A wise woman never yields by appointment. It should always be an unforeseen happiness.
—Stendhal, 1822
Archive
Quotes
Language ought to be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.
—George Orwell, 1944They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.
—Francis Bacon, 1605Dread attends the unknown.
—Nadine Gordimer, 1998Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes and pompous in the grave.
—Thomas Browne, 1658What harm is there in getting knowledge and learning, were it from a sot, a pot, a fool, a winter mitten, or an old slipper?
—François Rabelais, 1533By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BCThe distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.
—Donald Barthelme, 1964I do desire we may be better strangers.
—William Shakespeare, 1600Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
—Aleister Crowley, 1904It is not right for a ruler who has the nation in his charge, a man with so much on his mind, to sleep all night.
—Homer, c. 750 BCStrength of mind is exercise, not rest.
—Alexander Pope, 1733My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin.
—Karl Kraus, c. 1910