James Stephens Quotes

39 quotes in 475 categories

• There is no tragedy more woeful than the victory of hate, nor any attainment so hopelessly barren as the sterility of that achievement; for hate…
• The inexorable compulsion of all things is towards health or destruction, life or death, and we hasten our joys or our woes to the logical…
• In that wide struggle which we call Progress, evil is always the aggressor and the vanquished, and it is right that this should be so,…
• Man works outwardly and inwardly - after rest, he has energy; after energy, he needs repose; so, when we have given instruction for a time,…
• We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered, we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its…
• To ask questions can become the laziest and wobbliest occupation of a mind, but when you must yourself answer the problem that you have posed,…
• Knowledge, may it be said, is higher than magic and is more to be sought. It is quite possible to see what is happening and…
• The trouble of the king becomes the trouble of the subject, for how shall we live if judgement is withheld, or if faulty decisions are…
• When a woman speaks to a man about the love she feels for another man, she is not liked.
• Under all wrongdoing lies personal vanity or the feeling that we are endowed and privileged beyond our fellows.
• Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.
• Sleep is an excellent way of listening to an opera.
• Finality is death. Perfection is finality. Nothing is perfect. There are lumps in it.
• Men come of age at sixty, women at fifteen.
• You must be fit to give before you can be fit to receive.
• A woman is a branchy tree and man a singing wind; and from her branches carelessly he takes what he can find.
• A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust.
• Women and birds are able to see without turning their heads, and that is indeed a necessary provision for they are both surrounded by enemies.

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