WIST Quotations

White, E. B. -- Essay (1939-01), “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 178

Dave — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 05:48:44 +0000

When liberty’s position is challenged, artists and writers are the ones who first take up the sword. They do so without persuasion, for the battle is peculiarly their own. In the nature of things, a person engaged in the flimsy business of expressing himself on paper is dependent on the large general privilege of being heard. Any intimation that this privilege may be revoked throws a writer into a panic. His is a double allegiance to freedom — an intellectual one springing from the conviction that pure thought has a right to function unimpeded, and a selfish one springing from his need, as a breadwinner, to be allowed to speak his piece.

E. B. White (1899-1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
Essay (1939-01), “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 178
(Source)

When collected in his book, One Man's Meat (1944), the essay was renamed "Salt Water Farm." Sometimes the excerpted third section of the essay is referred to as "The Duty of Writers."

Stegner, Wallace -- Crossing to Safety, ch. 13 (1987)

Dave — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:50:01 +0000

Order is indeed the dream of man, but chaos, which is only another word for dumb, blind, witless chance, is still the law of nature.

Wallace Stegner (1909-1993) American novelist
Crossing to Safety, ch. 13 (1987)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 6, BBC Radio

Dave — Wed, 27 May 2026 17:49:30 +0000

People do not always remember that politics, economics, and social organisation generally, belong in the realm of means, not ends. Our political and social thinking is prone to what may be called the “administrator’s fallacy,” by which I mean the habit of looking upon a society as a systematic whole, of a sort that is thought good if it is pleasant to contemplate as a model of order, a planned organism with parts neatly dove-tailed into each other. But a society does not, or at least should not, exist to satisfy an external survey, but to bring a good life to the individuals who compose it. It is in the individuals, not in the whole, that ultimate value is to be sought. A good society is a means to a good life for those who compose it, not something having a separate kind of excellence on its own account.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 6, BBC Radio
(Source)

Transcript. As collected, with edits, in Authority and the Individual (1949).

Russell, Bertrand -- Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 6, BBC Radio

Dave — Wed, 06 May 2026 14:43:19 +0000

In our own day […] there has been too much of a tendency towards authority, and too little care for the preservation of initiative. Men in control of vast organisations have tended to be too abstract in their outlook, to forget what actual human beings are like, and to try to fit men to systems rather than systems to men.

Russell, Bertrand -- Lecture (1949-01-09), “The Role of Individuality,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 3, BBC Radio

Dave — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:41:54 +0000

Too little liberty brings stagnation, and too much brings chaos.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Lecture (1949-01-09), “The Role of Individuality,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 3, BBC Radio
(Source)

As collected, with edits, in Authority and the Individual (1949).

Brecht, Bertholt -- Poem (1938 ca.), “To Those Born Later [A die Nachgeborenen],” sec. 1, Svendborger Gedichte (1939) [tr. Willet / Manheim / Fried]

Dave — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 04:47:05 +0000

They say to me: Eat and drink! Be glad you have it!
But how can I eat and drink if
I snatch what I eat from the starving, and
My glass of water belongs to one dying of thirst?
And yet I eat and drink.

[Man sagt mir: Iß und trink du! Sei froh, daß du hast!
Aber wie kann ich essen und trinken, wenn
Ich dem Hungernden entreiße, was ich esse, und
Mein Glas Wasser einem Verdursteten fehlt?
Und doch esse und trinke ich.]

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) German poet, playwright, director, dramaturgist
Poem (1938 ca.), “To Those Born Later [A die Nachgeborenen],” sec. 1, Svendborger Gedichte (1939) [tr. Willet / Manheim / Fried]
(Source)

Also translated as "To Those Who Follow in Our Wake" and "To Later Generations." Writing not just about sustenance in a world of poverty, but on the use of essentials like food and water by totalitarian regimes to buy loyalty. Written while Brecht had left Germany for Denmark.

An audio recording of the poem by Brecht.

(Source (German)). Other translations:

They tell me: eat and drink. Be glad to be among the haves!
But how can I eat and drink
When I take what I eat from the starving
And those who thirst do not have my glass of water?
And yet I eat and drink.
[tr. Horton (2008)]

People tell me: Eat and drink! Be happy that you have!
But how can I eat and drink, if
What I eat, I take from the hungry, and if
My glass of water deprives the thirsty?
And yet, eat and drink I do.
[tr. Rienas (2009)]

People tell me, Eat and drink! Be glad to have something!
But how can I eat and drink, if
I take what I eat from one who starves
And one dying of thirst needs my glass of water?
And still I eat and drink.
[tr. Renaud (2016)]

L'Engle, Madeleine -- Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Dave — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:16:46 +0000

I am very wary of those individuals who are neither writers nor editors nor even, in some cases, readers, who feel that they have the right to apply their own moral criteria to the books in public and school libraries. I have enormous respect and admiration and love for the librarians who are rising up to protest this, because they are putting their very jobs on the line.

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)

Kingsolver, Barbara -- Essay (1995), “Civil Disobedience at Breakfast,” High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never

Dave — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 18:59:57 +0000

The most assiduous task of parenting is to divine the difference between boundaries and bondage.

Barbara Kingsolver (b. 1955) American novelist, essayist, poet
Essay (1995), “Civil Disobedience at Breakfast,” High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never
(Source)

Montaigne, Michel de -- Essays, Book 2, ch. 17 (2.17), “Of Presumption [De la Presomption]” (1578) [tr. Cohen (1958)]

Dave — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:49:26 +0000

Not being able to control events, I control myself, and adapt myself to them if they do not adapt themselves to me.

[Ne pouvant regler les evenemens, je me regle moy-mesme : & m’applique à eux, s’ils ne s’appliquent à moy.]

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 2, ch. 17 (2.17), “Of Presumption [De la Presomption]” (1578) [tr. Cohen (1958)]
(Source)

This essay appeared in the 1st (1580) edition, and was expanded in succeeding editions. This passage was added in the 2nd (1588) edition.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Being unable to direct events, I governe my selfe; and if they apply not themselves to me, I apply my selfe to them.
[tr. Florio (1603)]

Not being to govern events I govern myself, and apply myself to them, if they do not apply themselves to me.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]

Not being able to govern events, I govern myself, and apply myself to them, if they will not apply themselves to me.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877)]

Being unable to regulate events, I regulate myself, and adapt myself to them if they do not adapt themselves to me.
[tr. Ives (1925)]

Not being able to rule events, I rule myself, and adapt myself to them if they do not adapt themselves to me.
[tr. Frame (1943)]

Not being able to control events I control myself: if they will not adapt to me then I adapt to them.
[tr. Screech (1987)]

Since I cannot control events, I take control of myself and suit myself to them, if they do not suit me.
[tr. Atkinson/Sices (2012)]

De Jouvenel, Bertrand -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 17:30:57 +0000

A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.

Bertrand de Jouvenel (1903–1987) French philosopher, political economist, futurologist
(Attributed)

Sometimes attributed to his On Power (1949), but not found there.

The quotation is well-established in 1949, cited in the Congressional Record (1949-06-15) and Reader's Digest (1949-05).

Variants are sometimes attributed to Edward R. Murrow, withiout citation, including "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves" and "A nation of sheep will soon have a government of wolves."

I have also seen the quote (and variants) misattributed to Agatha Christie (including to her memoir An Autobiography (1977), which does not have the text. This connection may be because SF author J. T. McIntosh quotes "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves" in his novella (1955-09), "The Man Who Cried 'Sheep!'" ch. 5, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Vol. 9, No. 3. Christie's 1925 fantasy "The Fourth Man" also appears in that same issue of MFSF, two page after the quote in McIntosh's story.

L'Engle, Madeleine -- Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Dave — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 23:04:03 +0000

We all practice some form of censorship. I practiced it simply by the books I had in the house when my children were little. If I am given a budget of $500 I will be practicing a form of censorship by the books I choose to buy with that limited amount of money, and the books I choose not to buy. But nobody said we were not allowed to have points of view. The exercise of personal taste is not the same thing as imposing personal opinion.

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
(Source)

Hoover, Herbert -- The Challenge to Liberty, ch. 7 (1934)

Dave — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 02:42:22 +0000

More particularly does the weakening of the legislative arm lead to encroachments by the executive upon legislative and judicial functions, and inevitably that encroachment is upon individual liberty. If we examine the fate of wrecked republics over the world we shall find first a weakening of the legislative arm.

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) American engineer, bureaucrat, US President (1929-33)
The Challenge to Liberty, ch. 7 (1934)
(Source)

Marlowe, Christopher -- The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 3 (sc. 3), l. 270ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)

Dave — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 23:31:29 +0000

FAUSTUS: I see there’s virtue in my heavenly words:
Who would not be proficient in this art?
How pliant is this Mephistophilis,
Full of obedience and humility!
Such is the force of magic and my spells:
No, Faustus, thou art conjuror laureat,
That canst command great Mephistophilis:
Quin regis Mephistophilis fratris imagine.

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 3 (sc. 3), l. 270ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)
(Source)

After ordering Mephistophiles to leave and change his form into something less hideous. The Latin reads "Return, Mephistopheles, in the shape of a friar" (which he had already ordered, in English, in the immediately preceding lines).

The B-text (1594; 1616) omits the last three lines from the A-text.

Arendt, Hannah -- The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Soceity” (1958 ed.)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 19:42:45 +0000

The consistent persecution of every higher form of intellectual activity by the new mass leaders springs from more than their natural resentment against everything they cannot understand. Total domination does not allow for free initiative in any field of life, for any activity that is not entirely predictable. Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Soceity” (1958 ed.)
(Source)

Nietzsche, Friedrich -- (Attributed)

Dave — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 04:39:28 +0000

A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies. That means he knows only one class: enemies.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet
(Attributed)
(Source)

This is frequently attributed to Nietzsche, without citation -- a clue that it is a paraphrase of a more complex or nuanced passage. I found only one reference online that mentioned a source -- Nietzsche's Human, All Too Human (1880) -- but a search through multiple translations did not uncover this sentiment.

Orwell, George -- Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 4, Such, Such Were the Joys, essay 8 (1953)

Dave — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 18:33:21 +0000

Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as “the truth” exists. There is, for instance, no such thing as “science.” There is only “German science,” “Jewish science” etc. The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but the past. If the Leader says of such and such an event, “It never happened” — well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five — well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs — and after our experiences of the last few years that is not a frivolous statement.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1942-08), “Looking Back on the Spanish War, ch. 4, Such, Such Were the Joys, essay 8 (1953)
(Source)

This is a central theme in his later novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Horace -- Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 10 “To Aristius Fuscus,” l. 34ff (1.10.34-41) (20 BC) [tr. Raffel (1983)]

Dave — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 18:10:12 +0000

There was a stag, once, who could always defeat a stallion
And drive him out of their pasture — until, tired of losing,
The horse begged help of man, and got a bridle in return.
He beat the stag, all right, and he laughed — but then the rider
Stayed on his back, and the bit stayed in his mouth.
Give up your freedom, more worried about poverty than something
Greater than any sum of gold, and become a slave and stay
A slave forever, unable to live on only enough.

[Cervus equum pugna melior communibus herbis
pellebat, donec minor in certamine longo
imploravit opes hominis frenumque recepit;
sed postquam victor violins discessit ab hoste,
non equitem dorso, non frenum depulit ore.
Sic qui pauperiem veritus potiore metallis
libertate caret, dominum vehet improbus atque
serviet aeternum, quia parvo nesciet uti.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 10 “To Aristius Fuscus,” l. 34ff (1.10.34-41) (20 BC) [tr. Raffel (1983)]
(Source)

Source of the shortened proverb, "He will always be a slave who does not know how to live upon a little."

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

An hart the better chevalier as it came then to passe
Did chase an horse that fed with him from eating of the grasse.
The tryumpher after that he was parted from his foe
The man from backe, the bitt from mouthe he could not rid them fro.
So, he that feareth povertie his fredom cannot houlde.
Fredome, better then mettells all better then choysest goulde.
That foole shall beare in dede a Lorde, and lyve a dayly thrall,
For that he will not knowe to use and lyve upon a small.
[tr. Drant (1567)]

The Stagg superior both in Arms and Force,
Out of the Common-Pasture drove the Horse:
Untill the vanquish'd after a long fight
Pray'd Man's assistance, and receiv'd the Bit:
But, having beat the Victor, could not now
Bit from his Mouth, nor Man from his Back throw.
So He that fearing Poverty, hath sold
Away his Liberty; better then Gold,
Shall carry a proud Lord upon his back,
And serve for ever, 'cause he could not lack.
[tr. Fanshawe; ed. Brome (1666)]

Both fed together, till with injur'ous force,
The stoutest Deer expell'd the weaker Horse:
He beaten, flyes to Man to right his Cause,
Begs help, and takes the Bridle in his Jaws.
Yet tho He Conquer'd, tho He rul'd the Plain,
He bore the Rider still, and felt the Rein.
Thus the mean Wretch, that fearing to be poor,
Doth sell his Liberty for meaner Ore:
Must bear a Lord, He must be still a Slave,
That cannot use the little Nature gave.
[tr. Creech (1684)]

A lordly stag, arm'd with superior force,
Drove from their common field a vanquisht horse,
Who for revenge to man his strength enslav'd,
Took up his rider, and the bitt received:
But, though he conquer'd in the martial strife,
He felt his rider's weight, and champt the bitt for life.
So he, who poverty with horror views,
Nor frugal nature's bounty knows to use;
Who sells his freedom in exchange for gold
(Freedom for mines of wealth too cheaply sold),
Shall make eternal servitude his fate,
And feel a haughty master's galling weight.
[tr. Francis (1747)]

It chanced that after many a well-fought bout
The Stag contrived to put the Horse to rout;
'Till, from his pasture driven, the foe thought fit
To ask the aid of man and took the bit.
He conquer'd; but, his triumph o'er, began
To find he could shake off nor bit nor man.
such is the fate of him who, if he please,
Might rest in humble competence and ease,
Yet through the dread of penury has sold
That independence which surpasses gold.
Henceforth he'll serve a tyrant for his pains,
And stand or budge as avarice pulls the reins.
[tr. Howes (1845)]

The stag, superior in fight, drove the horse from the common pasture, till the latter, worsted in the long contest, implored the aid of man and received the bridle; but after he had parted an exulting conqueror from his enemy, he could not shake the rider from his back, nor the bit from his mouth. So he who, afraid of poverty, forfeits his liberty, more valuable than mines, avaricious wretch, shall carry a master, and shall eternally be a slave, for not knowing how to use a little.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

The stag was wont to quarrel with the steed,
Nor let him graze in common on the mead:
The steed, who got the worst in each attack,
Asked help from man, and took him on his back:
But when his foe was quelled, he ne'er got rid
Of his new friend, still bridled and bestrid.
So he who, fearing penury, loses hold
Of independence, better far than gold,
Will toil, a hopeless drudge, till life is spent,
Because he'll never, never learn content.
[tr. Conington (1874)]

Once on a time a stag, at antlers' point,
Expelled a horse he'd worsted, from the joint
Enjoyment of the pasture both had cropped:
Still, when he ventured near it, rudely stopped.
The steed called in man's aid, and took the bit:
Thus backed, he charged the stag, and conquered it.
But woe the while! nor rider, bit, nor rein
Could he shake off, and be himself again.
So he who, fearing poverty, hath sold
His freedom, better than uncounted gold.
Will bear a master and a master's laws.
And be a slave unto the end, because
He will not learn, what fits him most to know.
How far, discreetly used, small means will go.
[tr. Martin (1881)]

The stag, being the more powerful animal in fight, was accustomed to drive off the horse from the open pasture until the latter, feeling his inferiority, after a protracted contest, implored the help of man, and received the rein. But after that, a revengeful victor, he had left his foe he threw not off the rider from his back nor the bit from his mouth. In a like manner the man who, through a dread of a small income, possesses not freedom -- preferable to metallic treasure -- will, basely, carry a master and yield him perpetual servitude, because he knows not how to enjoy a little.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]

