Themes

"It is paltry philosophy if in the old-fashioned way one lays down rules and principles in total disregard of moral values. As soon as these appear one regards them as exceptions, which gives them a certain scientific status, and thus makes them into rules. Or again one may appeal to genius, which is above all rules; which amounts to admitting that rules are not only made for idiots, but are idiotic in themselves."

"How commentators each dark passage shun, And hold their farthing candle to the sun"

"A single candle can lit a thousand candles without losing anything. [...] Let us be like those shining candles [...] benefitting all sentient beings."

"Denunciatory rhetoric is so much easier and cheaper than good works, and proves a popular temptation. Yet it is far better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

""This well may be The Day of Judgment which the world awaits; But be it so or not, I only know My present duty, and my Lord's command To occupy till He come. So at the post Where He hath set me in His providence, I choose, for one, to meet Him face to face, — No faithless servant frightened from my task, But ready when the Lord of the harvest calls; And therefore, with all reverence, I would say, Let God do His work, we will see to ours. Bring in the candles." And they brought them in."

"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."

"Thus hath the candle singed the moth."

"Bell, book and candle shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on."

"In winter I get up at night, And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer quite the other way I have to go to bed by day."

"Death is shaping up slowly and quietly but life, life is melting down like a candle that is flickering all night."

"The light that shines at the wick of a tallow candle is made of fire and related to the light of sacred lamps."

"The candle by which she had been reading the book filled with trouble and deceit, sorrow and evil, flared up with a brighter light, illuminating for her everything that before had been enshrouded in darkness, flickered, grew dim, and went out forever."

"To light a candle is to cast a shadow."

"On the Coast of Coromandel Where the early pumpkins blow, In the middle of the woods Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò. Two old chairs, and half a candle, One old jug without a handle, These were all his worldly goods"

"We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as (I trust) shall never be put out."

"My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But, ah, my foes, and, oh, my friends — It gives a lovely light."

"He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me."

"And it seems to me you lived your life Like a candle in the wind"

"It is burning a farthing candle at Dover, to shew light at Calais."

"This ambiance of candlelight reminds of nights that traveled its way, in entangled embrace of yours and mine."

"'Tis nothing but a magic shadow-show, Played in a box whose candle is the sun"

"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason: the morning daylight appears plainer when you put out your candle."

"I believe that it is better to light one candle than to promise a million light bulbs."

"Every moment age is creeping up stealthily, but life, life is melting down like a candle that is flickering around."

"Then, she lit up a candle and she showed me the way."

"Some say, that Signor Bononcini, Compared to Handel's a mere ninny; Others aver, to him, that Handel Is scarcely fit to hold a candle. Strange! that such high dispute should be 'Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee."

"They say rather than cursing the darkness, one should light a candle. They don't mention anything about cursing a lack of candles."

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, And the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."

"I wonder if that's the reason insects are so fond of flying into candles - because they want to turn into Snap-dragon-flies!"

"All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle."

"If that there King was to wake," added Tweedledum, "you'd go out - bang! - just like a candle!"

"The candles all grew up to the ceiling, looking something like a bed of rushes with fireworks at the top."

"His intimate friends called him "Candle-ends""

"No, not dead. But the candle in that great turnip has gone out."

"I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause of an adjournment: if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought."

"The principles and the purposes expressed in the Charter of the United Nations continue to represent our hope for the eventual establishment of the rule of law in international affairs. The Charter constitutes the basic expression of the code of international ethics to which this country is dedicated."

"The United Nations provides, or should provide, the means by which all nations, great and small, participate on a basis of sovereign equality in the political process of establishing and maintaining international peace and security, in facing common problems through co-operation, and in planning and organizing for a better future. The improvement of great Power relations through bilateral diplomacy is certainly of fundamental importance to this process, but past experience indicates that it needs to be complemented and balanced by the multilateral diplomacy of the global Organization as a safeguard against misunderstandings, as a safety valve in critical times and as an instrument for the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Despite its obvious shortcomings and despite the current popular tendency in some parts of the world to downgrade the United Nations, the Organization still remains the best long-term basis on which the international community as a whole can opt for survival, justice and progress with the participation of all nations. In the long run there is no substitute for such an instrumentality. The problem is how to make it work in the political realities of today."

"Our support of European recovery is in full accord with our support of the United Nations. The success of the United Nations depends upon the independent strength of its members and their determination and ability to adhere to the ideals and principles embodied in the Charter."

"You must not expect the United Nations to accomplish miracles. We are made up of sovereign nations. We can only accomplish what our member nations allow us to accomplish."

"As far as I've ever heard, the U. N. hasn’t meant anything to anyone for years, except an idealistic, sappy idea that got taken over by Third Worlders and went broke."

"Protocol, alcohol, and Geritol."

"What is the United Nations, even? What, are you just a support system for a diverse and pleasing food court? What are you?!"

"I am convinced that the United Nations provides the best road to the future for those who have confidence in our capacity to shape our own fate on this planet."

"So, yes, we have a global food system, but we need a different system. That different system must be based on the principle of universal human dignity in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the principle of national sovereignty in the UN Charter, and the economic rights in the Universal Declaration and the International Covenant of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. In the Universal Declaration, all governments agreed that social protection is a human right, not merely a “nice thing,” or a pleasant thing, but a basic human right. That was 73 years ago. The Sustainable Development Goals are our generation’s pledge to honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights..."

"We need the United Nations as the core and central institution of our world. The only way we’re going to have a peaceful, civilized world is through a strong UN. It’s absurd that the UN core budget is a mere $3 billion per year, when New York City’s budget is around $100 billion. We chronically underfund the UN system and then ask, “Why don’t things work well?”"

"The idea that the UN system could provide real leadership on the great development challenges will strain credulity in some quarters."

"It was a question of: “All right, what now?” And I didn’t really have an idea... I talked with lawyers that were introduced to me by the journalists — human rights lawyers — and tried to plan my next stage....I talked to the United Nations. And ultimately, the United Nations came back and went..."...the U.S. has enormous sway in our organization. They pay an enormous amount of our budget. And the U.S. gets what the U.S. wants. We probably can’t help you...”"

"The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man, or one party, or one nation...it must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world.""

"We pay tribute to the soldiers and fliers and seamen of others of the United Nations whose countries have been overrun by Axis hordes. As a result of the Allied occupation of North Africa, powerful units of the French Army and Navy are going into action. They are in action with the United Nations forces. We welcome them as allies and as friends. They join with those Frenchmen who, since the dark days of June, 1940, have been fighting valiantly... We pay tribute to the fighting leaders of our allies, to Winston Churchill, to Joseph Stalin, and to the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. Yes, there is a very great unanimity between the leaders of the United Nations... I cannot tell you when or where the United Nations are going to strike next in Europe. But we are going to strike--and strike hard. I cannot tell you whether we are going to hit them in Norway... through Poland--or at several points simultaneously. But I can tell you that no matter where and when we strike by land, we and the British and the Russians will hit them from the air heavily and relentlessly... Hitler and Mussolini will understand now the enormity of their miscalculations--that the Nazis would always have the advantage of superior air power...That superiority has gone--forever. Yes, the Nazis and the Fascists have asked for it--and they are going to get it."

"The United Nations, the whole international community, every free man in the world recognizes our right to fight. Allah, himself, may his name be praised, requires it. Why do we wait?"