To place oneself in the position of God is painful: being God is equivalent to being tortured. For being God means that one is in harmony with all that is, including the worst. The existence of the worst evils is unimaginable unless God willed them.
—Georges Bataille, 1957
Archive
Quotes
Those who believe in freedom of the will have never loved and never hated.
—Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1893Happiness is a warm puppy.
—Charles Schulz, 1971Revolutions are always verbose.
—Leon Trotsky, 1933Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.
—Marcus Tullius Cicero, 63 BCQuarreling must lead to disorder, and disorder exhaustion.
—Xunzi, c. 250 BCIf you are truly serious about preparing your child for the future, don’t teach him to subtract—teach him to deduct.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1981It is impossible to please all the world and one’s father.
—Jean de La Fontaine, 1668A change in the weather is sufficient to create the world and oneself anew.
—Marcel Proust, c. 1920Man is a troublesome animal and therefore is not very manageable.
—Plato, c. 349 BCAs natural selection works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporeal and mental endowments will tend to progress toward perfection.
—Charles Darwin, 1859To be a successful father… there’s one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don’t look at it for the first two years.
—Ernest Hemingway, 1954On no other stage are the scenes shifted with a swiftness so like magic as on the great stage of history when once the hour strikes.
—Edward Bellamy, 1888