It aint no disgrace for a man to fall, but to lay thare, and grunt, iz.
[It ain’t no disgrace for a man to fall, but to lay there, and grunt, is.]
Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1876-06 (1876 ed.)
(Source)
Quotations about:
yielding
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
The way to quiet the turbulence of a mob is to withdraw your hand, and let it quiet itself; to concede today, may be the best way to succeed tomorrow.
[Sea modo de sosegar vulgares torbellinos el alzar mano y dejar sosegar; ceder al tiempo ahora será vencer después.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 138 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:The way then to calm popular gusts, is to be quiet. Then to yield to the times, will get the victory afterwards.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]The way to still storms in great multitudes is to hold one's hand and let them go down of themselves. A timely giving way for the present assures victory later.
[tr. Duff (1877)]The proper way to still the storms of the vulgar is to hold your hand and let them calm down of themselves. To give way now is to conquer by and by.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]Throwing up your hands is sometimes a good way to put down vulgar storms. If you bow to time for the present, you will conquer in the future.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
Yield not to evils, but the bolder thou
Persist, defiant of misfortune’s frown,
And take the path thy Destinies allow.[Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito
Quam tua te fortuna sinet.]Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 6, l. 95ff (6.95-96) [The Sybil] (29-19 BC) [tr. Taylor (1907), st. 15, ll. 12]
(Source)
Stoic maxim. There is argument as to whether it should be quam or qua, leading to some variations in translating the second half of the quotation.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Yet dangers fear not, but on bolder goe,
What course thy fortune grants
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]But thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes,
The more thy fortune frowns, the more oppose.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]Yield not under your sufferings, but encounter them with greater boldness than your fortune shall permit.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]Yet still despond not, but proceed
Along the path where Fate may lead.
[tr. Conington (1866)]Yet yield not thou, but go more boldly on,
Where Fortune leads, till victory be won.
[tr. Cranch (1872), ll. 121-122]Yield not thou to distresses, but all the bolder go forth to meet them, as thy fortune shall allow thee way.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]But thou, yield not to any ill, but set thy face, and wend
The bolder where thy fortune leads.
[tr. Morris (1900)]Oh! yield not to thy woe, but front it ever,
And follow boldly whither Fortune calls.
[tr. Williams (1910)]Yield not thou to ills, but go forth to face them more boldly than thy Fortune shall allow thee!
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]Do not yield to evil,
Attack, attack, more boldly even than fortune
Seems to permit.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]But never give way to those evils: face them all the more boldly,
Using what methods your luck allows you.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]Do not relent before distress, but be
far bolder than your fortune would permit.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), ll. 132-33]Never shrink from blows.
Boldly, more boldly where your luck allows,
Go forward, face them.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981), ll. 143-45]You must not give way to these adversities but must face them all the more boldly wherever your fortune allows it.
[tr. West (1990)]Do not give way to misfortunes, meet them more bravely,
as your destiny allows.
[tr. Kline (2002)]Do not yield, but oppose your troubles
All the more boldly, as far as your fate
And fortune allow.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]But never bow to suffering, go and face it,
all the bolder, wherever Fortune clears the way.
[tr. Fagles (2006), ll. 113-14]Don’t yield to evils, but go boldly forward
Where your fortune bids you.
[tr. @sentantiq (2018)]Don't give up at these misfortunes. Be as brave as Fortune lets you.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]
They had all been brought up, as we still are, to believe in “the deterrent.” Firm resolve, a readiness to threaten war, would avert war itself. Some Power would always give way. This usually happened, indeed happened so often that the wisdom of the method seemed sure. In 1914 all the Powers, for different reasons, expected the yielding to come from the other side.
A. J. P. Taylor (1906-1990) British historian, journalist, broadcaster [Alan John Percivale Taylor]
“What Else Indeed?” New York Review of Books (5 Aug 1965)
(Source)
The advice of a father to his son “Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, bear it that the opposed may beware of thee,” is good, and yet not the best. Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and loss of self control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones, though clearly your own. Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in contesting for the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite.
