Good men must not obey the laws too well.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844
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Quotes
He that would eat the nut must crack the shell.
—Plautus, c. 200 BCOur whole life is but one great school; from the cradle to the grave we are all learners; nor will our education be finished until we die.
—Ann Plato, 1841Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so shall you come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1838Grow your tree of falsehood from a small grain of truth.
—Czeslaw Milosz, 1946’Tis a portentous sign / When a man sweats and at the same time shivers.
—Plautus, c. 180 BCWhen great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong.
—Eugene V. Debs, 1918The important thing, I think, is not to be bitter. You know, if it turns out that there is a God, I don’t think that he’s evil. I think that the worst thing you could say about him is that basically he’s an underachiever. After all, you know, there are worse things in life than death.
—Woody Allen, 1975Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.
—Herman Melville, 1851Some memories are like lucky charms, talismans, one shouldn’t tell about them or they’ll lose their power.
—Iris Murdoch, 1985Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1903I won’t be happy till I’m as famous as God.
—Madonna, c. 1985Hoping for new friendship from old enemies is / Like expecting to find a rose in a furnace.
—Muhammad Baqir Najm-i Sani, 1612