This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Saint Augustine, aka Augustine of Hippo, St. Austin, Bishop of Hippo NULL
After saying all that, what have we said, my God, my life, my holy sweetness? What does anyone who speaks of you really say? Yet woe betide those who fail to speak, while the chatterboxes go on saying nothing.
Rutherford B. Hayes, fully Rutherford Birchard Hayes
One of the tests of the civilization of people is the treatment of its criminals.
Bitterness | Danger | Extreme | Government | Important | People | Public | Reform | System | Temptation | Will | Government | Danger | Temptation |
Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone NULL
I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, He can work through anyone.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux NULL
It suffices me for attaining to all righteousness, to have Him alone propitious toward me against whom alone I have sinned... Not to sin is the righteousness of God: Man's righteousness is God's forgiveness.
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Saint Bernard of Clairvaux NULL
In order to merit, it is enough to know that our merits do not suffice for us.
Abstinence | Appetite | Freedom | Soul |
If, when stung by slander or ill-nature, we wax proud and swell with anger, it is a proof that our gentleness and humility are unreal, and mere artificial show.
Saint John of the Cross, born Juan de Yepes Álvarez NULL
The soul went by a very secret ladder, which is living faith. In this purgative night the desires, affections and passions of the soul are put to sleep.
Darkness | God | Love | Memory | Reason | Soul | Understanding | Will | Wisdom | God | Intellect |
Salman Rushdie, fully Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie
What kind of God is it who's upset by a cartoon in Danish?
Were the talents and virtues which heaven has bestowed on men given merely to make them more obedient drudges, to be sacrificed to the follies and ambition of a few? Or, were not the noble gifts so equally dispensed with a divine purpose and law, that they should as nearly as possible be equally exerted, and the blessings of Providence be equally enjoyed by all?
Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.
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Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
It is strange that there should be so little reading in the world, and so much writing. People in general do not willingly read, if they can have anything else to amuse them.
Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
To embarrass justice by a multiplicity of laws, or to hazard it by confidence in judges, are the opposite rocks on which all civil institutions have been wrecked, and between which legislative wisdom has never yet found an open passage.
Necessity is always the first stimulus to industry, and those who conduct it with prudence, perseverance, and energy will rarely fail. Viewed in this light, the necessity of labor is not a chastisement, but a blessing, - the very root and spring of all that we call progress in individuals and civilization in nations.
Individual | Reform | Will |
Shunryu Suzuki, also Daisetsu Teitaro or D.T. Suzuki or Suzuki-Roshi
We should not be just a fan of dragons; we should always be the dragon himself. Then we will not be afraid of any dragon.
Time | Will | Understand |
Arthur Conan Doyle, fully Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle
Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing, answered Holmes thoughtfully. It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different.