One should always have one’s boots on and be ready to leave.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580
Archive
Quotes
To ensure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough; a police force is needed as well.
—Albert Camus, 1951God seems to have left the receiver off the hook, and time is running out.
—Arthur Koestler, 1967Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place.
—Samuel Johnson, 1771On no other stage are the scenes shifted with a swiftness so like magic as on the great stage of history when once the hour strikes.
—Edward Bellamy, 1888No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.
—Abraham Lincoln’Tis the sport to have the engineer / Hoist with his own petard.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1600Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed.
—John Kenneth Galbraith, 1958Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it.
—Denis Diderot, 1774Many are the wonders of the world, and none so wonderful as man.
—Sophocles, c. 441 BCPeople who’ve drunk neat wine don’t care a damn.
—Hipponax, c. 550 BCTo live on a day-to-day basis is insufficient for human beings; we need to transcend, transport, escape; we need meaning, understanding, and explanation.
—Oliver Sacks, 2012All art is a revolt against man’s fate.
—André Malraux, 1951