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Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams (27 September 1722 – 2 October 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents, and one of the architects of the principles of American republicanism that shaped the political culture of the United States. He was a second cousin to his fellow Founding Father, President John Adams.

Quotes

 * Our Trade, as it is now, & always has been conducted, centers in Great Brittain, & in Return for her Manufactures affords her more ready Cash, beyond any Comparison, than can possibly be expected by the most sanguine Promoters of these extraordinary Methods. We are in short ultimately yielding large Supplys to the Revenues of the Mother Country, while we are laboring for a very moderate Subsistence for ourselves. But if our Trade is to be curtaild in its most profitable Branches, & Burdens beyond all possible Bearing, laid upon that which is sufferd to remain, we shall be so far from being able to take off the manufactures of Great Brittain, that it will be scarce possible for us to earn our Bread.--But what still heightens our apprehensions is, that these unexpected Proceedings may be preparatory to new Taxations upon us: For if our Trade may be taxed, why not our Lands? Why not the Produce of our Lands & everything we possess or make use of? This we apprehend annihilates our Charter Right to govern & tax ourselves. It strikes at our British privileges, which as we have never forfeited them, we hold in common with our Fellow Subjects who are Natives of Britain. If Taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having a legal Representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the Character of free Subjects to the miserable State of tributary Slaves?
 * Instructions to Boston’s Representatives (May 1764), also quoted in Samuel Adams : Radical Puritan (1997), by William M. Fowler Jr., p. 51

 * It is a very great mistake to imagine that the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual man, however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular actions.
 * "Loyalty and Sedition," essay published in The Advertiser (1748), later printed in The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams, Volume 1 (1865), by William Vincent Wells

 * Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man. We must not conclude merely upon a man's haranguing upon liberty, and using the charming sound, that he is fit to be trusted with the liberties of his country. It is not unfrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their actions, mean nothing else by it but their own liberty, — to oppress without control or the restraint of laws all who are poorer or weaker than themselves. It is not, I say, unfrequent to see such instances, though at the same time I esteem it a justice due to my country to say that it is not without shining examples of the contrary kind; — examples of men of a distinguished attachment to this same liberty I have been describing; whom no hopes could draw, no terrors could drive, from steadily pursuing, in their sphere, the true interests of their country; whose fidelity has been tried in the nicest and tenderest manner, and has been ever firm and unshaken. The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people.
 * Essay published in The Advertiser (1748) and later reprinted in The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams, Volume 1 (1865), by William Vincent Wells

 * Property is admitted to have an existence, even in the savage state of nature. The bow, the arrow, and the tomahawk; the hunting and the fishing ground, are species of property, as important to an American savage, as pearls, rubies, and diamonds are to the Mogul, or a Nabob in the East, or the lands, tenements, hereditaments, messuages, gold and silver of the Europeans. And if property is necessary for the support of savage life, it is by no means less so in civil society. The Utopian schemes of levelling, and a community of goods, are as visionary and impracticable, as those which vest all property in the Crown, are arbitrary, despotic, and in our government unconstitutional. Now, what property can the colonists be conceived to have, if their money may be granted away by others, without their consent?
 * "House of Representatives of Massachusetts to Dennys De Berdt (12 January 1768)

 * If you, or Colonel Dalrymple under you, have the power to remove one regiment you have the power to remove both. It is at your peril if you refuse. The meeting is composed of three thousand people. They have become impatient. A thousand men are already arrived from the neighborhood, and the whole country is in motion. Night is approaching. An immediate answer is expected. Both regiments or none!
 * Address to acting governor Thomas Hutchinson (6 March 1770), the day following the Boston Massacre. Hutchinson had offered to remove one of the two British regiments stationed in Boston.

 * The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.
 * Essay, written under the pseudonym "Candidus," in The Boston Gazette (14 October 1771), later published in The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams (1865) by William Vincent Wells, p. 425

 * The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have receiv'd them as a fair Inheritance from our worthy Ancestors: They purchas'd them for us with toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeath'd to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. — Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that "if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom." It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.
 * Essay, written under the pseudonym "Candidus," in The Boston Gazette (14 October 1771), later published in The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams (1865) by William Vincent Wells, p. 425

 * It is always dangerous to the liberties of the people to have an army stationed among them, over which they have no control... The Militia is composed of free Citizens. There is therefore no danger of their making use of their Power to the destruction of their own Rights, or suffering others to invade them.
 * The Writings of Samuel Adams, Vol. III, 1773-1777, collected and edited by Harry Alonzo Gushing, P.G. Putnam & Sons, New York and London, 1907, pp. 230 and 251

 * What a glorious morning is this!
 * Comment upon hearing the gunfire at the Battle of Lexington (19 April 1775), as quoted in An address, delivered at Lexington, on the 19th (20th) April, 1835 (1835) by Edward Everett; this has often been paraphrased as "What a glorious morning for America!"

