William Lyon Quotes & Sayings

The principle of happiness should be like the principle of virtue: it should not be dependent of things, but be a part of personality [and character]. — William Lyon Phelps

Once a nation parts with the control of its credit, it matters not who makes the laws. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

The greatest of all the arts is the art of living together! — William Lyon Phelps

Let it be remembered, too, that at a time of war, nearly every one is under great strain. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything. — William Lyon Phelps

Just when we most need to be clearheaded, in order to face the hard facts before us, there is all too frequently a very real inclination to give way to dangerous tendencies merely as an escape from realities. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in New York. — William Lyon Phelps

I believed the people had a true instinct in most matters of government when left alone. That they were not swayed, as specially favoured individuals were, by personal interest, but rather by a sense of what best served the common good. That they recognized the truth when it was put before them, and that a leader can guide so long as he kept to the right lines. I did not think it was a mark of leadership to try to make the people do what one wanted them to do. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

If happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care, then the happiest individual would not be either a man or a woman; it would be, I think, an American cow. — William Lyon Phelps

For one cause or another, it has become necessary to impose restrictions upon the use of many commodities, including not a few of the necessities of life. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

I really believe my greatest service is in the many unwise steps I prevent. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Far more has been accomplished for the welfare and progress of mankind by preventing bad actions than by doing good ones. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

There is a strange reluctance on the part of most people to admit they enjoy life. — William Lyon Phelps

Regardless of what one's attitude towards prohibition may be, temperance is something against which, at a time of war, no reasonable protest can be made. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Workers in industry are the partners in war of the fighting forces. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

One appreciates that daily life is really good when one wakes from a horrible dream, or when one takes the first outing after a sickness. Why not realize it now? — William Lyon Phelps

In the whole story of Jesus Christ, the most important event is the resurrection. — William Lyon Phelps

On behalf of the federal government, I wish now publicly to appeal to the provinces to lend their co-operation in furthering our country's war effort by effecting at as early a date as may be possible this much needed restriction. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

No one will deny that the excessive use of alcohol and alcoholic beverages would do more than any other single factor to make impossible a total war effort. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Not doing more than the average is what keeps the average down. — William Lyon Phelps

When gasoline and rubber are rationed, electric power and transport facilities are becoming increasingly scarce, and manpower shortages are developing, it is difficult for people to understand their increased use for other than the most vital needs of war. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Real happiness is not dependent on external things. — William Lyon Phelps

PAINT THE WALLS OF your mind With many beautiful pictures. — William Lyon Phelps

Two persons who love each other are in a place more holy than the interior of a church. — William Lyon Phelps

I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget. — William Lyon Phelps

You can be deprived of your money, your job and your home by someone else, but remember that no one can ever take away your honor. — William Lyon Phelps

The people of Canada do not wish as a result of mass immigration to make a fundamental alteration in the character of our population. Large scale immigration from the Orient would change the fundamental composition of the Canadian population. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

A well-ordered life is like climbing a tower; the view halfway up is better than the view from the base, and it steadily becomes finer as the horizon expands. — William Lyon Phelps

I've always found that you can control people better if you don't see too much of them. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

When it comes to politics, one has to do as one at sea with a sailing ship, reach one's course having regard to prevailing winds. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Being educated means to prefer the best not only to the worst but to the second best. — William Lyon Phelps

Few would venture to deny the advantages of temperance in increasing the efficiency of a nation at war. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

The amazing activity of the cat is delicately balanced by his capacity for relaxation. Every household should contain a cat, not only for decorative and domestic values, but because the cat in quiescence is medicinal to irritable, tense, tortured men and women. — William Lyon Phelps

The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on a fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older. — William Lyon Phelps

The happiest people in this world are those who have the most interesting thoughts. — William Lyon Phelps

The kind of happiness that stays with you is the happiness that springs from inward thoughts and emotions. — William Lyon Phelps

Conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

The fear of life is the favorite disease of the 20th century. — William Lyon Phelps

Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good company, good conversation, are the happiest people in the world. — William Lyon Phelps

If I am outspoken of the dangers of intemperance to members of our armed forces, it is because we are all especially concerned for the welfare of those who are risking their lives in the cause of freedom. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

