Kill a man, and you are an assassin. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill everyone, and you are a god.
—Jean Rostand, 1939
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Quotes
Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it, and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, c. 1790Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.
—William Shakespeare, 1603One thing alone not even God can do: to make undone whatever has been done.
—Aristotle, c. 350 BCThe 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, 1590I do love cricket—it’s so very English.
—Sarah Bernhardt, c. 1908Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.
—Zora Neale Hurston, 1937When a man dies, and his kin are glad of it, they say, “He is better off.”
—Edgar Watson Howe, 1911It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard for their own interest.
—Adam Smith, 1776Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
—E.B. White, 1944Some to the common pulpits, and cry out / “Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!”
—William Shakespeare, c. 1599Art transcends its limitations only by staying within them.
—Flannery O’Connor, 1964Some memories are like lucky charms, talismans, one shouldn’t tell about them or they’ll lose their power.
—Iris Murdoch, 1985