J.W. Lord Quotes

Ties of blood are not always ties of friendship; but friendship founded on merit, on esteem, and on mutual trust, becomes more vital and more tender when strengthened by the ties of blood.

An able man shows his spirit by gentle words and resolute actions.

Cautiously avoid speaking of the domestic affairs either of yourself, or of other people. Yours are nothing to them but tedious gossip; and theirs are nothing to you.

When you have found out the prevailing passion of any man, remember never to trust him where that passion is concerned.

Enjoy pleasures, but let them be your own, and then you will taste them.

Since attaining the full use of my reason no one has ever heard me laugh.

To know a little of anything gives neither satisfaction nor credit, but often brings disgrace or ridicule.

Singularity is only pardonable in old age and retirement; I may now be as singular as I please, but you may not.

I am in the pitiable situation of feeling all the force of temptation without having the strength to succumb to it.

When a man is once in fashion, all he does is right.

The possibility of remedying imprudent actions is commonly an inducement to commit them.

A certain degree of fear produces the same effects as rashness.

I knew once a very covetous, sordid fellow [perhaps William Lowndes], who used to say, 'Take care of the pence, for the pounds will take care of themselves.

Our self-love is mortified, when we think our opinions, and even our tastes, customs, and dresses, either arraigned or condemned;as, on the contrary, it is tickled and flattered by approbation.

Armies, though always the supporters and tools of absolute power for the time being, are always the destroyers of it too; by frequently changing the hands in which they think proper to lodge it.

It is to be presumed, that a man of common sense, who does not desire to please, desires nothing at all; since he must know that he cannot obtain anything without it.

A joker is near akin to a buffoon; and neither of them is the least related to wit.

Always make the best of the best, and never make bad worse.

Power rests in tranquillity.

Modern poets are bells of lead. They should tinkle melodiously but usually they just klunk.

Leinster House does not inspire the brightest ideas.

Abuse is the very hallmark of liberty.

Political liberty is nothing else but the diffusion of power.

If dictatorship is the concentration of power, freedom consists in its diffusion.

You ought not to be ashamed of being bored. What you ought to be ashamed of is being boring.

A reasonable doubt is nothing more than a doubt for which reasons can be given. The fact that 1 or 2 men out of 12 differ from the others does not establish that their doubts are reasonable.

A politician who enters public life may as well face the fact that the best way of not being found out is not to do anything which, if found out, will cause his ruin.

To live among friends is the primary essential of happiness.

Symmetrical equations are good in their place, but ' vector ' is a useless survival, or offshoot from quaternions, and has never been of the slightest use to any creature.

There cannot be a greater mistake than that of looking superciliously upon practical applications of science. The life and soul of science is its practical application.

At what time does the dissipation of energy begin?

[Of the ether] it is no greater mystery at all events than the shoemakers' wax.

[Referring to Fourier's mathematical theory of the conduction of heat] ... Fourier's great mathematical poem.

My trophy value exceeded my military usefulness.

In 1966 I became president of the British Computer Society.

I suppose you can say I became an odd-job man.

You can divide my life into two.

I liked Truman very much. He was precise and businesslike. After a while, it was his turn.

If you've got it, wear it.

I was so keen to get back to sea. I was rattled.

The day must come when the nation's whole scale of living must be reduced. If that day comes,Parliament must lay the burden equally on all classes.

Commanders and senior officers should die with troops. The honour of the British Empire and the British Army is at stake.

Men are not really born either hopelessly idle, or preternaturally industrious. They may move in one direction or the other as will or circumstances dictate, but it is open to any man to work.

The ones that measure up are not always the ones you expect.

I never earned a dollar that was not somehow through writing.

Someone once told me the one thread that runs through them all is a premium on personal courage - not intellectual courage, but just plain physical courage.

There were exceptions, a couple of families that just plain didn't want to even think about it, although forty years had passed but mostly the people were very interested in talking about it.

Nichts Interessantes ist jemals richtig.

One thing is needful

If a woman cannot make her mistakes charming, she is only a female.