“The past is a work of art, free of irrelevancies and loose ends.”
Max Beerbohm (1872–1956) English writer
Comment
“The past is a work of art, free of irrelevancies and loose ends.”
Max Beerbohm (1872–1956) English writer
Comment
Dave Matthews (1967) American singer-songwriter, musician and actor
Ants Marching
Remember Two Things (1993)
Nicole Hollander (1939) Cartoonist
Source: Sylvia cartoon strip, p. 26
Richard Nixon (1913–1994) 37th President of the United States of America
From In The Arena (1990)
1990s
Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642) French clergyman, noble and statesman
Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
As quoted in The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1896) by Jehiel K̀eeler Hoyt, p. 763
Édouard Fournier, in L'Espirit dans l'Historie (1867), 3rd edition, Ch. 51, p. 260, disputes the traditional attribution, and suggests various agents of Richelieu might have been the actual author.
David Hackett Fischer, in Champlain's Dream (2009), Simon & Schuster, p. 704, n. 14, says it's a paraphrase of Quintilian and there is no source closer to Richelieu than Francoise Bertaut's Memoires pour servir à l'histoire d'Anne d'Autriche.
Disputed
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) 32nd President of the United States
The earliest citation yet found does not attribute this to Roosevelt, but presents it as a piece of anonymous piece folk-wisdom: "When one reaches the end of his rope, he should tie a knot in it and hang on" ( LIFE magazine (3 April 1919), p. 585 http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89063018576?urlappend=%3Bseq=65). <br class="br">Misattributed <br class="br">Variant: When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.