Josh Billings, columnist and humorist (1818-1885)

Reason often makes mistakes, but conscience never does. -Josh Billings, columnist and humorist (1818-1885)

Billings must have a different definition of conscience, or perhaps of reason, because conscience is simply reason properly formed and applied to moral issues, and therefore is prone to mistakes as reason is when applied to other matters.

Viktor Frankl, author, neurologist and psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor (1905-1997)

No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same. -Viktor Frankl, author, neurologist and psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor (1905-1997)

I agree with this idea, but I think it misuses the word judge. Judging is a necessary, almost unavoidable action of reason. What Frankl means really is that no one should condemn, or judge negatively, without judging himself by the same standard first.

William Shakespeare

This above all: to thine own self be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man. -William Shakespeare, poet and dramatist (1564-1616)

Attributing this thought to Shakespeare is a bit misleading, since these are words put into Polonius's mouth in Hamlet. He is not portrayed in the play as a trustworthy fount of wisdom but rather is generally regarded as being wrong in every judgment he makes. Certainly his last action, which precipitates the final tragedy, is catastrophic. In general, it is tricky to quote from Shakespeare's plays, or really from any work of fiction.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (1804-1864)

No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true. -Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (1804-1864)

In our post modern age, this seems no longer to be true. Some seem to be able to wear numerous different faces without going mad, perhaps because the question of which is the "true" identity doesn't arise in their minds. Any question about truth, after all, is not considered a valid question.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

"I am not ashamed to confess that I am ignorant of what I do not know." -- Marcus Tullius Cicero

It is always good to remember that you do not know what you do not know, including the (unknown) vast range of unknown.

David Grayson, journalist and author (1870-1946)

The sense of wishing to be known only for what one really is is like putting on an old, easy, comfortable garment. You are no longer afraid of anybody or anything. You say to yourself, 'Here I am --- just so ugly, dull, poor, beautiful, rich, interesting, amusing, ridiculous -- take me or leave me.' And how absolutely beautiful it is to be doing only what lies within your own capabilities and is part of your own nature. It is like a great burden rolled off a man's back when he comes to want to appear nothing that he is not, to take out of life only what is truly his own. -David Grayson, journalist and author (1870-1946)

It is sad to think that this frame of mind is something one aspires to put on rather than one's normal reality, but it seems that in our post-modern age the false front, or an assortment of them, is the new normal.

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, US Vice President (1911-1978)

The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life -- the sick, the needy and the handicapped. -Hubert Horatio Humphrey, US Vice President (1911-1978)

Very true, but this doesn't equate to taking care of all their needs, but rather ensuring the structures necessary for the natural, organic supports that they need, i.e., enabling communities of mutual care.

Jane Smiley, novelist (b.1949)

You know what getting married is? It's agreeing to taking this person who right now is at the top of his form, full of hopes and ideas, feeling good, looking good, wildly interested in you because you're the same way, and sticking by him while he slowly disintegrates. And he does the same for you. You're his responsibility now and he's yours. If no one else will take care of him, you will. If everyone else rejects you, he won't. What do you think love is? Going to bed all the time? -Jane Smiley, novelist (b.1949)

Excellent!

Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910)

Death destroys the body, as the scaffolding is destroyed after the building is up and finished. And he whose building is up rejoices at the destruction of the scaffolding and of the body. -Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910)

Good one!

Werner Makowski, banker (b. 1929)

The worst kind of people are those who confuse kindness for weakness. -Werner Makowski, banker (b. 1929)

Especially when they confuse an inclination toward kindness within themselves as weakness and therefore eschew it.

Nicolas de Chamfort, writer (1741-1794)

Nature never said to me: Do not be poor. Still less did she say: Be rich. Her cry to me was always: Be independent. -Nicolas de Chamfort, writer (1741-1794)

I don't think it was nature he heard but rather the spirit of his age, the early days of modernity. By nature we are never independent, but always and necessarily part of various social networks, starting of course with the family.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

Clever, and true in terms of this world, but in the eternal perspective true glory is forever and worldly obscurity doesn't matter.

