Common Quotes - Page 17

• Life is always uncertain, and common prudence dictates to every man the necessity of settling his temporal concerns, while it is in his power, and while the mind is calm and undisturbed.

  George Washington

  Life, Men, Mind

  George Washington (1860). “Recollections and private memoirs of Washington by his adopted son George Washington with a memoir of the author by his daughter; and illustrative and explanatory notes by Benson J. Loosing: With illustrations”, p.152

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• Forbear harping on what was of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals to sustain the ups and downs of fortune.

  Aesop

  Fortune, Ups & Downs, Mortals

  Aesop (2016). “Aesop's Fables - Complete Collection”, p.27, Lulu.com

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• Love is that common tone shall raise his fiery head and sound his note.

  William Carlos Williams

  Love Is, Sound, Tone

  1954 The Desert Music, 'The Orchestra'.

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• The common prejudice against philosophy is the result of the incapacity of the multitude to deal with the highest problems.

  John Lancaster Spalding

  Philosophy, Prejudice, Problem

  John Lancaster Spalding (1901). “Aphorisms and Reflections: Conduct, Culture and Religion”

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• The common man is impelled and controlled by interests; the superior, by ideas.

  John Lancaster Spalding

  Men, Ideas, Interest

  John Lancaster Spalding (1901). “Aphorisms and Reflections: Conduct, Culture and Religion”

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• Unless we consent to lack the common things which men call success, we shall hardly become heroes or saints, philosophers or poets.

  John Lancaster Spalding

  Hero, Men, Saint

  John Lancaster Spalding (1901). “Aphorisms and Reflections: Conduct, Culture and Religion”

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• It is a common error to imagine that to be stirring and voluble in a worthy cause is to be good and to do good.

  John Lancaster Spalding

  Errors, Causes, Imagine

  John Lancaster Spalding (1901). “Aphorisms and Reflections: Conduct, Culture and Religion”

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• Alas, our rulers are not gods, but puny, fallible men, like the kings who constantly forget their parts, and we common men should be their prompters.

  Lin Yutang

  Kings, Men, Forget

  Lin Yutang, (2013). “Between Tears and Laughter”, p.11, Read Books Ltd

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• Magicians and scientists are, on the face of it, poles apart. Certainly, a group of people who often dress strangely, live in a world of their own, speak a specialized language and frequently make statements that appear to be in flagrant breach of common sense have nothing in common with a group of people who often dress strangely, speak a specialized language, live in ... er.

  Terry Pratchett

  Common Sense, People, Magic

  "The Science of Discworld". Book by Terry Pratchett, 1999.

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• The best things are the most common.

  Luc de Clapiers

  Best Things

  Jean de La Bruyère, Luc de Clapiers marquis de Vauvenargues (1903). “La Bruyère and Vauvenargues: Selections from the Characters, Reflexions and Maxims”

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• Science is a way of talking about the universe in words that bind it to a common reality. Magic is a method of talking to the universe in words that it cannot ignore. The two are rarely compatible.

  Neil Gaiman

  Reality, Two, Talking

  "The Books of Magic. Book I: The Invisible Labyrinth". Book by Neil Gaiman, 1990 - 1991.

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• Those who live not by law would be justified by Custom: but, as common practice is the worst teacher that ever was, so the truth and goodness of things is not to be estimated by the entertainment and acceptance they find in the world.

  Benjamin Whichcote

  Teacher, Acceptance, Law

  Benjamin Whichcote, Anthony Tuckney (1753). “Moral and religious aphorisms [collected by J. Jeffery from the papers of B. Whichcote]. Now re-publ., with additions, by S. Salter. To which are added, Eight letters: which passed between dr. Whichcote, and dr. Tuckney”, p.55

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• The identification with the common lot which is the essential idea of Democracy becomes the source and expression of social ethics. It is as though we thirsted to drink at the great wells of human experience, because we knew that a daintier or less potent draught would not carry us to the end of the journey, going forward as we must in the heat and jostle of the crowd.

  Jane Addams

  Journey, Expression, Ideas

  Jane Addams (2016). “Democracy and Social Ethics”, p.14, Youcanprint

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• We are learning that a standard of social ethics is not attained by travelling a sequestered byway, but by mixing on the thronged and common road where all must turn out for one another, and at least see the size of one another's burdens.

  Jane Addams

  Mixing, Size, Ethics

  Jane Addams, Charlene Haddock Seigfried (2002). “Democracy and Social Ethics”, p.7, University of Illinois Press

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• If the ability to tell right from wrong should turn out to have anything to do with the ability to think, then we must be able to "demand" its exercise from every sane person, no matter how erudite or ignorant, intelligent or stupid, he may happen to be. Kant in this respect almost alone among the philosophers was much bothered by the common opinion that philosophy is only for the few, precisely because of its moral implications.

  Hannah Arendt

  Stupid, Philosophy, Exercise

  "The Life of the Mind". Book by Hannah Arendt, p. 13, 1978.

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• Pure community is a matter of no interest to any will; but a community which pursues a common good is of supreme interest to all wills; and what we have here said is that whatever the nature of that common good ... it must contain the development of individual powers, as a prior condition for all other goods.

  William Ernest Hocking

  Community, Matter, Individual Power

  "Present Status of the Philosophy of Law and of Rights". Book by William Ernest Hocking. Ch. VII, Natural Right, § 35, p. 77, 1926.

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• Morality has nothing in common with politics.

  Bob Dylan

  Morality

  Bob Dylan (2011). “Chronicles”, p.39, Simon and Schuster

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• Democracy is a difficult art of government, demanding of its citizens high ratios of courage and literacy, and at the moment we lack both the necessary habits of mind and a sphere of common reference.

  Lewis H. Lapham

  Art, Government, Mind

  Lewis H. Lapham (1997). “Waiting for the Barbarians”, p.32, Verso

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• What kind of people do we wish to become, and how do we know an American when we see one? Is it possible to pursue a common purpose without a common history or a standard text?

  Lewis H. Lapham

  Common Purpose, People, Wish

  Lewis H. Lapham (1997). “Waiting for the Barbarians”, p.31, Verso

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• Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions. And that's what we have to change first. We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.

  Barack Obama

  Together, Demand, Firsts

  A video posting, announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, barackobama.com, January 16, 2007.

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• It is time to put in place tough, new common-sense rules of the road so that our financial market rewards drive and innovation, and punishes short-cuts and abuse.

  Barack Obama

  Cutting, Common Sense, Innovation

  First Speech to a Joint Session of Congress, delivered 24 February 2009

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• Although we may come from vastly different stories and very different walks of life, we are one people who possess common values and common ideals; who celebrate individual excellence but also share a recognition that together, we can accomplish great and wonderful things we can't accomplish alone.

  Barack Obama

  Together We Can, People, Excellence

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• When going to the temple to adore Divinity neither say nor do any thing in the interim pertaining to the common affairs of life.

  Pythagoras

  Divinity, Temples, Affair

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• See yourself as you really are. Listen to what none of your leaders and representatives dares tell you: You are a "little, common man." Understand the double meaning of these words: "little" and "common." Don't run. Have the courage to look at yourself!

  Wilhelm Reich

  Running, Men, Leader

  "Listen, Little Man!". Book by Wilhelm Reich, 1948.

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• The light of common sense is fundamentally the same light as that of science, that is to say, the natural light of the intellect. But in common sense this light does not return upon itself by critical reflection, and is not perfected by what we shall learn to know as a scientific habit.

  Jacques Maritain

  Reflection, Light, Common Sense

  Jacques Maritain (2005). “An EPZ Introduction to Philosophy”, p.80, A&C Black

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