I have always been of the mind that in a democracy, manners are the only effective weapons against the bowie knife.
—James Russell Lowell, 1873
Archive
Quotes
In settling an island, the first building erected by a Spaniard will be a church, by a Frenchman a fort, by a Dutchman a warehouse, and by an Englishman an alehouse.
—Francis Grose, 1787But look, our seas are what we make of them, full of fish or not, opaque or transparent, red or black, high or smooth, narrow or bankless—and we are ourselves sea, sand, coral, seaweed, beaches, tides, swimmers, children, waves.
—Hélène Cixous, 1976Without a decisive naval force, we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious.
—George Washington, 1781Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, “I would stay here and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.”
—Lisa St. Aubin de Terán, 1989The first duty of a good inquisitor is to suspect especially those who seem sincere to him.
—Umberto Eco, 1980Appearances often are deceiving.
—Aesop, c. 550 BCWho draws his sword against his prince must throw away the scabbard.
—James Howell, 1659The more enlightened our houses are, the more their walls ooze ghosts.
—Italo Calvino, 1967If you stain clear water with filth, you will never find a drink.
—Aeschylus, 458 BCIf law and justice do not attain their ends, the people will be unable to move hand or foot.
—Confucius, c. 500A man who exposes himself when he is intoxicated has not the art of getting drunk.
—Samuel Johnson, 1779The decline of the aperitif may well be one of the most depressing phenomena of our time.
—Luis Buñuel, 1983