History is a people’s memory, and without a memory man is demoted to the level of the lower animals.
—Malcolm X, 1964Quotes
Freedom of the press is only guaranteed to those who own one.
—A.J. Liebling, 1960I’ve been on a calendar, but never on time.
—Marilyn Monroe, 1962The most advanced nations are always those who navigate the most.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1870I never know quite when I’m not writing. Sometimes my wife comes up to me at a party and says, Dammit, Thurber, stop writing. She usually catches me in the middle of a paragraph. Or my daughter will look up from the dinner table and ask, Is he sick? No, my wife says, he’s writing something.
—James Thurber, 1955It is remarkable that only small birds properly sing.
—Charles Darwin, 1871The best quarantine is hygiene.
—Richard D. Arnold, 1871He who sings frightens away his ills.
—Miguel de Cervantes, 1605All our enemies are mortal.
—Paul Valéry, 1942The young man must store up, the old man must use.
—Seneca the Younger, c. 63The home is a human institution. All human institutions are open to improvement.
—Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1903Let him who desires peace prepare for war.
—Vegetius, c. 385Put national causes first and personal grudges last.
—Sima Qian, c. 91 BC