Quotes4study

Philosophy is a bully that talks very loud when the danger is at a distance; but the moment she is hard pressed by the enemy, she is not to be found at her post, but leaves the brunt of the battle to be borne by her humbler but steadier comrade, Religion.

_Colton._

The battle to save life is still going on. … This battle to save life will eventually be won. … Blind faith in established experience has been shattered, outmoded regulations have been smashed.

Ba Jin

Spiritual music can only spring from discords set in unison; but for evil there were no good, as victory is only possible by battle.

_Carlyle._

In the lost battle, Borne down by the flying, Where mingles war's rattle With groans of the dying.

SIR WALTER SCOTT. 1771-1832.     _Marmion. Canto iii. Stanza 11._

The world's battle-fields have been in the heart chiefly. More heroism has there been displayed in the household and in the closet, I think, than on the most memorable military battle-fields of history.

_Ward Beecher._

A battle is fought by feints and stratagems.

John Wortabet     Arabian Wisdom

The battle for the airwaves cannot be limited to only those who have the bank accounts to pay for the battle and win it. Democracy is in danger. Seats in Congress, seats in the state legislature, that big seat in the White House itself, can be purchased by those who have the greatest campaign resources, who have the largest bank accounts or own riches. That, I submit to you, is no democracy. It is an oligarchy of the already powerful.

Walter Cronkite

A man can no more be a Christian without facing evil and conquering it than he can be a soldier without going to battle, facing the cannon's mouth, and encountering the enemy in the field.--_Chapin._

Maturin M. Ballou     Pearls of Thought

For he who fights and runs away May live to fight another day; But he who is in battle slain Can never rise and fight again.

SCARRON (1610-1660).     GOLDSMITH: _The Art of Poetry on a New Plan_ (1761), _vol. ii.

I have marched in many a battle host, but I have also planted seeds and reaped the harvest with my own hands. And I have learned there is greater honor in a field well plowed than in a field steeped in blood.

Lloyd Alexander

Shall workmen just repeat the sin of kings and conquerors? / As the nations cease from battle, shall the classes rouse the fray, / And scatter wanton sorrow for a shilling more a day?

_Dr. Walter Smith._

If we would endeavour like brave men to stand in the battle, surely we should feel the assistance from Heaven.

_Thomas a Kempis._

It is more difficult to look upon victory than upon battle.--_Walter Scott._

Maturin M. Ballou     Pearls of Thought

Caleb watched Ardon leave. Then he turned and walked back toward his tent. He studied the people as he walked through the camp, especially the men. I wonder if this new generation will be any more faithful to God than the ones who died in the wilderness. He was not the man of prayer Joshua was. Still, he had faith in God like a rock. “God,” he said, “we’re going to need you. We can’t do it alone, so be our helper in this battle that’s shaping up.

Gilbert Morris

Fighting wars is not so much about killing people as it is about finding things out. The more you know, the more likely you are to win a battle.

Tom Clancy

Selig der, den er im Siegesglanze findet=--Happy he whom he (Death) finds in battle's splendour.

_Goethe._

Epaminondas is reported wittily to have said of a good man that died about the time of the battle of Leuctra, "How came he to have so much leisure as to die, when there was so much stirring?"

PLUTARCH. 46(?)-120(?) A. D.     _Rules for the Preservation of Health. 25._

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

Abraham Lincoln

~Ugliness.~--I do not know that she was virtuous; but she was always ugly, and with a woman, that is half the battle.--_Heinrich Heine._

Maturin M. Ballou     Pearls of Thought

Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.

DUKE OF WELLINGTON. 1769-1852.     _Despatch, 1815._

Ye mariners of England, / That guard our native seas, / Whose flag has braved a thousand years / The battle and the breeze.

_Campbell._

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Ecclesiastes

Economy is half the battle of life; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it.

_Spurgeon._

And so the people watched until the bed of the Jordan was dry and they were all able to pass over. It took a long time for all of them to cross with their flocks and herds. About forty thousand men armed for battle also crossed over to the plains of Jericho. Finally, when everyone was on the far side, Joshua said to the twelve men he had selected from each tribe, “Go into the Jordan where the priests are standing and each take up a stone.” He waited until the twelve men had brought out their stones, and he commanded them to take them to where they set up their camp, piling them up for a memorial to what God had done for them this day at the Jordan River.

