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Quotes

A bad reputation is easy to come by, painful to bear, and difficult to clear.

—Hesiod, c. 700 BC

An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.

—George Eliot, 1866

Never greet a stranger in the night, for he may be a demon.

—Babylonian Talmud, c. 600

Bright youth passes as quickly as thought.

—Theognis, c. 550 BC

There is no greater sorrow than to recall a happy time in the midst of wretchedness.

—Dante Alighieri, c. 1321

He that serves God for money will serve the Devil for better wages.

—Roger L’Estrange, 1692

Traveling 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, 1989

We do not suffer by accident. 

—Jane Austen, 1813

The mind is not, I know, a highway but a temple, and its doors should not be carelessly left open.

—Margaret Fuller, 1844

There will always be a lost dog somewhere that will prevent me from being happy.

—Jean Anouilh, 1934

Epitaph, n. An inscription on a tomb, showing that virtues acquired by death have a retroactive effect.

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

Ah, there are no children nowadays.

—Molière, 1673

What timid man does not avoid contact with the sick, fearing lest he contract a disease so near?

—Ovid, c. 10