Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.
—William Shakespeare, 1603
Archive
Quotes
Law makes long spokes of the short stakes of men.
—William Empson, 1928Sex: in America, an obsession; in other parts of the world, a fact.
—Marlene Dietrich, 1962The greatest thing in family life is to take a hint when a hint is intended—and not to take a hint when a hint isn’t intended.
—Robert Frost, 1939I even gave up, for a while, stopping by the window of the room to look out at the lights and deep, illuminated streets. That’s a form of dying, that losing contact with the city like that.
—Philip K. Dick, 1972In settling an island, the first building erected by a Spaniard will be a church, by a Frenchman a fort, by a Dutchman a warehouse, and by an Englishman an alehouse.
—Francis Grose, 1787The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
—Aristotle, c. 350 BCThere are twelve hours in the day, and above fifty in the night.
—Madame de Sévigné, 1671Travel is like adultery: one is always tempted to be unfaithful to one’s own country. To have imagination is inevitably to be dissatisfied with where you live.
—Anatole Broyard, 1989It is shameful and inhuman to treat men like chattels to make money by, or to regard them merely as so much muscle or physical power.
—Pope Leo XIII, 1891The state dictates and coerces; religion teaches and persuades. The state enacts laws; religion gives commandments. The state is armed with physical force and makes use of it if need be; the force of religion is love and benevolence.
—Moses Mendelssohn, 1783The body is an instrument which only gives off music when it is used as a body.
—Anaïs Nin, 1935What one man can invent another can discover.
—Arthur Conan Doyle, 1905