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

H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken

I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough to want to force it upon anyone.

Future | Research |

H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken

Christendom may be defined briefly as that part of the world in which, if a man stands up in public and swears with any show of earnestness that he is a Christian, all his auditors will laugh.

Fate | Future | Fate |

H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken

All government, in its essence, is a conspiracy against the superior man: its one permanent object is to oppress him and cripple him. If it be aristocratic in organization, then it seeks to protect the man who is superior only in law against the man who is superior in fact; if it be democratic, then it seeks to protect the man who is inferior in every way against both. One of its primary functions is to regiment men by force, to make them as much alike as possible and as dependent upon one another as possible, to search out and combat originality among them. All it can see in an original idea is potential change, and hence an invasion of its prerogatives. The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.

Future |

Italian Proverbs

One who wants to keep their yard tidy does not reserve a plot for the weeds.

Change | Civilization | Future | Global | Health | Inconvenient | Land | Security | Will |

Italian Proverbs

Still water breeds vermin.

Fear | Future | Hope | Think |

Italian Proverbs

Never was a mewing cat a good mouser.

Future | Passion |

Italian Proverbs

Take down a thief from the gallows and he will hang you up.

Future | Hope |

Italian Proverbs

One should learn to sail in all winds.

Future | Will |

Italian Proverbs

The difficult thing is to get foot in the stirrup.

Books | Future | Wonder | Words |

Italian Proverbs

One can't enter Paradise in spite of the saints.

Calmness | Future | Good |

Italian Proverbs

When all men say you are an ass it is time to bray.

Failure | Future | Life | Life | Mistake | Present | Purpose | Purpose | Question | Right | Failure |

Italian Proverbs

The sun loses nothing by shining into a puddle.

Future | Present | Time |

J. B. Priestly, fully John Boynton Priestly

We should like to have some towering geniuses, to reveal us to ourselves in color and fire, but of course they would have to fit into the pattern of our society and be able to take orders from sound administrative types.

Father | Future | Light | Past | Think |

J. B. Priestly, fully John Boynton Priestly

The wisdom of one generation will be the folly of the next.

Future | Past |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

He led the way in under the huge branches of the trees. Old beyond guessing, they seemed. Great trailing beards of lichen hung from them, blowing and swaying in the breeze. Out of the shadows, the hobbits peeped, gazing back down the slope: little furtive figures that in the dim light looked like elf-children in the deeps of time peering out of the Wild Wood in wonder at their first Dawn.

Evolution | Future | Important | Learning | Science |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

For we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make.

Future | Will |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

He did not know it, but Arwen Und¢miel was also there, dwelling again for a time with the kin of her mother. She was little changed, for the mortal years had passed her by, yet her face was more grave, and her laughter now seldom was heard. But Aragorn was grown to full stature of body and mind, and Galadriel bade him cast aside his wayworn raiment, and she clothed him in silver and white, with a cloak of elven-grey and a bright gem on his brow. Then more than any kind of Men he appeared, and seemed rather an Elf-lord from the Isles of the West. And thus it was that Arwen first beheld him again after their long parting; and as he came walking towards her under the trees of Caras Galadhon laden with flowers of gold, her choice was made and her doom appointed.

Future |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

GANDALF: Confound it all, Samwise Gamgee. Have you been eavesdropping? SAM: I ain't been droppin' no eaves sir, honest. I was just cutting the grass under the window there, if you'll follow me. GANDALF: A little late for trimming the verge, don't you think? SAM: I heard raised voices. GANDALF: What did you hear? Speak. SAM: N-nothing important. That is, I heard a good deal about a ring, and a Dark Lord, and something about the end of the world, but... Please, Mr. Gandalf, sir, don't hurt me. Don't turn me into anything... unnatural.

Future | Machines |