“To take my work seriously would be the height of folly.”
Edward Gorey (1925–2000) American writer, artist, and illustrator
Forrest to his men, 1865. As quoted in May I Quote You, General Forrest? by Randall Bedwell.
1860s
“To take my work seriously would be the height of folly.”
Edward Gorey (1925–2000) American writer, artist, and illustrator
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
That is the true genius of America—a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles.
2004, Democratic National Convention speech (July 2004)
Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)
Speech to the House of Commons (8 June 1982) http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/60882a.htm <br class="br">1980s, First term of office (1981–1985) <br class="br">Context: From Stettin on the Baltic to Varna on the Black Sea, the regimes planted by totalitarianism have had more than thirty years to establish their legitimacy. But none — not one regime — has yet been able to risk free elections. Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.... If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.... Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated.
“There is no idea so obscure that someone could not come to regard it as self-evident.”
Leszek Kolakowski (1927–2009) Philosopher, historian of ideas
Source: The Alienation of Reason (1966), Chapter Seven, Pragmatism and Positivism, p. 156
Kent Hovind (1953) American young Earth creationist
except maybe angels
Source: What On Earth Is About To Happen… For Heaven’s Sake? (2013), p. 66
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
1900s, Speak softly and carry a big stick (1901)
Variant: Let us make it evident that we intend to do justice. Then let us make it equally evident that we will not tolerate injustice being done us in return. Let us further make it evident that we use no words which we are not which prepared to back up with deeds, and that while our speech is always moderate, we are ready and willing to make it good. Such an attitude will be the surest possible guarantee of that self-respecting peace, the attainment of which is and must ever be the prime aim of a self-governing people.
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) 18th President of the United States
Letter to Robert E. Lee (7 April 1865). https://www.facebook.com/SUVCW/posts/783255298389995 <br class="br">1860s
Harry V. Jaffa (1918–2015) American historian and collegiate professor
2000s, The Real Abraham Lincoln: A Debate (2002), Q&A