Gilbert Morris

From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night, / The hum of either army stilly sounds, / That the fix'd sentinels almost receive / The secret whispers of each other's watch; / Fire answers fire, and through their paly flames / Each battle sees the other's umber'd face; / Steed threatens steed in high and boastful neighs, / Piercing the night's dull ear, and from the tents / The armourers, accomplishing the knights, / With busy hammers closing rivets up, / Give dreadful note of preparation.

_Hen. V._, iv. (_chorus_).

Wut 's words to them whose faith an' truth On war's red techstone rang true metal; Who ventered life an' love an' youth For the gret prize o' death in battle?

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. 1819-1891.     _The Biglow Papers. Second Series. No. x._

Collective bargaining has become a dog chasing its own tail, with inflation eating up wage increases before workers ever get a chance to spend them. Even the union leaders who bring home the fattest contracts these days are concluding that some new stabilizing element is needed to keep the extra purchasing power from draining out of their members’ pay envelopes.[p]The welcome fruit of this discontent may be a growing concentration on wage plans geared to sharing efficiency, as measured by productivity or profits, in place of the sterile “;battle for the buck.” [Labor Editor, New York Times ]

Raskin, A. H.

Woman's power is for rule, not for battle; and her intellect is not for invention or creation, but for sweet ordering, arrangement, and decision.

_Ruskin._

The victory of endurance born.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 1794-1878.     _The Battle-Field._

Ma vie est un combat=--My life is a battle.

_Voltaire._

No man should ever display his bravery who is unprepared for battle; nor bear the marks of defiance, until he hath experienced the abilities of his enemy.

_Hitopadesa._

Philosophy is but a continual battle against custom; an ever-renewed effort to transcend the sphere of blind custom, and so become transcendental.

_Carlyle._

Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman--repose in energy. The Greek battle-pieces are calm; the heroes, in whatever violent actions engaged, retain a serene aspect.

_Emerson._

told him that,” Othniel interrupted. “She’s a good woman deep inside. I don’t know what path brought her to what she is now, but she saved our lives.” Joshua listened as Othniel spoke warmly of Rahab; then he nodded, “You have given your word and it shall be kept. When the battle comes, you two will be responsible for bringing this woman Rahab and her family out safely.” “Yes, master.” Othniel nodded eagerly. “We’ll do it.” Joshua turned and clapped his old friend Caleb on the shoulder. “And now at last we cross the Jordan.

Gilbert Morris

Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, on the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815

One may summon his philosophy when he is beaten in battle, not till then.

_John Burroughs._

When the stormy winds do blow; When the battle rages loud and long, And the stormy winds do blow.

THOMAS CAMPBELL. 1777-1844.     _Ye Mariners of England._

In the battle off Cape St. Vincent, Nelson gave orders for boarding the "San Josef," exclaiming "Westminster Abbey, or victory!"

HORATIO NELSON. 1758-1805.     _Life of Nelson_ (Southey). _Vol. i. p. 93._

Such trials as you have had to pass through are not sent without a purpose, and if you say that they have changed your views of life, such a change in a character like yours can only be a change in advance, a firmer faith in those truths which have been revealed to the dim sight of human nature, a stronger will to resist all falsehood and tampering with the truth, and a deeper conviction that we owe our life to Him who has given it, and that we must fight His battle when He calls us to do it.

Friedrich Max Müller     Thoughts on Life and Religion

Gashed with honourable scars, Low in Glory's lap they lie; Though they fell, they fell like stars, Streaming splendour through the sky.

JAMES MONTGOMERY. 1771-1854.     _The Battle of Alexandria._

By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattl'd farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON. 1803-1882.     _Hymn sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument._

The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory! I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

The morning is the gate of the day, and should be well guarded with prayer. It is one end of the thread on which the day's actions are strung, and should be well knotted with devotion. If we felt more the majesty of life we should be more careful of its mornings. He who rushes from his bed to his business and waiteth not to worship is as foolish as though he had not put on his clothes, or cleansed his face, and as unwise as though he dashed into battle without arms or armor. Be it ours to bathe in the softly flowing river of communion with God, before the heat of the wilderness and the burden of the way begin to oppress us.--_Spurgeon._

Various     Thoughts for the Quiet Hour

In all human narrative, it is the battle only, and not the victory, that can be dwelt on with advantage.

