Thare iz plenty ov happiness in this life if we only knu it: and one way tew find it iz, when we hav got the old rumatiz tew thank Heaven that it aint the old gout.
[There is plenty of happiness in this life if we only knew it: and one way to find it is, when we have got the old rheumatism to thank Heaven that it ain’t the old gout.]
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. 137 “Affurisms: Tadpoles” (1874)
(Source)
In Fred Lewis Pattee, A History of American Literature Since 1870 (1915), this is paraphrased "The best cure for rheumatism is to thank the Lord it ain't the gout."
In a similar vein, in Josh Billings' Old Farmer's Allminax, 1870-1879, January 1878, "Chips" (1902):The best relief for the rumatiz, that haz been diskovered yet, iz to find sum phellow who haz got the gout bad, and then pitty him.
[The best relief for the rheumatism that has been discovered yet is to find some fellow who has got the gout bad, and then pity him.]
and in H. Montague, ed., Wit and Wisdom of Josh Billings (1913)The best remedy for RHEUMATISM that's ever yet been discovered is to find some fellow who has a bad case of the gout, pity him and forget yourself.
Quotations about:
perspective
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
The graveyards are full of people the world could not do without.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) American writer, businessman, philosopher
“The Philistine” (May 1907)
(Source)
Sometimes misquoted as:Also attributed to Charles DeGaulle, Georges Clemenceau, and many others. More discussion: The Graveyards Are Full of Indispensable Men – Quote Investigator.
- "The graveyards are full of indispensable men"
- "The cemeteries are full of indispensable men."
- "The cemeteries are filled with people who thought the world could not get along without them."
Will we continue to march to the drumbeat of conformity and respectability, or will we, listening to the beat of a more distant drum, move to its echoing sounds? Will we march only to the music of time, or will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul-saving music of eternity?
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Nonconformist,” sec. 3 (1963)
(Source)
IMPIETY, n. Your irreverence toward my deity.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Impiety,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1885-09-12).
There are three truths: my truth, your truth, and the truth.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Chinese proverb
In literature, as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.
[En littérature comme en amour, on est surpris par les choix des autres.]
André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
The Art of Living [Un Art de Vivre], ch. 6 “The Art of Working” (1939) [tr. Whitall (1940)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Sometimes cited to the New York Times, but only because it was reprinted there in the article “Reading Matter: Some Bookish Quotes” (1963-04-14).
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) British writer
Profiles of the Future, “Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination” (Clarke’s Third Law) (1962; rev. 1973)
Why laugh? Change but the name, and the tale is told of you.
[Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te
fabula narratur.]Horace (65-8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Satires [Saturae, Sermones], Book 1, # 1, “Qui fit, Mæcenas,” l. 68ff (1.1.68-69) (35 BC) [tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]
(Source)
After the Miser scoffs at the story of Tantalus.
Latin sometimes given as "... fabula de te narratur."
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Takynge but his name,
This tale maye well be toulde of the, thou arte the veray same.
[tr. Drant (1567)]Do you but change the name
Of you is saide the same.
[tr. Florio (1603): Montaigne, Essays, Preface]Why laughst thou Miser? if thy name should be
A little chang'd, the Fables told of thee.
[tr. A. B.; ed. Brome (1666)]What dost Thou laugh? and think that Thou art
Fool change the Name, the Story's told of Thee.
[tr. Creech (1684)]Wherefore do you laugh?
Change but the name, of thee the tale is told.
[tr. Francis (1747)]You smile, as if the story were not true!
Change but the name, and it applies to you.
[tr. Howes (1845)]Why do you laugh? The name changed, the tale is told of you.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]Well, why that laugh? but change the name, and the then the story's told of you.
[tr. Millington (1870)]Laughing, are you? why?
Change but the name, of you the tale is told.
[tr. Conington (1874)]You laugh? Well, just change the name and you'll find that this story,
as a matter of fact, means YOU.
[tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]What's so funny? Change the name and it's you
the myth's about.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]You laugh? Change
The name, and it's your story too!
[tr. Raffel (1983)]Why laugh? Change the name of the fable
and it applies to you.
[tr. Alexander (1999)]What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke's on you.
[Source (2002)]You laugh? Change but
the names and this old story's about you.
[tr. Matthews (2002)]What are you laughing at? Change the name and you're the subject
of the story.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]Why do you mock him? Alter a name and the same tale
Is told of you.
[tr. Kline (2015)]
But they think they know it. And their idea is all the same. You can trace it to the same thing, doesn’t make any difference what it is, what their experience is, or why they’re mad with the Court. It’s all because each one of them believes that the Constitution prohibits that which they think should be prohibited, and it permits that which they think should be permitted.
Hugo Black (1886-1971) American politician and jurist, US Supreme Court Justice (1937-71)
Interview with Eric Serverid and Martin Agronsky, CBS News (1968-12-09)
On the public's misunderstanding of the Constitution. Reprinted in "Newsmakers, Objection Overruled," Newsweek (1968-12-09), and in "Justice Black and the Bill of Rights," Southwestern University Law Review (1977).
Black used the same idea on multiple occasions, e.g., at a news conference in Washington, D.C. (1971-02-25):The layman's Constitutional view is that what he likes is constitutional and that which he doesn't like is unconstitutional. That about measures up the Constitutional acumen of the average person.
EGOTIST, n. A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Egotist,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911). Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp (1884-05-17).
The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves but in our attitude towards them.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) French writer, aviator
Citadelle [The Wisdom of the Sands], ch. 5 (1948) [tr. Gilbert (1950)]
(Source)
