Great Throughts Treasury

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

Honor

"By the wicked the good conduct of others is always dreaded." - Sallust, full name Carus Valerius Sailustius Crispus NULL

"To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions." - Sam Keen

"Our union is now complete; our constitution composed, established, and approved. You are now the guardians of your own liberties." - Samuel Adams

"It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentional lying, that there is so much falsehood in the world." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"Whoever does not engage in reproductive sexual relations, lo, such a one sheds blood and diminishes the divine image, since it says, For in the image of God he made man. And it says, And you be fruitful and multiply (Gen 9:67)" - Simeon ben Azai, sometimes Ben Azai

"If my death contributes to the ceasing of the parties and to the consolidation of the union," - Simón Bolívar, fully Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco

"Camaraderie ends when crime begins." - Simon Wiesenthal

"Discovering witnesses is just as important as catching criminals." - Simon Wiesenthal

"A friend is one who does not laugh when you are in a ridiculous position." - Arthur Helps, fully Sir Arthur Helps

"Oh! A mystery is it?' I cried, rubbing my hands. 'This is very piquant. I am much obliged to you for bringing us together. The proper study of mankind is man you know" - Arthur Conan Doyle, fully Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle

"You may be sure that of all the moments of your life, the time you spend before the divine Sacrament will be that which will give you more strength during life and more consolation at the hour of your death and during eternity." - Alphonsus Liguori, fully Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

"The envious man is cruel, proud, unfaithful, impatient, and quarrelsome; and, what is strange, when this vice gains the mastery, he is no longer master of himself, and he is unable to correct his many faults. If the bond of peace is broken, if the rights of fraternal charity are violated, if truth is altered or disguised, it is often envy that hurries him on to crime." - Cyprian, aka Saint Cyprian of Carthage, fully Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus NULL

"Do not become conceited when you have prayed for others and have been heard, for it is their faith which has been active and efficacious... Every virtuous act that we do, and this is particularly true of prayer, should be done with great sensitivity." - John Climacus, fully Saint John Climacus, aka John of the Ladder, John Scholasticus and John Sinaites

"Glory is safe when it is deserved; it is not so with popularity; one lasts like a mosaic, the other is effaced like a crayon drawing." - Stanislas de Boufflers, fully Marquis Stanislas-Jean de Boufflers, Chevalier de Boufflers

"Contingency is a thing unto itself, not the titration of determinism by randomness." - Stephan Jay Gould

"I picture several reviewers of my own books as passing a long future lodged between Brutus and Judas in the jaws of Satan." - Stephan Jay Gould

"Every man’s conscience testifies that he is unlike what he ought to be, according to that law engraven upon his heart. In some, indeed, conscience may be seared or dimmer; or suppose some men may be devoid of conscience, shall it be denied to be a thing belonging to the nature of man? Some men have not their eyes, yet the power of seeing the light is natural to man, and belongs to the integrity of the body. Who would argue that, because some men are mad, and have lost their reason by a distemper of the brain, that therefore reason hath no reality, but is an imaginary thing? But I think it is a standing truth that every man hath been under the scourge of it, one time or other, in a less or a greater degree; for, since every man is an offender, it cannot be imagined conscience, which is natural to man, and an active faculty, should always lie idle, without doing this part of its office." - Stephen Charnock

"Natural men desire to know God and some part of his will and law, not out of a sense of their practical excellency, but a natural thirst after knowledge: and if they have a delight, it is in the act of knowing, not in the object known, not in the duties that stream from that knowledge; they design the furnishing their understandings, not the quickening their affections,—like idle boys that strike fire, not to warm themselves by the heat, but sport themselves with sparks; whereas a gracious soul accounts not only his meditation, or the operations of his soul about God and His will, to be sweet, but he hath a joy in the object of that meditation. Many have the knowledge of God, who have no delight in him or his will." - Stephen Charnock

"Who ever knew mere matter understand, think, will? and what it hath not, it cannot give. That which is destitute of reason and will, could never reason and will. It is not the effect of the body; for the body is fitted with members to be subject to it. It is in part ruled by the activity of the soul, and in part by the counsel of the soul; it is used by the soul, and knows not how it is used. Nor could it be from the parents, since the souls of the children often transcend those of the parents in vivacity, acuteness, and comprehensiveness. One man is stupid, and begets a son with a capacious understanding; one is debauched and beastly in morals, and begets a son who from his infancy testifies some virtuous inclinations, which sprout forth in delightful fruit with the ripeness of his age. Whence should this difference arise,—a fool beget the wise man, and a debauched the virtuous man?" - Stephen Charnock

