Search results for tag #quotes
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I never could stomach those nationalists. The destiny of Man is to unite, not to divide. If you keep on dividing you end up as a collection of monkeys throwing nuts at each other out of separate trees.
T. H. White (1906–1964) English writer [Terence Hanbury White]
The Once and Future King, Part 2, ch. 3 [Merlyn] (1939)
More about this quote: wist.info/white-th/86299/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thwhite #onceandfutureking #merlin dividing #division #factionalism #nationalism #powerlessness #union #uniting #unity #weakness
CAESAR: Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much,
He is a great observer, and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men. He loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music;
Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
As if he mocked himself and scorned his spirit
That could be moved to smile at anything.
Such men as he be never at heart’s ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous.
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 209ff (1.2.209–220) (1599)
More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shakespeare #williamshakespeare #juliuscaesar #cassius #danger #ego #envy #pride #smile #threat
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#poll Who said it better?
"All compounded things decay. Strive on, with diligence."
- Gautama Buddha
"Everything has an end, except the banana, which has two."
- Bambara proverb (Mali)
#philosophy #bananas #buddhism #quote #quotes #quotation #Mali #proverbs #askfedi
| Buddha: | 5 |
| the proverb from Mali: | 15 |
Closes in 1:04:37:33
Errours like Straws upon the surface flow;
He who would search for Pearls must dive below.
John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet, dramatist, critic
All for Love, “Prologue to Anthony and Cleopatra” (1677)
More about this quote: wist.info/dryden-john/269/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #dryden #johndryden #depths #error #errors #misjudgment #mistake #superficiality #surface #wisdom
A quotation from Martin Luther King
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon (1963 ed.), “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” “2. Breadth”
More (much more) about this quote: wist.info/king-martin-luther/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #martinlutherking #martinlutherkingjr #mlk #charity #compassion #giving #goldenrule #meme #others #righteousness #virtue #works
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MLK Quote
Old age is courteous — no one more:
For time after time he knocks at the door,
But nobody says, “Walk in, sir, pray!”
Yet turns he not from the door away,
But lifts the latch, and enters with speed,
And then they cry, “A cool one, indeed.”
[Das Alter ist ein höflich’ Mann:
Einmal übers andre klopft er an;
Aber nun sagt niemand: „Herein!‟
Und vor der Türe will er nicht sein.
Da klinkt er auf, tritt ein so schnell,
Und nun heißt’s, er sei ein grober Gesell.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Poem (1814), “Old Age [Das Alter]” [tr. Bowring (1853)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/goethe-johann/86278/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #goethe #aging #gettingold #growingold #oldage
[T]he citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth’s political clothes are worn out, and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal; he is a traitor. That he may be the only one who thinks he sees this decay, does not excuse him; it is his duty to agitate anyway, and it is the duty of the others to vote him down if they do not see the matter as he does.
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 13 “Freemen!”
More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/86276/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #twain #marktwain #connecticutyankee #activism #agitation #change #citizen #civicduty #civicresponsibility #duty #politicalaction #progress #protest
A quotation from Robert Ingersoll
Our ancestors, in the ages that are gone, really believed that by force you could convince a man. You cannot change the conclusion of the brain by torture; nor by social ostracism. But I will tell you what you can do by these, and what you have done. You can make hypocrites by the million. You can make a man say that he has changed his mind; but he remains of the same opinion still. Put fetters all over him; crush his feet in iron boots; stretch him to the last gasp upon the holy rack; burn him, if you please, but his ashes will be of the same opinion still.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1877-01-31) “The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child,” Case Hall, Boston
More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertingersoll #robertgreeningersoll #belief #bruteforce #changeofmind #convictions #force #freedom #freedomofconscience #freedomofthought #heresy #hypocrisy #hypocrites #inquisition #liberty #opinion #ostracism #thoughtcontrol #torture #religiousintolerance #religiouspersecution
A quotation from Samuel Johnson
When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency.
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1750-09-25), The Rambler, No. 50
More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/36329…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #civility #customs #impoliteness #incivility #meme #morals #mores #politeness #rudeness
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Samuel Johnson quote
A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson
There are two things that men should never weary of, goodness and humility; we get none too much of them in this rough world among cold, proud people.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Novel (1886), Kidnapped, ch. 16 “The Lad with the Silver Button: Across Morven”
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertlouisstevenson #kidnapped #aloofness #apathy #callousness #coldness #doinggood #gooddeeds #goodpeople #goodperson #heartlessness #humancondition #humbleness #humility #indifference #insensitivity #pride #selfcenteredness #selfishness #unfeelingness #unfriendliness #unkindness
A quotation from La Rochefoucauld
The weak cannot be sincere.
[Les personnes foibles ne peuvent être sincères.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶316 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochfoucauld #goodintentions #compliance #character #insincerity #sincerity #weakness #willpower
With tread imperial, impartial pallid Death
knocks at the doors of cottages and palaces.
[Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres.]
Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Odes [Carmina], Book 1, # 4, l. 13ff (1.4.13-14) (23 BC) [tr. Alexander (1999), “To Lucius Sestius”]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/69269/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #horace #death #equality #mortality #poor #powerful #rich #wealthy
Whenever you see a bunch of buggers puttering around talking about truth and beauty and the best way of attacking Ethics, you can bet your sandals it’s because dozens of other poor buggers are doing all the real work around the place.
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 13, Small Gods [Om] (1992)
More about this quote: wist.info/pratchett-terry/8625…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #pratchett #terrypratchett #freetime #leisure #philosophers #philosophy #realwork #work
The general uncertainty as to what is really happening makes it easier to cling to lunatic beliefs. Since nothing is ever quite proved or disproved, the most unmistakable fact can be impudently denied.
George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)
More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/47333/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #lunaticfringe #alternatefacts #belief #denial #disproof #fakenews #ignorance #lunaticfringe #proof #realitycheck #truthiness #uncertainty #willfulignorance
Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of music, and rings itself all the way through; and thou shalt make of it a dance, a dirge, or a grand life-march as thou wilt.
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
(Attributed)
More about this quote: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/33436…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #carlyle #thomascarlyle #attitude #carpediem #choice #day #living #reaction #seizetheday #seizethemoment #today
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Carlyle quote
THE DOCTOR: Adric, if I knew everything that was going to happen, where would the fun be?
