“How frail, he thought, is the compact that holds our government together! Good will alone is all that sustains it.”
Book 5, Chapter 6 (p. 442)
Lord Valentine's Castle (1980)
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Robert Silverberg88
American speculative fiction writer and editor 1935Related quotes
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) American politician, 38th President of the United States (in office from 1974 to 1977)
Ford is known to have used the words "truth is the glue that holds government together" several times prior to this.
1970s, First Presidential address (1974)
Context: I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad. In all my public and private acts as your President, I expect to follow my instincts of openness and candor with full confidence that honesty is always the best policy in the end.
George Mason (1725–1792) American delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention
Remarks on Annual Elections (1775)
“How frail the human heart must be —
a mirrored pool of thought.”
Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer
Source: "I Thought I Could Not Be Hurt," quoted in the introduction to Letters Home: Correspondence 1950–1963 (1975) as Plath's first poem, written at age 14
Edith Wharton book The House of Mirth
Source: "The House of Mirth" http://books.google.com/books?id=plFdLlYHwZ8C&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=No+insect+hangs+its+nest+on+threads+as+frail+as+those+which+will+sustain+the+weight+of+human+vanity.&source=bl&ots=j0EPPhjIZW&sig=MQMjyNy5yKK97Ok4bGqRWfC3obE&hl=en&ei=T5F0TMqyMIuisAOczpyMBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=No%20insect%20hangs%20its%20nest%20on%20threads%20as%20frail%20as%20those%20which%20will%20sustain%20the%20weight%20of%20human%20vanity.&f=false (1905), ch. X, pg. 69
“My thoughts hold my mind together.”
Ron English (1959) American artist
Ron English's Fauxlosophy (2016)
Jefferson Davis (1808–1889) President of the Confederate States of America
Senate speech (7 May 1860)
1860s
George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States
It was to be in the first instance, in a considerable degree, a government of accommodation as well as a government of laws. Much was to be done by prudence, much by conciliation, much by firmness. Few, who are not philosophical spectators, can realize the difficult and delicate part, which a man in my situation had to act. All see, and most admire, the glare which hovers round the external happiness of elevated office. To me there is nothing in it beyond the lustre, which may be reflected from its connection with a power of promoting human felicity.
1790s, Letter to Catharine Macaulay Graham (1790)
“To hold together what he was and is.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) English poet, author
Bk. I, l. 1-8. <br class="br"> Aurora Leigh http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/barrett/aurora/aurora.html (1857) <br class="br">Context: Of writing many books there is no end;<br>And I who have written much in prose and verse<br>For others' uses, will write now for mine,—<br>Will write my story for my better self,<br>As when you paint your portrait for a friend,<br>Who keeps it in a drawer and looks at it<br>Long after he has ceased to love you, just<br>To hold together what he was and is.
“The seeds of love have taken hold and if we won't burn together, I'll burn alone.”
Bret Easton Ellis The Rules of Attraction
Source: The Rules of Attraction