The stag could best the horse in fighting and used to drive him from their common pasture, until the loser in the long contest begged the help of man and took the bit. But after that, in overweening triumph, he parted from his foe, he did not dislodge the rider from his back or the bit from his mouth. So he who through fear of poverty forfeits liberty, which is better than mines of wealth, will in his avarice carry a master, and be a slave for ever, not knowing how to live on little.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

The stag, victorious in fight, in course
Drove from the common pasturage the horse,
Until the horse, at last forced to submit,
Called in the help of man and took the bit;
But, when he had subdued his foe by force,
The rider from his back he couldn't divorce,
Nor from his mouth the bit. So, if in dread
Of Want, wone has one's freedom forfeited --
Freedom more precious than a mine outspread --
A master he will carry for his greed,
And always be a slave, because in deed
He knows not how to make a little do.
[tr. A. F. Murison (1931); ed. Kraemer, Jr (1936)]

The stag, in time past, could drive
The horse from the feeding ground, and beat him in fighting,
Until the perpetual loser came crying to man
To ask for his help, and accepted the bit. Then the horse
Fought the stag once again to a bitter conclusion, and won.
He walked off and left his foe, but now couldn’t shake
The bit from his mouth or the rider down from his back.
So one who, fearing poverty, loses the liberty
That is worth even more than a gold mine will carry a master,
And cravenly slave for another, simply because
He can't subsist on a little.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

A stag battled a horse for the best grass in a field
And kept on winning until the loser in that long war
approached a man to beg his help, and took the bit.
But when it had won the bloody clash and routed its foe,
it could neither shake out the bit nor shake off the rider.
Anyone so scared of poverty he'd rather lose his freedom
than his mines is such a fool he bears a rider, a master
he'll obey forever, since he never learned to live on little.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]

The stag was a better fighter than the horse
And often drove him out of their common pasture,
Until the horse, the loser, asked man's help
And acquiesced in taking the bit in his mouth.
But after his famous victory in this battle
He couldn't get the rider off his back
And he couldn't get the bit out of his mouth.
The man who'se afraid to be poor and therefore gives
His liberty away, worth more than gold,
Will carry a master on his back and be
A slave forever, not knowing how to live
On just a little.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]

The stag, being stronger than the horse, drove him away from the pasture
they shared, until, having had the worse of the age-old struggle,
the horse turned for help to man, and accept the bit.
But after routing his enemy and leaving the field in triumph
he never dislodged the rider from his back or the bit from his mouth.
So the man who, in fear of poverty, forgoes his independence
(a thing more precious than metals) has the shame of carrying a master;
he's a slave for life, as he will not make the best of a little.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]

The stag could always better the horse in conflict,
And drive him from open ground, until the loser
In that long contest, begging man’s help, took the bit:
Yet, disengaged from his enemy, as clear victor,
He couldn’t shed man from his back, the bit from his mouth.
So the perverse man who forgoes his freedom, worth more
Than gold, through fear of poverty, suffers a master
And is a slave forever, by failing to make much
Of little.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

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

Dave — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:40:50 +0000

The essence of totalitarian government, and perhaps the nature of every bureaucracy, is to make functionaries and mere cogs in the administrative machinery out of men, and thus to dehumanise them.

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

Willingham, Bill -- Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland, ch. 9 (2012)

Dave — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 20:40:12 +0000

BIGBY: Freedom is sloppy. But since tyranny’s the only guaranteed byproduct of those who insist on a perfect world, freedom will have to do.

Bill Willingham (b. 1956) American writer and comics artist
Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland, ch. 9 (2012)
(Source)

Art by Jim Fern.

Hoffer, Eric -- Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 196 (1955)

Dave — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 16:13:04 +0000

The control of our being is not unlike the combination of a safe. One turn of the knob rarely unlocks the safe. Each advance and retreat is a step toward one’s goal.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 196 (1955)
(Source)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1858-09-11), Edwardsville, Illinois

Dave — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 22:23:59 +0000

Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage, and you are preparing your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1858-09-11), Edwardsville, Illinois
(Source)

As reported in the Alton Weekly Courier (1858-09-16).

Hamilton, Alexander -- Letter (1792-08-18) to George Washington, Enclosure: “Objections and Answers Respecting the Administration,” Objection 14

Dave — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 21:31:28 +0000

The truth unquestionably is, that the only path to a subversion of the republican system of the Country is, by flattering the prejudices of the people, and exciting their jealousies and apprehensions, to throw affairs into confusion, and bring on civil commotion. Tired at length of anarchy, or want of government, they may take shelter in the arms of monarchy for repose and security.

Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) American statesman, author
Letter (1792-08-18) to George Washington, Enclosure: “Objections and Answers Respecting the Administration,” Objection 14
(Source)

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], 1797 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]

Dave — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 18:07:48 +0000

When men are imbeciles, the one who is mad dominates the others.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1797 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)

I could not find an analog in other translations of the Pensées.

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1870-12 (1870 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 15:17:47 +0000

The chains ov slavery are none the lighter for being made ov gold.

[The chains of slavery are none the lighter for being made of gold.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1870-12 (1870 ed.)
(Source)

In Everybody's Friend, Or; Josh Billing's Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 "Affurisms: Embers on the Harth" (1874), this is rendered:

The chains ov slavery are none the less gauling for being made ov gold.

[The chains of slavery are none the less galling for being made of gold.]

Omar Khayyam -- Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 21 [tr. Roe (1906), # 44]

Dave — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 23:17:49 +0000

Thrust into life without my own consent,
Thrust back to death, with who knows what intent?
Arise, bright saki, fill the cup with wine
And drown the burden of my discontent.

Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 21 [tr. Roe (1906), # 44]
(Source)

A saki or sāqī (ساقی) means "wine-server" or "bartender."

Alternate translations:

My coming was not of mine own design,
And one day I must go, and no choice of mine;
Come, light-handed cupbearer, gird thee to serve,
We must wash down the care of this world with wine.
[tr. Cowell (1858), # 8]

What, without asking, hither hurried whence
And, without asking, wither hurried hence!
Another and another Cup to drown
The Memory of this Impertinence!
[tr. FitzGerald, 1st ed. (1859), # 30]

What, without asking, hither hurried whence
And, without asking, wither hurried hence!
Ah, contrite Heav'n endowed us with the Vine
To drug the memory of that insolence.
[tr. FitzGerald, 2nd ed. (1868), # 33]

What, without asking, hither hurried Whence?
And, without asking, Whither hurried hence!
Oh, many a Cup of this forbidden Wine
Must drown the memory of that insolence!
[tr. FitzGerald, 3rd ed. (1872), # 30; 4th ed. (1879); 5th ed. (1889)]

O Cup-Bearer, since Time lurks hard by ready to shatter you and me, this world can never be an abiding dwelling for you and me. But come what may, assure yourself that God is in our hands while this cup of wine stands between you and me.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 35]

I came not hither of my own free will,
And go against my wish, a puppet still;
Cupbearer! gird thy loins and fetch some wine;
To purge the world's despite, my goblet fill.
[tr. Whinfield (1883), # 110; (1882) # 641]

Since hither, willy nilly, I came the other day
And hence must soon be going, without my yea or nay,
Up, cupbearer! thy middle come gird without delay;
The world and all its troubles with wine I 'll wash away.
[tr. Payne (1898), # 94]

Seeing that my coming was not for me the Day of Creation,
and that my undesired departure hence is a purpose fixed for me,
get up and gird well thy loins, O nimble Cup bearer,
for I will wash down the misery of the world in wine.
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 21]

As my first coming was no wish of mine
So my departure I can not devise.
Gird thyself, Saki! Fair bright Saki rise,
Lest time should fail to drink this skin of wine.
[tr. Cadell (1899), # 37]

Since coming at the first was naught of mine,
And I unwilling go by fixed design,
Cupbearer, rise! and quickly gird thy loins!
For worldly sorrows I'll wash down in wine!
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 157]

I was not asked to choose my natal morn,
I die as helplessly as I was born.
Bring wine, and I will strive to wash away
The recollection of Creation's scorn.
[tr. Talbot (1908), # 21]

Since my coming was not of my own choosing from
the first day, and my going has been irrevocably fixed without my will,
arise and gird thy loins, o nimble Sáqí, for I will
wash down the grief of the world with wine.
[tr. Christensen (1927), # 32]

Since here I came unwilling and perforce,
To go unplanning is my proper course;
Arise O Guide! and girdle up thy waist,
And with Thy Word absolve me from remorse.
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 8.72]

My presence here has been no choice of mine;
Fate hounds me most unwillingly away.
Rise, wrap a cloth about your loins, my Saki,
And swill away the misery of this world.
[tr. Graves & Ali-Shah (1967), # 32]

Since at first my coming was not at my will,
And the going is involuntarily imposed,
Arise, fasten your belt brisk wine-boy,
I'll drown the world's sorrow in wine.
[tr. Avery/Heath-Stubbs (1979), # 94]

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1870-06 (1870 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 18:59:19 +0000

The time tew be karefullest iz when we hav a hand full ov trumps.

[The time to be carefullest is when we have a hand full of trumps.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1870-06 (1870 ed.)
(Source)

Repeated in Everybody's Friend, Or; Josh Billing's Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 156 "Affurisms: Embers on the Harth" (1874).

Atwood, Margaret -- The Handmaid’s Tale, “Historical Notes” (1986)

Dave — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 16:31:14 +0000

When power is scarce, a little of it is tempting.

Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) Canadian writer, literary critic, environmental activist
The Handmaid’s Tale, “Historical Notes” (1986)
(Source)

On using women (the "Aunts") as collaborative enforcers of the woman-oppressing Gilead regime.

Serling, Rod -- Seven Days in May, film (1964)

Dave — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:32:10 +0000

LYMAN: He’s not the enemy. Scott, the Joint Chiefs, even the very emotional, very illogical lunatic fringe: they’re not the enemy. The enemy’s an age — a nuclear age. It happens to have killed man’s faith in his ability to influence what happens to him. And out of this comes a sickness, and out of sickness a frustration, a feeling of impotence, helplessness, weakness. And from this, this desperation, we look for a champion in red, white, and blue. Every now and then a man on a white horse rides by, and we appoint him to be our personal god for the duration. For some men it was a Senator McCarthy, for others it was a General Walker, and now it’s a General Scott.

Rod Serling (1924-1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
Seven Days in May, film (1964)
(Source)

Based on the 1962 novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II.

These lines are almost all Serling's. By wording, the only parallel I could find in the original novel was this:

The nuclear age, by killing man’s faith in his ability to influence what happens, could destroy the United States even if no bombs were ever dropped.
[Source]

Le Guin, Ursula K. -- The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, ch. 5 (1974)

Dave — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:01:55 +0000

Coercion is the least efficient means of obtaining order.

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018) American writer
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, ch. 5 (1974)
(Source)

Markstein, George -- The Prisoner, 01×01 “Arrival” (1967-09-29) [with David Tomblin]

Dave — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 16:37:48 +0000

Questions are a burden to others
Answers a prison for oneself

George Markstein (1926-1987) British journalist, author, screenwriter
The Prisoner, 01×01 “Arrival” (1967-09-29) [with David Tomblin]
(Source)

Sign in the Labour Exchange office of the Village.

Dick, Philip K. -- Speech (1978) “How To Build A Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later”

Dave — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 23:15:51 +0000

The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.

Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) American writer
Speech (1978) “How To Build A Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later”
(Source)

First collected in Dick's I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon (1985) [ed. Mark Hurst and Paul Williams], where it serves as the introduction.

Lawrence Sutin, editor of The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick (1995) (where this is reprinted) suggests this speech was "likely never delivered."

Taylor, Barbara Brown -- An Altar in the World, ch. 1 (2009)

Dave — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 21:27:20 +0000

I am not in charge of this House, and never will be. I have no say about who is in and who is out. I do not get to make the rules. Like Job, I was nowhere when God laid the foundations of the earth. I cannot bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion. I do not even know when the mountain goats give birth, much less the ordinances of the heavens. I am a guest here, charged with serving other guests — even those who present themselves as my enemies. I am allowed to resist them, but as long as I trust in one God who made us all, I cannot act as if they are no kin to me. There is only one House. Human beings will either learn to live in it together or we will not survive to hear its sigh of relief when our numbered days are done.

Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
An Altar in the World, ch. 1 (2009)
(Source)

Jacobs, Jane -- The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Introduction (1961)

Dave — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:01:34 +0000

There is a quality even meaner than outright ugliness or disorder, and this meaner quality is the dishonest mask of pretended order, achieved by ignoring or suppressing the real order that is struggling to exist and to be served.

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) American-Canadian journalist, author, urban theorist, activist
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Introduction (1961)
(Source)

On urban planning that disregards actual needs for gratuitous features that please outside observers.

Burke, Edmund -- Letters on a Regicide Peace, Letter 1 “On the Overtures of Peace” (1796)

Dave — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 13:52:07 +0000

If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free; if our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Letters on a Regicide Peace, Letter 1 “On the Overtures of Peace” (1796)
(Source)

The first letter -- on the Pitt government's efforts to negotiate a peace with Revolutionary France -- was written in January 1796, but not published (with the second) until October.

Basil of Caesarea -- “To the Rich [Ὁμιλία πρὸς τοὺς πλουτούντας],” sermon (c. 368) [tr. Schroeder (2009)]

Dave — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 13:33:17 +0000

Nothing withstands the influence of wealth. Everything submits to its tyranny, everything cowers at its dominion.

[Οὐδὲν ὑφίσταται τὴν βίαν τοῦ πλούτου· Πάντα ὑποκύπτει τῇ τυραννίδι, πάντα ὑποπτήσσει τὴν δυναστείαν.]

Basil of Caesarea (AD 330-378) Christian bishop, theologian, monasticist, Doctor of the Church [Saint Basil the Great, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας]
“To the Rich [Ὁμιλία πρὸς τοὺς πλουτούντας],” sermon (c. 368) [tr. Schroeder (2009)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek))

Billings, Josh -- Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 148 “Affurisms: Ink Brats” (1874)

Dave — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 17:19:45 +0000

Fear makes evry thing and evry body masters over us; it iz the wust slavery thare iz.

[Fear makes everything and everybody masters over us; it is the worst slavery there is.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Everybody’s Friend, Or; Josh Billing’s Encyclopedia and Proverbial Philosophy of Wit and Humor, ch. 148 “Affurisms: Ink Brats” (1874)
(Source)

Irving, John -- A Prayer for Owen Meany, ch. 1 “The Foul Ball” (1989)

Dave — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 16:08:20 +0000

Your memory is a monster; you forget — it doesn’t. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from you — and summons them to your recall with a will of its own. You think you have a memory; but it has you!

John Irving (b. 1942) American-Canadian novelist and screenwriter [b. John Wallace Blunt Jr.]
A Prayer for Owen Meany, ch. 1 “The Foul Ball” (1989)
(Source)

Pasternak, Boris -- Quoted in “Farewell in a Poet’s Land,” Life Magazine (1960-06-13)

Dave — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 23:24:08 +0000

They don’t ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.

Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator
Quoted in “Farewell in a Poet’s Land,” Life Magazine (1960-06-13)
(Source)

On the Communist leadership of the Soviet Union.

This article was an obituary for Pasternak. I have been unable to find a primary source for the quote.

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 29, Night Watch (2002)

Dave — Fri, 17 May 2024 17:27:40 +0000

One of the hardest lessons of young Sam’s life had been finding out that the people in charge weren’t in charge. It had been finding out that governments were not, on the whole, staffed by people who had a grip, and that plans were what people made instead of thinking.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 29, Night Watch (2002)
(Source)

Omar Khayyam -- Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 94 [tr. FitzGerald, 1st ed. (1859), # 49]

Dave — Mon, 06 May 2024 05:00:56 +0000

‘Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days
Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:
Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays.

