Wikiquote

November 24

day of the year

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003
A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave. ~ Mohandas Gandhi
2004
Great minds have purposes, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them. ~ Washington Irving
2005
There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved. ~ Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species (published 24 November 1859)
2006
Only the brave know how to forgive … A coward never forgave; it is not in his nature. ~ Laurence Sterne (born 24 November 1713)
2007
Hatred which is completely vanquished by love passes into love: and love is thereupon greater than if hatred had not preceded it. ~ Baruch Spinoza
2008
Writing, when properly managed, (as you may be sure I think mine is) is but a different name for conversation. ~ Laurence Sterne
2009
Fight the enemy with the weapons he lacks. ~ Alexander Suvorov
2010
The ultimate aim of government is not to rule, or restrain, by fear, nor to exact obedience, but contrariwise, to free every man from fear, that he may live in all possible security; in other words, to strengthen his natural right to exist and work without injury to himself or others. No, the object of government is not to change men from rational beings into beasts or puppets, but to enable them to develop their minds and bodies in security, and to employ their reason unshackled; neither showing hatred, anger, or deceit, nor watched with the eyes of jealousy and injustice. In fact, the true aim of government is liberty. ~ Baruch Spinoza
2011
Individual things are nothing but modifications of the attributes of God, or modes by which the attributes of God are expressed in a fixed and definite manner. ~ Baruch Spinoza
2012
As men's habits of mind differ, so that some more readily embrace one form of faith, some another, for what moves one to pray may move another to scoff, I conclude … that everyone should be free to choose for himself the foundations of his creed, and that faith should be judged only by its fruits; each would then obey God freely with his whole heart, while nothing would be publicly honoured save justice and charity.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
2013
Schisms do not originate in a love of truth, which is a source of courtesy and gentleness, but rather in an inordinate desire for supremacy. From all these considerations it is clearer than the sun at noonday, that the true schismatics are those who condemn other men's writings, and seditiously stir up the quarrelsome masses against their authors, rather than those authors themselves, who generally write only for the learned, and appeal solely to reason. In fact, the real disturbers of the peace are those who, in a free state, seek to curtail the liberty of judgment which they are unable to tyrannize over.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
2014
The safest way for a state is to lay down the rule that religion is comprised solely in the exercise of charity and justice, and that the rights of rulers in sacred, no less than in secular matters, should merely have to do with actions, but that every man should think what he likes and say what he thinks.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
2015
Hatred can never be good. … Here, and in what follows, I mean by hatred only hatred towards men. … Envy, derision, contempt, anger, revenge, and other emotions attributable to hatred, or arising therefrom, are bad … Whatsoever we desire from motives of hatred is base, and in a State unjust.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
in
~ Ethics Geometrically Demonstrated ~
2016
I am grateful for what I am & have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next 1000 years, & exhaust it. How sweet to think of! My extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it — for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.
~ Henry David Thoreau ~
2017
The more a government strives to curtail freedom of speech, the more obstinately is it resisted; not indeed by the avaricious … but by those whom good education, sound morality, and virtue have rendered more free. Men in general are so constituted that there is nothing they will endure with so little patience as that views which they believe to be true should be counted crimes against the laws. … Under such circumstances they do not think it disgraceful, but most honorable, to hold the laws in abhorrence, and to refrain from no action against the government.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
in
~ Tractatus Theologico-Politicus ~
2018
It is before all things useful to men to associate their ways of life, to bind themselves together with such bonds as they think most fitted to gather them all into unity, and generally to do whatsoever serves to strengthen friendship.
But for this there is need of skill and watchfulness. For men are diverse (seeing that those who live under the guidance of reason are few), yet are they generally envious and more prone to revenge than to sympathy. No small force of character is therefore required to take everyone as he is, and to restrain one's self from imitating the emotions of others. But those who carp at mankind, and are more skilled in railing at vice than in instilling virtue, and who break rather than strengthen men's dispositions, are hurtful both to themselves and others.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
in
~ Ethics ~
2019
He whose honor is rooted in popular approval must, day by day, anxiously strive, act, and scheme in order to retain his reputation. For the populace is variable and inconstant, so that, if a reputation be not kept up, it quickly withers away. Everyone wishes to catch popular applause for himself, and readily represses the fame of others. The object of the strife being estimated as the greatest of all goods, each combatant is seized with a fierce desire to put down his rivals in every possible way, till he who at last comes out victorious is more proud of having done harm to others than of having done good to himself. This sort of honor, then, is really empty, being nothing.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
in
~ Ethics ~
2020
The mind has greater power over the emotions and is less subject thereto, in so far as it understands all things as necessary.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
in
~ Ethica ~
2021
I have laboured carefully, not to mock, lament, or execrate human actions, but to understand them.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
2022
The more we understand particular things, the more do we understand God.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
in
~ Ethics Geometrically Demonstrated ~
2023
How can anyone be interested in war? — that glorious pursuit of annihilation with its ceremonious bellowings and trumpetings over the mangling of human bones and muscles and organs and eyes, its inconceivable agonies which could have been prevented by a few well-chosen, reasonable words. How, why, did this unnecessary business begin? Why does anyone want to read about it — this redundant human madness which men accept as inevitable?
~ Margaret Caroline Anderson ~
2024
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People are always asking me what my lyrics mean. Well I say what any decent poet would say if you dared ask him to analyse his work: if you see it, darling, then it's there. ~ Freddie Mercury in an interview, died that day

