text:
George Gallup

George Gallup (November 18, 1901 – July 26, 1984) was an American statistician. He invented the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion.

Quotes
“If democracy is based on the will of the people, shouldn’t we find out what that will is?”-
 * I could prove God statistically. Take the human body alone — the chances that all the functions of an individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity.
 * Quoted in Readers Digest (October 1943)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: George Gallup


text:
William M. Tweed

William Magear Tweed (3 April 1823 – 12 April 1878), known as Boss Tweed and often erroneously referred to as William Marcy Tweed, was an American politician and political boss of Tammany Hall who became an icon of urban political machines.

Quotes

 * I don't care a straw for your newspaper articles; my constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures.
 * On the political cartoons of Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly, as quoted in "Article IV: An Episode in Municipal Government" by Charles F. Wingate in The North American Review (July 1875), p. 150

 * I don't care who does the electing, so long as I get to do the nominating.
 * As quoted in Understanding American Government (2003) by Susan Welch, p. 224

Quotes about Tweed

 * Three casual expressions attributed to Mr. Tweed, illustrated by his brief political history, indicate his theory of administration. The first was, "The way to have power is to take it;" the second, "He is human;" and the third, "What are you going to do about it?" In his career was exhibited the despotic phase of municipal administration. He got for himself and his associates offices, one after the other, by taking them with or without right, until he held the power of the State, and then fortified his position by enacting appropriate laws. His means of doing this was to approach men through their self-interests, and to buy their support by promises, offices, and money. His appreciation of this trait in the character of the men about him was expressed in his belief that they were "human." The arrogance of the full possession of power and the defiance against the remonstrances of honest men drove him to the extreme of audacity, "What are you going to do about it?" which preceded his fall. There was no greater popular mistake than to call Mr. Tweed and his associates a "ring." They were so at the outset by the "cohesive power of public plunder," but, once in possession, like a crew of pirates who had gained the deck of a prize, they became arrayed against each other. If they had been a ring, their compactness of purpose might have constituted a government, but they had so little hold upon or confidence in each other that they dissolved at the first shock.
 * William R. Martin, in "The FInancial Resources of New York" in The North American Review CCLXV (November-December 1878), p. 427

title: William M. Tweed


text:
Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), known professionally as Joe Louis, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, and is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis' championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 26 championship fights.

Quotes

 * He can run, but he can't hide.
 * As quoted in The Coshocton Tribune, Coshocton, Ohio (9 June 1946). in response to interview question, "If he runs, will you chase him?" regarding Billy Conn, who planned to "hit and run" in their upcoming match.

 * I did the best I could with what I had.
 * quoted by by Philip Roth

Quotes about

 * The fellow who turned off the light and jumped into bed before the room got dark may think he's fast ... but just wait until is poured into the same ring with Joe Louis.
 * Jack Troy, "All in the Game: No Sale Dept.," The Atlanta Constitution (May 27, 1939), p. 8

 * We helped plow the fields, build the dams, write the poems and sing the music of America. Are not all Americans proud, of Doree Miller, of Frederick Douglass, of Paul Robeson, of Joe Louis, of Marian Anderson.
 * Ollie Harrington Why I Left America and Other Essays (1993)

title: Joe Louis


text:
Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English clergyman, critic, philosopher and wit.

Quotes

 * When I hear any man talk of an unalterable law, the only effect it produces upon me is to convince me that he is an unalterable fool.
 * Peter Plymley's Letters (1808), Letter IV

 * But now persecution is good, because it exists; every law which originated in ignorance and malice, and gratifies the passions from whence it sprang, we call the wisdom of our ancestors: when such laws are repealed, they will be cruelty and madness; till they are repealed, they are policy and caution.
 * Peter Plymley's Letters (1808), Letter V

 * Manners are the shadows of virtues; the momentary display of those qualities which our fellow creatures love, and respect.
 * Sermon XII, Sermons (1809)

 * In the midst of this sublime and terrible storm [at Sidmouth], Dame Partington, who lived upon the beach, was seen at the door of her house with mop and pattens, trundling her mop, squeezing out the sea-water, and vigorously pushing away the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic was roused; Mrs. Partington's spirit was up. But I need not tell you that the contest was unequal; the Atlantic Ocean beat Mrs. Partington.
 * Speech at Taunton (1813)

 * We can inform Jonathan what are the inevitable consequences of being too fond of glory;— TAXES upon every article which enters into the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed under the foot—taxes upon every thing which it is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, or taste—taxes upon warmth, light, and locomotion—taxes on every thing on earth, and the waters under the earth—on every thing that comes from abroad, or is grown at home—taxes on the raw material—taxes on every fresh value that is added to it by the industry of man—taxes on the sauce which pampers man's appetite, and the drug that restores him to health—on the ermine which decorates the judge, and the rope which hangs the criminal—on the poor man's salt, and the rich man's spice—on the brass nails of the coffin, and the ribands of the bride—at bed or board, couchant or levant, we must pay:—The schoolboy whips his taxed top—the beardless youth manages his taxed horse, with a taxed bridle on a taxed road:—and the dying Englishman pouring his medicine, which has paid 7 per cent., into a spoon that has paid 15 per cent.—flings himself back upon his chintz-bed which has paid 22 per cent.—makes his will on an eight pound stamp, and expires in the arms of an apothecary who has paid a license of an hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to death. His whole property is then immediately taxed from 2 to 10 per cent. Besides the probate, large fees are demanded for burying him in the chancel; his virtues are handed down to posterity on taxed marble; and he is then gathered to his fathers,—to be taxed no more.
 * "Review of Seybert's Annals of the United States", The Edinburgh Review (1820), pp. 77-78

