Water its living strength first shows, / When obstacles its course oppose.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1815
Archive
Quotes
All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door. The violence of revolutions is the violence of men who charge into a vacuum.
—John Kenneth Galbraith, 1977To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent.
—Fernando Pessoa, c. 1935Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1903I mean, why on earth (outside sickness and hangovers) aren’t people continually drunk? I want ecstasy of the mind all the time.
—Jack Kerouac, 1957It is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street, and for Wall Street.
—Mary Lease, c. 1890I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.
—Samuel Butler, c. 1902Style is the image of character.
—Edward Gibbon, c. 1789If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.
—William Hazlitt, 1823To live outside the law, you must be honest.
—Bob Dylan, 1966I had rather be in a state of misery and envied for my supposed happiness than in a state of happiness and pitied for my supposed misery.
—Elizabeth Inchbald, 1793Night is torment. That is why people go to sleep. To avoid clear sight and torment.
—Dorothy M. Richardson, 1923Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words?
—Marcel Marceau, 1958