If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
—Voltaire, 1764
Archive
Quotes
The poor man is ruined as soon as he begins to ape the rich.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCThe first thing that a new migrant sends to his family back home isn’t money; it’s a story.
—Suketu Mehta, 2019The law’s made to take care o’ raskills.
—George Eliot, 1860Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 30 BCBut of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
—Genesis, c. 900 BCMusic is our myth of the inner life.
—Susanne K. Langer, 1942No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called games.
—W.H. Auden, 1962I take it as a prime cause of the present confusion of society that it is too sickly and too doubtful to use pleasure frankly as a test of value.
—Rebecca West, 1939If there was ever a just war since the world began, it is this in which America is now engaged.
—Thomas Paine, 1778Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so shall you come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1838One of the animals which a generous and sociable man would soonest become is a dog. A dog can have a friend; he has affections and character; he can enjoy equally the field and the fireside; he dreams, he caresses, he propitiates; he offends and is pardoned; he stands by you in adversity; he is a good fellow.
—Leigh Hunt, 1834Casting lots causes contentions to cease, and keeps the mighty apart.
—Book of Proverbs, c. 350 BC