“He lives to build, not boast, a generous race;
No tenth transmitter of a foolish face.”
The Bastard (1728), line 7, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
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Richard Savage 4
English poet 1697–1743Related quotes
The Evolution of A Revolt (1920)
Context: Nine-tenths of tactics are certain, and taught in books: but the irrational tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and that is the test of generals. It can only be ensured by instinct, sharpened by thought practicing the stroke so often that at the crisis it is as natural as a reflex.
“Foolish names and foolish faces often appear in public places.”
Source: American Wife
"Lord Bacon", (1837) in Essays 2:183
Attributed
Confessions Of A Sceptic
The Nemesis of Faith (1849)
“He wasn't involved with a race that could build a thing it had to escape from.”
Pt. 3
Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962)
Stanza xvii.
One Word More (1855)
Page 64.
The Passing of the Great Race (1916)
Larry King Live interview (2010)
Context: I don't hate America. I love America. I want it to be better. The only way we can get it to be better is to realistically criticize what's wrong with it. That's not what the Republicans do. … I don't want to be a pessimist. I'm a realist. One man's realist is another man's pessimist. But, no, I'm not like Mitt Romney, whose book is called No Apology, the Case for American Greatness. Really? Always waving the big foam number one finger; we're not number one in most things. We're number one in military. We're number one in money. We're number one in fat toddlers, meth labs, and people we send to prison. We're not number one in literacy, money spent on education. We're not even number one in social mobility. Social mobility means basically the American dream, the ability of one generation to do better than the next. We're tenth. That's like Sweden coming tenth in Swedish meatballs.