Category: Thought

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.

Henry David Thoreau, Journals (1847).

Écrasez l’infâme!

Make War on Injustice!

Voltaire’s rallying cry, launched in his Philosophical Dictionary (1764) — literally, ‘Crush the infamous!’, but more idiomatically translated as ‘Make War on Injustice!’ or ‘Destroy Bigotry!’

Remember, to learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.

Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1989), p. 12.

Whatever pretended pessimists in search of notoriety may say, most people are naturally kind, at heart.

James Branch Cabell, The Cream of the Jest: A Comedy of Evasion (1917).

Let natural consequences teach responsible behavior. One of the kindest things we can do is to let the natural or logical consequences of people’s actions teach them responsible behavior. They may not like it or us, but popularity is a fickle standard by which to measure character development.

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: ‘Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.’ And God granted it.

François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778), aka Voltaire, in a letter to Étienne Noël Damilaville.