Quotations: Choice, freedom


Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French general and emperor (1769-1821)

If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.
Seneca, Roman statesman, dramatist and Stoic philosopher (4 B.C.-65 A.D.)

Shelving hard decisions is the least ethical course.
Adrian Cadbury, British business executive (b. 1929)

When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.
Max Lerner, American editor and political columnist (1902-1992)

He who has a choice has trouble.
Dutch proverb

There is a point at which everything becomes simple and there is no longer any question of choice, because all you have staked will be lost if you look back. Life’s point of no return.
Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish diplomat, U.N. Secretary General (1905-1961)

Life is the sum of your choices.
Albert Camus, French existentialist novelist (1913-1960)

Liberty means responsibility. That’s why most men dread it.
George Bernard Shaw, Anglo-Irish dramatist and wit (1856-1950)

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling that desire.
Epictetus, Greek Stoic philosopher (c. 55-c. 135 A.D.)

Freedom means choosing your burden.
Hephzibah Menuhin, American pianist (1920-1981)

Hell begins the day that God grants you the vision to see all that you could have done, should have done, and would have done, but did not do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, novelist, playwright, scientist and philosopher (1749-1832)

In order to exist, man must rebel.
Albert Camus, French existentialist novelist (1913-1960)

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