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There can be little doubt that it is the fools, and not the wise, who govern the world. While the wise are considering, the fools act; while the wise investigate, the fools have made up their minds; by the time the wise have discovered, the fools have made arrangements, and the wise, for the sake of law and order, or, if not, for the sake of peace and quietness, are obliged to give way.

— Jean Ingelow Sarah de Berenger: A Novel (1879)

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More quotes by Jean Ingelow

Man dwells apart, though not alone,
He walks among his peers unread;
The best of thoughts which he hath known,
For lack of listeners are not said.

Poems (1863)

Is there never a chink in the world above
Where they listen for words from below?

Poems (1863)

There is nothing so unreasonable as infancy, excepting the maturer stages of life.

Fated to Be Free: A Novel (1875)

If one cannot have success, the next most agreeable thing is failure.

John Jerome: His Thoughts and Ways (1886)

I have lived to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered.

Off the Skelligs: A Novel (1872)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jean Ingelow (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.