“Do nothing, only keep agitating, debating; and things will destroy themselves.”

— Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution, 1837, Pt. I, Bk. VI, ch. 3

About Thomas Carlyle

1795 – 1881

Scottish historian and essayist, author of "Sartor Resartus".

“Change, indeed, is painful; yet ever needful; and if Memory have its force and worth, so also has Hope.”

“No man who has once heartily and wholly laughed can be altogether irreclaimably bad.”

“The true University of these days is a collection of Books.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”