 * He who is void of virtuous Attachments in private Life, is, or very soon will be void of all Regard for his Country. There is seldom an Instance of a Man guilty of betraying his Country, who had not before lost the Feeling of moral Obligations in his private Connections.
 * Letter to James Warren (4 November 1775), reprinted in The Writings of Samuel Adams, ed. Harry Alonzo Cushing, vol. III (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1907), p. 236

 * How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!
 * Letter to John Pitts (21 January 1776)

 * We cannot make Events. Our Business is wisely to improve them. There has been much to do to confirm doubting Friends & fortify the Timid. It requires time to bring honest Men to think & determine alike even in important Matters. Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason.
 * Letter to Samuel Cooper (30 April 1776)

 * The eyes of the people are upon us. [...] If we despond, public confidence is destroyed, the people will no longer yield their support to a hopeless contest, and American liberty is no more. [...] Despondency becomes not the dignity of our cause, nor the character of those who are its supporters. Let us awaken then, and evince a different spirit, - a spirit that shall inspire the people with confidence in themselves and in us, - a spirit that will encourage them to persevere in this glorious struggle, until their rights and liberties shall be established on a rock. We have proclaimed to the world our determination 'to die freemen, rather than to live slaves.' We have appealed to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and in Heaven we have placed our trust. [...] We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection.
 * addressing a meeting of delegates to the Continental Congress, assembled at Yorktown, Pennsylvania, September 1777 ; as quoted in The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams, Volume 2, by William Vincent Wells; Little, Brown, and Company; Boston, 1865 ; pp. 492-493

 * A general Dissolution of Principles & Manners will more surely overthrow the Liberties of America than the whole Force of the Common Enemy. While the People are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their Virtue they will be ready to surrender their Liberties to the first external or internal Invader. How necessary then is it for those who are determin'd to transmit the Blessings of Liberty as a fair Inheritance to Posterity, to associate on publick Principles in Support of publick Virtue.
 * Letter to James Warren (12 February 1779)

 * If Virtue & Knowledge are diffus'd among the People, they will never be enslav'd. This will be their great Security.
 * Letter to James Warren (12 February 1779)

 * If ever the Time should come, when vain & aspiring Men shall possess the highest Seats in Government, our Country will stand in Need of its experienced Patriots to prevent its Ruin.
 * Letter to James Warren (24 October 1780)

 * I firmly believe that the benevolent Creator designed the republican Form of Government for Man.
 * Statement of (14 April 1785), quoted in The Writings of Samuel Adams (1904) edited by Harry A. Cushing

 * Let Divines, and Philosophers, Statesmen and Patriots unite their endeavours to renovate the Age, by impressing the Minds of Men with the importance of educating their little boys, and girls — of inculcating in the Minds of youth the fear, and Love of the Deity, and universal Phylanthropy; and in subordination to these great principles, the Love of their Country — of instructing them in the Art of self government, without which they never can act a wise part in the Government of Societys great, or small — in short of leading them in the Study, and Practice of the exalted Virtues of the Christian system.
 * Letter to John Adams (4 October 1790)

 * In monarchy the crime of treason may admit of being pardoned or lightly punished, but the man who dares rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death.
 * Arguing for a Riot Act which prohibited 12 or more persons from congregating in public and which empowered county sheriffs to kill rioters, during debates prompted by Shays' Rebellion (1786 - 1787) and the death sentences given to many of the rebels; as quoted in Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States (1980) Chapter 5 : A kind of Revolution; also quoted in "Completing the American Revolution" by Norman D. Livergood

 * Is life, property and every thing dear and sacred, to be now submitted to the decisions of pensioned judges, holding their places during the pleasure of such a Governor, and a Council perhaps overawed? To what a state of infamy, wretchedness and misery shall we be reduced if our Judges shall be prevailed upon to be thus degraded to hirelings, and the body of the people shall suffer their free Constitution to be overturned and ruined. Merciful God! inspire thy people with wisdom and fortitude, and direct them to gracious ends. In this extreme distress, when the plan of slavery seems nearly completed, O save our country from impending ruin.
 * Adams writing as Valerius Poplicola in the Boston Gazette, October 5, 1772, as quoted in The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams, by William V. Wells

The Rights of the Colonists (1772)

 * The Rights of the Colonists The Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting, Nov. 20, 1772 Source: Old South Leaflets no. 173 (Boston: Directors of the Old South Work, 1906) 7: 417-428

 * Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.

 * All men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long as they please; and in case of intolerable oppression, civil or religious, to leave the society they belong to, and enter into another.

 * When men enter into society, it is by voluntary consent; and they have a right to demand and insist upon the performance of such conditions and previous limitations as form an equitable original compact. Every natural right not expressly given up, or, from the nature of a social compact, necessarily ceded, remains. All positive and civil laws should conform, as far as possible, to the law of natural reason and equity.

 * As neither reason requires nor religion permits the contrary, every man living in or out of a state of civil society has a right peaceably and quietly to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience.

 * In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practised, and, both by precept and example, inculcated on mankind.

 * "Just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty," in matters spiritual and temporal, is a thing that all men are clearly entitled to by the eternal and immutable laws of God and nature, as well as by the law of nations and all well-grounded municipal laws, which must have their foundation in the former.

 * The natural liberty of man, by entering into society, is abridged or restrained, so far only as is necessary for the great end of society, the best good of the whole. In the state of nature every man is, under God, judge and sole judge of his own rights and of the injuries done him. By entering into society he agrees to an arbiter or indifferent judge between him and his neighbors; but he no more renounces his original right than by taking a cause out of the ordinary course of law, and leaving the decision to referees or indifferent arbitrators. In the last case, he must pay the referees for time and trouble. He should also be willing to pay his just quota for the support of government, the law, and the constitution; the end of which is to furnish indifferent and impartial judges in all cases that may happen, whether civil, ecclesiastical, marine, or military.

 * The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but only to have the law of nature for his rule.

 * Government was instituted for the purposes of common defence, and those who hold the reins of government have an equitable, natural right to an honorable support from the same principle that "the laborer is worthy of his hire." But then the same community which they serve ought to be the assessors of their pay.  Governors have no right to seek and take what they please; by this, instead of being content with the station assigned them, that of honorable servants of the society, they would soon become absolute masters, despots, and tyrants.  Hence, as a private man has a right to say what wages he will give in his private affairs, so has a community to determine what they will give and grant of their substance for the administration of public affairs.  And, in both cases, more are ready to offer their service at the proposed and stipulated price than are able and willing to perform their duty.

