I imagine that one of the first forms of behavior, like one of the first signals, may be reduced to this: “Keep me warm.”
—Michel Serres, 1982
Archive
Quotes
There is much difference between imitating a good man, and counterfeiting him.
—Benjamin Franklin, 1738my mind is
a big hunk of irrevocable nothing
Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.
—William Shakespeare, c. 1610People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in them.
—James Baldwin, 1953Whenever in history equality appeared on the agenda, it was exported somewhere else, like an undesirable.
—Mary McCarthy, 1971God never sent a messenger save with the language of his folk, that he might make the message clear for them.
—The Qur’an, c. 620No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money.
—Samuel Johnson, 1776Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny, they have only shifted it to another shoulder.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1903Travel is like adultery: one is always tempted to be unfaithful to one’s own country. To have imagination is inevitably to be dissatisfied with where you live.
—Anatole Broyard, 1989Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished.
—Francis Bacon, 1625I cannot bear a parent’s tears.
—Virgil, c. 25 BCThe body is an instrument which only gives off music when it is used as a body.
—Anaïs Nin, 1935