Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.
—Gore Vidal, 1973
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Quotes
One great reason why many children abandon themselves wholly to silly sports and trifle away all their time insipidly is because they have found their curiosity baulked and their inquiries neglected.
—John Locke, 1693Ocean. A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man—who has no gills.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil.
—J. Paul GettyI rather think the cinema will die. Look at the energy being exerted to revive it—yesterday it was color, today three dimensions. I don’t give it forty years more. Witness the decline of conversation. Only the Irish have remained incomparable conversationalists, maybe because technical progress has passed them by.
—Orson Welles, 1953Water is the first principle of everything.
—Thales of Miletus, c. 600 BCYou must not grow used to making money out of everything. One sees more people ruined than one has seen preserved by shameful gains.
—Sophocles, c. 442 BCThe pleasure we hold in esteem for the course of our lives ought to have a greater share of our time dedicated to it; we should refuse no occasion nor omit any opportunity of drinking, and always have it in our minds.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580In its function, the power to punish is not essentially different from that of curing or educating.
—Michel Foucault, 1975Some to the common pulpits, and cry out / “Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!”
—William Shakespeare, c. 1599No man ever distinguished himself who could not bear to be laughed at.
—Maria Edgeworth, 1809Thought depends absolutely on the stomach, but in spite of that, those who have the best stomachs are not the best thinkers.
—Voltaire, 1770And what will history say of me a thousand years hence?
—Marcus Tullius Cicero, 59 BC