REASON

Related Subjects: Argument, Cause, Intellectuals, Intelligence, Logic, Motive, Purpose

1. Whatever sceptic could inquire for,
   For every why he had a wherefore.—SAMUEL BUTLER, Hudibras
   

2. Every man's reason must be his guide. And I may as well expect that every man should be of my size and complexion so that he should reason just as I do.—LORD CHESTERFIELD
   

3. I'll not listen to reason. .. . Reason always means what someone else has got to say.—MRS. GASKELL, Cranford
   

4. To him who looks upon the world rationally, the world in its turn presents a rational aspect. The relation is mutual.—HEGEL
   

5. Human reason needs only to will more strongly than fate, and she is fate.—THOMAS MANN, The Magic Mountain
   

6. Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.—MARCUS AURELIUS, Meditations
   

7. Endued
   With sanctity of reason.—MILTON, Paradise Lost
   

8. A man always has two reasons for doing anything—a good reason and the real reason.—J. P. MORGAN
   

9. Reason lies between the spur and the bridle.—Proverb
   

10. If you will not hear reason, she will surely rap your knuckles.—Proverb
    

11. There is a tendency among some thinkers of the present day to exalt intuition and to depreciate intellect. It is partly the outcome of the recent discoveries in psychology of Freud and his school. It comes partly from the teachings in philosophy of Nietzsche, Bergson and Croce. Political movements in Germany (Nazis) and Italy (Fascists) have brought this tendency into the world of practical affairs, and have given it a powerful influence in the shaping of events. . . . We see all around us what has been called "the retreat from Reason."—SIR HERBERT SAMUEL, Belief and Action
    

12. When a man has not a good reason for doing a thing, he has one good reason for letting it alone.—THOMAS SCOTT
    

13. Man is a reasoning animal.—SENECA
    

14. The "why" is plain as way to parish church.—SHAKESPEARE, As You Like It
    

15. Now see that noble and most sovereign reason,
    Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh.—SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet
    

16. Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
    Looking before and after, gave us not
    That capability and godlike reason
    To fust in us unused.—SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet
    

17. Give you a reason on compulsion! If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion, I.—SHAKESPEARE, Henry IV
    

18. His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff: you shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you have them, they are not worth the search.—SHAKESPEARE, The Merchant of Venice
    

19. This is the short and the long of it.—SHAKESPEARE, The Merry Wives of Windsor
    

20. It is always right that a man should be able to render a reason for the faith that is within him.—SYDNEY SMITH, Lady Holland's Memoir
    

21. I was promised on a time
    To have reason for my rhyme;
    From that time unto this season,
    I received nor rhyme nor reason.—EDMUND SPENSER, Promised Pension