Doctor Who (1963–1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
18X06 “The Keeper of Traken,” Part 1 (1981-01-31) [w. Johnny Byrne]
More about this quote: wist.info/doctor-who-1963/8624…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #doctorwho #fifthdoctor #enjoyment #foresight #fun #knowledge #omniscience #prescience #surprise
A quotation from Josh Billings
Q. — What iz the best religious kreed to hav?
A. — Charity. If a man will swop off all the religious kreed he haz got on hand, and invest the proceeds in charity, he will allwus be proud ov the job.
[What is the best religious creed to have?]
[Charity. If a man will swap off all the religious creed he has got on hand, and invest the proceeds in charity, he will always be proud of the job.]
Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1879-07 “Questions And Replize” (1879 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/86244/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #charity #creed #giving #morality #religion #sect
Propaganda thus serves more to justify ourselves than to convince others; and the more reason we have to feel guilty, the more fervent our propaganda.
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 84 (3.14.84) (1951)
More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/19525/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hoffer #erichoffer #truebeliever #conviction #guilt #justification #persuasion #propaganda #selfjustification #selfrationalization
They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American writer
Essay (1935-09), “Notes on the Next War,” Esquire, Vol. 4, No. 3
More about this quote: wist.info/hemingway-ernest/240…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hemingway #ernesthemingway #battle #casualty #cause #death #dying #goodcause #mortality #patriotism #soldier #war #warfare
MARCUS: Away, then, with all that almost old-womanish twaddle about untimely death being a miserable thing. What time pray? Nature’s? But she gives life on loan, as one might lend money — without fixing beforehand a day of repayment. What ground is there for complaint, then, if she ask for it back whenever she pleases? That was the condition on which you received it.
[Pellantur ergo istae ineptiae paene aniles, ante tempus mori miserum esse. Quod tandem tempus? Naturaene? At ea quidem dedit usuram tamquam pecuniae nalla praestituta die. Quid est igitur quod querare, si repetit,cum volt? Ea enim condicione acceperas.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 39 (1.39) / sec. 93 (1.93) (45 BC) [tr. Black (1889)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #cicero #tusculandisputations #death #destiny #doom #life #mortality #nature #timeliness #earlydeath
Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty: what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness.
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright and critic
Man and Superman, “Maxims for Revolutionists,” “The Social Question” (1903)
More about this quote: wist.info/shaw-george-bernard/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shaw #bernardshaw #georgebernardshaw #manandsuperman #classwarfare #classism #humancondition #lowerclass #poor #poverty #rich #upperclass #wealth #wealthy
The universe is wider than our views of it.
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 18 “Conclusion” (1854)
More about this quote: wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thoreau #henrydavidthoreau #walden #awareness #comprehension #nature #perspective #reality #understanding #universe #view #world
9 Men in 10 are suicides.
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard Improved (1749 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/franklin-benjamin/29…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #franklin #benfranklin #benjaminfranklin #poorrichard #poorrichardsalamanac #death #health #mortality #selfcare #selfdestruction #suicide
A quotation from Felix Frankfurter
The preservation of the community from divisive conflicts, of Government from irreconcilable pressures by religious groups, of religion from censorship and coercion, however subtly exercised, requires strict confinement of the State to instruction other than religious, leaving to the individual’s church and home indoctrination in the faith of his choice.
Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
McCollum v. Board of Education 333 U.S. 217 (1948)
[concurring]
More about this quote: wist.info/frankfurter-felix/85…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #felixfrankfurter #churchandstate #conflict #division #education #firstamendment #freedomofreligion #government #publiceducation #religion #religiousfreedom #SCOTUS #seculargovernment
CASSIUS: “Brutus” and “Caesar” — what should be in that “Caesar”?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with ’em,
“Brutus” will start a spirit as soon as “Caesar.”
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed
That he is grown so great?
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 149ff (1.2.149–159) (1599)
More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #Shakespeare #williamshakespeare #juliuscaesar #jealousy #envy #greatness #name #prestige
A quotation from Ulysses Grant
Let us all labor to add all needful guarantees for the more perfect security of free thought, free speech, and free press, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and of equal rights and privileges to all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion. Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dollar of money shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school. Resolve that neither the state nor nation, or both combined, shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford every child growing up in the land the opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, Pagan, or Atheistical tenets. Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private schools, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the Church and the State forever Separate.
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) American military leader, US President (1869–77)
Speech (1875-09-25), Address to the Army of the Tennessee, Annual Reunion, Des Moines, Iowa
More about this quote: wist.info/grant-ulysses-s/1598…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ulyssesgrant #childrearing #childraising #churchandstate #education #freepress #freespeech #freethought #freedomofreligion #freedomofspeech #freedomofthepress #parochialschool #publiceducation #religiousfreedom #seculargovernment #secularism
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
[La patience est amère, mais son fruit est doux.]
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) French philosopher and writer
Julie, or the New Heloise [Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloïse], Part 1, Letter 46 (from Julie) (1761) [tr. Stewart / Vaché]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/rousseau-jean-jacque…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #rousseau #jeanjaquesrousseau #endurance #equanimity #forbearance #patience #perseverance #puttingupwith #selfrestraint #waiting
A quotation from Oliver Markus Malloy
Fascist dictators don’t announce that they’re fascist dictators.
They announce that it’s illegal to be anti-fascist.
Oliver Markus Malloy (contemp.) German-American writer, cartoonist, musician
Post (2026-07-01), @malloyrocks, Substack.com
More about this quote: wist.info/malloy-oliver-markus…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #malloyrocks #dictatorship #dissent #fascism #illegality #protest #tyranny #unlawfulness
A quotation from Graham Ericsson
Why do certain sayings, certain nuggets of wisdom, survive over the centuries? Often because they are true, or true enough to be useful. Usually because they appeal to universal human emotion, regardless of their truth. Frequently because they support the status quo and so those in power. These are not exclusive reasons.
