The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing.
—Herodotus, c. 425 BC
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Quotes
It is more blessed to give than to receive.
—Acts of the Apostles, c. 80I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm’s way.
—John Paul Jones, 1778The young man must store up, the old man must use.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 63I am ill every time it blows hard, and nothing but my enthusiastic love for the profession keeps me one hour at sea.
—Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1804One of the saddest things is that the only thing that a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work. You can’t eat eight hours a day, nor drink for eight hours a day, nor make love for eight hours.
—William Faulkner, 1958Rewards and punishment are the lowest form of education.
—Zhuangzi, c. 286 BCIf I had been born a man, I would have conquered Europe. As I was born a woman, I exhausted my energy in tirades against fate and in eccentricities.
—Marie Bashkirtseff, 1884A god cannot procure death for himself, even if he wished it, which, so numerous are the evils of life, has been granted to man as our chief good.
—Pliny the Elder, c. 77Under the wide and starry sky, / Dig the grave and let me lie.
—Robert Louis Stevenson, 1887Towns oftener swamp one than carry one out onto the big ocean of life.
—D.H. Lawrence, 1908Men willingly believe what they wish.
—Julius Caesar, c. 50 BCFar water cannot quench near fire.
—Japanese proverb