"Stay a child while you can be a child." - Stephen Sondheim, fully Stephen Joshua Sondheim

"We can be the vanguard of culture against barbarianism." - Theodor Herzl, born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl

"A man must first care for his own household before he can be of use to the state. But no matter how well he cares for his household, he is not a good citizen unless he also takes thought of the state. In the same way, a great nation must think of its own internal affairs; and yet it cannot substantiate its claim to be a great nation unless it also thinks of its position in the world at large." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"Alone of human beings the good and wise mother stands on a plane of equal honor with the bravest soldier; for she has gladly gone down to the brink of the chasm of darkness to bring back the children in whose hands rests the future of the years." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"Americanism means the virtues of courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood the virtues that made America. The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"No foreign policy-no matter how ingenious-has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of few and carried in the hearts of many." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly..." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"The men with the muck-rake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"Offensiveness is distressing neglect of person." - Theophrastus NULL

"Live in such a way that you embody true peace, that you can be peace in every moment of your daily life. It is possible for everyone to generate the energy of peace in every step." - Thich Nhất Hanh

"Prayer is nothing but the breathing that out before the Lord, that was first breathed into us by the Spirit of the Lord." - Thomas Brooks

"The goal of yesterday will be our starting-point to-morrow." - Thomas Carlyle

"Everybody must be managed. Queens must be managed. Kings must be managed, for men want managing almost as much as women, and that's saying a good deal." - Thomas Hardy

"And as to the faculties of the mind, setting aside the arts grounded upon words, and especially that skill of proceeding upon general, and infallible rules, called Science; which very few have, and but in few things; as being not a native faculty, born within us; nor attained, (as Prudence,) while we look after somewhat else." - Thomas Hobbes

"The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture." - Thomas Jefferson

"In the Word is involved the unity of humanity, the wholeness of the human problem, which permits nobody to separate the intellectual and artistic from the political and social, and to isolate himself within the ivory tower of the cultural proper." - Thomas Mann, fully Paul Thomas Mann

"Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols." - Thomas Mann, fully Paul Thomas Mann

"When I see throughout this book, called the Bible, a history of the grossest vices and a collection of the most paltry and contemptible tales and stories, I could not so dishonor my Creator by calling it by His name." - Thomas Paine

"Praised are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, Creator of light and darkness, who make peace and fashions all things. In mercy, You illuminate the world and those who live upon it. In Your goodness You daily renew creation. How numerous are You works, Adonai! In wisdom, You formed them all, filling the earth with Your creatures. Be praised, Adonai our God, for the excellent work of your hands, And for the lights You created; may they glorify You. Shine a new light upon Zion, that we may swiftly merit its radiance. Praised are You Adonai, Creator of heavenly lights." - Union Prayer Book NULL

"There are times when minds need to turn to simple things. Perhaps for a few of these nights all of us might do well to leave the briefcases at the office and to read again the pages of the Bible, and to re-read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. We might do well to stay home a few days and walk over the fields, or to stand in the shelter of the barn door and reflect upon the relentless and yet benevolent forces of Mother Nature. The laws of nature are relentless. They can never be disobeyed without exacting a penalty. Yet they are benevolent, for when they are understood and obeyed, nature yields up the abundance that blesses those who understand and obey." - Wheeler McMillen

"About all I can say for the United States Senate is that it opens with a prayer and closes with an investigation." - Will Rogers, fully William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers

"If you can build a business up big enough, it's respectable." - Will Rogers, fully William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers

"A man who has humility will have acquired in the last reaches of his beliefs the saving doubt of his own certainty." - Walter Lippmann

"He only has known the full joy of living who somewhere and at some time has struck a decisive blow for the freedom of the human spirit." - Walter Lippmann

"One might say that a nation is politically stable when nothing of radical consequence is determined by its elections." - Walter Lippmann

"This is a rare opportunity and we hope our partners will make friends with as many IOC worldwide partners as possible to learn from their experiences and strategies in marketing, sales and services which are very helpful to the Olympic marketing of the 2008 Games, and we are confident that these experience will become a precious legacy for the Chinese enterprises after 2008." - Wang Wei, aka Wang Youcheng

"The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized." - Wayne Dyer, fully Wayne Walter Dyer

"Listen, everything I have in my life is because of the NHL and because of hockey, and I love the game and I loved every minute of being a player, I loved coaching, I loved being involved in the NHL." - Wayne Gretsky, fully Wayne Douglas Gretzky, “The Great One”

"A sword's honor is its idleness." - Welsh Proverbs

"In every pardon there is love." - Welsh Proverbs