Omar Khayyám (1048-1123) Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer [عمر خیام]
Rubáiyát [رباعیات], Bod. # 94 [tr. FitzGerald, 1st ed. (1859), # 49]
(Source)

Alternate translations:

In the view of reality, not of illusion,
We mortals are chess-men and fate is the player;
We each act our game on the board of life,
And then one by one are swept into the box!
[tr. Cowell (1858), # 27]

Impotent Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days;
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays;
And one by one back in the Closet lays.
[tr. FitzGerald, 2nd ed. (1868), # 74, and 3rd ed. (1872) # 69]

But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays
Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days;
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,
And one by one back in the Closet lays.
[tr. FitzGerald, 4th ed. (1879), # 49, and 5th ed. (1889), # 49]

Here, below, we are naught but puppets tor the diversion of the wheel of the heavens. This is indeed a truth, and no simile. We truly are but pieces on this chessboard of humanity, which in the end we leave, only to enter, one by one, into the grave of nothingness.
[tr. McCarthy (1879), # 61]

We are but chessmen, who to move are fain,
Just as the great Chessplayer doth ordain.
It moves us on life's chess-board to and fro,
And then in death's box shuts us up again.
[tr. Whinfield (1882), # 148]

We are but chessmen, destined, it is plain,
That great chess player, Heaven, to entertain;
It moves us on life's chess-board to and fro,
And then in death's box shuts up again.
[tr. Whinfield (1883), # 270]

We are all Puppets of the Sky, we run
As wills the Player till the Game is done,
And when The Player wearies of the Sport,
He throws us into Darkness One by One.
[tr. Garner (1887), 4.2]

But puppets are we in Fate's puppet-show --
No figure of speech is this, but in truth 't is so!
On the draughtboard of Life we are shuffled to and fro,
Then one by one to the box of Nothing go!
[tr. M. K. (1888)]

HERE, BELOW, WE ARE NAUGHT BUT
PUPPETS FOR THE DIVERSION OF THE
WHEEL OF THE HEAVENS. THIS IS
INDEED A TRUTH, AND NO SIMILE.
WE TRULY ARE BUT PIECES ON
THIS CHESSBOARD OF HUMANITY,
WHICH IN THE END WE LEAVE, ONLY
TO ENTER, ONE BY ONE, INTO THE
GRAVE OF NOTHINGNESS.
[tr. McCarthy (1889)]

Upon this checkerboard of joys and woes
The wretched puppet hither and thither goes,
Until the mighty Player of the skies
His plaything back in the casket throws.
[tr. Garner (1898), # 82]

We're the pieces Heaven moves on the chessboard of space
(No metaphor this, but the truth of the case);
Each awhile on Life's board plays his game and returns
In the box of nonentity back to his place.
[tr. Payne (1898), # 480]

To speak plain language, and not in parables,
we are the pieces and heaven plays the game,
we are played together in a baby-game upon the chessboard of existence,
and one by one we return to the box of non-existence.
[tr. Heron-Allen (1898), # 94]

'Tis not a fancy of disordered brains
But certain truth, that on life's checkered square
We men are puppets, whose steps God ordains;
The time is short in which we dally there,
Then in death's casket one by one we fall,
The game is played and earth must cover all.
[tr. Cadell (1899), # 108]

Like helpless chessmen on the checkered blocks,
We 're hither, thither moved, till Heaven knocks
The luckless pieces from the crowded board,
And one by one returns them to the box.
[tr. Roe (1906), # 53]

In truth and not by way of simile.
Heaven plays the game and its mere puppets we;
In sport moved on Life's chess-board, one by one
We reach the chess-box of Nonentity!
[tr. Thompson (1906), # 317]

To speak plain language, parable to shame,
We are the pieces, Heaven plays the game:
A childish game upon the board of Life,
Then back into the Box from whence we came.
[tr. Talbot (1908), # 94]

To speak the truth and not as a metaphor, we are
the pieces of the game and Heaven the player.
We play a little game on the chessboard of existence.
Then we go back to the box of non-existence, one by one.
[tr. Christensen (1927), # 6]

This is not an allegory, it is reality:
We are the figures and the Sphere is the player.
We act a play on the boards of existence
And we go back into the box of non-existence one by one.
[tr. Rosen (1928), # 168]

We puppets dance to tunes of Time we know,
We are puppets in fact, and not for show;
Existence is the carpet where we dance,
So one by one where aught is naught we go.
[tr. Tirtha (1941), # 2.6]

Let me speak out, unallegorically:
We are mere puppets of our Master, toys.
On the Table of Existence, one by one.
Flung back in the toy box of Non-existence.
[tr. Graves & Ali-Shah (1967), # 73]

We are but chessmen in God’s scheme of things:
The most are merely pawns, a few are kings;
And when our unimportant game is done
Back in the box we tumble one by one.
[tr. Bowen (1976), # 44]

We are the puppets and fate the puppeteer
This is not a metaphor, but a truth sincere
On this stage, fate for sometime our moves steer
Into the chest of non-existence, one by one disappear.
[tr. Shahriari (1998), literal]

The hands of fate play our game
We the players are given a name
Some are tame, others gain fame
Yet in the end, we’re all the same.
[tr. Shahriari (1998), figurative]

Euripides -- Auge [Αὐγῃ], frag. 269 (c. 408 BC) [tr. Symonds (1880)]

Dave — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 00:42:59 +0000

Whoso pretends that Love is no great god,
The lord and master of all deities,
Is either dull of soul, or, dead to beauty,
Knows not the greatest god that governs men.

[Ἔρωτα δ᾿ ὅστις μὴ θεὸν κρίνει μέγαν
καὶ τῶν ἁπάντων δαιμόνων ὑπέρτατον,
ἢ σκαιός ἐστιν ἢ καλῶν ἄπειρος ὢν
οὐκ οἶδε τὸν μέγιστον ἀνθρώποις θεόν.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Auge [Αὐγῃ], frag. 269 (c. 408 BC) [tr. Symonds (1880)]
(Source)

The second line ("καὶ ... ὑπέρτατον" = "the highest of all deities") was apparently inserted by Stobaeus.

Nauck (TGF) frag. 269, Barnes frag. 15, Musgrave frag. 3. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

He who esteems not Love a mighty God,
And to all other Deities superior,
Devoid of reason, or to beauty blind,
Knows not the ruler of this nether world.
[tr. Wodhall (1809)]

Anyone who does not count Love a great god,
and the highest of all the divine powers,
is either obtuse or, lacking experience in his benefits,
is unacquainted with human beings’ greatest god.
[tr. Collard / Cropp (2008); Funke (2013)]

Whoever does not judge Love to be a great god, and highest of all the divine powers, is either a fool or, lacking experience of his good things, is not acquainted with mankind's greatest god.
[tr. Wright (2017)]

Whoever does not think Eros a great god
is either silly or ignorant of blessings.
[Source]

Chamfort, Nicolas -- Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 8, ¶ 522 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]

Dave — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 15:58:58 +0000

It is the head that governs men. A kind heart is of no use in a chess game.

[On gouverne les hommes avec la tête. On ne joue pas aux échecs avec un bon cœur.]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 8, ¶ 522 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

People are governed with the head; kindness of heart is little use in chess.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]

Men are governed using the head. A kind heart is useless in a chess game.
[tr. Dusinberre (1992)]

A person governs men with his head. One does not play chess with goodness of heart.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994), ¶ 521]

La Bruyere, Jean de -- The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 4 “Of the Heart [Du Coeur],” § 71 (4.71) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]

Dave — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 19:51:29 +0000

A wise man neither lets himself be governed nor seeks to govern others: he wishes reason alone to govern, and for ever.

[Un homme sage ni ne se laisse gouverner, ni ne cherche à gouverner les autres: il veut que la raison gouverne seule et toujours.]

Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 4 “Of the Heart [Du Coeur],” § 71 (4.71) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

A Wise Man neither suffers himself to be govern'd, nor attempts to govern others. 'Tis his reason alone which always governs him.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

A Wise Man neither suffers himself to be govern'd, nor attempts to govern others. He wou'd have Reason alone always to govern him.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

An intelligent man neither allows himself to be controlled nor attempts to control others; he wishes reason alone to rule, and that always.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]

Lessing, Gotthold -- Nathan the Wise [Nathan der Weise], Act 4, sc. 4 [Templar] (1779) [tr. Reich (1860)]

Dave — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 05:07:43 +0000

The worst of superstitions is, to think
Your own to be the most endurable.
[…] Yours, the only one,
to which dim-sighted mankind may be trusted,
Till they can bear the brighter light of truth.

[Der Aberglauben schlimmster ist, den seinen
Für den erträglichern zu halten […] dem allein
Die blöde Menschheit zu vertrauen, bis
Sie hellern Wahrheitstag gewöhne.]

Gotthold Lessing (1729-1781) German playwright, philosopher, dramaturg, writer
Nathan the Wise [Nathan der Weise], Act 4, sc. 4 [Templar] (1779) [tr. Reich (1860)]
(Source)

Some of the translations leave out the second part.

(Source (German)). Alternate translations:

The worst of superstitions is to think
One's own most bearable.
[tr. Taylor (1790)]

That superstition is the worst of all
Which thinks itself the easiest to be borne --
[...] And to trust
To it alone a blind humanity
Till it is used to truth's more brilliant light.
[tr. Boylan (1878)]

The very worst
Of superstitions is, to hold one's own
The most endurable [...]
That only to entrust
Purblind humanity, till it learn to bear
The light of truth's clear day.
[tr. Corbett (1883)]

The worst of superstitions is, to think
One's own the most supportable. [...]
To it alone trust simple human-kind
Until to truth's bright rays it grows accustomed.
[tr. Jacks (1894)]

The worst of superstitions is to deem
Our special chains the most endurable --
[...] And to these alone
To trust purblind humanity until
Its eye can bear the brilliant noon of truth.
[tr. Maxwell (1917)]

The worst superstition is to consider one's own superstition the more tolerable one [...] to which alone to entrust weak-minded mankind until it will grow used to the brighter light of truth.
[tr. Reinhardt (1950)]

That superstition
Is worst which takes itself to be of all
The most endurable [...] and to which alone one may
Entrust dull-witted humankind, till it's
Accustomed to the brighter light of truth.
[tr. Morgan (1955)]

The most bigoted of superstitions is to hold one's own faith to be the only right one [...] which poor, blind men must trust until they see the light.
[tr. Ade (1972)]

La Bruyere, Jean de -- The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 4 “Of the Affections [Du Coeur],” § 71 (4.71) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]

Dave — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 01:14:09 +0000

There are some men who listen neither to reason nor to good advice, and who deliberately go astray through fear of being dominated.

[Il se trouve des hommes qui n’écoutent ni la raison ni les bons conseils, et qui s’égarent volontairement par la crainte qu’ils ont d’être gouvernés.]

Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696) French essayist, moralist
The Characters [Les Caractères], ch. 4 “Of the Affections [Du Coeur],” § 71 (4.71) (1688) [tr. Stewart (1970)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

There are those men who will not hearken to reason, or good council, but deviate of their own Heads, purely for fear of being govern'd.
[Bullord ed. (1696)]

There are some Men who will not hearken to Reason and good Counsel, but deviate of their own Heads, purely for fear of being govern'd.
[Curll ed. (1713)]

There are some Men who turn the deaf Ear to Reason and friendly Counsel, and play the Fool of their own Heads, purely for fear of being governed.
[Browne ed. (1752)]

There are some men who turn a deaf ear to reason and good advice, and willfully go wrong for fear of being controlled.
[tr. Van Laun (1885)]

Elders, Joycelyn -- Interview by Claudia Dreifus, New York Times (1994-01-30)

Dave — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 19:52:20 +0000

If you can’t control your reproduction, you can’t control your life.

Joycelyn Elders (b. 1933) American pediatrician, public health administrator, academic
Interview by Claudia Dreifus, New York Times (1994-01-30)
(Source)

A frequent phrase of hers.

Chamfort, Nicolas -- Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 3, ¶ 266 (1795) [tr. Mathers (1926)]

Dave — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 23:40:43 +0000

Any man with few needs appears a menace to the rich for he is always in a position to escape from them, and the tyrants see that thus they lose a slave.

[Tout homme qui a peu de besoins semble menacer les riches d’être toujours prêt à leur échapper. Les tyrans voient par là qu’ils perdent un esclave.]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 3, ¶ 266 (1795) [tr. Mathers (1926)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Any man whose needs are few seems to threaten the rich with the possibility of his escaping them. Tyrants are thereby faced with the prospect of losing a slave.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

Any man who has few needs seems to threaten the rich with his readiness to escape from them. Thereby tyrants realize that they are losing a slave.
[tr. Pearson (1973)]

Every man who has few needs seems to menace the wealthy with the constant threat of escaping from them. Tyrants see in such a proposition the loss of a slave.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

Anyone whose needs are small seems threatening to the rich, because he's always ready to escape their control. This is how tyrants recognize that they're losing a slave.
[tr. Parmée (2003)]

Du Bois, W.E.B. -- John Brown, ch. 13 “The Legacy of John Brown” (1909)

Dave — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 17:31:46 +0000

Liberty trains for liberty. Responsibility is the first step in responsibility.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) American writer, historian, social reformer [William Edward Burghardt Du Bois]
John Brown, ch. 13 “The Legacy of John Brown” (1909)
(Source)

On the policy among white colonial powers that non-whites "ought to be under the restraint and benevolent tutelage of stronger and wiser nations for their own benefit," until they are "capable" of being free.

Byron, George Gordon, Lord -- The Corsair, Canto 1, st. 8, l. 184 (1814)

Dave — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 15:19:28 +0000

The power of Thought, — the magic of the Mind!

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
The Corsair, Canto 1, st. 8, l. 184 (1814)
(Source)

The abilities -- plus success -- that Conrad uses to control his crew.

Apollonius of Tyana -- Letters from Apollonius of Tyana, ep. 15, Letter to Euphrates [tr. Jones (2006)]

Dave — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 18:28:54 +0000

Plato said that virtue has no master. If a person does not honor this principle and rejoice in it, but is purchasable for money, he creates many masters for himself.

Apollonius of Tyana (c. AD 15-100) Greek philosopher and religious leader [Ἀπολλώνιος]
Letters from Apollonius of Tyana, ep. 15, Letter to Euphrates [tr. Jones (2006)]
(Source)

The reference to Plato's Republic, X 617 E.

Thomas a Kempis -- The Imitation of Christ [De Imitatione Christi], Book 1, ch. 16, v. 2ff (1.16.2-3) (c. 1418-27) [tr. Knott (1962)]

Dave — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 14:36:52 +0000

We want perfection in other people, and yet we do not put right our own failings. We want to see others firmly corrected, but we refuse correction ourselves. We take offence when permission is given to others, but we do not want our own requests refused. We want rules to check the activities of others, but we are indignant at restrictions on ourselves.

[Libenter videmus alios perfectos, sed tamen proprios non emendamus defectus. Volumus quod alii districte corrigantur, et nos ipsi corrigi nolumus, aut negari quod petimus. Alios restringi per statuta volumus, et ipsi nullatenus patimur amplius cohiberi.]

Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471) German-Dutch priest, author
The Imitation of Christ [De Imitatione Christi], Book 1, ch. 16, v. 2ff (1.16.2-3) (c. 1418-27) [tr. Knott (1962)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

We would gladly have others perfect, but will not amend our own defaults. We would that others should be straitly corrected for their offences, but we will not be corrected. It misliketh us that others have liberty, but we will not be denied of that we ask. We would also that others should be restrained according to the statutes, but we in nowise will be restrained.
[tr. Whitford/Raynal (1530/1871)]

We would gladly have others perfect, yet we will not amend our own faults. We desire others to be strictly corrected for their offenses, yet we will not be corrected. We dislike it that others have liberty, yet we will not be denied what we ask. We desire that others should be restrained according to the laws, yet we will in no way be restrained.
[tr. Whitford/Gardiner (1530/1955)]

It is injustice to expect that in another which thou hast not in thy self, to looke for perfection in others, and yet not to amend imperfections in our selves. We will have others severely punisht, and will not amend our selves; the large liberty of others disliketh us, and yet we will not have our desires deni'd us, we will have rigorous Lawes imposed upon others, but in no sort will we our selves be restrained.
[tr. Page (1639), 1.16.8-9]

And, indeed, nothing is more common, than to express exceeding Zeal in amending our Neighbours, and mighty Indignation against Their Vices or Imperfections, while at the same time we neglect the beginning at Home, and either quite overlook, or seem highly contented with our own. We set up for Reformers, declaim at the Wickendess of the Age, and are all for suppressing and punishing it by vigorous Laws; and yet are unwilling that any Check or Restraint should be put upon our own Freedoms.
[tr. Stanhope (1696; 1706 ed.)]

But we require perfection in the rest of mankind, and take no care to rectify the disorders of our own heart; we desire that the faults of others should be severely punished, and refuse the gentlest correction ourselves; we are offended at their licentiousness, and yet cannot bear the least opposition to our own immoderate desires. We would subject all to the control of rigorous statute and penal laws, but will not suffer any restraint upon our own actions.
[tr. Payne (1803), 1.16.3]

We would willingly have others perfect, and yet we amend not our own faults. We will have others severely corrected, and will not be corrected ourselves. The large liberty of others displeaseth us; and yet we will not have our own desires denied us. We will have others kept under by strict laws; but in no sort will ourselves be restrained.
[ed. Parker (1841)]

We willingly require perfection in the rest of mankind, and yet do not rectify the disorders of our own hearts. We desire that the faults of others should be severely punished, and refuse the gentlest correction ourselves. We are offended at their licentiousness, and yet cannot bear the least denial of our own immoderate desires. We would subject all to the control of rigorous statutes, but suffer no restraint upon our own action.
[tr. Dibdin (1851)]

We would fain have others perfect, and yet we amend not our own defects. We would have others strictly corrected, but will not be corrected ourselves. The large liberty of others displeases us, and yet we would not be denied anything we ask for. We wish others to be bound down by laws, and we suffer ourselves to be in no sort restrained.
[ed. Bagster (1860)]

We are ready to see others made perfect, and yet we do not amend our own shortcomings. We will that others be straitly corrected, but we will not be corrected ourselves. The freedom of others displeaseth us, but we are dissatisfied that our own wishes shall be denied us. We desire rules to be made restraining others, but by no means will we suffer ourselves to be restrained.
[tr. Benham (1874)]

We are desirous to have others perfect, and yet we amend not our own faults. We will have others severely corrected, and will not be corrected ourselves. The large liberty of others displeaseth us; and yet we will not have our own desires denied us. We will have others kept under by strict laws; but in no sort will we ourselves be restrained.
[tr. Anon. (1901)]

We want them to be perfect, yet we do not correct our own faults. We wish them to be severely corrected, yet we will not correct ourselves. Their great liberty displeases us, yet we would not be denied what we ask. We would have them bound by laws, yet we will allow ourselves to be restrained in nothing.
[tr. Croft/Bolton (1940)]

We would readily have others perfect and yet not amend our own defects. We want others rigidly corrected and are unwilling to be corrected ourselves. The wide freedom of others displeases us, and yet we would not be denied whatever we ask. We wish others to be bound by rules, and will ourselves in no way be held in.
[tr. Daplyn (1952)]

For we require other people to be perfect, but do not correct our own faults. We wish to see others severely reprimanded; yet we are unwilling to be corrected ourselves. We wish to restrict the liberty of others, but are not willing to be denied anything ourselves. We wish others to be bound by rules, yet we will not let ourselves be bound.
[tr. Sherley-Price (1952)]

We like to have everybody around us quite perfect, but our own faults -- we never seem to correct them. Tom, Dick and Harry must be strictly called to order, but we aren't fond of being called to order ourselves. It is always the other man that has too much rope given him -- our wishes must not be thwarted; rules for everybody else, but our own liberties must not be abridged for a moment.
[tr. Knox-Oakley (1959), 1.16.3]

Though quick to expect perfection in others, we take little care to correct our own shortcomings. We wouidl have others strictly corrected, but not ourselves. The wide freedom of others displeases us, yet we wish to be denied nothing that we ourselves desire. We would have others under the restraint of the rule while unwilling ourselves to be under any sort of restraint.
[tr. Rooney (1979)]

We would willingly have others be perfect, and yet we fail to correct our own faults. We want others to be strictly corrected, and yet we are unwilling to be corrected ourselves. Other peoples' far-ranging freedom annoys us, and yet we insist on having our own way. We wish others to be tied down by rules, and yet we will not allow ourselves to be held in check in any way at all.
[tr. Creasy (1989)]

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 28, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, ch. 8 [Malicia] (2008)

Dave — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 22:31:09 +0000

If you don’t turn your life into a story, you just become a part of someone else’s story.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 28, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, ch. 8 [Malicia] (2008)
(Source)

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)

Dave — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 16:12:46 +0000

The neurotic feels like a Christmas shopper who keeps dropping his packages, and it’s raining.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)
(Source)

Euripides -- Antigone [Ἀντιγόνη], frag. 172 (TGF, Kannicht) (c. 420-406 BC) [tr. Wodhall (1809)]

Dave — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 20:11:03 +0000

Away with empire, and oppressive laws;
None but the fool can wish for regal power,
That he may proudly lord it o’er his equals.

[οὔτ᾽ εἰκὸς ἄρχειν οὔτ᾽ ἐχρὴν ἄνευ νόμου
τύραννον εἶναι” μωρία δὲ καὶ ϑέλειν
ὃς τῶν ὁμοίων βούλεται χρατεῖν μόνος.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Antigone [Ἀντιγόνη], frag. 172 (TGF, Kannicht) (c. 420-406 BC) [tr. Wodhall (1809)]
(Source)

Barnes frag. 11, Musgrave frag. 5. (Source (Greek)). Alternate translation:

It is neither reasonable to rule, nor ought there to be a king [law].
It is folly for a man even to want [...]
who wishes to hold sole power over his peers.
[Source]

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 2, ch. 7 (2.7) / sec. 24 (44 BC) [tr. Edinger (1974)]

Dave — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 14:29:19 +0000

Men who want to be feared must necessarily fear the very people who fear them.

[Etenim qui se metui volent, a quibus metuentur, eosdem metuant ipsi necesse est.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 2, ch. 7 (2.7) / sec. 24 (44 BC) [tr. Edinger (1974)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

For those who desire to have others be afraid of them, must needs be afraid of those others in their turns.
[tr. Cockman (1699)]

For they who desire to become objects of terror to others, must dread those who regard them with fear.
[tr. McCartney (1798)]

For it is a necessary consequence, that men fear those very persons by whom they wish to be feared.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]

For it is inevitable that those who wish to be feared should themselves fear the very persons by whom they are feared.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]

For men involuntarily fear those whom they intimidate.
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]

Those who wish to be feared must inevitably be afraid of those whom they intimidate.
[tr. Miller (1913)]

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 2, ch. 7 (2.7) / sec. 24 (44 BC) [tr. McCartney (1798)]

Dave — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 16:41:23 +0000

Let the rigour of a master over his slaves be applied by those who hold men under the empire of oppression; but they who rule by the principle of fear in a free state, practice a system of unparalleled madness. […] Let us therefore embrace that mode of conduct which has the most extensive influence, which contributes most, not only to the safety, but to the increase of wealth and power, and which rests, not upon fear, but upon the continuation of kind affections. — This is the method by which not only in private, but in public, we shall most easily obtain what we desire.

[Sed iis, qui vi oppresses imperio coercent, sit sane adhibenda saevitia, ut eris in famulos, si aliter teneri non possunt; qui vero in libera civitate ita se instruunt, ut metuantur, iis nihil potest esse dementius. […] Quod igitur latissime patet neque ad incolumitatem solum, sed etiam ad opes et potentiam valet plurimum, id amplectamur, ut metus absit, caritas retineatur. Ita facillime, quae volemus, et privatis in rebus et in re publica consequemur.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 2, ch. 7 (2.7) / sec. 24 (44 BC) [tr. McCartney (1798)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

It is well enough in those who by open force have reduced any nation, and accordingly rule it with a high hand, if they do sometimes use rigour and severity, like masters towards their slaves when there is no other way of holding them in subjection: but for those who are magistrates in a free city, to endeavour to make themselves feared by the people, is one of the maddest and most desperate attempts on the face of the earth. [...] Let us therefore embrace and adhere to that method which is of the most universal influence, and serves not only to secure us what we have, but moreover to enlarge our power and authority; that is, in short, let us rather endeavour to be loved than feared, which is certainly the best way to make us successful, as well in our private as our public business.
[tr. Cockman (1699)]

But the truth is, cruelty must be employed by those who keep others in subjection by force; as by a master to his slaves, if they cannot otherwise be managed. But of all madmen, they are the maddest who, in a free state so conduct themselves as to be feared. [...] We ought therefore to follow this most obvious principle, that dread should be removed and affection reconciled, which has the greatest influence not only on our security but also on our interest and power; and thus we shall most easily attain to the object of our wishes, both in private and political affairs.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]

Those who hold under their command subjects forcibly kept down must indeed resort to severity, as masters toward their slaves when they cannot otherwise be restrained. But nothing can be more mad than the policy of those who in a free state conduct themselves in such a way as to be feared. [...] Let us then embrace the policy which has the widest scope, and is most conducive, not to safety alone, but to affluence and power, namely, that by which fear may be suppressed, love retained. Thus shall we most easily obtain what we desire both in private and in public life.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]

Let tyrants exercise cruelty, as a master does towards his slaves when he cannot control them by other means: but for a Citizen of a free State to equip himself with the weapons of intimidation is the height of madness. [...] Let us then put away fear and cleave to love; love appeals to every heart, it is the surest means of gaining safety, influence and power; in a word, it is the key to success both in private and in public life.
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]

But those who keep subjects in check by force would of course have to employ severity -- masters, for example, toward their servants, when these cannot be held in control in any other way. But those who in a free state deliberately put themselves in a position to be feared are the maddest of the mad. [...] Let us, then, embrace this policy, which appeals to every heart and is the strongest support not only of security but also of influence and power -- namely, to banish fear and cleave to love. And thus we shall most easily secure success both in private and in public life.
[tr. Miller (1913)]

Men who dominate and command other men, whom they have subjugated by force, have to apply some harshness, just as the owner uses harshness toward his slaves if he cannot control them any other way. But it is completely senseless for men in a free city act in such a way that it causes others to live in fear: no one could be more insane. [...] So let us embrace a rule that applies widely and that is extremely effective not only maintaining safety but also in acquiring wealth and power, namely, that there should be no fear, that one should hold affection dear. This is the easiest way for ust to attain what we want both in private affairs and in the government.
[tr. Edinger (1974)]

Borland, Hal -- “Autumn’s Clutter,” New York Times (11 Nov 1962)

Dave — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 15:08:39 +0000

Man feels the need to rake leaves, clean up the summer’s remnants, proclaim his tenancy by making things neat and tidy. Nature doesn’t bother. The tree thrives on its own trash and the see sprouts in the parent plant’s midden heap. Each new season grows from the leftovers from the past. That is the essence of change, and change is the basic law. Nature hasn’t time to be neat and tidy.

Harold "Hal" Borland (1900-1978) American writer, journalist, naturalist
“Autumn’s Clutter,” New York Times (11 Nov 1962)
(Source)

Reprinted in Sundial of the Seasons (1964).

Martin, Judith -- Miss Manners Rescues Civilization, ch. 5 “The Law Takes Over from Etiquette” (1996)

Dave — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 18:09:40 +0000

Indeed, Miss Manners has come to believe that the basic political division in the society is not between liberals and conservatives but between those who believe that they should have a say in the love lives of strangers and those who do not.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners Rescues Civilization, ch. 5 “The Law Takes Over from Etiquette” (1996)
(Source)

Diamond, Jared -- “Choosing Success,” interview by Catherine Seip, National Review (30 Jun 2006)

Dave — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 14:58:26 +0000

Genocide is natural! Rape is natural! No, what’s natural is not necessarily good — often it’s repulsive. One of the most important functions of human society, and the driving force behind most political institutions, is to prevent humans from doing what comes naturally.

Jared Diamond (b. 1937) American geographer, historian, ornithologist, author
“Choosing Success,” interview by Catherine Seip, National Review (30 Jun 2006)
(Source)

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

Dave — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 18:24:11 +0000

A State which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for beneficial purposes — will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished; and that the perfection of machinery to which it has sacrificed everything, will in the end avail it nothing, for want of the vital power which, in order that the machine might work more smoothly, it has preferred to banish.

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

Closing words of the book.

Wilhoit, Frank -- Crookedtimber.org, “The Travesty of Liberalism,” Comment #26 (22 Mar 2018)

Dave — Mon, 30 May 2022 21:23:30 +0000

The task is to throw all those things on the exact same burn pile as the collected works of all the apologists for conservatism, and start fresh. The core proposition of anti-conservatism requires no supplementation and no exegesis. It is as sufficient as it is necessary. What you see is what you get:

The law cannot protect anyone unless it binds everyone; and it cannot bind anyone unless it protects everyone.

Frank Wilhoit (contemp.) American composer and software architect
Crookedtimber.org, “The Travesty of Liberalism,” Comment #26 (22 Mar 2018)
(Source)

Wilhoit, Frank -- Crookedtimber.org, “The Travesty of Liberalism,” Comment #26 (22 Mar 2018)

Dave — Thu, 19 May 2022 18:51:52 +0000

Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit:

There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.

There is nothing more or else to it, and there never has been, in any place or time.

Frank Wilhoit (contemp.) American composer and software architect
Crookedtimber.org, “The Travesty of Liberalism,” Comment #26 (22 Mar 2018)
(Source)

L'Engle, Madeleine -- Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, ch. 2 (1980)

Dave — Wed, 04 May 2022 19:04:41 +0000

It is the ability to choose which makes us human.

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, ch. 2 (1980)
(Source)

Diamond, Jared -- Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Part 4, ch. 16 (2005)

Dave — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 17:20:53 +0000

Because we are the cause of our environmental problems, we are the ones in control of them, and we can choose or not choose to stop causing them and start solving them. The future is up for grabs, lying in our own hands. We don’t need new technologies to solve our problems; while new technologies can make some contribution, for the most part we “just” need the political will to apply solutions already available.

Jared Diamond (b. 1937) American geographer, historian, ornithologist, author
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Part 4, ch. 16 (2005)
(Source)

Shain, Merle -- Hearts That We Broke Long Ago, ch. 5 (1983)

Dave — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 17:47:40 +0000

Anger is a passion, so it makes people feel alive and makes them feel they matter and are in charge of their lives. So people often need to renew their anger a long time after the cause of it has died, because it is a protection against helplessness and emptiness just like howling in the night. And it makes them feel less vulnerable for a little while.

Merle Shain (1935-1989) Canadian journalist and author
Hearts That We Broke Long Ago, ch. 5 (1983)
(Source)

Commager, Henry Steele -- Essay (1949-11-05), “What Ideas Are Safe?” Saturday Review

Dave — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 14:51:23 +0000

A nation which, in the name of loyalty or of patriotism or of a sincere and high-sounding idea, discourages criticism and dissent, and puts a premium on acquiescence and conformity, is headed for disaster.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1949-11-05), “What Ideas Are Safe?” Saturday Review
(Source)

Collected in Freedom and Order (1966).

Kierkegaard, Soren -- Select Entries from Journals and Papers on On My Work as an Author and The Point of View for My Work as an Author, Paper IX B 63:13 373 [tr. Hong/Hong]

Dave — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 14:16:03 +0000

Then the tyrant dies, and his rule is over; the martyr dies, and his rule begins.

