Pharaoh (1894–1895)
“It is a great folly to wish to be wise alone.”
C'est une grande folie de vouloir être sage tout seul.
Maxim 231.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)
“Navigating by the compass in a sea of clouds over Spain is all very well, it is very dashing, but—”
Source: Terre des Hommes (1939), Ch. I : The Craft
Context: "Navigating by the compass in a sea of clouds over Spain is all very well, it is very dashing, but—"
And I was struck by the graphic image:
"But you want to remember that below the sea of clouds lies eternity."
And suddenly that tranquil cloud-world, that world so harmless and simple that one sees below on rising out of the clouds, took on in my eyes a new quality. That peaceful world became a pitfall. I imagined the immense white pitfall spread beneath me. Below it reigned not what one might think — not the agitation of men, not the living tumult and bustle of cities, but a silence even more absolute than in the clouds, a peace even more final. This viscous whiteness became in my mind the frontier between the real and the unreal, between the known and the unknowable. Already I was beginning to realize that a spectacle has no meaning except it be seen through the glass of a culture, a civilization, a craft. Mountaineers too know the sea of clouds, yet it does not seem to them the fabulous curtain it is to me.
“He that has patience may compass anything.”
Source: Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532–1564), Fourth Book (1548, 1552), Chapter 48.
“Be not afraid to swear. Null and void are the perjuries of love; the winds bear them ineffective over land and the face of the sea. Great thanks to Jove! The Sire himself has decreed no oath should stand that love has taken in the folly of desire.”
Nec iurare time: veneris periuria venti<br/>inrita per terras et freta summa ferunt.<br/>gratia magna Iovi: vetuit Pater ipse valere,<br/>iurasset cupide quidquid ineptus amor.
Nec iurare time: veneris periuria venti
inrita per terras et freta summa ferunt.
gratia magna Iovi: vetuit Pater ipse valere,
iurasset cupide quidquid ineptus amor.
Bk. 1, no. 4, line 21.
Elegies
Speech to the House of Commons (8 June 1982) http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/60882a.htm
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985)
Context: From Stettin on the Baltic to Varna on the Black Sea, the regimes planted by totalitarianism have had more than thirty years to establish their legitimacy. But none — not one regime — has yet been able to risk free elections. Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.... If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.... Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated.
Source: The Best of All Possible Worlds (2006), Chapter 7, May The Best One Win, p. 138.
Source: (1776), Book IV, Chapter V, p. 563.
Source: A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832), Introduction, p. lvi
Rudd's first speech as Labor leader, 5 December 2006, 13 February 2008, The Australian http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20876,20876230-601,00.html,
2006
