A quotation from Orwell

When I think of antiquity, the detail that frightens me is that those hundreds of millions of slaves on whose backs civilization rested generation after generation have left behind them no record whatever. We do not even know their names. In the whole of Greek and Roman history, how many slaves’ names are known to you? I can think of two, or possibly three. One is Spartacus and the other is Epictetus. Also, in the Roman room at the British Museum there is a glass jar with the maker’s name inscribed on the bottom, “Felix fecit.” I have a vivid mental picture of poor Felix (a Gaul with red hair and a metal collar round his neck), but in fact he may not have been a slave; so there are only two slaves whose names I definitely know, and probably few people can remember more. The rest have gone down into utter silence.

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

More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/81144/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #antiquity #classics #enslaved #forgotten #history #identity #lost #name #obscurity #silence #slave #oblivion

A quotation from Arthur Conan Doyle

I knew you came from Afghanistan. From long habit the train of thoughts ran so swiftly through my mind that I arrived at the conclusion without being conscious of intermediate steps. There were such steps, however. The train of reasoning ran, “Here is a gentleman of a medical type, but with the air of a military man. Clearly an army doctor, then. He has just come from the tropics, for his face is dark, and that is not the natural tint of his skin, for his wrists are fair. He has undergone hardship and sickness, as his haggard face says clearly. His left arm has been injured. He holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner. Where in the tropics could an English army doctor have seen much hardship and got his arm wounded? Clearly in Afghanistan.” The whole train of thought did not occupy a second. I then remarked that you came from Afghanistan, and you were astonished.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1886-04), “A Study in Scarlet,” Part 1, ch. 2 [Holmes], Beeton’s Christmas Annual, Vol. 28 (1887-11-21)

More about this quote: wist.info/doyle-arthur-conan/8…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arthurconandoyle #sherlockholmes #holmes #deduction #observation #reasoning #holmesandwatson

A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt

It is all-essential to the continuance of our healthy national life that we should recognize this community of interest among our people. The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us, and therefore in public life that man is the best representative of each of us who seeks to do good to each by doing good to all; in other words, whose endeavor it is not to represent any special class and promote merely that class’s selfish interests, but to represent all true and honest men of all sections and all classes and to work for their interests by working for our common country.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Speech (1903-09-07), “The Square Deal,” Labor Day, New York State Agricultural Association, New York State Fair, Syracuse

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/6…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #teddyroosevelt #theodoreroosevelt #class #classwarfare #commoninterest #community #government #mutuality #nation #politics #representation #representative #specialinterest #welfare #generalwelfare

A quotation from Thomas Carlyle

Some speculators have a short way of accounting for the Pagan religion: mere quackery, priestcraft, and dupery, say they; no sane man ever did believe it, — merely contrived to persuade other men, not worthy of the name of sane, to believe it! It will be often our duty to protest against this sort of hypothesis about men’s doings and history; and I here, on the very threshold, protest against it in reference to Paganism, and to all other isms by which man has ever for a length of time striven to walk in this world. They have all had a truth in them, or men would not have taken them up. Quackery and dupery do abound; in religions, above all in the more advanced decaying stages of religions, they have fearfully abounded: but quackery was never the originating influence in such things; it was not the health and life of such things, but their disease, the sure precursor of their being about to die!

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-05), “The Hero as Divinity,” Home House, Portman Square, London

More about this quote: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/81123…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #carlyle #thomascarlyle #corruption #falsegods #fraud #paganism #quackery #religion

A quotation from Claude Bernard

Men who have excessive faith in their theories or ideas are not only ill prepared for making discoveries; they also make very poor observations. Of necessity, they observe with a preconceived idea, and when they devise an experiment, they can see, in its results, only a confirmation of their theory. In this way they distort observation and often neglect very important facts because they do not further their aim.
 
[Les hommes qui ont une foi excessive dans leurs théories ou dans leurs idées sont non-seulement mal disposés pour faire des découvertes, mais ils font aussi de très-mauvaises observations. Ils observent nécessairement avec une idée préconçue, et quand ils ont institué une expérience, ils ne veulent voir dans ses résultats qu’une confirmation de leur théorie. Ils défigurent ainsi l’observation et négligent souvent des faits très-importants, parce qu’ils ne concourent pas à leur but.]