 * In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? Or goes to an American play? or looks at an American picture or statue? What does the world yet owe to American physicians or surgeons? What new substances have their chemists discovered? Or what old ones have they advanced? What new constellations have been discovered by the telescopes of Americans? Who drinks out of American glasses? Or eats from American plates? Or wears American coats or gowns? or sleeps in American blankets? Finally, under which of the old tyrannical governments of Europe is every sixth man a slave, whom his fellow-creatures may buy and sell and torture?
 * Referring to the lack of established culture and the established institution of slavery in the United States, in "Review of Seybert's Annals of the United States", The Edinburgh Review (1820), pp. 79-80

 * Great men hallow a whole people and lift up all who live in their time.
 * "Ireland", published in The Edinburgh Review (1820)

 * The object of preaching is, constantly to remind mankind of what mankind are constantly forgetting; not to supply the defects of human intelligence, but to fortify the feebleness of human resolutions.
 * "The Judge That Smites Contrary to the Law: A Sermon Preached...March 28, 1824", in The Works of the Rev. Sydney Smith (1860) p. 428

 * Magnificent spectacle of human happiness.
 * "America", published in The Edinburgh Review (July 1824)

 * Every rock in the ocean where a cormorant can perch is occupied by our troops — has a governor, deputy-governor, storekeeper, and deputy-storekeeper — and will soon have an archdeacon and a bishop. Military colleges, with thirty-four professors, educating seventeen ensigns per annum, being half an ensign for each professor, with every species of nonsense, athletic, sartorial, and plumigerous.
 * "Catholics", published in The Edinburgh Review (1827). See

 * It is the safest to be moderately base — to be flexible in shame, and to be always ready for what is generous, good, and just, when anything is to be gained by virtue.
 * "Catholics", published in The Edinburgh Review (1827). See

 * Dean Swift's rule is as good for women as for men — never to talk above a half minute without pausing, and giving others an opportunity to strike in.
 * "Parisian Morals and Manners", published in The Edinburgh Review (1843)
 * Smith might have been thinking of the final words of Swift's "Hints Towards an Essay on Conversation": "It is not a Fault in Company to talk much; but to continue it long, is certainly one; for, if the Majority of those who are got together be naturally silent or cautious, the Conversation will flag, unless it be often renewed by one among them, who can start new Subjects, provided he doth not dwell upon them, but leaveth Room for Answers and Replies".

 * I never read a book before reviewing it: it prejudices a man so.
 * Reported in Bon-Mots of Sydney Smith and R. Brinsley Sheridan, edited by Walter Jerrold with grotesques by Aubrey Beardsley (London: J. M. Dent and Company, 1893), p. 24

 * The fact is that in order to do any thing in this world worth doing, we must not stand shivering on the bank thinking of the cold and the danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
 * Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 6

 * Every increase of knowledge may possibly render depravity more depraved, as well as it may increase the strength of virtue. It is in itself only power; and its value depends on its application.
 * Quote reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 364

 * Men who prefer any load of infamy, however great, to any pressure of taxation, however light.
 * On American Debts, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

 * He not only overflowed with learning but stood in the slops.
 * On Macaulay; reported in Hesketh Pearson, The Smith of Smiths (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1934), p. 180

 * My idea of heaven is, eating pâté de foie gras to the sound of trumpets.
 * View ascribed by Smith to his friend Henry Luttrell; reported in Hesketh Pearson, The Smith of Smiths (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1934), p. 236

Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy (1849)

 * Bishop Berkeley destroyed this world in one volume octavo; and nothing remained after his time, but mind — which experienced a similar fate from the hand of Mr. Hume, in 1737.
 * Introduction

 * Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything.
 * Lecture IX : On the Conduct of the Understanding

 * A great deal of talent is lost to the world for the want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves a number of obscure men who have only remained obscure because their timidity has prevented them from making a first effort.
 * Lecture IX : On the Conduct of the Understanding

 * Among the smaller duties of life I hardly know any one more important than that of not praising where praise is not due.
 * Lecture IX : On the Conduct of the Understanding

 * The truth is, that most men want knowledge, not for itself, but for the superiority which knowledge confers; and the means they employ to secure this superiority, are as wrong as the ultimate object, for no man can ever end with being superior, who will not begin with being inferior.
 * Lecture IX : On the Conduct of the Understanding

 * It is a very wise rule in the conduct of the understanding, to acquire early a correct notion of your own peculiar constitution of mind, and to become well acquainted, as a physician would say, with your idiosyncrasy. Are you an acute man, and see sharply for small distances? or are you a comprehensive man, and able to take in, wide and extensive views into your mind? Does your mind turn its ideas into wit? or are you apt to take a common-sense view of the objects presented to you? Have you an exuberant imagination, or a correct judgment? Are you quick, or slow? accurate, or hasty? a great reader, or a great thinker? It is a prodigious point gained if any man can find out where his powers lie, and what are his deficiencies, — if he can contrive to ascertain what Nature intended him for: and such are the changes and chances of the world, and so difficult is it to ascertain our own understandings, or those of others, that most things are done by persons who could have done something else better. If you choose to represent the various parts in life by holes upon a table, of different shapes, — some circular, some triangular, some square, some oblong, — and the persons acting these parts by bits of wood of similar shapes, we shall generally find that the triangular person has got into the square hole, the oblong into the triangular, and a square person has squeezed himself into the round hole. The officer and the office, the doer and the thing done, seldom fit so exactly, that we can say they were almost made for each other.
 * Lecture IX : On the Conduct of the Understanding.; this provides the origin of the phrase "a square peg in a round hole".