  • 2 UDScott 14:53, 15 November 2005 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 03:18, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:00, 23 November 2007 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 06:54, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world, — though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst, — the cant of criticism is the most tormenting! ~ Laurence Sterne

  • 3 InvisibleSun 03:18, 19 November 2006 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 06:54, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

A war is not lost until you consider it lost. ~ Erich von Manstein (born November 24)

  • 3 because victory and loss are but a perspective and a tank commander knows that a war is not lost until it is truly considered lost. Zarbon 04:41, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

One cannot think that blind bravery gives victory over the enemy. ~ Alexander Suvorov

  • 3 because bravery alone is not enough. Zarbon 06:19, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:03, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Hard training - easy combat; easy training - hard combat. ~ Alexander Suvorov

  • 3 because those who train, succeed. Zarbon 06:19, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:03, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Win with ability, not with numbers. ~ Alexander Suvorov

  • 3 because quality devours quantity. Zarbon 06:19, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

No battle can be won in the study, and theory without practice is dead. ~ Alexander Suvorov

If we had not driven them into hell... hell would have swallowed us. ~ Alexander Suvorov

  • 3 because it is the deciding factor in war, to kill or be killed. Zarbon 06:19, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:03, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

One minute decides the outcome of a battle, one hour the success of a campaign, one day the fate of empires. ~ Alexander Suvorov

  • 4 because every minute counts in the heat of battle. Zarbon 15:44, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:03, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Remember happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think. ~ Dale Carnegie

  • 2 Zarbon 23:50, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:03, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success. ~ Dale Carnegie

  • 2 Zarbon 23:50, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:03, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

The ideas I stand for are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Chesterfield. I stole them from Jesus. And I put them in a book. If you don't like their rules whose would you use? ~ Dale Carnegie

  • 2 Zarbon 23:50, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:03, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Education costs money, but then so does ignorance. ~ Claus Moser, Baron Moser

  • 2 Zarbon 23:50, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:03, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Nationalism of one kind or another was the cause of most of the genocide of the twentieth century. Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead. ~ Arundhati Roy

  • 2 Zarbon 23:50, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

There is only one dream worth having...to live while you are alive, and die only when you are dead. ~ Arundhati Roy

  • 2 Zarbon 23:50, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Antiquary 14:49, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:03, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Literature is the opposite of a nuclear bomb. ~ Arundhati Roy

  • 2 Zarbon 23:50, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me. ~ Zachary Taylor

  • 2 Zarbon 23:50, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

I have no private purpose to accomplish, no party objectives to build up, no enemies to punish—nothing to serve but my country. ~ Zachary Taylor

  • 3 Zarbon 23:50, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:58, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

I do not presume that I have found the best philosophy, I know that I understand the true philosophy. ~ Baruch Spinoza

I believe that, if a triangle could speak, it would say, in like manner, that God is eminently triangular, while a circle would say that the divine nature is eminently circular. Thus each would ascribe to God its own attributes, would assume itself to be like God, and look on everything else as ill-shaped. ~ Baruch Spinoza

No one rejoices in blessedness, because he has controlled his lusts, but, contrariwise, his power of controlling his lusts arises from this blessedness itself. ~ Baruch Spinoza

The more reality or being a thing has, the greater the number of its attributes. ~ Baruch Spinoza

The order and connection of ideas is the same as the order and connection of things. ~ Baruch Spinoza

Hatred is increased by being reciprocated, and can on the other hand be destroyed by love. ~ Baruch Spinoza

He whose honor depends on the opinion of the mob must day by day strive with the greatest anxiety, act and scheme in order to retain his reputation. For the mob is varied and inconstant, and therefore if a reputation is not carefully preserved it dies quickly.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
in
~ Ethics ~
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 21:14, 23 November 2019 (UTC), but with a lean to 2, as I initially chose this in 2019, but then preferred a variant translation of it — retaining this here for possible use in future years.4 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 20:52, 23 November 2019 (UTC) /// 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 04:59, 2 November 2010 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

A free man thinks of death least of all things; and his wisdom is a meditation not of death but of life. ~ Baruch Spinoza

All laws which can be broken without any injury to another, are counted but a laughing-stock, and are so far from bridling the desires and lusts of men, that on the contrary they stimulate them. ~ Baruch Spinoza

Love towards God cannot be stained by the emotion of envy or jealousy: contrariwise, it is the more fostered, in proportion as we conceive a greater number of men to be joined to God by the same bond of love.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
in
~ Ethics Geometrically Demonstrated ~


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