One who is frivolous all day will never establish a household.
—Ptahhotep, c. 2400 BC
Archive
Quotes
Nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of mankind.
—Albert Einstein, 1929The features of our face are hardly more than gestures which force of habit has made permanent.
—Marcel Proust, 1919Hang work! I wish that all the year were holiday; I am sure that Indolence—indefeasible Indolence—is the true state of man.
—Charles Lamb, 1805Men, my dear, are very queer animals—a mixture of horse nervousness, ass stubbornness, and camel malice.
—T. H. Huxley, 1895An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.
—George Eliot, 1866We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.
—Barbara Ward, 1972It was funny how I could feel all alone and under surveillance at the same time.
—Cory Doctorow, 2013The more religious a country is, the more crimes are committed in it.
—Napoleon Bonaparte, 1817What can you conceive more silly and extravagant than to suppose a man racking his brains and studying night and day how to fly?
—William Law, 1728Friendship’s a noble name, ’tis love refined.
—Susanna Centlivre, 1703All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.
—Toni Morrison, 1987A college degree is a social certificate, not a proof of competence.
—Elbert Hubbard, 1911