“Would not anyone who is a man have his slumbers broken by a war-trumpet rather than by a chorus of serenaders?”
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter LI: On Baiae and Morals
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Seneca the Younger225
Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist -4–65 BCRelated quotes
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
1860s, Second Inaugural Address (1865)
Context: On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it — all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war — seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.
“I would rather hire a man with enthusiasm, than a man who knows everything.”
John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) American business magnate and philanthropist
As quoted in Classic Wisdom for the Professional Life (2010) by Bryan Curtis, p. 75
Plutarch (46–127) ancient Greek historian and philosopher
49 Themistocles
Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders
“Anyone who thinks must think of the next war as they would of suicide.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
Source: Eleanor and Franklin
“Anyone who would go to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined!”
Samuel Goldwyn (1879–1974) American film producer (1879-1974).
Reported in Paul F. Boller, John George, They Never Said It (1990), p. 42. A similar quote appears in the landmark book by Hollingshead and Redlich, ``Social Class and Mental Illness (1958), p. 237: The old saw, "Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined," is applicable here.
Misattributed
Alan Moore (1953) English writer primarily known for his work in comic books
"The Craft" - interview with Daniel Whiston, Engine Comics (January 2005)
“I would rather be a man of paradoxes than a man of prejudices.”
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) Genevan philosopher
Source: Emile or On Education
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay (1800–1859) British historian and Whig politician
Letter to his Niece (15 September 1842)