Graham Ericsson (b. 1961) American technologist, writer, aphorist
Journal (2025-06-23)
More about this quote: wist.info/ericsson-graham/8601…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #aphorism #humanity #persistence #proverb #receivedwisdom #statusquo #truth #wisdom
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🤗🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🐅🐯🤍🖤💛💗♥️🩷💗💛❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🟩💚🟢🟩💚🟢🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🤗*"The modern artist is working with space!*& time!*& expressing his feelings rather than illustrating!"🤗🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🐅🐯🐅🐯🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🤍🖤💛🤍🖤💛♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🫧🤗
~ Jackson Pollock
#Quotes #about #old #and #modern #Art
🤗🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🐅🐯🤍🖤💛💗♥️🩷💗💛❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🟩💚🟢🟩💚🟢❇️🟩💚🟢🤗*"The modern artist is working with space!*& time!*& expressing his feelings rather than illustrating!"🤗🐅🐯🐅🐯🐅🐯🤍🖤💛🤍🖤💛🤍🖤💛♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️♥️🩷💗❤️🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🍁🍂🍃🌿🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🧊💮🪻💐💠❇️🟩💚🟢🤗
~ Jackson Pollock
#Quotes #about #old #and #modern #Art
🤗🩵💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🪭🌺💗🌷🌸🌹🩷💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍🤗*"To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art!*that is!*intimacy!*spirituality!*color!*aspiration towards the infinite!*expressed by every means available to the arts!"🤗💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍🤗🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭🪭🪭🌺🌷🌸🪭🪭💙🔵🩵🔷💠🌀🤍⚪⬜◻️💮🏳️🕊️🐻❄️🩶🐘🧤👩🏿🦳🔲🦍🤗
~ Charles Baudelaire
#Quotes #On #Old #and #Modern #Art
🤗🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🪭🌺💗🌷🌸🌹🩷🤗*"To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art!*that is!*intimacy!*spirituality!*color!*aspiration towards the infinite!*expressed by every means available to the arts!"🤗🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭☂️⛱️🏖️☔🩷🌸🌹🌷💗🌺🪭🪭🪭🌺🌷🌸🪭🪭🤗
~ Charles Baudelaire
#Quotes #On #Old #and #Modern #Art
A quotation from Ambrose Bierce
FORBIDDEN, pp. Invested with a new and irresistible charm.
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) American writer and journalist
“Forbidden,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1884-12-13)
More about this quote: wist.info/bierce-ambrose/85971…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ambrosebbierce #devilsdictionary #attractiveness #charm #desire #forbid #forbiddenfruit #incentive #prohibit #Prohibition
A quotation from Franklin Roosevelt
An old English judge once said: “Necessitous men are not free men.” Liberty requires opportunity to make a living — a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman; US President (1933–45)
Speech (1936-06-27), Acceptance for Renomination for President, Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia
Much more about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-franklin-d…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #franklinroosevelt #agency #compulsion #consent #contract #desperation #distress #exploitation #freedom #liberty #necessity #need #populism #takeadvantage #urgency
A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt
Now, while we are a generous nation, giving with a free hand and with an open heart whenever there is need or suffering (that we can understand, at least), we have one weakness that, considering our political maturity as a nation, is rather immature. We continue to expect the world to be grateful to us and to love us. We are hurt and indignant when we do not receive gratitude and love.
Gratitude and love are not to be had for the asking; they are not to be bought. We should not want to think that they are for sale. What we should seek, rather than gratitude or love, is the respect of the world. This we can earn by enlightened justice. But it is rather naive of us to think that when we are helping people our action is entirely unselfish. It is not. It is not unselfish when we vaccinate the public against smallpox. It is a precautionary measure, but nonetheless good in itself.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Memoir (1961), The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Part 4, ch. 41 “Milestones”
More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/85…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #America #charity #foreignaid #foreignassistance #gratitude #justice #mutualassistance #selfinterest
To do big things, it is essential not to be such a great genius; one must not be above men, one must be with them.
[Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie: il ne faut pas être au-dessus des hommes; il faut être avec eux.]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755) French political philosopher
Pensées Diverses [Assorted Thoughts], # 1083 / 1224 (1720-1755) [tr. Clark (2012)]
More about this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/86219/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #populism #accomplishment #collaboration #commonman #commonpeople #genius #greatness #superiority
![[?]](https://files.mastodon.social/accounts/avatars/115/967/890/192/375/774/original/79861f67f1d57c00.png)
🏳️🌈Who is the father of privilege? Chance. And who is his son? Abuse.
[Quel est le père du privilège ? le hasard. Et quel est son fils ? l’abus.]
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French writer, journalist, human rights activist, politician
The Man Who Laughs [L’Homme qui rit; The Laughing Man; By Order of the King], Part 2, Book 8, ch. 7 (2.8.7) (1869) [tr. Phillips (1894)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/hugo-victor/86217/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #victorhugo #themanwholaughs #abuse #advantage #chance #corruption #fortune #luck #power #privilege #success #superiority
from "Advice to a Lady in Autumn" by Philip Dormer Stanhope, 1763
The poem has crisp autumn imagery, like this:
"At twelve you may walk, for at this time o' the year,
the sun, like your wit, is as mild, as 'tis clear:
But mark in the meadows the ruin of Time;
take the hint, and let life be improv'd in its prime."
But the whole poem is really a passive-aggressive rant that she (the Lady) shouldn't have rejected the author's romantic interest, as hinted in the last line above. Another example:
"At nine [a.m.] stretch your arms, and oh! think when alone, there's no pleasure in bed 😏
— 'MARY, bring me my gown.'
Slip on that ere you rise;
let your caution be such;
Keep all cold from your breast ...
there's already too much."
Okay, Phil, I admit that compared to some dudes, you express your disappointment in a healthy way. But there's no need to dwell on it. It's her loss! Move on, bro!
https://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/works/o5152-w0400.shtml
A quotation from Richard Steele
I have often lamented that we cannot close our Ears with as much ease as we can our Eyes.
Richard Steele (1672–1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Essay (1711-08-20), The Spectator, No. 148
More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/85963…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #ears #eyes #hearing #listening #noise #sound
A quotation (not) from Tolstoy
The wicked become even worse when tolerated.
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
(Spurious)
More about this quote: wist.info/tolstoy-leo/86005/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #tolstoy #leotolstoy #acquiescence #corruption #evil #tolerance #toleration #license #wicked #worsening
Government is instituted for the common good: for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men.
