Infamous Quotes
More Infamous Quotes
To be nameless in worthy deeds exceeds an infamous history? Who would not rather have been the good thief than Pilate?
— 1658 Hydriotaphia (Urn Burial), ch.5.
Stage-plays?are sinfull, heathenish, lewd, ungodly Spectacles and most pernicious Corruptions, condemned in all ages as intolerable Mischiefes to Churches, to Republickes, to the manners, mindes and soules of men. And that the Profession of Play-poets, of Stage-players; together with the penning, acting and frequenting of Stage-plays are unlawfull, infamous and misbeseeming Christians.
— 1633 Histrio Mastix:The Players' Scourge, orActors' Tragedie.
There is only one thing infamous in love, and that is a falsehood.
paul bourget— Ch. 5 "Countess Steno"
To be nameless in worthy deeds exceeds an infamous history.
— Chapter V. (Part II)
Men the most infamous are fond of fame,And those who fear not guilt yet start at shame.
Charles Churchill— The Author (1763), line 233.
If I can't be famous, I want at least to be infamous.
— Remarks of 1919, as quoted in German Expressionism 1915-1925 : The Second Generation (1988) by Stephanie Barron. p. 71
No, I'm the infamous Edward Teller.
Edward Teller— Response to a nurse, questioning him after a stroke in 1996: "Are you the famous Edward Teller?" — as quoted in Edward Teller and the Development of the Hydrogen Bomb (2001) by John Bankston, p. 9
At thirty, man suspects himself a fool; Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan; At fifty chides his infamous delay, Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve; In all the magnanimity of thought Resolves, and re-resolves; then dies the same.
Edward Young— Line 417. From Night Thoughts: Or, The Complaint And The Consolation
To be nameless in worthy deeds, exceeds an infamous history.
— Sir Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia, Chapter V.
Men the most infamous are fond of fame, And those who fear not guilt, yet start at shame.
Charles Churchill— Charles Churchill, The Author, line 233.
Celebrity has merged human institutions into a “much-of-a-mulchness”, such that the values surrounding political leaders and infamous sex workers are becoming increasingly indistinguisable.
yakoub islam— Intergalactic Fame (29 July 2011)
Men the most infamous are fond of fame: And those who fear not guilt, yet start at shame.
Charles Churchill— Charles Churchill, The Author, line 233.
And the chief-justice was rich, quiet, and infamous.
— Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, Warren Hastings (1841).
Although Tolstoy in his protest recognized the fact that he was bound up with all others, neither this nor the knowledge of his individual helplessness induced him to work with others in order to change any part of the infamous governmental system of Russia.
— p.67 (Why We Fail as Christians (1919))
At thirty, man suspects himself a fool, Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan; At fifty, chides his infamous delay, Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve, In all the magnanimity of thought; Resolves, and re-resolves, then dies the same. And why? because he thinks himself immortal, All men think all men mortal but themselves.
Edward Young— Night Thoughts (1742-1745), Night I, line 417.
Britannia's shame! There took her gloomy flight, On wing impetuous, a black sullen soul… Less base the fear of death than fear of life. O Britain! infamous for suicide.
Edward Young— Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1742-1745), Night V, line 436.
To accuse is so easy that it is infamous to do so where proof is impossible!
— Zoë Akins, Déclassé (1919), Act I.
Intemperance is a hydra with a hundred heads. She never stalks abroad unaccompanied with impurity, anger, and the most infamous profligacies.
— Chrysostom, reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 353.
[Christianity] is assuredly the most ridiculous, the most absurd and the most bloody religion which has ever infected this world. Your Majesty will do the human race an eternal service by extirpating this infamous superstition, I do not say among the rabble, who are not worthy of being enlightened and who are apt for every yoke; I say among honest people, among men who think, among those who wish to think. … My one regret in dying is that I cannot aid you in this noble enterprise, the finest and most respectable which the human mind can point out.
— Voltaire, Letters of Voltaire and Frederick the Great (New York: Brentano's, 1927), transl. Richard Aldington, letter 156 from Voltaire to Frederick, 5 January 1767.
There is only one thing infamous in love, and that is a falsehood.
paul bourget— Paul Bourget, Cosmopolis (1892), Ch. 5 "Countess Steno"
Over the years I have had the most contact with Lee Kuan Yew, most recently in 2006, and have always found him impressive, even though we do not always see eye to eye. I met him first when he was George Shultz's guest at the famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) Bohemian Grove, a male only bonding retreat among the redwoods of California.
Alan Greenspan— Chapter Fifteen, "The Tigers and the Elephant", p. 312
All my plans in private life; all my pursuits; all my designs, wishes, and thoughts, have this one great object in view: the overthrow of the ruffian Boroughmongers . If I write grammars; if I write on agriculture; if I sow, plant, or deal in seeds; whatever I do has first in view the destruction of those infamous tyrants.
william cobbett— Political Register (14 August 1819), quoted in Karl W. Schweizer and John W. Osborne, Cobbett and His Times (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1990), p. 18.
