Every man is worth just so much as the things he busies himself with.
—Marcus Aurelius, c. 175
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Quotes
The art of invention grows young with the things invented.
—Francis Bacon, 1605Happiness, whether in business or private life, leaves very little trace in history.
—Fernand Braudel, 1979Infectious disease is one of the few genuine adventures left in the world.
—Hans Zinsser, 1935We get a deal o’ useless things about us, only because we’ve got the money to spend.
—George Eliot, 1860Man is a tool-using animal. Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.
—Thomas Carlyle, 1836No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
—Magna Carta, 1215While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men, especially if it is about women, is called theory, or idea, or fact.
—Andrea Dworkin, 1983Yes to a market economy, no to a market society.
—Lionel Jospin, 1998It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.
—Upton Sinclair, 1935The highest result of education is tolerance.
—Helen Keller, 1903Seamen are the nearest to death and the furthest from God.
—Thomas Fuller, 1732Words pay no debts.
—William Shakespeare, 1601