All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!
Aphorisms, proverbs, wise sayings and other witty, pithy stuff
“But in Republics there is a stronger vitality, a fiercer hatred, a keener thirst for revenge. The memory of their former freedom will not let them rest; so that the safest course is either to destroy them, or to go and live in them.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
“The sinews of war are not gold, but good soldiers; for gold alone will not procure good soldiers, but good soldiers will always procure gold.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
“Men walk almost always in the paths trodden by others, proceeding in their actions by imitation.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
“Men ought either to be well treated, or crushed.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
“As all those have shown who have discussed civil institutions, and as every history is full of examples, it is necessary to whoever arranges to found a Republic and establish laws in it, to presuppose that all men are bad and that they will use their malignity of mind every time they have the opportunity.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
Wow, that’s bleak. But true.
“A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
“There is nothing everyone is so afraid of as being told how vastly much he is capable of. You are capable of – do you want to know? – you are capable of living in poverty; you are capable of standing almost any kind of maltreatment, abuse, etc. But you do not wish to know about it, isn’t that so? You would be furious with him who told you so, and only call that person your friend who bolsters you in saying: ‘No, this I cannot bear, this is beyond my strength, etc.”
Soren Kierkegaard
“Confidence is the present tense of hope.”
Soren Kierkegaard
“If you think you understand, it isn’t God.”
Soren Kierkegaard
“In a theatre it happened that a fire started off stage. The clown came out to tell the audience. They thought it was a joke and applauded. He told them again, and they became still more hilarious. This is the way, I suppose, that the world will be destroyed-amid the universal hilarity of wits and wags who think it is all a joke.”
Soren Kierkegaard
I like the way this guy thinks.