Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
July 14, 1852
Journals (1838-1859)
The God-Seeker (1949), Ch. 57
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
July 14, 1852
Journals (1838-1859)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
1950s, Rediscovering Lost Values (1954)
Context: Now that isn't the only thing that convinces me that we've strayed away from this attitude, this principle. The other thing is that we have adopted a sort of a pragmatic test for right and wrong—whatever works is right. If it works, it's all right. Nothing is wrong but that which does not work. If you don't get caught, it's right. [laughter] That's the attitude, isn't it? It's all right to disobey the Ten Commandments, but just don't disobey the eleventh, "Thou shall not get caught." [laughter] That's the attitude. That's the prevailing attitude in our culture. No matter what you do, just do it with a bit of finesse. You know, a sort of attitude of the survival of the slickest. Not the Darwinian survival of the fittest, but the survival of the slickest—whoever can be the slickest is the one who right. It's all right to lie, but lie with dignity. [laughter] It's all right to steal and to rob and extort, but do it with a bit of finesse. It's even all right to hate, but just dress your hate up in the garments of love and make it appear that you are loving when you are actually hating. Just get by! That's the thing that's right according to this new ethic. My friends, that attitude is destroying the soul of our culture. It's destroying our nation.
Alan Grayson (1958) American politician
"Grayson Has No Plans to Pull His Verbal Punches", Orlando Sentinet, October 30, 2009, http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2009/10/grayson-no-plans-to-tone-down-the-verbal-strikes.html. <br class="br">2009, Regarding himself
“I saw something nasty in the woodshed.”
Stella Gibbons book Cold Comfort Farm
Source: Cold Comfort Farm
Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) American judge
Douglas v. Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157, 181 (1943)
Judicial opinions
Ally Carter (1974) American writer
Source: United We Spy
“Funny how a beautiful song could tell such an ugly story.”
Variant: funny how a beautiful song could tell such a sad story
Source: Lock and Key
Plutarch (46–127) ancient Greek historian and philosopher
50 Alcibiades
Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders
Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930–1999) Novelist, editor
Source: Introduction to Hawk’s Hill in Marion Zimmer Bradley (ed.), Sword and Sorceress 7 (1990), p. 183