Democracy is the menopause of Western society, the grand climacteric of the body social. Fascism is its middle-aged lust.
—Jean Baudrillard, 1987
Archive
Quotes
A traveler’s chief aim should be to make men wiser and better, and to improve their minds by the bad—as well as good—example of what they deliver concerning foreign places.
—Jonathan Swift, 1726One should always have one’s boots on and be ready to leave.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580Never trust her at any time when the calm sea shows her false alluring smile.
—Lucretius, c. 60 BCDestiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
—William Jennings Bryan, 1899The Romans would never have found time to conquer the world if they had been obliged first to learn Latin.
—Heinrich Heine, 1827Men, my dear, are very queer animals—a mixture of horse nervousness, ass stubbornness, and camel malice.
—T. H. Huxley, 1895The one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.
—Salvador Dalí, 1953People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.
—Edmund Burke, 1790Health indeed is a precious thing, to recover and preserve which we undergo any misery, drink bitter potions, freely give our goods—restore a man to his health, his purse lies open to thee.
—Robert Burton, 1621Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills.
—Voltaire, 1769The passion for setting people right is in itself an afflictive disease.
—Marianne Moore, 1935The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
—Steve Biko, 1971