 * It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little.
 * Lecture XIX : On the Conduct of the Understanding, Part II

 * The history of the world shows us that men are not to be counted by their numbers, but by the fire and vigour of their passions; by their deep sense of injury; by their memory of past glory; by their eagerness for fresh fame; by their clear and steady resolution of ceasing to live, or of achieving a particular object, which, when it is once formed, strikes off a load of manacles and chains, and gives free space to all heavenly and heroic feelings. All great and extraordinary actions come from the heart. There are seasons in human affairs, when qualities fit enough to conduct the common business of life, are feeble and useless; and when men must trust to emotion, for that safety which reason at such times can never give. These are the feelings which led the ten thousand over the Carduchian mountans; these are the feelings by which a handful of Greeks broke in pieces the power of Persia: they have, by turns, humbled Austria, reduced Spain; and in the fens of the Dutch, and on the mountains of the Swiss, defended the happiness, and revenged the oppressions, of man! God calls all the passions out in their keenness and vigour, for the present safety of mankind. Anger, and revenge, and the heroic mind, and a readiness to suffer;— all the secret strength, all the invisible array, of the feelings,— all that nature has reserved for the great scenes of the world. For the usual hopes, and the common aids of man, are all gone! Kings have perished, armies are subdued, nations mouldered away! Nothing remains, under God, but those passions which have often proved the best ministers of His vengeance, and the surest protectors of the world.
 * Lecture XXVIL: On Habit - Part II, in “Elementary Sketches of Moral Philosophy”, delivered at The Royal Institution in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806 by the late Rev. Sydney Smith, M.A. (Spottiswoodes and Shaw (London: 1849)), p. 423-424
 * Another Variant: The history of the world shows us that men are not to be counted by their numbers, but by the fire and vigour of their passions; by their deep sense of injury; by their memory of past glory; by their eagerness for fresh fame; by their clear and steady resolution of ceasing to live, or of achieving a particular object, which, when it is once formed, strikes off a load of manacles and chains, and gives free space to all heavenly and heroic feelings. All great and extraordinary actions come from the heart. There are seasons in human affairs when qualities, fit enough to conduct the common business of life, are feeble and useless, when men must trust to emotion for that safety which reason at such times can never give. These are the feelings which led the ten thousand over the Carduchian mountains; these are the feelings by which a handful of Greeks broke in pieces the power of Persia; and in the fens of the Dutch, and on the mountains of the Swiss, defended the happiness and revenged the oppressions of man! God calls all the passions out in their keenness and vigour for the present safety of mankind, anger and revenge, and the heroic mind, and a readiness to suffer—all the secret strength, all the invisible array of the feelings—all that nature has reserved for the great scenes of the world. When the usual hopes and the common aids of man are all gone, nothing remains under God but those passions which have often proved the best ministers of His purpose and the surest protectors of the world.
 * Quoted by Theodore Roosevelt in his "Brotherhood and the Heroic Virtues" Address at the Veterans' Reunion, Burlington, Vermont, September 5, 1901 and published in Theodore Roosevelt's "The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses" by Dover Publications (April 23, 2009) in its Dover Thrift Editions (ISBN: 978-0486472294), p. 126-127

Lady Holland's Memoir (1855)

 * A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, by his daughter Lady Holland, with a selection of his letters edited by Mrs. Austin (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855)

 * It requires a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding.
 * Vol. I, ch. 2, pp. 31–32

 * That knuckle-end of England—that land of Calvin, oatcakes, and sulphur.
 * Vol. I, ch. 2, p. 33

 * No one minds what Jeffrey says:[…] it is not more than a week ago that I heard him speak disrespectfully of the Equator.
 * Vol. I, ch. 2, p. 36

 * We cultivate literature on a little oatmeal.
 * Vol. I, ch. 2, p. 60.
 * Motto proposed by Smith for the Edinburgh Review.

 * Truth is its [justice's] handmaid, freedom is its child, peace is its companion, safety walks in its steps, victory follows in its train; it is the brightest emanation from the Gospel; it is the greatest attribute of God.
 * Vol. I, ch. 2, p. 67

 * Preaching has become a byword for long and dull conversation of any kind; and whoever wishes to imply, in any piece of writing, the absence of everything agreeable and inviting, calls it a sermon.
 * Vol. I, ch. 3, p. 81

 * The English, generally remarkable for doing very good things in a very bad manner, seem to have reserved the maturity and plenitude of their awkwardness for the pulpit.
 * Vol. I, ch. 3, p. 83

 * It is always right that a man should be able to render a reason for the faith that is within him.
 * Vol. I, ch. 3, p. 91

 * Avoid shame, but do not seek glory: nothing so expensive as glory.
 * Vol. I, ch. 4, pp. 134–135

 * Take short views, hope for the best, and trust in God.
 * Vol. I, ch. 6, "Maxims and Rules of Life", p. 173

 * The fox, when caught, is worth nothing: he is followed for the pleasure of following.
 * Vol. I, ch. 6, "Of Occupation", p. 177

 * Let every man be occupied, and occupied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness that he has done his best.
 * Vol. I, ch. 6, "Of Occupation", p. 178

 * Life is to be fortified by many friendships. To love, and to be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence. If I lived under the burning sun of the equator, it would be a pleasure to me to think that there were many human beings on the other side of the world who regarded and respected me; I could and would not live if I were alone upon the earth, and cut off from the remembrance of my fellow-creatures. It is not that a man has occasion often to fall back upon the kindness of his friends; perhaps he may never experience the necessity of doing so; but we are governed by our imaginations, and they stand there as a solid and impregnable bulwark against all the evils of life.
 * Vol. I, ch. 6, "Of Friendship", p. 178

 * She looked as if she had walked straight out of the ark.
 * Vol. I, ch. 7, p. 205.
 * About a Yorkshire squire's wife.

