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A quotation from Chamfort

Stupidity would not be totally stupid if it did not go in terror of intelligence. Vice would not be entirely vicious if it did not hate virtue.

[La sottise ne serait pas tout-à-fait la sottise, si elle ne craignait pas l’esprit. Le vice ne serait pas tout-à-fait le vice, s’il ne haïssait pas la vertu.]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 2, ¶ 139 (1795) [tr. Merwin (1969)]

#quote #quotes #quotation #folly #opposition #stupidity #vice
Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/chamfort-nicolas/73174/

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A quotation from Goethe

The world runs on from one folly to another; and the man who, solely from regard to the opinion of others, and without any wish or necessity of his own, toils after gold, honour, or any other phantom, is no better than a fool.

[Alles in der Welt läuft doch auf eine Lumperei hinaus, und ein Mensch, der um anderer willen, ohne daß es seine eigene Leidenschaft, sein eigenes Bedürfnis ist, sich um Geld oder Ehre oder sonst was abarbeitet, ist immer ein Tor.]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers [The Sorrows of Young Werther], Book 1, “July 20” (1774) [tr. Boylen (1854)]

#quote #quotes #quotation #folly #honor #labor #money
Sourcing / notes: https://wist.info/goethe-johann/64317/

Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers [The Sorrows of Young Werther], Book 1, "July 20" (1774) [tr. Boylen (1854)] - Goethe, Johann von | WIST Quotations

The world runs on from one folly to another; and the man who, solely from regard to the opinion of others, and without any wish or necessity of his own, toils after gold, honour, or any other phantom, is no better than a fool. [Alles in der Welt...

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A quotation from McCarthy, Cormac

It is supposed to be true that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. I don’t believe knowing can save us. What is constant in history is greed and foolishness and a love of blood, and this is a thing that even God — who knows all that can be known — seems powerless to change.

Cormac McCarthy (b. 1933) American novelist, playwright, screenwriter
All the Pretty Horses, ch. 4 (1992)

#quotation #quote #folly #God #greed #history #human-nature #knowledge #omniscience #powerlessness #violence
Sourcing and notes: https://wist.info/mccarthy-cormac/57272/

WIST Quotations - McCarthy, Cormac | All the Pretty Horses, ch. 4 (1992)

It is supposed to be true that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. I don’t believe knowing can save us. What is constant in history is greed and foolishness and a love of blood, and this is a thing that even God -- who knows…

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A quotation by Tuchman, Barbara

Folly is a child of power. We all know, from unending repetitions of Lord Acton’s dictum, that power corrupts. We are less less aware that it breeds folly: that the power to command frequently causes failure to think: that the responsibility of power often fades as its exercise augments.

Barbara W. Tuchman (1912-1989) American historian and author

The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, ch. 1 (1984)

#quotation #quote #command #folly #irresponsibility #power #rashness #thoughtlessness

More notes and sourcing on WIST: https://wist.info/tuchman-barbara/49539/

WIST - Tuchman, Barbara | The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, ch. 1 (1984)

Folly is a child of power. We all know, from unending repetitions of Lord Acton’s dictum, that power corrupts. We are less less aware that it breeds folly: that the power to command frequently causes failure to think: that the responsibility of...

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