"I see well enough now that I hoped for the impossible – for the laying of what is the most obstinate ghost of man’s creation, of the uneasy doubt arising like a mist, secret and gnawing like a worm, and more chilling than the certitude of death – the doubt of the sovereign power enthroned in a fixed standard of conduct." The narrator, Marlowe, in Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim
"In a strong wind, even turkeys can fly." Anonymous, quoted by The Prairie Centre newsletter Vol. II Issue 3 (1995-96)
He once asked an artist the secret of his brilliant painting. "The reply was as concise as it was comprehensive - 'Know what you have to do, and do it'... in every direction of human effort... I believe that failure is less frequently attributable to either insufficiency of means or impatience of labour, than to a confused understanding of a thing actually to be done..." John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture
"There are few words which are used more loosely than the word 'Civilization.' What does it mean? It means a society based upon the opinion of civilians. It means that violence, the rule of warriors and despotic chiefs, the conditions of camps and warfare, of riot and tyranny, give place to parliaments where laws are made, and independent courts of justice in which over long periods those laws are maintained. That is Civilization— and in its soil grow continually freedom, comfort, and culture. When Civilization reigns, in any country, a wider and less harassed life is afforded to the masses of the people. The traditions of the past are cherished, and the inheritance bequeathed to us by former wise or valiant men becomes a rich estate to be enjoyed and used by all." Winston Churchill in 1938, quoted in Daniel Hannan Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World
"The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons."Ralph Waldo Emerson
"If you believe that, Sir, you will believe anything" The Duke of Wellington, greeted by a stranger in a park with "Mr. Smith, I believe?" (according to Anthony de Jasay, The State)
"Abandon all hopelessness, ye who enter here" Dale Ahlquist opening the 2006 Chesterton Conference in St. Paul, MN
In my latest National Post column I argue that while history doesn't repeat, its lessons do... especially for those not paying attention. (Due to an editing mishap, at the end of the 3rd paragraph, between the sentence ending "great and small." and the one beginning "Regrettably, as with...", the sentence "But I am sure we’re not going to fight World War One again." was omitted.)