'''
 * Government was instituted for the purposes of common defence … In short, it is the greatest absurdity to suppose it in the power of one, or any number of men … to renounce their essential natural rights, or the means of preserving those rights; when the grand end of civil government, from the very nature of its institution, is for the support, protection, and defence of those very rights; the principal of which, as is before observed, are Life, Liberty, and Property. If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.
 * The Legislative has no right to absolute, arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes of the people; nor can mortals assume a prerogative not only too high for men, but for angels, and therefore reserved for the exercise of the Deity alone.

 * The supreme power cannot justly take from any man any part of his property, without his consent in person or by his representative. … Now what liberty can there be where property is taken away without consent?

Speech in Philadelphia (1776)

 * Speech, State House of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (1 August 1776)

 * He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all. Our forefathers threw off the yoke of Popery in religion; for you is reserved the honor of leveling the popery of politics. They opened the Bible to all, and maintained the capacity of every man to judge for himself in religion.

 * Were the talents and virtues which heaven has bestowed on men given merely to make them more obedient drudges, to be sacrificed to the follies and ambition of a few? Or, were not the noble gifts so equally dispensed with a divine purpose and law, that they should as nearly as possible be equally exerted, and the blessings of Providence be equally enjoyed by all?

 * Men who content themselves with the semblance of truth, and a display of words, talk much of our obligations to Great Britain for protection. Had she a single eye to our advantage? A nation of shopkeepers are very seldom so disinterested.

 * Did the protection we received annul our rights as men, and lay us under an obligation of being miserable? Who among you, my countrymen, that is a father, would claim authority to make your child a slave because you had nourished him in infancy? ’Tis a strange species of generosity which requires a return infinitely more valuable than anything it could have bestowed; that demands as a reward for a defense of our property a surrender of those inestimable privileges, to the arbitrary will of vindictive tyrants, which alone give value to that very property.

 * Courage, then, my countrymen, our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.

 * Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say "what should be the reward of such sacrifices?" Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!
 * Variant: If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animat ed ing contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit  set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen !.

 * Freedom of thought and the right of private judgment, in matters of conscience, driven from every other corner of the earth, direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum.
 * Variant: Driven from every other corner of the earth, freedom of thought and the right of private judgment in matters of conscience, direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum.

 * We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom alone all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and with a propitious eye beholds his subjects assuming that freedom of thought, and dignity of self-direction which He bestowed on them. From the rising to the setting sun, may His kingdom come.

Speech about Declaration of Independence (1776)

 * Speech about the Declaration of Independence (1 August 1776)

 * We have large armies, well disciplined and appointed, with commanders inferior to none in military skill, and superior in activity and zeal. We are furnished with arsenals and stores beyond our most sanguine expectations.

 * Our union is now complete; our constitution composed, established, and approved. You are now the guardians of your own liberties. We may justly address you, as the decemviri did the Romans, and say, Nothing that we propose can pass into a law without your consent. Be yourselves, O Americans, the authors of those laws on which your happiness depends.

 * We cannot suppose that our opposition has made a corrupt and dissipated nation more friendly to America, or created in them a greater respect for the rights of mankind. We can therefore expect a restoration and establishment of our privileges, and a compensation for the injuries we have received, from their want of power, from their fears, and not from their virtues. The unanimity and valor, which will effect an honorable peace, can render a future contest for our liberties unnecessary. He who has strength to chain down the wolf is a madman if he let him loose without drawing his teeth and paring his nails.

 * We have no other alternative than independence, or the most ignominious and galling servitude. The legions of our enemies thicken on our plains; desolation and death mark their bloody career; whilst the mangled corpses of our countrymen seem to cry out to us as a voice from Heaven.

 * You have now in the field armies sufficient to repel the whole force of your enemies and their base and mercenary auxiliaries. The hearts of your soldiers beat high with the spirit of freedom; they are animated with the justice of their cause, and while they grasp their swords can look up to Heaven for assistance. Your adversaries are composed of wretches who laugh at the rights of humanity, who turn religion into derision, and would, for higher wages, direct their swords against their leaders or their country. Go on, then, in your generous enterprise, with gratitude to Heaven for past, success, and confidence of it in the future. For my own part, I ask no greater blessing than to share with you the common danger and common glory. If I have a wish dearer to my soul than that my ashes may be mingled with those of a Warren and a Montgomery, it is that these American States may never cease to be free and independent.

Disputed

 * And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of time press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms; or to raise standing armies, unless when necessary for the defence of the United States, or of some one or more of them; or to prevent the people from petitioning, in a peaceable and orderly manner, the federal legislature, for a redress of grievances; or to subject the people to unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons, papers or possessions.
 * Rejected resolution for a clause to add to the first article of the U.S. Constitution, in the debates of the Massachusetts Convention of 1788 (6 February 1788); this has often been attributed to Adams, but he is nowhere identified as the person making the resolution in Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Held in the year 1788 And which finally ratified the Constitution of the United States. (1856) p. 86.

Actually, Samuel Adams is documented in the following:

Elliot’s Debates: Volume 2 Convention of Massachusetts, February 6, 1788

Wednesday, February 6. [The Hon. Mr. ADAMS introduced some amendments, to be added to those reported by the committee; but, they not meeting the approbation of those gentlemen whose minds they were intended to ease, after they were debated a considerable time, the honorable gentleman withdrew them.]

