quotations about custom
For the customs of the peoples are delusion;
Because it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
They decorate it with silver and with gold;
They fasten it with nails and with hammers
So that it will not totter.
Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.
BIBLE
Jeremiah 10:3-5
Custom is the sovereign of mortals and of gods: with its powerful hand it regulates things the most violent.
PINDARUS
attributed, Day's Collacon
So many countries, so many customs.
JOHN RAY
English Proverbs
But to my mind, though I am native here,
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honour'd in the breach than the observance.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Hamlet
The slaves of custom and established mode,
With pack-horse constancy we keep the road
Crooked or straight, through quags or thorny dells,
True to the jingling of our leader's bells.
WILLIAM COWPER
The Task
Custom alone regulates morals.
ANATOLE FRANCE
The Revolt of the Angels
What humanity abhors, custome reconciles and recommends to us.
JOHN LOCKE
On Education
There is no greater tyranny than that of social custom.
ELIZABETH GOUGE
The Dean's Watch
'Tis nothing when you are used to it.
JONATHAN SWIFT
Polite Conversation
Customs may not be as wise as laws, but they are always more popular.
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
speech in the House of Commons, March 11, 1870
Times change: it was once the custom to take a bath weekly and religion daily.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
Custom, though never so ancient, without truth, is but an old error.
CYPRIAN
attributed, Day's Collacon