“Youth, what man's age is like to be doth show,
We may our ends by our beginnings know.”
John Denham (1615–1669) English poet and courtier
Of Prudence, line 225.
Source: Of Prudence (1668), line 225
“Youth, what man's age is like to be doth show,
We may our ends by our beginnings know.”
John Denham (1615–1669) English poet and courtier
Of Prudence, line 225.
Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968) American politician and brother of John F. Kennedy
On the Mindless Menace of Violence (1968)
Context: Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence. We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.
“We learn a lot from the mistakes of others, but even more from our own.”
Fausto Cercignani (1941) Italian scholar, essayist and poet
Examples of self-translation (c. 2004), Quotes - Zitate - Citations - Citazioni
Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon
Source: Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence
“Learned we may be with another man's learning: we can only be wise with wisdom of our own.”
Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman
Source: The Complete Essays
Kofi Annan (1938–2018) 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations
Nobel lecture (2001)
Context: In every great faith and tradition one can find the values of tolerance and mutual understanding. The Qur’a, for example, tells us that "We created you from a single pair of male and female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other." Confucius urged his followers: "when the good way prevails in the state, speak boldly and act boldly. When the state has lost the way, act boldly and speak softly." In the Jewish tradition, the injunction to "love thy neighbour as thyself," is considered to be the very essence of the Torah.
This thought is reflected in the Christian Gospel, which also teaches us to love our enemies and pray for those who wish to persecute us. Hindus are taught that "truth is one, the sages give it various names." And in the Buddhist tradition, individuals are urged to act with compassion in every facet of life.
Each of us has the right to take pride in our particular faith or heritage. But the notion that what is ours is necessarily in conflict with what is theirs is both false and dangerous. It has resulted in endless enmity and conflict, leading men to commit the greatest of crimes in the name of a higher power.
It need not be so. People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what — and who — we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.
“…we learn resignation not by our own suffering, but by the suffering of others.”
W. Somerset Maugham book The Summing Up
Source: The Summing Up (1938), p. 64
“Whence thy learning? Hath thy toil
O'er books consumed the midnight oil?”
John Gay (1685–1732) English poet and playwright
Introduction, "The Shepherd and the Philosopher"; "Midnight oil" was a common phrase, used by Quarles, Shenstone, Cowper, Lloyd, and others.
Fables (1727)