Mischief Quotes - Page 2

• No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Silly, Men, Belief

  Attributed to "Essais" by Michel de Montaigne, Book III, Ch. 1, 1595.

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• He that hath a wife and children hath given hostages to fortune.

  Francis Bacon

  Family, Marriage, Children

  Essays "Of Marriage and the Single Life" (1625) See Lucan 3

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• Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.

  Thomas Paine

  Motivation, Fear, Gun

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• The greater part of all the mischief in the world arises from the fact that men do not sufficiently understand their own aims.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Men, Goal, World

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• It has been said that idleness is the parent of mischief, which is very true; but mischief itself is merely an attempt to escape from the dreary vacuum of idleness.

  George Henry Borrow

  Parent, Vacuums, Laziness

  George Henry Borrow (2012). “The Pocket George Borrow”, p.73, tredition

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• Your proposal raises the greatest mischief that can befall my country. You could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. Let me conjure you then, if you have any regard for your country, concern for your self or posterity, or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your mind, never communicate, as from yourself, or anyone else, a sentiment of the like nature.

  George Washington

  Country, Self, Mind

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• The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

  George Washington

  Wise, Party, People

  George Washington (1810). “Washington's Farewell Address to the People of the United States”, p.12

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• Where cheating is, there's mischief there.

  William Blake

  Cheating, Infidelity

  William Blake (2005). “Collected Poems”, p.15, Routledge

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• The mischief of children is seldom actuated by malice; that of grown-up people always is.

  Antoine Rivarol

  Children, People, Malice

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• When remedies are past, the griefs are ended By seeing the worst, which late on hopes depended. To mourn a mischief that is past and gone Is the next way to draw new mischief on. What cannot be preserved when fortune takes, Patience her injury a mockery makes. The robb'd that smiles steals something for the thief; He robs himself that spends a bootless grief.

  William Shakespeare

  Grief, Past, Thieves

  1603-4 Duke to Brabanzio. Othello, act1, sc.3, l.201-4.

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• With every exertion, the best of men can do but a moderate amount of good; but it seems in the power of the most contemptible individual to do incalculable mischief.

  Washington Irving

  Men, Evil, Individual

  Washington Irving (1859). “The works of Washington Irving”, p.402

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• A heart to resolve, a head to contrive, and a hand to execute.

  Edward Gibbon

  Heart, Hands, Action

  'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' (1776-88) ch. 48 (on Comenus)

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• For Satan always finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.

  Isaac Watts

  Hands, Laziness, Satan

  Isaac Watts, “How Doth The Little Busy Bee”

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• 'Tis not enough your counsel still be true; Blunt truths more mischief than nice falsehoods do.

  Alexander Pope

  Nice, Stupid, Literature

  Alexander Pope (2015). “An Essay on Criticism”, p.17, Sheba Blake Publishing

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• All punishment is mischief; all punishment in itself is evil.

  Jeremy Bentham

  Punishment, Evil, Utilitarian

  'Principles of Morals and Legislation' (1789) ch. 13, para. 2

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• The law, which restrains a man from doing mischief to his fellow citizens, though it diminishes the natural, increases the civil liberty of mankind.

  William Blackstone

  Men, Law, Liberty

  Sir William Blackstone (1794). “Commentaries on the laws of England”, p.128

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• That men, in reality, did not have friends in other men. That the fellowship of men, despite its joyous banter, old memories of exaggerated mischief and the altruism of sharing pornography, was actually a farcical fellowship. Because what a man really wanted was to be bigger than his friends.

  Manu Joseph

  Memories, Reality, Men

  Manu Joseph (2011). “Serious Men”, p.10, HarperCollins Publishers

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• Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt,
  Surprised by unjust force, but not inthralled;
  Yea, even that which mischief meant most harm
  Shall in the happy trial prove most glory.

  John Milton

  Hurt, Trials, Unjust

  John Milton, John Hunter (1864). “Milton's Comus, L'allegro, and Il Penseroso: With Numerous Illustrative Notes &c”, p.33

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• He who has a mind to do mischief will always find a pretense.

  Publilius Syrus

  Mind, Pretense

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• The sower of the seed is assuredly the author of the whole harvest of mischief.

  Demosthenes

  Harvest, Whole, Seeds

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• I guess I love mischief as much as Amelia Bedelia. I simply enjoy laughing at life.

  Peggy Parish

  Laughing, Amelia, Enjoy

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• He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.

  Francis Bacon

  Children, Wife, Virtue

  Essays "Of Marriage and the Single Life" (1625) See Lucan 3

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• A Code of Honor: Never approach a friend's girlfriend or wife with mischief as your goal. There are just too many women in the world to justify that sort of dishonorable behavior. Unless she's really attractive.

  Bruce Jay Friedman

  Love, Girlfriend, Justice

  Bruce Jay Friedman (1978). “The Lonely Guy: And, The Slightly Older Guy”, p.144, Grove Press

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• It is a general rule of Judgment, that a mischief should rather be admitted than an inconvenience.

  William Cowper

  Judgment, Should, Inconvenience

  Devit v. College of Dublin, Gilbert Eq. Ca. 249, as quoted in "The Dictionary of Legal Quotations" by James William Norton-Kyshe (1904), p. 176, 1720.

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• I never met a pig I didn't like. All pigs are intelligent, emotional, and sensitive souls. They all love company. They all crave contact and comfort. Pigs have a delightful sense of mischief; most of them seem to enjoy a good joke and appreciate music. And that is something you would certainly never suspect from your relationship with a pork chop.

  Sy Montgomery

  Intelligent, Emotional, Pigs

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