An honest man is all right even if he’s an idiot…but a crook must have brains.
—Maxim Gorky, 1902
Archive
Quotes
Most vegetarians I ever saw looked enough like their food to be classed as cannibals.
—Finley Peter Dunne, 1900One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.
—Iris Murdoch, 1978A joke is at most a temporary rebellion against virtue, and its aim is not to degrade the human being but to remind him that he is already degraded.
—George Orwell, 1945More and more I like to take a train. I understand why the French prefer it to automobiling—it is so much more sociable, and of course these days so much more of an adventure, and the irregularity of its regularity is fascinating.
—Gertrude Stein, 1943Ours is an age which consciously pursues health, and yet only believes in the reality of sickness.
—Susan Sontag, 1963Are we not ourselves nature, nature without end?
—Stanisław Lem, 1961Every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony.
—William James, 1902Don’t ever wear artistic jewelry; it wrecks a woman’s reputation.
—Colette, 1944The poor man is ruined as soon as he begins to ape the rich.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCThe 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, 1580Some writers take to drink, others take to audiences.
—Gore Vidal, 1981The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.
—Dean Acheson, 1970