Freya Stark, explorer and writer (1893-1993)

Few are the giants of the soul who actually feel that the human race is their family circle. -Freya Stark, explorer and writer (1893-1993)

I would say that we shouldn't regret not being one of these giants. Only God should rightly consider the entire human race the family circle. For the rest of us, it is right to make distinctions. We have a greater responsibility to our actual family than for others, and beyond them other circles that we owe some sort of care beyond what we owe to anonymous humanity.

Bernard Berenson, art historian (1865-1959)

Between truth and the search for truth, I opt for the second. -Bernard Berenson, art historian (1865-1959)

That is stupid! The possession of truth is necessary for action. Of course, modernity says that there is no such thing as truth about the really important matters, only individual private opinion, but this is not true, and it does not reflect the way we actually live.

T.S. Eliot, poet (1888-1965)

In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to run away. -T.S. Eliot, poet (1888-1965)

Applying this to our present culture, most people seem to be fugitives from reality, that is, from the world that comprises more than mere sense data, so the one who is moving toward reality appears to running away, unable to face "things as they are."

Anatole France, novelist, essayist, Nobel laureate (1844-1924)

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. -Anatole France, novelist, essayist, Nobel laureate (1844-1924)

Perhaps an illustration of the limitations of the abstract principle of complete equality basic to advanced liberalism. The rich and the poor should not always be treated equally. Sometimes there should be be preference for the poor.

William Hazlitt, essayist (1778-1830)

Perhaps the best cure for the fear of death is to reflect that life has a beginning as well as an end. There was a time when you were not: that gives us no concern. Why then should it trouble us that a time will come when we shall cease to be? To die is only to be as we were before we were born. -William Hazlitt, essayist (1778-1830)

Nice try, Bill, but it won't do. The fact of death will ever cause us anxiety because somehow we know that it isn't the end, but we don't know, of our reason, what follows. Faith is what we need.

Albert Einstein

The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it. -Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955)

But, of course, to tolerate or encourage evil is in itself evil. Perhaps the greater problem of evil in the world is that so many don't recognize this truth.

Ronald Reagan, 40th US President (1911-2004)

We establish no religion in this country. We command no worship. We mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are and must remain separate. -Ronald Reagan, 40th US President (1911-2004)

What President Reagan said is the historical fact and the founding ideal of the country, but I think he would be dismayed by the fact that religious belief is being driven more and more out of the debates over public policy. We are approaching the condition of mandating unbelief.

John Steinbeck

Among men, it seems, historically at any rate, that processes of co-ordination and disintegration follow each other with great regularity, and the index of the co-ordination is the measure of the disintegration which follows. There is no mob like a group of well-drilled soldiers when they have thrown off their discipline. And there is no lostness like that which comes to a man when a perfect and certain pattern has dissolved about him. There is no hater like one who has greatly loved. -John Steinbeck, novelist, Nobel laureate (1902-1968)

This is expressed with great assurance and so tends to carry one along with it, but I think it contains some truth and some error. Significantly, the generalizations are where the errors are. It may well be true that a mob of soldiers is most dangerous, and that a man upheld by a clear pattern may be quite lost without it.  But I don't think it is generally true that the degree of chaos is an index of the order that preceded it. More importantly, I don't think that one who truly loves greatly would ever be a great hater.

Phyllis Bottome, novelist (1884-1963)

Elvira always lied first to herself before she lied to anybody else, since this gave her a conviction of moral honesty. -Phyllis Bottome, novelist (1884-1963)

This describes a very dangerous habit of mind. It is one reason Scripture admonishes us so often to live in the light.

Ernest Hemingway

The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed. -Ernest Hemingway, author and journalist, Nobel laureate (1899-1961)

Instead of "destroyed," I would say with St. Paul, "struck down, but not destroyed." (2 Cor. 4:9)

Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796 – 1865) politician, judge, and author

"Hope is a pleasant acquaintance, but an unsafe friend." -- Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796 – 1865) politician, judge, and author

This is not true of Christian hope, which is rather an indispensable companion, especially welcome when the road gets rough. Like many, Haliburton calls hope what is more like wishful thinking, which has no firm foundation. Christian hope on the other hand is founded on the faithfulness of God.

Karl Wallenda

"Being on the tightrope is living; everything else is waiting." - Karl Wallenda

So says the professional tightrope walker!  I would put it differently.

Adlai Stevenson, Statesman (1900-1965)

In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take. -- Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965)

Good one!