 * Economy, in the estimation of common minds, often means the absence of all taste and comfort.
 * Vol. I, ch. 8, p. 263
 * This sentence, usually attributed to Smith, is actually by the author of the Memoir, his daughter Lady Saba Holland.

 * No furniture so charming as books.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 289

 * The Smiths never had any arms, and have invariably sealed their letters with their thumbs.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 293

 * Madam, I have been looking for a person who disliked gravy all my life; let us swear eternal friendship.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 307

 * How can a bishop marry? How can he flirt? The most he can say is, "I will see you in the vestry after service."
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 308

 * [He] has not body enough to cover his mind decently with; his intellect is improperly exposed.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 308

 * I have, alas, only one illusion left, and that is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 309

 * He has spent all his life in letting down empty buckets into empty wells; and he is frittering away his age in trying to draw them up again.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 310

 * You find people ready enough to do the Samaritan, without the oil and twopence.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 312

 * Ah, you flavour everything; you are the vanilla of society.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 312

 * My living in Yorkshire was so far out of the way, that it was actually twelve miles from a lemon.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 312

 * As the French say, there are three sexes — men, women, and clergymen.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 313

 * To take Macaulay out of literature and society and put him in the House of Commons, is like taking the chief physician out of London during a pestilence.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 315

 * Praise is the best diet for us, after all.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 316

 * Daniel Webster struck me much like a steam-engine in trousers.
 * Vol. I, ch. 9, p. 317

 * "Heat, ma'am!" I said; "it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones."
 * Vol. I, ch. 8, pp. 317–318

 * Live always in the best company when you read.
 * Vol. I, ch. 10, p. 370

 * Never give way to melancholy; resist it steadily, for the habit will encroach.
 * Vol. I, ch. 10, p. 372

 * He was a one-book man. Some men have only one book in them; others, a library.
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, p. 402

 * Did you ever hear my definition of marriage? It is, that it resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they can not be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them.
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, p. 415; paraphrased variant: "Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they can not be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them."

 * Macaulay is like a book in breeches...He has occasional flashes of silence, that make his conversation perfectly delightful.
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, p. 415

 * Let onion atoms lurk within the bowl And, scarce suspected, animate the whole.
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, "Recipe for Salads", p. 426

 * Serenely full, the epicure would say, Fate cannot harm me, I have dined today.
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, "Recipe for Salads", p. 426

 * You remember Thurlow's answer to some one complaining of the injustice of a company. "Why, you never expected justice from a company, did you? they have neither a soul to lose, nor a body to kick."
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, p. 428

 * Ah! what you don't know would make a great book.
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, p. 430

 * In composing, as a general rule, run your pen through every other word you have written; you have no idea what vigour it will give your style.
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, p. 431

 * Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea? how did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, p. 436

 * I am old, but I certainly have not that sign of old age, extolling the past at the expense of the present.
 * Vol. I, ch. 11, p. 437

 * We know nothing of tomorrow; our business is to be good and happy today.
 * Vol. I, ch. 12, p. 472

 * If you could be alarmed into the semblance of modesty, you would charm everybody; but remember my joke against you about the Moon and the Solar System;—"Damn the solar system! bad light — planets too distant — pestered with comets — feeble contriviance; — could make a better with great ease."
 * Vol. II, letter to Lord Jeffrey (1806), p. 23
 * Discussed in David A. Kent, D. R. Ewen, "Romantic Parodies, 1797-1831", The Review of English Studies, New Series, Vol. 44, No. 175, (1993), pp. 430-432

 * I look upon Switzerland as an inferior sort of Scotland.
 * Vol. II, letter to Lord Holland (1815), p. 126

 * What would life be without arithmetic, but a scene of horrors?
 * Vol. II, letter to Miss Lucie Austin (22 July 1835), p. 364

 * I have no relish for the country; it is a kind of healthy grave.
 * Vol. II, letter to Miss Georgiana Harcourt (1838), p. 410

 * Correspondences are like small clothes before the invention of suspenders; it is impossible to keep them up.
 * Vol. II, letter to Catherine Crowe (31 January 1841), pp. 441–442

 * A comfortable house is a great source of happiness. It ranks immediately after health and a good conscience.
 * Vol. II, letter to Lord Murray (29 September 1843), p. 501

title: Sydney Smith


text:
Jean de La Bruyère

Jean de La Bruyère (16 August 1645 – 10 May 1696) was a French essayist and moralist.

 * See also: Les Caractères

Quotes

 * La vie est une tragédie pour celui qui sent, et une comédie pour celui qui pense.
 * Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think.
 * As quoted in Selected Thoughts from the French: XV Century-XX Century, with English Translations (1913), pp. 132-133, by James Raymond Solly. This may conceivably be a misattribution, because as yet no definite citation of a specific work by La Bruyère has been located, and the statement is very similar to one known to have been made by Horace Walpole in a letter of 31 December 1769: The world is a comedy to those that think; a tragedy to those that feel.

 * Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health and dissipate your property.
 *

Les Caractères (1688)

 * Les Caractères - Complete French text at Project Gutenberg - Translated as The "Characters" of Jean de la Bruyère by Henri Van Laun (1885)
 * See also: Les Caractères

 * Of the sixteen chapters which compose it, there are fifteen wholly employed in detecting the fallacy and ridicule to be found in the objects of human passions and inclinations, and in demolishing such obstacles as at first weaken, and afterwards extinguish, any knowledge of God in mankind ; Therefore, these chapters are merely preparatory to the sixteenth and last, wherein atheism is attacked, and perhaps routed, wherein the proofs of a God, such at least as weak man is capable of receiving, are produced ; wherein the providence of God is defended against the insults and complaints of free-thinkers.
 * On the purpose of writing Les Carácteres, Preface to La Bruyere's "Characters," p. v

 * A preacher must have some intelligence to charm the people by his florid style, by his exhilarating system of morality, by the repetition of his figures of speech, his brilliant remarks and vivid descriptions ; but, after all, he has not too much of it, for if he possessed some of the right quality he would neglect these extraneous ornaments, unworthy of the Gospel, and preach naturally, forcibly, and like a Christian.
 * Of The Pulpit (8)

 * The heroic virtues of some great men have been the cause of the corruption of eloquence, or have, at least, enervated the style of most preachers. Instead of joining with the people in rendering thanks to Heaven for the extraordinary gifts it has bestowed on those great men, these very preachers have enrolled themselves among authors and poets, and become panegyrists ; they have even uttered more extravagant praises than are found in dedications, verses, or prologues ; they have turned the Word of God into a whole warp of praises, which, though well deserved, are out of place, bestowed from selfish motives, not required, and ill-suited to their calling. It is fortunate indeed, if, while they are celebrating their heroes in the sanctuary, they even mention the name of that God or of that religion they ought to preach. Some have wished to preach the Gospel, which is for all men, only to one person, and have been so disconcerted when by accident that person was kept away, that they were unable to pronounce a Christian discourse before an assembly of Christian men, because it was not prepared for them, so that other orators have been obliged to take their places, who had only sufficient leisure to praise God in an extemporary exhortation.!
 * Of the Pulpit (13)

 * What can be more discouraging to a man than to doubt if his soul be material, like a stone or a reptile, and subject to corruption like the vilest creatures ? And does it not prove much more strength of mind and grandeur to be able to conceive the idea of a Being superior to all other beings, by whom and for whom all things were made; of a Being absolutely perfect and pure, without beginning or end, of whom our soul is the image, and of whom, if I may say so, it is a part, because it is spiritual and immortal?
 * Of Freethinkers (1)

 * I call those men worldly, earthly, or coarse, whose hearts and minds are wholly fixed on this earth, that small part of the universe they are placed in; who value and love nothing beyond it; whose minds are as cramped as that narrow spot of ground they call their estate, of which the extent is measured, the acres are numbered, and the limits well known. I am not astonished that men who lean, as it were, on an atom, should stumble at the smallest efforts they make for discovering the truth; that, being so short-sighted, they do not reach beyond the heavens and the stars, to contemplate God Himself; that, not being able to perceive the excellency of what is spiritual, or the dignity of the soul, they should be still less sensible of the difficulty of satisfying it; how very inferior the entire world is in comparison to it; how necessary is to it an all-perfect Being, which is God; and how absolutely it needs a religion to find out that God, and to be assured of His reality. I can easily understand that incredulity or indifference are but natural to such men, that they make use of God and religion only as a piece of policy, as far as they may be conducive to the order and decorum of this world, the only thing in their opinion worth thinking of.
 * Of Freethinkers (3)

 * All kinds of music are not suited to praise God and to be heard in the sanctuary; all methods of philosophy are not fit for discoursing worthily of God, His power, the principles of His operations, and His mysteries.
 * Of Freethinkers (23)

 * A man in health questions whether there is a God, and he also doubts whether it be a sin to have intercourse with a woman, who is at liberty to refuse; but when he falls ill, or when his mistress is with child, she is discarded, and he believes in God.
 * Of Freethinkers (6)

Des Ouvrages de l'Esprit

 * ["Of the Works of the Spirit" also translated as "Of Books"]

 * Tout est dit, et l'on vient trop tard depuis plus de sept mille ans qu'il y a des hommes qui pensent.
 * We come too late to say anything which has not been said already.
 * Aphorism 1; Variant translation: Everything has been said, and we have come too late, now that men have been living and thinking for seven thousand years and more.

 * C'est un métier que de faire un livre, comme de faire une pendule: il faut plus que de l'esprit pour être auteur.
 * Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author.
 * Aphorism 3; Variant translation: It requires more than mere genius to be an author.

 * Il y a de certaines choses dont la médiocrité est insupportable: la poésie, la musique, la peinture, le discours public. Quel supplice que celui d'entendre déclamer pompeusement un froid discours, ou prononcer de médiocres vers avec toute l'emphase d'un mauvais poète!
 * There are certain things in which mediocrity is intolerable: poetry, music, painting, public eloquence. What torture it is to hear a frigid speech being pompously declaimed, or second-rate verse spoken with all a bad poet's bombast!
 * Aphorism 7

 * Amas d'épithètes, mauvaises louanges: ce sont les faits qui louent, et la manière de les raconter.
 * A heap of epithets is poor praise: the praise lies in the facts, and in the way of telling them.
 * Aphorism 13

 * L'on voit bien que l'Opéra est l'ébauche d'un grand spectacle; il en donne l'idée.
 * The Opera is obviously the first draft of a fine spectacle; it suggests the idea of one.
 * Aphorism 47

 * La critique souvent n'est pas une science; c'est un métier, où il faut plus de santé que d'esprit, plus de travail que de capacité, plus d'habitude que de génie. Si elle vient d'un homme qui ait moins de discernement que de lecture, et qu'elle s'exerce sur de certains chapitres, elle corrompt et les lecteurs et l'écrivain.
 * Criticism is often not a science; it is a craft, requiring more good health than wit, more hard work than talent, more habit than native genius. In the hands of a man who has read widely but lacks judgment, applied to certain subjects it can corrupt both its readers and the writer himself.
 * Aphorism 63

 * Horace ou Despréaux l'a dit avant vous.—Je le crois sur votre parole; mais je l'ai dit comme mien. Ne puis-je pas penser après eux une chose vraie, et que d'autres encore penseront après moi?
 * “Horace or Boileau have said such a thing before you.”—”I take your word for it, but I have used it as my own. May I not have the same correct thought after them, as others may have after me?”
 * Aphorism 69

