As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.
—Pope John Paul II, 1986Quotes
By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class.
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1955As bad a dresser as I am, anything beats being judged by my character.
—David Sedaris, 1997I went [to war] because I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want the glory or the pay; I wanted the right thing done.
—Louisa May Alcott, 1863I’ve been on more laps than a napkin.
—Mae WestI even gave up, for a while, stopping by the window of the room to look out at the lights and deep, illuminated streets. That’s a form of dying, that losing contact with the city like that.
—Philip K. Dick, 1972Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place.
—Samuel Johnson, 1771Show me someone who never gossips, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t interested in people.
—Barbara Walters, 1975Gossip is the opiate of the oppressed.
—Erica Jong, 1973I do not mean to call an elephant a vulgar animal, but if you think about him carefully, you will find that his nonvulgarity consists in such gentleness as is possible to elephantine nature—not in his insensitive hide, nor in his clumsy foot, but in the way he will lift his foot if a child lies in his way; and in his sensitive trunk, and still more sensitive mind, and capability of pique on points of honor.
—John Ruskin, 1860Carnal embrace is the practice of throwing one’s arms around a side of beef.
—Tom Stoppard, 1993Greeting cards routinely tell us everybody deserves love. No. Everybody deserves clean water.
—Zadie Smith, 2000There is nothing worse for mortals than a wandering life.
—Homer, c. 750 BC