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

  W. Clement Stone

  Funny, Witty, Humorous

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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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• Truth made you a traitor as it often does in a time of scoundrels.

  Lillian Hellman

  Truth, Honesty, Doe

  Scoundrel Time (1976)

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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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• In argument about moral problems, relativism is the first refuge of the scoundrel.

  Roger Scruton

  Firsts, Moral, Argument

  Roger Scruton (2012). “Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey”, p.42, A&C Black

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• He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars: general Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer, for Art and Science cannot exist but in minutely organized Particulars.

  William Blake

  Art, Hypocrite, Politics

  Jerusalem ch. 3, plate 55, l. 60 (1815)

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• Religion is all-too-often a refuge for scoundrels.

  Neal Boortz

  Refuge

  "Free talk with Neal Boortz". Interview with Bill Steigerwald, triblive.com. March 17, 2007.

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• I'd never painted anything before. I was quite content to take other people's work since I didn't care anyway about the subject matter. I approached subject matter as a scoundrel. I had nothing to say about it whatsoever. I only wanted to make these exciting paintings.

  Tom Wesselmann

  People, Care, Matter

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• A child who does not think about what happens around him and is content with living without wondering whether he lives honestly is like a man who lives from a scoundrel's work and is on the road to being a scoundrel.

  Jose Marti

  Children, Men, Thinking

  "Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos" edited by Carlos Ripoll, 1994.

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• I'm an advocate of the great Dr. Johnson, the English man of letters who said that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel.

  George Galloway

  Men, Patriotism, Drs

  "Thom Hartmann: IV with British MP George Galloway". Interview with Thom Hartmann, www.scoop.co.nz. May 30, 2005.

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