Cunning Quotes - Page 5

• One Man may be more cunning than another, but not more cunning than every body else.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Men, Body, May

  Benjamin Franklin (2013). “Poor Richard's Almanack”, p.65, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• Oh, how great is the power of truth! which of its own power can easily defend itself against all the ingenuity and cunning and wisdom of men, and against the treacherous plots of all the world.

  Marcus Tullius Cicero

  Truth, Men, Plot

  Marcus Tullius Cicero (2014). “Delphi Complete Works of Cicero (Illustrated)”, p.1050, Delphi Classics

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• Evil is a far more cunning and persevering propagandist than good, for it has no inward strength, and is driven to seek countenance and sympathy.

  James Russell Lowell

  Evil, Inward, Driven

  James Russell Lowell, Maria F. Rosetti (1872). “Review of The Shadow of Dante”, p.201

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• There is a cunning which we in England call "the turning of the cat" in the pan; which is, when that which a man says to another, he says it as if another had said it to him.

  Francis Bacon

  Cat, Men, Cunning Man

  Francis Bacon, David Mallet (1740). “The Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban, Lord High Chancellor of England ...: With Several Additional Pieces, Never Before Printed in Any Edition of His Works. To which is Prefixed, a New Life of the Author”, p.334

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• Cunning authors cut to be quoted.

  Willis Regier

  Cutting

  Willis Goth Regier (2010). “Quotology”, p.70, U of Nebraska Press

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• History repeats itself, but in such cunning disguise that we never detect the resemblance until the damage is done.

  Sydney J. Harris

  Damage Is Done, History Repeats Itself, Disguise

  Sydney J. Harris (1986). “Clearing the ground”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Life is a battle of wits, and many people have to fight it unarmed.

  Evan Esar

  Fighting, People, Battle

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• The terrible immoralities are the cunning ones hiding behind masks of morality, such as exploiting people while pretending to help them.

  Vernon Howard

  People, Helping, Morality

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• A cunning fellow is man, inventive beyond all expectation, he reaches sometimes evil and sometimes good

  Sophocles

  Men, Evil, Expectations

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• The cunning livery of hell.

  William Shakespeare

  Hell

  William Shakespeare, Edmond Malone, James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, Mr. Theobald (Lewis) (1821). “The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare: With the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators”, p.105

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• Cunning and treachery are the offspring of incapacity.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Incapacity, Treachery, Offspring

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• The most sure method of subjecting yourself to be deceived is to consider yourself more cunning than others.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Method, Deceived

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• Cunning grows in deceit at seeing itself discovered, and tries to deceive with truth itselft.

  Baltasar Gracian

  Trying, Deceit, Deceiving

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• The Gospel of the army is cunning, as of all other human activities. The wisdom of the snake under the meekness of the sheep is what wins out.
  The first Commandment is--never let them get anything on you--
  The second: Graft--get privileges others haven't got--worm yourself into confidence
  The Third--seem neat and prosperous--as if you had money in the bank

  John Dos Passos

  Army, Winning, Snakes

  John Dos Passos, Library of America (Firm) (2003). “Travel books and other writings, 1916-1941”

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• Writing can be a bit like unfolding something...Slowly, the writer reveals what's happening. But that's only half of what's going on. Writers are very cunning people who are not only unfolding and revealing. Just like conjurors and magicians, they are hiding stuff too.

  Michael Rosen

  Writing, People, Half

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• It is often hard to determine whether a clear, open, and honorable proceeding is the result of goodness or of cunning.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Honesty, Goodness, Results

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• I am defined by my will to survive, not by intelligence or cunning or money or good looks. The Creator didn't see her way clear to give me those things, instead she gave me a strong will.

  Jaune Quick–to–See Smith

  Strong, Will To Survive, Giving

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• Cunning and treachery proceed from want of capacity.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Want, Capacity, Treachery

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• Quiet cunning bested boastful brawn

  Walter Kirn

  Quiet

  Walter Kirn (2006). “Mission to America”, p.3, Anchor

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• We have dreamt of every woman there is, and dreamt too of the miracle that would bring us the pleasure of being a woman, for women have all the qualities - courage, passion, the capacity to love, cunning - whereas all our imagination can do is naively pile up the illusion of courage.

  Jean Baudrillard

  Love, Passion, Imagination

  Jean Baudrillard (1990). “Cool Memories”, p.24, Verso

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• Every human being should be taught that his first duty is to take care of himself, and that to be self-respecting he must be self-supporting. To live on the labor of others, either by force which enslaves, or by cunning which robs, or by borrowing or begging, is wholly dishonorable. Every man should be taught some useful art.

  Robert Green Ingersoll

  Art, Work, Men

  Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.4081, Library of Alexandria

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• Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Art, Mean, Government

  Calvin Coolidge (1924). “Calvin Coolidge, His Ideals of Citizenship as Revealed Through His Speeches and Writings”

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• In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy, which cunning will discover, and wickedness insensibly open, cultivate and improve.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Government, Weakness, Wickedness

  Thomas Jefferson (1832). “Notes on the State of Virginia”, p.156

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• And Adam ruled, for he was the King. Until the day his will to be King deserted him. Then he died, food for a stronger. And the strongest was always the King, not by strength alone, but King by cunning and luck and strength together. Among the rats.

  James Clavell

  Kings, Luck, Together

  JAMES CLAVELL (1962). “KING RAT”

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• They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.

  C. S. Lewis

  Taken, Mind, Belief

  C. S. Lewis (2001). “The Wisdom of Narnia”, HarperCollins

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