Divine nature gave the fields; human art built the cities.
—Marcus Terentius Varro, c. 70 BC
Archive
Quotes
It is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street.
—Mary Lease, c. 1890What keeps the democracy alive at all but the hatred of excellence, the desire of the base to see no head higher than their own?
—Mary Renault, 1956To outwit an enemy is not only just and glorious but profitable and sweet.
—Plutarch, c. 100If you have any soul worth expressing, it will show itself in your singing.
—John Ruskin, 1865Not all heads have a brain.
—French proverbIt is a greater advantage to be honestly educated than honorably born.
—Erasmus, 1518Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.
—Marcus Tullius Cicero, 63 BCReal education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing—the rest is mere sheep herding.
—Ezra Pound, 1934A machine is a slave that neither brings nor bears degradation.
—Benjamin Disraeli, 1844There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.
—Walter Bagehot, 1863I hate the whole race. There is no believing a word they say—your professional poets, I mean—there never existed a more worthless set than Byron and his friends for example.
—Duke of Wellington, c. 1810It’s the end of the world every day, for someone.
—Margaret Atwood, 2000