Who hears the fishes when they cry?
—Henry David Thoreau, 1849
Archive
Quotes
I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.
—Ray Bradbury, 1992To hold a throne is luck; to bestow it, virtue.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 45Some memories are like lucky charms, talismans, one shouldn’t tell about them or they’ll lose their power.
—Iris Murdoch, 1985To live for a time close to great minds is the best kind of education.
—John Buchan, 1940If you steal, do not steal too much at a time. You may be arrested. Steal cleverly, little by little.
—Mobutu Sese Seko, 1991Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, at a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.
—James Madison, 1794A tremendous number of people in America work very hard at something that bores them. Even a rich man thinks he has to go down to the office everyday. Not because he likes it but because he can’t think of anything else to do.
—W.H. Auden, 1946Usually speaking, the worst-bred person in company is a young traveler just returned from abroad.
—Jonathan Swift, c. 1730There are some who, if a cat accidentally comes into the room, though they neither see it nor are told of it, will presently be in a sweat and ready to die away.
—Increase Mather, 1684Wants keep pace with wealth always.
—Timothy Titcomb, 1859O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.
—Horace, c. 8 BCI think it makes small difference to the dead if they are buried in the tokens of luxury. All this is an empty glorification left for those who live.
—Euripides, 415 BC