A joke is at most a temporary rebellion against virtue, and its aim is not to degrade the human being but to remind him that he is already degraded.
—George Orwell, 1945
Archive
Quotes
Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
—Ecclesiastes, c. 250 BCAll modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the state.
—Albert Camus, 1951Conservation is not merely a thing to be enshrined in outdoor museums, but a way of living on land.
—Aldo Leopold, 1933I can’t see (or feel) the conflict between love and religion. To me they’re the same thing.
—Elizabeth Bowen, c. 1970The sleep of reason produces monsters.
—Francisco Goya, 1799A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.
—Jane Austen, 1814A fair complexion is unbecoming to a sailor: he ought to be swarthy from the waters of the sea and the rays of the sun.
—Ovid, c. 1 BCTo be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.
—Quintus Fabius Maximus, c. 203 BCFar and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
—Theodore Roosevelt, 1903Nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of mankind.
—Albert Einstein, 1929I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.
—Elizabeth I, 1588In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made school boards.
—Mark Twain, 1897