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Every quote we hold, 2473 of them from 233 people across 1123 works. Filter it, sort it, and follow any citation back to the source.
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914
By holding the representative responsible only to the people, and exempting him from all other influences, we elevate the character of the constituent and quicken his sense of responsibility to his country.
915
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Attribution contested

The letter opens by naming Paul and the catalogue records that, because it is the only claim the text itself makes. Authorship is disputed: on vocabulary, style and the situation it addresses, many scholars hold it was written in Paul's name by someone in his circle after his death. That was an ordinary practice at the time and is not the same thing as forgery — but it does mean the name on the letter is not settled.

916
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Attribution contested

The letter opens by naming Paul and the catalogue records that, because it is the only claim the text itself makes. Authorship is disputed: on vocabulary, style and the situation it addresses, many scholars hold it was written in Paul's name by someone in his circle after his death. That was an ordinary practice at the time and is not the same thing as forgery — but it does mean the name on the letter is not settled.

917
I learned that assistance given to the weak makes the one who gives it strong; and that oppression of the unfortunate makes one weak.

Attribution contested

Circulated everywhere as if you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else, which appears in none of Washington's books, addresses or letters. This is the sentence in Up from Slavery it compresses. The paraphrase is not unfair, but it is not a quotation, and it drops the second half -- the claim that oppressing the unfortunate makes the oppressor weak -- which is the part he was actually arguing.

918
Yet is it far better to light the candle than to curse the darkness.

Wrongly attributed

Adlai Stevenson used a version of this in his eulogy for Eleanor Roosevelt in 1962, and it has been hers ever since; it is also sold as Confucius and as an old Chinese proverb. It is neither. It is W. L. Watkinson, the English Methodist preacher, in a sermon called The Invincible Strategy, printed in 1907 -- and he presents it as a saying already in circulation rather than as his own coinage. What is certain is that this is the earliest printed appearance anybody has produced, and it predates Roosevelt's public life.

919
the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen nor even touched, but just felt in the heart

Attribution contested

The words are Keller's, but two things in the popular version are not. The wording is smoothed -- it usually appears as they must be felt with the heart -- and, more importantly, Keller does not present the thought as her own: she writes that her teacher explained it to her. On her own account the sentence belongs at least as much to Anne Sullivan.

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