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The religious vision, and its history of persistent expansion, is our one ground for optimism. Apart from it, human life is a flash of occasional enjoyments lighting up a mass of pain and misery, a bagatelle of transient experience.

Alfred North Whitehead

Religion and Science

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Topic

Religion

Speaker

Alfred North Whitehead

Source

Religion and Science

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Whitehead, Alfred North. "Religion and Science." Lowell lecture. Feb. 1925, Phillips Brooks House, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

The more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild.

G. K. Chesterton

Orthodoxy

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Topic

Christianity

Author

G. K. Chesterton

Source

Orthodoxy

Genre

Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1908 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Chesterton, G. K. Orthodoxy. John Lane Company, 1908, ch. 6.

In the middle ages people were tourists because of their religion, whereas now they are tourists because tourism is their religion.

Robert Runcie

More information about this quote

Topic

Decline of religion Modern life The Middle Ages

Speaker

Robert Runcie

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1988 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Runcie, Robert. Speech in London. 6 Dec. 1988, London, England, UK.

I am tired of tears and laughter,
And men that laugh and weep;
Of what may come hereafter
For men that sow and reap:
I am weary of days and hours,
Blown buds of barren flowers,
Desires and dreams and powers
And everything but sleep.

Algernon Charles Swinburne

More information about this quote

Topic

Tired heart

Author

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1866 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Swinburne, Algernon Charles. "The Garden of Proserpine." Poems and Ballads, First Series. London: Edward Moxon & Co., 1866, st. 2.

Current Citation

Swinburne, Algernon Charles. "The Garden of Proserpine." Poems and Ballads and Atalanta in Calydon. Penguin Classics, 2001, st. 2.

Do not cast away an honest man for a villain’s accusation!

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 2

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Read Henry VI, Part 2 (this was originally titled The Contention) at The Folger Shakespeare Library

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Topic

False accusations Benefit of the doubt Trustworthiness

Speaker

Horner

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Henry VI, Part 2

Medium

Play

Genre

History (play)

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1594 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Henry the Sixth, Part 2. London: Thomas Millington, 1594, act 1, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Second Part of Henry the Sixth." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 3.

In the deep windings of the grove, no more
The hag obscene, and the grisly phantom dwell;
Nor in the fall of mountain-stream, or roar
Of winds is heard the angry spirit's yell.

James Beattie

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Topic

Disenchanted world Modern life

Author

James Beattie

Source

The Minstrel

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1774 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Beattie, James. The Minstrel; Or, The Progress of Genius. A Poem. London: E. & C. Dilly, 1774, bk. 2, st. 47.

In political activity, then, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea; there is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place nor appointed destination. The enterprise is to keep afloat on an even keel; the sea is both friend and enemy; and the seamanship consists in using the resources of a traditional manner of behavior in order to make a friend of every hostile occasion.

Michael Oakeshott

Political Education

More information about this quote

Topic

Political theory Politics

Author

Michael Oakeshott

Source

Political Education

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Oakeshott, Michael. "Political Education." Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays. Methuen, 1962.

Our civilization has decided, and very justly decided, that determining the guilt or innocence of men is a thing too important to be trusted to trained men.... When it wants a library catalogued, or the solar system discovered, or any trifle of that kind, it uses up its specialists. But when it wishes anything done which is really serious, it collects twelve of the ordinary men standing round.

G.K. Chesterton

Tremendous Trifles

More information about this quote

Topic

Jury system

Author

G.K. Chesterton

Source

The Twelve Men Tremendous Trifles

Medium

Essay

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1909 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Chesterton, G.K. "The Twelve Men." In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G.K. Chesterton. Ignatius Press, 2011. Originally published by Methuen, 1909.

Give a man the secure possession of bleak rock, and he will turn it into a garden; give him nine years lease of a garden, and he will convert it into a desert.

Arthur Young

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Topic

Pride of ownership Property rights

Author

Arthur Young

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1792 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Young, Arthur. Journal entry. 30 July 1787.

Give me a spirit that on this life's rough sea
Loves t' have his sails filled with a lusty wind,
Even till his sail-yards tremble, his masts crack,
And his rapt ship run on her side so low
That she drinks water, and her keel plows air.

George Chapman

The Conspiracy of Charles, Duke of Byron

More information about this quote

Topic

Living life to the fullest

Speaker

Byron

Author

George Chapman

Source

The Conspiracy of Charles, Duke of Byron

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play) Tragedy

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1608 1600s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Chapman, George. "The Conspiracy of Charles Duke of Byron." Children of the Chapel, 1608, Blackfriars Theatre, London, England, UK, act 3, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Chapman, George. "The Conspiracy of Charles Duke of Byron." The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron. Manchester University Press, 1988, act 3, sc. 3.

Those who travel heedlessly from place to place, observing only their distance from each other and attending only to their accommodation at the inn at night, set out fools, and will certainly return so.

Lord Chesterfield

More information about this quote

Topic

Tourism Fools Travel

Author

Lord Chesterfield

Source

Letters of Lord Chesterfield

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1747 1740s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Stanhope, Philip Dormer. Letter to his son. 30 Oct. 1747.

I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.

Oliver Sacks

More information about this quote

Topic

Gratitude Facing death Life

Author

Oliver Sacks

Source

The New York Times

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

2015 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sacks, Oliver. "My Own Life." The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2015.

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage.
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free;
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.

Richard Lovelace

To Althea, From Prison

Read To Althea, From Prison at Poetry Foundation

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of freedom Freedom

Author

Richard Lovelace

Source

To Althea, From Prison Lucasta

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1649 1640s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lovelace, Richard. "To Althea, from Prison." Lucasta. London: William Hazlitt, 1649, I. 25.

Egypt's might is tumbled down
Down a-down the deeps of thought;
Greece is fallen and Troy town,
Glorious Rome hath lost her crown,
Venice' pride is nought.
But the dreams their children dreamed
Fleeting, unsubstantial, vain
Shadowy as the shadows seemed
Airy nothing, as they deemed,
These remain.

Mary Coleridge

Egypt's Might is Tumbled Down

More information about this quote

Topic

Decline of civilization Societal collapse Impermanence

Author

Mary Coleridge

Source

Egypt's Might is Tumbled Down

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1908 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Coleridge, Mary. "Egypt's Might is Tumbled Down." Poems. London: Elkin Mathews, 1908, I. 1.

It is only that which cannot be expressed otherwise that is worth expressing in music.

Frederick Delius

More information about this quote

Topic

Limits of language Power of music Music

Author

Frederick Delius

Source

At the Cross-Roads The Sackbut

Medium

Magazine

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Delius. "At the Cross-Roads." The Sackbut, Sept. 1920.

It is not the attainment of the goal that matters, it is the things that are met with by the way.

Havelock Ellis

More information about this quote

Topic

Philosophy Journey vs. destination

Author

Havelock Ellis

Source

The Dance of Life

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1923 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Ellis, Havelock. The Dance of Life. Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1923, ch. 3.

At thirty, Man suspects himself a fool;
Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan;
At fifty chides his infamous delay,
Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve;
In all the magnanimity of thought
Resolves; and re-resolves; then dies the same.

Edward Young

Night Thoughts

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More information about this quote

Topic

Changing oneself Stages of life

Author

Edward Young

Source

Night Thoughts

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1742 1740s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Young, Edward. The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality. London: R. Dodsley, 1742, Night 1, I. 417.

Current Citation

Young, Edward. Edward Young: Night Thoughts, edited by Stephen Cornford. Cambridge University Press, 2008, Night 1, I. 417.

I will not pretend I wasn't petrified. I was. But mixed in with the awful fear was a glorious feeling of excitement. Most of the really exciting things we do in our lives scare us to death. They wouldn't be exciting if they didn't.

Roald Dahl

Danny, the Champion of the World

More information about this quote

Topic

Fear Excitement Taking risks

Author

Roald Dahl

Source

Danny, the Champion of the World

Medium

Novel

Genre

Children's literature

Language

English

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dahl, Roald. Danny, the Champion of the World. Alfred A. Knopf, 1975.

The pain of grief is just as much a part of life as the joy of love; it is, perhaps, the price we pay for love, the cost of commitment.

Colin Murray Parkes

More information about this quote

Topic

Grief Sadness Yin and yang

Author

Colin Murray Parkes

Source

Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life.

Genre

Psychological literature

Language

English

Time

1972 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Parkes, Colin Murray. Bereavement: Studies of Grief in Adult Life. International Universities Press, 1972.

Too much consistency is as bad for the mind as it is for the body. Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead.

Aldous Huxley

More information about this quote

Topic

Consistency Variety Nature

Author

Aldous Huxley

Source

Wordsworth in the Tropics Do What You Will

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1929 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Huxley, Aldous. "Wordsworth in the Tropics." Do What You Will. Chatto & Windus, 1929.