Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyts New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Spirit; Spirits
Why, a spirit is such a little, little thing, that I have heard a man, who was a great scholar, say that hell dance ye a hornpipe upon the point of a needle. AddisonThe Drummer. Act I. Sc. 1.
Some who are far from atheists, may make themselves merry with that conceit of thousands of spirits dancing at once upon a needles point. CudworthTrue Intellectual System of the Universe. Vol. III. P. 497. Ed. 1829. Isaac DIsraeli in Curiosities of Literature. Quodlibets, quotes from Aquinas, How many angels can dance on the point of a very fine needle without jostling each other. The idea, not the words, are in AquinasSumma and Sentences. Credited also to Bernardo de Carpino and Alagona.
A Corpse or a Ghost Id sooner be one or tother, square and fair, than a Ghost in a Corpse, which is my feelins at present. William De MorganJoseph Vance. Ch. XXXIX.
Aërial spirits, by great Jove designd To be on earth the guardians of mankind: Invisible to mortal eyes they go, And mark our actions, good or bad, below: The immortal spies with watchful care preside, And thrice ten thousand round their charges glide: They can reward with glory or with gold, A power they by Divine permission hold. HesiodWorks and Days. L. 164.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Proverbs. XVI. 32. Mishna. Ethics of the Fathers. IV. 2.
After the spiritual powers, there is no thing in the world more unconquerable than the spirit of nationality . The spirit of nationality in Ireland will persist even though the mightiest of material powers be its neighbor. George W. RussellThe Economics of Ireland. P. 23.
Boatman, come, thy fare receive; Thrice thy fare I gladly give, For unknown, unseen by thee, Spirits twain have crossed with me. UhlandThe Ferry Boat. Skeats trans.