Carl Jung, psychiatrist (1875-1961)

Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you. -Carl Jung, psychiatrist (1875-1961)

What does this say about Jung's view of life? Perhaps that the mind-set that is considered normal, i.e., sane, is too constraining and that it is therefore better to be set free from it.

Ingrid Bergman - Actress (1915-1982)

Happiness is good health and a bad memory. -- Ingrid Bergman

Not really true, but clever.

Ray Bradbury, writer (1920-2012)

Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage. -Ray Bradbury, writer (1920-2012)


I don't buy this. It is relativism carried to the extreme!

Lao-Tzu, philosopher (6th century BCE)

Every human being's essential nature is perfect and faultless, but after years of immersion in the world we easily forget our roots and take on a counterfeit nature. -Lao-Tzu, philosopher (6th century BCE)

A nice thought, but not true of our postlapsarian state. It seems to me that a clear-eyed look at a child growing up would make this clear. That this philosopher makes such a claim perhaps is a sign that what he describes is what ought to be but is not.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

All Congressmen should have this emblazoned on their desk.

Edward Everett Hale, author (1822-1909)

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
 -Edward Everett Hale, author (1822-1909)

Good one!

Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate

In the face of suffering, one has no right to turn away, not to see. -Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1928)

I agree entirely, but I wonder how widespread the sentiment is these days, or how long it will persist in our post-modern age. It seems to me that the prevailing philosophical currents don't support it.

Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983)

Lovemaking is radical, while marriage is conservative. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (1902-1983)

Genuine lovemaking is indeed radical, and also very fine, whereas sexual intercourse these days is easy and commonplace. And marriage is truly conservative in the root sense of conserving important values. True marriage is also not so common these days.

John Updike, writer (1932-2009)

There is no doubt that I have lots of words inside me; but at moments, like rush-hour traffic at the mouth of a tunnel, they jam. -John Updike, writer (1932-2009)

Me, too!

Eduardo Galeano, journalist and novelist (b. 1940)

The church says: The body is a sin. Science says: The body is a machine. Advertising says: The body is a business. The body says: I am a fiesta. -Eduardo Galeano, journalist and novelist (b. 1940)

The Church does NOT say the body is a sin. On the contrary, the Church says that God Himself took on a body in order to save our bodies. But what the body says depends on the mind and spirit that animates it.

Erma Bombeck

Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other. -- Erma Bombeck


Excellent!

Leonardo da Vinci

The vine that has grown old on an old tree falls with the ruin of that tree and through that bad companionship must perish with it. -Leonardo da Vinci, painter, engineer, musician, and scientist (1452-1519)

An interesting warning. Ironically, it is sometimes the case, perhaps often, that the vine growing profusely on the tree is ultimately the cause of its ruin.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies. -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900)

As usual, Nietzsche turns reality inside out. The conviction of good men are generally not enemies of truth. My own conviction, however, is that Nietzsche’s strongest convictions are indeed dangerous.

Japanese proverb

Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher. -Japanese proverb

This sounds good, but I doubt that 1000 to 1 is the true ratio – perhaps 100 to 1.

John Dryden, poet and dramatist

Errors like straws upon the surface flow: / Who would search for pearls must dive below. -John Dryden, poet and dramatist (1631-1700)

Unfortunately not always true.  Often errors are buried deep, and these are the most treacherous kind.

Alice Miller, psychologist and author (1923-2010)

Contempt is the weapon of the weak and a defense against one's own despised and unwanted feelings. -Alice Miller, psychologist and author (1923-2010)

I don’t think this is always the case. Sometimes the powerful regard many people and many ideas with contempt, and attributing this to hidden weakness, “despised and unwanted feelings,” may be wishful thinking.

John F. Kennedy, 35th US president

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -John F. Kennedy, 35th US president (1917-1963)
The tide seems to be turning in this regard.  More and more, it seems that the arbiters of opinion are afraid to let some kinds of facts, philosophies, and values enter the open market of ideas. Does that mean that our opinion leaders are afraid of their people?

Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author

It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. -Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author (1907-1988)
I suppose this is a truism if you emphasize the almost.

Ogden Nash, poet (1902-1971)

Remorse is a violent dyspepsia of the mind. -Ogden Nash, poet (1902-1971)
And just as dyspepsia generally indicates something amiss in the stomach, so remorse indicates something amiss in the spirit.