My mother protected me from the world and my father threatened me with it.
—Quentin Crisp, 1968
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Quotes
I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations.
—Samuel Johnson, 1773Thou art not to learn the humors and tricks of that old bald cheater, time.
—Ben Jonson, 1601Health indeed is a precious thing, to recover and preserve which we undergo any misery, drink bitter potions, freely give our goods—restore a man to his health, his purse lies open to thee.
—Robert Burton, 1621The state dictates and coerces; religion teaches and persuades. The state enacts laws; religion gives commandments. The state is armed with physical force and makes use of it if need be; the force of religion is love and benevolence.
—Moses Mendelssohn, 1783The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.
—Joseph Conrad, 1899The law looks at no one’s face.
—Gabriel Okara, 1964’Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1595A tree’s a tree. How many more do you need to look at?
—Ronald Reagan, 1965You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends.
—Joseph Conrad, 1900To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the need for thought.
—Henri Poincaré, 1903Disease generally begins that equality which death completes.
—Samuel Johnson, 1750There is no solitude in the world like that of the big city.
—Kathleen Norris, 1931