A quotation from Betty Comden

New York, New York — a helluva town,
The Bronx is up, but the Battery’s down,
The people ride in a hole in the ground:
New York, New York — it’s a helluva town.

Betty Comden (1917-2006) Actress, comedian, screenwriter, lyricist
“New York, New York” (song) [with Adolph Green] (1944)


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A quotation from Primo Levi

The ascent of the privileged, not only in the Lager [prison camp] but in all human coexistence, is an anguishing but unfailing phenomenon: only in utopias is it absent. It is the duty of righteous men to make war on all undeserved privilege, but one must not forget that this is a war without end. Where there exists power exercised by the few or by only one against the many, privilege is born and proliferates, even against the will of the power itself; but on the other hand it is normal for power to tolerate and encourage it.

Primo Levi (1919-1987) Italian Jewish chemist and writer
The Drowned and the Saved, ch. 2 “The Grey Zone” (1986) [tr. Rosenthal (1888)]


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A quotation from Arthur Conan Doyle

You know my methods. Apply them.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1890-02), “The Sign of the Four,” ch. 6 [Holmes], Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 45 (US) / 1 (UK)


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A quotation from Heinlein

There is a latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture; it is rooted in our history and it has broken out many times in the past. It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in strongly evangelical sects in this country in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian.

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer
Essay (1952-10), “Concerning Stories Never Written,” Revolt in 2100, Postscript (1953)


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A quotation from Ambrose Bierce

CULPRIT, n. The other fellow.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Culprit,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-10-28)


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A quotation from Richard Feynman

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.

Richard Feynman (1918-1988) American physicist
Rogers Commission Report into the Challenger Crash, Appendix F “Personal Observations on Reliability of Shuttle,” sec. F5 (1986-06)


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A quotation from Octavia Butler

I mean there’s no single answer that will solve all our future problems. There’s no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers — at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be.

Octavia Butler (1947-2006) American writer
Essay (2000-05), “A Few Rules for Predicting the Future,” Essence Magazine


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A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

When our vices desert us, we flatter ourselves that we are deserting our vices.
 
[Quand les vices nous quittent, nous nous flattons de la créance que c’est nous qui les quittons.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶192 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]


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A quotation from Brennan Manning

When we wallow in guilt, remorse, and shame over real or imagined sins of the past, we are disdaining God’s gift of grace.

Brennan Manning (1934-2013) American author, laicized priest, theologian, speaker [Richard Francis Xavier Manning]
The Ragamuffin Gospel, ch. 6 “Grazie, Signore” (1990)


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A quotation from Tolstoy

If you are able to see all the consequences of what you are doing, then what you are doing is not very important.

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian novelist and moral philosopher
Path of Life [Calendar of Wisdom; Круг чтения], ch. 21 “Living in the Present,” sec. 6.2 (1903-1911) [(tr. Cote (2002)]


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A quotation from Shakespeare

MARCUS: Sorrow concealèd, like an oven stopped,
   Doth burn the heart to cinders where it is.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Titus Andronicus, Act 2, sc. 4, l. 36ff (2.4.26-37) (c. 1590)


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A quotation from Kerry Greenwood

[…] the bitterness to which all viola players are prone, while there are violins in the world.

Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher, Book 15, Death by Water, ch. 10 (2005)


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A quotation from Thoreau

It is characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Walden; or, Life in the Woods, ch. 1 “Economy” (1854)


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A quotation from Shaw

When you see a rich man’s wife (or anyone else’s wife) shaking her head over the thriftlessness of the poor because they do not all save, pity the lady’s ignorance; but do not irritate the poor by repeating her nonsense to them.

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic
The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism and Capitalism, ch. 2 (1928)


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A quotation from Theodore Bikel

To conquer hate seems a nigh impossible task. But I prefer to make common cause with those whose weapons are guitars, banjos, fiddles and words.

