Time is a veil interposed between God and ourselves, as our eyelid is between our eye and the light.
—François-René de Chateaubriand, c. 1820
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Quotes
I doubt that we have any right to pity the dead for their own sakes.
—Lord Byron, 1817What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
—Alexander Pope, 1712I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1902I have yet, I believe, some years in store, for I have a good state of health and a happy mind, and I take care of both by nourishing the first with temperance and the latter with abundance. This, I believe, you will allow to be the true philosophy of life.
—Thomas Paine, 1803One has to spend so many years in learning how to be happy.
—George Eliot, 1844Friendship is not possible between two women, one of whom is very well dressed.
—Laurie Colwin, 1978The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
—H.L. Mencken, 1921There are some who, if a cat accidentally comes into the room, though they neither see it nor are told of it, will presently be in a sweat and ready to die away.
—Increase Mather, 1684Cheating is more honorable than stealing.
—German proverbEvery communist must grasp the truth: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
—Mao Zedong, 1938Friendships begin with liking or gratitude—roots that can be pulled up.
—George Eliot, 1876Why listen to me? I can only predict epidemics and plagues.
—Larry Kramer, 1992