Ernest Bramah Quotes

#1. He who has failed three times sets up as an instructor.

Ernest Bramah

#2. Should a person on returning from the city discover his house to be in flames, let him examine well the change which he has received from the chair-carrier before it is too late; for evil never travels alone.

Ernest Bramah

#3. One cannot live for ever by ignoring the price of coffins.

Ernest Bramah

#4. declared Mr Marrable magniloquently;

Ernest Bramah

#5. Before hastening to secure a possible reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a falling building, examine well his features lest you find, when too late, that it is one to whom you are indebted for double that amount.

Ernest Bramah

#6. There are few situations in life that cannot be resolved promptly, and to the satisfaction of all concerned, by either suicide, a bag of gold, or thrusting a despised antagonist over a precipice on a dark night

Ernest Bramah

#7. Better a dish of husks to the accompaniment of a muted lute than to be satiated with stewed shark's fin and rich spiced wine of which the cost is frequently mentioned by the provider.

Ernest Bramah

#8. He who thinks he is raising a mound may only in reality be digging a pit.

Ernest Bramah

#9. The inimitable stories of Tong-King never have any real ending, and this one, being in his most elevated style, has even less end than most of them. But the whole narrative is permeated with the odour of joss-sticks and honourable high-mindedness, and the two characters are both of noble birth.

Ernest Bramah

#10. It is a mark of insincerity of purpose to spend one's time in looking for the sacred Emperor in the low-class tea-shops.

Ernest Bramah

#11. Alas! It is well written, The road to eminence lies through the cheap and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses.

Ernest Bramah

#12. However deep you dig a well it affords no refuge in the time of flood.

Ernest Bramah

#13. The province of philosophy is not so much to prevent calamities befalling as to demonstrate that they are blessings when they have taken place.

Ernest Bramah

#14. How is it possible to suspend topaz in one cup of the balance and weigh it against amethyst in the other; or who in a single language can compare the tranquillizing grace of a maiden with the invigorating pleasure of witnessing a well-contested rat-fight?

Ernest Bramah

#15. The one-legged never stumble.

Ernest Bramah

#16. Do not adjust your sandals while passing through a melon-field, nor yet arrange your hat beneath an orange-tree.

Ernest Bramah

#17. The wise duck keeps his mouth shut when he smells frogs.

Ernest Bramah

#18. Although there exist many thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot meet a cripple without talking about feet.

Ernest Bramah

#19. Eat in the dark the bargain that you purchased in the dusk.

Ernest Bramah

#20. There are those who collect the refuse of the public streets, but in order to be received into the band it is necessary to have been born one of the Hereditary Confederacy of Superfluity Removers and Abandoned Oddment Gatherers.

Ernest Bramah

#21. One may ride upon a tiger's back but it is fatal to dismount.

Ernest Bramah

#22. Where the road bends abruptly, take short steps.

Ernest Bramah

#23. When struck by a thunderbolt it is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise meaning of the omen.

Ernest Bramah

#24. A reputation for a thousand years may depend upon the conduct of a single moment.

Ernest Bramah