Despair itself if it goes on long enough, can become a kind of sanctuary in which one settles down and feels at ease.
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
Tag: Quote of the Day
09JUN2026 – Quote of the Day
Silence is the sovereign contempt.
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
08JUN2026 – Quote of the Day
I saw a steady stream of men covered with mud, soaked through with rain, who were pouring irregularly, without any semblance of order, up Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Capitol. … I ran down-stairs and asked an “officer,” who was passing by, a pale young man, who looked exhausted to death, and who had lost his sword, for the empty sheath dangled at his side, where the men were coming from. “Where from? Well, sir, I guess we’re all coming out of Virginny as fast as we can, and pretty well whipped too.” “What! the whole army, sir?” “That’s more than I know. They may stay that like. I know I’m going home. I’ve had enough of fighting to last my lifetime.”
Why Beauregard does not come I know not, nor can I well guess. … The inmates of the White House are in a state of the utmost trepidation, and Mr. Lincoln… in despair…
My Diary: North and South (1863), ch. 51, pp. 467, 470, describing the aftermath of First Manassas
William Howard Russell
07JUN2026 – Quote of the Day
If peace cannot be maintained with honour, it is no longer peace.
John Russell
06JUN2026 – Quote of the Day
It is my persuasion, that the liberties of Englishmen, being founded upon the general consent of all, must remain upon that basis, or must altogether cease to have any existence. We cannot confine liberty in this country to one class of men: we cannot erect here a senate of Venice, by which a small part of the community is enabled to lord it over the majority; we cannot in this land, and at this time make liberty the inheritance of a caste.
John Russell
05JUN2026 – Quote of the Day
Government will always be conducted for the benefit of those who govern. If the few alone govern, the interests of the few only will be provided for; if the people themselves have a share in the government, the interests of the many will be consulted.
John Russell
04JUN2026 – Quote of the Day
What a pity that he who steals a penny loaf should be hung, whilst he who steals thousands of the public money should be acquitted!
John Russell
03JUN2026 – Quote of the Day
[A proverb is] one man’s wit, and all men’s wisdom.
John Russell
02JUN2026 – Quote of the Day
“The grand rule of doing to others as we wish that they should do unto us is more applicable than any system of political science.”
John Russell
01JUN2026 – Quote of the Day
If you cannot afford to do justice speedily and well, you may as well shut up the Exchequer and confess that you have no right to raise taxes for the protection of the subject, for justice is the first and primary end of all government.
John Russell