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher, theologian
Select Entries from Journals and Papers on On My Work as an Author and The Point of View for My Work as an Author, Paper IX B 63:13 373 [tr. Hong/Hong]

Hazlitt, William -- “On the Clerical Character,” Conclusion (7 Feb 1818)

Dave — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 16:01:11 +0000

The garb of religion is the best cloak for power.

William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
“On the Clerical Character,” Conclusion (7 Feb 1818)
(Source)

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- Letter to Christopher Tolkien (1943-11-29)

Dave — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 17:47:29 +0000

My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs). […] The most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
Letter to Christopher Tolkien (1943-11-29)
(Source)

Letter 52 in Humphrey Carpenter, ed., The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1981).

Parsons, Lucy -- Speech, Founding Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World (27 Jun 1905)

Dave — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 20:10:58 +0000

Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.

Lucy Parsons (1851-1942) American labor organizer, anarchist, orator [a.k.a. Lucy Gonzalez]
Speech, Founding Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World (27 Jun 1905)
(Source)

Reprinted in Freedom, Equality and Solidarity: Writings & Speeches, 1878-1937.

Snyder, Timothy -- On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (2017)

Dave — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 13:26:18 +0000

Post-truth is pre-fascism.

Timothy Snyder (b. 1969) American historian, author
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (2017)

Butler, Octavia -- Parable of the Talents, ch. 13, epigram (1998)

Dave — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 21:51:55 +0000

When vision fails
Direction is lost.

When direction is lost
Purpose may be forgotten.

When purpose is forgotten
Emotion rules alone.

When emotion rules alone,
Destruction … destruction.

Octavia Butler (1947-2006) American writer
Parable of the Talents, ch. 13, epigram (1998)
(Source)

Snyder, Timothy -- The Red Prince, “Orange: European Revolutions” (2008)

Dave — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 14:31:45 +0000

All citizens do have a measure of control, at least in democracies where their votes are counted, of how they belong to their nations. Perhaps they will have more confidence in unconventional choices if they see that each nation’s founders were disobedient and unpredictable, men and women of imagination and ambition. The steel of every national monument was once molten.

Timothy Snyder (b. 1969) American historian, author
The Red Prince, “Orange: European Revolutions” (2008)
(Source)

Bastiat, Frederic -- The Law [La Loi] (1850) [tr. Russell]

Dave — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 15:25:27 +0000

If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?

[Puisque les tendances naturelles de l’humanité sont assez mauvaises pour qu’on doive lui ôter sa liberté, comment se fait-il que les tendances des organisateurs soient bonnes ? Les Législateurs et leurs agents ne font-ils pas partie du genre humain ? Se croient-ils pétris d’un autre limon que le reste des hommes?]

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) French philosopher, economist, politician
The Law [La Loi] (1850) [tr. Russell]
(Source)

French source.

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

Dave — Thu, 27 May 2021 15:45:58 +0000

Still, the danger of the practice of violence, even if it moves consciously within a non-extremist framework of short-term goals, will always be that the means overwhelm the end. If goals are not achieved rapidly, the result will not merely be defeat but the introduction of the practice of violence into the whole body politic. Action is irreversible, and a return to the status quo in case of defeat is always unlikely. The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is a more violent world.

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 On Violence, ch. 3 (1970).

Sophocles -- Antigone, l. 332ff, Stasimon 1, Strophe 1 [Chorus] (441 BC) [tr. Woodruff (2001)]

Dave — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 17:07:57 +0000

Many wonders, many terrors,
But none more wonderful than the human race
Or more dangerous.
This creature travels on a winter gale
Across the silver sea,
Shadowed by high-surging waves,
While on Earth, grandest of the gods,
He grinds the deathless, tireless land away,
Turning and turning the plow
From year to year, behind driven horses.

[πολλὰ τὰ δεινὰ κοὐδὲν ἀνθρώπου δεινότερον πέλει.
τοῦτο καὶ πολιοῦ πέραν πόντου χειμερίῳ νότῳ
χωρεῖ, περιβρυχίοισιν
περῶν ὑπ᾽ οἴδμασιν.
θεῶν τε τὰν ὑπερτάταν, Γᾶν
ἄφθιτον, ἀκαμάταν, ἀποτρύεται
ἰλλομένων ἀρότρων ἔτος εἰς ἔτος
ἱππείῳ γένει πολεύων.]

Sophocles (496-406 BC) Greek tragic playwright
Antigone, l. 332ff, Stasimon 1, Strophe 1 [Chorus] (441 BC) [tr. Woodruff (2001)]
(Source)

Original Greek. Alternate translations:

Many the things that mighty be,
And nought is more might than -- MAN.
For he can cross the foaming ocean,
What time the stormy South is blowing,
Steering amid the mantling waves that roar around him.
And for his uses he wearieth
Earth, the highest Deity,
The immortal, the untiring one,
As year by year the ploughs are drawn
Up and down the furrow'd field,
To and fro his harness'd teams --
The seed of horses -- driving.
[tr. Donaldson (1848)]

Many wonders there be, but naught more wondrous than man;
Over the surging sea, with a whitening south wind wan,
Through the foam of the firth, man makes his perilous way;
And the eldest of deities Earth that knows not toil nor decay
Ever he furrows and scores, as his team, year in year out,
With breed of the yoked horse, the ploughshare turneth about.
[tr. Storr (1859)]

Many a wonder lives and moves, but the wonder of all is man,
That courseth over the grey ocean, carried of Southern gale,
Faring amidst high-swelling seas that rudely surge around,
And Earth, supreme of mighty Gods, eldest, imperishable,
Eternal, he with patient furrow wears and wears away
As year by year the plough-shares turn and turn, --
Subduing her unwearied strength with children of the steed.
[tr. Campbell (1873)]

Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man. This power spans the sea, even when it surges white before the gales of the south-wind, and makes a path under swells that threaten to engulf him. Earth, too, the eldest of the gods, the immortal, the unwearied, he wears away to his own ends, turning the soil with the offspring of horses as the plows weave to and fro year after year.
[tr. Jebb (1891)]

Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man; the power that crosses the white sea, driven by the stormy south-wind, making a path under surges that threaten to engulf him; and Earth, the eldest of the gods, the immortal, the unwearied, doth he wear, turning the soil with the offspring of horses,as the ploughs go to and fro from year to year.
[tr. Jebb (1917)]

Numberless are the world’s wonders, but none
More wonderful than man; the stormgray sea
Yields to his prows, the huge crests bear him high;
Earth, holy and inexhaustible, is graven
With shining furrows where his plows have gone
Year after year, the timeless labor of stallions.
[tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1939)]

Wonders are many on earth, and the greatest of these
Is man, who rides the ocean and takes his way
Through the deeps, though wide-swept valleys of perilous seas
That surge and sway.
He is master of ageless Earth, to his own will bending
The immortal mother of gods by the sweat of his brow,
As year succeeds to year, with toil unending
Of mule and plough.
[tr. Watling (1947), l. 279ff]

Many the wonders, but nothing walks stranger than man.
This thing crosses the sea in the winter's storm,
making his path through the roaring waves.
And she, the greatest of gods, the earth --
ageless she is, and unwearied -- he wars her away
as the ploughts go up and down from year to year
and his mules turn up the soil.
[tr. Wyckoff (1954)]

Wonders are many, yet of all
Things is Man the most wonderful.
He can sail on the stormy sea
Through tempest rage, and the loud
Waves roar around, as he makes his
Path amid the towering surge.
Earth inexhaustible, ageless, he wearies, as
Backwards and forwards, from season to season, his
Ox-team drives along the ploughshare.
[tr. Kitto (1962)]

Numberless wonders
terrible wonders walk the world but none the match for man --
that great wonder crossing the heaving gray sea,
driven on by the blasts of winter
on through breakers crashing left and right,
holds his steady course
and the oldest of the gods he wears away --
the Earth, the immortal, the inexhaustible --
as his plows go back and forth, year in, year out
with the breed of stallions turning up the furrows.
[tr. Fagles (1982), l. 376ff]

Many things cause terror and wonder, yet nothing
is more terrifying and wonderful than man.
This thing goes across the gray
sea on the blasts of winter
storms, passing beneath
waters towering ’round him. The Earth,
eldest of the gods,
unwithering and untiring, this thing wears down
as his plows go back and forth year after year
furrowing her with the issue of horses.
[tr. Tyrell/Bennett (2002)]

Wonders abound in this world yet no wonder is greater than man. None!
Through the wild white of a frenzied sea and through the screaming northerlies beneath him and through all the furious storms around him, through all this, man can pass!
And Gods’ most glorious Earth, the imperishable, untiring Earth, this man works with his horses and ploughs, year in, year out.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

There are many strange and wonderful things,
but nothing more strangely wonderful than man.
He moves across the white-capped ocean seas
blasted by winter storms, carving his way
under the surging waves engulfing him.
With his teams of horses he wears down
the unwearied and immortal earth,
the oldest of the gods, harassing her,
as year by year his ploughs move back and forth.
[tr. Johnston (2005), l. 388ff]

This world has many wonders, but nothing is more wondrous than humanity. It crosses even the grey sea with a stormy south wind, passing under churning waves in open water; and the oldest of the gods, immortal, inexhaustible Earth, it wears away. With ploughs it winds back and forth, year after year, turning up the soil with the offspring of horses.
[tr. Thomas (2005)]

There are many wonders and none
is more surprising than humanity.
This thing that crosses the sea
as it whorls under a stormy wind
finding a path on enveloping waves.
It wears down imperishable Earth, too,
the oldest of the gods, a tireless deity,
as the plows trace lives from year to year
drawn by the race of horses.
[tr. @sentantiq (2019)]

Blume, Judy -- “Judy Blume Talks about Censorship”

Dave — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 04:25:23 +0000

I believe that censorship grows out of fear, and because fear is contagious, some parents are easily swayed. Book banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children’s lives. This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want to believe that if their children don’t read about it, their children won’t know about it. And if they don’t know about it, it won’t happen.

Judy Blume (b. 1938) American writer
“Judy Blume Talks about Censorship”
(Source)

Snicket, Lemony -- The Carnivorous Carnival (2002)

Dave — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 14:14:58 +0000

One of the most troublesome things in life is that what you do or do not want has very little to do with what does or does not happen.

Lemony Snicket (b. 1970) American author, screenwriter, musician (pseud. for Daniel Handler)
The Carnivorous Carnival (2002)

Artaud, Antonin -- “On Suicide” #1, Le Disque Vert (1925)

Dave — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:42:12 +0000

If I commit suicide, it will not be to destroy myself but to put myself back together again. Suicide will be for me only one means of violently reconquering myself, of brutally invading my being, of anticipating the unpredictable approaches of God. By suicide, I reintroduce my design in nature, I shall for the first time give things the shape of my will.

[Si je me tue ce ne sera pas pour me détruire, mais pour me reconstituer, le suicide ne sera pour moi qu’un moyen de me reconquérir violemment, de faire brutalement irruption dans mon être, de devancer l’avance incertaine de Dieu. Par le suicide, je réintroduis mon dessin dans la nature, je donne pour la première fois aux choses la forme de ma volonté.]

Antonin Artaud (1896-1948) French playwright, actor, director
“On Suicide” #1, Le Disque Vert (1925)
(Source)

Original French. After being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 1948, Artaud died of poisoning, possibly a suicide.

Arendt, Hannah -- Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)

Dave — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 19:12:40 +0000

If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. On the receiving end you get not only one lie — a lie which you could go on for the rest of your days — but you get a great number of lies, depending on how the political wind blows. And a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)
(Source)

Parts of this interview were turned into an episode of the French TV series "Un certain regard," directed by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky, first broadcast 1974-07-06.

This section was published in The New York Review of Books (1978-10-26).

Sophocles -- Antigone, l. 665ff [Creon] (441 BC) [tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1939), l. 525ff]

Dave — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 23:54:34 +0000

I’ll have no dealings
With law-breakers, critics of the government:
Whoever is chosen to govern should be obeyed ––
Must be obeyed, in all things, great and small,
Just and unjust! O Haimon,
The man who knows how to obey, and that man only,
Knows how to give commands when the time comes.
You can depend on him, no matter how fast
The spears come: he’s a good soldier, he’ll stick it out.
Anarchy, anarchy! Show me a greater evil!
This is why cities tumble and the great houses rain down,
This is what scatters armies!
No, no: good lives are made so by discipline.
We keep the laws then, and the lawmakers.

Sophocles (496-406 BC) Greek tragic playwright
Antigone, l. 665ff [Creon] (441 BC) [tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1939), l. 525ff]
(Source)

Alt. trans.:

But whoso wantonly
Or strains the laws or sets about dictating
To those who rule, it is not possible
That such a one should ever earn my praise.
No! when a city constitutes a chief,
It well befitteth all men to obey
His great or small, just or unjust behests.
And I should confidently trust that he,
Whose law is such, would from fixed habitude
Both wisely rule and loyally obey.
he too, when posted in the battled line,
Amid the storm of fight, would keep his ground,
Brave and unswerving by his comrade's side.
There is no greater ill than disobedience.
'Tis this which ruins cities: this it is
Which works the downfall of a noble house.
And when, in battle, spear is locked with spear,
'Tis this again which breaks and routes the phalanx.
But when men keep the line, their discipline
For the most part ensures their safety. Thus,
It is our duty still to aid the laws.
[tr. Donaldson (1848)]

But he who overbears the laws, or thinks
To overrule his rulers, such as one
I never will allow. Whome'er the State
Appoints must be obeyed in everything,
But small and great, just and unjust alike.
I warrant such a one in either case
Would shine, as King or subject; such a man
Would in the storm of battle stand his ground,
A comrade leal and true; but Anarchy --
What evils are not wrought by Anarchy!
She ruins States, and overthrows the home,
She dissipates and routs the embattled host;
While discipline preserves the ordered ranks.
Therefore we must maintain authority.
[tr. Campbell (1873)]

But he that wantonly defies the law,
Or thinks to dictate to authority,
Shall have no praise from me. What power soe'er
The city hath ordained, must be obeyed
In little things and great things, right or wrong.
The man who so obeys, I have good hope
Will govern and be governed as he ought,
And in the storm of battle at my side
Will stand a faithful and a trusty comrade.
But what more fatal than the lapse of rule?
This ruins cities, this lays houses waste,
This joins with the assault of war to break
Full numbered armies into hopeless rout;
And in the unbroken host 'tis nought but rule
That keeps those many bodies from defeat,
I must be zealous to defend the law.
[tr. Storr (1859)]

But if anyone oversteps and does violence to the laws, or thinks to dictate to those in power, such a one will never win praise from me. No, whomever the city may appoint, that man must be obeyed in matters small and great and in matters just and unjust. And I would feel confident that such a man would be a fine ruler no less than a good and willing subject, and that beneath a hail of spears he would stand his ground where posted, a loyal and brave comrade in the battle line. But there is no evil worse than disobedience. This destroys cities; this overturns homes; this breaks the ranks of allied spears into headlong rout. But the lives of men who prosper upright, of these obedience has saved the greatest part. Therefore we must defend those who respect order.
[tr. Jebb (1891)]

But if any one transgresses, and does violence to the laws, or thinks to dictate to his rulers, such an on can win no praise from me. No, whomsoever the city may appoint, that man must be obeyed, in little things and great, in just things and unjust; and I should feel sure that one who thus obey would be a good ruler no less than a good subject, and in the storm of spears would stand his ground where he was set, loyal and dauntless at his comrade's side. But disobedience is the worst of evils. This it is that ruins cities; this makes homes desolate; by this, the ranks of allies are broken into headlong rout; but, of the lives whose course is fair, the greater part owes safety to obedience. Therefore we must support the cause of order.
[tr. Jebb (1917), l. 661ff]

