Notable Quotations
"When a thing has been said, and said well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it."
- Anatole France (1844-1924) ; French novelist and poet.
The various quotes on this page are here because they mean something to me.
On Religion | On Thought | On Politics and Social Change| On Feminism
On Patriotism | On War | On Education | On Miscellaneous Matters
Also take a glance at some of my favourite humourous quotations.
On Religion (top)
"Religion.... is the
opium of the people."
- Karl Marx (1818-1883) ; German economist and political philosopher
"Your Highness, I have no need of this
hypothesis."
- Pierre Laplace (1747-1827), French astronomer and mathematician, to
Napoleon on why his works make no mention of God.
"The Church says that the earth is flat,
but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow of the moon, and I have
more faith in a shadow than the Church."
- Ferdinand Magellan (c.1480-1521) ; Portuguese navigator and leader of the
first expedition to circumnavigate the globe.
"I do not feel obliged to believe that
the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended
us to forego their use."
- Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) ; Italian astronomer, jailed indefinitely by
the Inquisition for advocating the idea that the Earth moves round the Sun, and
not vice versa.
"Pray, verb - To ask the laws of the
universe to be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner who confesses to his
unworthiness."
- Ambrose Bierce (1842-?1914), "The Devil's Dictionary", 1911.
"Faith, noun - Belief without evidence
in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge of things without
parallel."
- Ambrose Bierce (1842-?1914), "The Devil's Dictionary", 1911.
"Faith is not WANTING to know what is
true."
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900); German philosopher and scholar.
"A casual stroll through the lunatic
asylum shows that faith does not prove anything."
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) ; German philosopher and scholar.
"The fact that a believer is happier
than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is
happier than a sober one."
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950); English dramatist, essayist and scholar.
"I cannot believe in a God who wants to
be praised all the time."
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900); German philosopher and scholar.
"A state of scepticism and suspense may
amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the practice of superstition is so congenial
to the multitude that, if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the
loss of their pleasing vision."
- Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) ; English historian, "Decline and Fall of
the
"For what a man would like to be true,
that he more readily believes."
- Francis Bacon (1561-1626) ; English philosopher
"God is dead: but men's natures are such
that for thousands of years yet there will perhaps be caves in which his shadow
will be seen."
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900); German philosopher and scholar.
"A man's ethical behaviour should be
based effectively on sympathy, education and social ties; no religious basis is
necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear
of punishment and hope of reward after death."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955) ; German-Swiss-American Nobel prize-winning
theoretical physicist.
"Do not believe in anything simply
because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is
spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything because it is found
written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the
authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditinos because
they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and
analysis, when you find anything that agrees with reason and is conducive to
the good and benefit of one and all then accept it and live up to it."
- Siddhartha Gautama - The Buddha (c.563-c.483 B.C.)
"There exists no politician in
- Indira Gandhi (1917-1984); Prime Minister of
"An atheist is a man with no invisible
means of support."
- John Buchan (1875-1940); Scottish author
"God has no place within these walls,
just as facts have no place within organised religion."
- Homer Simpson (episode #100 of "The Simpsons", 1994)
"Religion is something left over from
the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away as we adopt reason and
science as our guidelines."
- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970); Welsh mathematician and philosopher.
“Religion to me has always been the wound,
not the bandage.”
- Dennis Potter (1935-1994); British playwright.
On Thought (top)
"Cogito ergo sum." (translates as
"I think, therefore I am.")
- Rene Descartes (1596-1650) ; French mathematician and philosopher, from
"Le discours de la methode"
"Most people would sooner die than
think; in fact, they do so."
- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) ; Welsh mathematician and philosopher.
"It has been said that man is a rational
animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support
this."
- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) ; Welsh mathematician and philosopher.
"The whole problem with the world is
that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people
so full of doubts."
- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) ; Welsh mathematician and philosopher.
"Every man, wherever he goes, is
encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions which move with him like flies
on a summer day."
- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) ; Welsh mathematician and philosopher.
"If you only have a hammer, you tend to
see every problem as a nail."
- Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970) ; American psychologist
"The senses deceive from time to time,
and it is prudent never to trust wholly those who have deceived us even
once."
- Rene Descartes (1596-1650) ; French mathematician and philosopher, from
"Meditations on First Philosophy" (1641)
"It is a capital mistake to theorize
before one has data."
- Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) ; English author (of Sherlock Holmes)
"The chains of habit are too weak to be
felt until they are too strong to be broken."
