Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Prosperity

"We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free." - Rosa Parks

"Conservatives are champions of custom, convention, and continuity because they prefer the devil they know to the devil they don't know." - Russell Kirk

"Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will." - Saint Thomas Aquinas, aka Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis or Doctor Universalis

"After having spent years striving to be accurate, we must spend as many more in discovering when and how to be inaccurate." - Samuel Butler

"Modern capitalism has in many instances run mad, so that even to-day in some of our southern states we see the government declaring to those who possess wealth: Come to our state. We offer you . . . our children no matter how young they may be, take them; do with them what you will; place your octopus upon them; drag them into the factory, into the mill or into the mine; grind their bones into dollars; we give you full privilege, only come." - Samuel Gompers

"The public pleasures of far the greater part of mankind are counterfeit. Very few carry their philosophy to places of diversion, or are very careful to analyze their enjoyments. The general condition of life is so full of misery, that we are glad to catch delight without inquiring whence it comes, or by what power it is bestowed." - Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson

"It was said that I refused to grant any value to the maternal instinct and to love. This was not so. I simply asked that women should experience them truthfully and freely, whereas they often use them as excuses and take refuge in them, only to find themselves imprisoned in that refuge when those emotions have dried up in their hearts. I was accused of preaching sexual promiscuity; but at no point did I ever advise anyone to sleep with just anyone at just any time; my opinion on this subject is that all choices, agreements and refusals should be made independently of institutions, conventions and motives of self-aggrandizement; if the reasons for it are not of the same order as the act itself, then the only result can be lies, distortions and mutilations." - Simone de Beauvoir, fully Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir

"Let us then take care not to despise these things. How absurd it would be to grasp at money and throw away health; and to be lavish of the cleansing of the body, but economical over the cleansing of the soul; and to seek for freedom from earthly slavery, but not to care about heavenly freedom; and to make every effort to be splendidly housed and dressed, but to have never a thought how you yourself may become really very precious; and to be zealous to do good to others, without any desire to do good to yourself. And if good could be bought, you would spare no money; but if mercy is freely at your feet, you despise it for its cheapness. Every time is suitable for your ablution, since any time may be your death. With Paul I shout to you with that loud voice, ‘Behold now is the accepted time; behold Now is the day of salvation." - Gregory Nazianzen, aka Saint Gregory of Nazianzus or Gregory the Theologian

"It is vain to trust in wrong; as much of evil, so much of loss, is the formula of human history." - Theodore Parker

"I still believe that the mildest and most obscure of Americans can be rescued from oblivion by good luck, sudden changes in fortune, sudden encounters with heroes. I believe it because I lived it." - Ted Sorensen, fully Theodore Chalkin "Ted" Sorensen

"Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"But there is another harm; and it is evident that we should try to do away with that. The great corporations which we have grown to speak of rather loosely as trusts are the creatures of the State, and the State not only has the right to control them, but it is duty bound to control them wherever the need of such control is shown." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"It has become entirely clear that we must have government supervision of the capitalization, not only of public-service corporations, including, particularly, railways, but of all corporations doing an interstate business. I do not wish to see the nation forced into the ownership of the railways if it can possibly be avoided, and the only alternative is thoroughgoing and effective legislation, which shall be based on a full knowledge of all the facts, including a physical valuation of property. This physical valuation is not needed, or, at least, is very rarely needed, for fixing rates; but it is needed as the basis of honest capitalization." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"No foreign policy-no matter how ingenious-has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of few and carried in the hearts of many." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"No people is fully civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"The old parties are husks, with no real soul within either, divided on artificial lines, boss-ridden and privilege-controlled, each a jumble of incongruous elements, and neither daring to speak out wisely and fearlessly on what should be said on the vital issues of the day." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"To you men who, in your turn, have come together to spend and be be spent in the endless crusade against wrong; to you who face the future resolute and confident; to you who strive in a spirit of brotherhood for the betterment of our nation; to you who gird yourselves for this great new fight in the never-ending warfare for the good of mankind, I say in closing what I said in that speech in closing: We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"We are face to face with our destiny and we must meet it with a high and resolute courage. For us is the life of action, of strenuous performance of duty; let us live in the harness, striving mightily; let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"We, the men of to-day and of the future, need many qualities if we are to do our work well. We need, first of all and most important of all, the qualities which stand at the base of individual, of family life, the fundamental and essential qualities—the homely, every-day, all-important virtues. If the average man will not work, if he has not in him the will and the power to be a good husband and father; if the average woman is not a good housewife, a good mother of many healthy children, then the state will topple, will go down, no matter what may be its brilliance of artistic development or material achievement. But these homely qualities are not enough. There must, in addition, be that power of organization, that power of working in common for a common end [...]. Moreover, the things of the spirit are even more important than the things of the body. We can well do without the hard intolerance and arid intellectual barrenness of what was worst in the theological systems of the past, but there has never been greater need of a high and fine religious spirit than at the present time. So, while we can laugh good-humoredly at some of the pretensions of modern philosophy in its various branches, it would be worse than folly on our part to ignore our need of intellectual leadership… our debt to scientific men is incalculable, and our civilization of to-day would have reft from it all that which most highly distinguishes it if the work of the great masters of science during the past four centuries were now undone or forgotten. Never has philanthropy, humanitarianism, seen such development as now; and though we must all beware of the folly, and the viciousness no worse than folly, which marks the believer in the perfectibility of man when his heart runs away with his head, or when vanity usurps the place of conscience, yet we must remember also that it is only by working along the lines laid down by the philanthropists, by the lovers of mankind, that we can be sure of lifting our civilization to a higher and more permanent plane of well-being than was ever attained by any preceding civilization." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"It is not he who knows most, nor he who hears most, nor yet he who talks most, but he who exercises grace most, who has most communion with God." - Thomas Brooks

