“Words should be employed as the means, not as the end: language is the instrument, conviction is the work.”
Discourse no. 4; vol. 1, p. 94.
Discourses on Art
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Joshua Reynolds 22
English painter, specialising in portraits 1723–1792Related quotes

The History of Freedom in Christianity (1877)
Context: The idea that the ends of government justify the means employed, was worked into system by Machiavelli. He was an acute politician, sincerely anxious that the obstacles to the intelligent government of Italy should be swept away. It appeared to him that the most vexatious obstacle to intellect is conscience, and that the vigorous use of statecraft necessary for the success of difficult schemes would never be made if governments allowed themselves to be hampered by the precepts of the copy-book.
His audacious doctrine was avowed in the succeeding age, by men whose personal character otherwise stood high. They saw that in critical times good men have seldom strength for their goodness, and yield to those who have grasped the meaning of the maxim that you cannot make an omelette if you are afraid to break the eggs. They saw that public morality differs from private, because no government can turn the other cheek, or can admit that mercy is better than justice. And they could not define the difference, or draw the limits of exception; or tell what other standard for a nation’s acts there is than the judgment which heaven pronounces in this world by success.

“No word in our language — not even "Socialism"— has been employed more loosely than "Mysticism."”
Christian Mysticism (1899) http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14596, Preface
Context: No word in our language — not even "Socialism"— has been employed more loosely than "Mysticism." … The history of the word begins in close connexion with the Greek mysteries. A mystic is one who has been, or is being, initiated into some esoteric knowledge of Divine things, about which he must keep his mouth shut…

“The language of Friendship is not words, but meanings.”
Source: A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

In p. 14.
Uniqueness of Zakir Husain and His Contributions (1997)

Source: Philosophy of Education, p. 88.

“Cannon, n. An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries.”
The Devil's Dictionary (1911)

Source: Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice