A.P. Herbert Quotes

Every cause produces more than one effect.

If the staffe be crooked, the shadow cannot be straight.

Morality knows nothing of geographical boundaries, or distinctions of race.

The resolved mind hath no cares.

Obscenity is a moral concept in the verbal arsenal of the establishment, which abuses the term by applying it, not to expressions of its own morality but to those of another.

Hee that hath one hogge makes him fat, and hee that hath one son makes him a foole.

A beane in liberty is better then a comfit in prison.

When prayers are done, my Lady is ready.

Read as you taste fruit or savor wine, or enjoy friendship, love, or life.

When a Lackey comes to hells doore, the devills locke the gates.

I was taken by a morsell, saies the fish. [I was taken by a morsel, says the fish.]

God heales, and the Physitian hath the thankes.

Before you make a friend, eate a bushell of salt with him.

There is great force hidden in a sweet command.

A married man turns his staffe into a stake.

There is nothing more American than brutal violence. The country was built on it, revels in it and shows every evidence of clinging to it with the crazed, destructive strength of an obsessive lover.

Well, it seems to me Lincoln, I suppose, is kind of a model of a particular sort of presidency, a presidency that first of all is elected by a minority of the votes.

If you think about it, the historian's task is like that of the detective.

An autobiography is the story of how a man thinks he lived.

Works of art must persist as objects of contemplation.

Law always chooses sides on the basis of enforcement power. Morality and legal niceties have little to do with it when the real question is: Who has the clout?

If all those around you believe some particular thing, you will soon be tempted to share in that belief.

In general, modern art... has been inspired by a natural desire to chart the uncharted.

Ambitions tend to remain undisturbed by realities.

War is behavior with roots in the single cell of the primeval seas. Eat whatever you touch or it will eat you.

Thinking you know something is a sure way to blind yourself.

The farther a society progresses, the more clearly the individual becomes the antithesis of the group.

It's easier to be terrified by an enemy you admire.

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

We are generalists. You can't draw neat lines around planet-wide problems. Planetology is a cut-and-fit science.

The stakes in conflict do not change. Battle determines who will control the wealth or its equivalent.

Killing with the point lacks artistry, but don't let that hold your hand when the opening presents itself.

Once human beings realize something can be done, they're not satisfied until they've done it.

I give you the chameleon, whose ability to blend itself into the background tells you all you need to know about the roots of ecology and the foundations of a personal identity

The best prophets lead you up to the curtain and let you peer through for yourself.

Try to hold on to youth and it mocks you while it sprints away.

When we try to conceal our innermost drives, the entire being screams betrayal.

The most persistent principles in the universe are accident and error.

There is no escape - we pay for the violence of our ancestors.

The ultimate test ... to see the good in evil and the evil in good.

Remember: Bureaucracy elevates conformity ... Make that elevates 'fatal stupidity' to the status of religion.

It takes two to make a marriage a success and only one to make it a failure.

The writing of history is largely a process of diversion. Most historical accounts distract attention from the secret influences behind great events.

The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future.

The sense of historical continuity, and a feeling for philosophical rectitude cannot, however, be compromised.

Every civilization depends upon the quality of the individuals it produces.

Enemies make you stronger, allies make you weaker.

The dice cannot read their own spots.

It must certainly be more dangerous to live in ignorance than to live with knowledge.

Time is the rider that breaks youth.