Discretion Quotes

At times discretion should be thrown aside, and with the foolish we should play the fool. (Menander)
Every man has his dignity. I'm willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to. View quote
Denis Diderot
I cannot and do not live in the world of discretion, not as a writer, anyway. I would prefer to, I assure you - it would make life easier. But discretion is, unfortunately, not for novelists. View quote
Philip Roth
Discretion of speech is more than eloquence, and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words, or in good order. View quote
Francis Bacon
Discretion in speech is more than eloquence. View quote
Francis Bacon
Discretion is not the better part of biography. View quote
Lytton Strachey
It has always been the particular forte of German leadership to grant wide scope to the self-dependence of subordinate commanders - to allot them tasks which leave the method of execution to the discretion of the individual. From time immemorial - certainly since the elder Moltke's day - this principle has distinguished Germany's military leadership from that of other armies. View quote
Erich von Manstein
Philosophy is nothing but discretion. View quote
John Selden
Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life. View quote
Walter Scott
Discretion is the polite word for hypocrisy. View quote
Christine Keeler
We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. ... It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now much more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries. (David Rockefeller)
I know of no safe repository for the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to increase their discretion by education. View quote
Thomas Jefferson
Absolute discretion is a ruthless master. It is more destructive of freedom than any of man's other inventions. View quote
William O. Douglas
It is the function of a judge not to make but to declare the law, according to the golden mete-wand of the law and not by the crooked cord of discretion. View quote
Edmund Burke
The first duty of a state is to see that every child born therein shall be well housed, clothed, fed and educated till it attains years of discretion. View quote
John Ruskin
Courage that grows from constitution very often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it, and when it is only a kind of instinct in the Soul breaks out on all occasions without judgment or discretion. That courage which proceeds from the sense of our duty, and from the fear of offending Him that made us, acts always in a uniform manner, and according to the dictates of right reason. View quote
Joseph Addison
Cunning is only the mimic of discretion, and may pass upon weak men in the same manner as vivacity is often mistaken for wit, and gravity for wisdom. View quote
Joseph Addison
Though a man has all other perfections, and wants discretion, he will be of no great consequence in the world; but if he has this single talent in perfection, and but a common share of others, he may do what he pleases in his station of life. View quote
Joseph Addison
Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer; there is nobility in preserving it coolly and proudly through long youth, until at last, in the ripeness of instinct and discretion, it can be safely exchanged for fidelity and happiness. View quote
George Santayana
Courts are the mere instruments of the law, and can will nothing. When they are said to exercise a discretion, it is a mere legal discretion, a discretion to be exercised in discerning the course prescribed by law; and, when that is discerned, it is the duty of the Court to follow it. Judicial power is never exericised for the purpose of giving effect to the will of the Judge; always for the purpose of giving effect to the will of the Legislature; or, in other words, to the will of the law. View quote
John Marshall
The policeman on the beat or in the patrol car makes more decisions and exercises broader discretion affecting the daily lives of people every day and to a greater extent, in many respects, than a judge will ordinarily exercise in a week. (Warren E. Burger)
Zaphod did not want to tangle with them and, deciding that just as discretion is the better part of valor, so was cowardice is the better part of discretion, he valiantly hid himself in a closet. View quote
Douglas Adams
Discretion has been termed the better part of valour, and it is more certain, that diffidence is the better part of knowledge. View quote
Charles Caleb Colton
Discretion is the better part of valor. View quote
William Shakespeare
The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life. View quote
William Shakespeare