Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610
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Quotes
The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.
—John Locke, 1695Alas! We are ridiculous animals.
—Horace Walpole, 1777Every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony.
—William James, 1902The body says what words cannot.
—Martha Graham, 1985Never trust her at any time when the calm sea shows her false alluring smile.
—Lucretius, c. 60 BCTo place oneself in the position of God is painful: being God is equivalent to being tortured. For being God means that one is in harmony with all that is, including the worst. The existence of the worst evils is unimaginable unless God willed them.
—Georges Bataille, 1957They are trying to make me into a fixed star. I am an irregular planet.
—Martin Luther, c. 1530The king times are fast finishing. There will be blood shed like water, and tears like mist; but the peoples will conquer in the end.
—Lord Byron, 1821If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.
—William Hazlitt, 1823What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook.
—Henry David Thoreau, 1850Every memory everyone has ever had will eventually be underwater.
—Anthony Doerr, 2006It is more blessed to give than to receive.
—Acts of the Apostles, c. 80