
“The most talented man, as he has been told many times, does a hundred foolish things in his life.”
"You and Me and P. B. Shelley" http://books.google.com/books?id=zixbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Life+is+not+having+been+told+that+the+man+has+just+waxed+the+floor%22&pg=PA5#v=onepage
Good Intentions (1942)
“The most talented man, as he has been told many times, does a hundred foolish things in his life.”
“Oh, Wax has always been solemn, but when he's at his best, there's a smirk underneath.”
Source: The Alloy of Law
“Man is a rational animal – so at least I have been told.”
Often paraphrased as "It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this."
1950s, Unpopular Essays (1950)
Context: Man is a rational animal – so at least I have been told. Throughout a long life, I have looked diligently for evidence in favor of this statement, but so far I have not had the good fortune to come across it, though I have searched in many countries spread over three continents.
Source: Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West
33
tr. George Long (1888)
The Enchiridion (c. 135)