Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Related Quotes

Thomas Hobbes

Leisure is the mother of philosophy... The source of every crime , is some defect of the understanding; or some error in reasoning; or some sudden force of the passions... And the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

Crime | Error | Force | Leisure | Life | Life | Man | Mother | Philosophy | Understanding | Wisdom |

Guiseppe Mazzini

To be mistaken is a misfortune to be pitied; but to know the truth and not to conform one's actions to it is a crime which Heaven and Earth condemn.

Crime | Earth | Heaven | Misfortune | Truth | Wisdom | Misfortune |

Publius Syrus

He who overlooks one crime invites the commission of another.

Crime | Wisdom |

Thomas Tusser

What greater crime than loss of time?

Crime | Time | Wisdom | Loss |

Henri Frédéric Amiel

Before crime is committed, conscience must be corrupted.

Conscience | Crime |

Cyprian, aka Saint Cyprian of Carthage, fully Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus NULL

The world is drenched in mutual slaughter… Held to be a crime when committed by individuals, homicide is called a virtue when committed by the state.

Crime | Virtue | Virtue | World |

Charles Fillmore

It is not a crime to be rich, nor a virtue to be poor… The sin lies in hoarding wealth and keeping it from circulating freely to all who need it.

Crime | Need | Sin | Virtue | Virtue | Wealth |

E. F. Schumacher, fully Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher

No degree of prosperity could justify the accumulation of large highly toxic substances which nobody knows how to make “safe” and which remain an incalculable danger to the whole of creation for historical or even geological ages. To do such a thing is a transgression against life itself, a transgression infinitely more serious than any crime ever perpetrated by man.

Crime | Danger | Justify | Life | Life | Man | Prosperity | Safe | Danger |

Seneca the Younger, aka Seneca or Lucius Annaeus Seneca NULL

We are made not only individually, but nationally. We check manslaughter and isolated murders; but what of war and the much-vaunted crime of slaughtering whole peoples?… Deeds that would be punished by loss of life when committed in secret are praised by us because uniformed generals have carried them out.

Crime | Deeds | Life | Life | War | Deeds | Loss |

Eric Sevareid, fully Arnold Eric Sevareid

No man was ever more than about nine meals away from crime or suicide.

Crime | Man | Suicide |

Ambrose Gwinett Bierce

Destiny: A tyrant's authority for crime and a fool's excuse for failure.

Authority | Crime | Destiny | Failure |

Dick Gregory

There are two kinds of crimes: those committed by people who are caught and convicted, and those committed by people who are not. Which category a particular crime falls into is directly related to the wealth, power, and prestige of the criminal. The former category includes such crimes as purse snatching, mugging, armed robbery and breaking and entering. The latter category includes war atrocities, embezzlement, most political actions, and budget appropriations.

Crime | People | Power | War | Wealth |

Freda Adler

(Rape) is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused.

Crime | Victim |

Freda Adler

It is little wonder that rape is one of the least-reported crimes. Perhaps it is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused and, in reality, it is she who must prove her good reputation, her mental soundness, and her impeccable propriety.

Crime | Good | Little | Reality | Reputation | Wonder | Victim |