Nothing in excess.
—Indian Proverb
Violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph die; like fire and powder, which, as they kiss, consume.—They are as sick that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Pliability and liberality, when not restrained within due bounds, must ever turn to the ruin of their possessor.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom; for we never know what is enough until we know what is more than enough.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
Let us teach ourselves that honorable step, not to outdo discretion.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends –
It gives a lovely light.
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) American Poet, Playwright, Feminist
Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
The excesses of our youth are drafts upon our old age, payable with interest, about thirty years after date.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
The waste of plenty is the resource of scarcity.
—Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) English Satirist, Novelist, Author
Where there is no extravagance there is no love, and where there is no love there is no understanding.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
To go too far is as bad as to fall short.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
The best principles, if pushed to excess, degenerate into fatal vices.—Generosity is nearly allied to extravagance; charity itself may lead to ruin; and the sternness of justice is but one step removed from the severity of oppression.
—Archibald Alison (1792–1867) Scottish Attorney, Historian
There can be no excess to love, to knowledge, to beauty, when these attributes are considered in the purest sense.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
Everyone should keep a mental wastepaper basket and the older he grows the more things he will consign to it—torn up to irrecoverable tatters.
—Samuel Butler
I wish I could stand on a busy corner, hat in hand, and beg people to throw me all their wasted hours.
—Bernard Berenson (1865–1959) American Art Critic, Historian
Let’s not quibble! I’m the foe of moderation, the champion of excess. If I may lift a line from a die-hard whose identity is lost in the shuffle, “I’d rather be strongly wrong than weakly right.”
—Tallulah Bankhead (1902–68) American Actress
The waste of life occasioned by trying to do too many things at once is appalling.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
He who indulges his sense in any excesses, renders himself obnoxious to his own reason; and to gratify the brute in him, displeases the man, and sets his two natures at variance.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
All progress is based upon the universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.
—Samuel Butler
The body oppressed by excesses, bears down the mind, and depresses to the earth any portion of the divine Spirit we had been endowed with.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
Riches are for spending.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do; and with them, everything.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
All things that are pernicious in their progress must be evil in their birth, for no sooner is the government of reason thrown off, than they rush forward to their own accord; weakness takes a pleasure to indulge itself; and having imperceptibly launched out into the main ocean, can find no place where to stop.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The word which gives the key to the national vice is waste. And people who are wasteful are not wise, neither can they remain young and vigorous. In order to transmute energy to higher and more subtle levels one must first conserve it.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
The desire of power in excess caused angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall; but in charity is no excess, neither can man or angels come into danger by it.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
All excess brings on its own punishment, even here.—By certain fixed, settled, and established laws of him who is the God of nature, excess of every kind destroys that constitution which temperance would preserve.—The debauchee offers up his body a living sacrifice to sin.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
As to the rout that is made about people who are ruined by extravagance, it is no matter to the nation that some individuals suffer. When so much general productive exertion is the consequence of luxury, the nation does not care though there are debtors; nay, they would not care though their creditors were there too.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
We are no longer in a state of growth; we are in a state of excess. We are living in a society of excrescence. The boil is growing out of control, recklessly at cross purposes with itself, its impacts multiplying as the causes disintegrate.
—Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007) French Sociologist, Philosopher
The greatest wastes are unused talents and untried ideas.
—Unknown
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