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Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies Quotes

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Famous Robertson Davies Quotes

“Though thousands of people indulge themselves in it regularly, and even develop a taste for it, there is no doubt in my mind (and that of scientists whom I employ to prove it) that Work is a dangerous and destructive drug, and should be called by its right name, which is Fatigue.”

PeopleShouldMindNamesWorkDoubtDangerousTasteDrugProveScientistNo DoubtDestructiveFatigueIndulgeProve It
Book:The papers of Samuel Marchbanks
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“Canada, having few indigenous prejudices, has been compelled to import them from elsewhere, duty-free, and it is the rare Canadian who is not shaken, at some time in the year, by "old, unhappy, far-off things / And battles long ago", like Wordsworth's solitary reaper. We are a nation of immigrants, and not happy in our minds.”

YearsMindLongHas BeensNationsDutyBattlePrejudiceUnhappyCanadaImmigrantsElsewhereSolitaryLong AgoCompelledIndigenousNot HappyImportsReaperWordsworth
Author:Robertson Davies
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“Oho, now I know what you are. You are an advocate of Useful Knowledge.... Well, allow me to introduce myself to you as an advocate of Ornamental Knowledge. You like the mind to be a neat machine, equipped to work efficiently, if narrowly, and with no extra bits or useless parts. I like the mind to be a dustbin of scraps of brilliant fabric, odd gems, worthless but fascinating curiosities, tinsel, quaint bits of carving, and a reasonable amount of healthy dirt. Shake the machine and it goes out of order; shake the dustbin and it adjusts itself beautifully to its new position.”

IfsKnowsMindWellsOrderBitsKnowledgePositionAmountHealthyMachinesCuriosityBrilliantUselessOddExtrasReasonableShakesFascinatingIntroducingFabricDirtWorthlessNeatScrapGemsQuaintCarvingTinselUseful KnowledgeDustbinNew Position
Book:Tempest-tost
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“Comparatively few people know what a million dollars actually is. To the majority it is a gaseous concept, swelling or decreasing as the occasion suggests. In the minds of politicians, perhaps more than anywhere, the notion of a million dollars has this accordion-like ability to expand or contract; if they are disposing of it, the million is a pleasing sum, reflecting warmly upon themselves; if somebody else wants it, it becomes a figure of inordinate size, not to be compassed by the rational mind.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWantMindWarAbilityMoneyMillionsFiguresPoliticianConceptsMajorityDollarsNotionSizeRationalOccasionsContractsReflectingMillion DollarsSwellingAccordions
Author:Robertson Davies
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“The whole world is burdened with young fogies. Old men with ossified minds are easily dealt with. But men who look young, act young, and everlastingly harp on the fact they are young, but who nevertheless think and act with a degree of caution which would be excessive in their grandfathers, are the curses of the world.”

ThinkingKnowsMenWorldMindLooksFactsWould BeYoungDegreesCurseOld ManGrandfatherNeverthelessCautionConservatismHarpsConserving
Author:Robertson Davies
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