A quotation from Josh Billings

Sum people hav the power ov saing a good deal in a fu words, while others hav the power ov saing a little in a good menny wurds.
 
[Some people have the power of saying a good deal in a few words, while others have the power of saying a little in a good many words.]

Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings, Hiz Sayings, ch. 11 “Affurisms” (1865)


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A quotation from Browning

It is well to fly towards the light, even where there may be some fluttering and bruising of wings against the windowpanes, is it not?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) English poet
Letter (1845-03-05) to Robert Browning


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A quotation from Doctor Who

THE DOCTOR: Oh, marvelous. You’re going to kill me. What a finely tuned response to the situation.

Doctor Who (1963–1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
21×03 “Frontios,” Part 2 (1984-01-27) [w. Christopher H. Bidmead]


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A quotation (not) from William James

A great many people think they are thinking, when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.

William James (1842–1910) American psychologist and philosopher
(Misattributed)


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A quotation from Samuel Johnson

To hear complaints with patience, even when complaints are vain, is one of the duties of friendship.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1750-10-09), The Rambler, No. 59


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A quotation from Robert Ingersoll

You had better be the emperor of one loving and tender heart, and she the empress of yours, than to be king of the world. The man who has really won the love of one good woman in this world, I do not care if he dies in the ditch a beggar, his life has been a success.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1877-01-31) “The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child,” Case Hall, Boston


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A quotation from Longfellow

Whatever poet, orator, or sage
May say of it, old age is still old age.
It is the waning, not the crescent moon;
The dusk of evening, not the blaze of noon;
It is not strength, but weakness; not desire,
But its surcease; not the fierce heat of fire,
The burning and consuming element,
But that of ashes and of embers spent,
In which some living sparks we still discern,
Enough to warm, but not enough to burn.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) American poet
Poem (1875), “Morituri Salutamus,” l. 262ff


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A quotation from Twain

That wasn’t law; it wasn’t gospel: it was only an opinion — my opinion, and I was only a man, one man: so it wasn’t worth any more than the pope’s — or any less, for that matter.

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. 18 “In the Queen’s Dungeons”


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A quotation from Horace

Ah, Postumus! they fleet away,
   Our years, nor piety one hour
Can win from wrinkles and decay,
   And Death’s indomitable power.
 
[Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,
labuntur anni nec pietas moram
rugis et instanti senectae
adferet indomitaeque morti.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 2, # 14, l. 1ff (2.14.1-4) (23 BC) [tr. Conington (1872)]


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A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson

There’s bad folk everywhere, and what’s far worse, weak ones.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Novel (1886), Kidnapped, ch. 21 “The Flight in the Heather: The Heugh of Corrynakiegh”
[Alan]


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A quotation from Orwell

And the behaviour of the cat was somewhat peculiar. It was soon noticed that when there was work to be done the cat could never be found. She would vanish for hours on end, and then reappear at meal-times, or in the evening after work was over, as though nothing had happened. But she always made such excellent excuses, and purred so affectionately, that it was impossible not to believe in her good intentions.

George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Animal Farm, ch. 3 (1945)


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Prudent Self-Preservation
This behavior reflects a remarkably pragmatic approach to daily responsibilities, prioritizing personal energy conservation while gracefully maintaining social bonds. Finding such a seamless balance between independence and affectionate engagement is a subtle art that ensures harmonious coexistence without unnecessary strain.

A quotation from Josh Billings

Experience iz the science ov finding out how deep a mill pond iz, by wading into it, and drowning.
 
[Experience is the science of finding out how deep a mill pond is, by wading into it, and drowning.]

Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1879-09 “Questions, And Answers” (1879 ed.)


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A quotation from Eric Hoffer

Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.

Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 65 (3.14.65) (1951)

Eric Hoffer quote


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A quotation from Hemingway

The only way to combat the murder that is war is to show the dirty combinations that make it and the criminals and swine that hope for it, and the idiotic way they run it when they get it, so that an honest man will distrust it as he would a racket and refuse to be enslaved into it.

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American writer
Essay (1935-09), “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire, Vol. 4, No. 3


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A quotation from Franklin

The wise Man draws more Advantage from his Enemies, than the Fool from his Friends.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard Improved (1749 ed.)


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A quotation from Galileo

I would say here something that was heard from an ecclesiastic of the most eminent degree; “That the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how the heaven goes.”
 
[Lo qui direi che quello che intesi da persona ecclesiastica costituita in eminentissimo grado, ciò è l’intenzione dello Spirito Santo essere d’insegnarci come si vadia al cielo, e non come vadia il cielo.]

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, polymath
Letter (1615) to Christina of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany [tr. Drake (1957)]


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A quotation from Gracian

Approach the easy as though it were difficult, and the difficult as though it were easy; the first, lest overconfidence make you careless, and the second, lest faint-heartedness make you afraid.
 
