Monday, February 26, 2018

Buchan again

Some selected John Buchan quotations from various sources: 
  • An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support.
  • The true definition of a snob is one who craves for what separates men rather than for what unites them.
  • A fool tries to look different: a clever man looks the same and is different. The 39 Steps
  • We can pay our debts to the past by putting the future in debt to ourselves. (on the coronation of George VI, 1937) 
  • I get into a tearing passion about something I know very little about, and when I learn more my passion ebbs away. Castle Gay
  • The more doubtful the political outlook the fiercer will be the dogmas which men create and contend for. The Marquis of Montrose
  • I believe that all wisdom consists in caring immensely for a few right things, and not caring a straw about the rest. 
  • Wise men never grow up; indeed, they grow younger, for they lose the appalling worldly wisdom of youth.
  • He disliked emotion, not because he felt lightly, but because he felt deeply.
  • History gives us a kind of chart, and we dare not surrender even a small rushlight in the darkness. The hasty reformer who does not remember the past will find himself condemned to repeat it.
  • To see what is right and not to do it is cowardice. It is never a question of who is right but what is right.
  • You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilization from barbarism. I tell you the division is a thread, a sheet of glass. A touch here, a push there, and you bring back the reign of Saturn. The Power House
  • The Church of Christ is an anvil which has worn out many hammers. Our opponents may boast of their strength, but they do not realize what they have challenged.

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