Search results for tag #quotes
![[?]](https://friendica.world/photo/profile/wistquotes.png?ts=1766199542)
A quotation from Elizabeth Barrett Browning
And is it not the chief good of money, the being free from the need of thinking of it?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) English poet
Letter (1845-09-16) to Robert Browning
More about this quote: wist.info/browning-elizabeth-b…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #elizabethbarrettbrowning #concern #ease #finances #money #wealth #worry
A quotation from Fran Lebowitz
The best fame is a writer’s fame. It’s enough to get a table at a good restaurant, but not enough that you get interrupted when you eat.
Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950) American journalist, essayist
Panel Discussion (1993-05-24), “Fame in the 20th Century,” Clive James (moderator), Joseph Papp Public Theater, New York City
More about this quote: wist.info/lebowitz-fran/26284/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #franlebowitz #author #celebrity #fame #meme #notoriety #recognition #writer #fans #paparazzi #interruption
Alt...
Fran Lebowitz quote
A quotation from Martin Luther King, Jr.
Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
(Attributed)
More about this quote: wist.info/king-martin-luther/9…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #martinlutherkingjr #martinlutherking #belief #faith #firststep #knowledge #leapoffaith #vision
THE HE-ANCIENT: Life is not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage: it can be delightful.
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright and critic
Back to Methuselah, Part 5 (1921)
More about this quote: wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shaw #georgebernardshaw #delight #difficulty #easiness #humancondition #life #meaningoflife #wonder
A quotation from Thomas Fuller
Knaves imagine nothing can be done without knavery.
Thomas Fuller (1654–1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 3135 (1732)
More about this quote: wist.info/fuller-thomas-1654/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thomasfuller #gnomologia #accomplishment #approach #assumptions #effectiveness #expectations #immorality #knave #knavery #selfjustification #selfrationalization
![[?]](https://files.mastodon.social/accounts/avatars/114/528/765/941/202/773/original/a577e1c1e9fd2d24.png)
You couldn’t put off the inevitable. Because sooner or later, you reached the place where the inevitable just went and waited.
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 13, Small Gods (1992)
More about this quote: wist.info/pratchett-terry/8646…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #pratchett #terrypratchett #discworld #smallgods #putoff #delay #denial #eventual #inevitability #inevitable #justdoit #procrastination
A quotation from La Rochefoucauld
We are revealed to others in times of crisis, and even more so to ourselves.
[Les occasions nous font connoître aux autres, et encore plus à nous-mêmes.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶345 (1665–1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #character #circumstances #crisis #events #occasion #personality #selfawareness #selfdiscovery #selfknowledge #selfunderstanding
A quotation from Samuel Johnson
It is not sufficiently considered how much he assumes who dares to claim the privilege of complaining; for as every man has, in his own opinion, a full share of the miseries of life, he is inclined to consider all clamorous uneasiness as a proof of impatience rather than of affliction, and to ask, what merit has this man to show, by which he has acquired a right to repine at the distributions of nature? Or, why does he imagine that exemptions should be granted him from the general condition of man? We find ourselves excited rather to captiousness than pity, and, instead of being in haste to sooth his complaints by sympathy and tenderness, we inquire whether the pain be proportionate to the lamentation; and whether, supposing the affliction real, it is not the effect of vice and folly, rather than calamity?
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1750-09-08), The Rambler, No. 50
More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/22131…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #affliction #blame #complain #complaining #complaint #gripe #grumbling #humancondition #impatience #justification #kvetch #misery #responsibility #unhappiness #whining
A quotation from Stephen Jay Gould
Questions are not neutral; they presuppose a list of assumptions that may be long and complex.
Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) American paleontologist, geologist, biologist
Essay (1994-09), “Lucy on the Earth in Stasis,” Natural History magazine, Vol. 103, No. 9
More about this quote: wist.info/gould-stephen-jay/86…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #stephenjaygould #assumptions #bias #inquiry #premises #presuppositions #questions
And do you know, it is a splendid thing to think that the woman you really love will never grow old to you. Through the wrinkles of time, through the mask of years, if you really love her, you will always see the face you loved and won. And a woman who really loves a man does not see that he grows old; he is not decrepit to her; he does not tremble; he is not old; she always sees the same gallant gentleman who won her hand and heart. I like to think of it in that way; I like to think that love is eternal. And to love in that way and then go down the hill of life together, and as you go down, hear, perhaps, the laughter of grandchildren, while the birds of joy and love sing once more in the leafless branches of the tree of age.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1877-01-31) “The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child,” Case Hall, Boston
More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ingersoll #robertingersoll #robertgreeningersoll #agelessness #aging #elderly #eternal #gettingold #grandchildren #growingold #illusion #love #oldage #romance #time #togetherness #twilight
A quotation from Adlai Stevenson
And don’t be afraid of unpopular positions, of driving upstream. All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions. All change is the result of a change in the contemporary state of mind. Don’t be afraid of being out of tune with your environment, and above all pray God that you are not afraid to live, to live hard and fast.
Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) American politician, diplomat, statesman
Speech (1954-03-22), “The Educated Citizen,” Senior Class Banquet, Dillon Gymnasium, Princeton University
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-adlai-ewin…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #adlaistevenson #change #living #livingwell #mindset #popularopinion #popularity #progress #rebelliousness #reform #stateofmind #statusquo #unpopularity
![[?]](https://files.mastodon.social/accounts/avatars/113/875/134/372/344/414/original/0daa0d37205c9ae5.png)
"It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to."
-Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Dir: Peter Jackson
#Movies #Cinema #MovieQuotes #MoviePosters #Quotes #2000s
Alt...
Poster for the 2001 movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
A quotation from Oliver Goldsmith
HARDCASTLE: I love everything that’s old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine; and, I believe, Dorothy, you’ll own I have been pretty fond of an old wife.
Oliver Goldsmith (1730–1774) Irish poet, playwright, novelist
She Stoops to Conquer, Act 1, sc. 1 (1771)
More about this quote: wist.info/goldsmith-oliver/864…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #olivergoldsmith #goldsmith #books #friends #love #manners #tradition #maturity #oldage #preference #spouse #wife #wine
A statesman gains little by the arbitrary exercise of iron-clad authority upon all occasions that offer, for this wounds the just pride of his subordinates, and thus tends to undermine his strength. A little concession, now and then, where it can do no harm, is the wiser policy.
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 17 “A Royal Banquet”
More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/86459/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #twain #marktwain #connecticutyankee #abuseofpower #arbitrariness #authority #concession #diplomacy #employee #power #pride #statesman #subordinate #temperance
In the moment of our talking, envious time has ebb’d away.
Seize the present; trust tomorrow e’en as little as you may.
[Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.]
Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 1, # 11, l. 8ff (1.11.8–9) (23 BC) [tr. Conington (1872)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/1959/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #carpediem #expectations #future #hereandnow #livefortoday #present #seizetheday #time #today #tomorrow #uncertainty
A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson
Them that havenae dipped their hands in any little difficulty, should be very mindful of the case of them that have. And that is the good Christianity.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Novel (1886), Kidnapped, ch. 18 “I Talk with Alan in the Wood of Lettermore” (Alan)
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertlouisstevenson #kidnapped #Christianity #compassion #difficulty #loveyourneighbor #misfortune #sympathy #trouble #unfortunate
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE
EQUAL THAN OTHERS
George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Animal Farm, ch. 10 (1945)
More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/5271/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #georgeorwell #orwell #animalfarm #class #equality #hierarchy #hypocrisy #inequality #privilege #SovietUnion #tyranny
A quotation (maybe) from Thomas Carlyle
A sad spectacle! If they [other stars] be inhabited, what a scope for misery and folly; if they be na inhabited, what a waste of space!
