Laurence Sterne Quotes

To be honest, whenever I run away from something, I land up straight into it.

We hasten to alienate the very fates we intended to woo.

While trying to protect the republic, the conspirators in Julius Caesar enable Mark Antony to triumph. In Rose Rage, the more Henry VI tries to fix things, the more they go wrong.

I think I know it all, relatively speaking.

I never knew a more presumptuous person than myself. The fact that I say that shows that what I say is true.

We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self-delusion reminiscent of Vietnam.

What enables us to achieve our greatness contains the seeds of our destruction.

I got ideas above my station, and I made mistakes.

Hubris is interesting, because you get people who are often very clever, very powerful, have achieved great things, and then something goes wrong - they just don't know when to stop.

The ambition and focus that propel you to success can also be your downfall.

Ego is certainly there in many of the greatest and most dizzying tales of success - but it's there in some of the greatest stories of failure and self-implosion as well.

I'm a smart guy, I like to think of myself as a smart guy, but sometimes I go out there and do a lot of dumb stuff.

Success has ruined many a man.

Who soars too near the sun, with golden wings, melts them.

All a man has is pride. Sometimes you have it so much it is a sin. We have all done things for pride that we knew were impossible. We didn't care. But a man must implement his pride with intelligence and care.

Whom the gods wish to destroy, they give unlimited resources.

There is this paradox in pride - it makes some men ridiculous, but prevents others from becoming so.

But in the present day men cast off gentleness, and are all for being bold; they spurn frugality, and retain only extravagance; they discard humility, and aim only at being first. Therefore they shall surely perish.

There is but a slight difference between the man who may be said to know nothing and him who thinks he knows everything.

He who considers himself a paragon of wisdom is sure to commit some superlatively stupid act.

I have a particular dislike of human pride. And if you think that you can engineer outcomes, that's a manifestation of pride. Among other things, it's impractical. It just doesn't work. The world doesn't work that way.

I thought that my invincible power would hold the world captive, leaving me in a freedom undisturbed. Thus night and day I worked at the chain with huge fires and cruel hard strokes. When at last the work was done and the links were complete and unbreakable, I found that it held me in its grip.

The line between confidence and arrogance is very fine, Josh,” Flamel said quietly. “And the line between arrogance and stupidity even finer. Sophie,” he added, without looking at her.

If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.