Had Cleopatra’s nose been shorter, the whole face of the world would have changed.
—Blaise Pascal, 1658
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Quotes
There is no work of human hands which time does not wear away and reduce to dust.
—Marcus Tullius Cicero, 46 BCRefrigerators and television sets, or even rockets sent to the moon, do not change man into God.
—Czesław Miłosz, 1960When arms speak, the laws are silent.
—Cicero, 52 BCIn Washington, the first thing people tell you is what their job is. In Los Angeles you learn their star sign. In Houston you’re told how rich they are. And in New York they tell you what their rent is.
—Simon Hoggart, 1990Modesty is a virtue not often found among poets, for almost every one of them thinks himself the greatest in the world.
—Miguel de Cervantes, 1615The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
—Charles Darwin, 1871Enemies to me are the sauce piquant to my dish of life.
—Elsa Maxwell, 1955War is the child of pride, and pride the daughter of riches.
—Jonathan Swift, 1697Every ass thinks himself worthy to stand with the king’s horses.
—Gnomologia, 1732Under the pressure of the cares and sorrows of our mortal condition, men have at all times and in all countries, called in some physical aid to their moral consolations—wine, beer, opium, brandy, or tobacco.
—Edmund Burke, 1795Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.
Gossip is the opiate of the oppressed.
—Erica Jong, 1973