Quotes by Stephen Vizinczey

“There are millions of people who think that having heard about something is the same as knowing it, and their notion of culture is a mixture of elegant lifestyle and big names.”

“We live under the tyranny of various professional groups, and all the influence we could bring to bear on the running of schools, trains or power stations isnt sufficient to move a feather.”

“I submit that anyone who is trying to explain one thing in terms of something else has nothing important to say.”

“Oh God, he groaned. Id almost forgotten! What a relief it was when I stopped worrying about being good!”

“Modesty is an excuse for sloppiness, laziness, self-indulgence; small ambitions evoke small efforts”

“When too many things are taken for granted, it isnext to impossible to perceive the truth.”

“The dream of a crook is a man with a dream.”

“People will either like you for your money or theyll resent you for having it.. So youre stuck with a small group who are as rich as you are, and that doesnt give you much choice.”

“A mans virtues, it seems to me, are his abilities, and his vices are his deficiencies.”

“With professionals she was professional: she concentrated on looking unimpressed.”

I wonder, what kind of life would I have had if it hadn’t been for my mother’s tea-and-cookie parties? Perhaps it’s because of them that I’ve never thought of women as my enemies, as territories I have to conquer, but always as allies and friends - which I believe is the reason why they were friendly to me in turn. I’ve never met those she-devils you hear about: they must be too busy with those men who look upon women as a fortress they have to attack, lay waste and left in ruins.

We think of ourselves as failures, rather than renounce our belief in the possibility of perfection. We hang on to the hope of eternal love by denying even its temporary validity. It´s less painful to think Im shallow, Shes self centred, We couldnt communicate, It was all just physical, than to accept the simple fact that love is a passing sensation, for reasons beyond our control and even beyond our personalities. But who can reassure himself with his own rationalizations? No argument can fill the void of a dead feeling -- that reminder of the ultimate void, our final inconstancy. Were untrue even to life.

Consistency is a virtue for trains: what we want from a philosopher is insights, whether he comes by them consistently or not.

Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and higher education positively fortifies it.

Strange as it may seem, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and formal education positively fortifies it.

Is it possible that I am not alone in believing that in the dispute between Galileo and the Church, the Church was right and the centre of mans universe is the earth?