“A great storm destroys much that is precious, but it may also clear the air and blow down trees which might have been obscuring the view and making our life stuffy, and reveal in our estate possibilities of development that we had not thought of.”

—  John Buchan

"A University's Bequest to Youth" (10 October 1936)
Canadian Occasions (1940)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "A great storm destroys much that is precious, but it may also clear the air and blow down trees which might have been o…" by John Buchan?
John Buchan photo
John Buchan 145
British politician 1875–1940

Related quotes

Stephen Hawking photo

“It has certainly been true in the past that what we call intelligence and scientific discovery have conveyed a survival advantage. It is not so clear that this is still the case: our scientific discoveries may well destroy us all, and even if they don’t, a complete unified theory may not make much difference to our chances of survival.”

Source: A Brief History of Time (1988), Ch. 1
Context: It has certainly been true in the past that what we call intelligence and scientific discovery have conveyed a survival advantage. It is not so clear that this is still the case: our scientific discoveries may well destroy us all, and even if they don’t, a complete unified theory may not make much difference to our chances of survival. However, provided the universe has evolved in a regular way, we might expect that the reasoning abilities that natural selection has given us would be valid also in our search for a complete unified theory, and so would not lead us to the wrong conclusions.

Yanni photo

“Sometimes we get caught up in our troubles and our problems and we let life slip away, but life is precious, all of life, and one must try to take in as much of it as possible.”

Yanni (1954) Greek pianist, keyboardist, composer, and music producer

Yanni Live at the Acropolis

John F. Kennedy photo

“I also want to take cognizance of the fact that this flight was made out in the open with all the possibilities of failure, which would have been damaging to our country's prestige. Because great risks were taken in that regard, it seems to me that we have some right to claim that this open society of ours which risked much, gained much.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Remarks at the presentation of NASA's Distinguished Service Medal to Astronaut Alan B. Shepard (8 May 1961) http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8119 — Video of presentation at YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0OurosNBFo
1961
Context: Commander Shepard has pointed out from the time that this flight began and from the time this flight was a success, that this was a common effort in which a good many men were involved. I think it does credit to him that he is associated with such a distinguished group of Americans whom we are all glad to honor today, his companions in the flight into outer space, so I think we want to give them all a hand. … I also want to take cognizance of the fact that this flight was made out in the open with all the possibilities of failure, which would have been damaging to our country's prestige. Because great risks were taken in that regard, it seems to me that we have some right to claim that this open society of ours which risked much, gained much. … This is a civilian award for a great civilian accomplishment, and therefore I want to again express my congratulations to Alan Shepard. We are very proud of him, and I speak on behalf of the Vice President, who is Chairman of our Space Council and who bears great responsibilities in this field, and the Members of the House and Senate Space Committee who are with us today. [accidentally drops the medallion, and picks it up] This decoration which has gone from the ground up — here.

Winston S. Churchill photo

“The storm clouds are gathering over the European scene. Our defences have been neglected. Danger is in the air…yes, I say in the air. The mighty discontented nations are reaching out with the strong hands to regain what they have lost; nay, to gain a predominance which they have never had. Is this, then, the time to plunge our vast dependency of India into the melting-pot?”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

BBC broadcast (29 January 1935) against the Indian Home Rule Bill, quoted in Martin Gilbert, Prophet of Truth: Winston S. Churchill, 1922–1939 (London: Minerva, 1990), p. 596
The 1930s

Antoine-Vincent Arnault photo

“That which our greatness caused
May also cause our fall.”

Antoine-Vincent Arnault (1766–1834) French dramatist

Volume VI., 13. — "La Fusée".
Translation reported in Harbottle's Dictionary of quotations French and Italian (1904), p. 99.
Fables (1802)

Henrik Ibsen photo

“The great task of our time is to blow up all existing institutions — to destroy.”

Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet

Letter of 1883, quoted in The Drama of Ibsen and Strindberg (1962) by Frank Laurence Lucas, p. 34.

Francis Escudero photo

“Aside from pump priming our economy, we would be bringing down the cost of transportation and opening up those areas of our country which have not been developed.”

Francis Escudero (1969) Filipino politician

2009, Speech: The Socio-Economic Peace Program of Senator Francis Escudero

Clement Attlee photo
John F. Kennedy photo

Related topics