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Attributed
More about this quote: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/86448…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thomascarlyle #carlyle #aliens #extraterrestriallife #God #humanity #meaning #perspective #planets #purpose #stars #universe #waste
A quotation from Theodore Roosevelt
Personally, granted that these books are decent and healthy, the one test to which I demand that they all submit is that of being interesting. If the book is not interesting to the reader, then in all but an infinitesimal number of cases it gives scant benefit to the reader. Of course any reader ought to cultivate his or her taste so that good books will appeal to it, and that trash won’t. But after this point has once been reached, the needs of each reader must be met in a fashion that will appeal to those needs. Personally the books by which I have profited infinitely more than by any others have been those in which profit was a by-product of the pleasure; that is, I read them because I enjoyed them, because I liked reading them, and the profit came in as part of the enjoyment.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Autobiography, ch. 9 “Outdoors and Indoors” (1913)
More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #theodoreroosevelt #teddyroosevelt #benefits #books #engagement #enjoyment #entertainment #interest #interesting #literature #reading
THE DOCTOR: Well, you know how it is: you put things off for a day, next thing you know, it’s a hundred years later.
Doctor Who (1963–1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
20×01 “Arc of Infinity,” Part 1 (1983-01-03) [w. Johnny Byrne]
More about this quote: wist.info/doctor-who-1963/8644…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #fifthdoctor #delay #doctorwho #passageoftime #procrastination #putoff #puttingoff #timeflies
Proselytizing is more a passionate search for something not yet found than a desire to bestow upon the world something we already have. It is a search for a final and irrefutable demonstration that our absolute truth is indeed the one and only truth. The proselytizing fanatic strengthens his own faith by converting others.
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 88 (3.14.88) (1951)
More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/9403/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #hoffer #conversion #fanatic #proselytizing #truebeliever #truth #validation #self-encouragement #self-righteousness
A quotation from Josh Billings
Q. — How menny yards ov 5 dollar silk duz it take to make a dress?
A. — I dont kno, but it allwuss takes 2 yards and a haff more than yu buy the fust time.
[Q. — How many yards of 5 dollar silk does it take to make a dress?
A. — I don’t know, but it always takes 2 yards and a half more than you buy the first time.]
Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1879-09 “Questions, And Answers” (1879 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/86440/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #estimate #fabric #Murphy'sLaw #sewingdressmaking #shortage #silk #underestimation
And we in America should see that no man is ever given, no matter how gradually or how noble and excellent the man, the power to put this country into a war which is now being prepared and brought closer each day with all the premeditation of a long planned murder. For when you give power to an executive you do not know who will be filling that position when the time of crisis comes.
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American writer
Essay (1935-09), “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire, Vol. 4, No. 3
More about this quote: wist.info/hemingway-ernest/864…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hemingway #ernesthemingway #authority #avertingwar #checksandbalances #executive #executivepower #president #warmaking
MARCUS: Death is no annihilation, carrying off and blotting out everything, but rather, if I may so describe it, a change of abode, and an alteration in our manner of life.
[Mortem non interitum esse omnia tollentem atque delentem, sed quandam quasi migrationem commutationemque vitae.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 12 (1.12) / sec. 27 (1.27) (45 BC) [ed. Harbottle (1897)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #tusculandisputations #afterlife #annihilation #death #destruction #nextlife #oblivion #soul #transmigration
![[?]](https://cdn.masto.host/retrogaidencom/accounts/avatars/117/238/631/208/711/707/original/5b764023aa2f0854.png)
A quotation from Richard Armour
DEDICATED
to that amazing device, the Required Reading List,
better even than artificial respiration
for keeping dead authors alive.
Richard Armour (1906–1989) American poet and author
Book (1960), The Classics Reclassified, Dedication
More about this quote: wist.info/armour-richard/86429…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardarmour #author #books #classic #classics #literature #obsolescence #reading #relevance #requirements #school #writing
Drink does not drown Care, but waters it, and makes it grow faster.
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard Improved (1749 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/franklin-benjamin/86…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #benfranklin #benjaminfranklin #poorrichard #poorrichardsalamanac #alcohol #drinking #intoxication #problems #troubles #worry
Every fool stands convinced; and everyone convinced is a fool; and the faultier a man’s judgment, the firmer his conviction.
[Todo necio es persuadido, y todo persuadido necio; y quanto mas erroneo su dictamen, es mayor su tenacidad.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 183 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/gracian-y-morales-ba…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #gracian #baltasargracian #conviction #folly #fool #inflexibility #judgment #opinion #stubbornness
A quotation from Richard Feynman
The same thrill, the same awe and mystery, come again and again when we look at any problem deeply enough. With more knowledge comes deeper, more wonderful mystery, luring one on to penetrate deeper still. Never concerned that tht answer may prove disappointing, but with pleasure and confidence we turn over each new stone to find unimagined strangeness leading on to more wonderful questions and mysteries — certainly a grand adventure!
Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American physicist
Speech (1955-11), “The Value of Science,” National Academy of Sciences Autumn Meeting, California Institute of Technology
More about this quote: wist.info/feynman-richard/8642…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardfeynman #adventure #excitement #mystery #research #science #thrill
A quotation from Felix Frankfurter
Separation means separation, not something less. Jefferson’s metaphor in describing the relation between Church and State speaks of a “wall of separation,” not of a fine line easily overstepped. The public school is at once the symbol of our democracy and the most pervasive means for promoting our common destiny. In no activity of the State is it more vital to keep out divisive forces than in its schools, to avoid confusing, not to say fusing, what the Constitution sought to keep strictly apart.
Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
McCollum v. Board of Education 333 U.S. 231 (1948) (concurring)
More about this quote: wist.info/frankfurter-felix/86…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #felixfrankfurter #churchandstate #Constitution #education #freedomofreligion #publiceducation #publicschool #religiousfreedom #school #unity
A quotation from Bertrand Russell
What is less recognized is that we all suffer, to a greater or less degree, from nervous disorders having an emotional origin. A man is called sane when he is as sane as the average of his contemporaries; but in the average man many of the mechanisms which determine his opinions and actions are quite fantastic, so much so that in a world of real sanity they would be called insane.
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 4 “Emotion and Discipline” (1932)
More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/864…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #perspective #madness #anxiety #average #compensation #coping #emotions #insanity #nerves #nervousdisorder #normal #sanity #neurosis
On a personal note: I have contracted an outstanding case of breast cancer, from which I intend to recover. I don’t need get-well cards, but I would like the beloved women readers to do something for me: Go. Get. The. Damn. Mammogram. Done.
Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1999-12-14), Creators Syndicate column
More about this quote: wist.info/ivins-molly/86418/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #mollyivins #breastcancer #cancer #mammogram #medicalcare #prevention #selfcare #testing #procrastination
ADMETUS: Then in my dreams you’d come and go,
Making me glad; to see a loved face even in dreams
Brings pleasure, for as long as the illusion lasts.
