“Modesty is only arrogance by stealth.”

—  Terry Pratchett, The Long Earth

Source: The Long Earth

Last update Sept. 29, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Modesty is only arrogance by stealth." by Terry Pratchett?
Terry Pratchett photo
Terry Pratchett796
English author 1948–2015

Related quotes

Slavoj Žižek photo

“I believe in clear-cut positions. I think that the most arrogant position is this apparent, multidisciplinary modesty of "what I am saying now is not unconditional, it is just a hypothesis," and so on. It really is a most arrogant position. I think that the only way to be honest and expose yourself to criticism is to state clearly and dogmatically where you are. You must take the risk and have a position.”

Slavoj Žižek (1949) Slovene philosopher

Conversations with Žižek by Slavoj Žižek and Glyn Daly (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004), p. 45

Boutros Boutros-Ghali photo

“The lesson I learned in Cairo still applies. The only way to deal with bureaucrats is with stealth and sudden violence.”

Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1922–2016) 6th Secretary-General of the United Nations

Statement of 1993, as quoted in The Coming Plague : Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance (1995) by Laurie Garrett, p. 592, and in Preventive Diplomacy : Stopping Wars before they Start (1996) by Kevin M. Cahill, p. 254
1990s

William Hazlitt photo

“Those who aim at faultless regularity will only produce mediocrity, and no one ever approaches perfection except by stealth, and unknown to themselves.”

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer

"Thoughts on Taste", Edinburgh Magazine (July 1819), final paragraph

Alexander Pope photo

“Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.”

Alexander Pope An Essay on Man

Source: An Essay on Man

“An arrogant independence to create is my only motivation.”

David Smith (1906–1965) American visual artist (1906-1965)

Selden Rodman, Conversations With Artists, 1957
1950s

Joe Clark photo

“We will not take this nation by storm or by stealth or by surprise. We will win it by work.”

Joe Clark (1939) 16th Prime Minister of Canada

February, 1976, regarding his leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party. ( http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/federal_politics/clips/6511/, "Did You Know?")

Nayef Al-Rodhan photo

“In the “stealth era,” battlefield strength might just be dictated by the level of stealth or invisibility technology at the disposal of combatants. This is likely to trigger a scientific and technological race, as well as provide new platforms for countries to enhance their prestige domestically and internationally.”

Nayef Al-Rodhan (1959) philosopher, neuroscientist, geostrategist, and author

Cloaks of Invisibility: The Latest Frontier in Military Technology http://journal.georgetown.edu/2014/03/06/cloaks-of-invisibility-the-latest-frontier-in-military-technology-by-nayef-al-rodhan/ - Georgetown Journal, March 2014

Charles Lamb photo

“The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.”

Charles Lamb (1775–1834) English essayist

Quoted in "Table Talk" http://books.google.com/books?id=LIxUAAAAcAAJ&q=%22greatest+pleasure+I+know+is+to+do+a+good+action+by+stealth+and+to+have+it+found+out+by+accident%22&pg=PA14#v=onepage in The Athenaeum magazine (4 January 1834).

James Patterson photo

“Fang! Angel?" i yelled, not even trying for stealth. i was storming the castle, not stealing the jewels.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: Fang

Tony Benn photo

“There is no moral difference between a Stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. They both kill innocent people for political reasons.”

Tony Benn (1925–2014) British Labour Party politician

Question Time (22 March 2007).
2000s
Context: I was born about a quarter of a mile from where we are sitting now and I was here in London during the Blitz. And every night I went down into the shelter. 500 people killed, my brother was killed, my friends were killed. And when the Charter of the UN was read to me, I was a pilot coming home in a troop ship: 'We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.' That was the pledge my generation gave to the younger generation and you tore it up. And it's a war crime that's been committed in Iraq, because there is no moral difference between a stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. Both kill innocent people for political reasons.

Related topics