence in Conversation” (1754)

Dave — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 13:26:25 +0000

Be sure of the fact before you lose time in searching for a cause.

James Burgh (1714-1775) British politician and writer
The Dignity of Human Nature, Book 1, sec. 5 “Miscellaneous Thoughts on Prudence in Conversation” (1754)
(Source)

Sometimes misattributed to Horace Mann.

Greer, Germaine -- The Female Eunuch, Introduction (1970)

Dave — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 12:27:24 +0000

The struggle which is not joyous is the wrong struggle. The joy of the struggle is not hedonism and hilarity, but the sense of purpose, achievement, and dignity.

Germaine Greer (b. 1939) Australian-English feminist, reformer, author, educator
The Female Eunuch, Introduction (1970)

Brooks, Richard -- Deadline: U.S.A. [film] (1952)

Dave — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 13:03:02 +0000

If it was a worthwhile fight, it didn’t matter who won; some good was sure to come of it.

Richard Brooks (1912-1992) American screenwriter, film director, novelist
Deadline: U.S.A. [film] (1952)

Line spoken by Ethyl Barrymore.

Driberg, Tom -- Daily Express (1937)

Dave — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 22:30:52 +0000

Bolsheviks are sincere. Fascists are sincere. Lunatics are sincere. People who believe the Earth is flat are sincere. They can’t all be right. Better make certain first you’ve got something to be sincere about, and with.

Tom Driberg (1905-1976) British journalist and politician
Daily Express (1937)
(Source)

Churchill, Winston -- Speech, Dundee (10 Oct 1908)

Dave — Mon, 26 May 2014 17:47:49 +0000

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)

Johnson, Samuel -- The Rambler, #121 (14 May 1751)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:56:53 +0000

It is very natural for young men to be vehement, acrimonious and severe. For as they seldom comprehend at once all the consequences of a position, or perceive the difficulties by which cooler and more experienced reasoners are restrained from confidence, they form their conclusions with great precipitance. Seeing nothing that can darken or embarrass the question, they expect to find their own opinion universally prevalent, and are inclined to impute uncertainty and hesitation to want of honesty, rather than of knowledge.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #121 (14 May 1751)
(Source)

Acton, John Dalberg (Lord) -- Letter (1881-04-24) to Mary Gladstone

Dave — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 14:34:55 +0000

There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men. Imagine a congress of eminent celebrities, such as More, Bacon, Grotius, Pascal, Cromwell, Bossuet, Montesquieu, Jefferson, Napoleon, Pitt, etc. The result would be an Encyclopedia of Error.

John Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834-1902) British historian, politician, writer
Letter (1881-04-24) to Mary Gladstone

Einstein, Albert -- “A Message to My Adopted Country,” Pageant (Jan 1946)

Dave — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 12:39:22 +0000

There is no greater satisfaction for a just and well-meaning person than the knowledge that he has devoted his best energies to the service of a good cause.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-American physicist
“A Message to My Adopted Country,” Pageant (Jan 1946)
(Source)

Later reprinted as "The Negro Question."

Shakespeare, William -- Henry VI, Part 2, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 240ff (3.2.240-243) (1591)

Dave — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:13:10 +0000

HENRY: What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted?
Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just,
And he but naked, though locked up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry VI, Part 2, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 240ff (3.2.240-243) (1591)
(Source)

See Ward.

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Essay (1900-06), “Latitude and Longitude Among Reformers,” The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 2

Dave — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 20:23:07 +0000

Nevertheless, the fact remains that exactly as true patriots should be especially jealous of any appeal to what is base under the guise of patriotism, so men who strive for honesty, and for the cleansing of what is corrupt in the dark places of our politics, should emphatically disassociate themselves from the men whose antics throw discredit upon the reforms they profess to advocate.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Essay (1900-06), “Latitude and Longitude Among Reformers,” The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 2
(Source)

Collected in Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (1902).

Hoffer, Eric -- Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 166 (1955)

Dave — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:45:56 +0000

To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life. A grievance can almost serve as a substitute for hope; it not infrequently happens that those who hunger for hope give their allegiance to him who offers them a grievance.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 166 (1955)
(Source)

Hoffer, Eric -- Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 37 (1955)

Dave — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:20:51 +0000

Whenever we proclaim the uniqueness of a religion, a truth, a leader, a nation, a race, a part or a holy cause, we are also proclaiming our own uniqueness.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 37 (1955)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon, Ebenezer Baptist Church (4 Feb 1968)

Dave — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:36:14 +0000

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon, Ebenezer Baptist Church (4 Feb 1968)

Full text. Adaptation by King of the 1952 homily "Drum-Major Instincts" by J. Wallace Hamilton. Paraphrased on the MLK memorial in Washington, DC, as, "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness"; the inscription was later removed.

