Category: Thought

Fate laughs at probabilities.

Edward Bulwer-​Lytton, Eugene Aram (1832).

We live in a dangerous world, never knowing where our next meal may come from. Learn a little botany in case you’re ever marooned on a jungle island.

“Franklin W. Dixon,” in The Hardy Boys’ Guide to Life (2002), cited as if from the sixth Hardy Boys’ mystery, The Shore Road Mystery (1928; 1964), not confirmed.

Men who can succeed in deceiving no one else will succeed at last in deceiving themselves.

Anthony Trollope, Miss Mackenzie (1865).

Make sure your plan is foolproof before going ahead with it.

“Franklin W. Dixon,” in The Hardy Boys’ Guide to Life (2002), cited as if from the 18th Hardy Boys’ mystery, The Twisted Claw (1939; 1969), not confirmed. 

The easiest person to deceive is one’s own self.

Edward Bulwer-​Lytton, The Disowned (1828).

No man thinks there is much ado about nothing when the ado is about himself.

Anthony Trollope, The Bertrams (1859).

There is no society, however free and democratic, where wealth will not create an aristocracy.

Edward Bulwer-​Lytton, The Disowned (1828).

If printing money would end poverty, printing diplomas would end stupidity.

Argentine President Javier Milei, quoted by Rebecca Weisser, “Don’t Cry for Milei, Argentina,” Spectator Australia (December 2023).

True, — this! [Richelieu holding a pen]
Beneath the rule of men entirely great
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanter’s wand! — itself a nothing!
But taking sorcery from the master-​hand
To paralyse the Caesars — and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword
States can be saved without it!

Edward Bulwer-​Lytton, Richelieu; or, The Conspiracy: A Play in Five Acts (1839), Act II, Scene II.

One of the most common of all diseases is diagnosis.

Karl Kraus, as quoted in The Portable Curmudgeon (1987).