The decline of the aperitif may well be one of the most depressing phenomena of our time.
—Luis Buñuel, 1983Quotes
Man is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve and from which he cannot escape.
—Erich Fromm, 1947The doctor should be opaque to his patients and, like a mirror, should show them nothing but what is shown to him.
—Sigmund Freud, 1912The only function of a school is to make self-education easier.
—Isaac Asimov, 1974If you are truly serious about preparing your child for the future, don’t teach him to subtract—teach him to deduct.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1981A shopkeeper will never get the more custom by beating his customers; and what is true of a shopkeeper is true of a shopkeeping nation.
—Josiah Tucker, 1766I cannot but bless the memory of Julius Caesar, for the great esteem he expressed for fat men and his aversion to lean ones.
—David Hume, 1751The true mission of American sports is to prepare young men for war.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower, c. 1952Writing cannot express words fully; words cannot express thoughts fully.
—The Book of Changes, c. 350 BCTime, when it is left to itself and no definite demands are made on it, cannot be trusted to move at any recognized pace. Usually it loiters, but just when one has come to count upon its slowness, it may suddenly break into a wild irrational gallop.
—Edith Wharton, 1905Oil! Our secret god, our secret sharer, our magic wand, fulfiller of our every desire, our coconspirator, the sine qua non in all we do!
—Margaret Atwood, 2015Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place.
—Samuel Johnson, 1771Water has many ways of reminding us that when we are in it we are out of our element.
—Christopher Hitchens, 2008