No human being is innocent, but there is a class of innocent human actions called games.
—W.H. Auden, 1962
Archive
Quotes
Every gift has a personality—that of its giver.
—Nuruddin Farah, 1992Nature’s rules have no exceptions.
—Herbert Spencer, 1851The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
—Wendell Berry, 1983What harm is there in getting knowledge and learning, were it from a sot, a pot, a fool, a winter mitten, or an old slipper?
—François Rabelais, 1533It is more blessed to give than to receive.
—Acts of the Apostles, c. 80The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to.
—Carl Sandburg, 1934If I see something sagging, dragging, or bagging, I’m going to go have the stuff tucked or plucked.
—Dolly Parton, 2003We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea—whether it is to sail or to watch it—we are going back whence we came.
—John F. Kennedy, 1962Revolutions are always verbose.
—Leon Trotsky, 1933Knowledge is an ancient error reflecting on its youth.
—Francis Picabia, 1949But look, our seas are what we make of them, full of fish or not, opaque or transparent, red or black, high or smooth, narrow or bankless—and we are ourselves sea, sand, coral, seaweed, beaches, tides, swimmers, children, waves.
—Hélène Cixous, 1976In every human breast, God has implanted a principle, which we call love of freedom; it is impatient of oppression and pants for deliverance.
—Phillis Wheatley, 1774