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Quotes

The less intelligent the white man is, the more stupid he thinks the black.

—André Gide, 1927

Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

—William Blake, c. 1803

I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations.

—Samuel Johnson, 1773

Resorting to the law to resolve a dispute is a declaration of spiritual bankruptcy.

—Quentin Crisp, 1984

By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.

—Confucius, c. 500 BC

I was born without knowing why, I have lived without knowing why, and I am dying without either knowing why or how.

—Pierre Gassendi, 1655

An oppressed people are authorized, whenever they can, to rise and break their fetters.

—Henry Clay, 1842

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

—George W. Bush, 2004

The more laws, the more lawbreakers.

—Tao Te Ching, c. 500 BC

There are many civil questions that arise between individuals in which it is not so important the controversy be settled one way or another as that it be settled.

—William Howard Taft, 1921

There is a kind of revolution of so general a character that it changes the mental tastes as well as the fortunes of the world.

—La Rochefoucauld, 1665

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

—Benjamin Franklin, 1755

The more religious a country is, the more crimes are committed in it.

—Napoleon Bonaparte, 1817