My first year Physics teacher often used quotes as a prologue to a particular lesson, although the correlation with the subject matter was generally pretty tenuous. SO here for your consideration and usage is a collection of the physical, the philosophical, and the downright bizzare from authors ‘A’ through ..er.. ‘C’.
A B C
A |
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| SIR J. E. E. DALBERG ACTON, FIRST BARON ACTON 1834-1902 | Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Letter in Life of Mandell Creighton (1904), i.372 |
| AESOP c. 550 B.C. | Beware that you do not lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.
Fables. The dog and the Shadow |
| HENRY ALDRICH 1648-1710 | If all be true that I do think, There are five reasons we should drink; Good wine–a friend–or being dry– Or at least we should be by and by– Or any other reason why Reasons for Drinking |
| ANONYMOUS | Adam Had ‘em. On the Antiquity of Microbes. (Said to be the shortest poem.) |
| Multiplication is vexation, Division is as bad; The rule of three doth puzzle me, And Practice drives me mad. Elizabethan MS. dated 1570 |
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| Dr Williams’ pink pills for pale people. Advertisement |
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| The almighty dollar is the only object of worship. Philadelphia Public Ledger, 2 Dec. 1836 |
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| If it is not true, it is a happy invention. Common saying in sixteenth century Italy |
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| ARCHIMEDES 287-212 B.C. | Eureka!(I have found!) Vitruvious Pollio, De Architectura, ix. 215 |
| Give me but one firm spot on which to stand, and I will move the earth. Pappus Alexandr., Collectio, lib. viii, prop. 10, sec. xi (ed. Hultsch, Berlin, 1878) |
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| ARISTOTLE 384-322 B.C. | Man is by nature a political animal. Politics,i. 2.9. 1253 a (ed. W.L. Newman) |
| Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth. | |
| JOHN ARMSTRONG 1709-1779 | Of right and wrong he taught Truths as refin’d as ever Athens heard; And (strange to tell!) he practis’d what he preach’d. Art of preserving Health(1774), bk. iv, 1. 303 |
| ‘Tis not too late to-morrow to be brave. Ib. 1. 460 | |
B |
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| PHINEAS T. BARNUM 1810-1891 | There’s a sucker born every minute Attr. |
| BERNARD ELLIOTT BEE, 1823-1861 | Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians. First battle of Bull Run, 1861.Poore, Reminiscences of Metropolis, ii. 85 |
| SIR MAX BEERBOHM 1872-1956 | ‘Ah, say that again,’ she murmured, ‘Your voice is music.’ He repeated the question. ‘Music!’ she said dreamily; and such is the force of habit that ‘I don’t', she added, ‘know anything about music, really. But I know what I like.’ Zuleika Dobson,ch. 16 |
| HILAIRE BELLOC 1870-1953 | The fleas that tease in the high Pyrenees. Tarantella |
| JEREMY BENTHAM 1748-1832 | The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation. The commonplace Book (Works, vol. x, p. 142) |
| EDMUND CLERIHEW BENTLEY 1875-1956 | What I like about Clive Is that he is no longer alive There is a great deal to be said For being dead. Biography for Beginners |
| Sir Christopher Wren Said, ‘I am going to dine with some men. If anybody calls Say I am designing St. Paul’s.’ Ib. Sir Christopher Wren |
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| THOMAS BROOKS 1608-1680 | For great is truth, and shall prevail. The Crown and Glory of Christianity (1662), p. 407 |
| SIR THOMAS BROWNE 1605-1682 | There is surely a piece of divinity in us, something that was before the elements, and owes no homage unto the sun Religio Medici,pt. 11, sec. 12 |
| For those well ordered motions, and regular paces, though they give no sound unto the ear, yet to the understanding they strike a note most full of harmony. ? |
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| ROBERT BROWNING 1812-1889 | On the earth the broken arcs; in the heaven, a perfect round. Abt Vogler, ix. |
| GEORGE BRYAN BRUMMELL 1778-1840 | Who’s your fat friend? [Of the Prince of Wales] Gronow, Reminiscences (1862), p.63 |
| GEORGES-LOUIS LECLERC DE BUFFON 1707-1788 | Genius is only a great apptitude for patience. Attr. to Buffon by Hé rault de Sé chelles in Voyage à Montbard |
| ARTHUR BULLER 1874-1944 | There was a young lady named Bright, Whose speed was faster than light; She set out one day In a relative way, And returned home the previous night. Limerick in Punch, 19 Dec. 1923 |
| ROBERT BURNS 1759-1796 | Should old aquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Auld Lang Syne |
| Man’s inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn! |
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| The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft a-gley. To a mouse |
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| Liberty’s in every blow! Let us do or die! Scots, Wha Hae |
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| GEORGE GORDON BYRON, LORD BYRON 1788-1824 | ‘Tis strange–but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction. Don Juan, c. xiv. ci |
| When we two parted In silence and tears, Half broken-hearted To sever for years, Pale grew thy cheek and cold, Colder thy kiss When We Two Parted |
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| If I should meet the After long years, How should I greet thee?– With silence and tears. Ib. |
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C |
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| JAMES BRANCH CABELL 1879-? | The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. The Silver Stallion, bk. iv, ch. 26 |
| THOMAS CARLYLE 1795-1881 | A witty statesman said, you might prove anything by figures. Ib. Chartism, ch.2 |
| I don’t pretend to understand the Universe–it’s a great deal bigger than I am….People ought to be modester. Remark to Wm. Allingham. D.A.Wilson’s and D.Wilson MacArthur Carlyle in Old Age |
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| CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY 1831-1884 | A bare-legg’d beggarly son of a gun The Cock and Bull |
| Life is with such all beer and skittles;
They are not difficult to please |
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| JULIA CARNEY 1823-1908 | Little drops of water, little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean, and the pleasant land. So the little minutes, humble though they be, Make the mighty ages of eternity. Little Things.(Attr. also to E.C. Brewer, D.C. Colesworthy, and F. S. Osgood) |
| LEWIS CARROLL [CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON] 1832-1898 | His intimate friends called him ‘Candle-ends’, And his enemies, ‘Toasted-cheese’ Hunting of the Snark |
| He thought he saw a Rattlesnake That questioned him in Greek, He looked again, and found it was The Middle of Next Week. ‘The one thing I regret,’ he said, ‘Is that it cannot speak!’ Sylvie and Bruno |
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| ‘Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice. Alice in Wonderland ch. 2 |
