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Quotes

Envy and hatred are apt to blind the eyes and render them unable to behold things as they are.

—Margaret of Valois, c. 1600

Hygienic law, like martial law, supersedes rights in crises.

—Samuel Hopkins Adams, 1913

Thought depends absolutely on the stomach, but in spite of that, those who have the best stomachs are not the best thinkers.

—Voltaire, 1770

An irreligious man is not one who denies the gods of the majority, but one who applies to the gods the opinions of the majority. For what most men say about the gods are not ideas derived from sensation, but false opinions, according to which the greatest evils come to the wicked, and the greatest blessings come to the good from the gods.

—Epicurus, c. 250 BC

Unexemplary words and unfounded doctrines are avoided by the noble person. Why utter them?

—Dong Zhongshu, c. 120 BC

One’s body, hair, and skin are a gift from one’s parents—do not dare to allow them to be harmed.

—Classic of Filial Piety, c. 200 BC

Friend! It is a common word, often lightly used. Like other good and beautiful things, it may be tarnished by careless handling.

—Harriet Jacobs, 1861

A large city cannot be experientially known; its life is too manifold for any individual to be able to participate in it.

—Aldous Huxley, 1934

Music is our myth of the inner life.

—Susanne K. Langer, 1942

Well now, there’s a remedy for everything except death.

—Miguel de Cervantes, 1605

The history of the land has been written very largely in water.

—John Hodgdon Bradley Jr., 1935

I am ill every time it blows hard, and nothing but my enthusiastic love for the profession keeps me one hour at sea.

—Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1804

Friendship’s a noble name, ’tis love refined.

—Susanna Centlivre, 1703