Commerce tends to wear off those prejudices which maintain distinction and animosity between nations.
—William Robertson, 1769
Archive
Quotes
Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.
—Laozi, c. 500 BCMan is the only animal for whom his own existence is a problem which he has to solve and from which he cannot escape.
—Erich Fromm, 1947Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost.
—Robert Southey, 1809Better no law than no law enforced.
—Danish proverbThere is no blindness more insidious, more fatal, than this race for profit.
—Helen Keller, 1928A world is sooner destroyed than made.
—Thomas Burnet, 1684The tune I remember, could I but keep the words.
—Virgil, 38 BCIt is more blessed to give than to receive.
—Acts of the Apostles, c. 80Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It’s what separates us from the animals—except the weasel.
—The Simpsons, 1993Have you ever, looking up, seen a cloud like to a centaur, a leopard, a wolf, or a bull?
—Aristophanes, 423 BCThe merchant always has fresh losses to expect, and the dread of base poverty forbids his rest.
—Decimus Magnus Ausonius, c. 390Drunkenness is the very sepulcher / Of man’s wit and his discretion.
—Geoffrey Chaucer, c. 1390