When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong.
—Eugene V. Debs, 1918
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Quotes
To place oneself in the position of God is painful: being God is equivalent to being tortured. For being God means that one is in harmony with all that is, including the worst. The existence of the worst evils is unimaginable unless God willed them.
—Georges Bataille, 1957Every memory everyone has ever had will eventually be underwater.
—Anthony Doerr, 2006It is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.
—Charlotte Brontë, 1847I don’t believe in total freedom for the artist. Left on his own, free to do anything he likes, the artist ends up doing nothing at all. If there’s one thing that’s dangerous for an artist, it’s precisely this question of total freedom, waiting for inspiration and all the rest of it.
—Federico Fellini, c. 1950In every ill turn of fortune, the most unhappy sort of unfortunate man is the one who has been happy.
—Boethius, c. 520We are as near to heaven by sea as by land!
—Humphrey Gilbert, 1583Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.
—George W. Bush, 2004“Abroad,” that large home of ruined reputations.
—George Eliot, 1866Our allotted time is the passing of a shadow.
—Book of Wisdom, c. 100 BCThe only function of a school is to make self-education easier.
—Isaac Asimov, 1974There are times when reality becomes too complex for oral communication. But legend gives it a form by which it pervades the whole world.
—Jean-Luc Godard, 1965The purest joy is to live without disguise, unconstrained by the ties of a grave reputation.
—Al-Hariri, c. 1108