“To say anything was useless, to say nothing was cowardly.”

—  Bernard Cornwell

Captain Richard Sharpe, in response to the suggestion of whipping sixty men, p. 151
Sharpe (Novel Series), Sharpe's Eagle (1981)
Context: To say anything was useless, to say nothing was cowardly. "I think it a bad idea, Sir."

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 "To say anything was useless, to say nothing was cowardly." by Bernard Cornwell?
Bernard Cornwell photo
Bernard Cornwell175
British writer 1944

Related quotes

Samuel Johnson photo

“A Frenchman must be always talking, whether he knows anything of the matter or not; an Englishman is content to say nothing, when he has nothing to say.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

1780, p. 446
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol IV

Khaled Hosseini photo

“Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything”

Khaled Hosseini book The Kite Runner

Source: The Kite Runner

Emil M. Cioran photo

“There is nothing to say about anything. So there can be no limit to the number of books.”

Emil M. Cioran book The Trouble With Being Born

The Trouble With Being Born (1973)

Thomas Merton photo

“If our life is poured out in useless words, we will never hear anything, never become anything, and in the end, because we have said everything before we had anything to say, we shall be left speechless at the moment of our greatest decision.”

Thomas Merton (1915–1968) Priest and author

Source: Thoughts in Solitude

Charles Bukowski photo

“It’s not so much that nothing means
anything but more that it keeps meaning
nothing.
there’s no release, just gurus and self-
appointed gods and hucksters.
the more people say, the less there is to say.
even the best books are dry sawdust.”

Charles Bukowski book The People Look Like Flowers at Last

Source: The People Look Like Flowers at Last

Ben Stein photo

“There's no evidence whatsoever that Darwin had anything useful to say or anything to say period about how life began or how the universe began or how gravity began or how physics began or fluid motion or how thermodynamics began. He had nothing to say about that whatsoever.”

Ben Stein (1944) actor, writer, commentator, lawyer, teacher, humorist

On his points of making Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYL9uuqgwpw

“I didn’t say anything because I didn’t have anything to say.”

Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) American speculative fiction writer

The Moment of the Storm (p. 181)
Short fiction, The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth, and Other Stories (1971)

Khaled Hosseini photo

“Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything - that is how, it is between people who are each other's first memories”

Khaled Hosseini book The Kite Runner

Source: The Kite Runner

William Saroyan photo

“We didn't say anything because there was such an awful lot to say, and no language to say it in.”

William Saroyan book My Name Is Aram

"The Pomegranate Tree"
My Name Is Aram (1940)

“One who says the truth says hardly anything.”

Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet

Quien dice la verdad, casi no dice nada.
Voces (1943)

Related topics