John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founder, statesman; US President (1797–1801)
Document (1779-10-31), “Report of a Constitution or Form of Government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” ch. 1 “Declaration of Rights,” Article 7
More about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/85967/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnadams #government #people #privateinterest #publicinterest #thepeople
A quotation from Henry Commager
There are further and more practical objections against the imposition of fixed concepts of loyalty or tests of disloyalty. The effort is itself a confession of fear, a declaration of insolvency. Those who are sure of themselves do not need reassurance, and those who have confidence in the strength and the virtue of America do not need to fear either criticism or competition.
Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-09), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 3, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168
More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #confidence #fear #loyalty #loyaltyoath #loyaltytest #selfconfidence
As from the pow’r of Sacred Lays
The Spheres began to move,
And sung the great Creator’s praise
To all the bless’d above;
So when the last and dreadful Hour
This crumbling Pageant shall devour,
The TRUMPET shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,
And MUSICK shall untune the Sky.
John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet, dramatist, critic
Poem (1687), “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day,” “Grand Chorus”
More about this quote: wist.info/dryden-john/86208/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #dryden #johndryden #endofdays #endoftheworld #endtimes #lasttrumpet #music #spheres
But you can’t make people listen. They have to come ’round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them.
Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer, futurist, fabulist
Fahrenheit 451, Part 3 “Burning Bright” [Granger] (1953)
More about this quote: wist.info/bradbury-ray/86212/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bradbury #raybradbury #changeofheart #changeofmind #comearound #hearing #listening #patience #progress #understanding #waiting
"The act of protesting should never be an arrestable event"
- Paul @PGBeattie #Quotes #Quote #Protest
Post: https://mastodon.social/@PGBeattie@mastodonapp.uk/117344927557910454
"The unit of #resilience isn’t the machine. It’s the person who can reproduce the #machine."
- #SabotMedia #Quote #Quotes
@AberdeenLocal1312
Post: https://kolektiva.social/@AberdeenLocal1312/117330348121863005
(My comment) Yes about the person more than machines
BUT NOW we have plenty of machines
it's PEOPLE REPLICATING BETTER PEOPLE (Teaching / Making better people at the end of ALL TECH.
Tech alone doesn't work.
I say this because everyone is tinkering with machines, NOT listening & talking & to people as the progress!
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If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.
Thomas Pynchon (b. 1937) American novelist
Gravity’s Rainbow, Part 2 “Un Perm’ au Casino Harmann Goering” (1973)
More about this quote: wist.info/pynchon-thomas/15755…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #pynchon #thomaspynchon #answers #misdirection #misleading #paranoia #questions
What’s done can’t be undone, but at least you can keep it from happening again.
[Gedane zaken nemen geen keer, maar wel kan men verder voorkomen.]
Anne Frank (1929–1945) German-Dutch Jewish diarist
Diary (1944-05-07) [tr. Massotty (1995)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/frank-anne/86210/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #annefrank #civilrights #Constitution #dissent #firstamendment #freespeech #freedomofexpression #freedomofspeech #protest #rights
Under our Constitution, free speech is not a right that is given only to be so circumscribed that it exists in principle, but not in fact. Freedom of expression would not truly exist if the right could be exercised only in an area that a benevolent government has provided as a safe haven for crackpots.
Abraham Fortas (1910–1982) American academic, jurist, lawyer; US Supreme Court Justice (1965–69)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 513 (1969) [majority opinion]
More about this quote: wist.info/fortas-abe/86206/
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A quotation from Usula K. Le Guim
As you read a book word by word and page by page, you participate in its creation, just as a cellist playing a Bach suite participates, note by note, in the creation, the coming-to-be, the existence of the music. And, as you read and re-read, the book of course participates in the creation of you, your thoughts and feelings, the size and temper of your soul.
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) American writer
Essay (1977-11), “Books Remembered,” Children’s Book Council Calendar, Vol. 36, No. 2
More about this quote: wist.info/leguin-ursula-k/8600…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #leguin #usulakleguin #books #creativity #engagement #reading
A quotation from Usula K. Le Guim
As you read a book word by word and page by page, you participate in its creation, just as a cellist playing a Bach suite participates, note by note, in the creation, the coming-to-be, the existence of the music. And, as you read and re-read, the book of course participates in the creation of you, your thoughts and feelings, the size and temper of your soul.
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) American writer
Essay (1977-11), “Books Remembered,” Children’s Book Council Calendar, Vol. 36, No. 2
More about this quote: wist.info/leguin-ursula-k/8600…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #leguin #usulakleguin #books #creativity #engagement #reading
A quotation from Adlai Stevenson
You who have spent four years on this campus know better than most people that your greatest satisfactions, your greatest rewards, resulted from the free interplay of ideas. You know that your most penetrating insights resulted from the exchange and the interchange and clash of ideas. And I would remind you that just as a great university cannot operate in any but an atmosphere of intellectual freedom, neither can a great government.
Adlai Stevenson II (1900–1965) American politician, diplomat, statesman
Speech (1954-03-22), “The Educated Citizen,” Senior Class Banquet, Dillon Gymnasium, Princeton University
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-adlai-ewin…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #adlaistevenson #academia #college #debate #discussion #government #ideas #insight #intellectualfreedom #university
And now here I was, in a country where a right to say how the country should be governed was restricted to six persons in each thousand of its population. For the nine hundred and ninety-four to express dissatisfaction with the regnant system and propose to change it, would have made the whole six shudder as one man, it would have been so disloyal, so dishonorable, such putrid black treason. So to speak, I was become a stockholder in a corporation where nine hundred and ninety-four of the members furnished all the money and did all the work, and the other six elected themselves a permanent board of direction and took all the dividends. It seemed to me that what the nine hundred and ninety-four dupes needed was a new deal.
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 13 “Freemen!”
More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/86001/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #twain #marktwain #connecticutyankee #aristocracy #classwarfare #exploitation #management #monarchy #oligarchy #workers
Football, it seemed to me, is not really played for the pleasure of kicking a ball about, but is a species of fighting. The lovers of football are large, boisterous, nobbly boys who are good at knocking down and trampling on slightly smaller boys.