_Carlyle._

A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party; there is no battle

unless there be two. -- Seneca

The hum of either army stilly sounds, That the fixed sentinels almost receive The secret whispers of each other's watch; Fire answers fire, and through their paly flames Each battle sees the other's umbered face; Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs Piercing the night's dull ear, and from the tents The armourers, accomplishing the knights, With busy hammers closing rivets up, Give dreadful note of preparation.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 1564-1616.     _King Henry V. Act iv. Prologue._

~Economy.~--Economy is half the battle of life; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it well.--_Spurgeon._

Maturin M. Ballou     Pearls of Thought

Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.

James Baldwin

What an easy thing is a battle to one who looks on at a distance!

John Wortabet     Arabian Wisdom

Again to the battle, Achaians! Our hearts bid the tyrants defiance! Our land, the first garden of Liberty's tree, It has been, and shall yet be, the land of the free.

THOMAS CAMPBELL. 1777-1844.     _Song of the Greeks._

My prayer is not the whimpering of a beggar nor a confession of love. Nor is it the petty reckoning of a small tradesman: Give me and I shall give you. My prayer is the report of a soldier to his general: This is what I did today, this is how I fought to save the entire battle in my own sector, these are the obstacles I encountered, this is how I plan to fight tomorrow.

Nikos Kazantzakis

The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.

OLD TESTAMENT.     _Ecclesiastes ix. 11._

Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors, My very noble and approv'd good masters, That I have ta'en away this old man's daughter, It is most true; true, I have married her: The very head and front of my offending Hath this extent, no more. Rude am I in my speech, And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace: For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used Their dearest action in the tented field, And little of this great world can I speak, More than pertains to feats of broil and battle, And therefore little shall I grace my cause In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience, I will a round unvarnish'd tale deliver Of my whole course of love.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 1564-1616.     _Othello. Act i. Sc. 3._

The battle of belief against unbelief is the never-ending battle.

_Carlyle._

Yet spirit immortal, the tomb cannot bind thee, But like thine own eagle that soars to the sun Thou springest from bondage and leavest behind thee A name which before thee no mortal hath won. Tho' nations may combat, and war's thunders rattle, No more on thy steed wilt thou sweep o'er the plain: Thou sleep'st thy last sleep, thou hast fought thy last battle, No sound can awake thee to glory again.

LEONARD HEATH.     _The Grave of Bonaparte._

_1 W._ When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain? _2 W._ When the hurlyburly 's done, When the battle 's lost and won.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 1564-1616.     _Macbeth. Act i. Sc. 1._

These be the great Twin Brethren To whom the Dorians pray.

THOMAS B. MACAULAY. 1800-1859.     _The Battle of Lake Regillus._

The following historical incident is related by Arab authors as the highest example of faithfulness to trust. Al-Samau'al (Samuel) was the emir of a Jewish tribe in Southern Arabia, shortly before the time of Mohammed. A friend of his, before setting out on a journey, left with him some very fine mailed armour. This friend was killed in a battle, and one of the kings of Syria demanded the arms. Al-Samau'al refused to give them up except to the rightful heir, and the king laid siege to him in one of his fortresses. One day his son fell into the hands of the enemy, and the king threatened to kill him if the arms were not given up. Again he refused, and from the turrets of the castle saw his son put to death. The siege was soon after raised, and the arms were delivered to the heirs of his friend.

John Wortabet     Arabian Wisdom

"Next to a lost battle, nothing is so sad as a battle that has been won."

_Wellington, after Waterloo._

The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Seeking the aid of the Holy Spirit, let us aim at perfection. Let every day see some sin crucified, some battle fought, some good done, some victory won; let every fall be followed by a rise, and every step gained become, not a resting-place, but a new starting-point for further and higher progress.--_Guthrie._

Various     Thoughts for the Quiet Hour

Ibis, redibis non morieris in bello=--Thou shalt go, thou shalt return, thou shalt not die in battle; or, Thou shalt go, thou shalt not return, thou shalt die in battle. _An ambiguous oracle, due to the uncertain application of the adverb "non."_

Unknown

Heard so oft In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge Of battle.

