Cows are among the gentlest of breathing creatures; none show more passionate tenderness to their young when deprived of them—and, in short, I am not ashamed to profess a deep love for these quiet creatures.
—Thomas De Quincey, 1821
Archive
Quotes
I do love cricket—it’s so very English.
—Sarah Bernhardt, c. 1908The root of the kingdom is in the State. The root of the State is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its Head.
—Mencius, c. 270 BCThe waters are nature’s storehouse, in which she locks up her wonders.
—Izaak Walton, 1653Traveling is like gambling: it is ever connected with winning and losing, and generally where least expected we receive more or less than we hoped for.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1797The more sifted, the finer the flour; the more often repeated, the rougher the gossip.
—Korean proverbAny city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich; these are at war with one another.
—Plato, c. 378 BCA man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.
—James Joyce, 1922I shall curse you with book and bell and candle.
—Thomas Malory, c. 1470Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth but not its twin.
—Barbara Kingsolver, 1990I curse the night, yet doth from day me hide.
—William Drummond, 1616A crowded police court docket is the surest sign that trade is brisk and money plenty.
—Mark Twain, 1872I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.
—Ray Bradbury, 1992