“The common people are nothing more than the raw material of which a People is made.”
Henrik Ibsen An Enemy of the People
Dr. Stockmann, Act IV
An Enemy of the People (1882)
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“One should never forget, that society would rather be amused than instructed.”
Adolph Freiherr Knigge book Über den Umgang mit Menschen
Vor allen Dingen soll man nie vergessen, daß die Gesellschaft lieber unterhalten, als unterrichtet sein will.
Variant translation: Above all, we should never forget that society would prefer to be entertained, than taught.
Über den Umgang mit Menschen (1788)
“Telling your parents you’ve failed at something is harder than the actual failure.”
Chetan Bhagat book Revolution 2020
Revolution 2020 (2011)
“It is a trite but true observation, that examples work more forcibly on the mind than precepts.”
Henry Fielding book Joseph Andrews
Book I, Ch. 1
Joseph Andrews (1742)
“Life inspires more dread than death — it is life which is the great unknown.”
Emil M. Cioran book A Short History of Decay
A Short History of Decay (1949)
“Nothing inspires more courage in a woman than fearlessness in the man she loves.”
Antoine François Prévost (1697–1763) French novelist
Rien n'est plus capable d'inspirer du courage à une femme que l'intrépidité d'un homme qu'elle aime.
Part 2, p. 227; translation p. 132.
L'Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut (1731)
“Wisdom and good governance require more than the consistent application of abstract principles.”
Theodore Dalrymple (1949) English doctor and writer
Romancing Opiates: Pharmacological Lies and the Addiction Bureaucracy (2006)
“A good mathematical joke is better, and better mathematics, than a dozen mediocre papers.”
John Edensor Littlewood (1885–1977) English Mathematician
"Introduction to A Mathematician's Miscellany", p. 24.
Littlewood's Miscellany (1986)
Robert E. Machol (1917–1998) American systems engineer
Source: Information and Decision Processes (1960), p. xi
Makoto Shinkai (1973) Japanese anime director and former graphic designer
Interviewed on the Electric Sheep magazine http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/features/2008/06/01/interview-with-makoto-shinkai/ <br class="br">About 5 Centimeters per Second
“If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes.”
Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974) American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist
"Is Civilization Progress?" in Reader's Digest (July 1964)
“Two things greater than all things are,
The first is Love, and the second War.”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) English short-story writer, poet, and novelist
The Ballad of the King's Jest, Stanza 9
Other works
“The clear, sweet singer with the crown of snow
Not whiter than the thoughts that housed below.”
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) American poet, critic, editor, and diplomat
Epistle to George William Curtis (1874)
“The office of the Vice-President is a greater honor than I ever dreamed of attaining.”
Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886) American politician, 21st President of the United States (in office from 1881 to 1885)
As quoted in Random Recollections of an Old Political Reporter, William C. Hudson (1911).
“Nothing is less forgiven than setting Patterns Men have no mind to follow.”
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax (1633–1695) English politician
Princes (their Rewards of Servants).
Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Reflections (1750), Political Thoughts and Reflections
“Those who love their neighbor as themselves possess nothing more than their neighbor.”
Basil of Caesarea (329–379) Christian Saint
Source: Social Justice, To the Rich (c. 368), p. 43
“No poet, in his greatest imaginings, could conceive of anything greater than the real;”
Donald Miller (1971) American writer
Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance (2000, Harvest House Publishers)
“Freedom is more than just a word and a patriotic concept. It is the purest intent of God.”
Steve Maraboli (1975)
Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 73
“There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered ones.”
Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) Roman Catholic saint
Attributed to Teresa by Truman Capote in "An Interview with Truman Capote" by Don Lee Keith, in Contempora (October/November 1970), p. 40, as the source of the title of a work in progress which he intended as a novel, to be called Answered Prayers; no earlier publications of such an attribution has yet been located.
Variants:
There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.
Attributed in The Last Word: A Treasury of Women's Quotes (1992) by Carolyn Warner
Disputed
“Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give.”
David O. McKay (1873–1970) President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
LDS General Conference Report (April 1950) page 32