In time history must become a fairy tale—it will become again what it was in the beginning.
—Novalis, c. 1798Quotes
The sea is mother-death, and she is a mighty female, the one who wins, the one who sucks us all up.
—Anne Sexton, 1971It is so difficult not to become vain about one’s own good luck.
—Simone de Beauvoir, 1963Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811Health in all lands is among the indispensable guarantees of human progress.
—Helen Keller, 1936Do you not see how God is praised by those in the heavens and those on earth? The very birds praised Him as they wing their way.
—The Qur’an, c. 620Nature never jests.
—Albrecht von Haller, 1751It is He who has subdued the ocean so that you may eat of its fresh fish and bring up from its depth ornaments to wear. Behold the ships plowing their course through it. All this, that you may seek His bounty and render thanks.
—The Qur’an, c. 625If you would help another man, you must do so in minute particulars.
—William Blake, 1804Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.
—Zora Neale Hurston, 1937Laughter almost ever cometh of things most disproportioned to ourselves and nature. Laughter hath only a scornful tickling.
—Philip Sidney, 1582Every man must descend into the flesh to meet mankind.
—G.K. Chesterton, 1910When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep.
—Ursula K. Le Guin, 1969