[Lo fácil se ha de emprender como dificultoso, y lo dificultoso como fácil. Allí porque la confianza no descuide, aquí porque la desconfianza no desmaye.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 204 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]


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A quotation from Felix Frankfurter

In our country, law is not a body of technicalities in the keeping of specialists or in the service of any special interest. There can be no free society without law administered through an independent judiciary. If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law, every man can. That means first chaos, then tyranny. Legal process is an essential part of the democratic process.

Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
United States v. United Mine Workers, 330 U.S. 258, 312 (1947) (concurring)


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A quotation from Douglas Adams

You are disoriented. Blackness swims toward you like a shoal of eels who have just seen something that eels like a lot …

Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Game (1984), The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Infocom [with Steve Meretzky]


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A quotation from Bertrand Russell

In relation to the rest of the world, the purposes of a great State are two: defence against aggression, and the support of its citizens in foreign exploitation.

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 10 “Patriotism in Education” (1932)


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A Latin Proverb

A rich man is either a scoundrel or the heir of a scoundrel.
 
[Dives aut iniquus est, aut iniqui haeres.]

Proverbs, Sayings, and Adages
Latin proverb


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A quotation from Molly Ivins

The Fence will not work. No fence will work. The Great darn Wall of China will not work. Do not build a fence. It will not work. They will come anyway. Over, under, or through. […] Anyone who says a fence can fix this problem is a demagogue and an ass.

Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (2006-03-30), “Immigration 101 for Beginners and Non-Texans,” Creators Syndicate column


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A quotation from Bill Watterson

   CALVIN: Mom’s not feeling well. So I’m making her a “Get Well” card.
   HOBBES: That’s thoughtful of you.
   CALVIN: See, on the front it says, “Get Well Soon.” And on the inside it says, “Because my bed isn’t made, my clothes need to be put away, and I’m hungry. Love, Calvin.” Want to sign it?
   HOBBES: Sure, I’m hungry too.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1986-11-03)

Calvin & Hobbes 1986-11-03


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A quotation from Ambrose Bierce

INHUMANITY, n. One of the signal and characteristic qualities of humanity.

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) American writer and journalist
“Inhumanity,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1885-10-17)


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A quotation from Emerson

The faith that stands on authority is not faith. The reliance on authority measures the decline of religion, the withdrawal of the soul.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “The Over-soul,” Essays: First Series, No. 9

Emerson quote


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A quotation from E. B. White

Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time. You have to write up, not down. Children are demanding. They are the most attentive, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick, and generally congenial readers on earth. They accept, almost without question, anything you present them with, as long as it is presented honestly, fearlessly, and clearly.

E. B. White (1899–1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks "Andy" White]
Interview (1969-09) by George Plimpton and Frank Crowther, “The Art of the Essay No. 1,” The Paris Review, No. 48 (Fall 1969)


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A quotation (probably not) from Abraham Lincoln

When I’m getting ready for an argument with a man I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I’m going to say, and two-thirds thinking about him and what he is going to say.

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861–65)
Remark (Spurious)


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A quotation from Edmund Burke

I have no idea of a liberty unconnected with honesty and justice. Nor do I believe that any good constitutions of government or of freedom can find it necessary for their security to doom any part of the people to a permanent slavery. Such a constitution of freedom, if such can be, is in effect no more than another name for the tyranny of the strongest faction; and factions in republics have been, and are, full as capable as monarchs of the most cruel oppression and injustice.

Edmund Burke (1729–1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
Speech (1780-09-06), prior to the election, Bristol Guildhall


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A quotation from Jonathan Swift

That was excellently observed, say I, when I read a passage in an author, where his opinion agrees with mine. When we differ, there I pronounce him to be mistaken.

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) English writer and churchman
Essay (1706), “Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting”


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A quotation from Robert Pirsig

You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it’s going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kind of dogmas or goals, it’s always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.

Robert Pirsig (1928–2017) American philosopher, writer
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, ch. 13 (1974)


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A quotation from Montesquieu

For the popular state is the liberty of poor and weak persons and the servitude of rich and powerful persons; monarchy is the liberty of the great and the servitude of the small.
 
[Car l’état populaire est la liberté des personnes pauvres et foibles et la servitude des personnes riches et puissantes; et la monarchie est la liberté des grands et la servitude des petits.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 631 / 884, “On Political Liberty” (1720-1755) [tr. Clark (2012)]


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A quotation (not) from John Adams

There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founder, statesman; US President (1797–1801)
(Misattributed)


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A quotation from Henry Commager

If the preservation of our freedom depends upon the courts then we are, indeed, lost, for in the long run neither courts nor Constitution can save us from our own errors, follies, or wickedness.

Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1954), “The Necessity of Freedom,” Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent


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A quotation from Homer

Women just can’t be trusted any more.
 
[Ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι πιστὰ γυναιξίν.]

Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 11, l. 456 (11.456) [Agamemnon] (c. 700 BC) [tr. Lombardo (2000), l. 274]


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A quotation from Jean Kerr

The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in the morning feeling just plain terrible.

Jean Kerr (1922–2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1957-07-27), “Children Really Are Not People,” Saturday Evening Post


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