Du mérite personnel

 * ["Of Personal Merit"]

 * Il ne manque cependant à l'oisiveté du sage qu'un meilleur nom, et que méditer, parler, lire, et être tranquille s'appelât travailler.
 * There is, however, nothing wanting to the idleness of a philosopher but a better name, and that meditation, conversation, and reading should be called “work.”
 * Aphorism 12

 * Un extérieur simple est l'habit des hommes vulgaires, il est taillé pour eux et sur leur mesure; mais c'est une parure pour ceux qui ont rempli leur vie de grandes actions: je les compare à une beauté négligée, mais plus piquante.
 * Outward simplicity befits ordinary men, like a garment made to measure for them; but it serves as an adornment to those who have filled their lives with great deeds: they might be compared to some beauty carelessly dressed and thereby all the more attractive.
 * Aphorism 17

 * S'il est heureux d'avoir de la naissance, il ne l'est pas moins d'être tel qu'on ne s'informe plus si vous en avez.
 * It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.
 * Aphorism 21

 * Il apparaît de temps en temps sur la surface de la terre des hommes rares, exquis, qui brillent par leur vertu, et dont les qualités éminentes jettent un éclat prodigieux. Semblables à ces étoiles extraordinaires dont on ignore les causes, et dont on sait encore moins ce qu'elles deviennent après avoir disparu, ils n'ont ni aïeuls, ni descendants: ils composent seuls toute leur race.
 * From time to time there appear on the face of the earth men of rare and consummate excellence, who dazzle us by their virtue, and whose outstanding qualities shed a stupendous light. Like those extraordinary stars of whose origins we are ignorant, and of whose fate, once they have vanished, we know even less, such men have neither forebears nor descendants: they are the whole of their race.
 * Aphorism 22

 * [I]l semble que le mariage met tout le monde dans son ordre.
 * Marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.
 * Aphorism 25

 * Il n'y a guère d'homme si accompli et si nécessaire aux siens, qu'il n'ait de quoi se faire moins regretter.
 * No man is so perfect, so necessary to his friends, as to give them no cause to miss him less.
 * Aphorism 35

 * Chassez un chien du fauteuil du Roi, il grimpe à la chaire du prédicateur; il regarde le monde indifféremment, sans embarras, sans pudeur; il n'a pas, non plus que le sot, de quoi rougir.
 * You may drive a dog off the King's armchair, and it will climb into the preacher's pulpit; he views the world unmoved, unembarrassed, unabashed.
 * Aphorism 38

 * Ménippe est l'oiseau paré de divers plumages qui ne sont pas à lui. Il ne parle pas, il ne sent pas; il répète des sentiments et des discours, se sert même si naturellement de l'esprit des autres qu'il y est le premier trompé, et qu'il croit souvent dire son goût ou expliquer sa pensée, lorsqu'il n'est que l'écho de quelqu'un qu'il vient de quitter.
 * Menippus is a bird decked in various feathers which are not his. He neither says nor feels anything, but repeats the feelings and sayings of others; it is so natural for him to make use of other people’s minds that he is the first deceived by it, and often believes he speaks his own mind or expresses his own thoughts when he is but the echo of some man he just parted with.
 * Aphorism 40

 * La fausse grandeur est farouche et inaccessible: comme elle sent son faible, elle se cache, ou du moins ne se montre pas de front, et ne se fait voir qu'autant qu'il faut pour imposer et ne paraître point ce qu'elle est, je veux dire une vraie petitesse. La véritable grandeur est libre, douce, familière, populaire; elle se laisse toucher et manier, elle ne perd rien à être vue de près; plus on la connaît, plus on l'admire.
 * False greatness is unsociable and remote: conscious of its own frailty, it hides, or at least averts its face, and reveals itself only enough to create an illusion and not be recognized as the meanness that it really is. True greatness is free, kind, familiar and popular; it lets itself be touched and handled, it loses nothing by being seen at close quarters; the better one knows it, the more one admires it.
 * Aphorism 42

 * Le sage guérit de l'ambition par l'ambition même; il tend à de si grandes choses, qu'il ne peut se borner à ce qu'on appelle des trésors, des postes, la fortune et la faveur.
 * A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune, and favor cannot satisfy him.
 * Aphorism 43

 * Celui-là est bon qui fait du bien aux autres; s'il souffre pour le bien qu'il fait, il est très bon; s'il souffre de ceux à qui il a fait ce bien, il a une si grande bonté qu'elle ne peut être augmentée que dans le cas où ses souffrances viendraient à croître; et s'il en meurt, sa vertu ne saurait aller plus loin: elle est héroïque, elle est parfaite.
 * That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on account of the good he does, he is very good; if he suffers at the hands of those to whom he has done good, then his goodness is so great that it could be enhanced only by greater sufferings; and if he should die at their hands, his virtue can go no further: it is heroic, it is perfect.
 * Aphorism 44

Des Femmes

 * ["The Women"]

 * Les femmes sont extrêmes: elles sont meilleures ou pires que les hommes.
 * Women run to extremes; they are either better or worse than men.
 * Aphorism 53

 * Les douleurs muettes et stupides sont hors d'usage: on pleure, on récite, on répète, on est si touchée de la mort de son mari, qu'on n'en oublie pas la moindre circonstance.
 * Grief that is dazed and speechless is out of fashion: the modern woman mourns her husband loudly and tells you the whole story of his death, which distresses her so much that she forgets not the slightest detail about it.
 * Aphorism 79

Du Coeur

 * ["Of the Heart" also translated as "Of the Affections"]

