„Schlag schon zu, Mann!“
— Walter Raleigh
Letzte Worte zu seinem Scharfrichter vor seiner Enthauptung, 29. Oktober 1618
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Walter Raleigh
Geburtstag: 1554
Todesdatum: 29. Oktober 1618
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Sir Walter Raleigh war ein englischer Seefahrer, Entdecker, Soldat, Spion, Politiker, Dichter und Schriftsteller sowie Günstling der englischen Königin Elisabeth I.
Zitate Walter Raleigh
„Die Welt ist nur ein großes Gefängnis, aus dem täglich einige zur Exekution geführt werden.“
— Walter Raleigh
Ausspruch im Gefängnis vor seiner Hinrichtung, 1618
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„Wenn das Herz am rechten Fleck ist, spielt es keine Rolle, wo der Kopf ist.“
— Walter Raleigh
Letzte Worte vor seiner Enthauptung, 29. Oktober 1618
„Take care that thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even the wisest men are abused by these. Know, therefore, that flatterers are the worst kind of traitors; for they will strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils, correct thee in nothing; but so shadow and paint all thy vices and follies, as thou shalt never, by their will, discern evil from good, or vice from virtue.“
— Walter Raleigh
Context: Take care that thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even the wisest men are abused by these. Know, therefore, that flatterers are the worst kind of traitors; for they will strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils, correct thee in nothing; but so shadow and paint all thy vices and follies, as thou shalt never, by their will, discern evil from good, or vice from virtue. And, because all men are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the additions of other men's praises is most perilous. Do not therefore praise thyself, except thou wilt be counted a vain-glorious fool; neither take delight in the praises of other men, except thou deserve it, and receive it from such as are worthy and honest, and will withal warn thee of thy faults; for flatterers have never any virtue — they are ever base, creeping, cowardly persons. A flatterer is said to be a beast that biteth smiling: it is said by Isaiah in this manner — "My people, they that praise thee, seduce thee, and disorder the paths of thy feet;" and David desired God to cut out the tongue of a flatterer.
But it is hard to know them from friends, they are so obsequious and full of protestations; for as a wolf resembles a dog, so doth a flatterer a friend. A flatterer is compared to an ape, who, because she cannot defend the house like a dog, labour as an ox, or bear burdens as a horse, doth therefore yet play tricks and provoke laughter. Thou mayest be sure, that he that will in private tell thee thy faults is thy friend; for he adventures thy mislike, and doth hazard thy hatred; for there are few men that can endure it, every man for the most part delighting in self-praise, which is one of the most universal follies which bewitcheth mankind.
Chapter III
„Our passions are most like to floods and streams;
The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb.“
— Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh to the Queen (published 1655); alternately reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919) as:
"Passions are likened best to floods and streams:
The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb"
and titled The Silent Lover. Compare: "Altissima quæque flumina minimo sono labi", (translated: "The deepest rivers flow with the least sound"), Q. Curtius, vii. 4. 13. "Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep", William Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI. act iii. sc. i.
„Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall.“
— Walter Raleigh
Poem written in a glass window obvious to the Queen's eye, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). "Her Majesty, either espying or being shown it, did under-write, 'If thy heart fails thee, climb not at all'", Thomas Fuller, Worthies of England, vol. i. p. 419.
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„What dependence can I have on the alleged events of ancient history, when I find such difficulty in ascertaining the truth regarding a matter that has taken place only a few minutes ago, and almost in my own presence!“
— Walter Raleigh
Upon receiving discrepant accounts from the participants in a recent quarrel below his window.
Robert Chambers, [http://books.google.com/books?id=pChcAAAAQAAJ& Testimony: its Posture in the Scientific World] (1859) p. 12
„What is our life? A play of passion;
our mirth: the music of division;
our mother's wombs: the tiring houses be
where we are dressed for this short comedy.
Heaven the judicious sharp spectator is
that sits and marks still who doth act amiss.
Our graves that hide us from the searching sun
are like drawn curtains when the play is done.
Thus march we playing to our latest rest,
only we die in earnest, that's no jest.“
— Walter Raleigh
"On the Life of Man" (1612)
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„[History] hath triumphed over time, which besides it nothing but eternity hath triumphed over.“
— Walter Raleigh
The History of the World (1614), Preface
„Historians desiring to write the actions of men, ought to set down the simple truth, and not say anything for love or hatred; also to choose such an opportunity for writing as it may be lawful to think what they will, and write what they think, which is a rare happiness of the time.“
— Walter Raleigh
Chapter 25
„All, or the greatest part of men that have aspired to riches or power, have attained thereunto either by force or fraud, and what they have by craft or cruelty gained, to cover the foulness of their fact, they call purchase, as a name more honest. Howsoever, he that for want of will or wit useth not those means, must rest in servitude and poverty.“
— Walter Raleigh
Chapter 25
