The basis of optimism is sheer terror.
—Oscar Wilde, 1891
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Quotes
Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place.
—Samuel Johnson, 1771The art of invention grows young with the things invented.
—Francis Bacon, 1605How sweet it is to have people point and say, “There he is.”
—Persius, c. 60My own experience is that a certain kind of genius among students is best brought out in bed.
—Allen Ginsberg, 1981Not all heads have a brain.
—French proverbNo punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes.
—Hannah Arendt, 1963Science is a cemetery of dead ideas.
—Miguel de Unamuno, 1913It hurts to watch the fluency of a body acclimated to its shackling.
—Leslie Jamison, 2014The brightest light burns the quickest.
—Olive Beatrice Muir, 1900My father! The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I will recline.
—Tecumseh, 1810It was the men I deceived the most that I loved the most.
—Marguerite Duras, 1987I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.
—H. Rap Brown, 1967