Such then is the human state, that to wish greatness for one’s country is to wish harm to one’s neighbors.
—Voltaire, 1764
Archive
Quotes
There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580If the present be compared with the remote past, it is easily seen that in all cities and in all peoples there are the same desires and the same passions as there always were.
—Niccolò Machiavelli, c. 1513There’s hope a great man’s memory may outlive his life half a year.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1600Fear has a smell, as love does.
—Margaret Atwood, 1972Misfortune, n. The kind of fortune that never misses.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height.
—E.M. Forster, 1910Colonialism has meant selling our ore and being left with the holes.
—Samora Moisés Machel, c. 1976I cannot bear a parent’s tears.
—Virgil, c. 25 BCEvery memory everyone has ever had will eventually be underwater.
—Anthony Doerr, 2006As is the face, so is the mind.
—Roman proverbHow sad a sight is human happiness to those whose thoughts can pierce beyond an hour!
—Edward Young, 1741Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.
—Jane Austen, 1811