In settling an island, the first building erected by a Spaniard will be a church, by a Frenchman a fort, by a Dutchman a warehouse, and by an Englishman an alehouse.
—Francis Grose, 1787
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Quotes
There is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1943The king times are fast finishing. There will be blood shed like water, and tears like mist; but the peoples will conquer in the end.
—Lord Byron, 1821Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.
—John Wilkes Booth, 1865France has neither winter, summer, nor morals—apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country.
—Mark Twain, 1879If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.
—Margaret Atwood, 2005Time, when it is left to itself and no definite demands are made on it, cannot be trusted to move at any recognized pace. Usually it loiters, but just when one has come to count upon its slowness, it may suddenly break into a wild irrational gallop.
—Edith Wharton, 1905Under all speech that is good for anything, there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as eternity; speech is shallow as time.
—Thomas Carlyle, 1838A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.
—Arthur Miller, 1961What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.
—Erasmus, 1515To hide and feel guilty would be the beginning of defeat.
—Milan Kundera, 1978Anyone who in discussion quotes authority uses his memory rather than his intellect.
—Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1500If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.
—Dorothy Parker