ἌΔΜΗΤΟΣ: ἐν δ᾽ ὀνείρασιν
φοιτῶσά μ᾽ εὐφραίνοις ἄν: ἡδὺ γὰρ φίλους
κἀν νυκτὶ λεύσσειν, ὅντιν᾽ ἂν παρῇ χρόνον.]
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Alcestis [Ἄλκηστις ], l. 354ff (438 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1974)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/86416/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #alcestis #dream #haunting #night #reunion #sleep #spirit #visitation
A despot doesn’t fear eloquent writers preaching freedom — he fears a drunken poet who may crack a joke that will take hold. His gravest concern is lest gaiety, or truth in sheep’s clothing, somewhere gain a foothold, lest joy in some unguarded moment be unconfined.
E. B. White (1899–1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
Essay (1939-01), “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 178
More about this quote: wist.info/white-eb/86414/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ebwhite #autocrat #despot #dictator #fear #freepress #freespeech #freedomofspeech #freedomofthepress #fun #humor #jest #jocularity #joke #joy #laughingstock #memes #mockery #quip #satire #strongman #truth #tyrant
A quotation from Hannah Arendt
Nobody knows what is going to happen because so much depends on an enormous amount of variables, or, in other words, on hasard. On the other hand, if you look back on history, then retrospectively, even though all this was contingent, you can tell a story that makes sense. How is that possible? That is the problem for every philosophy of history. How is it possible that in retrospect things always look as though they could not have happened otherwise?
Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Interview (1973-10) with Roger Errera, Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)
More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/45451/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #arendt #causality #contingency #historiography #history #Holocaust #inevitability #meaning #narrative #otherwise #past #retrospect #story #storytelling #variables
A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt
There are two kinds of snobbishness. That of the man who has had many good opportunities and looks down on those who lack them is usually recognized by all. The other kind of snobbishness is rarely understood, yet it is real. It is that of the self-made man, who glories in his success in overcoming difficulties and admires greatly people who have achieved the things he considers of importance.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Memoir (1949), This I Remember, ch. 5 “The Governorship Years: 1928–1932”
More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/86…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #arrogance #condescension #dogeatdog #goodfortune #goodluck #haughtiness #opportunity #selfimportance #selfmademan #snob #snobbishness #values #pride #ego
What hope do wicked people have? Only the hope of straw blown about in the wind, the hope of ocean foam that disappears in the storm, the hope of smoke in the breeze. Their hope lasts no longer than our memory of a guest who stays one day and leaves the next.
[ὅτι ἐλπὶς ἀσεβοῦς ὡς φερόμενος χνοῦς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου
καὶ ὡς πάχνη ὑπὸ λαίλαπος διωχθεῖσα λεπτὴ
καὶ ὡς καπνὸς ὑπὸ ἀνέμου διεχύθη
καὶ ὡς μνεία καταλύτου μονοημέρου παρώδευσεν.]
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 22a. Wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon) 5:14 (Wis 5:14) [tr. GNT (1992 ed.)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-ot/86406/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #oldtestament #apocrypha #wisdomofsolomon #bookofwisdom #brevity #evil #flimsiness #hope #hopelessness #transitoriness #ungodly #weakness #wicked
In times of revolution, beware of the first head that falls. It whets the people’s appetite.
[En temps de révolution, prenez garde à la première tête qui tombe. Elle met le peuple en appétit.]
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French writer, journalist, human rights activist, politician
Last Day of a Condemned Man [Le Dernier Jour d’un Condamné], 1832 Preface (1829) [tr. Woolen (1992)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/hugo-victor/86404/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #victorhugo #bloodlust #bloodthirstiness #capitalpunishment #deathpenalty #execution #guillotine #humannature #mob #people #revolution
There is a time for long tales, but there is also a time for sleep.
[Ὥρη μὲν πολέων μύθων, ὥρη δὲ καὶ ὕπνου.]
Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 11, l. 379 (11.379) [Odysseus] (c. 700 BC) [tr. Rieu (1946)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/homer/47096/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #homer #odyssey #bedtime #fatigue #lateness #raconteur #sleep #stayuplate #story #storytelling #talking
I have noticed that in plays where the characters on stage laugh a great deal, the people out front laugh very little.
Jean Kerr (1922–2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1968 ca.), “I Don’t Want to See the Uncut Version of Anything”, Dramatists’ Guild Bulletin
More about this quote: wist.info/kerr-jean/86398/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #jeankerr #comedy #humor #laughter #play #stage #theater #writing
A quotation from Richard Steele
I know of no manner of speaking so offensive as that of giving praise, and closing it with an exception.
Richard Steele (1672–1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Essay (1709-11-10), The Tatler, No. 92
More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/86396…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #damnwithfaintpraise #caveat #exception #insult #offense #praise
It is the cause which shatters or exalts the soldier’s strength; if there be no just cause behind him, shame dashes the weapons from his hands.
[Frangit et attollit uires in milite causa;
quae nisi iusta subest, excutit arma pudor.]
Propertius (50–16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies, Book 4, Elegy 6, l. 51ff (4.6.51–52) [tr. Phillimore (1906)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/propertius/86392/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #propertius #cause #compunction #conviction #enthusiasm #disgrace #dishonor #infamy #morale #motivation #shame #soldier #warrior #zeal
CASCA: Three or four
wenches where I stood cried “Alas, good soul!” and
forgave him with all their hearts. But there’s no
heed to be taken of them; if Caesar had stabbed
their mothers, they would have done no less.
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 282ff (1.2.282–286) (1599)
More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shakespeare #williamshakespeare #juliuscaesar #adulation #celebrity #demagogue #forgiveness #heroworship #idolization #leader #popularity
![[?]](https://files.hear-me.social/accounts/avatars/110/663/286/708/241/385/original/eb5ae4c05819f336.jpg)
Brava, Alexandra Petri!
From her spoof of Raymond Chandler's detective stories, in this (fun) book:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/alexandra-petri-s-us-history-important-american-documents-i-made-up-alexandra-petri/18515349
#books #quotes #DetectiveFiction #simile #RaymondChandler #similiesaremypassion
Alt...
Some girls have a face like the U.S. space program, where at first you're excited as hell about it and then later you forget it's affiliated with you and complain because it keeps costing you money and nothing it's doing interests you. Her face wasn't like that. Her face was like the national debt, where you couldn't forget about it for a second, even if you tried, and also it seemed to be worth a lot of money. And also it seemed like it was probably trouble, but not the kind of trouble I understood very well. I offered her a light. I wanted to offer her a whole lot of things, but I offered her a light first.
A quotation from La Rochefoucauld
We confess to small faults to create the impression that we have no great ones.
[Nous n’avouons de petits défauts que pour persuader que nous n’en avons pas de grands.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶327 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #confession #dissimulation #diversion #errors #falsemodesty #faults #humility #minimizing #spin #weakness #weaknesses
A quotation from Samuel Johnson
He that would pass the latter part of life with honour and decency, must, when he is young, consider that he shall one day be old; and remember, when he is old, that he has once been young.
