The best physician is he who can distinguish the possible from the impossible.
—Herophilus, c. 290 BC
Archive
Quotes
Time, when it is left to itself and no definite demands are made on it, cannot be trusted to move at any recognized pace. Usually it loiters, but just when one has come to count upon its slowness, it may suddenly break into a wild irrational gallop.
—Edith Wharton, 1905Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.
—Tom Robbins, 1976I’ve been on a calendar, but never on time.
—Marilyn Monroe, 1962Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes and pompous in the grave.
—Thomas Browne, 1658On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580The root of the kingdom is in the State. The root of the State is in the family. The root of the family is in the person of its Head.
—Mencius, c. 270 BCI began to realize how simple life could be if one had a regular routine to follow with fixed hours, a fixed salary, and very little original thinking to do.
—Roald Dahl, 1984The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty, and death of public opinion.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1902The atavistic urge toward danger persists and its satisfaction is called adventure.
—John Steinbeck, 1941A world is sooner destroyed than made.
—Thomas Burnet, 1684The diseases of the present have little in common with the diseases of the past save that we die of them.
—Agnes Repplier, 1929I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.
—Mitch Hedberg, 1999