What a glut of books! Who can read them? As already, we shall have a vast chaos and confusion of books; we are oppressed with them, our eyes ache with reading, our fingers with turning.
—Robert Burton, 1621
Archive
Quotes
The decline of the aperitif may well be one of the most depressing phenomena of our time.
—Luis Buñuel, 1983Play, wherein persons of condition, especially ladies, waste so much of their time, is a plain instance to me that men cannot be perfectly idle; they must be doing something, for how else could they sit so many hours toiling at that which generally gives more vexation than delight to people whilst they are actually engaged in it?
—John Locke, 1693Don’t ever wear artistic jewelry; it wrecks a woman’s reputation.
—Colette, 1944I proclaim night more truthful than the day.
—Léopold Sédar Senghor, 1956I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.
—Maximilien Robespierre, 1792I care. I care about it all. It takes too much energy not to care.
—Lorraine Hansberry, 1965The spirit of revolution, the spirit of insurrection, is a spirit radically opposed to liberty.
—François Guizot, 1830I was born without knowing why, I have lived without knowing why, and I am dying without either knowing why or how.
—Pierre Gassendi, 1655Trade is a social act.
—John Stuart Mill, 1859The smell of rain is rich with life.
—Estela Portillo Trambley, 1975One who is frivolous all day will never establish a household.
—Ptahhotep, c. 2400 BCDoes anybody really want to attend to cities other than to flee, fleece, privatize, butcher, or decimate them?
—Jane Holtz Kay, 1992