I always think of nature as a great spectacle, somewhat resembling the opera.
—Bernard de Fontenelle, 1686
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Quotes
Does anybody really want to attend to cities other than to flee, fleece, privatize, butcher, or decimate them?
—Jane Holtz Kay, 1992Who sleepeth with dogs shall rise with fleas.
—John Florio, 1578It is better to live unknown to the law.
—Irish proverbOur allotted time is the passing of a shadow.
—Book of Wisdom, c. 100 BCNo man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.
—Samuel Johnson, 1776Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.
—Albert Camus, c. 1940Everything that has wings is beyond the reach of the law.
—Joseph Joubert, 1791No poems can please long, nor live, that are written by water drinkers.
—Horace, 35 BCWhen poets don’t know what to say and have completely given up on the play, just like a finger, they lift the machine and the spectators are satisfied.
—Antiphanes, c. 350 BCI look for the end of the future, but it never ceases to arrive.
—Zhuangzi, c. 325 BCSome of us would be greatly astonished to learn the reasons why others respect us.
—Marquis de Vauvenargues, 1746Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea? How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.
—Sydney Smith, 1855