Theodore Bikel (1924–2015) Austrian-American actor, singer, political activist.
Essay (2010) in Judea and Ruth Pearl (ed.), I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl, Part 4


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A quotation from Carlyle

Beware of speaking. Speech is human, Silence is divine: yet also brutish and dead; therefore we must learn both arts, they are both difficult.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Notebook (1830-10)


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A quotation from Josh Billings

Kats are very humble, espeshily just after they hav committed sum nu kind ov deviltry.
 
[Cats are very humble, especially just after they have committed some new kind of deviltry.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1876-02 (1876 ed.)


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A quotation from Franklin

Pride and the Gout,
Are seldom cur’d throughout.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1747 ed.)


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A quotation from Shelley

All things that we love and cherish,
   Like ourselves must fade and perish;
Such is our rude mortal lot —
   Love itself would, did they not.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) English poet
Poem (1820), “Death,” st. 4, Posthumous Poems (1824)


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A quotation from Baltasar Gracián

As many tastes as heads, and as different.
 
[Tantos son los gustos como los rostros, y tan varios.]

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 101 (1647) [tr. Duff (1877)]


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A quotation from Terry Pratchett

People who would not believe a High Priest if he said the sky was blue, and was able to produce signed affidavits to this effect from his white-haired old mother and three Vestal virgins, would trust just about anything whispered darkly behind their hand by a complete stranger in a pub.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld, Book 18, Maskerade (1995)


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A quotation from Samuel Johnson

The desires of man increase with his acquisitions; every step which he advances brings something within his view, which he did not see before, and which, as soon as he sees it, he begins to want. Where necessity ends, curiosity begins; and no sooner are we supplied with every thing that nature can demand, than we sit down to contrive artificial appetites.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1758-11-11), The Idler, No. 30


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A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

When I see someone who looks fairly desperate, I would rather give money, on the chance of sometimes giving unwisely, than to withhold it from some one person who might need a helping hand and who deserves it.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1942-11), “If You Ask Me,” Ladies’ Home Journal, Vol. 59


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A quotation from Richard Steele

There is no Pleasure like that of receiving Praise from the Praiseworthy.

Richard Steele (1672-1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
Essay (1709-11-02), The Tatler, No. 89


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A quotation from Adlai Stevenson

The government must be the trustee for the little man because no one else will be. The powerful can usually help themselves — and frequently do.

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) American diplomat, statesman
Speech (1955-10-29), “The Crisis in Agriculture,” Democratic Rally, Duluth, Minnesota

Adlai Stevenson quotation


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A quotation from Maurois

Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form.
 
[Vieillir n’est qu’une mauvaise habitude; l’homme occupé n’a pas le temps de la prendre.]

André Maurois (1885-1967) French author [b. Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog]
The Art of Living [Un Art de Vivre], ch. 8 “The Art of Growing Old” (1939) [tr. Whitall (1940)]


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A quotation from Mark Twain

Laws are coldly reasoned out and established upon what the lawmakers believe to be a basis of right. But customs are not. Customs are not enacted, they grow gradually up, imperceptibly and unconsciously, like an oak from its seed. In the fullness of their strength they can stand up straight in front of a world of argument and reasoning and yield not an inch.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Essay (1906), “The Gorky Incident,” Letters from the Earth (c. 1909; pub. 1962) [ed. DeVoto (1939)]


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A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson

Solitude is the climax of the negative virtues. When we go to bed after a solitary day we can tell ourselves that we have not been unkind nor dishonest nor untruthful; and the negative virtues are agreeable to that dangerous faculty we call the conscience. That they should ever be admitted for a part of virtue is what I cannot explain. I do not care two straws for all the nots.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1880-01/02?), “Reflections and Remarks on Human Life,” § 4.6 “Solitude and Society”


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A quotation from Arthur Conan Doyle

You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1891-07), “A Scandal in Bohemia,” ch. 1 [Holmes], The Strand Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1


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