Art lives from constraints and dies from freedom.
—Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1480
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Quotes
A mind lively and at ease can do with seeing nothing, and can see nothing that does not answer.
—Jane Austen, 1815Nature is the art of God.
—Thomas Browne, 1635Punishment is a sort of medicine.
—Aristotle, c. 340 BCThe important thing, I think, is not to be bitter. You know, if it turns out that there is a God, I don’t think that he’s evil. I think that the worst thing you could say about him is that basically he’s an underachiever. After all, you know, there are worse things in life than death.
—Woody Allen, 1975Business? Why, it’s very simple; business is other people’s money.
—Alexandre Dumas, 1857Diseases, at least many of them, are like human beings. They are born, they flourish, and they die.
—David Riesman, 1937All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it.
—Henry David Thoreau, 1849Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes and pompous in the grave.
—Thomas Browne, 1658Power is so apt to be insolent, and Liberty to be saucy, that they are very seldom upon good terms.
—George Savile, c. 1690Don’t hit a man at all if you can avoid it, but if you have to hit him, knock him out.
—Theodore Roosevelt, 1916It is hard when nature does not respect your intentions, and she never does exactly respect them.
—Wendell Berry, 1985I hate the whole race. There is no believing a word they say—your professional poets, I mean—there never existed a more worthless set than Byron and his friends for example.
—Duke of Wellington, c. 1810