George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1948-06), “‘Such, Such Were the Joys …’,” Partisan Review, sec. 5 (1952-09)
More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/85997/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #bullying #fighting #football #physicaleducation #school #soccer #sports
A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson
No class of man is altogether bad, but each has its own faults and virtues.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Novel (1886), Kidnapped, ch. 7 “I Go to Sea in the Brig Covenant of Dysart”
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertlouisstevenson #kidnapped #class #classism #classwarfare #faults #humannature #stereotype #vice #virtue
A quotation from Arthur Miller
An era can be said to end when its basic illusions are exhausted.
Arthur Miller (1915–2005) American playwright and essayist
Essay (1974-12), “The Year It Came Apart,” New York Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 1
More about this quote: wist.info/miller-athur/34605/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arthurmiller #culture #disillusionment #epoch #era #history #illusion #meme #myths #society
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Arthur Miller quote
A quotation from Josh Billings
Whenever yu cum akrost a man, who praizes yu immoderately, and kusses every boddy else in proportion, yu kan make up yure mind, that yure turn for kussing will cum soon.
[Whenever you come across a man, who praises you immoderately, and cusses everybody else in proportion, you can make up your mind, that your turn for cussing will come soon.]
Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1878-09 (1878 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/85993/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbilllings #adulation #blandishment #compliments #cursing #cussing #deprecation #disparagement #flattery #insulting #offense #slurs #sweettalking #sycophant #toady
It is understandable that we should look for others to side with us when we have a just grievance and crave to retaliate against those who wronged us. The puzzling thing is that when our hatred does not spring from a visible grievance and does not seem justified, the desire for allies becomes more pressing. It is chiefly the unreasonable hatreds that drive us to merge with those who hate as we do, and it is this kind of hatred that serves as one of the most effective cementing agents.
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 68 (3.14.68) (1951)
More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/85991/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #allies #comrades #hatred #selfjustification #selfrighteousness #supporters
Wealth and Content are not always Bed-fellows.
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard Improved (1749 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/franklin-benjamin/85…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #franklin #benfranklin #benjaminfranklin #poorrichard #poorrichardsalmanac #contentment #happiness #money #riches #satisfaction #sufficiency #wealth
A quotation from John F. Kennedy
There has also been a change — a slippage — in our intellectual and moral strength. Seven lean years of drought and famine have withered a field of ideas. Blight has descended on our regulatory agencies — and a dry rot, beginning in Washington, is seeping into every corner of America — in the payola mentality, the expense account way of life, the confusion between what is legal and what is right. Too many Americans have lost their way, their will and their sense of historic purpose.
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Speech (1960-07-15), “The New Frontier,” Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, Democratic National Convention, Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
More about this quote: wist.info/kennedy-john/85986/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnfkennedy #jfk #America #corruption #decline #legality #morality #purpose
"...trans national fascism..."
- @GhostOnTheHalfShell #Quotes #Quote #Fascism #Plutocracy #Oligarchy
Post: https://mastodon.social/@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai/117322089520064562
And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.
So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes.
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922–2007) American novelist, journalist
Slaughterhouse-Five, ch. 1 (1969)
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#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #kurtvonnegut #defiance #humannature #lookingback #lookingbehind #past #remembrance #retrospection
Our village life would stagnate if it were not for the unexplored forests and meadows which surround it. We need the tonic of wildness, — to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground. At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of Nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and Titanic features, the sea-coast with its wrecks, the wilderness with its living and its decaying trees, the thunder cloud, and the rain which lasts three weeks and produces freshets. We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 17 “Spring” (1854)
More about this quote: wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thoroeau #henrydavidthoreau #exploration #invigoration #mystery #nature #wilderness #wildness
A quotation from Bertrand Russell
Rebellion in itself is no better than acquiescence in itself, since it is equally determined by relation to what is outside ourselves rather than by a purely personal judgement of value. Whether rebellion is to be praised or deprecated depends upon that against which a person rebels, but there should be the possibility of rebellion on occasion, and not only a blind acquiescence produced by a rigid education in conformity.
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 1 “The Individual versus the Citizen” (1932)
More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/859…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bertrandrussell #acquiescence #conformity #externality #judgment #perspective #rebel #rebellion
excerpt from "To a Sad Daughter" by Michael Ondaatje
#fatherhood #poetry
One afternoon I stepped
into your room. You were sitting
at the desk where I now write this.
Forsythia outside the window
and sun spilled over you
like a thick yellow miracle
as if another planet
was coaxing you out of the house
— all those possible worlds! -
and you, meanwhile, busy with mathematics.
I cannot look at forsythia now
without loss, or joy for you.
You step delicately
into the wild world
and your real prize will be
the frantic search.
Want everything. If you break
break going out not in.
How you live your life I don't care
but I'll sell my arms for you,
hold your secrets for ever.
A quotation from Felix Frankfurter
The nonsectarian or secular public school was the means of reconciling freedom in general with religious freedom. The sharp confinement of the public schools to secular education was a recognition of the need of a democratic society to educate its children, insofar as the State undertook to do so, in an atmosphere free from pressures in a realm in which pressures are most resisted and where conflicts are most easily and most bitterly engendered. Designed to serve as perhaps the most powerful agency for promoting cohesion among a heterogeneous democratic people, the public school must keep scrupulously free from entanglement in the strife of sects.
Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
McCollum v. Board of Education 333 U.S. 216–217 (1948)
[concurring]
More about this quote: wist.info/frankfurter-felix/85…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #felixfrankfurter #education #firstamendment #freedom #freedomofreligion #nonsectarian #religiousfreedom #school #SCOTUS #sectarianism #secular #seculargovernment
FOOL: A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that’s all one, our play is done,
And we’ll strive to please you every day.
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Twelfth Night, Act 5, sc. 1, l. 428ff, closing lines (5.1.428–431) (1601)
More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shakespeare #williamshakespeare #twelfthnight #completion #conclusion #curtain #finale #finish
A quotation from Herman J. Mankiewicz
Alone in his never-finished, already decaying, pleasure palace, aloof, seldom visited, never photographed, an emperor of newsprint continued to direct his failing empire. Vainly attempting to sway, as he once did, the destinies of a Nation that had ceased to listen to him, ceased to trust him.
