“In political activity, then, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea; there is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place nor appointed destination. The enterprise is to keep afloat on an even keel; the sea is both friend and enemy; and the seamanship consists in using the resources of a traditional manner of behaviour in order to make a friend of every hostile occasion.”
Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays (1962)
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Michael Oakeshott12
British philosopher 1901–1990Related quotes
Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer
Source: Again the Magic
Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) 19th-20th century Spanish writer and philosopher
The Tragic Sense of Life (1913), IV : The Essence of Catholicism
“Speak no ill of a friend, nor even of an enemy.”
Pittacus of Mytilene Greek sage
As quoted by Diogenes Laërtius, i. 78.
Jared Diamond book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Page 349
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005)
Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until 1603
To the Spanish Ambassador (1580).
“Longingly—I think of my friends,
But neither boat nor carriage comes.”
Tao Yuanming (365–427) Chinese poet
"Flood" (translation by A. Waley)