The self is like an infant: given free rein, it craves to suckle.
—al-Busiri, c. 1250
Archive
Quotes
The sick man is the parasite of society.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, 1889The sea serves the pirate as well as the trader.
—Prudentius, c. 405One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
—Elbert Hubbard, 1911Jokes are grievances.
—Marshall McLuhan, 1969I 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. 1902Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills.
—Voltaire, 1769The happiness of society is the end of government.
—John Adams, 1776People revere the Constitution yet know so little about it—and that goes for some of my fellow senators.
—Robert Byrd, 2005I have been ever of the opinion that revolutions are not to be evaded.
—Benjamin Disraeli, 1844I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.
—Maximilien Robespierre, 1792A college degree is a social certificate, not a proof of competence.
—Elbert Hubbard, 1911Insurgents are like conquerors: they must go forward; the moment they are stopped, they are lost.
—Duke of Wellington, c. 1819