In settling an island, the first building erected by a Spaniard will be a church, by a Frenchman a fort, by a Dutchman a warehouse, and by an Englishman an alehouse.
—Francis Grose, 1787
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Quotes
The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.
—Judge Learned Hand, 1944Don’t hit a man at all if you can avoid it, but if you have to hit him, knock him out.
—Theodore Roosevelt, 1916It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.
—Upton Sinclair, 1935Some memories are like lucky charms, talismans, one shouldn’t tell about them or they’ll lose their power.
—Iris Murdoch, 1985If law and justice do not attain their ends, the people will be unable to move hand or foot.
—Confucius, c. 500As matron and mistress will differ in temper and tone, so will the friend be distinct from the faithless parasite.
—Horace, c. 20 BCOne of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.
—Iris Murdoch, 1978In peace, children inter their parents; war violates the order of nature and causes parents to inter their children.
—Herodotus, 440 BCInventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed.
—John Kenneth Galbraith, 1958There are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink.
—Booth Tarkington, 1914I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.
—Gregory VII, c. 1085Today’s city is the most vulnerable social structure ever conceived by man.
—Martin Oppenheimer, 1969