“I hate quotation” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), [Journals, 1849]

When Emerson wrote that phrase, how amazed he would have been to think of his words being despatched all the way around the world to many thousands of people simultaneously. As an additional tribute to Anu’s work on the AWAD service I thought it might be worth calling attention to the quotation feature, which I believe adds significantly to AWAD’s popularity. Here are some thoughts culled from the archives, under rather arbitrary headings.

Quotation

I quote others only in order to better express myself Michel de Montaigne

A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience. Cervantes

Politics

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing Edmund Burke

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has Margaret Mead

Fate

The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem Theodore Rubin

One often meets destiny in the road taken to avoid it French Proverb

Religion

Man is certainly stark mad: he cannot make a flea, yet he makes gods by the dozen Michel de Montaigne

Men will wrangle for religion, write for it, fight for it, die for it, anything but live for it Charles Caleb Cotton

History

History is an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

History is fables agreed upon Voltaire (1694-1778)

War

War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) [The New Dictionary of Thoughts]

No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come Victor Hugo, poet, novelist and dramatist (1802-1885)

Language

All language reflects the prejudices of the society in which it evolved.
Casey Miller

Thanks to words, we have been able to rise above the brutes, and thanks to words, we have sunk to the level of the demons.
Aldous Huxley

Parole

What we say is important... for in most cases the mouth speaks what the heart is full of Jim Beggs

Folks that blurt out just what they think wouldn't be so bad if they thought Kin Hubbard

Family

We should measure affection, not like youngsters by the ardour of its passion, but by its strength and constancy Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)

If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Friendships

A sense of duty is useful in work but offensive in personal relations.
Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author (1872-1970)

Instead of loving your enemies, treat your friends a little better Edgar W. Howe

Self-knowledge

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance Confucius (551-479 BC)

The highest reward for a man's toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it John Ruskin (1819-1900)

Conscience

Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking H.L. Mencken

He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes. Chinese Proverb


And finally, a unique voice of America…

Mark Twain

I believe I have no prejudices whatsoever. All I need to know is that a man is a member of the human race. That's bad enough for me Mark Twain, U.S. Author (1835-1910)

The truth is a precious commodity. That's why I use it so sparingly Mark Twain, U.S. Author (1835-1910)


Do you have any particular favourites, on these or other topics? Put ‘em here as votive offerings