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1750-09-08), The Rambler, No. 50
More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/20198…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #sa,ueljohnson #aging #oldage #youth #growingold #gettingold #remembrance
A quotation from Robert Ingersoll
If there is a God who will damn his children forever, I would rather go to hell than to go to heaven and keep the society of such an infamous tyrant. I make my choice now. I despise that doctrine. It has covered the cheeks of this world with tears. It has polluted the hearts of children, and poisoned the imaginations of men.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1877-01-31) “The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child,” Case Hall, Boston
More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertingersoll #robertgreeningersoll #afterlife #Christianity #damnation #divinejustice #divinepunishment #divinewrath #eternalpunishment #fearmongering #God #hell #originalsin #toxicity #tyranny
A quotation from Adlai Stevenson
The conformists abominate thought. Thinking implies disagreement and disagreement implies non-conformity and non-conformity implies heresy and heresy implies disloyalty. So obviously thinking must be stopped. This is the routine. But I say to you that bawling is not a substitute for thinking and that reason is not the subversion but the salvation of freedom.
Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) American politician, diplomat, statesman
Speech (1954-03-22), “The Educated Citizen,” Senior Class Banquet, Dillon Gymnasium, Princeton University
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-adlai-ewin…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #adlaistevenson #conformity #demagoguery #disagreement #disloyalty #emotion #freethought #freedom #freedomofthought #heresy #heterodoxy #reason #subversion #thinking #thought
A quotation from Oliver Goldsmith
O blest retirement! friend to life’s decline,
Retreats from care that never must be mine.
How blest is he who crowns in shades like these,
A youth of labour with an age of ease.
Oliver Goldsmith (1730–1774) Irish poet, playwright, novelist
Poem (1770), “The Deserted Village,” l. 97ff
More about this quote: wist.info/goldsmith-oliver/863…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #olivergoldsmith #ease #rest #retirementoldage
A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson
The inn at Kinlochaline was the most beggarly vile place that ever pigs were styed in, full of smoke, vermin, and silent Highlanders.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Novel (1886), Kidnapped, ch. 16 “The Lad with the Silver Button: Across Morven”
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertlouisstevenson #kidnapped #accommodations #hotel #inn
O my brave men! stout hearts of mine!
who often have suffered worse calamities with me.
let us now drown your cares in wine.
Tomorrow we venture once again upon the boundless sea.
[O fortes peioraque passi
mecum saepe viri, nunc vino pellite curas;
cras ingens iterabimus aequor.]
Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 1, # 7, l. 30ff (1.7.30-32) (23 BC) [tr. Alexander (1999)]
More about this quote: wist.info/horace/69773/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #alcohol #cares #consolation #drinking #misfortune #party #tomorrow #wine
The relative freedom which we enjoy depends on public opinion. The law is no protection. Governments make laws, but whether they are carried out, and how the police behave, depends on the general temper in the country. If large numbers of people are interested in freedom of speech, there will be freedom of speech, even if the law forbids it; if public opinion is sluggish, inconvenient minorities will be persecuted, even if laws exist to protect them.
George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-12-07), “Freedom of the Park,” Tribune newspaper
More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/3041/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #breakingthelaw #freespeech #freedom #freedomofspeech #law #legalsystem #publicinterest #publicopinion
A quotation from Arthur Conan Doyle
This is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller.
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) British writer and physician
Story (1891-09), “A Case of Identity” [Holmes], The Strand Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 3
More about this quote: wist.info/doyle-arthur-conan/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arthurconandoyle #sherlock #sherlockholmes #divorce #domesticviolence #grounds #marriage #separation
A quotation from Josh Billings
An Enthuziast iz a party who beleaves about 4 times az mutch az he kan prove, and who kan prove about 4 times az mutch az ennyboddy else beleaves.
[An Enthusiast is a party who believes about 4 times a smuch as he can prove, and who can prove about 4 times as much as anybody else believes.]
Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1879-07 “Questions And Replize” (1879 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/86353/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #onetrueway #belief #enthusiasm #enthusiast #fan #fanatic #proof #truebeliever
A quotation from Theodore Roosevelt
And as for a life deliberately devoted to pleasure as an end — why, the greatest happiness is the happiness that comes as a by-product of striving to do what must be done, even though sorrow is met in the doing.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Autobiography, ch. 9 “Outdoors and Indoors” (1913)
More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thedoreroosevelt #teddyroosevelt #achievement #ambition #challenge #difficulty #duty #effort #happiness #hardwork #life #living #pleasure #satisfaction #selfsatisfaction #striving #success
Neither let mistakes and wrong directions — of which every man, in his studies and elsewhere, falls into many — discourage you. There is precious instruction to be got by finding that we are wrong. Let a man try faithfully, manfully, to be right, he will grow daily more and more right.
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Letter (1843-03-13), “Letter to a Young Man”
More about this quote: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/86360…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #carlyle #thomascarlyle #continuousimprovement #discouragement #error #experience #humannature #improvement #mistake #provenwrong #righteousness #selfcorrection #selfimprovement #setback #trying
THE DOCTOR: Which is the quickest way out of here?
(Each of the women at the fountain point in different directions.)
THE DOCTOR: Yes, well, that’s democracy for you. Come on.
Doctor Who (1963–1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
19×01 “Castrovalva,” Part 3 (1982-01-11) [w. Christopher H. Bidmead]
More about this quote: wist.info/doctor-who-1963/8635…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #doctorwho #fifthdoctor #answer #democracy #differenceofopinion #question
Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
Essay (1891-02), “The Soul of Man Under Socialism,” The Fortnightly Review, Vol. 49
More about this quote: wist.info/wilde-oscar/79626/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #oscarwilde #change #disobedience #history #humannature #meme #originalsin #progress #protest #rebellion #virtue
Alt...
Oscar Wilde quote
The practice of terror serves the true believer not only to cow and crush his opponents but also to invigorate and intensify his own faith.
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 85 (3.14.85) (1951)
More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/35938/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hoffer #erichoffer #truebeliever #belief #brutality #crusader #faith #fanaticism #ideologue #ideology #terror #terrorism #violence
Alt...
Hoffer quotation
War is made or planned now by individual men, demagogues and dictators who play on the patriotism of their people to mislead them into a belief in the great fallacy of war when all their vaunted reforms have failed to satisfy the people they misrule.
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American writer
Essay (1935-09), “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire, Vol. 4, No. 3
More about this quote: wist.info/hemingway-ernest/863…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hemingway #ernesthemingway #demagogue #dictator #distraction #diversion #manipulation #patriotism #propaganda #wagthedog #war #warmaking
Words may shew a man’s Wit, but Actions his Meaning.
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard Improved (1749 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/franklin-benjamin/86…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #franklin #benfranklin #benjaminfranklin #poorrichard #poorrichardsalmanac #action #bigtalk #fasttalker #intentions #meaning #speaking #wit #wordsanddeeds
Kings and philosophers shit; and so do ladies.
[Les rois et les philosophes fientent, et les dames aussi.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 3, ch. 13 (3.13), “Of Experience [De l’Experience]” (1588) [tr. Screech (1987)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montaigne-michel-de/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montaigne #micheldemontaine #bodilyfunctions #defecation #equality #everyone #genderequality #humancondition #humanity #nobility #philosophers #physiology #shit
It is very pious to say and prudent to affirm that the holy Bible can never speak untruth — whenever its true meaning is understood. But I believe nobody will deny that it is often very abstruse, and may say things which are quite different from what its bare words signify. Hence in expounding the Bible if one were always to confine oneself to the unadorned grammatical meaning, one might fall into error. Not only contradictions and propositions far from true might thus be made to appear in the Bible, but even grave heresies and follies.
