Great Throughts Treasury

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

Heaven

"I remember the master, before he fell into a doze, stroking her bonny hair - it pleased him rarely to see her gentle - and saying - 'Why canst thou not always be a good lass, Cathy?' And she turned her face up to his, and laughed, and answered, 'Why cannot you always be a good man, father?" - Emily Brontë, fully Emily Jane Brontë, aka pseudonym Ellis Bell

"I went about my house hold duties, convinced that the Grange had but one sensible soul in its walls, and that lodged in my body." - Emily Brontë, fully Emily Jane Brontë, aka pseudonym Ellis Bell

"Instead of a wild, hatless little savage jumping into the house, and rushing to squeeze us all breathless, there lighted from a handsome black pony a very dignified person with brown ringlets falling from the cover of a feathered beaver, and a long cloth habit which she was obliged to hold up with both hands that she might sail in." - Emily Brontë, fully Emily Jane Brontë, aka pseudonym Ellis Bell

"It is not in him to be loved like me: how can she love in him what he has not?" - Emily Brontë, fully Emily Jane Brontë, aka pseudonym Ellis Bell

"I've watched thee every hour — I know my mighty sway — I know my magic power to drive thy griefs away —" - Emily Brontë, fully Emily Jane Brontë, aka pseudonym Ellis Bell

"Only two pointed arrows betrayal of violence is similar to injure users of worse enemies." - Emily Brontë, fully Emily Jane Brontë, aka pseudonym Ellis Bell

"She seemed almost over fond of Mr. Linton; and even to his sister she showed plenty of affection. They were both very attentive to her comfort, certainly. It was not the thorn bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn." - Emily Brontë, fully Emily Jane Brontë, aka pseudonym Ellis Bell

"Though earth and man were gone, and suns and universes ceased to be, and Thou wert left alone, every existence would exist in Thee." - Emily Brontë, fully Emily Jane Brontë, aka pseudonym Ellis Bell

"You have been compelled to cultivate your reflective faculties for want of occasions for frittering away your life on silly trifles." - Emily Brontë, fully Emily Jane Brontë, aka pseudonym Ellis Bell

"Crime is naught but misdirected energy. So long as every institution of today, economic, political, social, and moral, conspires to misdirect human energy into wrong channels; so long as most people are out of place doing the things they hate to do, living a life they loathe to live, crime will be inevitable, and all the laws on the statutes can only increase, but never do away with, crime." - Emma Goldman

"Poor human nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name!" - Emma Goldman

"The sense of justice and equality, the love of liberty and of human brotherhood — these fundamentals of the real regeneration of society — the Communist State suppressed to the point of extermination. Man's instinctive sense of equity was branded as weak sentimentality; human dignity and liberty became a bourgeois superstition; the sanctity of life, which is the very essence of social reconstruction, was condemned as unrevolutionary, almost counter-revolutionary. This fearful perversion of fundamental values bore within itself the seed of destruction." - Emma Goldman

"I wondered... if there should be anything wrong with Sen. Joe McCarthy (Republican) of Wisconsin which a .577 solid would not cure." - Ernest Hemingway, fully Ernest Miller Hemingway

"I've had a number of men and women who have served me in this way over the years - none carried the title spiritual director, although that is what they have been. Some had never heard of such a term. When I moved to Canada a few years ago and had to leave a long-term relationship of this sort, I looked around for someone whom I could be with in this way. I picked a man whom I knew to be a person of integrity and prayer, with seasoned Christian wisdom in his bones. I anticipated that he would disqualify himself. So I pre-composed my rebuttal: All I want you to do is two things: show up and shut up. Can you do that? Meet with me every six weeks or so, and just be there - an honest, prayerful presence with no responsibility to be anything other than what you have become in your obedient lifetime. And it worked. If that is what you mean by spiritual director, okay. But I still prefer friend." - Eugene Peterson

"Of all the evils that infest a state, a tyrant is the greatest; his sole will commands the laws, and lords it over them." - Euripedes NULL

