It would be madness, and inconsistency, to suppose that things which have never yet been performed can be performed without employing some hitherto untried means.
—Francis Bacon, 1620
Archive
Quotes
Someone will remember us
I say
even in another time.
Exchange is no robbery.
—German proverbThe criminal is the creative artist; the detective only the critic.
—G.K. Chesterton, 1911Some things are privileged from jest—namely, religion, matters of state, great persons, all men’s present business of importance, and any case that deserves pity.
—Francis Bacon, 1597All those who suffer in the world do so because of their desire for their own happiness.
—Shantideva, c. 750Thanks be to God: since my leaving drinking of wine, I do find myself much better and do mind my business better, and do spend less money, and less time lost in idle company.
—Samuel Pepys, 1662The spirit of revolution, the spirit of insurrection, is a spirit radically opposed to liberty.
—François Guizot, 1830Suffering has its limit, but fears are endless.
—Pliny the Younger, c. 108Those who give the first shock to a state are the first overwhelmed in its ruin; the fruits of public commotion are seldom enjoyed by him who was the first mover; he only beats the water for another’s net.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580Imagine a number of men in chains, all under sentence of death, some of whom are each day butchered in the sight of the others; those remaining see their own condition in that of their fellows and, looking at each other with grief and despair, await their turn. This is an image of the human condition.
—Blaise Pascal, 1669He that will cheat you at play, will cheat you any way.
—Thomas Fuller, 1732There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.
—Walter Bagehot, 1863