All Quotes

"Quis legem det amantibus? Maior lex amor est sibi."

"Videsne igitur quanto in caeno probra volvantur, qua probitas luce resplendeat? In quo perspicuum est numquam bonis praemia, numquam sua sceleribus deesse supplicia."

"Nam si uti corporum languor ita vitiositas quidam est quasi morbus animorum, cum aegros corpore minime dignos odio sed potius miseratione iudicemus, multo magis non insequendi sed miserandi sunt quorum mentes omni languore atrocior urguet improbitas."

"Vis aptam meritis uicem referre: Dilige iure bonos et miseresce malis."

"Video, inquam, quae sit vel felicitas vel miseria in ipsis proborum atque improborum meritis constituta."

"Quis enim cohercente in ordinem cuncta deo locus esse ullus temeritati reliquus potest?"

"Sic quae permissis fluitare videtur habenis Fors patitur frenos ipsaque lege meat."

"For when every judgement is the act of hym that judgeth, it behoveth that every man performe hys worke and purpose, not by any forayne or straunge power or facultie, but by his owne proper power, and strength."

"Music is associated not only with speculation but with morality. When rhythms and modes reach an intellect through the ear, they doubtless affect and reshape that mind according to their particular character."

"While Boethius, oppressed with fetters, expected each moment the sentence or the stroke of death, he composed, in the tower of Pavia, the Consolation Of Philosophy; a golden volume not unworthy of the leisure of Plato or Tully, but which claims incomparable merit from the barbarism of the times and the situation of the author."

"Throughout his life Boethius had written on a wide range of subjects: his interests included mathematics, music, philosophy and theology. But he composed his most famous work in jail while awaiting execution for his crimes. The Consolation of Philosophy attempted to place earthly troubles in a divine context. Written in the form of a dialogue between Boethius and Lady Philosophy, it asked its readers to accept that there were higher powers at work behind the vicissitudes of man’s fleeting life. In the course of his musings, he turned to the notion of fortune’s wheel. ‘So now you have committed yourself to the rule of Fortune, you must acquiesce in her ways,’ he wrote. ‘If you are trying to stop her wheel form turning, you are of all men the most obtuse.’"

"Boethius is a singular figure. Throughout the Middle Ages he was read and admired, regarded always as a devout Christian and treated almost as if he had been one of the Fathers. Yet his Consolations of Philosophy, written in 524 while he was awaiting execution, is purely Platonic; it does not prove that he was not a Christian, but it does show that pagan philosophy had a much stronger hold on him than Christian theology. Some theological works, especially one on the Trinity, which are attributed to him, are by many authorities considered to be spurious; but it was probably owing to them that the Middle Ages were able to regard him as orthodox, and to imbibe from him much Platonism which would otherwise have been viewed with suspicion. . . . The tone of the book is more like that of Plato than that of Plotinus. There is no trace of the superstition or morbidness of the age, no obsession with sin, no excessive straining after the unattainable. There is perfect philosophic calm—so much that, if the book had been written in prosperity, it might almost have been called smug. Written when it was, in prison under sentence of death, it is as admirable as the last moments of the Platonic Socrates. One does not find a similar outlook until after Newton. . . . [Boethius’s] combination with great learning and zeal for the public good was unique in that age. During the two centuries before his time and the ten centuries after it, I cannot think of any European man of learning so free from superstition and fanaticism. Nor are his merits merely negative; his survey is lofty, disinterested, and sublime. He would have been remarkable in any age; in the age in which he lived, he is utterly amazing."

"Ancient belief in a cosmos composed of spheres, producing music as angels guided them through the heavens, was still flourishing in Elizabethan times. …There is a good deal more to Pythagorean musical theory than celestial harmony. Besides the music of the celestial spheres (musica mundana), two other varieties of music were distinguished: the sound of instruments...(musica instrumentalis), and the continuous unheard music that emanated from the human body (musica humana), which arises from a resonance between the body and the soul. ...In the medieval world, the status of music is revealed by its position within the Quadrivium—the fourfold curriculum—alongside arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. Medieval students... believed all forms of harmony to derive from a common source. Before Boethius' studies in the ninth century, the idea of musical harmony was not considered independently of wider matters of celestial or ethical harmony."

"Dreyfus once wrote from Devil's Island that he would see the most glorious birds. Many years later in Brittany, he realized they had only been sea gulls... For me, they will always be... glorious birds."

"I haven't lived... I've died a few times."

"Well, what do you say, Harold? Ah, it's a great life. There's action, adventure, advising, and you'll get a chance to see the war first-hand. And there are plenty of slant-eyed girls. I'll make a man out of you, Harold. You'll travel the world, put on a uniform, and take on a man's job. You'll walk tall, with a glint in your eye and a spring in your step, and the knowledge in your heart that you are working for peace and are serving your country, just like Nathan Hale. Now, that's what this country needs - more Nathan Hales. [He salutes a picture of Nathan Hale] And, Harold, I think I can see a little Nathan Hale in you."

"I would be remiss in my duty, if I did not tell you, that the idea of...... intercourse... and the fact of your firm, young... body..... commingling, with the... withered flesh... sagging... breasts... and flabby b-... buttocks... makes me want... to vomit."

"Ruth Gordon – Dame Marjorie "Maude" Chardin"

"Bud Cort – Harold Parker Chasen"

"Vivian Pickles – Mrs. Chasen"

"Cyril Cusack – Glaucus"

"Ellen Geer – Sunshine Doré"

"Eric Christmas – Priest"

"G. Wood – Psychiatrist"

"Charles Tyner – General Victor Ball"

"Judy Engles – Candy Gulf"

"Shari Summers – Edith Phern"

"Tom Skerritt – as Motorcycle Officer"

"Martin Sheen - Josiah "Jed" Bartlet"

"Stockard Channing - Abigail Bartlet"

"Kristin Chenoweth - Annabeth Schott (2004-2006)"

"Richard Schiff - Toby Ziegler"

"Allison Janney - C.J. Cregg"

"Rob Lowe - Sam Seaborn (1999-2003, 2006)"

"Janel Moloney - Donna Moss"

"Dulé Hill - Charlie Young"

"John Spencer - Leo McGarry"

"Bradley Whitford - Josh Lyman"

"Moira Kelly - Mandy Hampton (1999-2000)"

"Joshua Malina - Will Bailey (2002-2006)"

"Mary McCormack - Kate Harper (2004-2006)"

"Jimmy Smits - Matthew Santos (2004-2006)"

"Alan Alda - Arnold Vinick (2004-2006)"

"Patsy Byrne - Nursie"

"Simon Russell Beale - Napoleon"

"Jennie Bond - Royal Reporter"

"Crispin Harris - Friar Tuck"

"Kate Moss - Maid Marian / Queen Marian of Sherwood"

"Miranda Richardson - Queen Elizabeth I"

"Stephen Fry - Lord Melchett"