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  A quotation from Christine de Pizan Do not let the bread of the hungry mildew in your larder! Do not let moths eat the poor man’s cloak. Do not store the shoes of the barefoot. Do not hoard the money of the needy. Things you possess in too great abundance belong to the poor and not to you. You are the thief who steals from God if you are able to help your neighbor and refuse to do it.   [Si gardes que le pain du fameilleux ne moisisse en ta huche que le costé du nu tu ne laisses mengier aux ver...

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  A quotation from Doyle    “The law cannot, as you say, touch you,” said Holmes, unlocking and throwing open the door, “yet there never was a man who deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!” he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the man’s face, “it is not part of my duties to my client, but here’s a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to —”    He took two swift st...

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  A quotation from Sergio Leone TUCO: If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?Sergio Leone (1929–1989) Italian filmmaker The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) [with L. Vincenzoni, A. Incrocci, F. Scarpelli, L. Vincenzoni, M. Knox] More about this quote: wist.info/leone-sergio/86581/ #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #sergioleone #thegoodthebadandtheugly #hardwork #job #labor #living #makingaliving #work

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  A quotation from Eisenhower Never let yourself be persuaded that any one Great Man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America consists of one leader and 143,000,000 followers, it will no longer be America. Truly American leadership is not of any one man. It is of multitudes of men — and women.Dwight David Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general, US President (1953–61) Essay (1948-10), “An Open Letter to America’s Students,” Reader’s Digest More about this quote: wi...

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  A quotation from Shakespeare CASSIUS:                     What trash is Rome,    What rubbish, and what offal when it serves    For the base matter to illuminate    So vile a thing as Caesar!William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet Julius Caesar, Act 1, sc. 3, l. 112ff (1.3.112–115) (1599) More about this quote: wist.info/shakespeare-william/… #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #shakespeare #juliiscaesar #corruption #decline #degradation #dictatorship

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  A quotation from Propertius To every one at birth nature has allotted some fault.   [Unicuique dedit vitium natura creato.]Propertius (50–16 BC) Roman elegiac poet [Sextus Propertius] Elegies, Book 2, Elegy 22, l. 17ff (2.2.17) [tr. Goold (Loeb) (1990)] More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/propertius/86591/ #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #propertius #failing #fault #flaw #humannature #imperfection #nature #vice #weakness

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  A quotation from Richard Steele In a word, the married state, with and without the affection suitable to it, is the completest image of heaven and hell we are capable of receiving in this life.Richard Steele (1672–1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician Essay (1712-09-09), The Spectator, No. 479 More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/86593… #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #affection #damnation #heaven #hell #husband #joy #love #marriage #matrimony...

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  A quotation from Homer Women just can’t be trusted any more.   [Ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι πιστὰ γυναιξίν.]Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 11, l. 456 (11.456) [Agamemnon] (c. 700 BC) [tr. Lombardo (2000), l. 274] More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/homer/47181/ #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #homer #odyssey #Agamemnon #betrayal #distrust #misogyny #mistrust #trust #trustworthiness #untrustworthiness #women

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  A quotation from Henry Commager If the preservation of our freedom depends upon the courts then we are, indeed, lost, for in the long run neither courts nor Constitution can save us from our own errors, follies, or wickedness.Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist Essay (1954), “The Necessity of Freedom,” Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel… #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #commager #henrycommager #Constitution #court...

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  A quotation (not) from John Adams There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live.John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founder, statesman; US President (1797–1801) (Misattributed) More about this quote (and who actually said it): wist.info/adams-john/34793/ #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #culture #education #humanities #liberalarts #living #philosophy #practicality #school #training #vocation #work #working #johnadams #

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  A quotation from Montesquieu For the popular state is the liberty of poor and weak persons and the servitude of rich and powerful persons; monarchy is the liberty of the great and the servitude of the small.   [Car l’état populaire est la liberté des personnes pauvres et foibles et la servitude des personnes riches et puissantes; et la monarchie est la liberté des grands et la servitude des petits.]Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755) French political philosopher Pensées...

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  A quotation from Robert Pirsig You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it’s going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kind of dogmas or goals, it’s always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.Robert Pirsig (1928–2017) American philosopher, writer Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, ch. 13 (1974) More about...

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  A quotation from Jonathan Swift That was excellently observed, say I, when I read a passage in an author, where his opinion agrees with mine. When we differ, there I pronounce him to be mistaken.Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) English writer and churchman Essay (1706), “Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting” More about this quote: wist.info/swift-jonathan/9804/ #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #jonathanswift #acceptance #agreement #differenceofopinion #disagreement #discussion #dispute...

