The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
—Thomas Jefferson, 1787
Archive
Quotes
Those who know the joys and miseries of celebrities when they have passed the age of forty know how to defend themselves.
—Sarah Bernhardt, 1904You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.
—Cormac McCarthy, 2005I proclaim night more truthful than the day.
—Léopold Sédar Senghor, 1956Before the earth could become an industrial garbage can, it had first to become a research laboratory.
—Theodore Roszak, 1972The people are the foundation of the state. If the foundations are firm, the state will be tranquil.
—Classic of History, c. 400 BCAll the daughters of music shall be brought low.
—Ecclesiastes, c. 400 BCWhen they shout “Long live progress,” always ask, “Progress of what?”
—Stanisław Jerzy Lec, 1957Some of us would be greatly astonished to learn the reasons why others respect us.
—Marquis de Vauvenargues, 1746The basis of optimism is sheer terror.
—Oscar Wilde, 1891Our allotted time is the passing of a shadow.
—Book of Wisdom, c. 100 BCLord, I do not ask that thou shouldst give me wealth; only show me where it is, and I will attend to the rest.
—Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1898Extraordinary how potent cheap music is.
—Noël Coward, 1930