It would be madness, and inconsistency, to suppose that things which have never yet been performed can be performed without employing some hitherto untried means.
—Francis Bacon, 1620Quotes
Despotism subjects a nation to one tyrant—democracy to many.
—Marguerite Gardiner, 1839A true German can’t stand the French, / Yet willingly he drinks their wines.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1832Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.
—Willa Cather, 1918Envy and hatred are apt to blind the eyes and render them unable to behold things as they are.
—Margaret of Valois, c. 1600There is a demon who puts wings on certain tales and launches them like eagles out into space.
—Alexandre Dumas, 1846A maid that laughs is half taken.
—John Ray, 1670The mind is not, I know, a highway but a temple, and its doors should not be carelessly left open.
—Margaret Fuller, 1844There’s plenty of water in the universe without life, but nowhere is there life without water.
—Sylvia Alice Earle, 1995The home is a human institution. All human institutions are open to improvement.
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1903As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.
—Abraham Lincoln, c. 1858Can you take your country with you on the soles of your shoes?
—Georg Büchner, 1835The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
—L.P. Hartley, 1953