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

October 10, 2025
All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.
February 4, 2025
00:50
The Falklands thing [the ten-week undeclared war in 1981 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over a few
January 27, 2025
[On hearing Lady Mountbatten’s anti-monarchical views] How easy it seems for a semi-royal millionnairess, who has exhausted all the pleasures of money and position, to turn almost Communist!
Page 36 of 127