No. 20.
Aphorisms (1930)
“When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest.”
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
"On The Spirit of Controversy," The Atlas (30 January 1830), reprinted in The Collected Works of William Hazlitt (1902-1904)
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) English poet
Letter to Robert Bridges (24 October 1883)
Letters, etc
Context: You do not mean by mystery what a Catholic does. You mean an interesting uncertainty: the uncertainty ceasing, interest ceases also... But a Catholic by mystery means an incomprehensible certainty: without certainty, without formulation there is no interest;... the clearer the formulation the greater the interest.
“The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.”
Shirley MacLaine (1934) American actress
“A truth ceases to be true when more than one person believes in it.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Source: Complete Works of Oscar Wilde
“Knowledge ceases to be wisdom when one has no method for making sense or use of what one learns.”
Michael Moorcock (1939) English writer, editor, critic
Source: Book 2, Chapter 7 (p. 591), The Dragon in the Sword (1986)
“Violence is not completely fatal until it ceases to disturb us.”
Thomas Merton (1915–1968) Priest and author
Source: Thoughts in Solitude
“We cease loving ourselves if no one loves us.”
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël (1766–1817) Swiss author
On cesse de s'aimer si quelqu'un ne nous aime.
Sophie, or The Secret Sentiments (Sophie, ou les sentiments secrets, 1790), Act 2, sc. 8
“Movement will cease before we are weary of being useful.”
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Renaissance polymath
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883), X Studies and Sketches for Pictures and Decorations
“A system is never finished being developed until it ceases to be used.”
Gerald M. Weinberg (1933–2018) American computer scientist
Attributed to Gerald M. Weinberg in: Hannes P. Lubich (1995) Towards a CSCW Framework for Scientific Cooperation in Europe. p. 7
