I have often been convinced that a democracy is incapable of empire.
—Thucydides, c. 404 BC
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Quotes
Calamities are of two kinds: misfortune to ourselves, and good fortune to others.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906There is a time to battle against nature, and a time to obey her. True wisdom lies in making the right choice.
—Arthur C. Clarke, 1979Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.
—Laozi, c. 500 BCSpeak without regard for the consequences, and it is too late for silence when disaster strikes.
—Huan Kuan, 81 BCI know nothing about sex, because I was always married.
—Zsa Zsa GaborThe chief merit of language is clearness, and we know that nothing detracts so much from this as do unfamiliar terms.
—Galen, c. 175They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.
—Francis Bacon, 1605To live for a time close to great minds is the best kind of education.
—John Buchan, 1940Too many people have decided to do without generosity in order to practice charity.
—Albert Camus, 1956Health indeed is a precious thing, to recover and preserve which we undergo any misery, drink bitter potions, freely give our goods—restore a man to his health, his purse lies open to thee.
—Robert Burton, 1621Youth is the time to go flashing from one end of the world to the other both in mind and body, to try the manners of different nations, to hear the chimes at midnight.
—Robert Louis Stevenson, 1881He who would have clear water should go to the fountainhead.
—Italian proverb