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Currently showing 10,076 quotes

There is but one law for all, namely, that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator, the law of humanity, justice, equity, — the Law of Nature and of Nations.

Edmund Burke

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Topic

Natural law Law Moral universalism Moral theory Morality

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Speech in General Reply; First Day: Wednesday May 28, 1794.

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1794 1790s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

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Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech in General Reply; First Day: Wednesday, May 28, 1794." Speeches in the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, Esquire. 28 May 1794, Westminster Hall, Westminster, London, UK.

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Natural selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparently purposeful form of all life, has no purpose in mind. It has no mind and no mind's eye. It does not plan for the future. It has no vision, no foresight, no sight at all. If it can be said to play the role of watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker.

Richard Dawkins

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Topic

Natural selection Origin of life Evolution

Author

Richard Dawkins

Source

The Blind Watchmaker

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1986 1980s 20th century

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Citation

Dawkins, Richard. The Blind Watchmaker. Norton & Company, 1986, ch. 1.

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Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us.

Ralphie Parker

A Christmas Story

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Topic

Bad luck Timing

Speaker

Ralphie Parker

Actor

Peter Billingsley

Source

A Christmas Story

Medium

Film

Genre

Christmas movie Comedy (film) Christmas Comedy

Language

English

Time

1983 1980s 20th century

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Citation

A Christmas Story. Directed by Bob Clark, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1983.

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For where's the state beneath the firmament
That doth excel the bees for government?

Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas

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Bees Good government Government

Author

Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas

Source

The Week, or the Creation of the World

Medium

Poem

Language

French

Time

1578 1570s 16th century

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Citation

De Saluste du Bartas, Guillaume. La Semaine; ou Creation du monde [The First Week; or the Creation of the World]. Paris: Michel Gadoulleau and Jean Febvrier, 1578, first week, fifth day, pt. 1.

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The great source of pleasure is variety. Uniformity must tire at last, though it be uniformity of excellence. We love to expect; and when expectation is disappointed or gratified, we want to be again expecting.

Samuel Johnson

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Topic

Variety Anticipation Monotony

Author

Samuel Johnson

Source

Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets

Language

English

Time

1781 1780s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

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Citation

Johnson, Samuel. "Butler." Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets. London: C. Bathurst, et al., 1781.

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Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and find out that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora.

El Guapo

Three Amigos!

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Topic

Meaning of words Numbers

Speaker

El Guapo

Actor

Alfonso Arau

Source

Three Amigos!

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Western (film) Comedy Western

Language

English

Time

1986 1980s 20th century

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Citation

Three Amigos. Directed by John Landis, Orion Pictures, 1986.

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God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly.

Paul Valéry

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Topic

Men and women

Author

Paul Valéry

Medium

Essay

Language

French

Time

1941 1940s 20th century

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Citation

Valery, Paul. Moralites. Librairie Gallimard, 1932.

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Our hair
turns white with our ripening
as though to fly away in some
coming wind, bearing the seed
of what we know.

Wendell Berry

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Topic

Aging Wisdom

Author

Wendell Berry

Source

Ripening

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

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Citation

Berry, Wendell. "Ripening." A Part. North Point Press, 1980.

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I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at.

William Shakespeare

Othello

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Topic

Vulnerability

Speaker

Iago

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Othello

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1604 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

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Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Othello. King's Men, 1 Nov. 1604, Palace of Whitehall, Westminster, London, England, UK, act 1, sc. 1.

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Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Othello." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 1.

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In science, "fact" can only mean "confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent."

Stephen Jay Gould

Evolution as Fact and Theory

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Topic

Science

Author

Stephen Jay Gould

Source

Evolution as Fact and Theory

Medium

Essay

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1983 1980s 20th century

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Citation

Gould, Stephen Jay. "Evolution as Fact and Theory." Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes. W. W. Norton & Company, 1983, ch. 19.

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Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, or morphine or idealism.

