A dog starved at his master’s gate / Predicts the ruin of the state.
—William Blake, 1807
Archive
Quotes
Revolutionaries are greater sticklers for formality than conservatives.
—Italo Calvino, 1957I cannot but bless the memory of Julius Caesar, for the great esteem he expressed for fat men and his aversion to lean ones.
—David Hume, 1751Time robs us of all, even of memory.
—Virgil, c. 40 BCOnce something becomes discernible, or understandable, we no longer need to repeat it. We can destroy it.
—Robert Wilson, 1991Because the newer methods of treatment are good, it does not follow that the old ones were bad: for if our honorable and worshipful ancestors had not recovered from their ailments, you and I would not be here today.
—Confucius, c. 515 BCGuard more faithfully the secret which is confided to you than the money which is entrusted to your care.
—Isocrates, c. 370 BCAll paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.
—Aristotle, c. 330 BCAll of the great musicians have borrowed from the songs of the common people.
—Antonín Dvořák, 1893Our nature lies in movement; complete calm is death.
—Blaise Pascal, c. 1640Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
—H.G. Wells, 1920Every creature in the world is like a book and a picture, to us, and a mirror.
—Alain de Lille, c. 1200Why listen to me? I can only predict epidemics and plagues.
—Larry Kramer, 1992