"That virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarce worth the sentinel."

Oliver Goldsmith Literature See all quotes by Oliver Goldsmith →

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“These little things are great to little man.”

“As writers become more numerous, it is natural for readers to become more indolent.”

“And learn the luxury of doing good.”

“The best-humour'd man, with the worst-humour'd Muse.”

“I...chose a wife, as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine glossy surface, but such qualities as would wear well.”

“But winter lingering chills the lap of May.”

Resonant Thoughts

"This return of Republics back to their principles also results from the simple virtue of one man, without depending on any law that excites him to any execution: none the less, they are of such influe…"

— Niccolò Machiavelli

Philosophy1449–1527

#ethics

"Culture, when it loses its sacred sense, loses all sense. With the disappearance of the sacred, which imposed limits to the perfection which could be attained by the profane, arises one of the most da…"

— Leszek Kołakowski

Philosophy1927–2009

#society

"The quest for our origin is the sweet fruit's juice which maintains satisfaction in the minds of the philosophers."

— Luca Pacioli

Mathematics1445–1517

#mind

"There are several huge monasteries—of which Khang Phi is the greatest—dedicated to the preservation of knowledge. The monks do not sort it into good and evil knowledge, nor do they make moral judgment…"

— Glen Cook

Literature1944

#knowledge