Archive

Quotes

He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.

—Emperor Francis Joseph, c. 1850

The past grows gradually around one, like a placenta for dying.

—John Berger, 1984

Are we not ourselves nature, nature without end?

—Stanisław Lem, 1961

I am leaving the town to the invaders: increasingly numerous, mediocre, dirty, badly behaved, shameless tourists.

—Brigitte Bardot, 1989

It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.

—Niccolò Machiavelli, c. 1515

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

—Aristotle, c. 330 BC

Those who go overseas find a change of climate, not a change of soul.

—Horace, c. 20 BC

To achieve harmony in bad taste is the height of elegance.

—Jean Genet, 1949

Freedom of the press is only guaranteed to those who own one.

—A.J. Liebling, 1960

Anyone who’s never watched somebody die is suffering from a pretty bad case of virginity.

—John Osborne, 1956

We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink, for dining alone is leading the life of a lion or wolf. 

—Epicurus, c. 300 BC

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

—George W. Bush, 2004

Revolutions are not about trifles, but they are produced by trifles. 

—Aristotle, c. 350 BC