If the bird does like its cage, and does like its sugar, and will not leave it, why keep the door so very carefully shut?
—Olive Schreiner, 1883
Archive
Quotes
The day unravels what the night has woven.
—Walter Benjamin, 1929There’s folks ’ud hold a sieve under the pump and expect to carry away the water.
—George Eliot, 1859Dreams have always been my friend, full of information, full of warnings.
—Doris Lessing, 1994Everyone who is sick is someone else’s patient zero.
—Leslie Jamison, 2020A functioning police state needs no police.
—William S. Burroughs, 1959Put national causes first and personal grudges last.
—Sima Qian, c. 91 BCA dead enemy always smells good.
—Aulus Vitellius, 69Credulity forges more miracles than trickery could invent.
—Joseph Joubert, 1811There are some who, if a cat accidentally comes into the room, though they neither see it nor are told of it, will presently be in a sweat and ready to die away.
—Increase Mather, 1684If I see something sagging, dragging, or bagging, I’m going to go have the stuff tucked or plucked.
—Dolly Parton, 2003Speak without regard for the consequences, and it is too late for silence when disaster strikes.
—Huan Kuan, 81 BCOne cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
—Virginia Woolf, 1929