Insolence Quotes - Page 2

• The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one in the degrees of their abjection when evil returns upon them.

  Laurence Sterne

  Success, Failure, Evil

  Laurence Sterne (1872). “The Complete Works of Laurence Sterne: With a Life of the Author”, p.301

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• Paris, hours in the café, a certain spirit of rebellion, one side a bit too stubborn, the sea, the true, in Bretagne, the walking in Provence, the taste, the passion for literature, the libraries, the beautiful editions, remaking the world in a set of hours around a table and a bottle of wine. Talking without really saying nothing, just for the pleasure of talking. The museums, the theatres, the elegance, the delicacy, the heritage of the Illustration, a humanistic philosophy. The balance we got between a nordic rigor and a latin savoir-vivre, the insolence and the freedom.

  Clemence Poesy

  Beautiful, Latin, Philosophy

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• And, when night Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.

  John Milton

  Wine, Son, Night

  'Paradise Lost' (1667) bk. 1, l. 500

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• True courage is cool and calm. The bravest of men have the least of a brutal, bullying insolence, and in the very time of danger are found the most serene and free.

  Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury

  Bullying, Time, Kids

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• He who allows himself to be insulted deserves to be.

  Pierre Corneille

  Insulted Him, Deserve, Insult

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• The insolence of time is like a blow in the face from an unseen enemy.

  Margaret Deland

  Time, Blow, Enemy

  Margaret Deland (1894). “Sidney”

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• Adolescence is usually typified by an unanswerable combination of innocence and insolence.

  Alice Thomas Ellis

  Innocence, Combination, Adolescence

  Alice Thomas Ellis (1994). “The Summer House: A Trilogy”, Penguin Group USA

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• Surfeit begets insolence, when prosperity comes to a bad man.

  Theognis of Megara

  Men, Disrespect, Prosperity

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• Wisdom and virtue are by no means sufficient, without the supplemental laws of good-breeding, to secure freedom from degenerating into rudeness, or self esteem from swelling into insolence. A thousand incivilities may be committed, and a thousand offices neglected. without any remorse of conscience, or reproach from reason.

  Samuel Johnson

  Self Esteem, Mean, Law

  Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1825). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: With Murphy's Essay”, p.459

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• There are people who are known to be very liberal, yet they never give without scolding or pride or even insolence.

  John Calvin

  Pride, People, Giving

  John Calvin, Henry Van Andel (2004). “Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life”, p.39, Baker Books

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• He who allows himself to be insulted deserves to be so; and insolence, if unpunished, increases!
  [Lat., Qui se laisse outrager, merite qu'on l'outrage
  Et l'audace impunie enfle trop un courage.]

  Pierre Corneille

  Insult, Increase, Outrage

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• Hatred grows into insolence when we desire to excel the rest of mankind and imagine we do not belong to the common lot; we even severely and haughtily despise others as our inferiors.

  John Calvin

  Hatred, Desire, Common

  John Calvin (2004). “Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life”, p.32, Baker Books

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• Conquer with forbearance
  The excesses of insolence.

  Thiruvalluvar

  Excess, Conquer, Forbearance

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• The madness of mobs or the insolence of soldiers, or both, when too near to each other, occasion some mischief.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Soldier, Revolution, Madness

  Benjamin Franklin (1840). “The works of Benjamin Franklin: with notes and a life of the author by J. Sparks”, p.437

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• If a man is respectful he will not be treated with insolence. If he is tolerant he will win the multitude. If he is trustworthy in word his fellow men will entrust him with responsibility. If he is quick he will achieve results.

  Confucius

  Trust, Leadership, Respect

  "The Analects".

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• To revenge reasonable incredulity by refusing evidence, is a degree of insolence with which the world is not yet acquainted; and stubborn audacity is the last refuge of guilt.

  Samuel Johnson

  Revenge, Guilt, Degrees

  Samuel Johnson (2010). “Journey to the Hebrides: A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland & The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides”, p.104, Canongate Books

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• The lesson taught us by these kindly commentators on my present experience is that dogmatic faith compels the best minds and hearts to narrowness and insolence.

  Harriet Martineau

  Heart, Taught Us, Mind

  Harriet Martineau, Linda H. Peterson (2007). “Autobiography”, Broadview Pr

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• Science tells us what we can know but what we can know is little and if we forget how much we cannot know we become insensitive of many things of very great importance. Theology, on the other hand induces a dogmatic belief that we have knowledge where in fact we have ignorance and by doing so generates a kind of impertinent insolence towards the universe. Uncertainty in the presence of vivid hopes and fears is painful, but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of comforting fairy tales.

  Bertrand Russell

  Ignorance, Hands, Support

  Bertrand Russell (2013). “History of Western Philosophy: Collectors Edition”, p.2, Routledge

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• There seems to be something in humanity which will not bow meekly to the insolence of power.

  Terry Eagleton

  Humanity, Bows, Seems

  Terry Eagleton (2011). “Why Marx Was Right”, p.100, Yale University Press

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• Twice two makes four seems to me simply a piece of insolence. Twice two makes four is a pert coxcomb who stands with arms akimbo barring your path and spitting. I admit that twice two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, twice two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too.

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

  Math, Two, Giving

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• Nearly all the Gauls are of a lofty stature, white, and of ruddy complexion; terrible from the sternness of their eyes, very quarrelsome, and of great pride and insolence. A whole troop of foreigners would not be able to withstand a single Gaul if he called his wife to his assistance, who is usually very strong, and with blue eyes

  Ammianus Marcellinus

  Strong, Eye, Pride

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• I'm all for Christianity, but insolence must be put down.

  J. P. Donleavy

  Christianity

  J. P. Donleavy (2010). “The Ginger Man”, p.26, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• Imagination magnifies small objects with fantastic exaggeration until they fill our soul, and with bold insolence cuts down great things to its own size, as when speaking of God.

  Blaise Pascal

  Cutting, Small Objects, Imagination

  Blaise Pascal (2008). “Human Happiness”, Penguin Group USA

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• Your depression is connected to your insolence and refusal to praise. Whoever feels himself walking on the path, and refuses to praise--that man or woman steals from others every day--is a shoplifter! The sun became full of light when it got hold of itself. Angels only began shining when they achieved discipline. The sun goes out whenever the cloud of not-praising comes. The moment the foolish angel felt insolent, he heard the door close.

  Rumi

  Angel, Men, Clouds

  Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (Maulana), Jelaluddin Rumi, Kabir Helminski, Andrew Harvey (2005). “The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlâna Jalâluddin Rumi”, p.122, Shambhala Publications

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• Vanity is so frequently the apparent motive of advice that we, for the most part, summon our powers to oppose it without very accurate inquiry whether it is right. It is sufficient that another is growing great in his own eyes at our expense, and assumes authority over us without our permission; for many would contentedly suffer the consequences of their own mistakes, rather than the insolence of him who triumphs as their deliverer.

  Samuel Johnson

  Mistake, Eye, Vanity

  Samuel Johnson (1824). “The works of Samuel Johnson”, p.99

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