There lurks in every human heart a desire of distinction which inclines every man first to hope and then to believe that nature has given him something peculiar to himself.
—Samuel Johnson, 1763
Archive
Quotes
Art transcends its limitations only by staying within them.
—Flannery O’Connor, 1964You can’t find the soul with a scalpel.
—Gustave Flaubert, c. 1880How gloriously legible are the constellations of the heavens!
—Anthony Trollope, 1859A fair complexion is unbecoming to a sailor: he ought to be swarthy from the waters of the sea and the rays of the sun.
—Ovid, c. 1 BCMan, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all.
—Aristotle, c. 350 BCHappiness is a warm puppy.
—Charles Schulz, 1971The best way to fill time is to waste it.
—Marguerite Duras, 1987Shamelessness is the shame of being without shame.
—Mencius, c. 290 BCHow absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.
—Søren Kierkegaard, 1843A 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, 1946Language ought to be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.
—George Orwell, 1944Machines seem to sense that I am afraid of them. It makes them hostile.
—Sharyn McCrumb, 1990