Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.
—Edward Abbey, 1990
Action is but coarsened thought.
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel, 1850
Action is […] the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.
—Joseph Conrad, 1904
The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one
course of action in mind.
—Frank Herbert, 1981
God save me from the man of one book.
—Italian proverb
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
—European proverb
23
Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond
doubt that they are right.
—Laurens van der Post, 1958
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning
but without understanding.
—Louis D. Brandeis, 1928
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, 1878
Nearly all our disasters come of a few fools having the ‘courage of their convictions’.
—Coventry Patmore, 1895
One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests.
—John Stuart Mill, 1861
A blind man leads a crowd.
—Japanese proverb
An invasion of armies can be resisted; an invasion of ideas cannot be resisted.
—Victor Hugo, 1852
24
Man is ready to die for an idea, provided that this idea is not very clear for him.
—Paul Eldridge, 1963
23
This proverb, frequently misattributed to Samuel Johnson, is apparently based on the 1605
maxim “Hell is full of good intentions or desires” by Francis de Sales.
24
Numerous later paraphrases of this line frequently included the qualifier “the ideas whose time
has come”.
156
On Society and Solitude, Liberty and Civilization
—Edward Abbey, 1990
Action is but coarsened thought.
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel, 1850
Action is […] the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.
—Joseph Conrad, 1904
The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one
course of action in mind.
—Frank Herbert, 1981
God save me from the man of one book.
—Italian proverb
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
—European proverb
23
Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond
doubt that they are right.
—Laurens van der Post, 1958
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning
but without understanding.
—Louis D. Brandeis, 1928
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, 1878
Nearly all our disasters come of a few fools having the ‘courage of their convictions’.
—Coventry Patmore, 1895
One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests.
—John Stuart Mill, 1861
A blind man leads a crowd.
—Japanese proverb
An invasion of armies can be resisted; an invasion of ideas cannot be resisted.
—Victor Hugo, 1852
24
Man is ready to die for an idea, provided that this idea is not very clear for him.
—Paul Eldridge, 1963
23
This proverb, frequently misattributed to Samuel Johnson, is apparently based on the 1605
maxim “Hell is full of good intentions or desires” by Francis de Sales.
24
Numerous later paraphrases of this line frequently included the qualifier “the ideas whose time
has come”.
156
On Society and Solitude, Liberty and Civilization