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9 Evans Quotes

Evans shares thoughtful reflections on poetry, leadership, and the power of words.

Evans quotes

  1. [Thanatopsis] was written in 1817, when Bryant was 23. Had he died then, the world would have thought it had lost a great poet. But he lived on.

    #1

  2. Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt.

    #2

  3. Legislators who are of even average intelligence stand out among their colleagues ... A cultured college president has become as much a rarity as a literate newspaper publisher. A financier interested in economics is as exceptional as a labor leader interested in the labor movement. For the most part our leaders are merely following out in front; they [only] marshal us in the way that we are going.

    #3

  4. Lying is an indispensable part of making life tolerable.

    #4

  5. There is no necessary connection between the desire to lead and the ability to lead, and even less the ability to lead somewhere that will be to the advantage of the led.

    #5

  6. There is wisdom in the selection of wisdom.

    #6

  7. Wisdom is meaningless until our own experience has given it meaning.

    #7

  8. Words are one of our chief means of adjusting to all the situations of life. The better control, the more successful our adjustment is likely to be.

    #8

  9. We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us.

    #9