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, polymath
Letter (1651) to Christina of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany [tr. Drake (1957)]
More about this quote: wist.info/galileo-de-galilei/4…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #galileogalilei #galileo #heliocentrism #heliocentricity #Bible #comprehension #error #heresy #interpretation #literalism #meaning #truth #understanding
A quotation from Felix Frankfurter
This Court sits to interpret, in appropriate judicial controversies, a Constitution which, in its Bill of Rights, formulates the conditions of a democracy. But democracy is the least static form of society. Its basis is reason, not authority. Formulas embodying vague and uncritical generalizations offer tempting opportunities to evade the need for continuous thought. But so long as men want freedom, they resist this temptation.
Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
Pennekamp v. Florida, 328 U.S. 331, 350–351 (1946)
[concurring]
More about this quote: wist.info/frankfurter-felix/86…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #felixfrankfurter #abstraction #oversimplification #generalization #authority #formula #billofrights #Constitution #democracy #dynamics #freedom #generalization #judicialsystem #justice #reason #rubric #SCOTUS #thoughtfulness
Never contend with a Man who has nothing to Lose.
[No empeñarse con quien no tiene qué perder.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 172 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/gracian-y-morales-ba…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #gracian #baltasargracian #competition #conflict #contest #desperation #fearlessness #nothingtolose #risk #shamelessness #stakes
A quotation from Douglas Adams
If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a nonworking cat.
Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Speech (1998-09), “Is There an Artificial God?”, Digital Biota 2 conference, Cambridge, UK
More about this quote: wist.info/adams-douglas/29295/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #douglasadams #salmonofdoubt #experimentation #life #mechanism #organism #science #understanding
A quotation from Bertrand Russell
A life of uncertainty is nervously exhausting at all times, but especially in youth.
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 2 “The Negative Theory of Education” (1932)
More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/863…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #uncertainty #childraising #childrearing #children #expectations #routine #security #structure
Ah, my friends, rejoice. These are frabjous days. Our nation survived eight years of Ronald Reagan as President. We can survive this, too. We can even laugh. All it takes is a strong stomach.
Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1995-03-01), “Needed: One Strong Stomach,” The Progressive, Vol. 59, No. 3
More about this quote: wist.info/ivins-molly/86328/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #mollyivins #America #conservatives #endurance #nation #regimechange #Republicans #stomach #survival
A quotation from Bill Watterson
CALVIN: Your polls are slipping Dad. Better get with it.
CALVIN’S DAD: Calvin, being your dad is not an elected position. I don’t have to respond to polls.
CALVIN: Not elected? You mean you can govern with dictatorial impunity?
CALVIN’S DAD: Exactly.
CALVIN: In short, open revolt and exile is the only hope for change?
CALVIN’S DAD: I don’t like the direction this conversation is taking.
Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1986-08-30)
More about this quote: wist.info/watterson-bill/86323…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #billwatterson #calvinandhobbes #father #parenting #polls #popularopinion #revolution #surveys
Alt...
Calvin and Hobbes - 1986-08-30
Reason is poor propaganda when opposed by the yammering, unceasing lies of shrewd and evil and self-serving men. The little man has no way to judge and the shoddy lies are more attractively packaged.
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) American writer
Story (1949-12), “Gulf” [Baldwin], Astounding Science Fiction, Vol. 44, No. 4
More about this quote: wist.info/heinlein-robert-a/86…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #heinlein #robertheinlein #robertaheinlein #agitprop #appealtoemotion #lies #logic #lying #propaganda #rationality #reason
APOLLO: If she dies old, the burial will be richer.
DEATH: Phoebus, that argument favours the rich.
APOLLO: What! Are you witty unawares?
DEATH: The rich would gladly pay to die old.
[ἈΠΌΛΛΩΝ: κἂν γραῦς ὄληται, πλουσίως ταφήσεται.
ΘΆΝΑΤΟΣ: πρὸς τῶν ἐχόντων, Φοῖβε, τὸν νόμον τίθης.
ἈΠΌΛΛΩΝ: πῶς εἶπας; ἀλλ᾽ ἦ καὶ σοφὸς λέληθας ὤν;
ΘΆΝΑΤΟΣ: ὠνοῖντ᾽ ἂν οἷς πάρεστι γηραιοὶ θανεῖν.]
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Alcestis [Ἄλκηστις ], l. 56ff (438 BC) [tr. Aldington (1930)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/86314/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #alcestis #burial #death #funeral #lifespan #luxury #mortality #rich #riches #wealth #wealthy
A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt
All human beings have failings, all human beings have needs and temptations and stresses. Men and women who live together through long years get to know one another’s failings; but they also come to know what is worthy of respect and admiration in those they live with and in themselves. If at the end one can say; “This man used to the limit the powers that God granted him; he was worthy of love and respect and of the sacrifices of many people, made in order that he might achieve what he deemed to be his task,” then that life has been lived well and there are no regrets.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Memoir (1949), This I Remember, ch. 20 “The Last Term: 1944–1945”
More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/86…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #admiration #appreciation #failings #flaws #goodlife #humannature #humanity #livingwell #regrets #respect #shortcomings #weaknesses #worthiness
What good did our pride do us? What good were our wealth and pretension? These things have all passed away like a shadow. They’re gone like old news.
[τί ὠφέλησεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ὑπερηφανία;
καὶ τί πλοῦτος μετὰ ἀλαζονείας συμβέβληται ἡμῖν;
παρῆλθεν ἐκεῖνα πάντα ὡς σκιὰ
καὶ ὡς ἀγγελία παρατρέχουσα·]
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 22a. Wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon) 5: 8ff (Wis 5:8–9) [tr. CEB (2011)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-ot/86310/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #oldtestament #apocrypha #wisdomofsolomon #wisdom #arrogance #boasting #bragging #brevity #change #insubstantiality #money #passageoftime #pretension #pride #transitoriness #wealth
Poor child, most tried of men,
Persephone, daughter of Zeus, is not deceiving you in any way;
this is the law that rules all mortals at their death.
For just as soon as life has left the white bones,
and the sinew no longer hold together bones and flesh,
when the erupting force of blazing fire undoes the body,
then the spirit wanders: much like a dream,
it flits away and hovers, now here, now there.
[‘ὤ μοι, τέκνον ἐμόν, περὶ πάντων κάμμορε φωτῶν,
οὔ τί σε Περσεφόνεια Διὸς θυγάτηρ ἀπαφίσκει,
ἀλλ᾽ αὕτη δίκη ἐστὶ βροτῶν, ὅτε τίς κε θάνῃσιν:
οὐ γὰρ ἔτι σάρκας τε καὶ ὀστέα ἶνες ἔχουσιν,
ἀλλὰ τὰ μέν τε πυρὸς κρατερὸν μένος αἰθομένοιο
δαμνᾷ, ἐπεί κε πρῶτα λίπῃ λεύκ᾽ ὀστέα θυμός,
ψυχὴ δ᾽ ἠύτ᾽ ὄνειρος ἀποπταμένη πεπότηται.]
Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 11, l. 216ff (11.216) (c. 700 BC) [tr. Mandelbaum (1990)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/homer/48897/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #homer #odyssey #anticleia #afterlife #body #cremation #death #ghost #insubstantiality #mortality #phantom #spirit
Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful if some manufacturer would make a toy as tough, as staunch, as hard to crack open as the carton it comes in!
