There are twelve hours in the day, and above fifty in the night.
—Madame de Sévigné, 1671
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Quotes
I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigrees of nations.
—Samuel Johnson, 1773Luck takes the step that no one sees.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCThere is no man so fortunate that there shall not be by him when he is dying some who are pleased with what is going to happen.
—Marcus Aurelius, c. 175Appearances are a glimpse of the obscure.
—Anaxagoras, c. 450 BCUsually speaking, the worst-bred person in company is a young traveler just returned from abroad.
—Jonathan Swift, c. 1730Comedy, like sodomy, is an unnatural act.
—Marty Feldman, 1969Some memories are like lucky charms, talismans, one shouldn’t tell about them or they’ll lose their power.
—Iris Murdoch, 1985This is Year Zero.
—Pol Pot, 1975Without doubt God is the universal moving force, but each being is moved according to the nature that God has given it. He directs angels, man, animals, brute matter, in sum all created things—but each according to its nature—and man having been created free, he is freely led. This rule is truly the eternal law and in it we must believe.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1821Love is giving something you haven’t got to someone who doesn’t exist.
—Jacques LacanShips at a distance have every man’s wish on board.
—Zora Neale Hurston, 1937All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.
—Al Smith, 1933