That the whole free people of any nation ought to be exercised to arms, not only the example of our ancestors, as appears by the acts of parliament made in both kingdoms to that purpose, and that of the wisest governments among the ancients; but the advantage of choosing out of great numbers, seems clearly to demonstrate. For in countries where husbandry, trade, manufactures, and other mechanical arts are carried on, even in time of war, the impediments of men are so many and so various, that unless the whole people be exercised, no considerable numbers of men can be drawn out, without disturbing those employments, which are the vitals of the political body. Besides, that upon great defeats, and under extreme calamities, from which no government was ever exempted, every nation stands in need of all the people, as the ancients sometimes did of their slaves. And I cannot see why arms should be denied to any man who is not a slave, since they are the only true badges of liberty; and ought never, but in times of utmost necessity, to be put into the hands of mercenaries or slaves: neither can I understand why any man that has arms should not be taught the use of them.
|
A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.
|
Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.
|
The best mind might be the wisest mind if it were a mind alone that produces wisdom.
|
The wisest is he that knows only that he knows nothing. God only knows. We mortals are only troubled with morbid little ideas, sired by circumstance and damned by folly. The human head can absorb only the flavorings of its surroundings. We assume that our faith political and our creed religious are founded upon our reason, when they are really made for us by social conditions over which we had little control.
|
The greatest scholars are not usually the wisest people.
|
A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.
|
The Scripture vouches Solomon for the wisest of men; and his proverbs prove him so, The seven wise men of Greece, so famous for their wisdom all the world over, acquired all that fame each of them by a single sentence, consisting of two or three words.
|
The wisest men follow their own direction.
|
Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog fewer when pursued by a mad woman only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion.
|
The wisest prophets make sure of the event first.
|
I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing. (Plato's Apology)
|
Even the wisest man grows tense With some sort of violence...
|
Only the most foolish of mice would hide in a cat's ear, but only the wisest of cats would think to look there.
|
In practical life the wisest and soundest people avoid speculation.
|
There is this difference between happiness and wisdom, that he that thinks himself the happiest man, really is so; but he who thinks himself the wisest, is generally the greatest fool.
|
Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion.
|
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.
|
Proverbs, words, and grammar inflections convey the public sense with more purity and precision, than the wisest individual.
|
It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
|
The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well? You may say the wisest thing you can, old man, -- you who have lived seventy years, not without honor of a kind, -- I hear an irresistible voice which invites me away from all that.
|
Time is the wisest of all counselors.
|
He that thinks himself the wisest is generally the least so.
|
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.
|
The wisest keeps something of the vision of a child. Though he may understand a thousand things that a child could not understand, he is always a beginner, close to the original meaning of life.
|
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.
|
Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.
|
It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and wisest might err.
|
Sorrow makes us all children again, destroys all differences of intellect. The wisest knows nothing.
|
Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer.
|