"There is no soul under heaven that commonly lies under the commanding power of the Word, but that soul that has an interest in the Word of Promise." - Thomas Brooks

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and State." - Thomas Jefferson

"What are the present governments of Europe, but a scene of iniquity and oppression? What is that of England? Do not its own inhabitants say, It is a market where every man has his price, and where corruption is common traffic, at the expense of a deluded people? No wonder, then, that the French Revolution is traduced." - Thomas Paine

"I looked for my soul but my soul I could not see. I looked for my God but my God eluded me. I looked for a friend and then I found all three." - William Blake

"I have noticed that the Christianity of a certain class of respectable people begins when they open their prayer-books at eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, and ends when they shut them up again at one o'clock on Sunday afternoon. Nothing so astonishes and insults Christians of this sort as reminding them of their Christianity on a week-day." - Wilkie Collins, fully William Wilkie Collins

"Do anything in this world but monkey with somebody eles's religion. What reasoning of conceit makes anyone think theirs is right?" - Will Rogers, fully William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers

"The old horse is coming back in a high lope. Thousands of people are riding a horse today that five years ago couldn't sit in a Ford with all the doors locked." - Will Rogers, fully William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers

"We only have one or two wars in a lifetime. But we have three meals a day. When you have helped raise the standard of cooking then you would have raised the only thing in the world that matters." - Will Rogers, fully William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers

"Be a busy person. People who are active are often much more at peace with themselves than those who are inactive and inert." - Wayne Dyer, fully Wayne Walter Dyer

"Take some time to be silent and repeat the sound of God as an inner mantra. Meditation allows you to make conscious contact with your Source and achieve success in every area. If a problem arises, then go within, get very quiet about it and find the answers inside of you." - Wayne Dyer, fully Wayne Walter Dyer

"The positive effect of kindness on the immune system and on the increased production of serotonin in the brain has been proven in research studies. Serotonin is a naturally occurring substance in the body that makes us feel more comfortable, peaceful, and even blissful. In fact, the role of most anti-depressants is to stimulate the production of serotonin chemically, helping to ease depression. Research has shown that a simple act of kindness directed toward another improves the functioning of the immune system and stimulates the production of serotonin in both the recipient of the kindness and the person extending the kindness. Even more amazing is that persons observing the act of kindness have similar beneficial results. Imagine this! Kindness extended, received, or observed beneficially impacts the physical health and feelings of everyone involved!" - Wayne Dyer, fully Wayne Walter Dyer

"There is not scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love, there is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen." - Wayne Dyer, fully Wayne Walter Dyer

"Your will is the ego part of you that believes you're separate from others, separate from what you'd like to accomplish or have, and separate from God. It also believes that you are your acquisitions, achievements, and accolades. This ego will wants you to constantly acquire evidence of your importance... On the other hand, your imagination is the concept of Spirit within you... with imagination, we have the power to be anything we desire to be." - Wayne Dyer, fully Wayne Walter Dyer

"If we are serious about peace, then we must work for it as ardently, seriously, continuously, carefully, and bravely as we have ever prepared for war." - Wendell Berry

"Lay your sleeping head, my love, human on my faithless arm; time and fevers burn away individual beauty from thoughtful children, and the grave proves the child ephemeral; but in my arms till break of day let the living creature lie: mortal, guilty, but to me the entirely beautiful." - W. H. Auden, fully Wystan Hugh Auden

"The teacher of evil destroys the lore, he by his teaching destroys the design of life, he prevents the possession of Good Thought from being prized. These words of my spirit I wail unto you, O Mazda, and to the Right." - Zoroaster, aka Zarathustra or Zarathushtra Spitama NULL

"Age is no threat to the great men of the mind: with the Dantes and the Michelangelos, to grow older is to grow." - Victor Hugo

"He who is not capable of enduring poverty is not capable of being free." - Victor Hugo

"A weak man can never achieve success in his life." - Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

"Mind is a double edged sword. It has immense power and it is capable of accomplishing both useful and destructive feats." - Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

"My anxiety is over. The Guru has cut away my bonds, and I have found eternal peace. Whatever shall be, shall be in the end; so where can pain and pleasure be seen?" - Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

"One, who does not cast evil eyes on her 'own' house... who does not have malevolence towards her husband... giver of joy...seeker of family's welfare... who treads on the righteous path... gives happiness to all... serves all... gives birth to good sons... keeps her brother-in-laws satisfied and gives nourishing food...May such a wife help us attain prosperity." - Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

"Repent for all the wrongs done and resolve not to repeat the mistake; then God will extend His grace." - Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

"Such is my love for the Lord of the Universe; through perfect good destiny, I have been united with Him." - Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

"We should always be ready to work diligently." - Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

"The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery" - Upton Sinclair, fully Upton Beall Sinclair, Jr.

"What is needed in politics is not the ability to lie but rather the sensibility to know when, where, how, and to whom to say things." - Václav Havel

"Once Rama gives his word, that is final and it is kept at any cost. There is no question of repetition of the same a second time." - Valmiki NULL