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Quotes

There is nothing sillier than a silly laugh.

—Catullus, c. 60 BC

Home is the girl’s prison and the woman’s workhouse.

—George Bernard Shaw, 1903

In all the ancient states and empires, those who had the shipping, had the wealth.

—William Petty, 1690

Ridicule often checks what is absurd, and fully as often smothers that which is noble.

—Walter Scott, 1823

Time robs us of all, even of memory.

—Virgil, c. 40 BC

To know all is not to forgive all. It is to despise everybody.

—Quentin Crisp, 1968

I was born at a very early age. Before I had time to regret it, I was four and a half years old.

—Groucho Marx, 1959

Anyone who in discussion quotes authority uses his memory rather than his intellect.

—Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1500

Sanity is madness put to good uses; waking life is a dream controlled.

—George Santayana, 1920

My language is the common prostitute that I turn into a virgin.

—Karl Kraus, c. 1910

Every thought is, strictly speaking, an afterthought.

—Hannah Arendt, 1978

Without music life would be a mistake.

—Friedrich Nietzsche, 1889

Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but most important, it finds homes for us everywhere.

—Hazel Rochman, 1995