To transgress
Or twist the law to one’s own pleasure, presume
To order where one should obey, is sinful,
And I will have none of it.
He whom the State appoints must be obeyed
To the smallest matter, be it right -- or wrong.
And he that rules his household, without a doubt,
Will make the wisest king, or, for that matter,
The staunchest subject. He will be the man
You can depend on in the storm of war,
The faithfullest comrade in the day of battle.
There is no more deadly peril than disobedience;
States are devoured by it, homes laid in ruins,
Armies defeated, victory turned to rout.
While simple obedience saves the lives of hundreds
Of honest folk. Therefore, I hold to the law,
And will never betray it.
[tr. Watling (1947), l. 559ff]

But whoever steps out of line, violates the laws
or presumes to hand out orders to his superiors,
he'll win no praise from me. But that man
the city places in authority, his orders
must be obeyed, large and small,
right and wrong. Anarchy --
show me a greater crime in all the earth!
She, she destroys cities, rips up houses,
breaks the ranks of spearmen into headlong rout.
But the ones who last it out, the great mass of them
owe their lives to discipline. Therefore
we must defend the men who live by law.
[tr. Fagles (1982), l. 741ff]

So, if someone goes too far and breaks the law,
Or tries to tell his masters what to do,
He will have nothing but contempt from me.
But when a city takes a leader, you must obey,
Whether his commands are trivial, or right, or wrong.
But reject one man ruling another, and that's the worst.
Anarchy tears up a city, divides a home,
Defeats an alliance of spears.
But when people stay in line and obey,
Their lives and everything else are safe.
For this reason, order must be maintained.
[tr. Woodruff (2001), l. 662ff]

He who violates the laws of the gods and his city, or wants to command its leaders, will never gain my respect. We must obey those whom the city has ordained to be its leaders. We should obey them, unquestioningly, in all things, minor or great, those we agree with and those we oppose. I believe such a man would govern well and he’d also be an obedient servant; and he’d stay at his post even in the hurricane of war, honourably, bravely defending his country. There’s no worse evil than anarchy. Anarchy destroys nations, my son. Anarchy destroys homes. Anarchy turns the spears of allies into fleeing cowards. Those men left standing, the survivors, have been saved by discipline. That’s why each man must protect, with all his might, law and order.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

But anyone who’s proud
and violates our laws or thinks he’ll tell
our leaders what to do, a man like that
wins no praise from me. No. We must obey
whatever man the city puts in charge,
no matter what the issue -- great or small,
just or unjust. For there’s no greater evil
than a lack of leadership. That destroys
whole cities, turns households into ruins,
and in war makes soldiers break and run away.
When men succeed, what keeps their lives secure
in almost every case is their obedience.
That’s why they must support those in control.
[tr. Johnston (2005), l. 757ff ]

Armstrong, Karen -- Interview with Bill Moyers, “NOW,” PBS (9 Apr 2004)

Dave — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 16:10:19 +0000

You shouldn’t speak glibly about God. In Judaism you may not speak God’s name as a reminder that any human expression of the divine is likely to be so limited as to be blasphemous. But God should challenge your assumptions — you shouldn’t imagine you’ve got Him in your pocket.

Karen Armstrong (b. 1944) British author, comparative religion scholar
Interview with Bill Moyers, “NOW,” PBS (9 Apr 2004)
(Source)

Brault, Robert -- (Attributed)

Dave — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 15:20:50 +0000

What we find in a soulmate is not something wild to tame, but something wild to run with.

Robert Brault (b. c. 1945) American aphorist, programmer
(Attributed)

Bell, Daniel -- The End of Ideology, Introduction (1961 ed.)

Dave — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 20:27:54 +0000

One is reminded of the dialectical definition, by the wry Polish intellectual, of capitalism and communism. Capitalism, it is said, is a system wherein man exploits man. And communism — is vice versa.

Daniel Bell (1919-2011) American sociologist, writer, editor, academic
The End of Ideology, Introduction (1961 ed.)
(Source)

Usually quoted with just the last two sentences, and misattributed directly to Bell.

Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe" -- Babylon 5, 3×20 “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place” (14 Oct 1996)

Dave — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 22:05:06 +0000

DEXTER: I’d rather do something and make a mistake, than be frightened into doing nothing. That’s the problem back home. Folks have been conned into thinking they can’t change the world. Have to accept what is. I’ll tell you something, my friends, the world is changing every day. The only question is, who’s doing it?

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 3×20 “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place” (14 Oct 1996)

See Straczynski.

Sinclair, Upton -- The Brass Check, ch. 38 “Owning the Press” (1919)

Dave — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 22:02:45 +0000

The methods by which the “Empire of Business” maintains its control over journalism are four: First, ownership of the papers; second, ownership of the owners; third, advertising subsidies; and fourth, direct bribery. By these methods there exists in America a control of news and of current comment more absolute than any monopoly in any other industry.

Upton Sinclair (1878-1968) American writer, journalist, activist, politician
The Brass Check, ch. 38 “Owning the Press” (1919)
(Source)

Bowen, Elizabeth -- The Last September, Preface (1929)

Dave — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 15:08:49 +0000

The writer, like a swimmer caught by an undertow, is borne in an unexpected direction. He is carried to a subject which has awaited him — a subject sometimes no part of his conscious plan. Reality, the reality of sensation, has accumulated where it was least sought. To write is to be captured — captured by some experience to which one may have given hardly a thought.

Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) Irish author
The Last September, Preface (1929)
(Source)

Kempton, Murray -- America Comes of Middle Age: Columns, 1950-1962 (1963)

Dave — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 21:08:53 +0000

There is a raging tiger inside every man whom God put on this earth. Every man worthy of the respect of his children spends his life building inside himself a cage to pen that tiger in.

Murray Kempton (1917-1997) American journalist.
America Comes of Middle Age: Columns, 1950-1962 (1963)
(Source)

Inge, William Ralph -- Lecture 22, Gifford Lectures, University of St Andrews, Scotland (1918)

Dave — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 21:31:31 +0000

A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit in it.

William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) English prelate [Dean Inge]
Lecture 22, Gifford Lectures, University of St Andrews, Scotland (1918)
(Source)

Reprinted in Philosophy of Plotinus, Vol. 2 (1923).

Spenser, Edmund -- The Faerie Queene. Book 3, Canto 9, st. 8 (1589-96)

Dave — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 15:10:28 +0000

For sure a foole I doe him firmely hold,
That loves his fetters, though they were of gold.

Edmund Spenser (c. 1552–1599) English poet
The Faerie Queene. Book 3, Canto 9, st. 8 (1589-96)
(Source)

Palahniuk, Chuck -- Closing remarks on an eClass forum, Barnes & Noble University (5 Dec 2004)

Dave — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 19:37:42 +0000

The first step — especially for young people with energy and drive and talent, but not money — the first step to controlling your world is to control your culture. To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art.

Chuck Palahniuk (b. 1962) American novelist and freelance journalist
Closing remarks on an eClass forum, Barnes & Noble University (5 Dec 2004)

Schlesinger, Arthur -- “The Decline of Greatness,” Saturday Evening Post (1 Nov 1958)

Dave — Thu, 14 May 2020 16:47:50 +0000

The great appeal of fatalism, indeed, is as a refuge from the terror of responsibility.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917-2007) American historian, author, social critic
“The Decline of Greatness,” Saturday Evening Post (1 Nov 1958)
(Source)

The same phrase is used in the successor essay, "On Heroic Leadership," sec. 2. (1960)

Acton, John Dalberg (Lord) -- Note #10, in George Watson, Lord Acton’s History of Liberty (1994)

Dave — Thu, 07 May 2020 22:53:55 +0000

Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty.

John Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834-1902) British historian, politician, writer
Note #10, in George Watson, Lord Acton’s History of Liberty (1994)
(Source)

Schlesinger, Arthur -- “The Decline of Greatness,” Saturday Evening Post (1 Nov 1958)

Dave — Thu, 07 May 2020 22:35:18 +0000

Brave men earn the right to shape their own destiny.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917-2007) American historian, author, social critic
“The Decline of Greatness,” Saturday Evening Post (1 Nov 1958)
(Source)

Reprinted in The Politics of Hope, ch. 2 (1963)

Bastiat, Frederic -- The Law (1850)

Dave — Mon, 04 May 2020 22:46:25 +0000

Since the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to allow them liberty, how comes it to pass that the tendencies of organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their agents form a part of the human race? Do they consider that they are composed of different materials from the rest of mankind? They say that society, when left to itself, rushes to inevitable destruction, because its instincts are perverse. They presume to stop it in its downward course, and to give it a better direction. They have, therefore, received from heaven, intelligence and virtues that place them beyond and above mankind: let them show their title to this superiority.

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) French philosopher, economist, politician
The Law (1850)
(Source)

Alt. trans.: "If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind? The organizers maintain that society, when left undirected, rushes headlong to its inevitable destruction because the instincts of the people are so perverse. The legislators claim to stop this suicidal course and to give it a saner direction. Apparently, then, the legislators and the organizers have received from Heaven an intelligence and virtue that place them beyond and above mankind; it so, let them show their titles to this superiority." [Source]

Shear, Marie -- “Media Watch: Celebrating Women’s Words,” New Directions for Women (May/Jun 1986)

Dave — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 21:19:47 +0000

Ridicule: After rape, the second most powerful method of controlling women.

Marie Shear (1940-2017) American writer and feminist activist
“Media Watch: Celebrating Women’s Words,” New Directions for Women (May/Jun 1986)
(Source)

Brown, Rita Mae -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 17:44:47 +0000

A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction.

Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944) American author, playwright
(Attributed)

Trumbo, Dalton -- Spartacus (1960) [novel by Howard Fast]

Dave — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 00:32:55 +0000

GRACCHUS: You know, this republic of ours is something like a rich widow. Most Romans love her as their mother, but Crassus dreams of marrying the old girl, to put it politely.

Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976) American screenwriter and novelist [James Dalton Trumbo]
Spartacus (1960) [novel by Howard Fast]

Hubbard, Elbert -- The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard (1927)

Dave — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 20:44:37 +0000

A man who marries a woman to educate her falls victim to the same fallacy as the woman who marries a man to reform him.

Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard (1927)

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Marriage,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 16:11:46 +0000

MARRIAGE, n. The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress and two slaves, making in all, two.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Marriage,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)

Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1904-08-13), and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1904-11-15).

Godwin, William -- Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, Vol. 2, bk. 8, ch. 6 “Of the Enjoyment of Liberty” (1793)

Dave — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 15:46:28 +0000

The proper method for hastening the decay of error is not by brute force, or by regulation which is one of the classes of force, to endeavor to reduce men to intellectual uniformity, but on the contrary by teaching every man to think for himself.

William Godwin (1756-1836) English journalist, political philosopher, novelist
Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, Vol. 2, bk. 8, ch. 6 “Of the Enjoyment of Liberty” (1793)
(Source)

Mencken, H. L. -- “What I Believe,” sec. 6, Forum and Century (Sep 1930)

Dave — Mon, 22 May 2017 16:21:49 +0000

I believe it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than to be ignorant.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
“What I Believe,” sec. 6, Forum and Century (Sep 1930)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1841)

Dave — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:17:10 +0000

People say law, but they mean wealth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1841)
(Source)

Simon, Paul -- “Slip Slidin’ Away” (1977)

Dave — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 17:07:32 +0000

God only knows, God makes his plan,
The information’s unavailable to the mortal man.
We’re working our jobs, collect our pay,
Believe we’re gliding down the highway
When in fact we’re slip slidin’ away.

Paul Simon (b. 1941) American musician, singer-songwriter.
“Slip Slidin’ Away” (1977)

Lichtenberg, Georg C. -- Aphorisms, Notebook D, #96 [p. 604] (1773-75) [tr. Tester (2012)]

Dave — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 21:13:22 +0000

To do exactly the opposite of something is also a form of imitation, namely an imitation of its opposite.

Georg C. Lichtenberg (1742-1799) German physicist, writer
Aphorisms, Notebook D, #96 [p. 604] (1773-75) [tr. Tester (2012)]
(Source)

Alternate translations:

"To do just the opposite is also a form of imitation." [tr. Mautner and Hatfield]
"To do the opposite of something is also a form of imitation, namely an imitation of its opposite." [tr. Hollingdale (1990)]

Layton, Irving -- The Whole Bloody Bird, “Obs II” (1969)

Dave — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 17:52:27 +0000

Only the tiniest fraction of mankind want freedom. All the rest want someone to tell them they are free.

Irving Layton (1912-2006) Romanian-Canadian poet [b. Israel Pincu Lazarovitch]
The Whole Bloody Bird, “Obs II” (1969)

Bronowski, Jacob -- Lecture, MIT (26 Feb 1953)

Dave — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 22:17:45 +0000

Man masters nature not by force but by understanding. This is why science has succeeded where magic failed: because it has looked for no spell to cast over nature.

Jacob Bronowski (1908-1974) Polish-English humanist and mathematician
Lecture, MIT (26 Feb 1953)

Reprinted in "The Creative Mind," Sec. 4, Science and Human Values (1961).

Miller, Walter M. -- A Canticle for Leibowitz, “Fiat Lux,” ch. 20 (1959)

Dave — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 18:32:23 +0000

Ignorance is king. Many would not profit by his abdication. Many enrich themselves by means of his dark monarchy. They are his Court, and in his name they defraud and govern, enrich themselves and perpetuate their power. Even literacy they fear, for the written word is another channel of communication that might cause their enemies to become united. Their weapons are keen-honed, and they use them with skill. They will press the battle upon the world when their interests are threatened, and the violence which follows will last until the structure of society as it now exists is leveled to rubble, and a new society emerges. I am sorry: But that is how I see it.

Walter M. Miller Jr. (1923-1996) American writer
A Canticle for Leibowitz, “Fiat Lux,” ch. 20 (1959)

Bronte, Emily -- Wuthering Heights, ch. 11 [Heathcliff] (1847)

Dave — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 02:14:55 +0000

The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don’t turn against him, they crush those beneath them.

Emily Brontë (1818-1848) British novelist, poet [pseud. Ellis Bell]
Wuthering Heights, ch. 11 [Heathcliff] (1847)
(Source)

Atkinson, Brooks -- Once Around the Sun, “March 1” (1951)

Dave — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 02:49:58 +0000

The power to tax is the power to rule.

Brooks Atkinson (1894-1984) American drama critic and journalist
Once Around the Sun, “March 1” (1951)
(Source)

See also John Marshall.

Brin, David -- The Postman, ch. 14 (1985)

Dave — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 04:03:00 +0000

It’s said that “power corrupts,” but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable.

David Brin (b. 1950) American scientist and author
The Postman, ch. 14 (1985)

Often paraphrased: "It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power." See Frank Herbert.

Haliburton, Thomas Chandler -- Sam Slick’s Wise Saws and Modern Instances (1853)

Dave — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 05:17:27 +0000

Wherever there is authority, there is a natural inclination to disobedience.

Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796-1865) Canadian politician, judge, humorist
Sam Slick’s Wise Saws and Modern Instances (1853)

Asimov, Isaac -- Foundation’s Edge, ch. 12 “Agent” (1982)

Dave — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 12:53:57 +0000

Once you get it into your head that somebody is controlling events, you can interpret everything in that light and find no reasonable certainty anywhere.

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) Russian-American author, polymath, biochemist
Foundation’s Edge, ch. 12 “Agent” (1982)

Nouwen, Henri -- In the Name of Jesus (1989)

Dave — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 16:00:02 +0000

What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.

Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) Dutch Catholic priest and writer
In the Name of Jesus (1989)

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

Dave — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 15:42:56 +0000

CALAMITY, n. A more than commonly plain and unmistakable reminder that the affairs of this life are not of our own ordering. Calamities are of two kinds: misfortune to ourselves, and good fortune to others.

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

Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911).

