Many need no other provocation to enmity than that they find themselves excelled.
—Samuel Johnson, 1751
Archive
Quotes
God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.
—Martin LutherThe period of a [Persian] boy’s education is between the ages of five and twenty, and he is taught three things only: to ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth.
—Herodotus, c. 440 BCThere is nothing sillier than a silly laugh.
—Catullus, c. 60 BCThe slander of some people is as great a recommendation as the praise of others.
—Henry Fielding, 1730The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.
—Judge Learned Hand, 1944Our nature lies in movement; complete calm is death.
—Blaise Pascal, c. 1640If the people be the governors, who shall be governed?
—John Cotton, c. 1636Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.
—William Hazlitt, 1819I went [to war] because I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want the glory or the pay; I wanted the right thing done.
—Louisa May Alcott, 1863Time rushes toward us with its hospital tray of infinitely varied narcotics, even while it is preparing us for its inevitably fatal operation.
—Tennessee Williams, 1951Among famous traitors of history, one might mention the weather.
—Ilka Chase, 1969I always thought of photography as a naughty thing to do—that was one of my favorite things about it—and when I first did it, I felt perverse.
—Diane Arbus, c. 1950