Norman Douglas
21 quotes
Biography
George Norman Douglas was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel South Wind. His travel books, such as Old Calabria (1915), were also appreciated for the quality of their writing.
"You can tell the values of a nation by its advertisements."
"Many a man who thinks to found a home discovers that he has merely opened a tavern for his friends."
"As to abuse, I thrive on it. Abuse, hearty abuse, is a tonic to all save men of indifferent health."
"To find a friend one must close one eye. To keep him—two."
"You can construct the character of a man and his age not only from what he does and says, but from what he fails to say and do."
"Education is a state-controlled manufactory of echoes."
"Shall I give you my recipe for happiness? I find everything useful and nothing indispensable. I find everything wonderful and nothing miraculous. I reverence the body. I avoid first causes like the plague."
"There is in us a lyric germ or nucleus which deserves respect it bids a man to ponder or create and in this dim corner of himself he can take refuge and find consolations which the society of his fellow creatures does not provide."
"There is in us a lyric germ or nucleus which deserves respect it bids a man to ponder or create and in this dim corner of himself he can take refuge and find consolations which the society of his fellow creatures does not provide."
"The pine stays green in winter... wisdom in hardship."
"What is all wisdom save a collection of platitudes?"
"The sublimity of wisdom is to do those things living, which are to be desired when dying."
"A man can believe in a considerable deal of rubbish and yet go about his daily work in a rational and cheerful manner."
"If you want to see what children can do, you must stop giving them things."
"Never take a solemn oath. People think you mean it."
"Why always "not yet"? Do flowers in spring say "not yet"?"
"To find a friend one must close one eye. To keep him ... two."
"The business of life is to enjoy oneself everything else is a mockery."
"Justice is too good for some people and not good enough for the rest."
"It takes a wise man to handle a lie. A fool had better remain honest."
"A man can believe a considerable deal of rubbish and yet go about his daily work in a rational and cheerful manner."