You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.
—Cormac McCarthy, 2005Quotes
I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1902I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.
—John Maynard Keynes, 1917Reputation, like beavers and cloaks, shall last some people twice the time of others.
—Douglas Jerrold, 1840Every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony.
—William James, 1902Tomorrow never comes, man. It’s all the same fucking day.
—Janis Joplin, 1972The right to the pursuit of happiness is nothing else than the right to disillusionment phrased in another way.
—Aldous Huxley, 1956Families, I hate you! Shut-in homes, closed doors, jealous possessions of happiness.
—André Gide, 1897The unknown is the largest need of the intellect.
—Emily Dickinson, 1876Fame is no sanctuary from the passing of youth. Suicide is much easier and more acceptable in Hollywood than growing old gracefully.
—Julie Burchill, 1986At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.
—W. Somerset Maugham, 1896It is hard when nature does not respect your intentions, and she never does exactly respect them.
—Wendell Berry, 1985Machines seem to sense that I am afraid of them. It makes them hostile.
—Sharyn McCrumb, 1990