Maxims Quotes - Page 3

• Let us be true: this is the highest maxim of art and of life, the secret of eloquence and of virtue, and of all moral authority.

  Henri Frederic Amiel

  Art, Truth, Secret

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• They who have reasoned ignorantly, or who have aimed at effecting their personal ends by flattering the popular feeling, have boldly affirmed that 'one man is as good as another'; a maxim that is true in neither nature, revealed morals, nor political theory.

  James F. Cooper

  Men, Political, Feelings

  "The American Democrat: Or, Hints on the Social and Civic Relations of the United States of America". Book by James F. Cooper, 1838.

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• Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.

  John Quincy Adams

  Power, People, Liberty

  "Novanglus or A History of the Dispute with America, From Its Origin in 1754 to the Present Time (Essay No. 3)". Essays by John Quincy Adams, first published in the Boston Gazette, 1774-1775.

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• You know, I'd love to do a Maxim shoot. But I'm not going to do it, because that's just stupid to do.

  Christy Carlson Romano

  Stupid, Knows

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• It is a maxim of old that among themselves all things are common to friends.

  Jean Racine

  Common, All Things

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• I shall earnestly and persistently continue to urge all women to the practical recognition of the old Revolutionary maxim. Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.

  Susan B. Anthony

  Resistance, Recognition, Revolutionary

  Lynn Sherr, Susan B. Anthony (1995). “Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words”, Crown

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• In the gay (Catholic) community, it would seem, the maxim is: love the sin and love the sinner, but hate anyone who calls it a sin or him a sinner.

  Richard John Neuhaus

  Hate, Gay, Community

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• In the maxim of the past you cannot go anywhere.

  Maxim Gorky

  Past, Carriages

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• Wish not so much to live long as to live well.

  Benjamin Franklin

  4th Of July, Long, Wish

  Benjamin Franklin (2013). “Poor Richard's Almanack”, p.45, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• Be more concerned with your character than your reputation.

  John Wooden

  Basketball, Motivational Sports, Character

  Andrew Hill, John Wooden (2002). “Be Quick - But Don't Hurry: Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime”, p.114, Simon and Schuster

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• Rather perish than hate and fear, and twice rather perish than make oneself hated and feared — this must some day become the highest maxim for every single commonwealth.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Hate, Miscellaneous, Commonwealth

  Friedrich Nietzsche (1977). “The Portable Nietzsche”, p.52, Penguin

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• The political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free Government, and as they become incorporated with national sentiment, counteract the impulses of interest and passion.

  James Madison

  Passion, Character, Government

  James Madison, Ralph Ketcham “Selected Writings of James Madison”, Hackett Publishing

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• Ralph Keyes calls quotation collectors "quotographers," the men and women who gather catchwords, watchwords, war words, winged words, maxims, mottos, sayings, and quips into books of a thousand pages. Through the centuries quotation collectors have saved quotations that would otherwise be lost.

  Willis Regier

  War, Book, Men

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• And, in fine, the ancient precept, "Know thyself," and the modern precept, "Study nature," become at last one maxim.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Knowledge, Science, Self

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1850). “Nature: Addresses, and Lectures”, p.83

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• Maxims are sharp-edged half-truths.

  Mason Cooley

  Truth, Half, Half Truth

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• Whatever is not nailed down is mine." This is the motto of the exploiter. "Whatever can be pried loose is not nailed down." This is the second maxim in a country where people are rich, caring little in their present prosperity what shall become of the future.

  David Starr Jordan

  Country, Caring, People

  David Starr Jordan (1910). “The Call of the Nation: A Plea for Taking Politics Out of Politics”

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• A small knowledge of human nature will convince us, that, with far the greatest part of mankind, interest is the governing principle... Few men are capable of making a continual sacrifice of all views of private interest, or advantage, to the common good. It is vain to exclaim against the depravity of human nature on this account; the fact is so, the experience of every age and nation has proved it and we must in a great measure, change the constitution of man, before we can make it otherwise. No institution, not built on the presumptive truth of these maxims can succeed.

  George Washington

  Sacrifice, Men, Views

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• Once I find the right maxim to apply, I feel that I have done all that can be expected of me.

  Mason Cooley

  Done, Feels, Expected

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• Another of Cicero's maxims was that if you must do something unpopular, you might as well do it wholeheartedly, for in politics there is no credit to be won by timidity.

  Robert Harris

  Credit, Might, Wells

  Robert Harris (2006). “Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome”, p.47, Simon and Schuster

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• Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer. The maxim is so perfectly self-evident that it would be absurd to attempt to prove it. But in the mercantile system the interest of the consumer is almost constantly sacrificed to that of the producer; and it seems to consider production, and not consumption, as the ultimate end and object of all industry and commerce.

  Adam Smith

  Self, Purpose, May

  Adam Smith (1827). “An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, p.274

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• The sneaking arts of underling tradesmen are thus erected into political maxims for the conduct of a great empire; for it is the most underling tradesmen only who make it a rule to employ chiefly their own customers. A great trader purchases his good always where they are cheapest and best, without regard to any little interest of this kind.

  Adam Smith

  Art, Political, Empires

  Adam Smith, Dugald Stewart (1843). “An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, p.174

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• It has been a sort of maxim, that the greatest art is to conceal art; but I know not how, among some people we meet with, their greatest cunning is to appear cunning.

  Richard Steele

  Art, People, Cunning

  Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele (1831). “Tatler and Guardian”, p.331

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• We seldom repent of speaking little, very often of speaking too much: a vulgar and trite maxim, which all the world knows and, but which all the world does not practice

  Jean de la Bruyere

  Practice, Doe, World

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• These are the rules of big business. They have superseded the teachings of our parents and are reducible to a simple maxim: Get a monopoly; let Society work for you; and remember that the best of all business is politics, for a legislative grant, franchise, subsidy or tax exemption is worth more than a Kim-berly or Comstock lode, since it does not require any labor, either mental or physical, for its exploitation.

  Frederic C. Howe

  Teaching, Simple, Parent

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• I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy.

  George Washington

  Honesty, Constitution, Affair

  George Washington (1810). “Washington's Farewell Address to the People of the United States”, p.16

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