“Obstinacy in a bad cause, is but constancy in a good.”

— Thomas Browne, book Religio Medici

Section 25
Religio Medici (1643), Part I

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Obstinacy in a bad cause, is but constancy in a good." by Thomas Browne?

Thomas Browne photo

Thomas Browne78

English polymath 1605–1682

Related quotes

“Tis known by the name of perseverance in a good cause — and of obstinacy in a bad one.”

Laurence Sterne book The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

Book I, Ch. 17.
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1760-1767)

“A good cause can become bad if we fight for it with means that are indiscriminately murderous. A bad cause can become good if enough people fight for it in a spirit of comradeship and self-sacrifice. In the end it is how you fight, as much as why you fight, that makes your cause good or bad.”

Freeman Dyson (1923) theoretical physicist and mathematician

Disturbing the Universe (1979)
Context: A good cause can become bad if we fight for it with means that are indiscriminately murderous. A bad cause can become good if enough people fight for it in a spirit of comradeship and self-sacrifice. In the end it is how you fight, as much as why you fight, that makes your cause good or bad. <!-- Pt. 1, Ch. 4

“The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of cause.”

Larry Niven book The Legacy of Heorot

Source: The Legacy of Heorot (1987), Chapter 22 “The Last Grendel” (p. 231; quoting William James)

“We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.”

William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist

Letter to E.L. Godkin (24 December 1895)
1890s

“The band? It's over. Reunited because of the good cause (Live 8), to get over the bad relationship, and not to have regrets.”

David Gilmour (1946) guitarist, singer, best known as a member of Pink Floyd

Ruling out the possibility of a permanent reunion of Pink Floyd in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica (February 2006)

“The Mojave is a big desert and a frightening one. It’s as though nature tested a man for endurance and constancy to prove whether he was good enough to get to California.”

John Steinbeck (1902–1968) American writer

Pt. 3
Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962)

“If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made man to enjoy felicity and constancy of good.”

Epictetus (50–138) philosopher from Ancient Greece

122
Golden Sayings of Epictetus

“A physicist looks for causes; that does not necessarily imply that there are causes everywhere. A man may look for gold without assuming that there is gold everywhere; if he finds gold, well and good, if he doesn't he's had bad luck. The same is true when the physicists look for causes.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

BBC Radio Debate on the Existence of God, Russell vs. Copleston (1948)
1940s

“Technology happens, it's not good, it's not bad. Is steel good or bad?”

Andrew S. Grove (1936–2016) Hungarian-born American businessman, engineer, and author

Time, TIME: Man Of The Year, Walter, Isaacson, 1997-12-29 http://www.time.com/time/special/moy/grove/opener1.html, <br class="br">1980s - 1990s

“Trying too hard to be too good, even when trying to be bad, is too good for the bad, too bad for the good.”

Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman

Imperfection http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/21399/Imperfection <br class="br">From the poems written in English

Related topics