Jean Kerr (1922–2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1970 ca.), “I Saw Mommy Kicking Santa Claus,” Penny Candy
More about this quote: wist.info/kerr-jean/86306/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #jeankerr #durability #manufacturing #packaging #toys
A quotation from Richard Steele
Zeal for the public good is the characteristic of a man of honour, and a gentleman, and must take place of pleasures, profits, and all other private gratifications. Whoever wants this motive is an open enemy, or an inglorious neuter to mankind, in proportion to the misapplied advantages with which nature and fortune have blessed him.
Richard Steele (1672–1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Letter (1713) to William Pulteney, Dedication of Volume 2 of The Guardian
More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/86303…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #advantage #gentleman #honor #humanity #philanthropy #priority #privilege #publicgood #publicservice
But now the gods are spurn’d, their altars cold,
All reverence forgot in thirst of gold:
Gold buys the judge, and honour yields to pelf,
Shame weeps o’er Justice dead, then dies herself.
[At nunc desertis cessant sacraria lucis:
aurum omnes victa iam pietate colunt.
Auro pulsa fides, auro venalia iura,
aurum lex sequitur, mox sine lege pudor.]
Propertius (50–16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies, Book 3, Elegy 13, l. 47ff (3.13.47–50) [tr. Moore (1870), 4.13]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/propertius/86301/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #propertius #avarice #corruption #gold #greed #injustice #money #restraint #shame #virtue #wealth
I never could stomach those nationalists. The destiny of Man is to unite, not to divide. If you keep on dividing you end up as a collection of monkeys throwing nuts at each other out of separate trees.
T. H. White (1906–1964) English writer [Terence Hanbury White]
The Once and Future King, Part 2, ch. 3 [Merlyn] (1939)
More about this quote: wist.info/white-th/86299/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thwhite #onceandfutureking #merlin dividing #division #factionalism #nationalism #powerlessness #union #uniting #unity #weakness
CAESAR: Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much,
He is a great observer, and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men. He loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music;
Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
As if he mocked himself and scorned his spirit
That could be moved to smile at anything.
Such men as he be never at heart’s ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous.
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 209ff (1.2.209–220) (1599)
More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shakespeare #williamshakespeare #juliuscaesar #cassius #danger #ego #envy #pride #smile #threat
#poll Who said it better?
"All compounded things decay. Strive on, with diligence."
- Gautama Buddha
"Everything has an end, except the banana, which has two."
- Bambara proverb (Mali)
#philosophy #bananas #buddhism #quote #quotes #quotation #Mali #proverbs #askfedi
| Buddha: | 5 |
| the proverb from Mali: | 15 |
Closed
Errours like Straws upon the surface flow;
He who would search for Pearls must dive below.
John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet, dramatist, critic
All for Love, “Prologue to Anthony and Cleopatra” (1677)
More about this quote: wist.info/dryden-john/269/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #dryden #johndryden #depths #error #errors #misjudgment #mistake #superficiality #surface #wisdom
A quotation from Martin Luther King
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon (1963 ed.), “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” “2. Breadth”
More (much more) about this quote: wist.info/king-martin-luther/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #martinlutherking #martinlutherkingjr #mlk #charity #compassion #giving #goldenrule #meme #others #righteousness #virtue #works
Alt...
MLK Quote
Old age is courteous — no one more:
For time after time he knocks at the door,
But nobody says, “Walk in, sir, pray!”
Yet turns he not from the door away,
But lifts the latch, and enters with speed,
And then they cry, “A cool one, indeed.”
[Das Alter ist ein höflich’ Mann:
Einmal übers andre klopft er an;
Aber nun sagt niemand: „Herein!‟
Und vor der Türe will er nicht sein.
Da klinkt er auf, tritt ein so schnell,
Und nun heißt’s, er sei ein grober Gesell.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Poem (1814), “Old Age [Das Alter]” [tr. Bowring (1853)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/goethe-johann/86278/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #goethe #aging #gettingold #growingold #oldage
[T]he citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth’s political clothes are worn out, and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal; he is a traitor. That he may be the only one who thinks he sees this decay, does not excuse him; it is his duty to agitate anyway, and it is the duty of the others to vote him down if they do not see the matter as he does.
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 13 “Freemen!”
More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/86276/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #twain #marktwain #connecticutyankee #activism #agitation #change #citizen #civicduty #civicresponsibility #duty #politicalaction #progress #protest
A quotation from Robert Ingersoll
Our ancestors, in the ages that are gone, really believed that by force you could convince a man. You cannot change the conclusion of the brain by torture; nor by social ostracism. But I will tell you what you can do by these, and what you have done. You can make hypocrites by the million. You can make a man say that he has changed his mind; but he remains of the same opinion still. Put fetters all over him; crush his feet in iron boots; stretch him to the last gasp upon the holy rack; burn him, if you please, but his ashes will be of the same opinion still.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1877-01-31) “The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child,” Case Hall, Boston
More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertingersoll #robertgreeningersoll #belief #bruteforce #changeofmind #convictions #force #freedom #freedomofconscience #freedomofthought #heresy #hypocrisy #hypocrites #inquisition #liberty #opinion #ostracism #thoughtcontrol #torture #religiousintolerance #religiouspersecution
A quotation from Samuel Johnson
When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency.
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1750-09-25), The Rambler, No. 50
More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/36329…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #civility #customs #impoliteness #incivility #meme #morals #mores #politeness #rudeness
Alt...
Samuel Johnson quote
A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson
There are two things that men should never weary of, goodness and humility; we get none too much of them in this rough world among cold, proud people.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Novel (1886), Kidnapped, ch. 16 “The Lad with the Silver Button: Across Morven”
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertlouisstevenson #kidnapped #aloofness #apathy #callousness #coldness #doinggood #gooddeeds #goodpeople #goodperson #heartlessness #humancondition #humbleness #humility #indifference #insensitivity #pride #selfcenteredness #selfishness #unfeelingness #unfriendliness #unkindness
A quotation from La Rochefoucauld
The weak cannot be sincere.
[Les personnes foibles ne peuvent être sincères.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶316 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochfoucauld #goodintentions #compliance #character #insincerity #sincerity #weakness #willpower
With tread imperial, impartial pallid Death
knocks at the doors of cottages and palaces.
[Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres.]
Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 1, # 4, l. 13ff (1.4.13-14) (23 BC) [tr. Alexander (1999), “To Lucius Sestius”]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/69269/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #death #equality #mortality #poor #powerful #rich #wealthy
Whenever you see a bunch of buggers puttering around talking about truth and beauty and the best way of attacking Ethics, you can bet your sandals it’s because dozens of other poor buggers are doing all the real work around the place.
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 13, Small Gods [Om] (1992)
More about this quote: wist.info/pratchett-terry/8625…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #pratchett #terrypratchett #freetime #leisure #philosophers #philosophy #realwork #work
The general uncertainty as to what is really happening makes it easier to cling to lunatic beliefs. Since nothing is ever quite proved or disproved, the most unmistakable fact can be impudently denied.
George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)
More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/47333/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #lunaticfringe #alternatefacts #belief #denial #disproof #fakenews #ignorance #lunaticfringe #proof #realitycheck #truthiness #uncertainty #willfulignorance
Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music, and rings itself all the way through; and thou shalt make of it a dance, a dirge, or a grand life-march as thou wilt.
