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Quotes

That which the sober man keeps in his breast, the drunken man lets out at the lips. Astute people, when they want to ascertain a man’s true character, make him drunk.

—Martin Luther, 1569

What is food to one is to others bitter poison.

—Lucretius, 50 BC

We do not suffer by accident. 

—Jane Austen, 1813

Brains are the only things worth having in this world.

—L. Frank Baum, 1899

Friendship is a plant that loves the sun—thrives ill under clouds.

—Bronson Alcott, 1872

To know the abyss of the darkness and not to fear it, to entrust oneself to it and whatever may arise from it—what greater gift?

—Ursula K. Le Guin, 1975

Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco pipes of those who diffuse it; it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker.

—George Eliot, 1876

The most may err as grossly as the few.

—John Dryden, 1681

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

—Voltaire, 1770

The men of today are born to criticize; of Achilles they see only the heel.

—Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1880

Nature’s rules have no exceptions.

—Herbert Spencer, 1851

I’ve never understood why people consider youth a time of freedom and joy. It’s probably because they have forgotten their own.

—Margaret Atwood, 1976

Till taught by pain, / Men really know not what good water’s worth.

—Lord Byron, 1819