“[I] would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.”
Statement to the envoy of Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg while discussing a proposal of marriage to the duke's son, Christoph. (26 January 1563), quoted by J. Horace Round in "A Visit to Queen Elizabeth," http://books.google.com/books?id=iP0CAAAAIAAJ&q=%22would+rather+be+a+beggar+and+single+than+a+queen+and+married%22&pg=PA629#v=onepage The Nineteenth Century magazine (October 1896)
“A deception that elevates us is dearer than a host of low truths.”
Тьмы низких истин нам дороже нас возвышающий обман.
Pushkin and Pugachev (1937).
“I reserve the right to be smarter today than I was yesterday.”
As quoted in Loggers' Handbook Vol. 36 (1976), p. 72; also in North Western Reporter, Second series (1992) https://books.google.com/books?id=I1KaAAAAIAAJ; similar remarks have been attributed to others, including more recent attributions to Adlai Stevenson and Abraham Lincoln.
Variant:
I insist on being smarter today than I was yesterday.
As quoted in How to Win the Meeting (1979) by Frank Snell, p. 3
“There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it.”
Lectures XIV and XV, "The Value of Saintliness"
1900s, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
“I want a new mistake, lose is more than hesitate.”
"Go with the Flow", Songs for the Deaf (2002)
Lyrics, Queens of the Stone Age
“The valiant profit more
Their country, than the finest cleverest speakers.”
Truculentus, Act II, scene ii
Truculentus
“God loves an idle rainbow, Not less than labouring seas.”
"A Wood Song"
Poems (1917)
“Better to live a day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.”
Attributed in "Duce (1922-42)" in TIME magazine (2 August 1943)
Also quoted by Generale Armando Diaz in "Il pensiero dei leoni" in Il Carroccio. The Italian review (1922) attributed to graffiti by an unknown soldier https://archive.org/stream/ilcarroccioitali15newyuoft#page/14/mode/2up
Though not precisely a repetition of any of them, this is somewhat resembles far earlier remarks attributed to others:
An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.
Attributed to Alexander the Great, in The British Battle Fleet : Its Inception and Growth Throughout the Centuries to the Present Day (1915) by Frederick Thomas Jane
To live like a lion for a day is far better than to live like a jackal for a hundred years.
Tipu Sultan, as quoted in Encyclopedia of Asian History (1988) Vol. 4, p. 104
It is far better to live like a tiger for a day than to live like a jackal for a hundred years.
Tipu Sultan, as quoted in Tipu Sultan : A Study in Diplomacy and Confrontation (1982) by B. Sheikh Ali, p. 329
I should prefer an army of stags led by a lion, to an army of lions led by a stag.
Chabrias, as quoted in A Treatise on the Defence of Fortified Places (1814) by Lazare Carnot, p. 50
He has been frequently heard to say, that in this world he would rather live two days like a tiger, than two hundred years like a sheep.
Tipu Sultan, as quoted in A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War with Tippoo Sultaun; Comprising a Narrative of the Operations of the Army under the Command of Lieutenant-General George Harris, and of the Siege of Seringapatam (London, G. and W. Nicol, 1800) by Alexander Beatson, pp. 153-154. http://oudl.osmania.ac.in/bitstream/handle/OUDL/7905/212261_Origin_And_Conduct_Of_The_War_With_Tipoo_Sultaun.pdf https://indianhistorybooks3.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/99999990039373-view-of-the-origin-and-conduct-of-the-war-with-tipoo-sultan.pdf
1940s
“In times of badness, gold is being worth more than beauty.”
Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 2, Chapter 15, “A Meandering of Ink” (p. 357).
“There can be no safer deposit on earth than the Treasury of the United States.”
Letter to Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette (1825) ME 19:281
Posthumous publications, On financial matters
“A movie is never any better than the stupidest man connected with it.”
Books
“The art of reasoning is nothing more than a language well arranged.”
As quoted in Antoine Lavoisier, Elements of Chemistry (trans. Robert Kerr, 1790), Preface, p. xiv.
“It is easier to bustle about than to study, but it is also less effective.”
#524
The Furrow (1986)
“It is easier to know man in general than to know one man.”
Il est plus aisé de connaître l'homme en général que de connaître un homme en particulier.
Variant translation: It is much easier to know men generally, than to know a particular man.
Maxim 436.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)
“That's the ultimate pornography… There's nothing more pornographic than glorifying war.”
1990s, CNN interview (1999)
Variant: There's nothing more pornographic than glorifying war.
“Politics is developing more comedians than radio ever did.”
As quoted in Informationweek issues 699-702 (1998), p. 497 http://books.google.com/books?id=cDxVAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Politics+is+developing+more+comedians+than+radio+ever+did.%22&dq=%22Politics+is+developing+more+comedians+than+radio+ever+did.%22&hl=en&ei=mre7TbTaFJCcgQfJk6noBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA
“Fate, however, is to all appearance more unavoidable than unexpected.”
Parallel Lives, Caesar
“Perhaps justified violence is better than peace at any price.”
The Uncertain Midnight (1958)
“What is given by the gods more desirable than the fortunate hour?”
Quid datur a divis felici optatius hora?
LXII
Carmina
