"Do-nothing" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... her martyrs, the irresistible determination of her bishops, the joyous swing of her advance, both exalted and abashed me. I said to myself, "Look on this picture and on that;" I felt affection for my own Church, but not tenderness; I felt dismay at her prospects, anger and scorn at her do-nothing perplexity. I thought that if Liberalism once got a footing within her, it was sure of the victory in the event. I saw that Reformation principles were powerless to rescue her. As to leaving her, the thought never crossed ...
— Apologia pro Vita Sua • John Henry Newman
... supplanting the magistrates and usurping the civil power. This was not in itself a bad move; but the Court wisely declined to engage in the proceedings. They neither prosecuted the case nor him, but let the whole go by. They adhered severely to the do-nothing policy. What a world of mischief would have been avoided, if all courts, everywhere, at all times, had shown an equal wisdom! Watts was allowed to vex the village, torment the minister, and perplex those ...
— Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II • Charles Upham
... not vile. You will show there's naught save virtue that can seriously hurt you, or your liberty enmesh; And you'll find excitement, plenty, in Art's dolce far niente, with a flavour of the flesh. And every one will say, As you lounge your upward way, "If he's content with a do-nothing life, which would certainly not suit me. What a most particularly subtle young man this subtle young man ...
— Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 99., September 20, 1890 • Various
... Cameron, Scott, or McClellan, or now; at the beginning of the war they had Generals without troops, then troops without Generals, and now they have Generals who have not commanded, or cannot command, troops. If, during the war in Poland in 1831, Warsaw, the Capital, had been overrun in such a way by do-nothing Generals, the chambermaids in the city would have taken the affair into their fair hands, and armed with certain night effluvia made short work with ...
— Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863 • Adam Gurowski |