In a start-up company, you basically throw out all assumptions every three weeks. — William Lyon Phelps

Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility, all talks of the sovereignty of Parliament and of democracy is idle and futile. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government, which sooner or later becomes autocratic government. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Each year, therefore, a dollar spent on alcoholic beverages has purchased a smaller quantity. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

If I were running the world I would have it rain only between 2 and 5 a.m. Anyone who was out then ought to get wet. — William Lyon Phelps

Life, with all it's sorrows, cares, perplexities and heart-breaks, is more interesting than bovine placidity, hence more desirable. The more interesting it is, the happier it is. — William Lyon Phelps

Never try to outsmart a woman, unless you are another woman. — William Lyon Phelps

Honesty is not necessarily the best policy. The best policy would be to acquire a reputation for honesty and then to cheat at the psychological moment. — William Lyon Phelps

I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without a Bible. — William Lyon Phelps

There is never much trouble in any family where the children hope someday to resemble their parents. — William Lyon Phelps

Temperance is essential, if the services of men and women are to be employed to the best and most useful effect according, to the physical capacity and ability of each. Nothing less will assure a total effort. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Since the outbreak of war, there has been in our country a steady increase in the consumption of spirits, wine and beer. It is estimated that in dollar volume, the annual outlay is now practically double what it was before the war. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

But I give you my word, in the entire book there is nothing that cannot be said aloud in mixed company. And there is, also, nothing that makes you a bit the wiser. I wonder
oh, what will you think of me
if those two statements do not verge upon the synonymous. — Dorothy Parker

A true man does not only stand up for himself, he stands up for those that do not have the ability to. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

The anxiety of most parents in seeing their sons and daughters enlist does not lie only in the fear of the physical dangers they may encounter. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

I find daily life not always joyous, but always interesting. I have some sad days and nights, but none that are dull. As I advance deeper into the vale of years, I live with constantly increasing gusto and excitement. I am sure it all means something; in the last analysis, I am an optimist because I believe in God. Those who have no faith are quite naturally pessimists and I do not blame them. — William Lyon Phelps

From the outset of the war, the Canadian people have clearly shown that it is their desire to help in every way to make Canada's war effort as effective as possible. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Usury once in control will wreck the nation. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

As to the advantages of temperance in the training of the armed forces and of its benefits to the members of the forces themselves, there can be no doubt in the world. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

The greatly increased consumption of alcoholic beverages is very largely a direct result of the increased purchasing power created by wartime expenditures. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

I do not know how wicked American millionaires are, but as I travel about and see the results of their generosity in the form of hospitals, churches, public libraries, universities, parks, recreation grounds, art museums and theatres I wonder what on earth we should do without them. — William Lyon Phelps

Herein lies the real value of education. Advanced education may or may not make men and women more efficient; but it enriches personality, increases the wealth of the mind, and hence brings happiness. — William Lyon Phelps

Nor do we begin to have a clear appreciation of what the increase in consumption of alcoholic beverages in wartime means in increased risk, and in loss of efficiency to the fighting and working forces of the country. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Self-denial and self-discipline, however, will be recognized as the outstanding qualities of a good soldier. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

A cat pours his body on the floor like water. It is restful just to see him. — William Lyon Phelps

"Hence," goes on the professor, "definitions of happiness are interesting." I suppose the best thing to do with that is to let is pass. Me, I never saw a definition of happiness that could detain me after train-time, but that may be a matter of lack of opportunity, of inattention, or of congenital rough luck. If definitions of happiness can keep Professor Phelps on his toes, that is little short of dandy. We might just as well get on along to the next statement, which goes like this: "One of the best" (we are still on definitions of happiness) "was given in my Senior year at college by Professor Timothy Dwight: 'The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts.'" Promptly one starts recalling such Happiness Boys as Nietzche, Socrates, de Maupassant, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, William Blake, and Poe."
-Review of the book, Happiness, by (Professor) William Lyon Phelps. Review title: The Professor Goes in for Sweetness and Light; November 5, 1927 — Dorothy Parker

If the military might of Germany and Japan are ultimately to be crushed, the United Nations, one and all, must definitely and urgently strive toward a total war effort. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

