Quote of the day 7th July 2015

“Be as decent as you can.

Don't believe without evidence.

Treat things divine with marked respect — don't have anything to do with them.

Do not trust humanity without collateral security; it will play you some scurvy trick.

Remember that it hurts no one to be treated as an enemy entitled to respect until he shall prove himself a friend worthy of affection.

Cultivate a taste for distasteful truths.

And, finally, most important of all, endeavour to see things as they are, not as they ought to be.”
  
( Ambrose Bierce )


For the avoidance of doubt the above are Bierce's views rather than my own and there is among these seven maxims one which I disagree with, But they hang together as such a perfect summary of the old cynic's approach to life, and taken as a whole contain so much wisdom, that I preferred to quote the whole than take out the part I disagree with.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nick Herbert on his visit to flood hit areas of Cumbria

Quotes of the day 19th August 2020

Quote of the day 24th July 2020