’Tis the destroyer, or the devil, that scatters plagues about the world.
—Cotton Mather, 1693
Archive
Quotes
The beginning of health lies in knowing the disease.
—Miguel de Cervantes, 1615Recreations should be as sauces to your meat, to sharpen your appetite unto the duties of your calling, and not to glut yourselves with them.
—Thomas Gouge, 1672In my dreams I sleep with everybody.
—Anaïs Nin, 1933I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
—Galileo Galilei, 1615I began revolution with eighty-two men. If I had to do it again, I do it with ten or fifteen and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action.
—Fidel Castro, 1959
The earth is beautiful and bright and kindly, but that is not all. The earth is also terrible and dark and cruel.
—Ursula K. Le Guin, 1970Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1947If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.
—William Hazlitt, 1823Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all.
—Aristotle, c. 350 BCCan you draw sweet water from a foul well?
—Brooks Atkinson, 1940Men willingly believe what they wish.
—Julius Caesar, c. 50 BCIf you steal, do not steal too much at a time. You may be arrested. Steal cleverly, little by little.
—Mobutu Sese Seko, 1991