Quotes Library

April 16, 2025

To knock a thing down, especially if it is cocked at an arrogant angle, is a deep delight of the blood.

George Santayana, 1863-1962, Spanish-born American philosopher, The Portable Curmudgeon, Jon Winokur, ed. (New York: 1987), p.8

Which things, cocked at the angle here specified, would you most enjoy knocking down?

The watchword is caution! If possible, leave no fingerprints. The depth of delight is doubled if the knocked-down party knows not whom to blame!


More Quotes

March 14, 2025
[Of political life] The hatreds which sound so real when you read the words, which look so true when you see their scornful attitudes
June 30, 2025
No government has ever been, or can ever be, wherein time-servers and blockheads will not be uppermost.
May 9, 2025
No man is fit to govern great societies who hesitates about disobliging the few who have access to him
Page 14 of 63