Thomas More
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More, venerated by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was also a councillor to Henry VIII, and Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to 16 May 1532...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth7 February 1478
men good-man
The times are never so bad but that a good man can make shift to live in them.
heaven
We cannot go to heaven in featherbeds.
may looks masters
The servant may not look to be in better case than his master.
change running confusion
Who does more earnestly long for a change than he who is uneasy in his present circumstances? And who run to create confusions with so desperate a boldness as those who have nothing to lose, hope to gain by them?
men might states
. . . the state of things and the dispositions of men were then such, that a man could not well tell whom he might trust or whom he might fear.
poetry reason rhyme
Yea, marry, now it is somewhat, for now it is rhyme; before, it was neither rhyme nor reason.
hope men drowning
A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
together comparison
No more like together than is chalke to coles.
god god-love this-life
To love God, which was a thing far excelling all the cunning that is possible for us in this life to obtain.
loss winning causes
And peradventure we have more cause to thank Him for our loss than for our winning; for His wisdom better seeth what is good for us than we do ourselves.
friendship chance made
It is part of the business of life to be affable and pleasing to those whom either nature, chance or circumstance has made our companions.
heart pride men
Pride measures prosperity not by her own advantages but by the disadvantages of others. She would not even wish to be a goddess unless there were some wretches left whom she could order about and lord it over, whose misery would make her happiness seem all the more extraordinary, whose poverty can be tormented and exacerbated by a display of her wealth. This infernal serpent, pervading the human heart, keeps men from reforming their lives, holding them back like a suckfish.
evil needs tales
A good tale evil told were better untold, and an evil take well told need none other solicitor.
office campaigns public-office
Anyone who campaigns for public office becomes disqualified for holding any office at all.