"The variety of all things forms a pleasure." - Euripedes NULL

"Just the place to bury a crock of gold,' said Sebastian. 'I should like to bury something precious in every place where I've been happy and then, when I was old and ugly and miserable, I could come back and dig it up and remember." - Evelyn Waugh, fully Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh

"My unhealthy affection for my second daughter has waned. Now I despise all my seven children equally." - Evelyn Waugh, fully Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh

"The langor of Youth - how unique and quintessential it is! How quickly, how irrecoverably, lost! The zest, the generous affections, the illusions, the despair, all the traditional attributes of Youth - all save this come and go with us through life...These things are a part of life itself; but languor - the relaxation of yet unwearied sinews, the mind sequestered and self-regarding, the sun standing still in the heavens and the earth throbbing to our own pulse - that belongs to Youth alone and dies with it." - Evelyn Waugh, fully Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh

"God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humbleÂ… We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters, esteeming them as ourselves, and lifting them as high or higher than we areÂ… We can choose to humble ourselves by receiving counsel and chastisementÂ… by forgiving those who have offended usÂ… by rendering selfless serviceÂ… by going on missions and preaching the word that can humble othersÂ… by getting to the temple more frequently, [and] by confessing and forsaking our sins and being born of God... We can choose to humble ourselves by loving God, adjusting our will to His, and putting Him first in our lives." - Ezra Taft Benson

"I believe one of the most serious mistakes a President could make would be to weaken the Constitution. From the time I was a small boy I was taught that the American Constitution is an inspired document. I was also taught that the day will come when the Constitution will be endangered and hang as it were by a single thread. I was taught that we should study the Constitution. . . . I expect to continue my efforts to help protect and safeguard our inspired Constitution." - Ezra Taft Benson

"I speak of honor-your honor to God-your honor to country-your honor to self. I sincerely believe it to be the cure to most of our ills, both on a national or individual basis." - Ezra Taft Benson

"If a man does not control his temper, it is a sad admission that he is not in control of his thoughts. He then becomes a victim of his own passions and emotions, which lead him to actions that are totally unfit for civilized behavior, let alone behavior for a priesthood holder." - Ezra Taft Benson

"It is my conviction that the Constitution of the United States was established by the hands of wise men whom the Lord raised up unto this very purpose. The Lord expects us to safeguard this sacred and inspired document for the blessing of all of us and our posterity. If we fail so to do we will not only lose our priceless freedom but jeopardize the cause of truth throughout the entire world." - Ezra Taft Benson

"Now, brethren, do not expect perfection in your choice of a mate. Do not be so particular that you overlook her most important qualities of having a strong testimony, living the principles of the gospel, loving home, wanting to be a mother in Zion, and supporting you in your priesthood responsibilities. Of course, she should be attractive to you... And one good yardstick as to whether a person might be the right one for you is this: in her presence, do you think your noblest thoughts, do you aspire to your finest deeds, do you wish you were better than you are?" - Ezra Taft Benson

"The devil knows that if the elders of Israel should ever wake up, they could step forth and help preserve freedom and extend the gospel. Therefore the devil has concentrated, and to a large extent successfully, in neutralizing much of the priesthood. He has reduced them to Sleeping Giants." - Ezra Taft Benson

"The great task of life is to learn the will of the Lord and then do it." - Ezra Taft Benson

"The world today speaks a great deal about love, and it is sought by many. But the pure love of Christ differs greatly from what the world thinks of love. Charity never seeks selfish gratification. The pure love of Christ seeks only the eternal growth and joy of others." - Ezra Taft Benson

"This haze of blood must subside, the palace must collapse under the weight of the riches it conceals, the orgy must finish and the time comes to awaken." - Gustave Flaubert

"All [zoos] actually offer to the public in return for the taxes spent upon them is a form of idle and witless amusement, compared to which a visit to a penitentiary, or even to a State legislature in session, is informing, stimulating and ennobling." - H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken