When a coward sees a man he can beat, he becomes hungry for a fight.
—Chinua Achebe, 1960
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Quotes
The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. Probably at the next gas station.
—Hunter S. Thompson, 1971It has always been my practice to cast a long paragraph in a single mold, to try it by my ear, to deposit it in my memory, but to suspend the action of the pen till I had given the last polish to my work.
—Edward Gibbon, c. 1790Who lives in fear will never be a free man.
—Horace, 19 BCSurvivors look back and see omens, messages they missed.
—Joan Didion, 2005Never trust her at any time when the calm sea shows her false alluring smile.
—Lucretius, c. 60 BCArt lives from constraints and dies from freedom.
—Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1480I hate the sight of monkeys; they remind me so of poor relations.
—Henry Luttrell, 1820One should always have one’s boots on and be ready to leave.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580There is no profit without another’s loss.
—Roman proverbLife is no way to treat an animal.
—Kurt Vonnegut, 2005I am weary of friends, and friendships are all monsters.
—Jonathan Swift, 1710The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God.
—William Blake, 1793