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
(Attributed)
More about this quote: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/33436…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #carlyle #thomascarlyle #attitude #carpediem #choice #day #living #reaction #seizetheday #seizethemoment #today
Alt...
Carlyle quote
THE DOCTOR: Adric, if I knew everything that was going to happen, where would the fun be?
Doctor Who (1963–1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
18X06 “The Keeper of Traken,” Part 1 (1981-01-31) [w. Johnny Byrne]
More about this quote: wist.info/doctor-who-1963/8624…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #doctorwho #fifthdoctor #enjoyment #foresight #fun #knowledge #omniscience #prescience #surprise
A quotation from Josh Billings
Q. — What iz the best religious kreed to hav?
A. — Charity. If a man will swop off all the religious kreed he haz got on hand, and invest the proceeds in charity, he will allwus be proud ov the job.
[What is the best religious creed to have?]
[Charity. If a man will swap off all the religious creed he has got on hand, and invest the proceeds in charity, he will always be proud of the job.]
Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1879-07 “Questions And Replize” (1879 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/86244/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #charity #creed #giving #morality #religion #sect
Propaganda thus serves more to justify ourselves than to convince others; and the more reason we have to feel guilty, the more fervent our propaganda.
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 84 (3.14.84) (1951)
More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/19525/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hoffer #erichoffer #truebeliever #conviction #guilt #justification #persuasion #propaganda #selfjustification #selfrationalization
They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American writer
Essay (1935-09), “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire, Vol. 4, No. 3
More about this quote: wist.info/hemingway-ernest/240…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hemingway #ernesthemingway #battle #casualty #cause #death #dying #goodcause #mortality #patriotism #soldier #war #warfare
MARCUS: Away, then, with all that almost old-womanish twaddle about untimely death being a miserable thing. What time pray? Nature’s? But she gives life on loan, as one might lend money — without fixing beforehand a day of repayment. What ground is there for complaint, then, if she ask for it back whenever she pleases? That was the condition on which you received it.
[Pellantur ergo istae ineptiae paene aniles, ante tempus mori miserum esse. Quod tandem tempus? Naturaene? At ea quidem dedit usuram tamquam pecuniae nalla praestituta die. Quid est igitur quod querare, si repetit,cum volt? Ea enim condicione acceperas.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 39 (1.39) / sec. 93 (1.93) (45 BC) [tr. Black (1889)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #tusculandisputations #death #destiny #doom #life #mortality #nature #timeliness #earlydeath
Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty: what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness.
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright and critic
Man and Superman, “Maxims for Revolutionists,” “The Social Question” (1903)
More about this quote: wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shaw #bernardshaw #georgebernardshaw #manandsuperman #classwarfare #classism #humancondition #lowerclass #poor #poverty #rich #upperclass #wealth #wealthy
The universe is wider than our views of it.
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 18 “Conclusion” (1854)
More about this quote: wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thoreau #henrydavidthoreau #walden #awareness #comprehension #nature #perspective #reality #understanding #universe #view #world
9 Men in 10 are suicides.
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard Improved (1749 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/franklin-benjamin/29…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #franklin #benfranklin #benjaminfranklin #poorrichard #poorrichardsalamanac #death #health #mortality #selfcare #selfdestruction #suicide
A quotation from Felix Frankfurter
The preservation of the community from divisive conflicts, of Government from irreconcilable pressures by religious groups, of religion from censorship and coercion, however subtly exercised, requires strict confinement of the State to instruction other than religious, leaving to the individual’s church and home indoctrination in the faith of his choice.
Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
McCollum v. Board of Education 333 U.S. 217 (1948)
[concurring]
More about this quote: wist.info/frankfurter-felix/85…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #felixfrankfurter #churchandstate #conflict #division #education #firstamendment #freedomofreligion #government #publiceducation #religion #religiousfreedom #SCOTUS #seculargovernment
CASSIUS: “Brutus” and “Caesar” — what should be in that “Caesar”?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with ’em,
“Brutus” will start a spirit as soon as “Caesar.”
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed
That he is grown so great?
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 149ff (1.2.149–159) (1599)
More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #Shakespeare #williamshakespeare #juliuscaesar #jealousy #envy #greatness #name #prestige
A quotation from Ulysses Grant
Let us all labor to add all needful guarantees for the more perfect security of free thought, free speech, and free press, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and of equal rights and privileges to all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion. Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dollar of money shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school. Resolve that neither the state nor nation, or both combined, shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, Pagan, or Atheistical tenets. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private schools, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the Church and the State forever Separate.
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) American military leader, US President (1869–77)
Speech (1875-09-25), Address to the Army of the Tennessee, Annual Reunion, Des Moines, Iowa
More about this quote: wist.info/grant-ulysses-s/1598…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ulyssesgrant #childrearing #childraising #churchandstate #education #freepress #freespeech #freethought #freedomofreligion #freedomofspeech #freedomofthepress #parochialschool #publiceducation #religiousfreedom #seculargovernment #secularism
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
[La patience est amère, mais son fruit est doux.]
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) French philosopher and writer
Julie, or the New Heloise [Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse], Part 1, Letter 46 (from Julie) (1761) [tr. Stewart / Vaché]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/rousseau-jean-jacque…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #rousseau #jeanjaquesrousseau #endurance #equanimity #forbearance #patience #perseverance #puttingupwith #selfrestraint #waiting
A quotation from Oliver Markus Malloy
Fascist dictators don’t announce that they’re fascist dictators.
They announce that it’s illegal to be anti-fascist.
Oliver Markus Malloy (contemp.) German-American writer, cartoonist, musician
Post (2026-07-01), @malloyrocks, Substack.com
More about this quote: wist.info/malloy-oliver-markus…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #malloyrocks #dictatorship #dissent #fascism #illegality #protest #tyranny #unlawfulness
A quotation from Graham Ericsson
Why do certain sayings, certain nuggets of wisdom, survive over the centuries? Often because they are true, or true enough to be useful. Usually because they appeal to universal human emotion, regardless of their truth. Frequently because they support the status quo and so those in power. These are not exclusive reasons.
Graham Ericsson (b. 1961) American technologist, writer, aphorist
Journal (2025-06-23)
More about this quote: wist.info/ericsson-graham/8601…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #aphorism #humanity #persistence #proverb #receivedwisdom #statusquo #truth #wisdom
![[?]](https://files.mastodon.social/accounts/avatars/112/065/643/435/379/420/original/d3981c2e4011c79f.jpg)
🤗🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🐅🐯🤍🖤💛💗♥️🩷💗💛❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🟩💚🟢🟩💚🟢🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🤗*"The modern artist is working with space!*& time!*& expressing his feelings rather than illustrating!"🤗🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🐅🐯🐅🐯🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🤍🖤💛🤍🖤💛♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🤗
~ Jackson Pollock
#Quotes #about #old #and #modern #Art
🤗🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🐅🐯🤍🖤💛💗♥️🩷💗💛❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🟩💚🟢🟩💚🟢❇️🟩💚🟢🤗*"The modern artist is working with space!*& time!*& expressing his feelings rather than illustrating!"🤗🐅🐯🐅🐯🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🤍🖤💛🤍🖤💛♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🤗
~ Jackson Pollock
#Quotes #about #old #and #modern #Art
🤗🩵💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🪭🌺💗🌷🌸🌹🩷💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍🤗*"To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art!*that is!*intimacy!*spirituality!*color!*aspiration towards the infinite!*expressed by every means available to the arts!"🤗💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍🤗🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭🪭🪭🌺🌷🌸🪭🪭💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍🤗
~ Charles Baudelaire
#Quotes #On #Old #and #Modern #Art
🤗🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🪭🌺💗🌷🌸🌹🩷🤗*"To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art!*that is!*intimacy!*spirituality!*color!*aspiration towards the infinite!*expressed by every means available to the arts!"🤗🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭🪭🪭🌺🌷🌸🪭🪭🤗
~ Charles Baudelaire
#Quotes #On #Old #and #Modern #Art
A quotation from Ambrose Bierce
FORBIDDEN, pp. Invested with a new and irresistible charm.
