In the matter of furnishing, I find a certain absence of ugliness far worse than ugliness.
—Colette, 1944
Archive
Quotes
He alone who owns the youth gains the future.
—Adolf Hitler, 1935I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.
—Catherine the Great, c. 1796Now there is fame! Of all—hunger, misery, the incomprehension by the public—fame is by far the worst. It is the castigation by God of the artist. It is sad. It is true.
—Pablo Picasso, c. 1961Play, wherein persons of condition, especially ladies, waste so much of their time, is a plain instance to me that men cannot be perfectly idle; they must be doing something, for how else could they sit so many hours toiling at that which generally gives more vexation than delight to people whilst they are actually engaged in it?
—John Locke, 1693Opposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution.
—George Eliot, 1857There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.
—Mark Twain, 1876To ensure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough; a police force is needed as well.
—Albert Camus, 1951Once you hear the details of a victory it is hard to distinguish it from a defeat.
—Jean-Paul Sartre, 1951The past grows gradually around one, like a placenta for dying.
—John Berger, 1984The envious die not once, but as often as the envied win applause.
—Baltasar Gracián, 1647Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea? How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.
—Sydney Smith, 1855Death renders all equal.
—Claudian, c. 395