30 quotes
Attribution of a Historical Quote
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* ] to Abbé du Pradt, at Warsaw. See Histoire de l'Ambassade dans la Grande Duché de Vasovie, Ed. 2, p. 219. Attributed also to ] (traced from Napoleon to Paine, Paine to Blair).
[[Napoleon I; [Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord]
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The Meaning Behind Ridicule as Truth
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We have oftener than once endeavoured to attach some meaning to that aphorism, vulgarly imputed to Shaftesbury, which however we can find nowhere in his works, that "ridicule is the test of truth.
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The Fear of Ridicule in Reasoning
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
How comes it to pass, then, that we appear such cowards in reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the test of ridicule?
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The Intersection of Ridicule and the Sublime
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
En géneral, le ridicule touche au sublime.
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The Fine Line Between Sublime and Ridiculous
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The sublime and ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is difficult to class them separately. One step below the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again.
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The Proximity of Ridiculous and Magnificent
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* There is nothing one sees oftener than the ridiculous and magnificent, such close neighbors that they touch.
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The Fine Line Between Sublime and Ridiculous
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas.
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The Power of Ridicule Over Acrimony
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* Ridicule more often settles things more thoroughly and better than acrimony.
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Reflections on Great Men and Humor
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* ], Reflexions sur les Grands Hommes qui sont morts en Plaisantant.
[[Raymond Deslaudes]
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The Intersection of Ridiculous and Sublime
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* Generally the ridiculous touches the sublime.
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The Test of Truth and Ridicule
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Jane borrow'd maxims from a doubting school,And took for truth the test of ridicule;Lucy saw no such virtue in a jest,Truth was with her of ridicule the test.
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Reflections on the Nature of Discourse
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* ], Table Talk (Jan. 20, 1834). ], Abdereiten, III, Chapter XII.
[[Samuel Taylor Coleridge; [Christoph Martin Wieland]
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The Weight of Words in Expression
Quotes
* ], Tales of the Hall (1819), Book VIII, line 126.
[[George Crabbe]
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The Challenge of Heightened Expression
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
It frequently happens that where the second line is sublime, the third, in which he meant to rise still higher, is perfectly bombast.
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The Fine Line Between Magnificence and Ridicule
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
L'on ne saurait mieux faire voir que le magnifique et le ridicule sont si voisins qu'ils se touchent.
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From Sublime to Ridiculous in One Step
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
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The Strength of Sharp Wit
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
Ridiculum acriFortius ac melius magnas plerumque secat res.
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The Importance of Practical Quotations
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* ], Œuvres, Dialogues des Morts (1683), IV. 32. Ed. 1825. Used by Edward, Lord Oxford, Ms. Common Place Book.
[[Bernard Le Bouvier de Fontenelle]
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Reflections on Satire and Society
Quotes
* ], Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827–1855), Voltaire.
[[Thomas Carlyle]
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Reflections on Spiritual Growth and Exploration
Quotes
* ], Wellsprings : A Book of Spiritual Exercises (1985), p. 19.
[[Anthony de Mello]
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The Nature of Satire in Literature
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* ], Satires, Book I. 10. 14.
[[Horace]
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The Nature of Ridicule and Its Impact
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RIDICULE, n. Words designed to show that the person of whom they are uttered is devoid of the dignity of character distinguishing him who utters them. It may be graphic, mimetic or merely rident. Shaftesbury is quoted as having pronounced it the test of truth -- a ridiculous assertion, for many a solemn fallacy has undergone centuries of ridicule with no abatement of its popular acceptance. What, for example, has been more valorously derided than the doctrine of Infant Respectability?
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The Nature of Spiritual Exercises
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* Wellsprings : A Book of Spiritual Exercises (1985), p. 19
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Wisdom from Hoyt's New Cyclopedia
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* ], Œuvres Complettes (1787), V, 188.
[[Jean-François Marmontel]
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Reflections on Human Nature and Satire
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* ], The Devil's Dictionary (1911).
[[Ambrose Bierce]
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Reflections on Reason and Its Challenges
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* ], The Age of Reason, Part II (1795).
[[Thomas Paine]
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Analysis of Lucan's Stylistic Approach
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
* ]. Commenting on Lucan's style. Borrowed from ], Treatise on the Sublime, Section III.
[[Hugh Blair; [Longinus]
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Distrust in Sentiments Blended with Ridicule
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
I distrust those sentiments that are too far removed from nature, and whose sublimity is blended with ridicule; which two are as near one another as extreme wisdom and folly.
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The Cost of Aspiring to Teach
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I wish to become a teacher of the ]." "Are you prepared to be ridiculed, ignored and starving till you are forty-five?" "I am. But tell me: What will happen after I am forty-five?" "You will have grown accustomed to it.
[[Truth]
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The Sublime and the Absurd in Contrast
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations
That passage is what I call the sublime dashed to pieces by cutting too close with the fiery four-in-hand round the corner of nonsense.
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