The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.
—Anthony Burgess, 1972
Archive
Quotes
So long as one believes in God, one has the right to do the Good in order to be moral.
—Jean-Paul Sartre, c. 1950Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.
—William Shakespeare, 1603Put national causes first and personal grudges last.
—Sima Qian, c. 91 BCThose 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, 1580Carnal embrace is the practice of throwing one’s arms around a side of beef.
—Tom Stoppard, 1993I’ve been on more laps than a napkin.
—Mae WestWe want a lot of engineers in the modern world, but we do not want a world of engineers.
—Winston Churchill, 1948All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full.
—Book of Ecclesiastes, c. 250 BCThe mind is led on, step by step, to defeat its own logic.
—Dai Vernon, 1994Spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of birdsong.
—Rachel Carson, 1962Two things only the people anxiously desire, bread and the circus games.
—Juvenal, c. 121A functioning police state needs no police.
—William S. Burroughs, 1959