For we have shown that the mind is only passive, in so far as it has inadequate or confused ideas. (III. iii.)
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza

Not necessarily, and certainly not at all if he recognises that each mode of criticism is, in its highest development, simply a mood, and that we are never more true to ourselves than when we are inconsistent.
— from Intentions by Oscar Wilde

When we leave our effects to our children, it is in hopes that they may be well bestowed; in which we may be deceived, but how can the Deity be deceived?
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations Also, Treatises On The Nature Of The Gods, And On The Commonwealth by Marcus Tullius Cicero

At least it is a remarkable coincidence, if it is nothing more, that the Christian and the heathen festivals of the divine death and resurrection should have been solemnised at the same season and in the same places.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

Change is inevitable in a progressive country—is constant.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

The number of cases is infinitesimal in which the Rigveda shows a corruption from which the others are free.
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell

The news contained in it is fresh and the impulse to reply needs no prodding.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post

Certain it is, it continued a solemn observance, that whenever the same prodigy was announced, a festival for nine days was observed.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy

Of course it is impossible to tell every important witness the story of Mungo, but something similar may be made use of which could be sought out of the material in the case.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross

View of Modern Motor-Driven Opener Picker The conveying of the sliver (pronounced with a long or short i) into the can is in itself an exceedingly ingenious operation, although a very simple one.
— from The Fabric of Civilization A Short Survey of the Cotton Industry in the United States by Guaranty Trust Company of New York

Yet, all important as is the engine-drill, and invaluable as are the engines for serious conflagrations, it is interesting to read in the Brigade Report that in 1897 no fewer than 808 fires were extinguished by buckets, and 460 by hand-pumps, while 98 were extinguished by engines, and, as we have said, 466 by hydrants and stand-pipes.
— from Firemen and Their Exploits With some account of the rise and development of fire-brigades, of various appliances for saving life at fires and extinguishing the flames. by F. M. (Frederic Morell) Holmes

No matter what he may claim, it is invariably the results of his work (the pupil's) which must determine his value.
— from Great Singers on the Art of Singing Educational Conferences with Foremost Artists by James Francis Cooke

Such a history is the complete confutation of the common theory that Christianity is in itself a force of progress; but once more we must take note that Christianity was not the determining cause of the arrest.
— from A Short History of Christianity Second Edition, Revised, With Additions by J. M. (John Mackinnon) Robertson

He could listen to a mountain chain of choruses in 'Israel in Egypt,' or to a dark and mazy labyrinth of mingled harmony and discord in Beethoven, and wherever he saw the perfection of art or the power of genius, his soul was like a harp of a thousand strings
— from The History of Dartmouth College by Baxter Perry Smith

An old table stands in the [Pg 75] middle of the room; on it are a few books and manuscripts, an inkstand, a candlestick, with a partly-burned candle inserted in it, a mug of water, and a roll of bread.
— from Home Pastimes; or Tableaux Vivants by James H. Head

Nevertheless, incomprehensible as it certainly is, it is what the mind will not dispense with in a work of Art; nay, it will not concede even a right to the name to any production where this is wanting.
— from Lectures on Art by Washington Allston

And it is in the encouragement of this craft spirit, in this lifting of the teacher's calling to the plane of craft consciousness, it is in this that the supervisor must, I believe, find the true and lasting reward for his work.
— from Craftsmanship in Teaching by William C. (William Chandler) Bagley