Till taught by pain, / Men really know not what good water’s worth.
—Lord Byron, 1819
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Quotes
Nature has planted in our minds an insatiable desire to seek the truth.
—Marcus Tullius Cicero, 45 BCThe world is made of the very stuff of the body.
—Maurice Merleau-Ponty, 1961Fire is a natural symbol of life and passion, though it is the one element in which nothing can actually live.
—Susanne K. Langer, 1942The god of music dwelleth out of doors.
—Edith M. Thomas, 1887There is a city in which you find everything you desire—handsome people, pleasures, ornaments of every kind—all that the natural person craves. However, you cannot find a single wise person there.
—Rumi, c. 1250When you drink water, think of its source.
—Chinese proverbRevolution begins in putting on bright colors.
—Tennessee Williams, 1944All men naturally hate each other. We have used concupiscence as best we can to make it serve the common good, but this is mere sham and a false image of charity, for essentially it is just hate.
—Blaise Pascal, c. 1655The earth is beautiful and bright and kindly, but that is not all. The earth is also terrible and dark and cruel.
—Ursula K. Le Guin, 1970Every man must descend into the flesh to meet mankind.
—G.K. Chesterton, 1910For most of us, nighttime dreaming brings us closer to our identities and our power than any activity in the waking world.
—Walter Mosley, 2000A fair complexion is unbecoming to a sailor: he ought to be swarthy from the waters of the sea and the rays of the sun.
—Ovid, c. 1 BC