Quotes, scraps and miscellany, collected according to no particular criteria except my fancy.
§General
The totality of true thoughts is a picture of the world
The service of God does not require good words and good desires, but efficient workmanship, fervor and courage
They also serve who only stand and wait
I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.
— Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories: The Cat that Walked by Himself
All things which are similar and therefore connected are drawn to each other's power.
Concord is a mighty rampart.
— Erasmus, in a letter to Philip Melanchthon
But of such great assistance is good fortune in all situations alike that it actually bestows understanding upon the ignorant.
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.
— Richard Feynman, Personal Observations on Reliability of Shuttle
We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.
§Poetry
Families when a child is born Hope it will turn out intelligent. I, through intelligence Having wrecked my whole life, Only hope that the baby will prove Ignorant and stupid. Then he'll be happy all his days And grow into a cabinet minister.
For ten long years, a sword I whetted, Its frosty blade, as yet, untried. Today, I hold it unsheathed before you; Of you, to whom was justice denied?
Setebos, Setebos, and Setebos! 'Thinketh, He dwelleth i' the cold o' the moon.
— Robert Browning, Caliban Upon Setebos, lines 24-25
This Quiet, all it hath a mind to, doth.
— Robert Browning, Caliban Upon Setebos, line 37
'Thinketh, such shows nor right nor wrong in Him, Nor kind, nor cruel: He is strong and Lord. 'Am strong myself compared to yonder crabs That march now from the mountain to the sea; 'Let twenty pass, and stone the twenty-first, Loving not, hating not, just choosing so.
— Robert Browning, Caliban Upon Setebos, lines 98-103
'Careth but for Setebos The many-handed as a cuttle-fish, Who, making Himself feared through what He does, Looks up, first, and perceives he cannot soar To what is quiet and hath happy life; Next looks down here, and out of very spite Makes this a bauble-world to ape yon real, These good things to match those as hips do grapes. 'Tis solace making baubles, ay, and sport.
— Robert Browning, Caliban Upon Setebos, lines 141-149
§Bible
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
— Daniel 2:22
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
— Proverbs 25:2
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
— Isaiah 54:16