Then follows a list of votes, including a "Yea" for "Hon. Samuel Adams

Misattributed

 * It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in the minds of men.
 * Misattributed to Samuel Adams as early as 1990. Also misattributed to John Adams. Actually originates with Diane Ackerman, who, in an article on Samuel Adams, "The Man Who Made a Revolution", published in the September 6, 1987 issue of the widely circulated Sunday newspaper supplement Parade, wrote: "Early on, he realized that revolutions don't require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brushfires in people's minds." (page numbers vary, article on pp. 20–23 in most editions with the preceding quote on p. 22)

Quotes about Adams

 * No one, in the year 1770, was better fitted than Samuel Adams, either by talent and temperament or the circumstances of his position, to push the continent into a rebellion. Unlike most of his patriot friends, he had neither private business nor private profession to fall back upon when public affairs grew tame, his only business being, as one might say, the public business, his only profession the definition and defense of popular rights. ...the serious business of a man who during ten years had abandoned all private pursuits and had embraced poverty to become a tribune of the people.
 * Carl L. Becker, The Eve of the Revolution (1918)

 * Samuel Adams had not inherited poverty nor had he, after all, exactly embraced it, but had as it were naturally drifted into it through indifference to worldly gain, the indifference which men of single and fixed purpose have for all irrelevant matters.
 * Carl L. Becker, in The Eve of the Revolution (1918)

 * To John Adams he [Samuel] said on one occasion, "he never looked forward in life; never planned, laid a scheme, or formed a design for laying up anything for himself or others after him". This was the truth, inexplicable as it must have seemed to his more provident cousin.
 * Carl L. Becker, in The Eve of the Revolution (1918)

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title: Samuel Adams


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Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – October 25, 1400) was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat (courtier), and diplomat. Chaucer is most famous as the author of The Canterbury Tales. He is sometimes credited with being the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin.

Quotes

 * By writing have men mind of things passed, for writing is the key of all good remembrance.
 * "The 25 Good Women", quoted in Edward, 2nd Duke of York, The Master of Game, Prologue

Th' assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge, The dredful joye, alwey that slit so yerne; Al this mene I be love.'''
 * '''The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne.
 * Parlement of Foules, l. 1-4; comparable with Hippocrates, Aphorisms 1:1

Cometh al this new corn fro yeer to yere; And '''out of olde bokes, in good feith, Cometh al this newe science that men lere.'''
 * For out of olde feldes, as men seith,
 * Parlement of Foules, l. 22-25

 * Nature, the vicar of the Almightie Lord.
 * Parlement of Foules, l. 379

And every speche that is spoken, Loud or privee, foul or fair, In his substaunce is but air; For as flaumbe is but lighted smoke, Right so soun is air ybroke.'''
 * '''Soun is noght but air ybroken,
 * The House of Fame, bk. 2, l. 257-62

But yit I praye unto youre curteisye: Beeth hevy again, or elles moot I die.
 * For I am shave as neigh as any frere.
 * The Complaint of Chaucer to His Purse, l. 19–21

 * Harde is his herte that loveth nought In Mey, ...
 * The Romaunt of the Rose, Lines 85-86

Troilus and Criseyde (1380s)

Withinne a thousand yeer, and wordes tho That hadden prys, now wonder nyce and straunge Us thinketh hem'''; and yet they spake hem so, And spedde as wel in love as men now do; '''Eek for to winne love in sondry ages, In sondry londes, sondry ben usages.'''
 * '''Ye knowe eek, that in forme of speche is chaunge
 * Book 2, line 22-28

 * Of harmes two the lesse is for to cheese.
 * Book ii, line 470

Whan he the peple upon him herde cryen, That to beholde it was a noble game, How sobreliche he caste doun his yen. Criseyda gan al his chere aspyen, And let so softe it in her herte sinke That to herself she seyde, "Who yaf me drinke?"
 * For which he wex a litel red for shame,
 * Book 2, line 645-651

So thorugh this lettre, which that she hym sente, Encressen gan desir, of which he brente.'''
 * '''Or as an ook comth of a litel spir,
 * Book 2, line 1335-37
 * The earliest known near-usage in English of the proverb "Great oaks from little acorns grow."

 * It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake.
 * Book 3, line 764

The worst kynde of infortune is this, A man to han ben in prosperitee, And it remembren, whan it passed is.
 * For of fortunes sharp adversitee
 * Book 3, line 1625-1628

A world of folke.
 * He helde about him alway, out of drede,
 * Book 3, line 1721

 * Oon ere it herde, at tothir out it wente
 * One ear heard it, at the other out it went
 * Book 4, line 434

 * Eke wonder last but nine deies never in toun.
 * Book 4, line 525

 * For tyme y-lost may not recovered be.
 * Book 4, line 1283

 * I am right sorry for your heavinesse.
 * Book 5, line 146

In Englissh and in writyng of oure tonge, So prey I God that non myswrite the, Ne the mysmetre for defaute of tonge; And red wherso thow be, or elles songe, That thow be understonde, God I biseche!
 * And for ther is so gret diversite
 * Book 5, line 1793-1798

 * Go, little booke! go, my little tragedie!
 * Book 5, line 1798

In which that love up-groweth with your age, Repeyreth hoom fro worldly vanitee, '''And of your herte up-casteth the visage To thilke God that after his image Yow made, and thynketh al nis but a faire This world, that passeth sone as floures faire.'''
 * O yonge fresshe folkes, he or she,
 * Book 5, line 1835-1841