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) American writer and journalist
“Forbidden,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1884-12-13)
More about this quote: wist.info/bierce-ambrose/85971…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ambrosebbierce #devilsdictionary #attractiveness #charm #desire #forbid #forbiddenfruit #incentive #prohibit #Prohibition
A quotation from Franklin Roosevelt
An old English judge once said: “Necessitous men are not free men.” Liberty requires opportunity to make a living — a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman; US President (1933–45)
Speech (1936-06-27), Acceptance for Renomination for President, Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia
Much more about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-franklin-d…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #franklinroosevelt #agency #compulsion #consent #contract #desperation #distress #exploitation #freedom #liberty #necessity #need #populism #takeadvantage #urgency
A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt
Now, while we are a generous nation, giving with a free hand and with an open heart whenever there is need or suffering (that we can understand, at least), we have one weakness that, considering our political maturity as a nation, is rather immature. We continue to expect the world to be grateful to us and to love us. We are hurt and indignant when we do not receive gratitude and love.
Gratitude and love are not to be had for the asking; they are not to be bought. We should not want to think that they are for sale. What we should seek, rather than gratitude or love, is the respect of the world. This we can earn by enlightened justice. But it is rather naive of us to think that when we are helping people our action is entirely unselfish. It is not. It is not unselfish when we vaccinate the public against smallpox. It is a precautionary measure, but nonetheless good in itself.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Memoir (1961), The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Part 4, ch. 41 “Milestones”
More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/85…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #America #charity #foreignaid #foreignassistance #gratitude #justice #mutualassistance #selfinterest
To do big things, it is essential not to be such a great genius; one must not be above men, one must be with them.
[Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie: il ne faut pas être au-dessus des hommes; il faut être avec eux.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 1083 / 1224 (1720-1755) [tr. Clark (2012)]
More about this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/86219/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #populism #accomplishment #collaboration #commonman #commonpeople #genius #greatness #superiority
![[?]](https://files.mastodon.social/accounts/avatars/115/967/890/192/375/774/original/79861f67f1d57c00.png)
🏳️🌈Who is the father of privilege? Chance. And who is his son? Abuse.
[Quel est le père du privilège ? le hasard. Et quel est son fils ? l’abus.]
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French writer, journalist, human rights activist, politician
The Man Who Laughs [L’Homme qui rit; The Laughing Man; By Order of the King], Part 2, Book 8, ch. 7 (2.8.7) (1869) [tr. Phillips (1894)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/hugo-victor/86217/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #victorhugo #themanwholaughs #abuse #advantage #chance #corruption #fortune #luck #power #privilege #success #superiority
from "Advice to a Lady in Autumn" by Philip Dormer Stanhope, 1763
The poem has crisp autumn imagery, like this:
"At twelve you may walk, for at this time o' the year,
the sun, like your wit, is as mild, as 'tis clear:
But mark in the meadows the ruin of Time;
take the hint, and let life be improv'd in its prime."
But the whole poem is really a passive-aggressive rant that she (the Lady) shouldn't have rejected the author's romantic interest, as hinted in the last line above. Another example:
"At nine [a.m.] stretch your arms, and oh! think when alone, there's no pleasure in bed 😏
— 'MARY, bring me my gown.'
Slip on that ere you rise;
let your caution be such;
Keep all cold from your breast ...
there's already too much."
Okay, Phil, I admit that compared to some dudes, you express your disappointment in a healthy way. But there's no need to dwell on it. It's her loss! Move on, bro!
https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/works/o5152-w0400.shtml
A quotation from Richard Steele
I have often lamented that we cannot close our Ears with as much ease as we can our Eyes.
Richard Steele (1672–1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Essay (1711-08-20), The Spectator, No. 148
More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/85963…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #ears #eyes #hearing #listening #noise #sound
A quotation (not) from Tolstoy
The wicked become even worse when tolerated.
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
(Spurious)
More about this quote: wist.info/tolstoy-leo/86005/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #tolstoy #leotolstoy #acquiescence #corruption #evil #tolerance #toleration #license #wicked #worsening
Government is instituted for the common good: for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men.
John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founder, statesman; US President (1797–1801)
Document (1779-10-31), “Report of a Constitution or Form of Government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” ch. 1 “Declaration of Rights,” Article 7
More about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/85967/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnadams #government #people #privateinterest #publicinterest #thepeople
A quotation from Henry Commager
There are further and more practical objections against the imposition of fixed concepts of loyalty or tests of disloyalty. The effort is itself a confession of fear, a declaration of insolvency. Those who are sure of themselves do not need reassurance, and those who have confidence in the strength and the virtue of America do not need to fear either criticism or competition.
Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-09), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 3, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168
More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #confidence #fear #loyalty #loyaltyoath #loyaltytest #selfconfidence
As from the pow’r of Sacred Lays
The Spheres began to move,
And sung the great Creator’s praise
To all the bless’d above;
So when the last and dreadful Hour
This crumbling Pageant shall devour,
The TRUMPET shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,
And MUSICK shall untune the Sky.
John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet, dramatist, critic
Poem (1687), “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day,” “Grand Chorus”
More about this quote: wist.info/dryden-john/86208/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #dryden #johndryden #endofdays #endoftheworld #endtimes #lasttrumpet #music #spheres
But you can’t make people listen. They have to come ’round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them.
Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer, futurist, fabulist
Fahrenheit 451, Part 3 “Burning Bright” [Granger] (1953)
More about this quote: wist.info/bradbury-ray/86212/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bradbury #raybradbury #changeofheart #changeofmind #comearound #hearing #listening #patience #progress #understanding #waiting
"The act of protesting should never be an arrestable event"
- Paul @PGBeattie #Quotes #Quote #Protest
Post: https://mastodon.social/@PGBeattie@mastodonapp.uk/117344927557910454
"The unit of #resilience isn’t the machine. It’s the person who can reproduce the #machine."
- #SabotMedia #Quote #Quotes
@AberdeenLocal1312
Post: https://kolektiva.social/@AberdeenLocal1312/117330348121863005
(My comment) Yes about the person more than machines
BUT NOW we have plenty of machines
it's PEOPLE REPLICATING BETTER PEOPLE (Teaching / Making better people at the end of ALL TECH.
Tech alone doesn't work.
I say this because everyone is tinkering with machines, NOT listening & talking & to people as the progress!
?
If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.
Thomas Pynchon (b. 1937) American novelist
Gravity’s Rainbow, Part 2 “Un Perm’ au Casino Harmann Goering” (1973)
More about this quote: wist.info/pynchon-thomas/15755…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #pynchon #thomaspynchon #answers #misdirection #misleading #paranoia #questions