Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
—Henry Kissinger, 1972Quotes
All of the great musicians have borrowed from the songs of the common people.
—Antonín Dvořák, 1893There’s folks ’ud hold a sieve under the pump and expect to carry away the water.
—George Eliot, 1859I am an old scholar, better-looking now than when I was young. That’s what sitting on your ass does to your face.
—Leonard Cohen, 1970The best way to fill time is to waste it.
—Marguerite Duras, 1987Families, I hate you! Shut-in homes, closed doors, jealous possessions of happiness.
—André Gide, 1897Happiness is no laughing matter.
—Richard Whately, 1843Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded.
—The Dhammapada, c. 400 BCWater, thou hast no taste, no color, no odor; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1939The fear of war is worse than war itself.
—Seneca, c. 50The snotgreen sea. The scrotumtightening sea.
—James Joyce, 1922Hatred of domestic work is a natural and admirable result of civilization.
—Rebecca West, 1912Travel is like adultery: one is always tempted to be unfaithful to one’s own country. To have imagination is inevitably to be dissatisfied with where you live.
—Anatole Broyard, 1989