The Canterbury Tales

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swych licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open ye (So priketh hem nature in hir corages); Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages.
 * Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
 * General Prologue, l. 1-12

 * And of his port as meke as is a mayde.
 * General Prologue, l. 69

 * He was a verray, parfit gentil knyght.
 * General Prologue, l. 72

 * He coude songes make, and wel endite.
 * General Prologue, l. 95

Entuned in hir nose ful semely, And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly, After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe, For Frenssh of Parys was to hire unknowe.
 * Ful weel she soong the service dyvyne,
 * General Prologue, l. 122-126

 * A Clerk ther was of Oxenforde also.
 * General Prologue, l. 287

A twenty bokes, clothed in black or red, Of Aristotle, and his philosophie, Than robes riche, or fidel, or sautrie. But all be that he was a philosophre, Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre.
 * For him was lever han at his beddes hed
 * General Prologue, l. 295-300

'''Noght o word spak he more than was nede, And that was seyd in forme and reverence, And short and quik, and ful of hy sentence. Souninge in moral vertu was his speche, And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.'''
 * Of studie took he most cure and most hede.
 * General Prologue, l. 305 - 310

And yet he semed bisier than he was.'''
 * '''Nowher so bisy a man as he ther nas,
 * About the Sergeant of Law
 * General Prologue, l. 323-324

 * His studie was but litel on the Bible.
 * General Prologue, l. 440

Therefore he loved gold in special.
 * For gold in phisike is a cordial;
 * General Prologue, l. 445

 * Wide was his parish, and houses fer asonder.
 * General Prologue, l. 493

That first he wrought, and afterwards he taught.'''
 * '''This noble ensample to his shepe he yaf, —
 * General Prologue, l. 498

He taught; but first he folwed it himselve.'''
 * '''But Cristes lore, and his apostles twelve,
 * General Prologue, l. 529

 * And yet he had a thomb of gold parde.
 * General Prologue, l. 565; referencing the proverb, "Every honest miller has a golden thumb".

He moste reherse, as neighe as ever he can, Everich word, if it be in his charge, All speke he never so rudely and so large; Or elles he moste tellen his tale untrewe, Or feinen thinges, or finden wordes newe.
 * Who so shall telle a tale after a man,
 * General Prologue, l. 733

The seson priketh every gentil herte, And maketh him out of his slepe to sterte.
 * For May wol have no slogardie a-night.
 * General Prologue, l. 1044

 * The smylere with the knyf under the cloke.
 * The Knight's Tale, l. 1141

 * That field hath eyen, and the wood hath ears.
 * The Knight's Tale, l. 1524

Ech man for hymself, ther is noon other.
 * And therfore, at the kynges court, my brother,
 * The Knight's Tale, l. 1181-1182

Now with his love, now in his colde grave Allone, withouten any compaignye.
 * What is this world? what asketh men to have?
 * The Knight's Tale, IV, 1919 - 1921

And we been pilgrymes, passynge to and fro'''; Deeth is an ende of every worldly soore.
 * '''This world nys but a thurghfare ful of wo,
 * The Knight's Tale, lV, 1990 - 1992

That is prince and cause of alle thyng Convertynge al unto his propre welle From which it is deryved, sooth to telle, And heer-agayns no creature on lyve Of no degree availleth for to strive. '''Thanne is it wysdom, as it thynketh me, To maken vertu of necessity,''' And take it weel, that we may nat eschue; And namely, that to us alle is due.
 * What maketh this, but Juppiter the kyng,
 * The Knight's Tale, lV 2177 - 2186

 * Up rose the sonne, and up rose Emelie.
 * The Knight's Tale, l. 2275

 * Min be the travaille, and thin be the glorie.
 * The Knight's Tale, l. 2408

 * To maken vertue of necessite.
 * The Knight's Tale, l. 3044

For youthe and elde is often at debat.
 * Men sholde wedden after hir estat,
 * The Miller's Tale, l. 121-122

 * And brought of mighty ale a large quart.
 * The Miller's Tale, l. 3497

That may both werken wel and hastily. 4 This wol be done at leisure parfitly.
 * Ther n' is no werkman whatever he be,
 * The Merchant's Tale, l. 585

 * The gretteste clerkes been noght wisest men.
 * The Reeve's Tale, l. 134

 * Yet in our ashen cold is fire yreken.
 * The Reeve's Tale, l. 388

 * The gretest clerkes ben not the wisest men.
 * The Reeve's Tale, l. 4051

 * So was hire joly whistle wel ywette.
 * The Reeve's Tale, l. 4153

Preesse on us faste, and thanne wol we flee. With daunger oute we al oure chaffare: Greet prees at market maketh dere ware, And too greet chepe is holden at litel pris.
 * In his owen grese I made him frie.
 * The Wife of Bath's Prologue, l. 487
 * Forbede us thing, and that desiren we;
 * The Wife of Bath's Prologue, l. 525-529

 * Allas! allas! that evere love was synne!
 * The Wife of Bath's Prologue, l. 614
 * And for to see, and eek for to be seie.
 * The Wife of Bath's Tale, l. 6134

That hath but on hole for to sterten to.
 * I hold a mouses wit not worth a leke,
 * The Wife of Bath's Tale, l. 6154

Prive and apert, and most entendeth ay To do the gentil dedes that he can, And take him for the gretest gentilman.
 * Loke who that is most vertuous alway,
 * The Wife of Bath's Tale, l. 6695

 * That he is gentil that doth gentil dedis.
 * The Wife of Bath's Tale, l. 6752

Ay fleeth the tyme; it nyl no man abyde.
 * For thogh we slepe, or wake, or rome, or ryde,
 * The Clerk's Tale, l. 62-63

