The self is like an infant: given free rein, it craves to suckle.
—al-Busiri, c. 1250
Archive
Quotes
Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so is he.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCThe body is an instrument which only gives off music when it is used as a body.
—Anaïs Nin, 1935No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation.
—Woodrow Wilson, 1915We have to ask ourselves whether medicine is to remain a humanitarian and respected profession or a new but depersonalized science in the service of prolonging life rather than diminishing human suffering.
—Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, 1969Man is a troublesome animal and therefore is not very manageable.
—Plato, c. 349 BCWhy listen to me? I can only predict epidemics and plagues.
—Larry Kramer, 1992The passion for setting people right is in itself an afflictive disease.
—Marianne Moore, 1935The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty, and death of public opinion.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1902In the Middle Ages people were tourists because of their religion, whereas now they are tourists because tourism is their religion.
—Robert Runcie, 1988I have given up considering happiness as relevant.
—Edward Gorey, 1974Sooner or later if the activity of the mind is restricted anywhere, it will cease to function even where it is allowed to be free.
—Edith Hamilton, 1930An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 1746