The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.
—Basho, c. 1690
Archive
Quotes
I am not Athenian or Greek but a citizen of the world.
—Socrates, c. 420 BCHe may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.
—Emperor Francis Joseph, c. 1850God sells us all things at the price of labor.
—Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1500The first duty of a good inquisitor is to suspect especially those who seem sincere to him.
—Umberto Eco, 1980Luck takes the step that no one sees.
—Publilius Syrus, c. 50 BCWhen one has a famishing thirst for happiness, one is apt to gulp down diversions wherever they are offered.
—Alice Hegan Rice, 1917Don’t talk to me about naval tradition. It’s nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash.
—Winston Churchill, 1939Opposition is not necessarily enmity; it is merely misused and made an occasion for enmity.
—Sigmund Freud, 1930The only places where American medicine can fully live up to its possibilities are the teaching hospitals.
—Bernard De Voto, 1951Law makes long spokes of the short stakes of men.
—William Empson, 1928My own experience is that a certain kind of genius among students is best brought out in bed.
—Allen Ginsberg, 1981At night comes counsel to the wise.
—Menander, c. 300 BC