The first mistake of art is to assume that it’s serious.
—Lester Bangs, 1971
Archive
Quotes
The sea serves the pirate as well as the trader.
—Prudentius, c. 405The less intelligent the white man is, the more stupid he thinks the black.
—André Gide, 1927It is very foolish to attack one’s enemy openly if one can injure him in secret.
—Giambattista Giraldi, 1543If you were to ask me if I’d ever had the bad luck to miss my daily cocktail, I’d have to say that I doubt it; where certain things are concerned, I plan ahead.
—Luis Buñuel, 1983From a man’s face, I can read his character. If I can see him walk, I know his thoughts.
—Gaius Petronius Arbiter, c. 60No wise man ever wished to be younger.
—Jonathan Swift, 1706Our allotted time is the passing of a shadow.
—Book of Wisdom, c. 100 BCHave nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.
—William Morris, 1882Grow your tree of falsehood from a small grain of truth.
—Czeslaw Milosz, 1946When I do a show, the whole show revolves around me, and if I don’t show up, they can just forget it.
—Ethel Merman, c. 1955God is a concept by which we measure our pain.
—John Lennon, 1970An honest man is all right even if he’s an idiot…but a crook must have brains.
—Maxim Gorky, 1902