Miseries Quotes
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'None can usurp this height,'returned that shade, 'But those to whom
the miseries of the world Are misery, and
will not let them rest.'
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More Miseries Quotes
Anxiety is the poison of human life; the parent of many sins and of more miseries. – In a world where everything is doubtful, and where we may be disappointed, and be blessed in disappointment, why this restless stir and commotion of mind? – Can it alter the cause, or unravel the mystery of human events?
blair hugh— Quoted in A Dictionary of Thoughts: Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors of the World, Both Ancient and Modern, ed. Tryon Edwards, F. B. Dickerson Company (1908), p. 23
Gentle powers, forbear! Twere worse than all my miseries foreseen Should my huge wreck suck down the friendly skiffs That proffer'd aid. Oh! would that Jupiter Had hurl'd me to the deep of Erebus, Where neither god nor man might pity me.
hartley coleridge— Prometheus, fragment of an unfinished play, written c. 1820.
None can usurp this height... But those to whom the miseries of the world Are misery, and will not let them rest.
john keats— "The Fall of Hyperion : A Dream", Canto I, l. 147 (1819).
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upwards on the miseries or credulities of mankind. 234
Sir William Neil pseudonym Cassandra Connor— 1912 Some Reminiscences, preface. English journalist, a columnist with the Daily Mirror from 1935 until his death.
As far as the physical miseries go, I am sure I will cope. I lived at Eton in the 1950s and I know all about life in uncomfortable quarters.
jonathan aitken— On how he might cope with prison. Quoted in Daily Express, 19 January 1999
There are, while human miseries abound,A thousand ways to waste superfluous wealth,Without one fool or flatterer at your board,Without one hour of sickness or disgust.
john armstrong— Book II, line 195.
The slave who digs in the mine or labors at the oar can rejoice at the prospect of laying down his burden together with his life; but to the slave of guilt there arises no hope from death. On the contrary, he is obliged to look forward with constant terror to this most certain of all events, as the conclusion of all his hopes, and the commencement of his greatest miseries.
blair hugh— P. 550. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
Nevertheless, our constant efforts to lower our estimate of the present world should not lead us to hate life or to be ungrateful toward God. For this life, though it is full of countless miseries, deserves to be reckoned among the divine blessings which should not be despised. Therefore, if we discover nothing of God’s goodness in it, we are already guilty of no small ingratitude toward him.
john calvin— Page 72 (Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life)
"Eh, gentlemen, let us reckon upon accidents! Life is a chaplet of little miseries which the philosopher counts with a smile. Be philosophers, as I am, gentlemen; sit down at the table and let us drink. Nothing makes the future look so bright as surveying it through a glass of chambertin."
alexandre dumas— Athos, Ch. 48: A Family Affair
Is there life before death? That's chalked upIn Ballymurphy. Competence with pain,Coherent miseries, a bite and a sup,We hug our little destiny again.
seamus heaney— "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing", line 57, from North (1975).
Injustice we worship; all that lifts us out of the miseries of life is the sublime fruit of injustice. Every immortal deed was an act of fearful injustice; the world of grandeur, of triumph, of courage, of lofty aspiration, was built up on injustice. Man would not be man but for injustice.
George Moore— Ch. 10. (Confessions of a Young Man (1886))
The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries, that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion.
thomas paine— Chapter III: Conclusion
The poverty of the incapable, the distresses that come upon the imprudent, the starvation of the idle, and those shoulderings aside of the weak by the strong, which leave so many "in shallows and in miseries," are the decrees of a large, far-seeing benevolence.
Herbert Spencer— Pt. III, Ch. 25, Poor-Laws.
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
winston churchill— Speech in the House of Commons, October 22, 1945 "Demobilisation"
At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice, and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.
aldous huxley— Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1952)
Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, of sickness, or captivity, would, without this comfort, be insupportable; nor does it appear that the happiest lot of terrestrial existence can set us above the want of this general blessing; or that life, when the gifts of nature and of fortune are accumulated upon it, would not still be wretched, were it not elevated and delighted by the expectation of some new possession, of some enjoyment yet behind, by which the wish shall at last be satisfied, and the heart filled up to its utmost extent.
samuel johnson— No. 67 (6 November 1750).
I know how to take a man out of his miseries. Give him a swift kick, or else get him drunk and find him a pr-...
robert jordan— Thom Merrilin to Elayne Trakand
Exhibitions of minority art are often intended to make the minority itself more aware of its collective experience. Reinforcing the common memory of miseries and triumphs will, it is expected, strengthen the unity of the group and its determination to achieve a better future. But emphasizing shared experience as opposed to the artist's consciousness of self (which includes his personal and unshared experience of masterpieces) brings to the fore the tension in the individual artist between being an artist and being a minority artist.
Harold Rosenberg— "Being Outside" (p. 273)
Anxiety is the poison of human life; the parent of many sins and of more miseries. – In a world where everything is doubtful, and where we may be disappointed, and be blessed in disappointment, why this restless stir and commotion of mind? – Can it alter the cause, or unravel the mystery of human events?
— Often misattributed to Tryon Edwards. This quote does appear on p. 23 of Edwards' compilation, A Dictionary of Thoughts; however, it is clearly identified there as a quote by Hugh Blair, the Scottish author and preacher.
— A genuine Tryon Edwards quote on the subject of anxiety appears above in the Sourced section (from p. 22 of A Dictionary of Thoughts)
To be a man is to be responsible: to be ashamed of miseries you did not cause; to be proud of your comrades' victories; to be aware, when setting one stone, that you are building a world.
— Antoine de Saint Exupéry Wind, Sand and Stars,' (1939), p. 93
There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.
Albert Schweitzer— French-German theologian, organist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician (1875 - 1965)
At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice, and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.
aldous huxley— Aldous Huxley, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1952).
There is no difference between knowledge and devotion, Both of them save the soul from the miseries of worldly life.
— Tulsidas's philosophical approach, quoted in "Hindu spirituality: Postclassical and modern", p.80
Injustice we worship; all that lifts us out of the miseries of life is the sublime fruit of injustice. Every immortal deed was an act of fearful injustice; the world of grandeur, of triumph, of courage, of lofty aspiration, was built up on injustice. Man would not be man but for injustice.
George Moore— George Moore, Confessions of a Young Man (1886), ch. 10.
There are, while human miseries abound, A thousand ways to waste superfluous wealth, Without one fool or flatterer at your board, Without one hour of sickness or disgust.
— Book II, line 195.
All ambitions are lawful except those that climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind .
— Joseph Conrad in: George A. Panichas Joseph Conrad: His Moral Vision, Mercer University Press, 2007, p.8
The slave who digs in the mine or labors at the oar can rejoice at the prospect of laying down his burden together with his life; but to the slave of guilt there arises no hope from death. On the contrary, he is obliged to look forward with constant terror to this most certain of all events, as the conclusion of all his hopes, and the commencement of his greatest miseries.
— Hugh Blair, p. 550. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, sickness and captivity would, without this comfort, be insupportable.
samuel johnson— Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 67 (6 November 1750)
The most horrible wickedness and cruelties, and the greatest miseries that have troubled the human race began with this thing called revelation, or revealed religion. … It would be far, far better for us to let a thousand devils roam the world, and publicly preach the doctrine of devils (if there were such a thing, which there isn't), than to let one impostor and monster such a Moses, Joshua, Samuel or the Bible prophets come speaking the so-called word of God, and causing men to believe it.
thomas paine— Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason (1794).
