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Comedy is tragedy plus time.
 - Woody Allen (Easterly 2002, p211)

Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.
- Stephen Vincent Benet

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To use bitter words, when kind words are at hand is like picking unripe fruit when the ripe fruit is there.  -Thiruvalluvar, poet (c. 1st  century BCE or 6th century CE)

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Just as a cautious businessman avoids tying up all his capital in one concern, so, perhaps, worldly wisdom will advise us not to look for the whole of our satisfaction from a single aspiration. -Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

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They know enough who know how to learn. -Henry Adams (1838-1918)

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies inside us" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which  differ from that of their social environment. -Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

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Doubt comes in at the window when inquiry is denied at the door.  - Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893)

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Nothing produces such odd results as trying to get even. -Franklin P. Jones

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Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? -T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)

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It is difficult to begin without borrowing, but perhaps it is the most generous course thus to permit your fellow-men to have an interest in  your enterprise. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

"Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it." - Horace

"Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone who has overcome adversity." - Lou Holtz

"Without adversity, without change, life is boring." -  John Amatt

"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." - Napoleon Hill

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Selfish, adj. Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others.  -Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), [The Devil's Dictionary, 1906]

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God gives every bird his worm, but he does not throw it into the nest. -Swedish proverb

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Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it. -Lucius Annaeus Seneca, philosopher (BCE 3-65 CE)

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The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within me. -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

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Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others. -Francois De La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)

"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him" -Aldous Huxley

Chinese Proverbs

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.


A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.

A book holds a house of gold.

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

A book tightly shut is but a block of paper.

A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.

A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections.

A filthy mouth will not utter decent language.

A fool judges people by the presents they give him.

A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials.

A nation's treasure is in its scholars.

A rat who gnaws at a cat's tail invites destruction.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Be the first to the field and the last to the couch.

Deep doubts, deep wisdom; small doubts, little wisdom.

Dig the well before you are thirsty.

Do good, reap good; do evil, reap evil.

Do not employ handsome servants.

Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.

Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.

Don't open a shop unless you like to smile.

Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

He who is drowned is not troubled by the rain.

He who strikes the first blow admits he's lost the argument.

If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him.

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

If you bow at all, bow low.

If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it.

Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve.

Not until just before dawn do people sleep best; not until people get old do they become wise.

Raise your sail one foot and you get ten feet of wind.

Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.

The palest ink is better than the best memory.

To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.

When you drink the water, remember the spring.

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.

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Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
- Mark Twain

Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve. 
- Max Planck

Nine-point Gentleman

Confucius describes a true gentleman (a chun-tzu, or one replete with virtue) in the following manner -

`For a perfect gentleman there are nine considerations. These are:

• a desire to see clearly when he looks at something;
• a desire to hear every detail when listening to something;
• a desire to present a tranquil countenance;
• a desire to preserve an attitude of respect;
• a desire to be sincere in his words;
• a desire to be careful in his work;
• a willingness to enquire further into anything about which he has doubts;
• a willingness to bear in mind the difficulties consequent on anger;
• a willingness to consider moral values when presented with the the possibility of profit.`

(The Analects of Confucius, chapter 16)

His maxim on governance:


`Guidance by morality; control by ceremony`

Virtues: Benevolence, loyalty, ceremony, bravery, faith, frugality
Its interesting to note that the modern Japanese dropped `benevolence`; modern Chinese dropped `Loyalty`  (Morishima 1982)

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Confucianism Principles of Moral Thought and Action - http://www.patheos.com/Library/Confucianism/Ethics-Morality-Community/Principles-of-Moral-Thought-and-Action.html

Hunger, Piety, Work, Gandhi

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"True to his poetical instinct, the poet [referring to Tagore] lives for the morrow and would have us do likewise. He presents to our admiring gaze to the beautiful picture of the birds early in the morning singing hymns of praise as they soar into the sky. These birds have had their day's food and soared with rested wings, in whose veins new blood had flown during the previous night. But I have had the pain of watching birds who for want of strength could not be coaxed even into a flutter of their wings. The human bird under the Indian sky gets up weaker than when he pretended to retire. For millions it is an eternal vigil or an eternal trance. It is an indescribably painful state which has got to be experienced to be realized. I have found it impossible to soothe suffering patients with a song from Kabir.

