The civilized man has built a coach but has lost the use of his feet.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841
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Quotes
Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.
—Laozi, c. 500 BCThe more the pleasures of the body fade away, the greater to me is the pleasure and charm of conversation.
—Plato, c. 375 BCA sick child is always the mother’s property; her own feelings generally make it so.
—Jane Austen, 1816Perish the universe, provided I have my revenge.
—Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, 1654Politics is the art of the possible.
—Otto von Bismarck, 1867The chief merit of language is clearness, and we know that nothing detracts so much from this as do unfamiliar terms.
—Galen, c. 175To cast aside obedience, and by popular violence to incite revolt, is treason, not against man only, but against God.
—Pope Leo XIII, 1885I have learned much from disease which life could never have taught me anywhere else.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1830One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.
—Oscar Wilde, 1895As matron and mistress will differ in temper and tone, so will the friend be distinct from the faithless parasite.
—Horace, c. 20 BCHowever harmless a thing is, if the law forbids it, most people will think it wrong.
—W. Somerset Maugham, 1896Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o’clock is a scoundrel.
—Samuel Johnson, c. 1770