 * This flour of wifly patience.
 * The Clerk's Tale, part v., l. 8797

That may bothe werke wel and hastily.
 * Ther nis no werkman, whatsoevere he be,
 * The Merchant's Tale, l. 1832-1833

That shal ete with a feend.
 * Therfore bihoveth hire a ful long spoon
 * The Squire's Tale, l. 594-95

 * They demen gladly to the badder end.
 * The Squire's Tale, l. 10538

Wommen, of kynde, desiren libertee, And nat to been constreyned as a thral; And so doon men, if I sooth seyen shal.
 * Love is a thyng as any spirit free.
 * The Franklin's Tale, l. 767-770

But if a man be vertuous withal.
 * Fie on possession,
 * The Franklin's Tale, l. 10998

 * Truth is the highest thing that man may keep.
 * The Franklin's Tale, l. 11789

 * Ful wys is he that kan hymselven knowe!
 * The Monk's Tale, l. 3329

 * Mordre wol out, that se we day by day.
 * The Nun's Priest's Tale, l. 232

As of a fox, or of a cock and hen, Taketh the morality, good men. For Saint Paul saith that all that written is, To our doctrine it is y-writ, ywis; Taketh the fruit, and let the chaff be still.
 * But yet that holden this tale a folly,
 * The Nun's Priest's Tale, l. 672-677

 * Certes, they been lyk to houndes, for an hound whan he comth by the roser, or by other bushes, though he may nat pisse, yet wole he heve up his leg and make a contenaunce to pisse.
 * The Parson's Tale, sect. 77

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

 * Your duty is, as ferre as I can gesse.
 * The Court of Love, line 178

How darst thou put thy-self in prees for drede?
 * O little booke, thou art so unconning,
 * The Flower and the Leaf, line 59

Than love I most these floures white and rede, Soch that men callen daisies in our toun.
 * Of all the floures in the mede,
 * Prologue of the Legend of Good Women, line 41

The daisie, or els the eye of the day, The emprise, and floure of floures all.
 * That well by reason men it call may
 * Prologue of the Legend of Good Women, line 183

 * For iii may keep a counsel if twain be away.
 * The Ten Commandments of Love

Canterbury Tales
Ne is no gold, as I have herd it told.
 * But all thing which that shineth as the gold
 * The Chanones Yemannes Tale, l. 16430

Is to restreine and kepen wel thy tonge.
 * The firste vertue, sone, if thou wilt lere,
 * The Manciples Tale, l. 17281

 * The proverbe saith that many a smale maketh a grate.
 * Persones Tale

 * Right as an aspen lefe she gan to quake.
 * L. 1201

Quotes about Chaucer

 * Chaucer, notwithstanding the praises bestowed on him, I think obscene and contemptible;—he owes his celebrity, merely to his antiquity, which he does not deserve so well as Pierce Plowman, or Thomas of Ercildoune.
 * Lord Byron, from a memorandum book dated 30 November 1807, in Letters and Journals of Lord Byron, ed. T. Moore (1830), p. 36

 * The worshipful father and first founder and embellisher of ornate eloquence in our English.
 * William Caxton, Epilogue to Boethius' De Consolacione Philosophie (1478)

 * Chaucer was one of the most original men who ever lived. There had never been anything like the lively realism of the ride to Canterbury done or dreamed of in our literature before. He is not only the father of all our poets, but the grandfather of all our hundred million novelists.
 * G. K. Chesterton, Chaucer (1959), p. 34

 * As he is the Father of English Poetry, so I hold him in the same Degree of Veneration as the Grecians held Homer, or the Romans Virgil: He is a perpetual Fountain of good Sense; learn'd in all Sciences; and, therefore speaks properly on all Subjects: As he knew what to say, so he knows also when to leave off; a Continence which is practis'd by few Writers, and scarcely by any of the Ancients, excepting Virgil and Horace. ... Chaucer follow'd Nature every where, but was never so bold to go beyond her.
 * John Dryden, Preface to The Fables (1700)

 * 'Tis sufficient to say according to the Proverb, that here is God's Plenty.
 * John Dryden, Preface to The Fables (1700)

The first enriched our English with his rhymes, And was the first of ours that ever broke Into the Muses' treasures, and first spoke In weighty numbers, delving in the mine Of perfect knowledge.'''
 * '''That noble Chaucer, in those former times,
 * Michael Drayton, Epistle to Henry Reynolds (1627)

 * One of those rare authors whom, if we had met him under a porch in a shower, we should have preferred to the rain.
 * James Russell Lowell, My Study Windows (1871), p. 229

 * One... characteristic of medieval space must be noted: space and time form two relatively independent systems. First: the medieval artist introduced other times within his own spatial world, as when he projected the events of Christ's life within a contemporary Italian city, without the slightest feeling that the passage of time has made a difference, just as in Chaucer the classical legend of Troilus and Cressida is related as if it were a contemporary story. When a medieval chronicler mentions the King... it is sometimes difficult to find out whether he is talking about Caeser or Alexander the Great or his own monarch: each is equally near to him. ...the word anachronism is meaningless when applied to medieval art... in Botticelli's The Three Miracles of St. Zenobius, three different times are presented upon a single stage.

 * Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization (1934)

 * I read Chaucer still with as much pleasure as almost any of our poets. He is a master of manners, of description, and the first tale-teller in the true enlivened natural way.
 * Alexander Pope, as quoted in Joseph Spence's Anecdotes, Observations, and Characters, of Books and Men, ed. S. W. Singer (1820), p. 19

On Fame's eternal beadroll worthy to be filed.'''
 * '''Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled
 * Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (1596), Book IV, Canto II, stanza 32

The pure well-head of poetry did dwell.
 * Dan Geffrey, in whose gentle spright
 * Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book VII. Canto VII, stanza 9

His music heard below; Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath Preluded those melodious bursts that fill The spacious times of great Elizabeth With sounds that echo still.'''
 * '''The morning star of song, who made
 * Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "A Dream of Fair Women" (1832), lines 3–8

 * It is pretty generally admitted that Geoffrey Chaucer, the eminent poet of the fourteenth century, though obsessed with an almost Rooseveltian passion for the new spelling, was there with the goods when it came to profundity of thought.
 * P. G. Wodehouse, "Rough-Hew Them How We Will" (1914)

title: Geoffrey Chaucer


text:
Talk:Stanisław Lem

Wait a minute! I think this quotation is not Lem's but originated by Stanislaw Jerzy Lec. Kpjas 23:43 20 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * That could very well be; it should be moved to Lec's article in that case. (I'm sure Stanislaw Lem has plenty of quotes that can go in here anyway. :) - Hephaestos 00:01 21 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I found the citation "Mud often gives the illusion of depth." attributed to Stanislaw Lem here: []. I doubt this qualifies it for being "sourced", so I didn't add it to the article. 82.127.62.254 20:25, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Perhaps the citation can be added to Mud? (Just to make clear: the IP above is me.) Ojdo 20:35, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

 * I haven't come across any published sources attributing this it Lem, but I have found a few attributing it or "Even mud gives the illusion of depth" to Marshall McLuhan.~ Kalki 22:35, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

Unsourced
[Unsigned]
 * Dopóki nie skorzystałem z Internetu, nie wiedziałem, że na świecie jest tylu idiotów.
 * I hadn't known there were so many idiots in the world until I started using the Internet.

 * It seems he did not say that...

 * 2014-04-30
 * Przegląd łgarstw internetowych
 * http://pikio.pl/przeglad-lgarstw-internetowych/

 * 200.187.116.13 03:40, 12 October 2016 (UTC)

See here tho: https://antyweb.pl/stanislaw-lem-cytat-internet/ comments.

And a nice quote, do translate:

W "Bombie megabitowej" (zbior esejow z 1996-1998) Lem pisal na przyklad:

"I jest wreszcie dziedzina w której Internet może się przyczynić do zła o wiele szybciej, łatwiej i pewniej aniżeli do dobra (...). Mam na myśli domenę polityki. Internet jest to, powiem z ostrożności lapidarnie, taki rodzaj łączności, który łatwiej pozwala ustalić adresatów informacji aniżeli nadawców informację ślących. Inaczej mówiąc, obecnie Internet umożliwia zachowanie anonimowości nadawców, a w sferze polityki różnica owa może stanowić różnicę pomiędzy pokojem a wojną nawet (...). Państwa będą sobie anonimowo szkodziły raczej, aniżeli miały bezanonimowo pomagać sobie i wzajem się wspierać".

Zezen (talk) 03:18, 24 January 2021 (UTC)
 * According to google translate:
 * And finally, there is an area in which the Internet can contribute to evil much faster, easier and more reliably than to good (...). I mean the domain of politics. The Internet is, I will put it succinctly, a type of communication that makes it easier to identify the addressees of information than the senders of information. In other words, the Internet now makes it possible to maintain the anonymity of senders, and in the sphere of politics, this difference can make the difference between peace and war even (...). States will harm each other anonymously, rather than anonymously help and support each other.
 * Cheers, Ottawahitech (talk) 20:33, 23 January 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the thank @Ottawahitech.

The above GTranslate looks good apart from: -> States will harm each other anonymously, rather than non-anonymously/a-anonymously/nonymously [!*] help and support each other.

 * It is a nonce word, double negation, meaning "openly". Lem was fond of these...

Feel free to update the mainspace with this, maybe after small stylistic fixes, e.g.: addressees more than the senders. Bows

Zezen (talk) 03:18, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

Interview in The Missouri Review
I would like to draw the attention of the editors to a quote with perhaps significant differences in the English and Polish versions of Wikiquote. The source is the same, The Missouri Review.

In English it is longer:

For moral reasons I am an atheist — for moral reasons. I am of the opinion that you would recognize a creator by his creation, and the world appears to me to be put together in such a painful way that I prefer to believe that it was not created by anyone than to think that somebody created this intentionally.

In Polish it is more concise:

Ateistą jestem z powodów moralnych. Uważam, że twórcę rozpoznajemy poprzez jego dzieło. W moim odczuciu świat jest skonstruowany tak fatalnie, że wolę wierzyć, iż nikt go nie stworzył!

Which, more literally, translates to something like:

I am an atheist for moral reasons. I think that a creator we recognize by his work. In my opinion, the world is constructed so bad that I prefer to believe that no one created it!

So, would it be possible to investigate what Lem said, more exactly?

200.187.116.13 03:24, 8 October 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Stanisław Lem


text:
Talk:Charles de Gaulle

Free France or Free French?
"leader of Free France" of "leader of the Free French", which is it to be? I'd gravitate towards the latter, but that's just my opinion62.252.32.11 01:47, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

18 June 1940 - wrong date?
Take a look at my picture of a plaque on a memorial in France for the correct date of "La France a perdu une bataille, mais la France n'a pas perdu la guerre." I'd be very surprized if even French monuments got this wrong...

The June 18 date is probably wrong despite the memorial. The quotation is from the poster « À tous les Français », which was first printed in late July and displayed in London on August 3 (1940): see 1, 2, 3, 4 (English). Many sources confirm that the June date is incorrect, but some disagree with the precise timing: https://www.google.fr/#q=la+France+a+perdu+une+bataille. In September 1944 a similar poster was printed and (erroneously?) added June 18 in the corner.

The Date of June 18 is used on this picture because it was supposed to be released at that date. But it could only be printed in late July; The quote "La France a perdu une bataille, mais la France n'a pas perdu la guerre." comes directly from De Gaulle's speech on the BBC the 18th June 1940. This isn't a mistake to see written "18th June 1940" on this picture. On the website of the foundation Charles de Gaulle it is written that this poster is not the one of the 18th June (due to the late date of print) but does indeed refer to it.

Friends and enemies
I've often seen the quote attributed to Mrs Churchill: "General, you must not hate your friends more than you hate your enemies". Can someone pse give a citation? I don't have the Churchill books, but perhaps it's in one of those. Mikeo1938

 * The story is that Clementine Churchill said "General, you must not hate your friends more than you hate your enemies", and de Gaulle responded "France has no friends, only interests."
 * The line about nations not having friends or enemies, only interests, has been attributed to Lord Palmerston and Henry Kissinger. I found it phrased "For nations have, even today, no friends but only interests" in 1947.
 * De Gaulle is quoted as saying "No nation worthy of the name has friends—only interests." by a US congressman on 21 October 1966. Cagliost (talk) 09:28, 30 July 2020 (UTC)

Unsourced

 * The graveyards are full of indispensable men.
 * Les cimetières sont pleins d'hommes indispensables.
 * Sometimes attributed to Georges Clemenceau. In fact, Clemenceau seems to have said Les cimetières sont pleins de gens irremplaçables, qui ont tous été remplacés.
 * Probably not original with de Gaulle. See: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/11/21/graveyards-full/ for earlier & other variations.

 * "Petain is a great man who died in 1925"
 * Found in "Sons of France: Pétain and De Gaulle" (1966) by Jean Raymond Tournoux, pg 112
 * "Pétain est un grand homme qui pour moi est mort en 1925." in La Revue de Paris, 1965, Volume 72, Part 1, Page 146

 * Always go for the highest position, it is generally the least crowded.
 * Prenez invariablement la position la plus élevée, c'est généralement la moins encombrée.
 * Attributed by Henri Amouroux.

 * The important things which were said to humanity were always simple things.
 * Les choses capitales qui ont été dites à l'humanité ont toujours été des choses simples.
 * Attributed by André Malraux.

 * Treaties are like roses and young girls; they last while they last.
 * attributed to President Charles de Gaulle, from On Franco-German treaty talks, Time 1963-07-12, quoted in Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations, compiled by James B. Simpson (1988) ; also The Economist (London) 1972-03-18, at 6, as cited in Chapter 6, note 47 (page 427) of Antonio Cassese (2001) International Law. Oxford. ISBN 0198299982.

 * You may be sure that the Americans will commit all the stupidities they can think of, plus some that are beyond imagination.

 * That's a tall order, indeed.
 * Vaste programme, en effet.
 * his response to a heckler who yelled Mort aux cons! (Death to the idiots!)

 * To Général Jacques Massu : Alors Massu, toujours aussi con ? (So, Massu, still that stupid?)
 * Général Jacques Massu's answer : Toujours aussi gaulliste, mon Général. (Still that gaullist, general!)

 * I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
 * A reference to Georges Clemenceau's quote "War is too serious a matter to be left to the military."

 * There are three roads to ruin: by gambling, which is the quickest; through women, which is the most pleasurable; and through taking the advice of experts, which is the most certain.

 * In the name of policy, change your friends.
 * Answer to a politician who told him : "In the name of my friends, change your policy!"
 * "Au nom de mes amis, changez de politique !" "Au nom de la politique, changez d'amis."
 * Attributed by Marcel Jullian.

 * Within ten years we shall have whatever is necessary to kill 80 million Russians. Well I reckon one does not light-heartly attack people who are able to kill 80 million Russians, even if one can kill 800 million French, that is if there were 800 million French.
 * « Dans dix ans, nous aurons de quoi tuer 80 millions de Russes. Eh bien je crois qu'on n'attaque pas volontiers das gens qui ont de quoi tuer 80 millions de Russes, même si on a soi-même de quoi tuer 800 millions de Français, à supposer qu'il y eût 800 millions de Français ».
 * About French nuclear deterrence
 * Serge Gadal, (2009). Forces aériennes stratégiques: histoire des deux premières composantes de la dissuasion nucléaire française. Economica. p.86. ISBN 2717857583.

 * Brazil is not a serious country.
 * Attributed to Carlos Alves de Souza Filho, ambassador for Brazil in France in 1963.

 * Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.

 * They make me laugh with their "Rubicon": "Rubicon", "Rubicon", what does it mean ?
 * Ils me font bien rire avec leur Rubicon : Rubicon, Rubicon, à quoi ça rime ?
 * untranslatable pun on "à quoi ça rime" ("what does it mean?", but literally "what does it rhyme with?") ; "Rubicon" rhymes with "con" ("cunt")

 * One does not put Voltaire in prison.
 * De Gaulle's response when encouraged to lock up Jean-Paul Sartre on a technical charge.

 * Gold is absolute objectivity. It is blind, like justice. It has no politics and ideology, no likes or dislikes, no friends or enemies. All it recognizes is its possessor, whom it serves faithfully so long as he has it.

title: Talk:Charles de Gaulle