"The hungry millions ask for one poem -- invigorating food. They cannot be given it. They must earn it. And they can earn only by the sweat of their brow. . . . Imagine, therefore, what a calamity it must be to have 300 millions unemployed, several millions becoming degraded every day for want of employment, devoid of self-respect, devoid of faith in God.

"I may as well place before the dog over there the message of God as before those hungry millions who have no lustre in their eyes and whose only God is their bread. I can take before them a message of God only by taking the message of sacred work before them. . . . To them God can only appear as bread and butter. ... My ahimsa would not tolerate the idea of giving a free meal to a healthy person who has not worked for it in some honest way and, if I had the power, I would stop every Sadavrata where free meals are given. It has degraded the nation and it has encouraged laziness, idleness, hypocrisy and even crime .... Do not say you will maintain the poor on charity"

- Mahatma Gandhi
(Excerpts from Nirmal Kumar Bose, Selections from Gandhi ,  Navijan Publishing House, 1957)

"I look upon an increase in the power of the State with the greatest fear because, although while apparently doing good by minimizing exploitation, it does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality which lies at the root of all progress ...The State represents violence in a concentrated and organized form.

"The individual has a soul, but as the State is a soulless machine, it can never be weaned from violence to which it owes its very existence. . . . It is my firm conviction that if the State suppressed  capitalism by violence, it will be caught in the coils of violence itself and fail to develop nonviolence at any time. . . . What I would personally prefer, would be not a centralization of power in the hands of the State but an extension of the sense of trusteeship; as in my opinion, the violence of private ownership is less injurious than the violence of the State. However, if it is unavoidable, I would support a minimum of State-ownership"

- Mahatma Gandhi (Excerpts from Nirmal Kumar Bose, Selections from Gandhi ,  Navijan Publishing House, 1957)

Passive Resistance

When the great lord passes the wise peasant bows deeply and silently farts.
- Ethiopian Proverb


The bigger the donkey, the deeper you bow.
- Gujarati Proverb (first read it in a piece by Ardeshir Cowasjee)

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A Problem worthy of attack
Proves its worth by fighting back.
- Piet Hein

Self-Mastery

“A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure. I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” - Oscar Wilde


“Passion in all its forms is a mental thirst, a fever, a torturing unrest. As a fire consumes a magnificent building, reducing it to a heap of unsightly ashes, so are men consumed by the flames of passions, and their deeds and works fall and perish.” - James Allen (New Zealander Statesman. Minister of defense (1912-20), 1855-1942)


“A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; that he cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mold and master his own will: and things serve him who serves Truth; people seek guidance of him who is master of himself.” - James Allen


Before complaining that you are a slave to another, be sure that you are not a slave to self. Look within;...You will find there, perchance, slavish thoughts, slavish desires, and in your daily life and conduct slavish habits. Conquer these; cease to be a slave to self, and no man will have the power to enslave you.” - JA



Self-Mastry: Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda - http://www.ikedaquotes.org/self-mastery.html



Aspects of Hindu Morality / Vedanta: http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=NPdBA4IIkwIC&pg=PA141&lpg=PA141&dq=self-mastery+vedanta&source=bl&ots=fRSVXUYkx7&sig=3yAb1PqWcNU3g0ukUB41nk7zr-U&hl=ja&ei=gfOyTP_XGoSucKjP1NkN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CC8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=self-mastery%20vedanta&f=false

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“I couldn’t but be aware of the feelings aroused in them. The trees bore fruit, the clouds carried rain, and our friends, for ever childless, played with our Caroline, our Jennifer.” - 2010 Nobel laureate Robert Edwards about a childless couple who often visited his young family and peeked at their pram - his inspiration for researching on IVF.


