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

August 14, 2025
[Notice kept on his desk while working on his biography of Lord Mountbatten] Remember.
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
March 29, 2025
Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory.
Page 72 of 122