Seek not water, only show you are thirsty, / That water may spring up all around you.
—Rumi, c. 1260
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Quotes
Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.
—Socrates, c. 430 BCShame on the soul, to falter on the road of life while the body still perseveres.
—Marcus Aurelius, c. 170A criminal may improve and become a decent member of society. A foreigner cannot improve. Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. There is no way out for him.
—George Mikes, 1946Cities are the abyss of the human species.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762We must select the illusion which appeals to our temperament and embrace it with passion if we want to be happy.
—Cyril Connolly, 1944The mansion of modern freedoms stands on an ever-expanding base of fossil-fuel use.
—Dipesh Chakrabarty, 2008It’s good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for a while their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers.
—Maya Angelou, 2011He alone who owns the youth gains the future.
—Adolf Hitler, 1935Law makes long spokes of the short stakes of men.
—William Empson, 1928Revolution begins in putting on bright colors.
—Tennessee Williams, 1944Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.
—Mark Twain, 1893Be temperate in wine, in eating, girls, and sloth, or the Gout will seize you.
—Benjamin Franklin, 1734