Great Throughts Treasury

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

Related Quotes

Victor Hugo

To rove about, musing, that is to say loitering, is, for a philosopher, a good way of spending time.

Error | Truth |

Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

That earth which formerly was water upon the ocean (of space), which the wise (seers) found out by their skillful devices; whose heart is in the highest heaven, immortal, surrounded by truth, shall bestow upon us brilliancy and strength, (and place us) in supreme sovereignty.

Hate | Means |

Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

Having an open heart, do not relish the narrow path of restricted love; love all, do not develop prejudices against men in power or position. They too are our kith and kin. We all sail together.

Error |

Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

If we are good to people then we are reciprocated in the same manner but if we are bad to them then we will most obviously be paid in the same coin.

Body | Courage |

Atharva Veda, or Atharvaveda

Very few are those perfect ones who do this good deed. The wealth of the Lord's Name is inexhaustible; it shall never be exhausted. In this world, it brings a constant peace, and at the Lord's Gate, it brings honor.

Václav Havel

The exercise of power is determined by thousands of interactions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, all the more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyone has a small part of himself in both.

Desire | Dignity | Nothing | Office | Power | Truth |

Tryon Edwards

Some persons are exaggerators by temperament. - They do not mean untruth, but their feelings are strong, and their imaginations vivid, so that their statements are largely discounted by those of calm judgment and cooler temperament. - They do not realize that "we always weaken what we exaggerate."

Error | Past | Wisdom | Learn |

Tryon Edwards

Indolence is the dry rot of even a good mind and a good character; the practical uselessness of both. - It is the waste of what might be a happy and useful life.

Diligence | Error | Influence | Progress | Skill | Struggle | Will | Wrong |

Thomas J. Watson, fully Thomas John Watson, Sr.

To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart.

Error |

Thomas Szasz, fully Thomas Stephen Szasz

The less a person knows about the workings of the social institutions of his society, the more he must trust those who wield power in it; and the more he trusts those who wield such power, the more vulnerable he makes himself to becoming their victim.

Error | Life | Life | Purpose | Purpose |

Thomas J. Watson, Jr., fully Thomas John Watson, Jr.

We hear of a silent generation, more concerned with security than integrity, with conforming than performing, with imitating than creating.

Error |

Woodrow Wilson, fully Thomas Woodrow Wilson

Statesmen have to bend to the collective will of their peoples or be broken

Business | Disparagement | Error | Experience | History | Hope | Influence | Justice | Love | Mankind | Nations | People | Service | Will | World | Business |

Thornton Wilder, fully Thornton Niven Wilder

Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and women. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve. Physician, draw back.

Children | Modesty | Winning |

Hugh Blair

Pride fills the world with harshness and severity; we are rigorous to offences as if we had never offended.

Error |

William Shakespeare

Ah, she doth teach the torches to burn bright, it seems she hangs against the cheek of night like a rich jewel from an Ethiope's ear, beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.

Error | Fault | History | Fault |

William Shakespeare

But this same day must end that work the ides of March begun; and whether we shall meet again I know not. Therefore our everlasting farewell take: forever, and forever, farewell, Cassius! If we do meet again, why, we shall smile; if not, why, then, this parting was well made. Julius Caesar, Act v, Scene 1

Magic | Sound | Work |

William Shakespeare

Doubly porcullis'd with my teeth and lips; and dull, unfeeling, barren ignorance is made my gaoler to attend on me. I am too old to fawn upon a nurse, too far in years to be a pupil now; what is thy sentence then but speechless death which robs my tongue from breathing native breath? Richard II, Act i, Scene III

Gall |

William Shakespeare

Custom hath made it in him a property of easiness. Hamlet, Act v, Scene 1

Custom | Error | Time | Truth |

William Harvey

This organ deserves to be styled the starting point of life and the sun of our microcosm just as much as the sun deserves to be styled the heart of the world. For it is by the heart's vigorous beat that the blood is moved, perfected, activated, and protected from injury and coagulation. The heart is the tutelary deity of the body, the basis of life, the source of all things, carrying out its function of nourishing, warming, and activating body as a whole. But we shall more fittingly speak of these matters when we consider the final cause of this kind of movement.

Lust | Man |

William Godwin

The real or supposed rights of man are of two kinds, active and passive; the right in certain cases to do as we list; and the right we possess to the forbearance or assistance of other men.

Error | Man | Men | Method | Regulation | Think |