Great Throughts Treasury

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

Value

"Such biological ideas as the 'survival of the fittest,' whatever their doubtful value in natural science, are utterly useless in attempting to understand society... The life of a man in society, while it is incidentally a biological fact, has characteristics that are not reducible to biology and must be explained in the distinctive terms of a cultural analysis... the physical well-being of men is a result of their social organization and not vice versa ... Social improvement is a product of advances in technology and social organization, not of breeding or selective elimination... Judgments as to the value of competition between men or enterprises or nations must be based upon social and not allegedly biological consequences; and ... there is nothing in nature or a naturalistic philosophy of life to make impossible the acceptance of moral sanctions that can be employed for the common good." - Richard Hofstadter

"It is in the time of trouble, when some to whom we may have looked for consolation and encouragement regard us with coldness, and others, perhaps, treat us with hostility, that the warmth of the friendly heart and the support of the friendly hand acquire increased value and demand additional gratitude." - Richard Mant

"How melancholy a thing is success. Whilst failure inspirits a man, attainment reads the sad prosy lesson that all our glories are shadows, not substantial things. Truly said the sayer, disappointment is the salt of life a salutary bitter which strengthens the mind for fresh exertion, and gives a double value to the prize." -

"May we never let the things we can't have, or don't have, or shouldn't have, spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have. As we value our happiness let us not forget it, for one of the greatest lessons in life is learning to be happy without the things we cannot or should not have." - Richard L. Evans, fully Richard Louis Evans

"As has been either said or implied already, in order that a man may enter into Cosmic Consciousness, he must belong (so to speak) to the top layer of the world of Self Consciousness. Not that he need have an extraordinary intellect (this faculty is rated, usually far above its real value and does not seem nearly so important, from this point of view, as do some others) though he must not be deficient in this respect, either. He must have a good physique, good health, but above all he must have an exalted moral nature, strong sympathies, a warm heart, courage, strong and earnest religious feeling. All these being granted, and the man having reached the age necessary to bring him to the top of the self conscious mental stratum, some day he enters Cosmic Consciousness. What is his experience? Details must be given with diffidence, as they are only known to the writer in a few cases, and doubtless the phenomena are varied and diverse. What is said here, however, may be depended on as far as it goes. It is true of certain cases, and certainly touches upon the full truth in certain other cases, so that it may be looked upon as being provisionally correct." - Richard Maurice Bucke, often called Maurice Bucke

"A good man, though he will value his own countrymen, yet will think as highly of the worthy men of every nation under the sun." -

"Always set high value on spontaneous kindness. He whose inclination prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord will love you more than one whom you have been at pains to attach to you." - Robertson Davies

"Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it is bestowed." - Robertson Davies

"Hitler never abandoned the cloak of legality; he recognized the enormous psychological value of having the law on his side. Instead, he turned the law inside out and made illegality legal." - Robert Byrd, fully Robert Carlyle Byrd

"To get all there is out of living, we must employ our time wisely, never being in too much of a hurry to stop and sip life, but never losing our sense of the enormous value of a minute. " - Robert Updegraff, fully Robert Rawls Updegraff

"Essentially Americanism, which in democracy, is a moraland spiritual adventure, concerned primarily with a sound and workable philosophy of life, summed up in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, respect for human personality, and recognition of the dignity and value of the individual. In his brilliant statement on The Coming Victory of Democracy, Thomas Mann tells us he believes in democracy because he believes in freedom, and he believes in freedom because he believes in human nature and the dignity of man, who is more than a depersonalized unit in the state. Man is a spiritual being whom it is the duty of the state to serve. He is more than a slave to be kept in order and submission by the crack of a master's whip. "The essential man," says he, "is not the creature who hurls down bombs on children, but the mind that devised the flying machine, the seeker and builder, not the destroyer."" - Robert Gordon Sproul

"How melancholy a thing is success. Whilst failure inspirits a man, attainment reads the sad prosy lesson that all our glories are shadows, not substantial things. Truly said the sayer, disappointment is the salt of life a salutary bitter which strengthens the mind for fresh exertion, and gives a double value to the prize." -

"A good man, though he will value his own countrymen, yet will think as highly of the worthy men of every nation under the sun." -

"If present and future depend on the past, then present and future should exist in past time If present and future do not exist in it, how can present and future exist in dependence on it? The establishment of the two does not occur without dependence on the past, Therefore, present and future time do not exist. By this method the remaining two [times] are to be treated mutatis mutandis. One should examine the top, bottom, and middle, etc., and the oneness, etc. Non-abiding time is not perceived, and abiding time does not occur; How can imperceptible time be designated? If time depends on an entity, where is there time without an entity? No entity exists, so where would time exist?" - Seng-Chao or Sengzhao NULL

"For changing peoples' manners and altering their customs there is nothing better than music." -

"It's not how old you are, it's how hard you work at it." - Jonah Barrington, Sir Jonah Barrington

"The future doesn't belong to the faint of heart. It belongs to the brave." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"Imagine the differences in behavior when people operate with the idea that ‘leadership means influencing the community to follow the leader’s vision’ versus ‘leadership means influencing the community to face its problems." - Ronald A. Heifetz

"Be quiet now and wait. It may be that the ocean one, the one we desire so to move into and become, desires us out here on land a little longer, going our sundry roads to the shore." - Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL

"The time has come to turn your heart into a temple of fire. Your essence is gold hidden in dust. To reveal its splendor you need to burn in the fire of love." - Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL

"We do not even get death free of charge, for it costs us our life." - Russian Proverbs

"The Self-revealing of the Word is in every dimension - above, in creation; below, in the Incarnation; in the depth, in Hades; in the breadth, throughout the world. All things have been filled with the knowledge of God." - Saint Athanasius, aka Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Athanasius the Great, St. Athanasius I of Alexandria, St. Athanasius the Confessor, St. Athanasius the Apostolic NULL

"Don't you believe that there is in man a deep [spirit] so profound as to be hidden even to him in whom it is?" - Saint Augustine, aka Augustine of Hippo, St. Austin, Bishop of Hippo NULL

"If formerly it sought sweetness and fervor, and found it, now it much neither seek it nor desire it, for not only will it be unable to find it through its own diligence, but it will rather find aridity, for it turns from the quiet and peaceful blessings which were secretly given it its spirit, to the work that it desires to do with sense; and thus it will lose one and not obtain the other, since no blessings are now given to it by means of sense as they were formerly… God secretly and quietly infuses into the soul loving knowledge and wisdom without any intervention of specific acts. And the soul has then to walk with loving advertence to God, without making specific acts, but conducting itself passively, and making no efforts of its own, but preserving this simple, pure and loving advertence. The soul must be attached to nothing – not even to any kind of meditation or sweetness. The spirit needs to be so free and so completely annihilated that any thought or meditation which the soul in this state might desire, or any pleasure to which it may conceive an attachment, would impede and disturb it and would introduce noise into the deep silence which it is meet that the soul should observe so that it may hear the deep and delicate voice of God which speaks to the heart in this secret place." - Saint John of the Cross, born Juan de Yepes Álvarez NULL

"It is the mark of a mean, vulgar and ignoble spirit to dwell on the thought of food before meal times or worse to dwell on it afterwards, to discuss it and wallow in the remembered pleasures of every mouthful. Those whose minds dwell before dinner on the spit, and after on the dishes, are fit only to be scullions." - Saint Francis de Sales NULL

"Our faith, trust, and love are proved and revealed in adversities, that is, in difficult and grievous outward and inward circumstances, during sickness, sorrow, and privations." - Saint John of Kronstadt, fully John Il’ich Serguiev, aka Holy Father John of the Kronstadt NULL

"For if the will has nothing to employ it and love has no present object with which to busy itself, the soul finds itself without either support or occupation, its solitude and aridity cause it great distress and its thoughts involve it in the severest conflict." - Saint Teresa of Ávila, aka Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada NULL

"There is no greater cause of straying from the path of faithful perseverance than letting up in prayer." - Saint Teresa of Ávila, aka Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada NULL

"They envy the distinction I have won; let them therefore, envy my toils, my honesty, and the methods by which I gained it." - Sallust, full name Carus Valerius Sailustius Crispus NULL

"The more the Jew is a Jew, the more universalist will be his views and aspirations, the less alien will he be to anything that is noble and good, true and upright in the arts and sciences, in civilization and culture… The more the Jew is a Jew, the more gladly will he give himself to all that is true progress in civilization and culture – provided that in this new circumstance he will not only maintain his Judaism, but will be able to bring it to ever more glorious fulfillment." - Samson Raphael Hirsch

"A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.... While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security." - Samuel Adams

"One great reason why clergymen's households are generally unhappy is because the clergyman is so much at home or close about the house." - Samuel Butler

"Through perils both of wind and limb, Through thick and thin she follow'd him." - Samuel Butler

"The men who work seven or eight hours are not the men who can be bought." - Samuel Gompers

"A woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"Americans are a race of convicts and ought to be thankful for anything we allow them short of hanging." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"Bravery has no place where it can avail nothing." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"Friendship, peculiar boon of Heaven, The noble mind's delight and pride, To men and angels only given, To all the lower world denied." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"Let me smile with the wise, and feed with the rich." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"Life, like every other blessing, derives its value from its use alone. Not for itself, but for a nobler end the eternal gave it; and that end is virtue." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"Life, to be worthy of a rational being, must be always in progression; we must always purpose to do more or better than in time past." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"Remarriage: A triumph of hope over experience." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"That friendship may be at once fond and lasting, there must not only be equal virtue on each part, but virtue of the same kind; not only the same end must be proposed, but the same means must be approved by both." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"The love of life is necessary to the vigorous prosecution of any undertaking." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"Were a man not to marry a second time, it might be concluded that his first wife had given him a disgust to marriage; but by taking a second wife, he pays the highest compliment to the first, by showing that she made him so happy as a married man, that he wishes to be so a second time." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"A husband's mother and his wife had generally better be visitors than inmates." - Samuel Richardson

"If you are not one of us, you are one of them." - Sidney Lanier

"I was always puzzled by the fact that people have a great deal of trouble and pain when and if they are forced or feel forced to change a belief or circumstance which they hold dear. I found what I believe is the answer when I read that a Canadian neurosurgeon discovered some truths about the human mind which revealed the intensity of this problem. He conducted some experiments which proved that when a person is forced to change a basic belief or viewpoint, the brain undergoes a series of nervous sensations equivalent to the most agonizing torture." - Sidney Madwed

"Never value the valueless. The trick is to know how to recognize it." - Sidney Madwed