Herman J. Mankiewicz (1897–1953) American screenwriter, journalist, theater critic
Citizen Kane (1941) [with Orson Welles]
More about this quote: wist.info/mankiewicz-herman/86…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #citizenkane #decay #decline #downfall #irrelevance #isolation
A quotation (not) from Abraham Lincoln
If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe.
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861–65)
(Spurious)
More about this quote: wist.info/lincoln-abraham/2534…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #abrahamlincoln #abelincoln #lincoln #groundwork #planning #preparation #readiness #tools
A quotation from Bill Watterson
CALVIN: Bad news, Dad. Your polls are way down.
CALVIN’S DAD: My polls?
CALVIN: You rate especially low among tigers and six-year-old white males.
Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1985-12-02)
More about this quote: wist.info/watterson-bill/86188…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #billwatterson #calvinandhobbes #children #parenting #polling #polls #popularity #survey
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Calvin and Hobbes (1985-12-02)
I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2
More about this quote: wist.info/emerson-ralph-waldo/…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #emerson #ralphwaldoemerson #church #contemplation #preaching #quiet #silence #yammer
A quotation from Ambrose Bierce
FOREIGNER, n. A villain regarded with various and varying degrees of toleration, according to his conformity to the eternal standard of our conceit and the shifting one of our interests.
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) American writer and journalist
“Foreigner,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1884-09-13)
More about this quote: wist.info/bierce-ambrose/86184…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #ambrosebierce #assimilation #businessinterests #conceit #ego #foreignaffairs #foreignrelations #foreigner #interests #similarity #tolerance #xenophobia #other
A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt
A snub is the effort of a person who feels superior to make someone else feel inferior. To do so, he has to find someone who can be made to feel inferior.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Comment (1935-03-26), White House Press Conference
More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/33…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #humiliation #inferior #place #putdown #shame #snub
The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction,
and concern for instruction is love of her,
and love of her is the keeping of her laws,
and giving heed to her laws is assurance of immortality,
and immortality brings one near to God,
so the desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.
[ἀρχὴ γὰρ αὐτῆς ἡ ἀληθεστάτη παιδείας ἐπιθυμία,
φροντὶς δὲ παιδείας ἀγάπη,
ἀγάπη δὲ τήρησις νόμων αὐτῆς,
προσοχὴ δὲ νόμων βεβαίωσις ἀφθαρσίας,
ἀφθαρσία δὲ ἐγγὺς εἶναι ποιεῖ θεοῦ·
ἐπιθυμία ἄρα σοφίας ἀνάγει ἐπὶ βασιλείαν.]
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 22a. Wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon) 6:17ff (Wis 6:17–20) [NRSV (2021 ed.)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/bible-ot/4483/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #bible #oldtestament #wisdomofsolomon #apocrypha #discipline #education #instruction #learning #religion #salvation #selfcontrol #wisdom
"Web2 was built on rented infrastructure, and the rent has gone up for thirty years"
- Reality Network @therealitynetwor
https://mastodon.social/@therealitynetwork/117314816416801901
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My lords, you are highly placed. It is well. We must believe that God has his reasons that it should be so. You have power, opulence, pleasure, the sun ever shining in your zenith, authority unbounded, enjoyment without a sting, and a total forgetfulness of others. So be it. But there is something below you — above you, it may be. My lords, I bring you news — news of the existence of mankind.
[Mylords, vous êtes en haut. C’est bien. Il faut croire que Dieu a ses raisons pour cela. Vous avez le pouvoir, l’opulence, la joie, le soleil immobile à votre zénith, l’autorité sans borne, la jouissance sans partage, l’immense oubli des autres. Soit. Mais il y a au-dessous de vous quelque chose. Au-dessus peut-être. Mylords, je viens vous apprendre une nouvelle. Le genre humain existe.]
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French writer, journalist, human rights activist, politician
The Man Who Laughs [L’Homme qui rit; The Laughing Man; By Order of the King], Part 2, Book 8, ch. 7 (2.8.7) (1869) [tr. Steele (Auth.) (1871)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/hugo-victor/86176/
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For who could see the passage of a goddess
Unless she wished his mortal eyes aware?
[τίς ἂν θεὸν οὐκ ἐθέλοντα
ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἴδοιτ᾽ ἢ ἔνθ᾽ ἢ ἔνθα κιόντα]
Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 10, l. 575ff (10.575–576) [Odysseus] (c. 700 BC) [tr. Fitzgerald (1961)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/homer/79215/
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It doesn’t make any sense, but I once truly believed that if I had to stand in line for twenty minutes to have a package gift-wrapped it actually gave the recipient more pleasure.
Jean Kerr (1922–2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1970 ca.), “I Saw Mommy Kicking Santa Claus,” Penny Candy
More about this quote: wist.info/kerr-jean/86172/
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A quotation from Richard Steele
An author, when he first appears in the world, is very apt to believe it has nothing to think of but his Performances.
Richard Steele (1672–1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Essay (1711-03-05), The Spectator, No. 4
More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/86170…
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Money — it’s love of money that is fatal;
for money’s sake men die before their time;
money is cruel; it nourishes men’s vices;
it is the source of woe, the seed of crime.
[Ergo sollicitae tu causa, pecunia, vitae!
per te immaturum mortis adimus iter;
tu vitiis hominum crudelia pabula praebes;
semina curarum de capite orta tuo.]
Propertius (50–16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius]
Elegies, Book 3, Elegy 7, l. 1ff (3.7.1–4) [tr. Carrier (1963)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/propertius/86168/
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BRUTUS: Brutus had rather be a villager
Than to repute himself a son of Rome
Under these hard conditions as this time
Is like to lay upon us.
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 181ff (1.2.181–184) (1599)
More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/…
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A quotation from Wendell Phillips
These [social questions] have all been kept alive in the cauldron of our agitation, and earned us properly, deservedly, the title of “infidel” and “traitor.” “Infidel” to a church that could be at peace in the presence of sin! “Traitor” to a state that was a magnificent conspiracy against justice.