- Samuel Johnson (aka "Dr Johnson") (1709-1784) ; English writer
and scholar.
"Man prefers to think what he prefers to
be true."
- Francis Bacon (1561-1626) ; English philosopher
"A man convinced against his will is of
the same opinion still."
- Samuel Butler (1612-1680) ; English satirist
"Only two things are infinite, the
universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955) ; Nobel prize-winning theoretical physicist.
“Convictions are more dangerous enemies to
truth than lies.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900); German philosopher and scholar,
from “Human, all too human.”
On Politics and Social Change (top)
"Washing one's hands of
the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the
powerful, not to be neutral."
- Paulo Freire (1921 - 1997) ; Brazilian educational reformer and politician
"The philosophies have only interpreted
the world in various ways. The point is to change it."
- Karl Marx (1818-1883) ; German economist and political philosopher, from
"Theses on Feuerbach" (1945)
"The choice before the free states of
the world..... is not between peaceful change and no change. The choice is
between peaceful change and conflict."
- Julius Nyerere (1922-) ; first prime-minister of
"
- Gloria Steinem (1934-) ; American feminist and writer
"The sole advantage of power is that you
can do more good."
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c.4
"It is not because things are difficult
that we do not dare ; it is because we do not dare that they are
difficult."
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c.4
"It is the reformer who is anxious for
the reform, and not society, from which he should expect nothing better than
opposition, abhorrence and mortal persecution."
- Mohandas Karamchand "Mahatma" Gandhi (1869-1948) ; from
"The Story of My Experiments With Truth"
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
- Mohandas Karamchand "Mahatma" Gandhi (1869-1948)
"Revolution is the festival of the
oppressed."
- Germaine Greer (1939-) ; Australian feminist writer, from "The Female
Eunuch" (1970)
"Under a government which imprisons any
unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison."
- Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) ; American essayist and poet
"A conservative government is an
organised hypocrisy."
- Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881); Prime Minister of
"Democracy: The substitution of
election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few."
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950); English dramatist, essayist and
scholar
"The broad mass of a nation... will more
easily fall victim to a big lie than a small one."
- Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) ; German Nazi dictator 1933-1945
"The reasonable man adapts himself to
the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to
himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950); English dramatist, essayist and
scholar.
"It is something to be able to paint a
particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects
beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere
and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the
quality of the day, that is the highest of arts."
- Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) ; American essayist and poet,
"Where I live"
"A leader is like a shepherd. He stays
behind the flock, letting the most nimble go on ahead, whereupon the others
follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind."
- Nelson Mandela (1918 - ); First President of post-apartheid
"No man can be wise on an empty
stomach."
- George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans: 1819-1880); English Authoress
Feminism (top)
"Taught from infancy
that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body and, roaming
around its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison."
- Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) ; Anglo-Irish feminist writer, from
"A vindication of the rights of woman" (1792)
"A man ought no more to value himself
for being wiser than a woman if he owes his advantage to a better Education,
than he ought to boast of his courage for beating a man when his hands are
tied."
- Mary Astell (1688-1731) ; English writer, "An essay in defence of the
female sex" (1721)
"Social progress can be measured by the
social position of the female sex."
- Karl Marx (1818-1883) ; German economist and political philosopher
"The house wife is an unpaid employee in
her husband's house in return for the security of being a permanent
employee."
- Germaine Greer (1939-) ; Australian feminist writer, from "The Female
Eunuch" (1970)
On Patriotism (top)
"Patriotism is your
conviction that your country is superior to all others because you were born in
it."
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950); English dramatist, essayist and scholar.
"Patriotism is a pernicious,
psychopathic form of idiocy."
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950); English dramatist, essayist and scholar.
"Patriotism is the last refuge of the
scoundrel."
- Samuel Johnson (aka "Dr Johnson") (1709-1784); English writer
and scholar.
"Patriotism is the willingness to kill
and be killed for trivial reasons."
- Bertrand Russell (1872-1970); Welsh mathematician and philosopher.
"Heroism on command, senseless violence,
and the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how
passionately I hate them!"
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955) ; Nobel prize-winning theoretical physicist.
"African nationalism is meaningless,
dangerous, anachronistic, if it is not, at the same time, pan-Africanism."
- Julius Nyerere (1922-) ; first prime-minister of
On War (top)
"War is the admission of
defeat in the face of conflicting interests; by war the issue is left to
chance, and the tacit assumption that the best man will win is not at all
justified. It might equally be argued that the worst, the most unscrupulous man
will win, although history will continue the absurd game by finding him, after
all, the best man."
