Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)
“Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen. Few in pursuit of the goal.”
Source: "The Engineer as an Economist," 1886, p. 428; Second paragraph
Context: To insure the best results, the organization of productive labor must be directed and controlled by persons having not only good executive ability, and possessing the practical familiarity of a mechanic or engineer with the goods produced and the processes employed, but having also, and equally, a practical knowledge of how to observe, record, analyze and compare essential facts in relation to wages, supplies, expense accounts, and all else that enters into or affects the economy of production and the cost of the product. There are many good mechanical engineers; — there are also many good " businessmen;"— but the two are rarely combined in one person. But this combination of qualities, together with at least some skill as an accountant, either in one person or more, is essential to the successful management of industrial works, and has its highest effectiveness if united in one person, who is thus qualified to supervise, either personally or through assistants, the operations of all departments of a business, and to subordinate each to the harmonious development of the whole.
“I myself, however, when a young man, was at first led by inclination, like most others, to engage in political affairs; but in that pursuit many circumstances were unfavorable to me; for, instead of modesty, temperance, and integrity, there prevailed shamelessness, corruption, and rapacity.”
Sed ego adolescentulus initio sicuti plerique studio ad rem publicam latus sum, ibique mihi multa adversa fuere. Nam pro pudore, pro abstinentia, pro virtute, audacia, largitio, avaritia vigebant.
Source: Bellum Catilinae (c. 44 BC), Chapter III
From Richard Bartle's blog http://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2007/QBlog180507A.html, dated 18th May 2007
Quote of Vincent's letter to Theo, from Amsterdam, 3 April 1878; a cited in The Letters of Vincent van Gogh to his Brother, 1872-1886 (1927) Constable & Co
Variant: Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.
As quoted in Wisdom for the Soul : Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing (2006) by Larry Chang, p. 483
1870s
Context: If only we try to live sincerely, it will go well with us, even though we are certain to experience real sorrow, and great disappointments, and also will probably commit great faults and do wrong things, but it certainly is true, that it is better to be high-spirited, even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent. It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love, is well done.
St. 1
Song: Rarely, Rarely, Comest Thou http://www.poetryconnection.net/poets/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley/17889 (1821)
“Many have pursued honor, and in the pursuit lost more of it than ever they could gain.”
Source: The Chronicles of Prydain (1964–1968), Book IV: Taran Wanderer (1967), Chapter 21
Context: “When I was a child I dreamed of adventure, glory, honor in feats of arms. I think now that these things are shadows.”
“If you see them as shadows then you see them for what they are,” Annlaw agreed. “Many have pursued honor, and in the pursuit lost more of it than ever they could gain.”
“How many cities have revealed themselves to me in the marches I undertook in the pursuit of books!”
Source: Illuminations: Essays and Reflections
“Rarely has a movie this expensive provided so many quotable lines.”
Review http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ghostbusters-1984 of Ghostbusters (1 January 1984)
Reviews, Three-and-a-half star reviews
“The rare few, who, early in life, have rid themselves of the friendship of the many.”
Dedication
1870 - 1903, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies' (1890)