Eldridge, Paul -- Maxims for a Modern Man, #1439 (1965)

Dave — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 17:37:48 +0000

The ideals men die for often become the prejudices their descendants kill for.

Paul Eldridge (1888-1982) American educator, novelist, poet
Maxims for a Modern Man, #1439 (1965)

Herbert, George -- Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 499 (1640 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:44:30 +0000

For want of a naile the shoe is lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse the rider is lost.

George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 499 (1640 ed.)
(Source)

Steel, Ronald -- “The Vanishing Campaign Biography,” New York Times (5 Aug 1984)

Dave — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:32:28 +0000

We are not a cynical people. The will to believe lingers on. We like to think that heroes can emerge from obscurity, as they sometimes do; that elections do matter, even though the process is at least part hokum; that through politics we can change our society and maybe even find a cause to believe in.

Ronald Steel (b. 1931) American writer, historian, and professor
“The Vanishing Campaign Biography,” New York Times (5 Aug 1984)

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 5, § 26 (1951)

Dave — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:36:01 +0000

Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, “to be free from freedom.” It was not sheer hypocrisy when the rank-and-file Nazis declared themselves not guilty of all the enormities they had committed. They considered themselves cheated and maligned when made to shoulder responsibility for obeying orders. Had they not joined the Nazi movement in order to be free from responsibility?

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 5, § 26 (1951)

Swift, Jonathan -- Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4 “Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms,” ch. 5 (1726)

Dave — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:38:29 +0000

Poor Nations are hungry, and rich Nations are proud, and Pride and Hunger will ever be at Variance.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) English writer and churchman
Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4 “Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms,” ch. 5 (1726)
(Source)

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 1, ch. 2, § 8 (1951)

Dave — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:43:18 +0000

Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 1, ch. 2, § 8 (1951)
(Source)

Gaiman, Neil -- Sandman, Book 10. The Wake, # 72 “Chapter 3, In Which We Wake” (1995-11)

Dave — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:48:00 +0000

DESTRUCTION: It’s astonishing how much trouble one can get oneself into, if one works at it. And astonishing how much trouble one can get oneself out of, if one simply assumes that everything will, somehow or other, work out for the best.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Sandman, Book 10. The Wake, # 72 “Chapter 3, In Which We Wake” (1995-11)
(Source)

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 1, ch. 2, § 9 (1951)

Dave — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:46:31 +0000

The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 1, ch. 2, § 9 (1951)
(Source)

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 13, § 61 (1951)

Dave — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:49:19 +0000

The fanatic cannot be weaned away from his cause by an appeal to his reason or moral sense. He fears compromise and cannot be persuaded to qualify the certitude and righteousness of his holy cause. But he finds no difficulty in swinging suddenly and wildly from one holy cause to another. He cannot be convinced but only converted, His passionate attachment is more vital than the quality of the cause to which he is attached.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 13, § 61 (1951)
(Source)

Horace -- Odes [Carmina], Book 3, # 2, l. 13ff (3.2.13-16) (23 BC) [tr. Michie (1963)]

Dave — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:43:36 +0000

The glorious and the decent way of dying
Is for one’s country. Run, and death will seize
You no less surely. The young coward, flying,
Gets his quietus in the back and knees.

[Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
mors et fugacem persequitur virum
nec parcit inbellis iuventae
poplitibus timidoque tergo.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 3, # 2, l. 13ff (3.2.13-16) (23 BC) [tr. Michie (1963)]
(Source)

The first line is often translated as "It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country." While dulce et decorum is often in the modern era (World War I and beyond) dismissed as murderous, meaningless brainwashing, the rest of the quatrain clarifies that death comes to the courageous and cowardly alike; that dishonorable flight does not ensure safety.

Though it's worth noting that Horace wrote of abandoning his shield and fleeing at the Battle of Philippi.

The ode as a whole is about training young Roman men in discipline and courage.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

It is a sweet, and noble gain,
In Countreys quarrel to be slain.
Death the swift flying man pursues
With ready steps: Nor doth he use
To spare from unavoided wrack,
Youths supple hams, or fearful back.
[tr. Sir T. H.; ed. Brome (1666)]

He nobly Bleeds, he bravely Dies,
That falls his Countries Sacrifice;
The flying Youth swift Fate o're takes
It strikes them thro the trembling backs,
And runs too fast for nimble Cowardice.
[tr. Creech (1684)]

What joy, for fatherland to die!
Death's darts e'en flying feet o'ertake,
Nor spare a recreant chivalry,
A back that cowers, or loins that quake.
[tr. Conington (1872)]

It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country; death even pursues the man that flies from him; nor does he spare the trembling knees of effeminate youth, nor the coward back.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

