There are truths that prove their discoverers witless.
—Karl Kraus, 1909
Archive
Quotes
You must not grow used to making money out of everything. One sees more people ruined than one has seen preserved by shameful gains.
—Sophocles, c. 442 BCA person who sees only fashion in fashion is a fool.
—Honoré de Balzac, 1830Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.
—E.B. White, 1944The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. Probably at the next gas station.
—Hunter S. Thompson, 1971Man is always a wizard to man, and the social world is at first magical.
—Jean-Paul Sartre, 1939The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.
—Joseph Conrad, 1899If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater, suggest that he wear a tail.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1981I am a living symbol of the white man’s fear.
—Winnie Mandela, 1985Some nights are like honey—and some like wine—and some like wormwood.
—L.M. Montgomery, 1927Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, you occasionally find men who disgrace labor.
—Ulysses S. Grant, 1877Seaward ho! Hang the treasure! It’s the glory of the sea that has turned my head.
—Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883A bad reputation is easy to come by, painful to bear, and difficult to clear.
—Hesiod, c. 700 BC