Governments are not overthrown by the poor, who have no power, but by the rich—when they are insulted by their inferiors and cannot obtain justice.
—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, c. 20 BC
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Quotes
War to the castles; peace to the cottages.
—Nicolas Chamfort, 1790No man ever distinguished himself who could not bear to be laughed at.
—Maria Edgeworth, 1809I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.
—Maximilien Robespierre, 1792An exile with no home anywhere is a corpse without a grave.
—Publilius Syrus, 50 BCWhat harm is there in getting knowledge and learning, were it from a sot, a pot, a fool, a winter mitten, or an old slipper?
—François Rabelais, 1533Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
—Book of Ecclesiastes, c. 200 BCIf you find excrement somewhere in the village, the chief was the one who put it there.
—Congolese proverbIn times of pestilence, gaiety and joyousness are most profitable.
—Jacme d’Agramont, 1348As far as I can see, the history of experimental art in the twentieth century is intimately bound up with the experience of intoxification.
—Will Self, 1994If you must take care that your opinions do not differ in the least from those of the person with whom you are talking, you might just as well be alone.
—Yoshida Kenko, c. 1330Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.
—Kate Moss, 2009Memory is more indelible than ink.
—Anita Loos, 1974