Is all our fire of shipwreck wood?
—Robert Browning, 1862Quotes
The thirsty earth soaks up the rain, / And drinks, and gapes for drink again.
—Abraham Cowley, 1656I have seen the science I worshipped, and the aircraft I loved, destroying the civilization I expected them to serve.
—Charles Lindbergh, 1948One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.
—G.K. Chesterton, 1911Comedy, like sodomy, is an unnatural act.
—Marty Feldman, 1969Hygienic law, like martial law, supersedes rights in crises.
—Samuel Hopkins Adams, 1913Art imitates nature as well as it can, as a pupil follows his master; thus it is a sort of grandchild of God.
—Dante, c. 1315Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing—the rest is mere sheep herding.
—Ezra Pound, 1934Being offended is the natural consequence of leaving one’s home.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1981If you steal, do not steal too much at a time. You may be arrested. Steal cleverly, little by little.
—Mobutu Sese Seko, 1991Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented.
—Willem de Kooning, 1949No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues.
—Bertrand Russell, 1961Shame on the soul, to falter on the road of life while the body still perseveres.
—Marcus Aurelius, c. 170