Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury—to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
—Albert Einstein, 1931
Archive
Quotes
Newspapers always excite curiosity. No one ever lays one down without a feeling of disappointment.
—Charles Lamb, 1833Have you ever, looking up, seen a cloud like to a centaur, a leopard, a wolf, or a bull?
—Aristophanes, 423 BCHunting is all that’s worth living for—all time is lost what is not spent in hunting—it is like the air we breathe—if we have it not we die—it’s the sport of kings, the image of war without its guilt.
—Robert Smith Surtees, 1843That obtained in youth may endure like characters engraved in stones.
—Ibn Gabirol, 1040Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented.
—Willem de Kooning, 1949An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.
—James Russell Lowell, c. 1865Put national causes first and personal grudges last.
—Sima Qian, c. 91 BCIt is hard when nature does not respect your intentions, and she never does exactly respect them.
—Wendell Berry, 1985It is shameful and inhuman to treat men like chattels to make money by, or to regard them merely as so much muscle or physical power.
—Pope Leo XIII, 1891The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology.
—Edward O. Wilson, 2009All civilization has from time to time become a thin crust over a volcano of revolution.
—Havelock Ellis, 1921Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
—Benjamin Franklin, 1776