The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.
—Joseph Conrad, 1899
Archive
Quotes
Every tooth in a man’s head is more valuable than a diamond.
—Miguel de Cervantes, 1605Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term art, I should call it “the reproduction of what the senses perceive in nature through the veil of the soul.” The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in nature, entitles no man to the sacred name of “artist.”
—Edgar Allan Poe, 1849The sleep of reason produces monsters.
—Francisco Goya, 1799Music melts all the separate parts of our bodies together.
—Anaïs Nin, 1939Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.
—Albert Camus, c. 1940I have been ever of the opinion that revolutions are not to be evaded.
—Benjamin Disraeli, 1844The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
—LaoziIn Washington, the first thing people tell you is what their job is. In Los Angeles you learn their star sign. In Houston you’re told how rich they are. And in New York they tell you what their rent is.
—Simon Hoggart, 1990Everyone knows about everybody in Hollywood—who sleeps with whom, who doesn’t sleep, who does it standing on his head or in the dentist’s chair.
—Rock Hudson, 1982Secrets are rarely betrayed or discovered according to any program our fear has sketched out.
—George Eliot, 1860A self-made man is one who believes in luck and sends his son to Oxford.
—Christina Stead, 1938Whoever gulps down wine as a horse gulps down water is called a Scythian.
—Athenaeus, c. 230