"When intelligence matures and lodges securely in the heart, it becomes wisdom. When that wisdom is integrated with life and issues out in action, it becomes devotion. Knowledge which has become mature is spoken of as devotion. If it does not get transformed into devotion, such knowledge is useless tinsel."
- C. Rajagopalachari's commentary on Bhaja Govindam, a 8th century verse by Adi Shankaracharya


Sex is like bridge; if you don't have a good partner, you better have a good hand. - Mae West


Parents forgive their children least readily for the faults they themselves instilled in them.
- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

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Steve Jobs: How to live before you die Video on TED.com



"Remembering that we'll all be dead soon is one of the most important tools I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life...because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarassment or failure...these things all fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you're going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked - there is no reason not to follow your heart.


"Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It life's change agent; it clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you'll gradually become the old and be clearedaway...Your time is limited, so don't waste it living somebody else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other people's opinion drown out your own inner voice. And most important - have the courage to follow your heart and intiution. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary...

The quoted last message from the Whole Earth Catalogue (1968-1972)

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If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing. -- Margaret Thatcher


Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. - Henry Ford

Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied. - Pearl S. Buck

If a lump of soot falls into the soup and you cannot conveniently get it out, stir it well in and it will give the soup a French taste. - Jonathan Swift



I am only one, but I am one.
I can not do everything, but I can do something.
I must not fail to do the something that I can do.
-- Helen Keller

Joan Robinson Spl

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"The misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being expoited at all" - Joan Robinson

It's better to be wanted for murder than not to be wanted at all. - Marty Winch


"The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists." - Joan Robinson



"Whatever you can rightly say about India, the opposite is also true." - Joan Robinson



"Progress is slow partly from mere intellectual inertia. In a subject where there is no agreed procedure for knocking out errors, doctrines have a long life. A professor teaches what he was taught, and his pupils, with a proper respect and reverence for teachers, set up a resistance against his critics for no other reason than that it was he whose pupils they were." - Joan Robinson

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All that happens means something; nothing you do is ever insignificant. -- Aldous Huxley


Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities. -- Aldous Huxley

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics. -- Benjamin Disraeli

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. -- Galileo Galilei


Alliance: In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pocket that they cannot separately plunder a third. -- Ambrose Bierce

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. - Winston Churchill

Common sense is a collection of prejudices acquired by age 18 -- Albert Einseiin


Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement. – Henry Ford

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. --- Henry Ford

Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty --- Henry Ford

To be content with little is hard; to be content with much, impossible. --Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Happiness: a good bank account, a good cook and a good digestion. -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau

To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best. -- Margaret Thatcher


I am desperately trying to figure out why Kamikaze pilots wore helmets. -- Dave Edison


Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children. -- George Bernard Shaw

Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering - because you can't take it in all at once. -- Audrey Hepburn


The art galleries of Paris contain the finest collection of frames I ever saw. -- Humphrey Davy

Choices

Sheena Iyengar on the Art of Choosing







"We tell ourselves stories in order to live...We tell ourselves stories in order to live. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of multiple choices. We live entirely by the impositon of a narrative line upon disparate images, by the ideas with which we learn to freeze, the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience." -- Joan Didian- The White Album

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To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best. -- Margaret Thatcher


I am desperately trying to figure out why Kamikaze pilots wore helmets. -- Dave Edison

Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children. -- George Bernard Shaw

Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering - because you can't take it in all at once. -- Audrey Hepburn

The art galleries of Paris contain the finest collection of frames I ever saw. -- Humphrey Davy

Choices

Being clever is a gift; being kind is a choice...


Tomorrow...your life begins. How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make? Will inertia be your guide or will you be guided by your passions? Will you follow dogma or will you be original? Will you choose a life or ease or a life of service...and adventure? Will you wilt under criticism or will you follow your convictions? Will you bluff it out when you're wrong?...or will you apologise? Will you guard your heart against rejection, or will you act when you fall in love? Will you play it safe or will you be a little bit swashbuckling? When its tough, will you give up or will you be relentless? Will be a cynic or will you be a builder? Will you be clever at the expense at of others, or will you be kind?
- Jeff Bezos at Princeton-U graduation address (May 2010)

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"A toothache, or a violent passion, is not necessarily diminished by our knowledge of its causes, its character, its importance or insignificance."



