The diseases of the present have little in common with the diseases of the past save that we die of them.
—Agnes Repplier, 1929Quotes
To escape its wretched lot, the populace has three ways, two imaginary and one real. The first two are the rum shop and the church; the third is the social revolution.
—Mikhail Bakunin, 1871You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.
—Leon TrotskyI'm all for bringing back the birch, but only between consenting adults.
—Gore Vidal, 1973If a parricide is more wicked than anyone who commits homicide—because he kills not merely a man but a near relative—without doubt worse still is he who kills himself, because there is none nearer to a man than himself.
—Saint Augustine, c. 420Love is giving something you haven’t got to someone who doesn’t exist.
—Jacques LacanNature is the art of God.
—Thomas Browne, 1635I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990We all have a contract with the public—in us they see themselves, or what they would like to be.
—Clark Gable, 1935I am ill every time it blows hard, and nothing but my enthusiastic love for the profession keeps me one hour at sea.
—Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1804All things are filled full of signs, and it is a wise man who can learn about one thing from another.
—Plotinus, c. 255Understanding is a very dull occupation.
—Gertrude Stein, 1937A criminal may improve and become a decent member of society. A foreigner cannot improve. Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. There is no way out for him.
—George Mikes, 1946