Lorde, Audre -- “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” (1979)

Dave — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 14:46:27 +0000

For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) American writer, feminist, civil rights activist
“The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” (1979)
(Source)

Brecht, Bertholt -- “General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle,” in “From a German War Primer,” The Svendborg Poems (1939) [tr. Baxandall]

Dave — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 15:55:51 +0000

General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think.

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) German poet, playwright, director, dramaturgist
“General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle,” in “From a German War Primer,” The Svendborg Poems (1939) [tr. Baxandall]

Brecht, Bertholt -- “General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle,” in “From a German War Primer,” The Svendborg Poems (1939) [tr. Baxandall]

Dave — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 15:44:28 +0000

General, your tank
is a powerful vehicle
it smashes down forests
and crushes a hundred men.
but it has one defect:
it needs a driver.

Hughes, Charles Evans -- Speech (4 Mar 1939)

Dave — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 16:14:20 +0000

While democracy must have its organization and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.

Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. (1862-1948) American statesman, politician, Supreme Court Justice (1910-1916, 1930-1941)
Speech (4 Mar 1939)

Rabelais, Francois -- Gargantua and Pantagruel, 1.52 (1532-1552) [tr. Cohen (1955)]

Dave — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 15:57:50 +0000

How should I be able to govern others when I don’t know how to govern myself?

François Rabelais (1494-1553) French writer, humanist, doctor
Gargantua and Pantagruel, 1.52 (1532-1552) [tr. Cohen (1955)]

Butcher, Jim -- Skin Game (2014)

Dave — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 14:02:51 +0000

More to the point, nameless hideous monsters are freaking terrifying. You always fear what you don’t know, what you don’t understand, and the first step to having understanding of something is to know what to call it. It’s a habit of mine to give names to anything I wind up interacting with if it doesn’t have one readily available. Names have power — magically, sure, but far more important, they have psychological power. Something horrible with a name holds less power over you, less terror, than something horrible without one.
“Octokongs,” I pronounced grimly. “Why did it have to be octokongs?”

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Skin Game (2014)

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

Dave — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 14:18:48 +0000

Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed.

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

See Acton.

~Other -- Anonymous

Dave — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 13:59:27 +0000

When thinking about life, remember this: no amount of guilt can change the past, and no amount of anxiety can change the future.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Anonymous

Lucan -- Pharsalia, 1.175

Dave — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 13:31:13 +0000

Might was the measure of right.

[Mensuraque juris / Vis erat.]

Lucan (AD 39-65) Roman poet [Marcus Annaeus Lucanus]
Pharsalia, 1.175
(Source)

Referring to earlier eras of anarchy.

Lewis, Sinclair -- Main Street (1920)

Dave — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 13:22:06 +0000

The doctor asserted, “Sure religion is a fine influence — got to have it to keep the lower classes in order — fact, it’s the only thing that appeals to a lot of these fellows and makes ’em respect the rights of property. And I guess this theology is O.K.; lot of wise old coots figured it out, and they knew more about it than we do.” He believed in the Christian religion, and never thought about it; he believed in the church, and seldom went near it; he was shocked by Carol’s lack of faith, and wasn’t quite sure what was the nature of the faith that she lacked.

Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) American novelist, playwright
Main Street (1920)

Lao-tzu -- The Way of Life, ch. 10 [tr. Blakney (1955)]

Dave — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 13:53:25 +0000

Be the chief but never the lord.

Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
The Way of Life, ch. 10 [tr. Blakney (1955)]

Goethe, Johann von -- Sprüche in Reimen (1819)

Dave — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 14:47:42 +0000

Divide and rule, the politician cries;
Unite and lead, is watchword of the wise.

[Entzwei’ und gebiete! Tüchtig Wort;
Verein’ und leite! Beßrer Hort!]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Reimen (1819)
(Source)

Alt. trans.:

"Divide and command, a wise maxim; / Unite and guide, a better."
"Divide and rule, a capital motto! / Unite and lead, a better one!"

Taft, William -- Ladies Home Journal (May 1919)

Dave — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 14:38:11 +0000

No tendency is quite so strong in human nature as the desire to lay down rules of conduct for other people.

William Howard Taft (1857-1930) US President (1909-13) and Chief Justice (1921-1930)
Ladies Home Journal (May 1919)

Regarding the temperance movement. Quoted in Robert J. Schoenberg, Mr. Capone (1992).

Stendhal -- Letter (c. 1818)

Dave — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 13:16:18 +0000

The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.

Stendhal (1783-1842) French writer [pen name of Marie-Henri Beyle]
Letter (c. 1818)

Variants:

"The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his are the same."
"The shepherd ... can never convince his flock of sheep that his interests and theirs are identical."

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 1067 (1725)

Dave — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 19:23:07 +0000

To work a Man to thy Bent: 1. Know his Inclinations. 2. Observe his Ends. 3. Search out his Weakness. And so thou mayst either draw or drive him.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 1067 (1725)
(Source)

Steinem, Gloria -- Moving Beyond Words, “Doing Sixty” (1994)

Dave — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 13:05:07 +0000

The art of life isn’t controlling what happens, which is impossible; it’s using what happens.

Gloria Steinem (b. 1934) American feminist, journalist, activist
Moving Beyond Words, “Doing Sixty” (1994)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- “The Chance for Peace,” speech to American Society of Newspaper Editors, Washington (16 Apr 1953)

Dave — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 17:52:00 +0000

The way chosen by the United States was plainly marked by a few clear precepts, which govern its conduct in world affairs.

First: No people on earth can be held, as a people, to be enemy, for all humanity shares the common hunger for peace and fellowship and justice.

Second: No nation’s security and well-being can be lastingly achieved in isolation but only in effective cooperation with fellow-nations.

Third: Any nation’s right to form of government and an economic system of its own choosing is inalienable.

Fourth: Any nation’s attempt to dictate to other nations their form of government is indefensible.

And fifth: A nation’s hope of lasting peace cannot be firmly based upon any race in armaments but rather upon just relations and honest understanding with all other nations.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) American general, US President (1953-61)
“The Chance for Peace,” speech to American Society of Newspaper Editors, Washington (16 Apr 1953)

Also known as the "Cross of Iron" speech.

Deval, Jacques -- Afin de vivre bel et bien (1970)

Dave — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 13:09:16 +0000

God loved the birds and invented trees.
Man loved the birds and invented cages.

Jacques Deval (1895-1972) French playwright and director [pseud. of Jacques Boularan]
Afin de vivre bel et bien (1970)

Whedon, Joss -- “Mom, He’s Doing It Again…”, Whedonesque.com (10 Nov 2007)

Dave — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 13:08:35 +0000

People with real power never fear of losing it. People with control think of little else.

Joss Whedon (b. 1964) American screenwriter, author, producer [Joseph Hill Whedon]
“Mom, He’s Doing It Again…”, Whedonesque.com (10 Nov 2007)
(Source)

Madison, James -- The Federalist #57 (19 Feb 1788)

Dave — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 13:12:30 +0000

The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.

James Madison (1751-1836) American statesman, political theorist, US President (1809-17)
The Federalist #57 (19 Feb 1788)

Frederick II (the Great) -- Proclamation (13 Sep 1777)

Dave — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 12:27:21 +0000

It is disgusting to notice the increase in the quantity of coffee used by my subjects. … If possible, this must be prevented. My people must drink beer.

Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (Frederick the Great, Friedrich der Große)
Proclamation (13 Sep 1777)

Butcher, Jim -- Cold Days (2012)

Dave — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 09:24:19 +0000

As a rule, people aren’t good at handling power. And the second you start to think you’re better at controlling your power than anyone else, you’ve already taken the first step.

Jim Butcher (b. 1971) American author
Cold Days (2012)

Warren, Elizabeth -- Speech, Emily’s List PAC, New York (22 Sep 2014)

Dave — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 16:52:07 +0000

If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu.

Elizabeth Warren (b. 1949) American academic and politician [née Herring]
Speech, Emily’s List PAC, New York (22 Sep 2014)
(Source)

Mencken, H. L. -- A Little Book in C Major, ch. 5, § 22 (1916)

Dave — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:28:11 +0000

The objection to Puritans is not that they try to make us think as they do, but that they try to make us do as they think.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
A Little Book in C Major, ch. 5, § 22 (1916)
(Source)

Hesse, Herman -- Siddhartha, ch 2 “Amongst the People” (1922) [tr. Rosner (1951)]

Dave — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 11:58:16 +0000

Most people are like a falling leaf that drifts and turns in the air, flutters, and falls to the ground. But a few others are like stars which travel one defined path: no wind reaches them, they have within themselves their guide and path.

Herman Hesse (1877-1962) German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter
Siddhartha, ch 2 “Amongst the People” (1922) [tr. Rosner (1951)]

Shaw, George Bernard -- Annajanska (1919)

Dave — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 13:58:14 +0000

If the people cannot govern themselves, they must be governed by somebody.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
Annajanska (1919)

Shakespeare, William -- Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 202ff (1.2.202-205) (1599)

Dave — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 13:56:15 +0000

CAESAR: Let me have men about me that are fat;
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o’ nights:
Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 202ff (1.2.202-205) (1599)
(Source)

See Plutarch.

Acheson, Dean -- Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department (1969)

Dave — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:39:14 +0000

Force can overcome force, but a free society cannot long steel itself to dominate another people by sheer force.

Dean Acheson (1893-1971) American statesman
Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department (1969)

Peter, Lawrence J. -- Peter’s Quotations (1977)

Dave — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 15:03:32 +0000

[The reformer] wants his conscience to be your guide.

Lawrence J. Peter (1919-1990) American educator, management theorist
Peter’s Quotations (1977)

Schopenhauer, Arthur -- Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 5 “Counsels and Maxims [Paränesen und Maximen],” § 2.15 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]

Dave — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 13:50:32 +0000

Further, a little self-control at the right moment may prevent much subsequent compulsion at the hands of others.

[Daß jedoch ein kleiner, an der rechten Stelle angebrachter Selbstzwang nachmals vielem Zwange von außen vorbeugt.]

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher
Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. 1, “Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life [Aphorismen zur Lebensweisheit],” ch. 5 “Counsels and Maxims [Paränesen und Maximen],” § 2.15 (1851) [tr. Saunders (1890)]
(Source)

Source (German). Alternate translation:

Nevertheless, a little self-restraint applied at the right place afterwards prevents much restraint from without.
[tr. Payne (1974), 2.15]

Epictetus -- The Discourses, ch. 18 (c. AD 101-108)

Dave — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 13:31:44 +0000

If you would not be of an angry temper, then, do not feed the habit. Give it nothing to help it increase. Be quiet at first and reckon the days in which you have not been angry. I used to be angry every day; now every other day; then every third and fourth day; and if you miss it so long as thirty days, offer a of Thanksgiving to God. For habit is first weakened and then entirely destroyed.

Epictetus (c. 55-c. 135 AD) Greek (Phrygian) Stoic philosopher [Ἐπίκτητος, Epíktētos]
The Discourses, ch. 18 (c. AD 101-108)

Mill, John Stuart -- On Liberty, ch. 4 “Of the Limits to the Authority of Society Over the Individual” (1859)

Dave — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 16:58:32 +0000

It is not difficult to show, by abundant instances, that to extend the bounds of what may be called moral police, until it encroaches on the most unquestionably legitimate liberty of the individual, is one of the most universal of all human propensities.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 4 “Of the Limits to the Authority of Society Over the Individual” (1859)
(Source)

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], 1814 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]

Dave — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 20:29:24 +0000

Courage (in a soldier) is maintained by a certain anger; anger is a little blind and likes to strike out. And from this follows a thousand abuses, a thousand evils and misfortunes that are impossible to predict in an army during war.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1814 entry [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)

I could not find an analog in other translations of the Pensées.

Russell, Bertrand -- Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 6, BBC Radio

Dave — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:41:18 +0000

On the one hand, security and justice require centralized governmental control, which must extend to the creation of a world government if it is to be effective. Progress, on the contrary, requires the utmost scope for personal initiative that is compatible with social order.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Lecture (1949-01-30), “Individual and Social Ethics,” Reith Lecture, “Authority and the Individual” No. 6, BBC Radio
(Source)

This passage was not included in the original broadcast (transcript), but only in the collected and edited version in Authority and the Individual (1949).

Orwell, George -- Essay (1947-03), “Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool,” Polemic Magazine, No. 7

Dave — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:10:44 +0000

There are families in which the father will say to his child, “You’ll get a thick ear if you do that again,” while the mother, her eyes brimming over with tears, will take the child to her arms and murmur lovingly, “Now, darling, is it kind to Mummy to do that?” And who would maintain that the second method is less tyrannous than the first?

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1947-03), “Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool,” Polemic Magazine, No. 7
(Source)

Collected in Inside the Whale, and Other Essays (1962).

Hoffer, Eric -- Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 104 (1955)

Dave — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:09:41 +0000

The sick in soul insist that it is humanity that is sick, and they are the surgeons to operate on it. They want to turn the world into a sickroom. And once they get humanity strapped to the operating table, they operate on it with an ax.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 104 (1955)
(Source)

Huxley, T. H. -- “Address on University Education,” opening ceremonies of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (12 Sep 1876)

Dave — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:44:03 +0000

A man’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes. So long as a man is struggling with obstacles he has an excuse for failure or shortcoming; but when fortune removes them all and gives him the power of doing as he thinks best, then comes the time of trial. There is but one right, and the possibilities of wrong are infinite.

T. H. Huxley (1825-1895) English biologist [Thomas Henry Huxley]
“Address on University Education,” opening ceremonies of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (12 Sep 1876)
(Source)

Dixon, Norman F. -- On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Part 2, ch. 17 “Socialization and the Anal Character” (1976)

Dave — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:13:22 +0000

In other words, those very characteristics which are demanded by war — the ability to tolerate uncertainty, spontaneity of thought and action, having a mind open to the receipt of novel, and perhaps threatening, information — are the antitheses of those possessed by people attracted to the controls, and orderliness, of militarism. Here is the germ of a terrible paradox. Those very people who, because they have adopted attack rather than submission or flight as their preferred psychological defence against threat, are in theory the best suited to warring behaviour, may be the very ones least well equipped for other components of successful fighting.

Norman F. Dixon (1922-2013) British cognitive psychologist, author, military engineer
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, Part 2, ch. 17 “Socialization and the Anal Character” (1976)
(Source)

Machiavelli, Niccolo -- The Prince, ch. 17 (1513) [tr. Ricci (1903)]

Dave — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:27:43 +0000

One ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one of the two has to be wanting. … And men have less scruple in offending one who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared; for love is held by a chain of obligation, which men being selfish, is broken whenever it serves their purpose, but fear is maintained by a dread of punishment which never fails.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) Italian politician, philosopher, political scientist
The Prince, ch. 17 (1513) [tr. Ricci (1903)]
(Source)

Alt. trans.: "Is it better to be loved than feared, or the reverse? The answer is that it is desirable to be both, but because it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved, if he is to fail in one of the two. ... Men have less hesitation in injuring one who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared, for love is held by a chain of duty which, since men are bad, they break at every chance for their own profit; but fear is held by a dread of punishment that never fails you." [tr. Gilbert (1958)]

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1816-08-06) to Margaret Bayard Smith

Dave — Mon, 09 May 2011 12:51:40 +0000

My opinion is that there would never have been an infidel, if there had never been a priest. The artificial structures they have built on the purest of all moral systems, for the purpose of deriving from it pence and power, revolts those who think for themselves, and who read in that system only what is really there.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1816-08-06) to Margaret Bayard Smith

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 2 “The Shadow of the Past” (1954)

Dave — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 02:36:24 +0000

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 2 “The Shadow of the Past” (1954)
(Source)

Gandalf recites this verse "long known in Elven-lore," after finding lines 6-7 engraved in Quenya (but representing the Black Speech) on the ring Frodo has.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher -- Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. 29 “The Unprotected” (1852)

Dave — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:22:13 +0000

The number of those men who know how to use wholly irresponsible power humanely and generously is small.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) American author
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ch. 29 “The Unprotected” (1852)
(Source)

Churchill, Winston -- My Early Life: A Roving Commission, ch. 18 “With Buller to the Cape” (1930)

Dave — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:48:42 +0000

Let us learn our lessons. Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realise that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. Antiquated War Offices, weak, incompetent, or arrogant Commanders, untrustworthy allies, hostile neutrals, malignant Fortune, ugly surprises, awful miscalculations — all take their seats at the Council Board on the morrow of a declaration of war. Always remember, however sure you are that you could easily win, that there would not be a war if the other man did not think he also had a chance.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
My Early Life: A Roving Commission, ch. 18 “With Buller to the Cape” (1930)
(Source)

On his overconfidence in 1899 prior to the Boer War. See Pleve (1903).

