W.S. Gilbert Quotes

An emaciated gospel leads to emaciated worship

Christianity even when watered down is hot enough to boil all modern society to rags.

All science, even the divine science, is a sublime detective story. Only it is not set to detect why a man is dead; but the darker secret of why he is alive.

My life was a mystery even as I lived it.

Devotion is diligence without assurance. Faith is a way of saying "Yes, I pre-accept the terms of the universe and I embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding.

You must lie upon the daisies and discourse in novel phrases of complicated state of mind. The meaning doesn't matter if it's only idle chatter of a transcendental kind.

The full potentialities of human fury cannot be reached until a friend of both parties tactfully intervenes.

the only thing you need to do for now is get some rest and take good care of yourself until you do know the answer

I accept refreshment at any hands, however lowly.

You have now reached infatuation’s final destination—the complete and merciless devaluation of self.

One of the chief uses of religion is that it makes us remember our coming from darkness, the simple fact that we are created.

Psychoanalysis is a science conducted by lunatics for lunatics. They are generally concerned with proving that people are irresponsible; and they certainly succeed in proving that some people are

And that singular anomaly, the lady novelist-- I don't think she'd be missed--I'm sure she'd not be missed!

Bless your heart, they don't mind--they're exceedingly kind-- They don't blame you--as long as you're funny!

It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainment.

We have hands; we can stand on them if we want to. That's our privilege. That's the joy of a mortal body. And that's why God needs us. Because God loves to feel things through our hands.

Keep showing up for your side of the job and give genius a chance to do its part.

The only boring people I know are bored people.

When the enterprising burglar isn't burgling; When the cut-throat isn't occupied in crime; He loves to hear the little brook a-gurgling; And listen to the merry village chime.

Let your conscience be your guide.

Take me someplace where we can be silent together.

Wit is a sword; it is meant to make people feel the point as well as see it.

The woman does not work because the man tells her to work and she obeys. On the contrary, the woman works because she has told the man to work and he hasn’t obeyed.

Oh! a private buffoon is a light-hearted loon, If you listen to popular rumour; From morning to night he's so joyous and bright, And he bubbles with wit and good humour!

He led his regiment from behind. He found it less exciting.

The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.

If the jests that you crack have an orthodox smack, You may get a bland smile from these sages; But should it, by chance, be imported from France, Half-a-crown is stopped out of your wages!

From the most sacred ancient text of Yoga: Oh Krishna, the mind is restless, turbulent, strong, and unyielding. I consider it as difficult to subdue as the wind.

Addiction is the hallmark of every infatuation-based love story.

Employers will give time to eat, time to sleep; they are in terror of a time to think.

The artistic temperament is a disease that afflicts amateurs. It is a disease which arises from men no having sufficient power of expression to utter and get rid of the element of art in their being.

The scientific facts, which were supposed to contradict the faith in the nineteenth century, are nearly all of them regarded as unscientific fictions in the twentieth century.

Even in the worst tragedies and crisis, there’s no reason to add to everyone’s misery by looking miserable yourself.

Yoga is the effort to experience one's divinity personally and then to hold on to that experience forever.

A fish and a bird may indeed fall in love, but where shall they live?

I will give you the sun and the rain, and if they are not available, I will give you a sun check and a rain check.

We are justified in enforcing good morals, for they belong to all mankind; but we are not justified in enforcing good manners, for good manners always mean our own manners.

I do not need to love you to prove that I love myself!!

Atheism is indeed the most daring of all dogmas . . . for it is the assertion of a universal negative.

If you do not understand a man you cannot crush him. And if you do understand him, very probably you will not.

In Catholicism, the pint, the pipe and the Cross can all fit together.

This is intimacy: the trading of stories in the dark.

Teach your heart that this is destiny

I'm afraid many women do choose the wedding over the marriage. It seems a steep price to pay, but it comes from a place of deep, sad longing to be loved and to have it proven that you are of value.

Oh my God, baby, you are in so much trouble.

I'm not a big Austen reader. I wouldn't say I dislike her, but if I had to choose between her and Eliot to bring to a desert island, it would definitely be Eliot.

Creativity is a scavenger hunt. It's your obligation to pay attention to clues, to the thing that gives you that little tweak.

We know specific genes are turned on in specific cells, but we don't know to what extent this happens.

I can honestly say [that writing] is the best life there is, because you get to live within the realm of your own mind, and that is a profoundly rare human privilege.

Our relationship now thoroughly ruined, with even civility destroyed between us, all I wanted anymore was the door.