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  A quotation from Edmund Burke I have no idea of a liberty unconnected with honesty and justice. Nor do I believe that any good constitutions of government or of freedom can find it necessary for their security to doom any part of the people to a permanent slavery. Such a constitution of freedom, if such can be, is in effect no more than another name for the tyranny of the strongest faction; and factions in republics have been, and are, full as capable as monarchs of the most cruel oppression an...

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  A quotation from The Bible I’m just a human like everyone else. I’m a descendant of the first person who was created out of earth. My flesh was molded into shape during the time that I was in my mother’s womb. Over the course of ten months, I took shape from her blood, built up out of a man’s seed and a night of pleasure. When I was born, I gulped in the same air as everyone else. I dropped out onto the same earth that all people share. I let out my first cry that was just like the sound anyone...

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  A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt Many of the other boys I saw in hospitals are now leading happy and useful lives, but they carry with them, day after day, the results of the war. The gallantry of youth, bearing handicaps which will be a cross all their lives, seems to me a theme for some great poet. Though the war had to be fought to preserve our freedom, their full reward for their suffering is not yet in sight. To see that it is paid in full measure is an obligation which all of us who liv...

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  A quotation from Euripides CHORUS: May the earth lie light upon you, lady!   [ΚΥΚΛΩΨ:                     κούφα σοι    χθὼν ἐπάνωθε πέσοι, γύναι.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist Alcestis [Ἄλκηστις ], l. 463ff (438 BC) [tr. Kovacs (1994)] More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/86618/ #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #alcestis #burial #death #finalrest #rest #restinpeace

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  A quotation from Molly Ivins You have more political power than 99 percent of all the people who have ever lived on this planet. You can not only vote, you can register other people to vote, round up your friends, get out and do political education, talk to people, laugh with people, call the radio, write the paper, write your elected representatives, use your email list, put up signs, march, volunteer, and raise hell. All your life, no matter what else you do — butcher, baker, beggarman, thief...

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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...

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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… #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #terrypratchett #pratchett #discworld...

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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… #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #leveling #death #disease #equality #humancondition #humanity...

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  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 Gr...

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  A quotation from Doctor Who    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 splend...

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  A quotation from Euripides 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/ #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #alcestis #action #betrayal #deeds #hypocrisy #integrity #proof #sacrifice #words #wordsanddeeds

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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...

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  A quotation from Frederick Douglass Americans! your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly inconsistent. You boast of your love of liberty, your superior civilization, and your pure Christianity, while the whole political power of the nation (as embodied in the two great political parties), is solemnly pledged to support and perpetuate the enslavement of three millions of your countrymen. You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Aus...

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  A quotation from Ray Bradbury There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. Every minority, be it Baptist / Unitarian, Irish / Italian / Octogenarian / Zen Buddhist, Zionist / Seventh-day Adventist, Women’s Lib / Republican, Mattachine / Four Square Gospel feels it has the will, the right, the duty to douse the kerosene, light the fuse. Every dimwit editor who sees himself as the source of all dreary blanc-mange plain-porridge unleaven...

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  A quotation from Hugo What was the crime? To complain. What was the crime? To suffer. Let misery hide and be silent, otherwise it is lèse-majesté.   [Quel était l’attentat? se plaindre. Quel était le crime? souffrir. Que la misère se cache et se taise, sinon elle est lèse-majesté.] 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 9, ch. 2 (.2.9.2) (1869) [tr. Lavelle (20...

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  A quotation from Robert Green Ingersoll    Is it necessary that Heaven should borrow its light from the glare of Hell?    Infinite punishment is infinite cruelty, endless injustice, immortal meanness. To worship an eternal gaoler hardens, debases, and pollutes even the vilest soul. While there is one sad and breaking heart in the universe, no good being can be perfectly happy. Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator Lecture (1881-05-01) “The Great Infidels,” Booth...

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  A quotation from Watterson HOBBES: If you couldn’t find any weirdness, maybe we’ll just have to make some! Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist Calvin and Hobbes (1994-04-17) More about this quote: wist.info/watterson-bill/84754… #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #billwatterson #calvinandhobbes #amusement #creativity #discovery #exploration #initiative #selfchallenging #selfstarter #strangeness #weirdness