It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.
—Francis Bacon, 1625
Archive
Quotes
So many men, so many opinions.
—Terence, 161 BCAnimals, in their generation, are wiser than the sons of men, but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass.
—Joseph Addison, 1711Most new discoveries are suddenly-seen things that were always there.
—Susanne K. Langer, 1942The body is an instrument which only gives off music when it is used as a body.
—Anaïs Nin, 1935The more corrupt the state, the more numerous its laws.
—Tacitus, c. 110Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words?
—Marcel Marceau, 1958Drive your cart and your plow over the bones of the dead.
—William Blake, c. 1790The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.
—John Locke, 1695Far water cannot quench near fire.
—Japanese proverbIf a man will observe as he walks the streets, I believe he will find the merriest countenances in mourning coaches.
—Jonathan Swift, 1706Those who believe in freedom of the will have never loved and never hated.
—Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1893It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.
—Upton Sinclair, 1935