John Selden
John Selden
John Seldenwas an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath showing true intellectual depth and breadth; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned men reputed in this land."...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionStatesman
Date of Birth16 December 1584
pain trouble pleasure
Pleasure is nothing else but the intermission of pain, the enjoying of something I am in great trouble for till I have it.
ignorance men law
Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law, but because 'tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to refute him.
philosophy discretion
Philosophy is nothing but discretion.
jesus pain taken
I have taken much pains to know everything that is esteemed worth knowing amongst men; but with all my reading, nothing now remains to comfort me at the close of this life but this passage of St. Paul: "It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." To this I cleave, and herein do I find rest.
leadership world manipulation
The world cannot be governed without juggling.
made parish
The Parish makes the constable, and when the constable is made, he governs the Parish.
prayer giving reason-why
Prayer should be short, without giving God Almighty reasons why he should grant this, or that; he knows best what is good for us.
dance dancing world
There was never a merry world since the fairies left off dancing.
littles world foolery
Thou little thinkest what a little foolery governs the world.
ballads libel wells
More solid things do not show the complexion of the times so well as Ballads and Libels.
ignorance men law
Ignorance of the law excuses no man.
kings law people
Every law is a contract between the king and the people and therefore to be kept.
philosophy men two
When men comfort themselves with philosophy, 'tis not because they have got two or three sentences, but because they have digested those sentences, and made them their own: philosophy is nothing but discretion.
wit spoil stills
Women ought not to know their own wit, because they will still be showing it, and so spoil it.