Source: Emma
“If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-British philosopher
Variant: If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done.
Source: Culture and Value (1980), p. 50e
“Silly people say stupid things, clever people do them.”
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830–1916) Austrian writer
Alberne Leute sagen Dummheiten. Gescheite Leute machen sie.
Source: Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 70.
Henry S. Haskins (1875–1957)
Source: Meditations in Wall Street (1940), p. 107
“And I don't like doing silly things (except on purpose).”
Larry Wall (1954) American computer programmer and author, creator of Perl
Usenet postings, 1992
“We all believe silly things. What matters is how silly and how many.”
Guy P. Harrison (1963) American skeptic author
“It's such a silly little thing, the heart.”
Ned Vizzini book It's Kind of a Funny Story
Source: It's Kind of a Funny Story
Pierre Beaumarchais book The Barber of Seville
Que les gens d'esprit sont bêtes.
Act I, scene i. Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 883-86.
Le Barbier de Séville (1773)
“You are a vain fellow. You want to be a hero. That is why you do such silly things.”
Romain Rolland (1866–1944) French author
Gottfried to Jean-Christophe. Part 3: Ada
Variant translation: A hero is one who does what he can. The others don't.
As quoted in A Book of French Quotations (1963) by Norbert Guterman, p. 365
Jean-Christophe (1904 - 1912), Youth (1904)
Context: You are a vain fellow. You want to be a hero. That is why you do such silly things. A hero!... I don't quite know what that is: but, you see, I imagine that a hero is a man who does what he can. The others do not do it.
