It 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, 1776
Archive
Quotes
I prefer liberty with unquiet to slavery with quiet.
—Sallust, c. 35 BCThere is no man so fortunate that there shall not be by him when he is dying some who are pleased with what is going to happen.
—Marcus Aurelius, c. 175Fire destroys that which feeds it.
—Simone Weil, c. 1940Nature’s rules have no exceptions.
—Herbert Spencer, 1851A true German can’t stand the French, / Yet willingly he drinks their wines.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1832I hate the sight of monkeys; they remind me so of poor relations.
—Henry Luttrell, 1820The man in constant fear is every day condemned.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCI looked and there was a pale green horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed with him.
—Book of Revelations, c. 90The path of social advancement is, and must be, strewn with broken friendships.
—H.G. Wells, 1905Your piping-hot lie is the best of lies.
—Plautus, c. 200 BCWhether for good or evil, it is sadly inevitable that all political leadership requires the artifices of theatrical illusion. In the politics of a democracy, the shortest distance between two points is often a crooked line.
—Arthur Miller, 2001Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
—Saint Augustine, c. 400