James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899.
John Wagstaffe
It is invariably found that the contented man is a weak man.
It is rare indeed that there is not ample occasion for grumbling.
The benefactors of mankind are those who grumble to the best purpose. Grumbling has raised man from the condition of the gorilla to that of the judge on the bench of justice.
The history of the world is nothing but the history of successful or unsuccessful grumbling; operating in great things as in small,… inculcating through all of them the great moral, that it is not good for a man to be contented with evils that he can remove.
The philosophy of grumbling is great, but not intricate … the proof that there is something wrong, and that a sentient human being is aware of it.
The wise grumbler … is a public benefactor.
The wise man always looks to the degree of his indulgences.
To eat or drink too much, to play too much, to work too much, or to grumble too much—all these are equally pernicious.
“Toujours perdrix” is sickening.
Where would be what silly people call Progress if not for the grumblers?
Wherever there is a parliament, there must of necessity be an opposition.
Who is the best captain of a ship? The grumbler and the man of discipline, who will have things as they ought to be, even though he lose every sailor serving under him by his severity.
Who is the best general? The grumbler who insists upon having everything in mathematical order, and who has not the smallest drop of the milk of human kindness about him, whenever it is a question of duty or efficiency.
You might as well ask an oyster to make progress, as the people of any country in which grumbling could by any possibility be prohibited.