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William Jones Quotes
1746–1794 England
Sir William Jones (September 28, 1746 – April 27, 1794) was an English philologist and student of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among Indo-European languages. He was also the founder of the Asiatic Society.
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Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven,
Some intelligent and virtuous persons are inclined to doubt the authenticity of the accounts delivered by Moses.
Fierce as they seem, some bold Plebeian spear
Caïssa: or, The Game at Chess (1763)
Go boldly forth, my simple lay,
My opinion is, that power should always be distrusted, in whatever hands it is placed.
We are told by the Grecian writers, that the Indians were the wisest of nations; and in moral wisdom, they were certainly eminent.
Plato drew many of his notions (through Egypt, where he resided for some time) from the sages of Hindustán.
I...am obliged of course to believe the sanctity of the venerable books [of Genesis].
On parent knees, a naked new-born child,
Than all Bocara's vaunted gold,
What constitutes a state?
Of armies on the chequer’d field array’d,
I propose to lay before you a concise history of Indian chronology extracted from Sanskrit books, attached to no system, and as much disposed to reject Mosaick history, if it be proved erroneous, as to believe it, if it be confirmed by sound reason from indubitable evidence.
On the Chronology of the Hindoos (1790)
If Moses then was endued with supernatural knowledge, it is no longer probable only, but absolutely certain, that the whole race of man proceeded from Iran as from a centre, whence they migrated at first in three great colonies; and that those three branches grew from a common flock, which had been miraculously preserved in a general convulsion and inundation of this globe.
I am no Hindu; but I hold the doctrine of the Hindus concerning a future state to be incomparably more rational, more pious, and more likely to deter men from vice, than the horrid opinions, inculcated on punishments without end.
Letter to Earl Spencer (1787)
Either the first eleven chapters of Genesis, all due allowances being made for a figurative Eastern style, are true, or the whole fabrick of our national religion is false, a conclusion which none of us, I trust, would wish to be drawn.
I was not a little surprised to find that out of ten words in Du Perron’s Zend Dictionary, six or seven were pure Sanskrit.
Misattributed
I have carefully and regularly perused the Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion that the volume contains more sublimity, purer morality, more important history, and finer strains of eloquence, than can be collected from all other books, in whatever language they may have been written.
Attributed
Voices of the glorified urge us onward. They who have passed from the semblances of time to the realities of eternity call upon us to advance. The rest that awaits us invites us forward. We do not pine for our rest before God wills it. We long for no inglorious rest. We are thankful rather for the invaluable training of difficulty, the loving discipline of danger and strife. Yet in the midst of it all the prospect of rest invites us heavenward. Through all, and above all, God cries, "Go forward!" "Come up higher!"
Attributed
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