How essential it is in youth to acquire some intellectual or artistic tastes, in order to furnish the mind, to be able to live inside a mind with attractive and interesting pictures on the walls. — William Lyon Phelps

One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute. — William Lyon Phelps

It is what we prevent, rather than what we do that counts most in Government. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Unlimited power is worse for the average person than unlimited alcohol; and the resulting intoxication is more damaging for others. Very few have not deteriorated when given absolute dominion. It is worse for the governor than for the governed. — William Lyon Phelps

Nature makes boys and girls lovely to look upon so they can be tolerated until they acquire some sense. — William Lyon Phelps

In the twelve months immediately preceding the outbreak; of war, the quantity of spirits, both domestic and imported released for sale in Canada, amounted to over three and a half million proof gallons. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

The highest happiness on earth is marriage. Every man who is happily married is a successful man even if he has failed in everything else. — William Lyon Phelps

The increased consumption of alcoholic beverages in Canada since the outbreak of war is one evidence of this. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything, including those things that other people are certain are impossible. — William Lyon Phelps

I would not wish to imply that most industrial accidents are due to intemperance. But, certainly, temperance has never failed to reduce their number. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Every time you acquire a new interest, even more, a new accomplishment, you increase your power of life. — William Lyon Phelps

But in a private library, you can at any moment converse with Socrates or Shakespeare or Carlyle or Dumas or Dickens or Shaw or Barrie or Galsworthy. And there is no doubt that in these books you see these men at their best. They wrote for you. They "laid themselves out," they did their ultimate best to entertain you, to make a favorable impression. You are necessary to them as an audience is to an actor; only instead of seeing them masked, you look into their innermost heart of heart. — William Lyon Phelps

My religious faith remains in possession of the field only after prolonged civil war with my naturally skeptical mind. — William Lyon Phelps

Why is it that so many people are afraid to admit they are happy? — William Lyon Phelps

The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good company, good conversation, are the happiest people in the world. And they are not only happy in themselves, they are the cause of happiness in others. — William Lyon Phelps

Every hour of useful work is precious. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Whenever it is in any way possible, every boy and girl should choose as his life work some occupation which he should like to do anyhow, even if he did not need the money. — William Lyon Phelps

[On William Lyon Phelps's Happiness:] It is second only to a rubber duck as the ideal bathtub companion. It may be held in the hand without causing muscular fatigue ... and it may be read through before the water has cooled. And if it slips down the drain pipe, all right, it slips down the drain pipe. — Dorothy Parker

Whenever it is possible, a boy should choose some occupation which he should do even if he did not need the money. — William Lyon Phelps

God speaks to me not through the thunder and the earthquake, nor through the ocean and the stars, but through the Son of Man, and speaks in a language adapted to my imperfect sight and hearing. — William Lyon Phelps

Only the man who disciplines himself strictly can stand for long the terrific pace of modern war. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

The highest happiness on earth is the happiness of marriage. — William Lyon Phelps

To a man the greatest blessing is individual liberty; to a dog it is the last word in despair. — William Lyon Phelps

A student never forgets an encouraging private word, when it is given with sincere respect and admiration. — William Lyon Phelps

The teacher should make a concerted effort never to lose his temper in the presence of the class. If a man, he may take refuge in profane soliloquies. If a woman, she may follow the example of one sweet-faced tranquil girl who went out in the yard and gnawed a post. — William Lyon Phelps

Fortunately, the Canadian people in all their habits, are essentially a temperate people. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

Marriage is a fine and sacred thing if you make it so. — William Lyon Phelps

A middle-aged cat will often play as unreservedly as a kitten, though he knows perfectly well it is only a game. — William Lyon Phelps

At a certain age some people's minds close up; they live on their intellectual fat. — William Lyon Phelps

There can be little doubt that absence from work, and inefficient work, are frequently due to intemperance. — William Lyon Mackenzie King

This is the final test of a gentleman: His respect for those who can be of no possible service to him. — William Lyon Phelps

A bibliophile of little means is likely to suffer often. Books don't slip from his hands but fly past him through the air, high as birds, high as prices. — William Lyon Phelps