“Never forget what you would rather forget!”
Fausto Cercignani (1941) Italian scholar, essayist and poet
Examples of self-translation (c. 2004), Quotes - Zitate - Citations - Citazioni
“One should never forget, that society would rather be amused than instructed.”
Vor allen Dingen soll man nie vergessen, daß die Gesellschaft lieber unterhalten, als unterrichtet sein will.
Variant translation: Above all, we should never forget that society would prefer to be entertained, than taught.
Über den Umgang mit Menschen (1788)
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Adolph Freiherr Knigge20
German writer and Freemason 1752–1796Related quotes
Gerald of Wales (1146) Medieval clergyman and historian
Edward A Freeman The History of the Norman Conquest of England Vol. 5 (1876) p. 579.
Criticism
“Perhaps one has to be very old before one learns to be amused rather than shocked.”
Robert Browning (1812–1889) English poet and playwright of the Victorian Era
Not Browning, but a misquotation from Pearl Buck's China, Past and Present: "Ah well, perhaps one has to be very old before one learns how to be amused rather than shocked".
Misattributed
“Ah well, perhaps one has to be very old before one learns how to be amused rather than shocked.”
Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American writer
China, Past and Present (1972) Ch. 6
“One can forgive but one should never forget.”
Marjane Satrapi (1969) Artist
Source: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Ravachol (1859–1892) French anarchist
Oui, je le répète : c'est la société qui fait les criminels, et vous jurés, au lieu de les frapper, vous devriez employer votre intelligence et vos forces à transformer la société. Du coup, vous supprimeriez tous les crimes ; et votre œuvre, en s'attaquant aux causes, serait plus grande et plus féconde que n'est votre justice qui s'amoindrit à punir les effets.
Trial statement
Brian Campbell Vickery (1918–2009) British information theorist
Source: Information Systems (1973), p. 1.
Eric Hoffer (1898–1983) American philosopher
Source: The Ordeal of Change (1963), Ch. 12: "Concerning Individual Freedom". [In this passage "work, fight, talk, for liberty than have it" is a quotation of Lincoln Steffens from The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens (1931), p. 635]
Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) French writer (1821–1880)
Correspondence, Letters to Mademoiselle Leroyer de Chantepie
Variant: Do not read as children do to enjoy themselves, or, as the ambitious do to educate themselves. No, read to live.
Context: Do not read as children do to enjoy themselves, or, as the ambitious do to educate themselves. No, read to live. (June 1857)