Wendell Phillips (1811–1884) American abolitionist, orator, social activist
Speech (1857-01-02), 25th Anniversary of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Faneuil Hall, Boston
Much more about this quote: wist.info/phillips-wendell/861…
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It is true, the bill is said to be founded on necessity; but what is this? Is it not necessity, which has always been the plea of every illegal exertion of power, or exercise of oppression? Is not necessity the pretence of every usurpation? Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
William Pitt (1759–1806) British Prime Minister (1804–06) [William Pitt the Younger]
Speech (1793-11-18), House of Commons, London
More about this quote: wist.info/pitt-william/3164/
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William Pitt quote
Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. They’re allowed to take only a knapsack and a little cash with them, and even then, they’re robbed of these possessions on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone.
[Buiten is het verschrikkelijk. Dag en nacht worden die arme mensen weggesleept, met niets anders bij zich dan een rugzak en wat geld. Deze bezittingen worden hun onderweg ook nog ontnomen. De gezinnen worden uit elkaar gerukt, gesplitst in mannen, vrouwen en kinderen. Kinderen, die van school naar huis komen, vinden hun ouders niet meer. Vrouwen, die boodschappen doen, vinden bij haar thuiskomst haar huis verzegeld, haar familie verdwenen.]
Anne Frank (1929–1945) German-Dutch Jewish diarist
Diary (1943-01-13) [tr. Massotty (1995)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/frank-anne/86158/
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A quotation from La Rochefoucauld
‘Tis a small misfortune to oblige an ungrateful man; but it is unbearable to be obliged by a scoundrel.
[Ce n’est pas un grand malheur d’obliger des ingrats, mais c’en est un insupportable d’être obligé à un malhonnête homme.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶317 (1665-1678) [tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…
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A quotation from Terry Pratchett
What have I always believed?
That on the whole, and by and large, if a man lived properly, not according to what any priests said, but according to what seemed decent and honest inside, then it would, at the end, more or less, turn out all right.
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 13, Small Gods [Fri’it] (1992)
More about this quote: wist.info/pratchett-terry/4519…
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A quotation from Samuel Johnson
It may be said that disease generally begins that equality which death completes; the distinctions which set one man so much above another are very little perceived in the gloom of a sick chamber.
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1750-09-01), The Rambler, No. 48
More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/25671…
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A quotation from Robert Ingersoll
The man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a traitor to himself and to his fellow-men.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1877-01-31) “The Liberty of Man, Woman, and Child,” Case Hall, Boston
More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…
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People often say to themselves in life that they should avoid a variety of occupation, and, more particularly, be the less willing to enter upon new work the older they grow. But it is easy to talk, easy to give advice to oneself and others. To grow old is itself to enter upon a new business; all the circumstances change, and a man must either cease acting altogether, or willingly and consciously take over the new rôle.
[Man sagt sich oft im Leben, daß man die Vielgeschäftigkeit, Polypragmosyne, vermeiden, besonders, je älter man wird, sich desto weniger in ein neues Geschäft einlassen solle. Aber man hat gut reden, gut sich und anderen rathen. Älter werden heißt selbst ein neues Geschäft antreten; alle Verhältnisse verändern sich, und man muß entweder zu handeln ganz aufhören oder mit Willen und Bewußtsein das neue Rollenfach übernehmen.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Sprüche in Prosa: Maximen und Reflexionen [Proverbs in Prose: Maxims and Reflections] (1833) [tr. Saunders (1893), ch. 4, #237]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/goethe-johann/86148/
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Any established church is an established crime, an established slave pen.
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Novel (1889), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Part 3 “The Tale of the Lost Land,” ch. 16 “Morgan Le Fay”
More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/86146/
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A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson
Call up your vermin to your back, sir, and fall on! The sooner the clash begins, the sooner ye’ll taste this steel throughout your vitals.
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Novel (1886), Kidnapped, ch. 10 “The Siege of the Round-House” (Alan)
More about this quote: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…
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You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she will ever hurry back, and, ere you know it, will burst through your foolish contempt in triumph.
[Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret,
Et mala perrumpet furtim fastidia victrix.]
Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 1, ep. 10 “To Aristius Fuscus,” l. 24ff (1.10.24-25) (20 BC) [tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/horace/80113/
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The various codes which were presented to you at Crossgates — religious, moral, social, and intellectual — contradicted one another of you worked out their implications. The essential conflict was between the tradition of nineteenth-century asceticism and the actually existing luxury and snobbery of the pre-1914 age. On the one side were low-church Bible Christianity, sex puritanism, insistence on hard work, respect for academic distinction, disapproval of self-indulgence: on the other, contempt for “braininess” and worship of games, contempt for foreigners and the working class, an almost neurotic dread of poverty, and, above all, the assumption not only that money and privilege are the things that matter, but that it is better to inherit them than to have to work for them. Broadly, you were bidden to be at once a Christian and a social success, which is impossible.
George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1948-06), “‘Such, Such Were the Joys …’,” sec. 5, Partisan Review (1952-09)
More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/86130/
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"when living is more terrible than dying, the greatest courage lies in daring to live.."
- #Bushido #Mentality / #Quotes #Quotes
A quotation from Kerry Greenwood
“I always found faith a great comfort. Otherwise it is too much, Phryne. Too cruel. To think that all the lads, all those boys, were just gone, blown out like candles. Don’t you agree?”
“I do,” said Phryne. “I like to think of them sitting down with all their mates to a serious drinking session, washed clean of mud and stench, all shiny and jolly. And if that doesn’t constitute heaven, I’m not going; though, of course, I might not have the option.”
Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher Book 20, Murder and Mendelssohn, ch. 7 (2013)
More about this quote: wist.info/greenwood-kerry/8612…
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A quotation from Arthur Conan Doyle
'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details.
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) British writer and physician
Story (1891-09), “A Case of Identity,” [Holmes], The Strand Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 3
More about this quote: wist.info/doyle-arthur-conan/8…
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A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt
Any man who has met with success, if he will be frank with himself, must admit that there has been a big element of fortune in the success.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Autobiography, ch. 3 “Practical Politics” (1913)
More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/8…
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Teddy Roosevelt quote
The Book had in a high degree excited us to self-activity, which is the best effect of any book.
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Sartor Resartus, Book 1, ch. 4 (1834)
More about this quote: wist.info/carlyle-thomas/33303…
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THE DOCTOR: Adric, I give you a privileged insight into the mystery of time, yes?
ADRIC: Yes.
THE DOCTOR: Open your mind to adventures beyond imagining, yes?
