Men argue, nature acts.
—Voltaire, 1764Quotes
No human life, not even the life of a hermit, is possible without a world which directly or indirectly testifies to the presence of other human beings.
—Hannah Arendt, 1958If I had the use of my body I would throw it out of the window.
—Samuel Beckett, 1951Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1903The best augury of a man’s success in his profession is that he thinks it the finest in the world.
—George Eliot, 1876If you are truly serious about preparing your child for the future, don’t teach him to subtract—teach him to deduct.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1981All pain is one malady with many names.
—Antiphanes, c. 400 BCEach night’s new terror drives away the terror of the night before.
—Sophocles, c. 450 BCBy night an atheist half believes a God.
—Edward Young, c. 1745Beautiful credit! The foundation of modern society.
—Mark Twain, 1873We are so constituted that we believe the most incredible things, and once they are engraved upon the memory, woe to him who would endeavor to erase them.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1774Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610Can you draw sweet water from a foul well?
—Brooks Atkinson, 1940