Dominic Guye > Dominic's Quotes

“There are at the present time two great nations in the world, which started from different points, but seem to tend towards the same end. I allude to the Russians and the Americans. Both of them have grown up unnoticed; and whilst the attention of mankind was directed elsewhere, they have suddenly placed themselves in the front rank among the nations, and the world learned their existence and their greatness at almost the same time.

All other nations seem to have nearly reached their natural limits, and they have only to maintain their power; but these are still in the act of growth. All the others have stopped, or continue to advance with extreme difficulty; these alone are proceeding with ease and celerity along a path to which no limit can be perceived. The American struggles against the obstacles which nature opposes to him; the adversaries of the Russian are men. The former combats the wilderness and savage life; the latter, civilization with all its arms. The conquests of the American are therefore gained with the ploughshare; those of the Russian by the sword. The Anglo-American relies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends, and gives free scope to the unguided strength and common sense of the people; the Russian centres all the authority of society in a single arm. The principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter, servitude. Their starting-point is different, and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems marked out by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"

“F-E-A-R has two meanings: 'Forget Everything And Run' or 'Face Everything And Rise.' The choice is yours.”
― Zig Ziglar

“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
― T.S. Eliot

“The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.”
― Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome

“If you would know who controls you see who you may not criticise.”
― Tacitus

“They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger… they are driven by greed, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor… They ravage, they slaughter, they seize by false pretenses, and all of this they hail as the construction of empire. And when in their wake nothing remains but a desert, they call that peace.”
― Tacitus, The Agricola and The Germania

“Viewed from a distance, everything is beautiful.”
― Tacitus

“The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.”
― Tacitus

“Great empires are not maintained by timidity.”
― Tacitus

“It is the rare fortune of these days that one may think what one likes and say what one thinks.”
― Tacitus, The Histories

“Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty.”
― Tacitus

“A bad peace is worse than war.”
― Tacitus

“Greater things are believed of those who are absent.”
― Tacitus

“Battles against Rome have been lost and won before, but hope was never abandoned, since we were always here in reserve. We, the choicest flower of Britain's manhood, were hidden away in her most secret places. Out of sight of subject shores, we kept even our eyes free from the defilement of tyranny. We, the most distant dwellers upon earth, the last of the free, have been shielded till today by our very remoteness and by the obscurity in which it has shrouded our name. Now, the farthest bounds of Britain lie open to our enemies; and what men know nothing about they always assume to be a valuable prize....

A rich enemy excites their cupidity; a poor one, their lust for power. East and West alike have failed to satisfy them. They are the only people on earth to whose covetousness both riches and poverty are equally tempting. To robbery, butchery and rapine, they give the lying name of 'government'; they create a desolation and call it peace...”
― Tacitus

“Men whose only concern is other people's opinion of them are like actors who put on a poor performance to win the applause of people of poor taste; some of them would be capable of good acting in front of a good audience. A decent man plays his part to the best of his ability, regardless of the taste of the gallery.”
― Nicolas Chamfort

“Public opinion is the worst of all opinions.”
― Chamfort

“Whoever is not a misanthrope at forty can never have loved mankind.”
― Nicolas Chamfort, Maximes et Pensées: Caractères et Anecdotes

“There are more people who wish to be loved than there are who are willing to love.”
― Nicolas Chamfort

“In order not to find life unbearable, you must accept two things: the ravages of time and the injustices of man.”
― Nicolas Chamfort

“And so I leave this world, where the heart must either break or turn to lead. [last words]”
― Nicolas Chamfort

“If it wasn't for me, I'd do brilliantly.”
― Chamfort

“Public opinion reigns in society because stupidity reigns amongst the stupid.”
― Nicolas Chamfort

“When you want to be well-liked in the world, you have to let a lot of people teach you things that you know and they don't.”
― Nicolas de Chamfort

“He who leaves the game wins it.”
― Nicolas Chamfort

“There is a melancholy that stems from greatness of mind.”
― Sebastien Roch Nicolas Chamfort

“Don't you know that we must always have a place where we never go but where we think we'd be happy if we did?”
― Nicolas Chamfort

“Pleasure can be supported by an illusion, but happiness rests upon truth.”
― Sebastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort

“If you must love your neighbor as yourself, it is at least as fair to love yourself as your neighbor.”
― Sebastien Roch Nicolas Chamfort

“It is passion that makes man live; wisdom makes one only last.”
― Nicolas Chamfort