Every man is worth just so much as the things he busies himself with.
—Marcus Aurelius, c. 175
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Quotes
The thirsty earth soaks up the rain, / And drinks, and gapes for drink again.
—Abraham Cowley, 1656If the heavens were all parchment, and the trees of the forest all pens, and every human being were a scribe, it would still be impossible to record all that I have learned from my teachers.
—Jochanan ben Zakkai, c. 75He that would eat the nut must crack the shell.
—Plautus, c. 200 BCShips at a distance have every man’s wish on board.
—Zora Neale Hurston, 1937Every man is surrounded by a neighborhood of voluntary spies.
—Jane Austen, 1818He who has nothing has no friends.
—Greek proverbmy mind is
a big hunk of irrevocable nothing
I am a friend of the workingman, and I would rather be his friend than be one.
—Clarence Darrow, 1932Any serious attempt to do anything worthwhile is ritualistic.
—Derek Walcott, 1986Never make a defense or apology before you be accused.
—Charles I, 1636The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
—L.P. Hartley, 1953Exile lacks the grandeur, the majesty, of expatriation.
—Bharati Mukherjee, 1999