To know the abyss of the darkness and not to fear it, to entrust oneself to it and whatever may arise from it—what greater gift?
—Ursula K. Le Guin, 1975
Archive
Quotes
If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed wait forever.
—Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1843Water its living strength first shows, / When obstacles its course oppose.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1815Other nations use “force”; we Britons alone use “might.”
—Evelyn Waugh, 1938I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.
—Anaïs Nin, 1950Revolution can never be forecast; it cannot be foretold; it comes of itself. Revolution is brewing and is bound to flare up.
—Vladimir Lenin, 1918Oil dependency is not just an economic attachment but appears as a kind of cognitive compulsion.
—Peter Hitchcock, 2010It is hard when nature does not respect your intentions, and she never does exactly respect them.
—Wendell Berry, 1985Time robs us of all, even of memory.
—Virgil, c. 40 BCIt is not right for a ruler who has the nation in his charge, a man with so much on his mind, to sleep all night.
—Homer, c. 750 BCThe past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
—L.P. Hartley, 1953If not us, who? If not now, when?
—Czech slogan, 1989Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1890