A garland of quotations XLV
Culled from the finest mad wags in literary history, and re-woven every Wednesday
We all have strength enough to endure the trouble of others.
•La Rochenfoucauld, Reflections (1665).
Trust him little who, without proofs, trusts you with every thing; or, when he has proved you, with nothing.
•Johann Kaspar Lavater, Aphorisms on Man. Translated from the Original Manuscript of the Rev. John Caspar Lavater, Citizen of Zuric (1787).
I cannot conceive of a wisdom that lacks distrust: according to the Scriptures the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God—I believe it is rather the fear of men.
•Nicholas Chamfort, Maxims, Thoughts, Characters and Anecdotes (1796).
It is possible to live on earth as you mean to live hereafter. But if men will not let you, then quit the house of life; though not with any feeling of ill-usage. “The hut smokes; I move out.” No need to make a great business of it.
•Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (C2).
He who longs for death, confesses that life is a failure.
•Publilius Syrus, Sentences (C2).
Do not do what you regret; and if you do,
Do not regret.
•Thiruvalluvar, Tirukkural (undateable).
What we do in dreams we also do when we are awake: we invent and fabricate the person with whom we associate—and immediately forget we have done so.
•Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (1886).
Chu P’ing-man studied dragon killing with Hunchback Yi. It cost him a thousand in gold. After three years, he completed the course, but there was no place for him to exercise his art.
•Zhuang Zhou (C4 BC).
Valleys are the wind’s brassiere.
•Malcolm de Chazal, Sens-Plastique (1948).
The essential often appears at the end of a long conversation. The great truths are spoken on the doorstep.
•E.M. Cioran, Anathemas and Admirations (1987).
References: La Rochenfoucauld: trans. Leonard Tancock, Reflections or Aphorisms and Moral Maxims (Penguin, 1959); Chamfort: The Cynic's Breviary (Elkin Matthews, 1902); M. Aurelius: trans. Maxwell Staniforth (Penguin, 1964); Publilius Syrus: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave (L.E. Bernard, 1856); Thiruvalluvar: trans. P.S. Sundaram. The Kural (Penguin, 1991); Nietzsche: trans. R.J. Hollingdale (Penguin, 2003); Zhuang Zhou: op. cit.; Chazal: trans. Irving Weiss (Wakefield, 2021); Cioran: trans. Richard Howard (Arcade, 1991); some of this material is copyrighted, and I plead only fair use.