"All the perplexities, confusion and distress arise not from the defects of the constitution, not from the want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of coin, credit and circulation".
- John Adams (1787)

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The reformist politician's dilemma:

“We all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we have done it.”
- Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg,  in 2007

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"It is an illusion to suppose that military weakness rather than military power makes a nation more influential in pressing for disarmament…. Virtue is respected only when it is backed by power; power without virtue is disastrous; but virtue without power is helpless. The fate of the merely virtuous is often decided in the assemblies of the powerful without reference to and at the expense of the virtuous."
 
- Prof. Raj Krishna (1965)

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`Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind`
- George Orwell (Quoted in WikiLeaks - http://www.collateralmurder.com/)

Utilitarianism & John Stuart Mill

Utilitarianism is an ideology built by John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) and Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), and is based on the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its utility in providing happiness among all beings. In other words, the worth of an action is determined by its outcome.

This ideology was the basis of JSM's strong opposition to Slavery, and for this support for Women's Rights.

Quotes by JSM -

"A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury."


"Indeed the dictum that truth always triumphs over persecution, is one of those pleasant falsehoods which men repeat after one another till they pass into common places, but which all experience refutes."


"No great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible until a great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought."


"One person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 who have only interests."


"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
"Next to selfishness the principal cause which makes life unsatisfactory is want of mental cultivation."  (Defence of Hedonism)


Everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit. (On Liberty)

Over one's mind and over one's body the individual is sovereign. (On Liberty)

"The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant."
(On Liberty)

"He who lets the world, or his own portion of it, choose his plan of life for him, has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation. He who chooses his plan for himself, employs all his faculties. He must use observation to see, reasoning and judgment to foresee, activity to gather materials for decision, discrimination to decide, and when he has decided, firmness and self-control to hold to his deliberate decision."  (On Liberty, 1859)



"No one can be a great thinker who does not recognize that as a thinker it is his first duty to follow his intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study, and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think."(On Liberty, 1859)



"The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest." (On Liberty, 1859)

Bismarck & Moltke

Some of the most forthright comments I have come across about international relations are from Otto Van Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor of Germany (1815-1898) and Helmuth von Moltke (1800-1891).

Here is an excerpt from Bismarck's advise to a Japanese (Iwakura) mission in 1872:

"Nations these days appear to conduct relations with amity and courtesy, but this is entirely suprfricial, for behind this facade lurks mutual contempt, and a struggle for supremacy. As you gentlemen know, when I was a young boy Prussia was weak and poor. The state of this small nations at that time fills me with such intense indignation that I cannot dispel the image from my mind. First, so-called international law, which was supposed to protect the rights of all nations, afforded us no security at all. When there was a dispute, the great powers would invoke international law and stand their ground if they stood to benefit; but if they stood to lose, they would simply change direction and resort to military force, which was never limited to self-defence alone. However, small nations like ours would assiduously stick to the letter of the law and abide by universal principles, not daring to transgress these. Consequently, in the face of manoeuvring with flattery and contempt by the great powers, we invariably failed to protect our right of independence, no matter how hard we tried."

"Incensed by this deplorable state of affairs, we gathered our strength as a nation and strove to cultivate out patriotic spirit in order to become a country worthy of respect in diplomatic affairs..."

And Moktle in Feb, 1974:

"The principles of law, justice and freedom serve to protect the country domestically, but only military power can protect it abroad. International law, too, is concerned only with a country's strength and weakness, for its is the small nations which remain neutral and are protected solely by this law, whereas great powers must use their strength to claim their rights"

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Reference:

Kume, Kunitake (1880s), Japan Rising - The Iwakura Embassy to the USA and Europe 1871-1873, Cambridge University Press (2009), pp. 306-7, 311

Mao-isms: Gems from the Great Leader

Guerrilla tactics: 

`The enemy advances, we retreat.
The enemy camps, we harass.
The enemy tires, we attack.`

"Six Principles of the Red Army":

1. Put back all doors when you leave a house
2. Rice-stalk mattresses must all be bundled up again and returned
3. Be polite. Help people when you can.
4. Give back everything you borrow, even if it’s only a needle.
5. Pay for all things broken, even if only a chopstick.
6. Don’t help yourself or search for things when people are not in their houses.

