“There is no desire more natural than the desire of knowledge.”
“There are plenty of people more «difficult» than me. ”
“In leadership, no word is more important than trust.”
“People will pay more to be entertained than educated.”
“It is better to be unfaithful than to be faithful without wanting to be.”
“Nobody dies faster than a tired soldier.”
Source: The Goblin Quest Series, Goblin War (2008), Chapter 14 (p. 276)
“To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.”
“Better the myth of happiness, than the myth of despair.”
The Cornelius Quartet, The Condition of Muzak (1977)
Source: The Mirror; or, Harlequin Everywhere (p. 786)
“There's nothing better than a good, blind referee.”
Misc.
“Apocalypses are easier slept through than experienced.”
Source: The Laundry Files, The Labyrinth Index (2018), Epilogue, “Debrief” (p. 360)
“Directing takes more courage than acting.”
As quoted in "Moon So-ri interview: “I wasn’t relaxed enough for us to improvise!”" in Eastern Kicks (6 June 2018) https://www.easternkicks.com/features/moon-so-ri-interview-2
“It is surely better to be wronged than to do wrong.”
In Memory Yet Green (1979), p. 175
General sources
“The People is always worth more than individuals.”
As quoted in Portrayals of Revolution, Images, Debates, and Patterns of Thought on the French Revolution, p. 27, by Noel Parker, Southern Illinois University Press
“A referendum is little more than a "rumour of choice."”
The idea behind the mechanism, ever since its first modern manifestations two centuries ago under Napoleon, has been to replace democracy with the sensation of democracy. That is: to replace the slow, complex, eternally unclear continuity of democracy, and all the awkwardness of citizen participation, with something clear and fast which allows those in power to impose their agenda. Through an apparently simple question with a one-syllable answer, those who ask can get a blank cheque from the citizenry; that is, if they choose their moment well and come up with a winning question.
Reflections of a Siamese Twin (1997)
“It’s always easier to hate than to forgive, isn’t it?”
Source: Pushing Ice (2005), Chapter 14 (p. 233)
“Nationalism is more wide-reaching than internationalism.”
1930s, Die verfluchten Hakenkreuzler. Etwas zum Nachdenken (1932)
“Self-government is better than good government.”
Widely attributed to Campbell-Bannerman since at least 1910 https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1910/jul/12/parliamentary-franchise-women-bill-1. However it appears unattributed earlier https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rIFPAAAAYAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22self-government+is+better%22, and the concept pre-dates https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lFI3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA403&lpg=PA403&dq=%22your+public-spirited+advocates+of+good+government,+I+do+find+sneering+upon+the+self-government+of+the+Christian%22 Campbell-Bannerman.
Compare Gandhi: "Good government is no substitute for self-government." Young India (2 September 1920), p. 1
Attributed
“Nobody understands a prostitute better than a politician.”
Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)