Carl Jung

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Topic

Addiction

Author

Carl Jung

Source

Memories, Dreams, Reflections

Language

German

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

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Citation

Jung, Carl and Aniela Jaffé. Erinnerungen, Träume, Gedanken [Memories, Dreams, Reflections], translated by Richard and Clara Winston. Exlibris, 1962.

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God be thanked for books. They are the voices of the distant and the dead, and make us heirs of the spiritual life of past ages.

William Ellery Channing

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Topic

Literature as link to the past Power of literature Books

Speaker

William Ellery Channing

Source

Self Culture

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1838 1830s 19th century

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Citation

Channing, William Ellery. "Self Culture." Franklin Lecture. Sept. 1838, Boston, MA, USA.

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How much the greatest event it is that ever happened in the world! and how much the best!

Charles James Fox

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On the fall of the Bastille.

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Topic

French Revolution Revolution

Author

Charles James Fox

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1789 1780s 18th century

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Citation

Fox, Charles James. Letter to Richard Fitzpatrick. 30 July 1789.

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I have several walls in several rooms of my house covered with the snowstorm of rejections, but they didn't realize what a strong person I was, I persevered and wrote a thousand more dreadful short stories, which were rejected in turn.

Ray Bradbury

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Topic

Rejection Writing Perseverance

Author

Ray Bradbury

Source

Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life

Statement Type

Irony Joke

Language

English

Time

2002 2000s 21st century

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Citation

Bradbury, Ray. Quoted in Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life, edited by Barnaby Conrad and Monte Schultz. Writer's Digest Books, 2002.

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Call me crazy, but it is my philosophy that in order to be successful, one must project an image of success, at all times.

American Beauty

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Topic

Image Success

Speaker

Buddy Kane

Actor

Peter Gallagher

Source

American Beauty

Medium

Film

Genre

Black comedy (film) Comedy drama (film) Black comedy Comedy drama

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

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Citation

American Beauty. Directed by Sam Mendes, Jinks/Cohen Company, 1999.

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Trickle-down theory—the less than elegant metaphor that if one feeds the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows.

John Kenneth Galbraith

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Topic

Economics Politics

Author

John Kenneth Galbraith

Source

The Culture of Contentment

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

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Citation

Galbraith, John Kenneth. The Culture of Contentment. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992, ch. 8.

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The accent of one's birthplace lingers in the mind and in the heart as it does in one's speech.

François de La Rochefoucauld [François VI, Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac]

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Effects of childhood Childhood Home

Author

François de La Rochefoucauld [François VI, Duc de la Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac]

Source

Reflections

Medium

Epigram

Language

French

Time

1678 1670s 17th century

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Original Citation

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

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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.

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Love. Of course, love. Flames for a year, ashes for thirty.

Giuseppe di Lampedusa

The Leopard

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Topic

Love

Author

Giuseppe di Lampedusa

Source

The Leopard

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Italian

Time

1957 1950s 20th century

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Original Citation

Lampedusa, Giuseppe Tomasi. Il Gattopard [The Leopard]. Feltrinelli, 1958, ch. 2.

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Current Citation

Lampedusa, Giuseppe. The Leopard, translated by Archibald Colquhoun. Pantheon, 2007, ch. 2.

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Being an old maid is like death by drowning, a really delightful sensation after you cease to struggle.

Edna Ferber

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Single women Single life

Speaker

Edna Ferber

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1929 1920s 20th century

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Citation

Ferber, Edna. Comment at a round table. Algonquin Round Table. c. 1929, Algonquin Hotel, New York City, NY, USA.

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Men enter local politics solely as a result of being unhappily married.

C. Northcote Parkinson

The Economist

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Topic

Local politics

Author

C. Northcote Parkinson

Source

Pension Point The Economist

Medium

Essay Newspaper

Genre

Economic literature

Language

English

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

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Citation

Parkinson, C. Northcote. Parkinson's Law: The Pursuit of Progress. John Murray, 1958, ch. 10. Originally published as "Pension Point" in The Economist, c. 1958.

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