Archive

Quotes

What hath night to do with sleep?

—John Milton, 1637

The law is far, the fist is near.

—Korean proverb

Anything one is remembering is a repetition, but existing as a human being that is being, listening, and hearing is never repetition.

—Gertrude Stein, 1935

Be a good animal, true to your animal instincts.

—D.H. Lawrence, 1911

Put national causes first and personal grudges last.

—Sima Qian, c. 91 BC

Strangers are an endangered species.

—Adrienne Rich, 1980

Every gift has a personality—that of its giver.

—Nuruddin Farah, 1992

Democracy is the menopause of Western society, the grand climacteric of the body social. Fascism is its middle-aged lust.

—Jean Baudrillard, 1987

Money is mourned with deeper sorrow than friends or kindred.

—Juvenal, 128

One of the important requirements for learning how to cook is that you also learn how to eat.

—Julia Child, 2001

He who travels by sea is nothing but a worm on a piece of wood, a trifle in the midst of a powerful creation. The waters play about with him at will, and no one but God can help him.

—Muhammad as-Saffar, 1846

The Mughal’s nature is such that they demand miracles, but if a miracle were to be performed by some upright follower of our religion, they would say that it had been brought about by magic and sorcery. They would strike him down with spears or would stone him to death.

—Fr. Antonio Monserrate, 1590

In dealing with the dead, if we treat them as if they were entirely dead, that would show a want of affection and should not be done; or, if we treat them as if they were entirely alive, that would show a want of wisdom and should not be done.

—Confucius, c. 500 BC