Claude Bernard (1813-1878) French physiologist, scientist
An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine [Introduction à l’Étude de la Médecine Expérimentale] (1865) [tr. Greene (1957)]

More about this quote: wist.info/bernard-claude/81094…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #claudebernard #belief #bias #confirmationbias #experiment #observation #preconceivednotion #preconception #science #theory

A quotation from Euripides

MEDEA: Oh, what an evil power love has in people’s lives!
CREON: That would depend on circumstances, I imagine.
 
[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: Φεῦ φεῦ, βροτοῖς ἔρωτες ὡς κακὸν μέγα.
ΚΡΈΩΝ: ὅπως ἄν, οἶμαι, καὶ παραστῶσιν τύχαι.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 330ff (431 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1963)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/81069/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #medea #blessing #circumstance #curse #fate #fortune #love #luck #malignity #evil

A quotation from The Bible

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
 
[εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας [ὑμᾶς], εὐλογεῖτε καὶ μὴ καταρᾶσθε.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Romans 12: 14 [NRSV (2021 ed.)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-nt/81067/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #newtestament #romans #bless #Christianity #curse #harassment #loveyourenemies #persecution #retribution

A quotation from Victor Hugo

It is one of the most difficult yet necessary things in life to learn to disdain. Disdain protects and crushes. It is a breastplate and a club. You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything, which shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear. Do not give your enemies the satisfaction of thinking that they cause you grief or pain. Be happy, be cheerful, be disdainful, be firm.
 
[C’est une des choses les plus difficiles et les plus nécessaires de la vie que d’apprendre à dédaigner. Le dédain protège et écrase. C’est une cuirasse et une massue. Vous avez des ennemis? Mais c’est l’histoire de tout homme qui a fait une action grande ou créé une idée neuve. C’est la nuée qui bruit autour de tout ce qui brille. Il faut que la renommée ait des ennemis comme il faut que la lumière ait des moucherons. Ne vous en inquiétez pas; dédaignez! Ayez la sérénité dans votre esprit comme vous avez la limpidité dans votre vie. Ne donnez pas à vos ennemis cette joie de penser qu’ils vous affligent et qu’ils vous troublent. Soyez content, soyez joyeux, soyez dédaigneux, soyez fort.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Diary (1845-12-07), “Villemain,” Things Seen [Choses Vues], Vol. 1 (1887)

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/hugo-victor/12984/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #victorhugo #accomplishment #calm #coolheadedness #disdain #enemies #facade #fame #imperturbability #indifference #placidity #poohpooh #scorn #serenity #critics

A quotation from Judith Martin

   Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who also is capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? […]
   Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. But soup knows the difference. Soup is sensitive. You don’t catch steak hanging around when you’re poor and sick, do you? Soup deserves to be treated well.

Judith Martin (b. 1938) American author, journalist, etiquette expert [a.k.a. Miss Manners]
Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Part 3 “Basic Civilization,” “Table Manners” (1983)

More about this quote: wist.info/martin-judith/81053/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #judithmartin #missmanners #comfort #cooking #food #soup #utility #versatility

A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

It is generally pride rather than lack of intelligence which prompts men to dispute so obstinately generally accepted opinions; they find all the front seats taken on the popular side, and do not wish to sit behind.
 
[C’est plus souvent par orgueil que par défaut de lumières qu’on s’oppose avec tant d’opiniâtreté aux opinions les plus suivies: on trouve les premières places prises dans le bon parti, et on ne veut point des dernières.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶234 (1665-1678) [tr. Stevens (1939)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #attention #selfaggrandizement #attentionseeking #bigfish #contrariness #ego #heterodoxy #obstinacy #pride #selfglorification #selfpromotion #selfrighteousness #popularopinion

A quotation from Robert Ingersoll

   What would we think of a father, who should give a farm to his children, and before giving them possession should plant upon it thousands of deadly shrubs and vines; should stock it with ferocious beasts, and poisonous reptiles; should take pains to put a few swamps in the neighborhood to breed malaria; should so arrange matters, that the ground would occasionally open and swallow a few of his darlings, and besides all this, should establish a few volcanoes in the immediate vicinity, that might at any moment overwhelm his children with rivers of fire? Suppose that this father neglected to tell his children which of the plants were deadly; that the reptiles were poisonous; failed to say anything about the earthquakes, and kept the volcano business a profound secret; would we pronounce him angel or fiend?
   And yet this is exactly what the orthodox God has done.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1872-01-29), “The Gods,” Fairbury Hall, Fairbury, Illinois

More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertingersoll #creation #danger #divinefavor #divinegift #divinemercy #divinepurpose #Genesis #God #nature #pain #problemofevil #problemofsuffering #theodicy