 * Le temps, qui fortifie les amitiés, affaiblit l'amour.
 * Time, which strengthens friendship, weakens love.
 * Aphorism 4

 * L'amour qui naît subitement est le plus long à guérir.
 * Sudden love takes the longest time to be cured.
 * Aphorism 13

 * Le commencement et le déclin de l'amour se font sentir par l'embarras où l'on est de se trouver seuls.
 * We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.
 * Aphorism 33

 * L'on veut faire tout le bonheur, ou si cela ne se peut ainsi, tout le malheur de ce qu'on aime.
 * One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched.
 * Aphorism 39

 * Regretter ce que l'on aime est un bien, en comparaison de vivre avec ce que l'on hait.
 * Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates.
 * Aphorism 40

 * La libéralité consiste moins à donner beaucoup qu'à donner à propos.
 * Liberality consists less in giving a great deal than in gifts well timed.
 * Aphorism 47; Variant translation: Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.

 * S'il est vrai que la pitié ou la compassion soit un retour vers nous-mêmes qui nous met en la place des malheureux, pourquoi tirent-ils de nous si peu de soulagement dans leurs misères?
 * If it be true that in showing pity and compassion we think of ourselves, because we fear to be one day or another in the same circumstances as those unfortunate people for whom we feel, why are the latter so sparingly relieved by us of their condition?
 * Aphorism 48

 * Il faut rire avant que d'être heureux, de peur de mourir sans avoir ri.
 * We must laugh before we are happy, for fear we die before we laugh at all.
 * Aphorism 63; Variant translation: We should laugh before being happy, for fear of dying without having laughed.

De la société et de la conversation

 * ["Of Society and conversation" or "Of Society"]

 * A Man must be very inert to have no character at all.
 * 1

 * A fool is always troublesome, a man of sense perceives when he pleases or is tiresome ; he goes away the very minute before it might have been thought he stayed too long.
 * 2

 * Mischievous wags are a kind of insects which are in everybody's way and plentiful in all countries. Real wit is rarely to be met with, and even if it be innate in a man, it must be very difficult to maintain reputation for it during any length of time; for, commonly, he that makes us laugh does not stand high in our estimation.
 * 3

 * There are a great many obscene minds, yet more railing and satirical, but very few fastidious ones. A man must have good manners, be very polite, and even have a great deal of originality to be able to jest gracefully and be felicitous in his remarks about trifles; to jest in such a manner and to make something out of nothing is to create.
 * 4

 * Some men speak one moment before they think; others tediously study everything they say, and in conversation bore us as painfully as was the travail of their mind; they are, as it were, made up of phrases and quaint expressions, whilst their gestures are as affected as their behaviour. They call themselves "purists," and do not venture to say the most trifling word not in use, however expressive it may be. Nothing comes from them worth remembering, nothing is spontaneous and unrestrained; they speak correctly, but they are very tiresome.
 * 15

 * L'esprit de la conversation consiste bien moins à en montrer beaucoup qu'à en faire trouver aux autres: celui qui sort de votre entretien content de soi et de son esprit, l'est de vous parfaitement. Les hommes n'aiment point à vous admirer, ils veulent plaire; ils cherchent moins à être instruits, et même réjouis, qu'à être goûtés et applaudis.
 * The true spirit of conversation consists more in bringing out the cleverness of others than in showing a great deal of it yourself; he who goes away pleased with himself and his own wit is also greatly pleased with you. Most men would rather please than admire you; they seek less to be instructed, and even to be amused, than to be praised and applauded.
 * 16

 * It is a sad thing when men have neither enough intelligence to speak well, nor enough sense to hold their tongues; this is the root of all impertinence.
 * 18
 * Variant translation:
 * It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well, nor the judgment to hold their tongues.
 * As quoted in A Dictionary of Thoughts: being A Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors of the World, both Ancient and Modern (1908) edited by Tryon Edwards, p. 560

 * To speak and to offend is with some people but one and the same thing; they are biting and bitter; their words are steeped in gall and wormwood; sneers as well as insolent and insulting words flow from their lips. It had been well for them had they been born mute or stupid; the little vivacity and intelligence they have prejudices them more than dullness does others; they are not always satisfied with giving sharp answers, they often attack arrogantly those who are present, and damage the reputation of those who are absent; they butt all round like rams — for rams, of course, must use their horns. We therefore do not expect, by our sketch of them, to change such coarse, restless, and stubborn individuals. The best thing a man can do is to take to his heels as soon as he perceives them, without even turning round to look behind him.
 * 27

 * Rire des gens d'esprit, c'est le privilège des sots.
 * To laugh at men of sense is the privilege of fools.
 * 56

 * Profound ignorance makes a man dogmatical; he who knows nothing thinks he can teach others what he just now has learned himself; whilst he who knows a great deal can scarcely imagine any one should be unacquainted with what he says, and, therefore, speaks with more indifference.
 * 76

Des biens de fortune

 * ["Of Worldly Goods"]

 * À mesure que la faveur et les grands biens se retirent d'un homme, ils laissent voir en lui le ridicule qu'ils couvraient, et qui y était sans que personne s'en aperçût.
 * As favor and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before.
 * Aphorism 4

 * N'envions point à une sorte de gens leurs grandes richesses; ils les ont à titre onéreux, et qui ne nous accommoderait point: ils ont mis leur repos, leur santé, leur honneur et leur conscience pour les avoir; cela est trop cher, et il n'y a rien à gagner à un tel marché.
 * Let us not envy a certain class of men for their enormous riches; they have paid such an equivalent for them that it would not suit us; they have given for them their peace of mind, their health, their honour, and their conscience; this is rather too dear, and there is nothing to be made out of such a bargain.
 * Aphorism 13