JOHN MILTON. 1608-1674.     _Paradise Lost. Book i. Line 275._

Ruhe ist die erste Burgerpflicht=--Peace is the first duty of a citizen. _Count Schulenburg-Kehnert after the battle of Jena._

Unknown

On the field of foughten battle still, / Woe knows no limits save the victor's will.

_The Gaulliad._

"The victory of Miltiades does not suffer me to sleep."= _Themistocles, in reference to the battle of Marathon._

Unknown

Perseverance, self-reliance, energetic effort, are doubly strengthened when you rise from a failure to battle again.

_Anon._

Nature gives you the impression as if there were nothing contradictory in the world; and yet, when you return back to the dwelling-place of man, be it lofty or low, wide or narrow, there is ever somewhat to contend with, to battle with, to smooth and put to rights.

_Goethe._

Men, my brothers, men the workers, ever reaping something new: That which they have done but earnest of the things that they shall do: For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see, Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be; Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales; Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue; Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm, With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunderstorm; Till the war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle-flags were furled In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world. There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe, And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapped in universal law.

Alfred Tennyson

To lose patience is to lose the battle. -- Mahatma Gandhi

Inspirational

Life is not victory, but battle.

_ R. D. Hitchcock._

It is given to few scholars only to be allowed to devote the whole of their time and labour to the one subject in which they feel the deepest interest. We have all to fight the battle of life before we can hope to secure a quiet cell in which to work in the cause of learning and truth.

Friedrich Max Müller     Thoughts on Life and Religion

But whether on the scaffold high Or in the battle's van, The fittest place where man can die Is where he dies for man!

MICHAEL J. BARRY (_Circa_ 1815): _The Dublin Nation, Sept. 28, 1844, Vol.

Seek the clasp of Christ's hand before every bit of work, every hard task, every battle, every good deed. Bend your head in the dewy freshness of every morning, ere you go forth to meet the day's duties and perils, and wait for the benediction of Christ, as He lays His hands upon you. They are hands of blessing. Their touch will inspire you for courage and strength and all beautiful and noble living.--_J. R. Miller._

Various     Thoughts for the Quiet Hour

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled, / Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, / Welcome to your gory bed, / Or to victory! / Now's the day and now's the hour; / See the front o' battle lour; / See approach proud Edward's power, / Chains and slavery.

_Burns._

In order to stop inflation, and to promote domestic economic growth, the following three-fold program, I believe, is imperative: 1) Controls on the money supply through continuing fiscal and monetary measures. 2) A massive educational and action program designed to enlist government, labor, and management collaboration to increase productivity at both the micro- and macro-economic levels. 3) Development of “noninflationary flexible reward mechanisms” for sharing the productivity gains and profit gains with all factors of production/distribution. Well designed and communicated profit sharing programs can play a unique role in helping the United States in its present battle against inflation both as an “organizational” incentive capable of motivating everyone in the company to increase productivity and reduce costs: and as a “flexible reward mechanism” to give all factors of production/distribution the opportunity to earn “more” on a non-inflationary, as-earned, basis directly related to the enterprise’s ability-to-pay.

Metzger, Bert L. (President Profit Sharing Research Foundation).

"And he who stands in his place shall be a tyrant, a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom," that is the people, Seleucus Philopator or Soter, the son of Antiochus the Great--"but within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle;

Blaise Pascal     The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal

It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew - and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents - that there was all the difference in the world.

J.K. Rowling

But we must go on. We must! It’s what God wants us to do. It’s what he demands of us, what He has always demanded of his servants since the creation of time. And He just wants us to trust His judgment, have faith that a new day will dawn, and He never ever, ever, wants us to give up the fight. Because my friends, it is a battle of the spirit. It’s black and white. It’s good and evil - right and wrong - us against them. But this one event is just a small part of all that is pure terror and unholy evil. There’s no other explanation for it. We are at war my people, at war with Satan and all his fallen ones, and none of us will rest until Jesus Christ has returned and defeated him in that one, final and decisive battle.

