“Bold knaves thrive without one grain of sense,
But good men starve for want of impudence.”
Constantine the Great (1684), Epilogue.
Source: The Poetical Works of John Dryden
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John Dryden196
English poet and playwright of the XVIIth century 1631–1700Related quotes
“To agree without understanding is inane. To disagree without understanding is impudent.”
Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) American philosopher and educator
Source: How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist
Song lyrics, Slow Train Coming (1979), Slow Train
“Titles are marks of honest men, and wise;
The fool or knave that wears a title lies.”
Edward Young (1683–1765) English poet
Satire I, l. 145.
Love of Fame (1725-1728)
Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974) American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist
Aviation, Geography, and Race (1939)
Context: A great industrial nation may conquer the world in the span of a single life, but its Achilles' heel is time. Its children, what of them? The second and third generations, of what numbers and stuff will they be? How long can men thrive between walls of brick, walking on asphalt pavements, breathing the fumes of coal and of oil, growing, working, dying, with hardly a thought of wind, and sky, and fields of grain, seeing only machine-made beauty, the mineral-like quality of life. This is our modern danger — one of the waxen wings of flight. It may cause our civilization to fall unless we act quickly to counteract it, unless we realize that human character is more important than efficiency, that education consists of more than the mere accumulation of knowledge.
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647–1680) English poet, and peer of the realm
ll. 169-171.
A Satire Against Mankind (1679)
William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879) American journalist
Introductory Remarks
Thoughts on African Colonization (1832)
Context: Little boldness is needed to assail the opinions and practices of notoriously wicked men; but to rebuke great and good men for their conduct, and to impeach their discernment, is the highest effort of moral courage. The great mass of mankind shun the labor and responsibility of forming opinions for themselves. The question is not — what is true? but — what is popular? Not — what does God say? but — what says the public? Not — what is my opinion? but — what do others believe?
Aaron C. Brown (1956) American financial analyst
Source: The Poker Face of Wall Street (2006), Chapter 4, A Brief History of Risk Denial, p. 81
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) Russian dramatist, author and physician
Letter to A.S. Suvorin (October 20, 1891)
Letters