Random quotes

[icelander93]

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; and third, it is accepted as self-evident. --Arthur Schopenhauer

If you are afraid to speak against tyranny, then you are already a slave. --JBR Yant

To attempt to silence a man is to pay him homage, for it is an acknowledgement that his arguments are both impossible to answer and impossible to ignore. --JBR Yant

Bigotry: Your enemies' opinions; as opposed to Truth: Your own.--JBR Yant

Truth has no manners. It is no respecter of persons. It wounds kings as deeply as commoners. It cuts down the high, and confirms the lowness of the low. It may dress up for formal occasions, but it does so only in order that it may more shockingly expose itself in front of the assembled company. And just as it respects no one, likewise there are few who respect it. But those who do are granted many favors -- power, understanding, dominion, and of course the honor of the unswerving hatred of the ignorant millions. The Birdman

To be taken seriously, you must first offend. If you do not, people will say, "Oh, he's just like so-and-so, with perhaps a touch of such-and-such", and forget about you entirely; while if you touch a raw nerve, you at least know that you are on the pathway to the brain. The point is, men will rarely think new thoughts without a jolt, and if you expect them to think the ones you have, then you must first crash your way into their consciousness.


A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.
Marcus Aurelius

How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks.
Marcus Aurelius


If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.
Marcus Aurelius

Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people's actions, and see what they would be at, as often as it is practicable; and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself.
Marcus Aurelius

Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.
Marcus Aurelius

Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.
Marcus Aurelius

That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees.
Marcus Aurelius


The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
Marcus Aurelius

To understand the true quality of people, you must look into their minds, and examine their pursuits and aversions.
Marcus Aurelius

Always do everything you ask of those you command.
George S. Patton

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.
George S. Patton

Better to fight for something than live for nothing.
George S. Patton



If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened.
George S. Patton

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
George S. Patton


No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.
George S. Patton

Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.
George S. Patton

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.
George S. Patton

Excess of grief for the dead is madness; for it is an injury to the living, and the dead know it not.
Xenophon

Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.
Joseph Stalin

Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs.
Joseph Stalin


It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.
Joseph Stalin


A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.
Napoleon Bonaparte


Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
Napoleon Bonaparte


Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
Napoleon Bonaparte


Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.
Napoleon Bonaparte


Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.
Napoleon Bonaparte


Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Napoleon Bonaparte

[jaredean]

Be not a braggart for if any work done be praise-worthy, others will sing your praises for you.

There is more in the heart of man than money can buy. (Grettir's Saga, c.47)

Many go to the goat-house to get wool. (Grettir's Saga, c.78)

Many are the words of bravery in times of weal, but few are they whose actions match brave words in times of woe.

Ill it is to take love from another man's wife. (Volsunga Saga, c.21)

Ill it is to sit lamenting for what cannot be had. (Volsunga Saga, c.24)

No harvest is had without the seed first being sown. (King Olaf Trygvisson's Saga, c.8)