 * Rien ne fait mieux comprendre le peu de chose que Dieu croit donner aux hommes, en leur abandonnant les richesses, l'argent, les grands établissements et les autres biens, que la dispensation qu'il en fait, et le genre d'hommes qui en sont le mieux pourvus.
 * Nothing more clearly shows how little God esteems his gift to men of wealth, money, position and other worldly goods, than the way he distributes these, and the sort of men who are most amply provided with them.
 * Aphorism 24

 * S'il est vrai que l'on soit pauvre par toutes les choses que l'on désire, l'ambitieux et l'avare languissent dans une extrême pauvreté.
 * If it is true that one is poor on account of all the things one wants, the ambitious and the avaricious languish in extreme poverty.
 * Aphorism 49

 * Il n'y a au monde que deux manières de s'élever, ou par sa propre industrie, ou par l'imbécillité des autres.
 * There are only two ways of getting on in the world: by one's own industry, or by the stupidity of others.
 * Aphorism 52

 * Il y a des âmes sales, pétries de boue et d’ordure, éprises du gain et de l’intérêt, comme les belles âmes le sont de la gloire et de la vertu; capables d’une seule volupté, qui est celle d’acquérir ou de ne point perdre.
 * There are some sordid minds, formed of slime and filth, to whom interest and gain are what glory and virtue are to superior souls; they feel no other pleasure but to acquire money.
 * Aphorism 58

De la ville

 * ["On the City"]

 * La ville est partagée en diverses sociétés, qui sont comme autant de petites républiques, qui ont leurs lois, leurs usages, leur jargon, et leurs mots pour rire. Tant que cet assemblage est dans sa force, et que l'entêtement subsiste, l'on ne trouve rien de bien dit ou de bien fait que ce qui part des siens, et l'on est incapable de goûter ce qui vient d'ailleurs: cela va jusques au mépris pour les gens qui ne sont pas initiés dans leurs mystères.
 * The town is divided into various groups, which form so many little states, each with its own laws and customs, its jargon and its jokes. While the association holds and the fashion lasts, they admit nothing well said or well done except by one of themselves, and they are incapable of appeciating anything from another source, to the point of despising those who are not initiated into their mysteries.
 * Aphorism 4

De la cour

 * ["Of the Court"]

 * [L]e plus fort et le plus pénible est de donner; que coûte-t-il d'y ajouter un sourire?
 * The giving is the hardest part; what does it cost to add a smile?
 * Aphorism 45

Des grands

 * ["The Great" or "Of Great Nobles"]

 * L'on doit se taire sur les puissants: il y a presque toujours de la flatterie à en dire du bien; il y a du péril à en dire du mal pendant qu'ils vivent, et de la lâcheté quand ils sont morts.
 * We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.
 * Aphorism 56

De l'Homme

 * ["About Man"]

 * Il n'y a pour l'homme que trois événements: naître, vivre et mourir. Il ne se sent pas naître, il souffre à mourir, et il oublie de vivre.
 * There are but three events in a man's life: birth, life and death. He is not conscious of being born, he dies in pain, and he forgets to live.
 * Aphorism 48

 * Ainsi les postes éminents rendent les grands hommes encore plus grands, et les petits beaucoup plus petits.
 * Lofty posts make great men greater still, and small men much smaller.
 * Aphorism 95

 * La plupart des hommes emploient la meilleure partie de leur vie à rendre l'autre misérable.
 * Most men make use of the first part of their life to render the last part miserable.
 * Aphorism 102

Des jugements

 * L'une des marques de la médiocrité de l'esprit est de toujours conter.
 * One mark of a second-rate mind is to be always telling stories.
 * Aphorism 52

 * Entre le bon sens et le bon goût il y a la différence de la cause à son effet.
 * Between good sense and good taste there lies the difference between a cause and its effect.
 * Aphorism 56

De la chaire

 * ["Of the Pulpit"]

 * ''Quel avantage n'a pas un discours prononcé sur un ouvrage qui est écrit! Les hommes sont les dupes de l'action et de la parole, comme de tout l'appareil de l'auditoire. Pour peu de prévention qu'ils aient en faveur de celui qui parle, ils l'admirent, et cherchent ensuite à le comprendre: avant qu'il ait commencé, ils s'écrient qu'il va bien faire; ils s'endorment bientôt, et le discours fini, ils se réveillent pour dire qu'il a bien fait. On se passionne moins pour un auteur: son ouvrage est lu dans le loisir de la campagne, ou dans le silence du cabinet; il n'y a point de rendez-vous publics pour lui applaudir. ... On lit son livre, quelque excellent qu'il soit, dans l'esprit de le trouver médiocre; on le feuillette, on le discute, on le confronte; ce ne sont pas des sons qui se perdent en l'air et qui s'oublient; ce qui est imprimé demeure imprimé.
 * What a vast advantage has a speech over a written composition. Men are imposed upon by voice and gesture, and by all that is conducive to enhance the performance. Any little prepossession in favor of the speaker raises their admiration, and then they do their best to comprehend him; they commend his performance before he has begun, but they soon fall off asleep, doze all the time he is preaching, and only wake to applaud him. An author has no such passionate admirers; his works are read at leisure in the country or in the solitude of the study; no public meetings are held to applaud him. ... However excellent his book may be, it is read with the intention of finding it but middling; it is perused, discussed, and compared to other works; a book is not composed of transient sounds lost in the air and forgotten; what is printed remains.
 * Aphorism 27

Quotes about Jean de la Bruyère

 * La Bruyère is not a speculative moralist, but an observer of the manners of men, or, as he likes to call himself, a philosopher, and above all a Christian philosopher.
 * Preface to La Bruyere's "Characters," page V.

title: Jean de La Bruyère


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