All the world is topsy-turvy, and it has been topsy-turvy ever since the plague.
—Jack London, 1912
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Quotes
Our nature lies in movement; complete calm is death.
—Blaise Pascal, c. 1640Governments are not overthrown by the poor, who have no power, but by the rich—when they are insulted by their inferiors and cannot obtain justice.
—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, c. 20 BCWhoever has died is freed from sin.
—St. Paul, c. 50The chief merit of language is clearness, and we know that nothing detracts so much from this as do unfamiliar terms.
—Galen, c. 175Resorting to the law to resolve a dispute is a declaration of spiritual bankruptcy.
—Quentin Crisp, 1984The desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it.
—Laurence Sterne, 1760We cherish our friends not for their ability to amuse us but for ours to amuse them.
—Evelyn Waugh, 1963The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.
—Edward Gibbon, 1788I cannot bear a parent’s tears.
—Virgil, c. 25 BCWhere shall I, of wandering weary, find my resting place at last?
—Heinrich Heine, 1827As natural selection works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporeal and mental endowments will tend to progress toward perfection.
—Charles Darwin, 1859I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”
—Book of Ecclesiastes, 225 BC