Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.
—William Morris, 1882
Archive
Quotes
One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
—André Gide, 1926Under the pressure of the cares and sorrows of our mortal condition, men have at all times and in all countries, called in some physical aid to their moral consolations—wine, beer, opium, brandy, or tobacco.
—Edmund Burke, 1795A fool and water will go the way they are diverted.
—Ethiopian proverbA functioning police state needs no police.
—William S. Burroughs, 1959What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
—Alexander Pope, 1712Go to the pine if you want to learn about the pine, or to the bamboo if you want to learn about the bamboo.
—Matsuo Basho, c. 1685There is nothing sillier than a silly laugh.
—Catullus, c. 60 BCHowever harmless a thing is, if the law forbids it, most people will think it wrong.
—W. Somerset Maugham, 1896Never greet a stranger in the night, for he may be a demon.
—Babylonian Talmud, c. 600The king times are fast finishing. There will be blood shed like water, and tears like mist; but the peoples will conquer in the end.
—Lord Byron, 1821Never make a defense or apology before you be accused.
—Charles I, 1636Animals are such agreeable friends—they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
—George Eliot, 1857