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)

Jackson, Robert H. -- American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382, 438 (1950) [concurrence and dissent]

Dave — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:06:46 +0000

But we must not forget that in our country are evangelists and zealots of many different political, economic and religious persuasions whose fanatical conviction is that all thought is divinely classified into two kinds — that which is their own and that which is false and dangerous. Communists are not the only faction which would put us all in mental straitjackets.

Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941-54), lawyer, jurist, politician
American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382, 438 (1950) [concurrence and dissent]
(Source)

Tacitus -- Histories, Book I, ch. 39 (AD 100-110)

Dave — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:18:38 +0000

Once killing starts, it is difficult to draw the line.

Tacitus (c.56-c.120) Roman historian, orator, politician [Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus]
Histories, Book I, ch. 39 (AD 100-110)

Arendt, Hannah -- The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)

Dave — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:26:19 +0000

Totalitarianism is never content to rule by external means, namely, through the state and a machinery of violence; thanks to its peculiar ideology and the role assigned to it in this apparatus of coercion, totalitarianism has discovered a means of dominating and terrorizing human beings from within.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)
(Source)

Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe" -- rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, “At The Midpoint (Spoilers for everything)” (7 Apr 1995)

Dave — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:54:15 +0000

We are not powerless. We have tremendous potential for good or ill. How we choose to use that power is up to us; but first we must choose to use it. We’re told every day, “You can’t change the world.” But the world is changing every day. Only question is … who’s doing it? You or somebody else?

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, “At The Midpoint (Spoilers for everything)” (7 Apr 1995)
(Source)

See Straczynski.

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

Dave — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:33:46 +0000

You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it.

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).

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1798-06-04) to John Taylor

Dave — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:47:18 +0000

It is the old practice of despots to use a part of the people to keep the rest in order.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1798-06-04) to John Taylor
(Source)

Henley, William Ernest -- “Invictus” (1875)

Dave — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:55:13 +0000

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) English poet, critic, editor
“Invictus” (1875)

Shakespeare, William -- Richard III, Act 5, sc. 3, l. 327ff (5.3.327-329) (1592)

Dave — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:06:12 +0000

RICHARD: Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devised at first to keep the strong in awe:
Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Richard III, Act 5, sc. 3, l. 327ff (5.3.327-329) (1592)
(Source)

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

Dave — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:05:45 +0000

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern.

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

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

Dave — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:36:26 +0000

Crowley thumped the wheel. Everything had been going so well, he’d had it really under his thumb these few centuries. That’s how it goes, you think you’re on top of the world, and suddenly they spring Armageddon on you.

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

Adams, Samuel -- Speech, State House, Philadelphia (1776-08-01)

Dave — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:15:37 +0000

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

Samuel Adams (1722-1803) American revolutionary, statesman
Speech, State House, Philadelphia (1776-08-01)
(Source)

Halifax, George Savile, Marquis of -- “Of Prerogative, Power and Liberty,” Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections (1750)

Dave — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:19:05 +0000

Power is so apt to be insolent and Liberty to be saucy, that they are very seldom upon good Terms.

George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633-1695) English politician and essayist
“Of Prerogative, Power and Liberty,” Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections (1750)
(Source)

Voltaire -- Questions sur les miracles (1765)

Dave — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:45:06 +0000

Formerly there were those who said: You believe things that are incomprehensible, inconsistent, impossible because we have commanded you to believe them; go then and do what is unjust because we command it. Such people show admirable reasoning. Truly, whoever is able to make you absurd is able to make you unjust. If the God-given understanding of your mind does not resist a demand to believe what is impossible, then you will not resist a demand to do wrong to that God-given sense of justice in your heart. As soon as one faculty of your soul has been dominated, other faculties will follow as well. And from this derives all those crimes of religion which have overrun the world.

[Il y a eu des gens qui ont dit autrefois: Vous croyez des choses incompréhensibles, contradictoires, impossibles, parce que nous vous l’avons ordonné; faites donc des choses injustes parce que nous vous l’ordonnons. Ces gens-là raisonnaient à merveille. Certainement qui est en droit de vous rendre absurde est en droit de vous rendre injuste. Si vous n’opposez point aux ordres de croire l’impossible l’intelligence que Dieu a mise dans votre esprit, vous ne devez point opposer aux ordres de malfaire la justice que Dieu a mise dans votre coeur. Une faculté de votre âme étant une fois tyrannisée, toutes les autres facultés doivent l’être également. Et c’est là ce qui a produit tous les crimes religieux dont la terre a été inondée.]

Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
Questions sur les miracles (1765)
(Source)

Commonly translated: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

Augustine of Hippo -- City of God [De Civitate Dei], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (AD 412-416) [ed. Dods (1871)]

Dave — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:02:31 +0000

Therefore the good man, although he is a slave, is free; but the bad man, even if he reigns, is a slave, and that not of one man, but, what is far more grievous, of as many masters as he has vices.

[Proinde bonus etiamsi seruiat, liber est; malus autem etiamsi regnet, seruus est, nec unius hominis, sed, quod est grauius, tot dominorum, quot uitiorum.]

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
City of God [De Civitate Dei], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (AD 412-416) [ed. Dods (1871)]
(Source)

See 2 Peter 2:19 "For people are slaves to whatever masters them." The idea of being a slave to vices was also a Stoic belief. Compare to La Bruyere.

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

And therefore he that is good is free though he be a slave, and he that is evil, a slave though he be a king. Nor is he slave to one man, but that which is worst of all, unto as many masters as he affects vices.
[tr. Healey (1610)]

Thus, a good man, though a slave, is free; but a wicked man, though a king, is a slave. For he serves, not one man alone, but, what is worse, as many masters as he as vices.
[tr. Zema/Walsh (1950)]

Hence even if a good man be a slave, he is free; whereas if a wicked man rule, he is a slave -- and a slave not to one man but, what is worse, to as many masters as he has vices.
[tr. Green (Loeb) (1963)]

The good man, though a slave, is free; the wicked, though he reigns, is a slave, and not the slave of a single man, but -- what is far worse -- the slave of as many masters as he has vices.
[tr. Bettenson (1972)]

Therefore the good man is free even if he is a slave, whereas the bad man is a slave even if he reigns: a slave, not to one man, but, what is worse, to as many masters as he has vices.
[tr. Dyson (1998)]

Thus the good person is free, even if a slave, and the evil person is enslaved, even if a ruler -- enslaved not to one master but, what is far worse, to as many masters as he has vices.
[tr. Babcock (2012)]

Macaulay, Thomas Babington -- Southey’s Colloquies on Society (1830)

Dave — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:07:25 +0000

Nothing is so galling to a people, not broken in from the birth, as a paternal or, in other words, a meddling government, a government which tells them what to read and say and eat and drink and wear.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) English writer and politician
Southey’s Colloquies on Society (1830)

Lao-tzu -- The Wisdom of Laotse, ch 17 (1948) [tr. Lin Yutang]

Dave — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:03:50 +0000

Of the best rulers
The people (only) know that they exist;
The next best they love and praise;
The next they fear;
And the next they revile.
When they do not command the people’s faith,
Some will lose faith in them,
And then they resort to oaths!
But (of the best) when their task is accomplished, their work done,
The people all remark, “We have done it ourselves.”

Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
The Wisdom of Laotse, ch 17 (1948) [tr. Lin Yutang]

Alt. trans. [Tao-te Ching tr. Wing-Tsit Chan]:
"The best are those whose existence is merely known by the people.
The next best are those who are loved and praised.
The next are those who are feared. And the next are those who are reviled.
The great rulers accomplish their task; they complete their work.
Nevertheless their people say that they simply follow Nature."

Jefferson, Thomas -- Autobiography (1821)

Dave — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:22:37 +0000

Were we directed from Washington when to sow, & when to reap, we should soon want bread.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Autobiography (1821)
(Source)

Ericsson, Graham -- Journal (2007-08-29)

Dave — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:09:20 +0000

The powerful — be they church leaders or politicians — always seem to forget the one lesson of history: everything changes. The party in power today is not going to be the party in power in a decade, or next year. The group you made a gentleman’s agreement with this election cycle is going to be a completely different group, with different demands, next one. And yet, the powerful insist on trying to weaken the rules that keep them from being still more powerful, as if that could fend off the day of their fall — and the rise of others, probably their opponents, who will operate under the same weakened rules and ugly precedents. Unfortunately, in those sorts of payback situations, nobody’s a winner.

Graham Ericsson (b. 1961) American technologist, writer, aphorist
Journal (2007-08-29)

Ericsson, Graham -- Journal (2007-08-13)

Dave — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:49:37 +0000

There’s always a temptation for the Church to try and take on the power of the state. There are all those souls to save, don’t you know, and all those rules to pass to make sure they are. But politics, statecraft, lawmaking, power brokering — those engines all run on compromise, and compromise is the worst enemy of principle, which is, after all, what the Church is supposed to be about to be about. It’s hard to be a moral compass when you keep turning from your course.

Graham Ericsson (b. 1961) American technologist, writer, aphorist
Journal (2007-08-13)

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1993-04-14)

Dave — Wed, 14 Apr 2004 11:01:25 +0000

CALVIN: I’m at peace with the world. I’m completely serene.

HOBBES: Why is that?

CALVIN: I’ve discoved my purpose in life. I know why I was put here and why everything exists.

HOBBES: Oh, really?

CALVIN: Yes. I am here so everybody can do what I want.

HOBBES: It’s nice to have that cleared up.

CALVIN: Once everyone accepts it, they’ll be serene, too.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-04-14)
(Source)

Stalin, Josef -- Comment (1923)

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

It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.

[Я считаю, что совершенно неважно, кто и как будет в партии голосовать; но вот что чрезвычайно важно, это – кто и как будет считать голоса.]

Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Georgian revolutionary and Soviet dictator
Comment (1923)

Alternate translation: "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."

Alternate translation: "I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this -- who will count the votes, and how." Quoted in B. Bazhanov, The Memoirs of Stalin's Former Secretary (1992) [Борис Бажанов. Воспоминания бывшего секретаря Сталина], regarding elections to the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

The quotation is considered dubious by a number of sources.

The phrase was used by Tom Stoppard in Jumpers (1972): "It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting."

Lincoln, Abraham -- Fragment (1858-08-01?), “Definition of Democracy”

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

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Fragment (1858-08-01?), “Definition of Democracy”
(Source)

The title of this writing fragment, in Lincoln's hand, is notional. It is sometimes referred to as "On Slavery and Democracy." The date is also conjectural, and the manuscript is not connected with any known speech or occasion. The scrap of paper this solitary paragraph is on was given to Mary Todd Lincoln by her friend, Myra Bradwell on Mary's release from the asylum. It was unsigned, but a signature clipped from another document was pasted below the text.

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Message (1938-04-29) to Congress, On Curbing Monopolies

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

The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascism — ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Message (1938-04-29) to Congress, On Curbing Monopolies
(Source)

Kennedy, John F. -- Speech (1963-05-18), Convocation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville

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

Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Speech (1963-05-18), Convocation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville
(Source)

Joubert, Joseph -- Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 19 “De l’Éducation [On Education],” ¶ 3 (1850 ed.) [tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 14]

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

Children have more need of models than of critics.

[Les enfants ont plus besoin de modèles que de critiques.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 19 “De l’Éducation [On Education],” ¶ 3 (1850 ed.) [tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 14]
(Source)

Sometimes attributed to Carolyn Coats.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Children have more need of models than of critics.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 261]

Children need models rather than critics.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 18, ¶ 1]

Children. Need models more than critics.
[tr. Auster (1983), 1800 entry]

Davies, Robertson -- Tempest-Tost, ch. 6 (1951)

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

Book lovers are thought by unbookish people to be gentle and unworldly, and perhaps a few of them are so. But there are others who will lie and scheme and steal to get books as wildly and unconscionably as the dope-taker in pursuit of his drug. They may not want the books to read immediately, or at all; they want them to possess, to range on their shelves, to have at command. They want books as a Turk is thought to want concubines — not to be hastily deflowered, but to be kept at their master’s call, and enjoyed more often in thought than in reality.

Robertson Davies (1913-1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
Tempest-Tost, ch. 6 (1951)

Berlin, Irving -- (Attributed)

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

Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it.

Irving Berlin (1888-1989) American songwriter [b. Isidore Beilin]
(Attributed)
(Source)

Attributed as a comment made by Berlin during a performance of the show This is the Army, Mr. Jones at the Palladium in London in 1943.

Also sometimes attributed to Benjamin Franklin.

Housman, A. E. -- Last Poems, No. 12, ll. 15-18 (1922)

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

And how am I to face the odds
Of man’s bedevilment and God’s?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.

A. E. Housman (1859-1936) English scholar and poet [Alfred Edward Housman]
Last Poems, No. 12, ll. 15-18 (1922)
(Source)

~Other -- H. T. Leslie

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

The game of life is not so much in holding a good hand as in playing a poor hand well.

(Other Authors and Sources)
H. T. Leslie

Huxley, Aldous -- Time Must Have a Stop (1944)

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

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
Time Must Have a Stop (1944)

Orwell, George -- Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)

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

If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened — that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death? The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed — if all records told the same tale — then the lie passed into history and became truth. “Who controls the past,” ran the Party slogan, “controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)
(Source)

Sometimes paraphrased, "He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past."

Hamilton, Alexander -- The Federalist #51 (6 Feb 1788)

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

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.

Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) American statesman, author
The Federalist #51 (6 Feb 1788)
(Source)

Doctor Who (1963) -- 15×01 “Horror of Fang Rock,” Part 2 (1977-09-10) [w. Terrance Dicks]

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

LORD PALMERDALE: Are you in charge here?
THE DOCTOR: No, but I’m full of ideas.

Doctor Who (1963-1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
15×01 “Horror of Fang Rock,” Part 2 (1977-09-10) [w. Terrance Dicks]
(Source)

(Source (Video); dialog confirmed)

Hock, Dee W. -- “Unit of One Anniversary Handbook,” Fast Company (1997-02-28)

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

If you don’t understand that you work for your mislabeled “subordinates,” then you know nothing of leadership. You know only tyranny.

Dee W. Hock (1929-2022) American businessman
“Unit of One Anniversary Handbook,” Fast Company (1997-02-28)
(Source)

Pitt, William the Younger -- Speech (1793-11-18), House of Commons, London

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

It is true, the bill is said to be founded on necessity; but what is this? Is it not necessity, which has always been the plea of every illegal exertion of power, or exercise of oppression? Is not necessity the pretence of every usurpation? Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

William Pitt (1759-1806) British Prime Minister (1804-06) [William Pitt the Younger]
Speech (1793-11-18), House of Commons, London
(Source)

Speech on a bill changing the process of governing India. Cf. Milton.

Johnson, Lyndon -- Toast (1965-11-17), State Dinner for Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret

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

I have learned that only two things are necessary to keep one’s wife happy. First, let her think she’s having her way. And second, let her have it.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963-69)
Toast (1965-11-17), State Dinner for Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret
(Source)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Letter (1864-04-04) to Albert G. Hodges

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

I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Letter (1864-04-04) to Albert G. Hodges
(Source)

On how neither the war nor the slavery issue had played out how as he anticipated or aimed for.