Okay, I know that I protested and said that I wasn’t going to participate in this weeks The Broke and the Bookish Top Ten Tuesday for lack of time, but seeing everyone else’s wonderful quotes, I just couldn’t resist the temptation. Income taxes be hanged; here I go …….
1.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. ~ Aristotle
2.
Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero
3.
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Knowledge is a matter of knowing facts. Wisdom is a matter of understanding and applying principles. A certain amount of knowledge is necessary for wisdom, and without wisdom, knowledge is not only useless, it’s dangerous. ~ Hilda van Stockum (The Winged Watchman)
4.
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. ~ Leo Tolstoy
5.
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. ~ C.S. Lewis
6.
We let our young men and women go out unarmed in a day when armor was never so necessary. By teaching them to read, we have left them at the mercy of the printed word. By the invention of the film and the radio, we have made certain that no aversion to reading shall secure them from the incessant battery of words, words, words. They do not know what the words mean; they do not know how to ward them off or blunt their edge or fling them back; they are a prey to words in their emotions instead of being the masters of them in their intellects… We have lost the tools of learning, and in their absence can only make a botched and piecemeal job of it. ~ Dorothy L. Sayers
7.
True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.
If you never ask yourself any questions about the meaning of a passage, you cannot expect the book to give you any insight you don’t already possess
To agree without understanding is inane. To disagree without understanding is impudent.
The truly great books are the few books that are over everybody’s head all of the time.
~ Mortimer J. Adler
8.
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One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
9.
I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. ~ Thomas Jefferson
10.
Perfer et obdura, dolor hic tibi proderit olim.
Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you. ~ Ovid
Nice selection of quotes,some of which I know and some of which I don't!
When I told my father this quote of Tolstoy's,he just said 'It's like Gandhi's ''Be the change you want to see in the world.'' I felt quite like an idiot,as I never saw the similarity between these two quotes,haha.
I like Ovide's quote very much while Cicero's is funny and very relevant!
Great choices. My favorite is Stockum; but I like Cicero's, too.
I think Jefferson's proved true. : (
Love all of these, particularly Jefferson, Tolstoy and Ovid 🙂
Excellent collection–I particularly like the first 4 and #8.
Interesting story about your father. I wonder how many other great minds have thought of the same, yet different type of quotes.
I find Ovid's quote, very useful and strangely inspiring!
Jefferson's quote sent a shiver down my spine. Obviously wisdom is an elusive thing …… I should have included a quote on it.
Ovid's is great and Tolstoy's is so simple, yet we seem to have to be reminded of it again and again.
Thanks. So many of these authors have numerous great quotes. It was really difficult to choose which ones to use.
Not sure I agree with Adler — great books are over EVERYBODY's head? What on earth would be the point of that? Excellent collection of thoughts though!
I really enjoyed reading these quotes. 🙂
When we read the great books, it (hopefully) should be with a mind to learn something from them. Adler means that you can always learn something from the truly great books …… you can never mine them completely and therefore, they are always over our heads (ie. always something to learn). If you've never read his How To Read A Book, it's quite dense but a truly excellent read.
Thanks! I would have loved to see your choices …. I bet you'd have some unique ones!
Nice list! I'm playing catch-up here after a few days AWOL…
I feel mentally AWOL even though I'm still here. I'm enjoying reading but am having some struggle posting reviews. In any case, I will keep on. At least I'm having fun reading everyone else's. Welcome back! 🙂
I love them…but my personal motto is the last one by Ovid….I have kept it with me for so many years and it has seen me through such horrific times…these words really do inspire!!
If you read the words, they certainly don't leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling but nevertheless they inspire and are extremely effective. Because they are honest. I really need to get around to reading Ovid!
Needed some inspiration this morning while enjoying my first coffee….time to read your selction of quotes. Tolstoy and Ovid are my favorites. Be patient, be tough and when you think of change start with yourself! That will be my motto for today! Patient: get me through a chunkster in a Sci-Fi book for my Galactic challenge, tough: try to push myself from 4 to 5 km run this afternoon, change yourself: reduce my addction to cookies…. Great post to put some cheer in my day! 🙂
I love your little stories that connect to your day. A 5km run is impressive. You're a good role model! 😉 I'm glad to be able to put some food for thought into your day.
Cleo – just saw this and thought of you:
Books C.S. Lewis Loved from Mere Inkling.
🙂
Oooo, thanks for this, O! Now I have another list to work through. 🙂 I'm actually just reading an essay Lewis wrote on Sayers, so your find is very appropos!