Death and vulgarity are the only two facts in the nineteenth century that one cannot explain away.
—Oscar Wilde, 1891
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Quotes
The call of death is a call of love. Death can be sweet if we answer it in the affirmative, if we accept it as one of the great eternal forms of life and transformation.
—Hermann Hesse, 1950When nature is overriden, she takes her revenge.
—Marya Mannes, 1958The 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, 1975Dreams have always been my friend, full of information, full of warnings.
—Doris Lessing, 1994The chief merit of language is clearness, and we know that nothing detracts so much from this as do unfamiliar terms.
—Galen, c. 175People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.
—Edmund Burke, 1790A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world as a public indecency.
—Miguel de Cervantes, 1615Exile lacks the grandeur, the majesty, of expatriation.
—Bharati Mukherjee, 1999Humiliation is the beginning of sanctification.
—John Donne, c. 1629The misfortune of the man of color is having been enslaved. The misfortune and inhumanity of the white man are having killed man somewhere.
—Frantz Fanon, 1952To live outside the law, you must be honest.
—Bob Dylan, 1966There is a time to battle against nature, and a time to obey her. True wisdom lies in making the right choice.
—Arthur C. Clarke, 1979