ADRIC: Yes.
THE DOCTOR: And you criticize my logic?
ADRIC: No. No, I’m just saying that a lot of the time you don’t really make sense.
THE DOCTOR: Ah. Ah! Oh, you’ve noticed that, have you? Well, I mean, anyone can talk sense. As long as that’s understood, you and I are going to get on splendidly.
Doctor Who (1963–1989) British science fiction television series, original run (BBC)
18X06 “The Keeper of Traken,” Part 1 (1981-01-31) [w. Johnny Byrne]
More about this quote: wist.info/doctor-who-1963/8611…
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A quotation from Josh Billings
Experience teaches us mutch, but learns us little.
[Experience teaches us much, but learns us little.]
Josh Billings (1818–1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1879-02 “Slung Shot” (1879 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/86109/
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The “glory” of war is a lie sold by cowards in suits. You don’t die a hero; you die screaming in your own filth while a politician cashes a check.
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American writer
(Spurious)
More about this quote: wist.info/hemingway-ernest/861…
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There is also this: when we renounce the self and become part of a compact whole, we not only renounce personal advantage but are also rid of personal responsibility. There is no telling to what extremes of cruelty and ruthlessness a man will go when he is freed from the fears, hesitations, doubts and the vague stirrings of decency that go with individual judgement. When we lose our individual independence in the corporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom — freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse. Herein undoubtedly lies part of the attractiveness of a mass movement.
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 77 (3.14.77) (1951)
More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/36599/
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MARCUS: As our birth brings to us the beginning, so may death bring the end of all things. As nothing belonged to us before we were born, so nothing will belong to us after we are dead.
[Ut, quo modo initium nobis rerum omnium ortus noster adferat, sic exitum mors, ut nihil pertinuit ad nos ante ortum, sic nihil post mortem pertinebit.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 1, ch. 38 (1.38) / sec. 91 (1.91) (45 BC) [tr. Peabody (1886)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/cicero-marcus-tulliu…
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If Passion drives, let Reason hold the Reins.
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard Improved (1749 ed.)
More about this quote: wist.info/franklin-benjamin/15…
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A quotation from Richard Armour
Good sportsmanship we hail, we sing,
It’s always pleasant when you spot it,
There’s only one unhappy thing:
You have to lose to prove you’ve got it.
Richard Armour (1906–1989) American poet and author
Poem (1956-01), "Good Sportsmanship," American Legion Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 1
More about this quote: wist.info/armour-richard/86092…
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No face which we can give to a matter will stead us so well at last as the truth. This alone wears well.
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 18 “Conclusion” (1854)
More about this quote: wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/…
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The honor we receive from those who fear us is not honor.
[L’honneur que nous recevons de ceux qui nous craignent, ce n’est pas honneur.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 1, ch. 42 (1.42), “Of the Inequality among Us [De l’inequalité qui est entre nous]” (1572) [tr. Frame (1943)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montaigne-michel-de/…
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But I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters which are set before our eyes and minds by direct experience or necessary demonstrations.
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, polymath
Letter (1651) to Christina of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany [tr. Drake (1957)]
More about this quote: wist.info/galileo-de-galilei/1…
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The first step in rising to anger, is to note that you are angry, for that is to enter master of the situation, having determined the need of it, and its height, and going no further; with this considered judgment let your wrath wax, and wane.
[El primer paso del apasionarse es advertir que se apasiona, que es entrar con señorío del afecto, tanteando la necesidad hasta tal punto de enojo, y no más. Con esta superior refleja entre y salga en una ira.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601–1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 155 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/gracian-y-morales-ba…
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A quotation from Felix Frankfurter
The history of liberty is the history of the observances of procedural safeguards.
Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)
McNabb v. United States, 318 U.S. 332, 347 (1943) [majority opinion]
More about this quote: wist.info/frankfurter-felix/14…
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A quotation from Douglas Adams
There are some oddities in the perspective with which we see the world. The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.
Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Speech (1998-09), “Is There an Artificial God?”, Digital Biota 2 conference, Cambridge, UK
More about this quote: wist.info/adams-douglas/5399/
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A quotation from Bertrand Russell
Hostility to the status quo may be derived from either of two sources: it may spring from sympathy with the unfortunate or from hatred of the fortunate. If it springs from the latter, it involves just as much limitation of sympathy as is involved in conservatism. Many revolutionaries in their day-dreams are not so much concerned with the happiness that is to come to the common people as with the vengeance that they will be able to wreak upon the insolent holders of power from whom they are suffering in the present.
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Social Order [Education and the Modern World], ch. 1 “The Individual versus the Citizen” (1932)
More about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/860…
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A quotation from Bill Watterson
CALVIN: I’m not going to do my math homework. Look at these unsolved problems. Here’s a number in mortal combat with another. One of them is going to get subtracted. But why? How? What will be left of him? If I answered these, it would kill the suspense. It would resolve the conflict and turn intriguing possibilities into boring ol’ facts.
HOBBES: I never really thought about the literary qualities of math.
CALVIN: I prefer to savor the mystery.
Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1992-10-13)
More about this quote: wist.info/watterson-bill/86064…
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Calvin and Hobbes (1992-10-13)
A quotation from Ambrose Bierce
FOREIGN, adj. Belonging to another and inferior country.
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?) American writer and journalist
“Foreign,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1884-12-13)
More about this quote: wist.info/bierce-ambrose/86062…
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ADMETUS: For they loved me in words, not deeds.
[ἌΔΜΗΤΟΣ: λόγῳ γὰρ ἦσαν οὐκ ἔργῳ φίλοι.]
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Alcestis [Ἄλκηστις ], l. 339ff (438 BC) [tr. Aldington (1930)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/86059/
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I turned to speak to God
about the world's despair
but to make bad matters worse
I found God wasn't there.
God turned to speak to me
(Don't anybody laugh)
God found I wasn't there
at least not over half.
Robert Frost, 1926
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A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt
Occasionally he took us on a picnic or a camping trip and taught us many valuable lessons. The chief one was to remember that camping was a good way to find out people’s characters. Those who were selfish showed it very soon, in that they wanted the best bed or the best food and did not want to do their share of the work.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Memoir (1937), This Is My Story, ch. 2 “Adolescence”
More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/86…
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