James Stephens Quotes

If men understood domestic economy half as well as women do, then their political economy and their entire consequent statecraft would not be the futil muddle which it is.

The mysteries of death and birth occupy women far more than is the case with men, to whom political and mercantile speculations are more congenial.

Finality is death. Perfection is finality. Nothing is perfect. There are lumps in it.

Life runs to death as its goal, and we should go towards that next stage of experience either carelessly as to what must be, or with a good, honest curiosity as to what may be.

A man and a woman may become quite intimate in a quarter of an hour. Almost certainly will they endeavour to explain themselves to each other before many minutes have elapsed; but a man and a man will not do this, and even less so will a woman and a woman, for these are parallel lines which will never meet.

Man works outwardly and inwardly – after rest, he has energy; after energy, he needs repose; so, when we have given instruction for a time, we need instruction and must receive it, or the spirit faints and wisdom herself grows bitter.

When a woman speaks to a man about the love she feels for another man, she is not liked.

Chaos is the first condition. Order is the first law. Continuity is the first reflection. Quietude is the first happiness.

Men come of age at sixty, women at fifteen.

We are washed both on coming into the world and on going out of it, and we take no pleasure from the first washing nor any profit from the last.

Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.

A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust.

To work is nothing; the king on his throne, the priest kneeling before the Holy Altar, all people in all places had to work, but no person at all need be a servant.

There is no tragedy more woeful than the victory of hate, nor any attainment so hopelessly barren as the sterility of that achievement; for hate is finality, and finality is the greatest evil which can happen in a world of movement.

To understand the theory which underlies all things is not sufficient. Theory is but the preparation for practice.

Originality does not consist in saying what no one has ever said before, but in saying exactly what you think yourself.

We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered, we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell.

The trouble of the king becomes the trouble of the subject, for how shall we live if judgement is withheld, or if faulty decisions are promulgated?

Women are stronger than men – they do not die of wisdom.

Let the past be content with itself, for man needs forgetfulness as well as memory.

Under all wrongdoing lies personal vanity or the feeling that we are endowed and privileged beyond our fellows.

Women and birds are able to see without turning their heads, and that is indeed a necessary provision for they are both surrounded by enemies.

Knowledge, may it be said, is higher than magic and is more to be sought. It is quite possible to see what is happening and yet not know what is forward, for while seeing is believing, it does not follow that either seeing or believing is knowing.

A Leprecaun without a pot of gold is like a rose without perfume, a bird without a wing, or an inside without an outside.

God did not need any assistance, but man did; bitterly he wanted it, and the giving of such assistance was the proper business of a woman.