Nothing but a permanent body can check the imprudence of democracy.
—Alexander Hamilton, 1787
Archive
Quotes
Men are merriest when they are from home.
—William Shakespeare, 1599Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact.
—Bertrand Russell, 1930When you name yourself, you always name another.
—Bertolt Brecht, 1926I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.
—Catherine the Great, c. 1796Exile lacks the grandeur, the majesty, of expatriation.
—Bharati Mukherjee, 1999Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made—through disobedience and through rebellion.
—Oscar Wilde, 1891my mind is
a big hunk of irrevocable nothing
If you would help another man, you must do so in minute particulars.
—William Blake, 1804A friend who is very near and dear may in time become as useless as a relative.
—George Ade, 1902In its function, the power to punish is not essentially different from that of curing or educating.
—Michel Foucault, 1975Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of these two has the grander view?
—Victor Hugo, 1862Water is the first principle of everything.
—Thales of Miletus, c. 600 BC