“This same philosophy is a good horse in the stable, but an arrant jade on a journey.”

—  Oliver Goldsmith

Act I.
The Good-Natured Man (1768)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "This same philosophy is a good horse in the stable, but an arrant jade on a journey." by Oliver Goldsmith?
Oliver Goldsmith photo
Oliver Goldsmith 134
Irish physician and writer 1728–1774

Related quotes

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington photo

“If a gentleman happens to be born in a stable, it does not follow that he should be called a horse.”

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) British soldier and statesman

As quoted in Genetic Studies in Joyce (1995) by David Hayman and Sam Slote. Though such remarks have often been quoted as Wellington's response on being called Irish, the earliest published sources yet found for similar comments are those about him attributed to an Irish politician:
The poor old Duke! what shall I say of him? To be sure he was born in Ireland, but being born in a stable does not make a man a horse.
Daniel O'Connell, in a speech (16 October 1843), as quoted in Shaw's Authenticated Report of the Irish State Trials (1844), p. 93 http://books.google.com/books?id=dpKbWonMghwC&pg=PA93&dq=%22+make+a+man+a+horse%22&num=100&ei=0YVZSIWXCIiSjgG37bGIDA
No, he is not an Irishman. He was born in Ireland; but being born in a stable does not make a man a horse.
Daniel O'Connell during a speech (16 October 1843), as quoted in Reports of State Trials: New Series Volume V, 1843 to 1844 (1893) "The Queen Against O'Connell and Others", p. 206 http://books.google.com/books?id=zWETAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT108&dq=%22+make+a+man+a+horse%22&num=100&ei=MohZSJ-PK4a4jgG-lLGJDA
Variants: If a man be born in a stable, that does not make him a horse.
Quoted as as an anonymous proverb in Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English and Foreign Sources (1899), p. 171
Because a man is born in a stable that does not make him a horse.
Quoted as a dubious statement perhaps made early in his career in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (1992) edited by John Simpson and Jennifer Speake, p. 162.
Misattributed

Robert Jordan photo

“A slow horse does not always reach the end of the journey.”

Robert Jordan (1948–2007) American writer

Lini
(15 October 1994)

Lalu Prasad Yadav photo

“Wagon is the bread-earning horse of the Railways. Load it adequately. Make it run and don't stable it.”

Lalu Prasad Yadav (1948) Indian politician

When some of the Railway Board members expressed apprehensions in increasing wagon loads, a decision which alone generated Rs 7,200 crore (Rs 72 billion) (Source: Lalu to teach management at IIM-A http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/aug/30iim1.htm).

John Steinbeck photo

“The profession of book-writing makes horse-racing seem like a solid, stable business.”

John Steinbeck book The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights (1976), but a statement he is first quoted as having made in Newsweek (24 December 1962)

Richard Cobden photo

“What, then, is the good of this "protection"? Why, the country have come to regard it, as they regard witchcraft, as a mere sound and a delusion. They no more regard your precautions against free trade, than they regard the horse-shoes that are nailed over the stables to keep the witches away from the horses.”

Richard Cobden (1804–1865) English manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman

Speech http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1846/feb/27/commercial-policy-customs-corn-laws in the House of Commons (27 February 1846).
1840s

Confucius photo

“The scholar does not consider gold and jade to be precious treasures, but loyalty and good faith.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

Source: The Ethics of Confucius

Herodotus photo

“It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.”

Herodotus book Histories

Book 8, Ch. 98
variant: Not snow, no, nor rain, nor heat, nor night keeps them from accomplishing their appointed courses with all speed. (Book 8, Ch. 98)
Paraphrase: "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" ”
Appears carved over entrance to Central Post Office building in New York City.
The Histories

Rick Riordan photo

“Whathat!" Tyson gasped.
"Those are the stables for the pegasi," I replied, "You know, winged horses?"
"Whasthat!"
"Um… those are the toilets.”

Rick Riordan book The Sea of Monsters

Source: The Sea of Monsters

Jeffrey Montgomery photo

“In a debate on “gay” marriage, the opponent said “Next thing you’ll be marrying horses!” Jeff responded, “Well, at least I’d be in a stable relationship!””

Jeffrey Montgomery (1953–2016) American LGBT rights activist and public relations executive
Ursula K. Le Guin photo

“It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

Ursula K. Le Guin Hainish Cycle

Source: Hainish Cycle, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), Chapter 15 “To the Ice” (p. 220)

Related topics