#frivolous

O Fabricius! What would your great soul have thought, if to your own misfortune you had been called back to life and had seen the pompous face of this Rome saved by your efforts and which your honourable name had distinguished more than all its conquests? 'Gods,' you would have said, 'what has happened to those thatched roofs and those rustic dwelling places where, back then, moderation and virtue lived? What fatal splendour has succeeded Roman simplicity? What is this strange language? What are these effeminate customs? What do these statues signify, these paintings, these buildings? You mad people, what have you done? You, masters of nations, have you turned yourself into the slaves of the frivolous men you conquered? Are you now governed by rhetoricians? Was it to enrich architects, painters, sculptors, and comic actors that you soaked Greece and Asia with your blood? Are the spoils of Carthage trophies for a flute player? Romans, hurry up and tear down these amphitheatres, break up these marbles, burn these paintings, chase out these slaves who are subjugating you, whose fatal arts are corrupting you. Let other hands distinguish themselves with vain talents. The only talent worthy of Rome is that of conquering the world and making virtue reign there. When Cineas took our Senate for an assembly of kings, he was not dazzled by vain pomp or by affected elegance. He did not hear there this frivolous eloquence, the study and charm of futile men. What then did Cineas see that was so majestic? O citizens! He saw a spectacle which your riches or your arts could never produce, the most beautiful sight which has ever appeared under heaven, an assembly of two hundred virtuous men, worthy of commanding in Rome and governing the earth. ↗

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

#fabricius #frivolous #rome #values #virtue

My dad was an engineer and so I had this picture of science and technology and pursuits of the mind as being more impressive than artistic pursuits, which I saw a as kind of frivolous. ↗

— Scott McCloud

#being #dad #engineer #frivolous #had

Actually lowering the cost of insurance would be accomplished by such things as making it harder for lawyers to win frivolous lawsuits against insurance companies. ↗

— Thomas Sowell

#actually #against #companies #cost #frivolous

If I have a 12 or 14 hour workday, I am home the next. I cut out anything that is frivolous or doesn't need to be done. ↗

— Marcia Cross

#anything #cut #done #frivolous #home

It is an endless and frivolous Pursuit to act by any other Rule than the Care of satisfying our own Minds in what we do. ↗

— Richard Steele

#any #care #endless #frivolous #minds

It is shallow people who think beauty is frivolous or excessive. If you are bringing beauty and god, you are enriching the country. Rice feeds the body, books feed the mind, beauty feeds the soul. It is one thing I can really be proud of and stand tall in the world. ↗

— Imelda Marcos

#body #books #bringing #country #enriching

No love is entirely without worth, even when the frivolous calls to the frivolous and the base to the base. ↗

— Iris Murdoch

#calls #entirely #even #frivolous #love

Our health care system is the finest in the world, but we still have too many uninsured Americans, too high prices for prescription drugs, and too many frivolous lawsuits driving our physicians out of state or out of business. ↗

— Judy Biggert

#care #driving #finest #frivolous #frivolous lawsuits

It's only women who are not really quite women at all, frivolous women who have no idea, who neglect repairs. ↗

— Marguerite Duras

#idea #neglect #no idea #only #quite

Lawsuits - and frivolous lawsuits - are just sapping the life out of the people who perform the services and deliver the goods for the rest of the citizenry in the State of Montana. ↗

— Conrad Burns

#deliver #frivolous #frivolous lawsuits #goods #just