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| How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale! Ib. |
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| I only took the regular course…the different branches of Arithmatic–Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision. Ib. |
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| ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogroves, And the mome raths outgrabe. ‘Beware the Jabberwock, my son! He took his vorpal sword in hand: One, two! One, two! And through and through ‘And hast though slain the Jabberwock? He chortled in his joy. |
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| The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might: He did his very best to make The billows smooth and bright– And this was odd, because it was the middle of the night. Ib., ch. 4,The Walrus and the Carpenter |
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| The Walrus and the Carpenter Were walking close at hand; They wept like anything to see Such quantities of sand: ‘If this were only cleared away,’ They said, ‘it would be grand!’ If seven maids with seven mops |
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| ‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said, ‘To talk of many things: Of shoes–and ships–and sealing wax– Of cabbages–and kings– |
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| PHOEBE CARY 1824-1871 | And though hard be the task, ‘Keep a stiff upper lip’. Keep a Stiff Upper Lip |
| EDITH CAVELL 1865-1915 | I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone. Last words, 12 Oct. 1915. The Times, 23 Oct. 1915 |
| JOHN CHANDLER 1806-1876 | Conquering kings their titles take From the foes they captive make: Jesu, by a nobler deed, From the thousands He hath freed. As in Hymns Ancient and Modern. Conquering Kings Their Titles Take, trns. from Latin |
| PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD 1694-1773 | Do as you would be done by is the surest method that I know of pleasing. Letter to his son, 16 Oct. 1747 |
| I recommend that you take care of the minutes: for hours will take care of themselves. Ib. 6 Nov. 1747 |
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| Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds. Ib. 20 July 1749 |
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| LORD RANDOLPH SPENCER CHURCHILL 1849-1894 | (Decimal Points:)I never could make out what those damned dots meant. |
| SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL 1874-1965 | I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government, ‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.’ Speech, House of Commons, 13 May 1940 |
| We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and grwing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. Ib. 4 June 1940 |
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| An iron curtain is drawn down upon their front. We do not know what is going on behind. Telegram to President Truman, 12 May 1945. (Printed in W.S. Churchill,) Triumph and Tragedy (1954),p.498.) |
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| MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO 106-43 B.C. | Salus populi suprema est lex. The good of the people is the chief law. De Legibus, III. iii. 8 |
| Summum bonum The highest good. De Officiis, I. ii. 5 |
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| SIR EDWARD COKE 1552-1634 | For a man’s house is his castle, et domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium. Institutes: Commentary upon Littleton. Third Institute, cap. 73 |
| SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 1772-1834 | It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. ‘By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp’st thou me? The Ancient Mariner, pt. i |
| He holds him with his skinny hand, ‘There was a ship,’ quoth he. ‘Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!’ Eftsoons his hand dropt he. He holds him with his glittering eye– |
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| The Sun came up upon the left. Out of the sea came he! And shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea. Ib. |
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| The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, For he heard the loud bassoon. Ib. |
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| The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled Like noises in a swound! Ib. |
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| And a good south wind sprung up behind: The Albatross did follow, And every day, for food or play, Came to the mariner’s hollo! Ib. |
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| ‘God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends that plague thee thus!– Why look’st thou so?–With my crossbow I shot the Albatross. Ib. |
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| CHARLES CALEB COLTON 1780?-1832 | When you have nothing to say, say nothing. Lacon, vol. i, No. 183 |
| Man is an emboddied paradox, a bundle of contradictions. Ib. |
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| WILLIAM CONGREVE 1670-1729 | Well, Sir Joseph, you have such a winning way with you. The Old Bachelor |
| She lays it on with a trowel. The Double Dealer, iii. x |
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| É MILE COUÉ 1857-1926 | Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better. Formula in his clinic at Nancy |
| WILLIAM COWPER 1731-1800 | Beware of desp’rate steps. The darkest day (Live till to-morrow) will have pass’d away. The Needless Alarm, 1. 132 |
| Hark, my soul! it is the Lord; ‘Tis thy Saviour, hear his word; Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee; ‘Say, poor sinner, lov’st thou me?’ Olney Hymns, 18 |
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| God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants his foosteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm. Ib., 35 |
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| Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour. Ib., 1. 606 |
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| JOHN WILSON CROKER 1780-1857 | A game which a sharper once played with a dupe, entitled, ‘Heads I win, tails you lose.’ Croker Papers, iii. 59 |
| OLIVER CROMWELL 1599-1658 | Such men as had the fear of God before them and as made some conscience of what they did…the plain russet-coated captain that knows what he fights for and loves what he knows. Letter of Sept. 1643. In Carlyle, Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell |
| BISHOP RICHARD CUMBERLAND 1631-1718 | It is better to wear out than to rust out. G. Horne, The Duty of Contending for the Faith |
| JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN 1750-1817 | The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigiliance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime, and the punishment of his guilt. Speech on the Right of Election of Lord Mayor of Dublin, 10 July 1790 |
