A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.
—James Joyce, 1922Quotes
Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth but not its twin.
—Barbara Kingsolver, 1990Information can tell us everything. It has all the answers. But they are answers to questions we have not asked, and which doubtless don’t even arise.
—Jean Baudrillard, c. 1987Tell us your phobias and we will tell you what you are afraid of.
—Robert Benchley, 1935Nothing from nothing ever yet was born.
—Lucretius, c. 58 BCI do love cricket—it’s so very English.
—Sarah Bernhardt, c. 1908The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, because the office of medicine is but to tune the curious harp of man’s body.
—Francis Bacon, 1605Drinking with women is as unnatural as scolding with ’em.
—William Wycherley, 1675Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.
—Tom Robbins, 1976Music today is nothing more than the art of performing difficult pieces.
—Voltaire, 1759Freedom of the press is only guaranteed to those who own one.
—A.J. Liebling, 1960They say that gifts persuade even the gods.
—Euripides, 431 BCAll men naturally hate each other. We have used concupiscence as best we can to make it serve the common good, but this is mere sham and a false image of charity, for essentially it is just hate.
—Blaise Pascal, c. 1655