At the Community Party Congress in 1959, taking responsibility for that grand fiasco - the Great Leap Forward (1958-63) - which resulted in food shortages that led to the death of about 20m people: 

"The chaos caused was on a grand scale, and I take responsibility. Comrades, you must all analyse your own responsibility. If you have to fart, fart. You will feel much better for it."


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LINKS

• Excerpts from the Little Red Book - http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Mao/Chairman-Mao-quotes.html
• Other Mao Quotations (BrainyQuote) - http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/author/m/mao_zedong.html
• Great Leap Forward - http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/great_leap_forward.htm
• ThinkExist.com - http://thinkexist.com/quotes/mao_tse-tung/4.html

Napoleon & Realpolitik

A Constitution should be short and obscure.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.

A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.

A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.


A true man hates no one.
Ability is nothing without opportunity.
Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.

An army marches on its stomach.

Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.

Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.

Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.

He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.

I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.

In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.

In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.

It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.

Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.

Men are moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.

Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.


Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.


Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.


Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.



One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.

One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.


Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.


Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.


Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.


Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.



Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.



Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.



The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.



The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.



The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.


The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.

The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means.

The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.


The human race is governed by its imagination.

The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague.

The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.

The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.




There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.


When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.

You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks.


True conquest are those - the only ones that leave no regret - are those that are wrested from ignorance


My power depends on my glory, and my glory, on my victories.


I had been nourished by reflecting on liberty but i thrust it aside when it obstructed my path


I always felt that Alexander the Great's idea of having descended from the gods was inspired by a sure instict for real politics.


I am the instrument of providence...she will use me and then break me like a glass.


A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.

Realpolitik / Reasons of State / raison d'État

Quotations attributed to Napolean




Quotations from 'Juilus Ceaser' (Shakesphere)





Quotations by Blaise Pascal

Brevity

Philip, Alexander's father, sent Sparta a message:
"If I enter Laconia, you shall be exterminated."
He received just one word in answer:
"If".

Mayank's Favourites

Everyone wants to be strong and self sufficient, but nobody is willing to put in the work necessary to achieve these goals.
- Mahatma Gandhi

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. - Mahatma Gandhi

Less is More. - Mies van der Rohe

I’d Rather Be Birding - June Osborne

I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. - Steve Jobs

The only person you are truly competing against, is yourself. - Captain Jean-Luc Pickard (Star Trek TNG)

There are many parts of my youth that I am not proud of. There were loose threads, untidy parts of me that I would like to remove, but when I pulled on one of those threads, it had unravelled the tapestry of my life. - Captain Jean-Luc Pickard (Star Trek TNG)

To lose something, one must first possess it. - Lt. Worf (Star Trek TNG)

The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else. - Martina Navratilova

I don't know anything about anything. - Idunnowho

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves. - Mahatma Gandhi

I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill. - Mahatma Gandhi

Sometimes, when you no longer see yourself as the hero of your own drama, expecting victory after victory, and you understand deeply that this is not paradise... the privileged ones that we are, somehow embrace the notion that this veil of tears is perfectable, that you're going to get it all straight. I found that things became a lot easier when I no longer expected to win. I put this into a song called 'A Thousand Kisses Deep' wherein you abandon your masterpiece and you sink into the real masterpiece. - Leonard Cohen

If it be your will, that I speak no more, and my voice be still, as it was before. I will speak no more, I shall abide until, I am spoken for, if it be your will. - Leonard Cohen

I am not a very nostalgic person. I neither summon up regrets, nor have occasions for self congratulations. It just isn't a mechanism that operates very strongly in me. - Leonard Cohen

If you build it, they will come. - Field of Dreams

Whatever happened, happened for the good, whatever is happening, is happening for the good, whatever will happen, will happen for the good. - The Gita

Only when the last tree has been cut down,
Only when the last river has been poisoned,
Only when the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you discover money cannot be eaten. - Cree Indian Prophecy

Don't just do something, sit there. - Anonymous