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The path of progress is seldom smooth. New things are often found hard to do. Our fathers found them so. We find them so. They are inconvenient. They cost us something. But are we not made better for the effort and sacrifice, and are not those we serve lifted up and blessed?

William McKinley

Second Inaugural Address of William McKinley

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Topic

Progress Overcoming obstacles

Speaker

William McKinley

Source

Second Inaugural Address of William McKinley Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1901 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

McKinley, William. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1901, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Ornament is but the guilèd shore
To a most dangerous sea.

William Shakespeare

The Merchant of Venice

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Topic

Looks are deceiving Temptation Appearance vs. reality

Speaker

Bassanio

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

The Merchant of Venice

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1598 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. c. 1598, The Theatre, London, England, UK, act 3, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Merchant of Venice." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 2.

A Woman is a foreign land,
Of which, though there he settle young,
A man will ne'er quite understand
The customs, politics, and tongue.

Coventry Patmore

The Angel in the House

More information about this quote

Topic

Gender relations Men and women

Author

Coventry Patmore

Source

The Angel in the House

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Patmore, Coventry. The Angel in the House. Self-published, 1854, bk. 2, canto 9, prelude 2.

For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.

Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

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Topic

Empathy Compassion

Author

Milan Kundera

Source

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Medium

Novel

Language

Czech

Time

1984 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kundera, Milan. L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être [The Unbearable Lightness of Being]. Gallimard, 1984.

Current Citation

Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, translated by Michael Henry Heim. Harper Perennial, 2009.

By heaven, I do love, and it hath taught me to rhyme, and to be melancholy.

William Shakespeare

Love's Labour's Lost

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Topic

Melancholy Broken heart Love

Speaker

Lord Berowne

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Love's Labour's Lost

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1597 1590s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Love's Labour's Lost. 1597, England, UK, act 4, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Love's Labour's Lost." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 4, sc. 3.

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.

L.P. Hartley

The Go-Between

More information about this quote

Topic

The past Past and present

Author

L.P. Hartley

Source

The Go-Between

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1953 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hartley, L. P. The Go-Between. Hamish Hamilton, 1953, preface.

When we love a person, we accept him or her exactly as is: the lovely with the unlovely, the strong along with the fearful, the true mixed in with the facade, and of course, the only way we can do it is by accepting ourselves that way.

Fred Rogers

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Topic

Accepting others Self-acceptance Acceptance Love Yin and yang

Author

Fred Rogers

Source

The World According to Mister Rogers

Language

English

Time

2003 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Rogers, Fred. The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember. Hachette Books, 2019, p. 95.

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

William Wordsworth

More information about this quote

Topic

Rainbows

Author

William Wordsworth

Source

My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1807 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wordsworth, William. Poems, in Two Volumes. Vol. 2, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1807.

Current Citation

Wordsworth, William. "My heart leaps up when I behold." William Wordsworth: The Major Works: including The Prelude, edited by Stephen Gill. Oxford University Press, 2008.

We confess to little faults only to persuade ourselves that we have no great ones.

François de La Rochefoucauld

Reflections

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Topic

Character flaws Delusion

Author

François de La Rochefoucauld

Source

Reflections

Medium

Epigram

Language

French

Time

1678 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Reflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims]. c. 1665.

Current Citation

La Rochefoucauld, Francois. Collected Maxims and Other Reflections, translated by E. H. and A. M. Blackmore and Francine Giguere. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Inflation is the one form of taxation which can be imposed without any legislative action.

Milton Friedman

More information about this quote

Topic

Inflation

Speaker

Milton Friedman

Language

English

Time

1973 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Friedman, Milton. Quoted in "Facing Inflation: Interview with Milton Friedman." Challenge: The Magazine of Economic Affairs. Routledge, Nov.-Dec. 1973, p. 20.

Words, so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become, in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

More information about this quote

Topic

Power of words Power of literature Literature Writing

Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Source

Journals of Nathaniel Hawthorne

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Journal entry. 18 May 1848.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Psalm 119:105

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Topic

God's word The Bible

Source

Psalms The Bible

Medium

Scripture

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Hebrew

Time

450 BC 450s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Holy Bible: The King James Version. 1611. (Psalm 119:105).

Procrastination is the
art of keeping
up with yesterday.

Don Marquis

More information about this quote

Topic

Procrastination

Author

Don Marquis

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Definition

Language

English

Time

1927 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Marquis, Donald. "Certain Maxims of Archy." Archy and Mehitabel. The Evening Sun, c. 1927.

Female animals defending their young are notoriously ferocious and lack the playful delight in combat which characterizes the mock combats of males of the same species. There seems very little ground for claiming that the mother of young children is more peaceful, more responsible, and more thoughtful for the welfare of the human race than is her husband or brother.

Margaret Mead

Male and Female

More information about this quote

Topic

Mothers and children

Author

Margaret Mead

Source

Male and Female

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mead, Margaret. Male & Female. Pelican, 1962, introduction.

The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.

Lord Chesterfield

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning

Author

Lord Chesterfield

Source

Letters of Lord Chesterfield

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1746 1740s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Stanhope, Philip Dormer. Letter to his son. 4 Oct. 1746.

The desire to create is one of the strongest urges a human spirit can contain. It will always break through.

Tennessee Williams

More information about this quote

Topic

Creative impulse Creativity Human nature

Speaker

Tennessee Williams

Source

WBAI-FM New York

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Williams, Tennessee. "Tennessee Williams: Past and Present." Interviewed by Charles Ruas and Bill Lentch, WBAI-FM New York, 12 Dec. 1975.

Secrets had an immense attraction to him, because he never could keep one, and he enjoyed the sort of unhallowed thrill he experienced when he went and told another animal, after having faithfully promised not to.

Kenneth Grahame

The Wind in the Willows

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Topic

Secrets

Author

Kenneth Grahame

Source

The Wind in the Willows

Medium

Novel

Genre

Children's literature

Language

English

Time

1908 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. Methuen, 1908, ch. 11.

Current Citation

Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows. Barnes & Noble, 2013, ch. 11.

Truth-loving Persians do not dwell upon
The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon.

Robert Graves

The Persian Version

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More information about this quote

Topic

Different perspectives

Author

Robert Graves

Source

The Persian Version

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1946 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Graves, Robert. "The Persian Version." Poems 1938-1945: Satires and Grotesques. Cassell & Company, 1946, I. 1.

In a century which attempts to tear the heart out of every mystery, fashion guards its secret well, and is the best possible proof that there is still magic abroad.

Christian Dior

More information about this quote

Topic

Fashion 20th century

Author

Christian Dior

Language

French

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Dior, Christian. Quoted in Dior by Christian Dior, written by Olivier Saillard. Assouline, 2017.

Art in its perfection is not ostentatious; it lies hid, and works its effect itself unseen.

Joshua Reynolds

More information about this quote

Topic

Subtlety Art

Speaker

Joshua Reynolds

Source

Discourses on Art

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1774 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Reynolds, Joshua. "Discourse VI." 10 Dec. 1774, Royal Academy of Arts, London, England, UK. Lecture.