The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
—Steve Biko, 1971
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Quotes
Even diseases have lost their prestige, there aren’t so many of them left.
—Louis-Ferdinand Céline, 1960The play is the tragedy “Man,” And its hero the conqueror worm.
—Edgar Allan Poe, 1843All progress is based upon a universal, innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1890God walks among the pots and pans.
—Saint Teresa of Ávila, c. 1582In dealing with the dead, if we treat them as if they were entirely dead, that would show a want of affection and should not be done; or, if we treat them as if they were entirely alive, that would show a want of wisdom and should not be done.
—Confucius, c. 500 BCThe soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do just as one pleases. We go on a journey chiefly to be free of all impediments and of all inconveniences—to leave ourselves behind, much more to get rid of others.
—William Hazlitt, 1822The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing.
—Herodotus, c. 425 BCDo not ask me to be kind; just ask me to act as though I were.
—Jules Renard, 1898Education has become a prisoner of contemporaneity. It is the past, not the dizzy present, that is the best door to the future.
—Camille Paglia, 1992I cannot live without books, but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object.
—Thomas Jefferson, 1815No man ever distinguished himself who could not bear to be laughed at.
—Maria Edgeworth, 1809Revolutions never go backward.
—Thomas Skidmore, 1829