James Otis's Quotes

Envy aims very high.

Everyone wishes that the man whom he fears would perish.

The bold adventurer succeeds the best.

Tears at times have the weight of speech.

A prince should be slow to punish, and quick to reward.

All love is vanquished by a succeeding love.

Bear patiently with a rival.

Enhance and intensify one's vision of that synthesis of truth and beauty which is the highest and deepest reality.

Men do not value a good deed unless it brings a reward.

What is deservedly suffered must be borne with calmness, but when the pain is unmerited, the grief is resistless.

Alas! how difficult it is not to betray one's guilt by one's looks.

Minds that are ill at ease are agitated by both hope and fear.

My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope.

There is a god within us.

Time is the devourer of all things.

What is it that love does to a woman? Without she only sleeps; with it alone, she lives.

Why should I go into details, we have nothing that is not perishable except what our hearts and our intellects endows us with.

Against the bold, daring is unsafe.

At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time.

Blemishes are hid by night and every fault forgiven; darkness makes any woman fair.

Courage conquers all things: it even gives strength to the body.

Everyone's a millionaire where promises are concerned.

Give way to your opponent; thus will you gain the crown of victory.

In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are.

Make the workmanship surpass the materials.

Medicine sometimes snatches away health, sometimes gives it.

Nowadays nothing but money counts: a fortune brings honors, friendships; the poor man everywhere lies low.

People are slow to claim confidence in undertakings of magnitude.

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop.

The burden which is well borne becomes light.

The high-spirited man may indeed die, but he will not stoop to meanness. Fire, though it may be quenched, will not become cool.

The man who has experienced shipwreck shudders even at a calm sea.

The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses.

The vulgar crowd values friends according to their usefulness.

Those things that nature denied to human sight, she revealed to the eyes of the soul.

Thou seest how sloth wastes the sluggish body, as water is corrupted unless it moves.

To feel our ills is one thing, but to cure them is another.

What makes men indifferent to their wives is that they can see them when they please.

Whether you call my heart affectionate, or you call it womanish: I confess, that to my misfortune, it is soft.

Ah me! Love can not be cured by herbs.

An evil life is a kind of death.

Art lies by its own artifice.

Death is less bitter punishment than death's delay.

Everything comes gradually and at its appointed hour.

First appearance deceives many.

He who can believe himself well, will be well.

He who says o'er much I love not is in love.

He who would not be idle, let him fall in love.

He whom all hate all wish to see destroyed.

How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man.

I attempt an arduous task; but there is no worth in that which is not a difficult achievement.

In an easy matter. Anybody can be eloquent.

It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.

It is the poor man who'll ever count his flock.

Jupiter from on high smiles at the perjuries of lovers.

Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these.

Let what is irksome become habitual, no more will it trouble you.

Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be fish.

Like fragile ice anger passes away in time.

Little things please little minds.

Love is a credulous thing.

Love is a kind of warfare.

Love is full of anxious fears.

Luck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast; in the stream where you least expect it there will be a fish.

Majesty and love do not consort well together, nor do they dwell in the same place.

Most safely shall you tread the middle path.

Neglect of appearance becomes men.

Neither can the wave that has passed by be recalled, nor the hour which has passed return again.

Nothing is more powerful than custom or habit.

Often they benefit who suffer wrong.

The cause is hidden; the effect is visible to all.

The gods behold all righteous actions.

The good of other times let people state; I think it lucky I was born so late.

The heavier crop is ever in others' fields.

The lamp burns bright when wick and oil are clean.

The penalty may be removed, the crime is eternal.

The prayers of cowards fortune spurns.