Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so shall you come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1838
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Quotes
Never make a defense or apology before you be accused.
—Charles I, 1636They say, “We only have the life of this world. We die and we live, and nothing destroys us but time.” Yet, not true knowledge have they of this—only belief.
—The Qur’an, c. 620If you are truly serious about preparing your child for the future, don’t teach him to subtract—teach him to deduct.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1981No time to marry, no time to settle down, I’m a young woman, and ain’t done runnin’ round.
—Bessie Smith, 1926The best moment of love is when the lover leaves in the taxi.
—Michel Foucault, c. 1982Men argue, nature acts.
—Voltaire, 1764When law can do no right,
Let it be lawful that law bar no wrong.
In meeting again after a separation, acquaintances ask after our outward life, friends after our inner life.
—Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1880Will and energy sometimes prove greater than either genius or talent or temperament.
—Isadora Duncan, c. 1902Who sleepeth with dogs shall rise with fleas.
—John Florio, 1578Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all.
—Aristotle, c. 350 BCMan is a noble animal, splendid in ashes and pompous in the grave.
—Thomas Browne, 1658