Time’s violence rends the soul; by the rent eternity enters.
—Simone Weil, 1947
Archive
Quotes
The only authors whom I acknowledge as American are the journalists. They indeed are not great writers, but they speak the language of their countrymen, and make themselves heard by them.
—Alexis de Tocqueville, 1840The purest joy is to live without disguise, unconstrained by the ties of a grave reputation.
—Al-Hariri, c. 1108Man is always a wizard to man, and the social world is at first magical.
—Jean-Paul Sartre, 1939A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.
—Ralph Nader, 2000By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BCSuffering has its limit, but fears are endless.
—Pliny the Younger, c. 108The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.
—John Locke, 1695Many need no other provocation to enmity than that they find themselves excelled.
—Samuel Johnson, 1751Seamen are the nearest to death and the furthest from God.
—Thomas Fuller, 1732Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed.
—John Kenneth Galbraith, 1958Disease generally begins that equality which death completes.
—Samuel Johnson, 1750It would be impossible to live for a year without disaster unless one practiced character-reading.
—Virginia Woolf, 1924