It is commonly said, and more particularly by Lord Shaftesbury, that ridicule is the best test of truth; for that it will not stic...k where it is not just. I deny it. A truth learned in a certain light, and attacked in certain words, by men of wit and humour, may, and often doth, become ridiculous, at least so far, that the truth is only remembered and repeated for the sake of the ridicule.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value--a test, it is tru...e, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Alicia Huberman: Look, I'll make it easy for you. The time has come when you must tell me that you have a wife and two adorable ch...ildren, and this madness between us can't go on any longer. T.R. Devlin: I bet you've heard that line often enough. Alicia: Right below the belt every time. Oh that isn't fair, Dev. Devlin: Skip it. We have other things to talk about. We have a job.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Captain Prescott: I don't like this. I don't like her coming here. Mr. Beardsley: She's had me worried for some time, a woman... of that sort. T.R. Devlin: What sort is that, Mr. Beardsley? Mr. Beardsley: I don't think any of us have any illusions about her character, have we Devlin? Devlin: Not at all. Not in the slightest. Miss Huberman is first, last, and always not a lady. She may be risking her life, but when it comes to being a lady, she doesn't hold a candle to your wife, sir, sitting in Washington playing bridge with three other ladies of great honor and virtue.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the sources of our troubles, we shouldn't ...test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I have come to believe ... that the stage may do more than teach, that much of our current moral instruction will not endure the t...est of being cast into a lifelike mold, and when presented in dramatic form will reveal itself as platitudinous and effete. That which may have sounded like righteous teaching when it was remote and wordy will be challenged afresh when it is obliged to simulate life itself.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »