Archive

Quotes

Drunkenness is the very sepulcher / Of man’s wit and his discretion.

—Geoffrey Chaucer, c. 1390

There was no treachery too base for the world to commit.

—Virginia Woolf, 1927

I think heaven will not be as good as earth, unless it bring with it that sweet power to remember, which is the staple of heaven here.

—Emily Dickinson, 1879

Memory is more indelible than ink.

—Anita Loos, 1974

Democracy cannot be static. Whatever is static is dead.

—Eleanor Roosevelt, 1942

It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.

—Francis Bacon, 1625

Every tooth in a man’s head is more valuable than a diamond.

—Miguel de Cervantes, 1605

Let us have peace, but let us have liberty, law, and justice first.

—Frederick Douglass, 1878

The legislator is like the navigator of a ship on the high seas. He can steer the vessel on which he sails, but he cannot alter its construction, raise the wind, or stop the waves from swelling beneath his feet.

—Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835

There are twelve hours in the day, and above fifty in the night.

—Madame de Sévigné, 1671

There’s hope a great man’s memory may outlive his life half a year.

—William Shakespeare, c. 1600

Be a good animal, true to your animal instincts.

—D.H. Lawrence, 1911

The more enlightened our houses are, the more their walls ooze ghosts.

—Italo Calvino, 1967