Nobody, who has not been in the interior of a family, can say what the difficulties of any individual of that family may be.
—Jane Austen, 1815
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Quotes
One’s friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.
—George Santayana, c. 1914There ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.
—Mark Twain, 1894The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.
—Vladimir Nabokov, 1941Lord, I do not ask that thou shouldst give me wealth; only show me where it is, and I will attend to the rest.
—Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1898See one promontory (said Socrates of old), one mountain, one sea, one river, and see all.
—Robert Burton, c. 1620Sobriety diminishes, discriminates, and says no; drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes.
—William James, 1902The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do just as one pleases. We go on a journey chiefly to be free of all impediments and of all inconveniences—to leave ourselves behind, much more to get rid of others.
—William Hazlitt, 1822Men have written in the most convincing manner to prove that death is no evil, and this opinion has been confirmed on a thousand celebrated occasions by the weakest of men as well as by heroes. Even so I doubt whether any sensible person has ever believed it, and the trouble men take to convince others as well as themselves that they do shows clearly that it is no easy undertaking.
—La Rochefoucauld, 1665A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.
—Arthur Miller, 1961Whoever has died is freed from sin.
—St. Paul, c. 50There is nothing sillier than a silly laugh.
—Catullus, c. 60 BCDon’t ever wear artistic jewelry; it wrecks a woman’s reputation.
—Colette, 1944