Scoundrels Quotes

• No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

  Barbara Ehrenreich

  Peace, War, Patriotic

  Barbara Ehrenreich (1990). “WORST YEARS OF OUR LIVES”, Pantheon

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• Force always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule that
  tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels.

  Albert Einstein

  Believe, Men, Tyrants

  Albert Einstein (2011). “The World As I See It”, p.14, Open Road Media

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• The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.

  H. L. Mencken

  Time, Freedom, Fighting

  "Shut Down Chick-fil-A Properly" by James Peron, www.huffingtonpost.com. July 25, 2012.

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• No scoundrel is so stupid as to not find a reason for his vile conduct.

  Shakti Gawain

  Stupid, Reason, Behavior

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• Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

  Samuel Johnson

  Patriotic, Patriotism, Lasts

  "Offensive Remarks Are Part of Free Speech" by Hilary Hirschfeld, www.smudailycampus.com. October 22, 2008.

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• No great scoundrel is ever uninteresting.

  Murray Kempton

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• There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.

  Vladimir Lenin

  Justice, Political, Atheism

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• If Heaven had looked upon riches to be a valuable thing, it would not have given them to such a scoundrel.

  Jonathan Swift

  Happiness, Success, Heaven

  Letter to Miss Vanhomrigh, 12 - 13 Aug. 1720 See Luther 3; Steele 2

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• Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

  George Washington

  Memorial Day, War, 4th Of July

  George Washington (1810). “Washington's Farewell Address to the People of the United States”, p.17

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• What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch?

  W. Clement Stone

  Funny, Witty, Humorous

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• Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Funny, Wisdom, Country

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• I've always thought respectable people scoundrels, and I look anxiously at my face every morning for signs of my becoming a scoundrel.

  Bertrand Russell

  Good Morning, People, Looks

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• Some of the craftiest scoundrels that ever walked this earth . . . will gravely jot down in diaries the events of every day, and keep a regular debtor and creditor account with heaven, which shall always show a floating balance in their own favour.

  Charles Dickens

  Heaven, Words Of Wisdom, Balance

  Charles Dickens (1867). “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby”, p.352

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• Every man over forty is a scoundrel.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Funny, Birthday, Time

  Man and Superman "Maxims for Revolutionists" (1903)

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• One of the great attractions of patriotism - it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what's more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.

  Aldous Huxley

  Cheating, Patriotic, Bully

  Aldous Huxley (1955). “The Collected Works of Aldous Huxley”

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• My old man claimed that the more complicated the law the more opportunity for scoundrels.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Opportunity, Men, Law

  Robert A. Heinlein (1959). “The Door Into Summer”, Roc

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• There are many occasions when the highest praise one can receive is the attack of some given scoundrel.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Praise, Given, Occasions

  Theodore Roosevelt (1952). “The Big Stick, 1905-1909”

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• I don't know what a scoundrel is like, but I know what a respectable man is like, and it's enough to make one's flesh creep.

  Joseph de Maistre

  Respect, Men, Flesh

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• The pleasure of being a scoundrel can be adequately savored in silence.

  Remy de Gourmont

  Silence, Pleasure

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• Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o'clock is a scoundrel.

  Samuel Johnson

  Night, Thinking, Bed

  Samuel Johnson (1787). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Together with His Life, and Notes on His Lives of the Poets, by Sir John Hawkins, Knt. In Eleven Volumes ...”, p.211

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  In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.

  Mark Twain

  Change, Thank You, Memorial Day

  Mark Twain (2012). “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations”, p.351, Courier Corporation

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• The feeling of patriotism - It is an immoral feeling because, instead of confessing himself a son of God . . . or even a free man guided by his own reason, each man under the influence of patriotism confesses himself the son of his fatherland and the slave of his government, and commits actions contrary to his reason and conscience.

  Leo Tolstoy

  Son, Men, Feelings

  graf Leo Tolstoy (1989). “I Cannot be Silent: Writings on Politics, Art and Religion by Leo Tolstoy”

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• The Fundamentalist Christians have told me that I am a slave of Satan and should have my demons expelled with an exorcism. The Fundamentalist Materialists inform me that I am a liar, charlatan, fraud and scoundrel. Aside from this minor difference, the letters are astoundingly similar. Both groups share the same crusading zeal and the same lack of humor, charity and common human decency. These intolerable cults have served to confirm me in my agnosticism by presenting further evidence to support my contention that when dogma enters the brain, all intellectual activity ceases.

  Robert Anton Wilson

  Christian, Liars, Should Have

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• The first derivative is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

  Charles P. Kindleberger

  Lasts, Firsts, Derivatives

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• General good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocite, flatterer.

  William Blake

  Hypocrite, Organized, Altruism

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