Quotes from James Stephens

A man and a woman may become quite intimate in a quarter of an hour. Almost certainly will they endeavour to explain themselves to each other before many minutes have elapsed; but a man and a man will not do this, and even less so will a woman and a woman, for these are parallel lines which will never meet.

To ask questions can become the laziest and wobbliest occupation of a mind, but when you must yourself answer the problem that you have posed, you will meditate your question with care and frame it with precision.

We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered, we get wise, for a well-packed question carries its answer on its back as a snail carries its shell.

Any fool can wash himself, but every wise man knows that it is an unnecessary labour, for nature will quickly reduce him to a natural and healthy dirtiness again.

The inexorable compulsion of all things is towards health or destruction, life or death, and we hasten our joys or our woes to the logical extreme. It is urgent, therefore, that we be joyous if we wish to live.

Women are stronger than men - they do not die of wisdom.

To understand the theory which underlies all things is not sufficient. Theory is but the preparation for practice.

A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust.

To work is nothing; the king on his throne, the priest kneeling before the Holy Altar, all people in all places had to work, but no person at all need be a servant.

You must be fit to give before you can be fit to receive.

Man works outwardly and inwardly - after rest, he has energy; after energy, he needs repose; so, when we have given instruction for a time, we need instruction and must receive it, or the spirit faints and wisdom herself grows bitter.

Chaos is the first condition. Order is the first law. Continuity is the first reflection. Quietude is the first happiness.

A woman is a branchy tree and man a singing wind; and from her branches carelessly he takes what he can find.

It is by love alone that we understand anything

Under all wrongdoing lies personal vanity or the feeling that we are endowed and privileged beyond our fellows.

Sleep is an excellent way of listening to an opera.

The trouble of the king becomes the trouble of the subject, for how shall we live if judgement is withheld, or if faulty decisions are promulgated?

Let the past be content with itself, for man needs forgetfulness as well as memory.

What the heart knows today, the head will understand tomorrow.

Knowledge, may it be said, is higher than magic and is more to be sought. It is quite possible to see what is happening and yet not know what is forward, for while seeing is believing, it does not follow that either seeing or believing is knowing.

Originality does not consist in saying what no one has ever said before, but in saying exactly what you think yourself.

When a woman speaks to a man about the love she feels for another man, she is not liked.

If men understood domestic economy half as well as women do, then their political economy and their entire consequent statecraft would not be the futil muddle which it is.

Curiosity will conquer fear more than bravery will.