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Quotes

The fear of the Lord is true wisdom, and he who hath it not can in no way penetrate the true secrets of magic.

—Abraham the Jew, c. 1400

When the physician said to him, “You have lived to be an old man,” he said, “That is because I never employed you as my physician.”

—Pausanias, c. 450 BC

Everyone complains about his memory, and no one complains about his judgment.

—La Rochefoucauld, 1666

Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

—Herman Melville, 1851

I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.

—Samuel Butler, c. 1902

Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.

—John Wilkes Booth, 1865

Music sweeps by me as a messenger / Carrying a message that is not for me.

—George Eliot, 1868

Strength of mind is exercise, not rest.

—Alexander Pope, 1733

Keep running after a dog, and he will never bite you.

—François Rabelais, 1535

No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation.

—Woodrow Wilson, 1915

What a torture to talk to filled heads that allow nothing from the outside to enter them.

—Joseph Joubert, 1807

Rivalry is the whetstone of talent.

—Roman proverb

The law is far, the fist is near.

—Korean proverb