For our dear native land to die
Is glorious and sweet;
And death the coward slaves that fly
Pursues with steps as fleet.
Nor spares the loins and backs of those
Unwarlike youths, who shun their foes.
[tr. Martin (1864)]

Glorious and sweet it is to die for the dear native land;
Even him who runs away from Death, Death follows fast behind --
Death does not spare the recreant back,
And hamstrings limbs that flee.
[tr. Bulwer-Lytton (1870)]

Sweet and glorious it is to die for our country. Death also pursues the runaway, and spares not the legs and trembling back of the unwarlike youth.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]

'T is sweet for native land to die,
'T is noble: Death takes them that fly:
For coward back it has no ruth,
Nor spares the flight of dastard youth.
[tr. Gladstone (1894)]

'Tis sweet and noble -- Death for one's country's sake --
Death overtakes the cowardly fugitive.
Nor spares his flying limbs, and timid
Back, as he runs from the foe dishonour'd.
[tr. Phelps (1897)]

'Tis sweet and honourable to die for fatherland.
Death follows even the man who flees.
And of unwarlike youth
Spares not the loins and recreant back.
[tr. Garnsey (1907)]

Good 'tis and fine, for fatherland to die!
Death tracks him too who shirks; nor will He fail
To smite the coward loins that quail,
The coward limbs that fly!
[tr. Marshall (1908)]

'Tis sweet and glorious to die for fatherland. Yet Death o’ertakes not less the runaway, nor spares the limbs and coward backs of faint-hearted youths.
[tr. Bennett (Loeb) (1912)]

To die for Homeland is a sweet
And gracious thing; on flying feet
Death presses hard, nor spares to smite
Poltroons' weak knees and backs affright.
[tr. Mills (1924)]

How good, how noble to die for your country.
Death chases those who run from him,
And catches them, sand never spares a coward
Or a womanish boy.
[tr. Raffel (1983)]

Sweet and proper it is to die for your country,
But Death would just as soon come after him
Who runs away; Death gets him by the backs
Of his fleeing knees and jumps him from behind.
[tr. Ferry (1997)]

Sweet and noble is it to die for one’s country, yet Death pursues even the man who flees, nor does he spare the languid loins and cowardly backs of pusillanimous youth.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]

It’s sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.
Yet death chases after the soldier who runs,
and it won’t spare the cowardly back
or the limbs, of peace-loving young men.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

It is sweet and proper to die for your country:
Death, too, pursues the runaway man
And does not spare the knees of a peaceful youth
nor a fearful back.
[tr. Wikisource (2021)]

Anthony, Susan B. -- “On the Campaign for Divorce Law Reform” (1860)

Dave — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:58:33 +0000

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) American reformer, aboltionist, sufferagist
“On the Campaign for Divorce Law Reform” (1860)

Pratchett, Terry -- Good Omens, 2. “Eleven Years Ago” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]

Dave — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:42:44 +0000

Most of the members of the convent were old-fashioned Satanists, like their parents and grandparents before them. They’d been brought up to it and weren’t, when you got right down to it, particularly evil. Human beings mostly aren’t. They just get carried away by new ideas, like dressing up in jackboots and shooting people, or dressing up in white sheets and lynching people, or dressing up in tie-dye jeans and playing guitars at people. Offer people a new creed with a costume and their hearts and minds will follow.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 2. “Eleven Years Ago” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:57:43 +0000

Cause and Effect, the chancellors of God.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2
(Source)

This essay was inspired by his reading of Walter Savage Landor in 1833, with passages pulled from his lecture "Individualism," last in his course on "The Philosophy of History" (1836–1837), with other passages from the lectures "School," "Genius," and "Duty" in his course on "Human Life" (1838–1839).

Euripides -- Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 1238ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]

Dave — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:55:13 +0000

CHORUS: Those whose cause is just will never lack
good arguments.

[ΧΟΡΟΣ: φεῦ φεῦ: βροτοῖσιν ὡς τὰ χρηστὰ πράγματα
χρηστῶν ἀφορμὰς ἐνδίδωσ᾽ ἀεὶ λόγων.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 1238ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]
(Source)

Speaking of Hecuba's appeal to Agamemnon for justice. In some translations, this is marked for Coryphaeus (Chorus Leader)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

How doth a virtuous cause inspire the tongue
With virtuous language!
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Ah! Ah! How do good deeds ever supply to men the source of good words!
[tr. Edwards (1826)]

Lo, how the good cause giveth evermore
To men occasion for good argument.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

Ah! how a good cause always affords men an opening for a good speech.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]

Good words always start out from good deeds.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]

Did you hear that? See how a good cause gives mortals material for a good argument!
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]

Just causes make fertile soil for strong arguments!
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 2153 (1732)

Dave — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:00:57 +0000

He that hath the worst Cause, makes the most Noise.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 2153 (1732)
(Source)

Nietzsche, Friedrich -- The Gay Science [Die fröhliche Wissenschaft], Book 3, § 191 (1882) [tr. Nauckhoff (2001)]

Dave — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:10:15 +0000

The most perfidious way of damaging a cause is deliberately to defend it with faulty arguments.

