Archive

Quotes

With the dead there is no rivalry.

—Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1839

The pleasure we hold in esteem for the course of our lives ought to have a greater share of our time dedicated to it; we should refuse no occasion nor omit any opportunity of drinking, and always have it in our minds.

—Michel de Montaigne, 1580

The young man must store up, the old man must use.

—Seneca the Younger, c. 63

Ah, there are no children nowadays.

—Molière, 1673

Some folks want their luck buttered.

—Thomas Hardy, 1886

Some of us would be greatly astonished to learn the reasons why others respect us.

—Marquis de Vauvenargues, 1746

Water is the readiest means of making friends with nature.

—Ludwig Feuerbach, 1841

The noblest kind of retribution is not to become like your enemy.

—Marcus Aurelius, c. 175

Good fortune is light as a feather, but nobody knows how to hold it up. Misfortune is heavy as the earth, but nobody knows how to stay out of its way.

—Zhuangzi, c. 300 BC

Drive out nature with a pitchfork, and she will always come back. 

—Horace, c. 25 BC

Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented.

—Willem de Kooning, 1949

Keep away from physicians. It is all probing and guessing and pretending with them. They leave it to nature to cure in her own time, but they take the credit. As well as very fat fees.

—Anthony Burgess, 1964

The great difficulty lies in trying to transpose last night’s moment to a day which has no knowledge of it.

—Zora Neale Hurston, 1942