A.P. Herbert Quotes

When religion and politics ride in the same cart, the whirlwind follows.

What I'm saying in my books boils down to this: Mine religion for what is good and avoid what is deleterious. Don't condemn people who need it. Be very careful when that need becomes fanatical.

An ill agreement is better then a good judgement. [An ill agreement is better than a good judgment.]

Shew me a lyer, and I'le shew thee a theefe.

Prettiness dies first.

Dare to be true. Nothing can need a lie: a fault which needs it most, grows two thereby.

Revolt, it will be said, implies violence; but this is an outmoded, an incompetent conception of revolt. The most effective form of revolt in this violent world we live in is non-violence.

Wine is a turne-coate (first a friend, then an enemy). [Wine is a turncoat, first a friend, then an enemy.]

Blisters are a painful experience, but if you get enough blisters in the same place, they will eventually produce a callus. That is what we call maturity.

People do things for love and belief and passion, not just because they're paid to do it.

The first duty of a newspaper is to be accurate. If it be accurate, it follows that it is fair.

The secret of a successful newspaper is to take one story each day and bang the hell out of it. Give the public what it wants to have and part of what it ought to have whether it wants it or not.

It is not a sin to introduce a personal bias that can be recognized and discounted. The sin in historical composition is the organization of the story in such a way that bias cannot be recognized.

Art is an indecent exposure of the consciousness.

To become fully alive a person must have goals and aims that transcend himself.

It is not size that counts in business. Some companies with $500,000 capital net more profits than other companies with $5,000,000. Size is a handicap unless efficiency goes with it.

A leader must face danger. He must take the risk and the blame, and the brunt of the storm.

A banker is a person who is willing to make you a loan if you present sufficient evidence to show you don't need it.

A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts.

The sickness of the individual is ultimately caused by and sustained by the sickness of his civilization

Wisdom often consists of knowing what to do next.

If you walk on snow you cannot hide your footprints.

The saying that beauty is but skin deep, is but a skin-deep saying.

Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses, a box where sweets compacted lie.

The home is the most important factor in civilization, and that civilization is to be measured at different stages largely by the development in the home.

A nation's institutions and beliefs are determined by it's character.

Show me a liar, and I'll show you a thief.

Economists are very good at saying that something cannot go on forever, but not so good at saying when it will stop.

Education has for its object the formation of character.

Let's find out what everyone is doing, And then stop everyone from doing it.

The Common Law of England has been laboriously built about a mythical figure-the figure of 'The Reasonable Man'.

[Art] can speak its own language only as long as the images are alive which refuse and refute the established order.

The thing that bugs me is that the people think the FDA is protecting them - it isn’t. What the FDA is doing and what the public thinks it’s doing are as different as night and day.

Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress.

A boy has two jobs. One is just being a boy. The other is growing up to be a man.

The supreme purpose of history is a better world.

Fishing is a... discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish.

Take the gentle path.

Let me remind you that credit is the lifeblood of business, the lifeblood of prices and jobs.

A hundredload of worry will not pay an ounce of debt.

He who controls the spice controls the universe.

What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises—no matter the mood! Mood's a thing for cattle or making love or playing the baliset. It's not for fighting.

Irreverence is a most necessary ingredient of religion. Not to speak of its importance in philosophy. Irreverence is the only way left to us for testing our universe.

Deep within the human constitution lie written laws of nature that should guide man in the conduct of his life.

There are but a few blood purifiers and these are all in the body. We know them as the liver, kidneys, lungs, colon, and a few glands.

We have gold because we cannot trust governments

Small souls who seek power over others first destroy the faith those others might have in themselves.

Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty.

A voice hissed: "He sheds tears!" It was taken around the ring "Usal gives moisture to the dead!" He felt fingers touch his damp cheek, heard the awed whispers.

Throw away thy rod, throw away thy wrath; O my God, take the gentle path.