When the missionaries first came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, “Let us pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land.
—Desmond Tutu, 1984
Archive
Quotes
The only equals are those who are equally rich.
—Burundian proverbThe only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. Probably at the next gas station.
—Hunter S. Thompson, 1971Fire is a natural symbol of life and passion, though it is the one element in which nothing can actually live.
—Susanne K. Langer, 1942Life is no way to treat an animal.
—Kurt Vonnegut, 2005Oil dependency is not just an economic attachment but appears as a kind of cognitive compulsion.
—Peter Hitchcock, 2010What is death? A scary mask. Take it off—see, it doesn’t bite.
—Epictetus, c. 110He that serves God for money will serve the Devil for better wages.
—Roger L’Estrange, 1692A change in the weather is sufficient to create the world and oneself anew.
—Marcel Proust, c. 1920Pushing someone toward liberty does not set her free; taking the chains off a prisoner does not give him freedom.
—Ken Bugul, 1982Laws, like houses, lean on one another.
—Edmund Burke, 1765Happiness is no laughing matter.
—Richard Whately, 1843I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do—that was one of my favorite things about it—and when I first did it, I felt perverse.
—Diane Arbus, c. 1950