Clarence Day Quotes
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We talk of our mastery of nature, which sounds very grand; but the fact is we respectfully adapt ourselves, first, to her ways.
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Ants are good citizens: they place group interests first.
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The real world is not easy to live in. It is rough; it is slippery. Without the most clear-eyed adjustments we fall and get crushed. A man must stay sober; not always, but most of the time.
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The creatures that want to live a life of their own, we call wild. If wild, then no matter how harmless, we treat them as outlaws, and those of us who are specially well brought up shoot them for fun.
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Dogs have more love than integrity. They've been true to us, yes, but they haven't been true to themselves.
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If you don't go to other men funerals they won't go to yours.
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The test of a civilized person is first self-awareness, and then depth after depth of sincerity in self-confrontation.
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Reason is the servant of instinct.
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A moderate addiction to money may not always be hurtful; but when taken in excess it is nearly always bad for the health.
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As time goes on, new and remoter aspects of truth are discovered which can seldom be fitted into creeds that are changeless.
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A city should be built to give its inhabitants security and happiness.
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The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall, nations perish, civilizations grow old and die out, and after an era new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on, still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the heart of men centuries dead.
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Father expected a good deal of God. He didn't actually accuse God of inefficiency, but when he prayed his tone was loud and angry, like that of a dissatisfied guest in a carelessly managed hotel.
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Babies are unreasonable; they expect far too much of existence. Each new generation that comes takes one look at the world and thinks wildly, "Is this all they've done to it?" and bursts into tears.
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The poets of each generation seldom sing a new song. They turn to themes men always have loved, and sing them in the mode of their times.
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If your parents didn't have any children, there's a good chance that you won't have any.
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The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man.
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Age should not have its face lifted, but it should rather teach the world to admire wrinkles as the etchings of experience and the firm line of character.
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If you don't go to other men's funerals,' he told Father stiffly, 'they won't go to yours.'
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There is an art of reading, as well as an art of thinking, and an art of writing.