[Die perfideste Art, einer Sache zu schaden ist, sie absichtlich mit fehlerhaften Gründen vertheidigen.]

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
The Gay Science [Die fröhliche Wissenschaft], Book 3, § 191 (1882) [tr. Nauckhoff (2001)]
(Source)

Also known as La Gaya Scienza, The Joyful Wisdom, or The Joyous Science.

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

The most perfidious manner of injuring a cause is to vindicate it intentionally with fallacious arguments.
[tr. Common (1911)]

The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments.
[tr. Kaufmann (1974)]

One injures a cause in the most perfidious manner by deliberately defending it with erroneous reasons.
[tr. Hill (2018)]

Shakespeare, William -- Henry V, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 3ff (5.1.3) (1599)

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

FLUELLEN: There is occasions and causes why and wherefore in all things.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry V, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 3ff (5.1.3) (1599)
(Source)

Goldwater, Barry -- Speech, accepting the GOP Presidential Nomination, San Francisco (16 Jul 1964)

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

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Barry Goldwater (1909-1998) American politician
Speech, accepting the GOP Presidential Nomination, San Francisco (16 Jul 1964)
(Source)

Goldwater believed the phrase originated in Cicero, though the source he used is questionable. Karl Hess was Goldwater's speech writer, and he said he derived the turn of phrase from Lincoln's "House Divided" speech. A closer match is this Thomas Paine passage.

More discussion of this quotation and its origins: On the Saying that "Extremism in Defense of Liberty is No Vice" - Niskanen Center

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 410 (1820)

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

He that dies a martyr proves that he is not a knave, but by no means that he is not a fool.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 410 (1820)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1903-09-07), “The Square Deal,” Labor Day, New York State Agricultural Association, New York State Fair, Syracuse

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

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1903-09-07), “The Square Deal,” Labor Day, New York State Agricultural Association, New York State Fair, Syracuse
(Source)

Forster, E. M. -- “What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)

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

I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)
(Source)

Sometimes misquoted as: "If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the decency to betray my country."

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1899-04-10), “The Strenuous Life,” Hamilton Club, Chicago

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

Far better it is to dare mighty things, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those who neither enjoy much or suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1899-04-10), “The Strenuous Life,” Hamilton Club, Chicago
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris

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

It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong stumbled or where the doer of the deed could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again. Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1910-04-23), “Citizenship in a Republic [The Man in the Arena],” Sorbonne, Paris
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- “On Being Modern-Minded,” The Nation (1937-01-09)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

All movements go too far.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“On Being Modern-Minded,” The Nation (1937-01-09)
(Source)

Full context:

All movements go too far, and this is certainly true of the movement toward subjectivity, which began with Luther and Descartes as an assertion of the individual and has culminated by an inherent logic in his complete subjection.

Collected in Unpopular Essays (1950).

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- Notes on W. H. Auden’s review of Return of the King (1956)

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

There are also conflicts about important things or ideas. In such cases I am more impressed by the extreme importance of being on the right side, than I am disturbed by the revelation of the jungle of confused motives, private purposes, and individual actions (noble or base) in which the right and the wrong in actual human conflicts are commonly involved.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
Notes on W. H. Auden’s review of Return of the King (1956)
(Source)

Auden's review: "At the End of the Quest, Victory," New York Times Book Review (1956-01-22).

Tolkien never sent or shared these notes. Reprinted in Humphrey Carpenter, ed., The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, #183 (1981).

Shaw, George Bernard -- Man and Superman, “Epistle Dedicatory” (1903)

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

This is the true joy in life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
Man and Superman, “Epistle Dedicatory” (1903)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “On Being a Good Neighbor,” sec. 2, sermon, A Gift of Love (1963)

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

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“On Being a Good Neighbor,” sec. 2, sermon, A Gift of Love (1963)

Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe" -- Babylon 5, 2×21 “Comes the Inquisitor” (22 Apr 1995)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

SEBASTIAN: Good luck to you in your “holy cause,” Captain Sheridan. May your choices have better results than mine: remembered not as a messenger, remembered not as a reformer, not as a prophet, not as a hero, not even as Sebastian. Remembered only as “Jack.”

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 2×21 “Comes the Inquisitor” (22 Apr 1995)