Quotations Set 13

1. I believe that the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility, doubt of his own powers. But really great men have a curious feeling that the greatness is not in them, but through them. And they see something divine in every other man and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful. - John Ruskin, author, art critic, and social reformer (1819-1900)

2. The Royals [and the BBC] put on a jolly good show, and even the presence of the Howards, she with her stolid waxen glare, he with his angry little chimpanzee frown, could not sully it. - Peter Woodforde, Canberra, quoted in the Canberra Times, April 12, 2002

3. The believer is happy; the doubter is wise. - Hungarian proverb

4. Solitude, though it may be silent as light, is like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone; all leave it alone. - Thomas De Quincey, writer (1785-1859)

5. I shall be telling this with a sigh
   Somewhere ages and ages hence:
   Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
   I took the one less travelled by,
   And that has made all the difference.

   - Robert Frost, poet (1874-1963)

6. There are some that only employ words for the purpose of disguising their thoughts. - Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)

7. A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service. - Georges Pompidou, President of France (1911-74)

8. Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation. - Henry Ward Beecher, preacher and writer (1813-1887)

9. There are two problems in my life. The political ones are insoluble and the economic ones are incomprehensible. - Sir Alec Douglas-Home, British Prime Minister

10. If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. - Margaret Fuller, author (1810-1850)

11. We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form. - William R. Inge, clergyman, scholar, and author (1860-1954)

12. The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things. - Plato, philosopher (427-347 BCE)

13. Assassination: The extreme form of censorship. - George Bernard Shaw, writer, Nobel laureate (1856-1950)

14. What you are thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

15. A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. - Greek proverb

16. There are times when we must sink to the bottom of our misery to understand truth, just as we must descend to the bottom of a well to see the stars in broad daylight. - Vaclav Havel, writer, Czech Republic president (1936- )

17. Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. - Carl Jung, psychiatrist (1875-1961)

18. A free society is a place where it's safe to be unpopular. - Adlai Stevenson, Democratic Party candidate for President (1900-1965)

19. Morally, the Howard Government is a bastard, the illegitimate offspring of the mother of political opportunism and mendacity and the father of popular xenophobia. What are we supposed to do when we look in the pram and see such a pig-ugly kid, morally speaking? Pretend it is beautiful? Talented? Clever? - Terry Lane, The Age (April 21, 2002)

20. Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place. - William Strunk and E.B. White, authors of The Elements of Style

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