“You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. But you can make a sow’s ear carry just as much money as a silk purse.”
Horse trainer Ray Hunt on why every horse is a good horse, quoted in British Columbia Report December 5, 1994
“I believe in God as I believe the sun has risen, not because I can see it, but because by way of it I can see everything else.”
C.S. Lewis, quoted in Federalist Patriot No. 04-37 15 September 2004 from Federalist.com
“‘Hurricane Hattie, didn’t you read your assignment? Your quiz answers are all wrong?’ ‘Oh, I read the assignment all right! I just can’t seem to remember anything I read… It just seems to go in one eye and out the other!’”
Dialogue in “Born Loser” cartoon (their elision) in Ottawa Sun May 18, 2000.
“Wise people learn when they can; fools learn when they must.”
The Duke of Wellington according to AZ Quotes [https://www.azquotes.com/author/15482-Duke_of_Wellington] [An old friend’s maxim that a wise man pees when he can etc. may or may not be derived from it.]
“Indeed, one of the real lessons of history, is that nobody ever learns them. In every age and era, too many people believe that the experiences of others can’t apply to them. Their age and place is unique and therefore exempt from experience. Two other lessons of history are these: Nothing lasts forever, and very few people notice or care that their society is in trouble until it is too late.”
John Thompson in Mackenzie Newsletter April 1998 #32
“as with every prognosticator who claimed that ‘this time is different,’ she [Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland] (and the rest of the country) has learned the hard way that the laws of economics are not only immutable, they are cyclical.”
John Ivison in National Post January 24, 2023.
“Victory is the ability to fight five minutes longer than any other army in the world.”
The Duke of Wellington according to AZ Quotes [https://www.azquotes.com/author/15482-Duke_of_Wellington].
“J’ai fait mon devoir. Moi, j’ai été victime d’un gros accident sur la 15 cet été lors d’un orage. Un gros fardier a accroché mon auto, que est partie en tête à queue avant de cogner dur. Je suis sorti complètement sonné. Personne ne s’est arrêté pour savoir si ça allait. Ils ralentissaient juste pour regarder.”
A passing motorist who saved a 19-year-old trapped upside-down in his car in a ditch by holding a ballpoint pen in his mouth so he could breathe until rescue equipment arrived, quoted in Le Journal de Montreal Nov. 13, 2003