The world owes all its onward impulses to men ill at ease. The happy man inevitably confines himself within ancient limits.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1851
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Quotes
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
—Wendell Berry, 1983Lord! I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing.
—Jonathan Swift, 1738The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
—B.F. Skinner, 1969All our enemies are mortal.
—Paul Valéry, 1942The beginning of health lies in knowing the disease.
—Miguel de Cervantes, 1615When they shout “Long live progress,” always ask, “Progress of what?”
—Stanisław Jerzy Lec, 1957Pride and excess bring disaster for man.
—Xunzi, 250 BCThere are truths that prove their discoverers witless.
—Karl Kraus, 1909Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, you occasionally find men who disgrace labor.
—Ulysses S. Grant, 1877Spit not in the well; you may have to drink its water.
—French proverbIf there is a word in the dictionary under any letter from A to Z that I abominate, it is energy.
—Charles Dickens, 1865One man’s loss is another man’s profit.
—Michel de Montaigne, c. 1580