Skip Coryell

What have the masses been clamoring for? Jobs and welfare, and they got ‘em. They’ve also got unions and managements like two armies converting the whole economy into a battleground with the customers as victims, except that the victims are also in the army. They think in battle terms by day and like customers at night.

Kelso, Louis O.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord.

_Bible._

But of all this your old stereotyped system of education takes no note. Physical science, its methods, its problems, and its difficulties, will meet the poorest boy at every turn, and yet we educate him in such a manner that he shall enter the world as ignorant of the existence of the methods and facts of science as the day he was born. The modern world is full of artillery; and we turn out our children to do battle in it, equipped with the shield and sword of an ancient gladiator.

T. H. Huxley     Aphorisms and Reflections from the Works of T. H. Huxley

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

E. M. Forster

Behold our refutation of the error. It is not based on documents of faith, but on the reasons and statements of the philosophers themselves. If then anyone there be who, boastfully taking pride in his supposed wisdom, wishes to challenge what we have written, let him not do it in some corner nor before children who are powerless to decide on such difficult matters. Let him reply openly if he dare. He shall find me there confronting him, and not only my negligible self, but many another whose study is truth. We shall do battle with his errors or bring a cure to his ignorance. [St. Thomas Aquinas in response to Siger of Brabant’s attempt to base the law on faith rather than reason. Quoted in G. K. Chesterton, Saint Thomas Aquinas: The “Dumb Ox.” New York: Doubleday and Company, 1956, 94.]

Aquinas, Thomas

Saint Augustine saw that we labour for an uncertainty, at sea, in a battle, etc.; he did not see the doctrine of chances, which demonstrates that we must do so. Montaigne saw that we are disgusted at a distorted mind, and that custom can do all things, but he did not see the reason of that effect.

Blaise Pascal     The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal

The next dreadful thing to a battle lost is a battle won.

_Wellington._

Why not? How has her infamous, unceasing sorrow for the plight of mortals done them any good, any at all, Hurlochel? It’s easy to weep when staying far away, doing nothing. When you take credit for every survivor out there – those whose own spirits fought the battle, whose own spirits refused to yield to Hood’s embrace.

Steven Erikson

Et le combat cessa faute de combattants=--And the battle ceased for want of combatants.

_Corneille._

For still the new transcends the old In signs and tokens manifold; Slaves rise up men; the olive waves, With roots deep set in battle graves!

JOHN G. WHITTIER. 1807- ----.     _The Chapel of the Hermits._

Little of this great world can I speak, / More than pertains to feats of broil and battle; / And, therefore, little shall I grace my cause / In speaking for myself. Yet by your gracious patience, / I will a round unvarnish'd tale deliver / Of my whole course of love.

_Othello_, i. 3.

You know where the word shrapnel comes from?” “Where?” “An eighteenth-century British guy named Henry Shrapnel.” “Really?” “He was a captain in their artillery for eight years. Then he invented an exploding shell, and they promoted him to major. The Duke of Wellington used the shell in the Peninsular Wars, and at the Battle of Waterloo.

Lee Child

After the battle in Pharsalia, when Pompey was fled, one Nonius said they had seven eagles left still, and advised to try what they would do. "Your advice," said Cicero, "were good if we were to fight jackdaws."

PLUTARCH. 46(?)-120(?) A. D.     _Roman Apophthegms. Cicero._

For he who fights and runs away May live to fight another day; But he who is in battle slain Can never rise and fight again.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH. 1728-1774.     _The Art of Poetry on a New Plan_ (1761). _Vol. ii. p. 147._

On a lone barren isle, where the wild roaring billows Assail the stern rock, and the loud tempests rave, The hero lies still, while the dew-drooping willows, Like fond weeping mourners, lean over his grave. The lightnings may flash and the loud thunders rattle; He heeds not, he hears not, he 's free from all pain; He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle; No sound can awake him to glory again!

LEONARD HEATH.     _The Grave of Bonaparte._

No war or battle's sound Was heard the world around.

JOHN MILTON. 1608-1674.     _Hymn on Christ's Nativity. Line 53._

Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel … the moment you feel, you're nobody-but-yourself. To be nobody-but-yourself-in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

E. E. Cummings

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