Men have written in the most convincing manner to prove that death is no evil, and this opinion has been confirmed on a thousand celebrated occasions by the weakest of men as well as by heroes. Even so I doubt whether any sensible person has ever believed it, and the trouble men take to convince others as well as themselves that they do shows clearly that it is no easy undertaking.
—La Rochefoucauld, 1665
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Quotes
One of the things men should most strive to do is win a good reputation and see that no one questions it.
—Juan Manuel, 1335Whatsoever is, is in God.
—Benedict de Spinoza, 1677Memory is the only
afterlife I can understand.
The important thing, I think, is not to be bitter. You know, if it turns out that there is a God, I don’t think that he’s evil. I think that the worst thing you could say about him is that basically he’s an underachiever. After all, you know, there are worse things in life than death.
—Woody Allen, 1975I shall curse you with book and bell and candle.
—Thomas Malory, c. 1470Memories are like corks left out of bottles. They swell. They no longer fit.
—Harriet Doerr, 1978A traveler’s chief aim should be to make men wiser and better, and to improve their minds by the bad—as well as good—example of what they deliver concerning foreign places.
—Jonathan Swift, 1726In a court of fowls, the cockroach never wins its case.
—Rwandan proverbHe who would have clear water should go to the fountainhead.
—Italian proverbIn the Middle Ages people were tourists because of their religion, whereas now they are tourists because tourism is their religion.
—Robert Runcie, 1988Man is a troublesome animal and therefore is not very manageable.
—Plato, c. 349 BCOpposition may become sweet to a man when he has christened it persecution.
—George Eliot, 1857