Animals hear about death for the first time when they die.
—Arthur Schopenhauer, 1819Quotes
Comedy, like sodomy, is an unnatural act.
—Marty Feldman, 1969Democracy produces both heroes and villains, but it differs from a fascist state in that it does not produce a hero who is a villain.
—Margaret Halsey, 1946One who is frivolous all day will never establish a household.
—Ptahhotep, c. 2400 BCWe 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, 1774Cities are the abyss of the human species.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762The 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, 1821As is the face, so is the mind.
—Roman proverbNever make a defense or apology before you be accused.
—Charles I, 1636A family’s photograph album is generally about the extended family—and, often, is all that remains of it.
—Susan Sontag, 1977The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal.
—Erich Fromm, 1941But look, our seas are what we make of them, full of fish or not, opaque or transparent, red or black, high or smooth, narrow or bankless—and we are ourselves sea, sand, coral, seaweed, beaches, tides, swimmers, children, waves.
—Hélène Cixous, 1976I have often said that if I wish to name-drop, I have only to list my ex-friends.
—Norman Podhoretz, 1999