“I raise my stein to the builder who can remove ghettos without removing people as I hail the chef who can make omelets without breaking eggs.”

The True Conception of Empire http://www.bartleby.com/268/5/14.html (31 March 1897). Speech given to the Royal Colonial Institute.<br>The phrase &quot;omlets are not made without breaking eggs&quot; first appeared in English in 1796. It is from the French, &quot;on ne saurait faire d&#x27;omelette sans casser des œufs&quot; (1742 and earlier), attributed to François de Charette. <br class="br">1890s <br class="br">Context: You can not have omelettes without breaking eggs; you can not destroy the practises of barbarism, of slavery, of superstition, which for centuries have desolated the interior of Africa, without the use of force; but if you will fairly contrast the gain to humanity with the price which we are bound to pay for it, I think you may well rejoice in the result of such expeditions as those which have recently been conducted with such signal success in Nyassaland, Ashanti, Benin, and Nupé—expeditions which may have, and indeed have, cost valuable lives, but as to which we may rest assured that for one life lost a hundred will be gained, and the cause of civilization and the prosperity of the people will in the long run be eminently advanced.

In this song Dasa’s reference to ‘cupid’ is to a mythological episode in which Shiva destroys Manmatha the demi god for hindering his penance. However, he is rescued by Parvati, Shiva’s consort and adopted as their own son Pradyumna in a rebirth in the subsequent era of Lord Krishna. This is considered as a noble act. The translated version is here.[Narayan, M.K.V., Lyrical Musings on Indic Culture: A Sociology Study of Songs of Sant Purandara Dasa, http://books.google.com/books?id=-r7AxJp6NOYC&pg=PA79, 1 January 2010, Readworthy, 978-93-80009-31-5, 89]

Attributed

Inaugural address (March 4, 1841)

Source: Winter Moon

As quoted in Freedom: A New Analysis (1954) by Maurice William Cranston, p. 112

2010s, Tawakul Karman, Yemeni activist, and thorn in the side of Saleh (2011)

Healing
One Minute Wisdom (1989)
Source: Awareness: A de Mello Spirituality Conference in His Own Words

Lyrics, Misc.