- Germaine Greer (1939-) ; Australian feminist writer, from "The Female
Eunuch" (1970)
"War is sweet to those who do not
fight."
- Desiderius Erasmus (1467-1536) ; Dutch humanist
"Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem
apellant." (translates as "Where they create a desert they call it
peace.")
- Tacitus (c.55-120) ; Roman historian, reputedly reporting the words of
Calgacus, the leader of the Caledonian (Scottish) confederacy on the Roman war
machine. The words are probably Tacitus' own, however.
"It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets."
- Voltaire (1694-1778) ; French author
"I am become death, shatterer of
worlds."
- J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967) ; American nuclear physicist and
Director of the
"If only I had known I should have
become a watchmaker."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955) ; German-Swiss-American Nobel prize-winning
theoretical physicist, bemoaning his inadvertent contribution to the
development of the atom bomb.
On Education(top)
"
- Francis Bacon (1561-1626) ; English philosopher
"Homines, dum docent discunt." (translates
as "Even while they teach, men learn.")
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c.4
"Genius in 1% inspiration, 99%
perspiration."
- Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) ; American inventor and physicist
"Education is what survives when what
has been learned has been forgotten."
- B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) ; American psychologist
"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a
subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it."
- Samuel Johnson (aka "Dr Johnson") (1709-1784); English writer
and scholar.
On Miscellaneous Matters (top)
"The man who follows the crowd will
usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to
find himself in places no one has ever been."
- Alan Ashley-Pitt *
"Cynic, n. - blackguard whose faulty
vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be."
- Ambrose Bierce (1842-?1914), "The Devil's Dictionary", 1911.
"In our society any man who doesn't cry
at his mother's funeral is liable to be condemned to death."
- Albert Camus (1913-1960) ; Nobel Prize-winning French writer, summarising
his book "The Outsider" (L'etranger) 1942
"If a person loves only one other
person, and is indifferent to his fellow men, his love is not love but a
symbiotic attachment, or an enlarged egotism."
- Germaine Greer (1939-) ; Australian feminist writer, from "The Female
Eunuch" (1970)
"Love, love, love - all the wretched
cant of it, masking egotism, lust, masochism, fantasy under a mythology of
sentimental postures, a welter of self-induced miseries and joys, blinding and
masking the essential personalities in the frozen gestures of courtship, in the
kissing and the dating, and the desire, the compliments and the quarrels which
vivify its barrenness."
- Germaine Greer (1939-) ; Australian feminist writer, from "The Female
Eunuch" (1970)
"Ars longa, vita brevis"
(translates as "The art is long, life is short" – and don’t I know
it)
- Hippocrates (?c. 466-377 BC); Greek doctor, considered to be the
"Father of Medicine".
"The worst thing that can happen to a
prophet is to be proved wrong, the next worst thing is to be proved
right."
- Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) ; English novelist and essayist,"Brave New
World Revisited"
"Discretion is the polite word for
hypocrisy."
- Christine Keeler (1942-) ; English model and showgirl
"If I have seen farther than others it
is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants."
- Isaac Newton (1642-1727) ; English mathematician and physicist.
"Battle not with monsters lest ye become
a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900); German philosopher and scholar
“In
- Nelson Mandela (1918-) ; First
democratically-elected President of
"Freedom is the right to tell people
what they do not want to hear."
- George Orwell (1903-1950) ; English author
"The only thing we have to fear is fear
itself."
-
"Invention, it must be humbly admitted,
does not consist of creating out of void, but out of chaos."
- Mary Shelley (1797-1851) ; in her introduction to "Frankenstein"
(1831)
"The existence of a man is so small a
thing to take, so mighty a thing to employ."
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) ; from "The Suicide Club"
(1882)
"I disapprove of what you say, but I
will defend to the death your right to say it."
- Voltaire (1694-1778) ; French author
"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."
- Yoda ("The Empire Strikes Back", 1980)
"God grant me the serenity to accept the
things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to
always tell the difference."
- Reinhold Neibuhr, German-American theologian, from the Serenity Prayer,
1926
- Obviously, I don’t wish for a non-existent god to grant me these things, but it would be nice if I could achieve them myself.
I must admit to not having read some of the original sources of these quotations. Furthermore, many of these quotes are taken from people whose opinions I do not, in general, share.
If you want to contact me please e-mail ninja@refutation.org
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