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The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

William James

The Principles of Psychology

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Topic

Wisdom Judgment

Author

William James

Source

The Principles of Psychology

Genre

Psychological literature

Statement Type

Definition

Language

English

Time

1890 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

James, William. The Principles of Psychology. Vol. 2, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1890, ch. 22.

We Negroes love our country. We fought for it. We ask only that we be treated as well as those who fought against it.

More information about this quote

Topic

Racial equality

Speaker

Frederick Douglass

Source

Speeches of Frederick Douglass

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1893 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Speech at the World's Columbian Exposition. World's Columbian Exposition. 25 Aug. 1893, Chicago, IL, USA.

Current Citation

Douglass, Frederick. Quoted in From Battlefields Rising: How The Civil War Transformed American Literature, written by Randall Fuller. Oxford University Press, 2014.

I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York's skyline.

Ayn Rand

The Fountainhead

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Topic

New York City

Speaker

Gail Wynand

Author

Ayn Rand

Source

The Fountainhead

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Wish

Language

English

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead. Bobbs Merrill, 1943, pt. 3, ch. 4.

One day it started raining, and it didn’t quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin’ rain…and big ol’ fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways and sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night.

Forrest Gump

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Topic

Rain Vietnam War Vietnam

Speaker

Forrest Gump

Actor

Tom Hanks

Source

Forrest Gump

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1994 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Forrest Gump. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, The Tisch Company, 1994.

Facts are slippery. The truth is imperfect. Fiction recognizes that.

Salman Rushdie

More information about this quote

Topic

Truth vs. fiction Truth Literature

Speaker

Salman Rushdie

Source

Harvard Business Review

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

2015 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rushdie, Salman. Interviewed by Alison Beard. Harvard Business Review, Sept. 2015.

Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions.

Thomas Jefferson

First Inaugural Address of Thomas Jefferson

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Topic

Partisan politics American unity Unity American politics

Speaker

Thomas Jefferson

Source

First Inaugural Address of Thomas Jefferson Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1801 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. "First Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1801, Senate Chamber, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

That's when you say one thing and you're actually thinking about a mother.

Cheers

On Freudian slips.

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Topic

Freudian psychology

Speaker

Cliff Clavin

Actor

John Ratzenberger

Source

Cheers

Medium

TV program

Genre

Sitcom Comedy (TV) Comedy

Statement Type

Puns and wordplay

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"Teaching with the Enemy." Cheers, written by Glen Charles and Les Charles and James Burrows, directed by James Burrows, season 11, episode 6, Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions and Paramount Television, 1992.

If all men knew what each said of the other, there would not be four friends in the world.

Blaise Pascal

Pensées

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Topic

Gossip Friendship

Author

Blaise Pascal

Source

Pensées

Medium

Epigram

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1662 1660s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pascal, Blaise. Pensées [Thoughts]. Paris: Chez G. Desprez, 1670, no. 101.

Current Citation

Pascal, Blaise. "Pensées." Pensées and Other Writings, edited by Anthony Levi, translated by Honor Levi. Oxford University Press, 2008, no. 101.

Memory, Agent Starling, is what I have instead of a view.

Dr. Hannibal Lecter

The Silence of the Lambs

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Topic

Memory Prison

Speaker

Dr. Hannibal Lecter

Actor

Anthony Hopkins

Source

The Silence of the Lambs

Medium

Film

Genre

Psychological horror (film) Thriller (film) Psychological horror Thriller

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Silence of the Lambs. Directed by Jonathan Demme, Strong Heart Productions, 1991.

Have you always been this stuck up, or did it take, like, years of practice?

Will Smith

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

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Topic

Snobbery

Speaker

Will Smith

Actor

Will Smith

Source

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Medium

TV program

Genre

Sitcom Comedy (TV) Comedy

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"Love at First Fight." The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, written by Benny Medina and Jeff Pollack and Andy Borowitz, directed by Jeff Melman, season 1, episode 21, The Stuffed Dog Company and Quincy Jones Entertainment and NBC Productions, 1991.

To blow and swallow at the same moment is not easy.

Plautus

More information about this quote

Topic

Human body

Speaker

Tranio

Author

Plautus

Source

The Haunted House

Medium

Play

Language

Latin

Time

184 BC 180s BC 2nd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plautus, Titus Maccius. Mostellaria [The Ghost]. c. 193 BC, act 3, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Plautus, Titus Maccius. "The Haunted House." Four Comedies: The Braggart Soldier; The Brothers Menaechmus; The Haunted House; The Pot of Gold, translated by Erich Segal. Oxford University Press, 2008, act 3, sc. 2.

You need to learn how to trust.

The Notebook

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Topic

Trust

Speaker

Noah

Actor

Ryan Gosling

Source

The Notebook

Medium

Film

Genre

Romantic drama (film) Romantic drama

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

2004 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Notebook. Directed by Nick Cassavetes, Gran Via, 2004.

Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

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Topic

Freedom of speech and expression Freedom

Speaker

Jefferson Smith

Actor

Jimmy Stewart

Source

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Medium

Film

Genre

Political (film) Comedy drama (film) Political Comedy drama

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Directed by Frank Capra, Columbia Pictures, 1939.

Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own.

Jonathan Swift

More information about this quote

Topic

Satire Judging others Self-criticism

Author

Jonathan Swift

Source

The Battle of the Books

Genre

Satire

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1704 1700s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Swift, Jonathan. The Battle of the Books. London: John Nutt, 1704, preface.

Current Citation

Swift, Jonathan. "The Preface of the Author." A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works. Dover Publications, 1996.

Sadness is but a wall between two gardens.

Kahlil Gibran

Read Sand and Foam at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Sadness

Author

Kahlil Gibran

Source

Sand and Foam

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1926 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Gibran, Khalil. Sand and Foam. Alfred A. Knopf, 1926.

Current Citation

Gibran, Khalil. Sand and Foam. Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.

There is every reason to believe that our system will soon attain the highest degree of perfection of which human institutions are capable, and that the movement in all its branches will exhibit such a degree of order and harmony as to command the admiration and respect of the civilized world.

James Monroe

Second Inaugural Address of James Monroe

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Topic

American democracy American experiment

Speaker

James Monroe

Source

Second Inaugural Address of James Monroe Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Bad predictions Prophecies and predictions

Language

English

Time

1821 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Monroe, James. "Second Inaugural Address." 5 Mar. 1821, House Chamber, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

A lover without indiscretion is no lover at all.

Thomas Hardy

More information about this quote

Topic

Lovers

Speaker

Young Painter

Author

Thomas Hardy

Source

The Hand of Ethelberta

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1876 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hardy, Thomas. "The Hand of Ethelberta." Cornhill Magazine, July 1875-May 1876. Monthly serial.

Current Citation

Hardy, Thomas. The Hand of Ethelberta, edited by Tim Dolin. Penguin Classics, 1998.

You mean, you’ll put down your rock and I’ll put down my sword, and we’ll try and kill each other like civilized people?

The Princess Bride

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Topic

Weapons Dueling

Speaker

The Man in Black

Actor

Cary Elwes

Source

The Princess Bride

Medium

Film

Genre

Comedy (film) Fantasy (film) Comedy Fantasy

Language

English

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Princess Bride. Directed by Rob Reiner, Act III Communications/Buttercup Films/The Princess Bride Ltd., 1987.

When in recollection he withdraws all his senses from the attractions of the pleasures of sense, even as a tortoise withdraws all his limbs, then his is a serene wisdom.

Bhagavad Gita

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Topic

Temptation Desire Attachment (Buddhism)

Source

Bhagavad Gita

Medium

Scripture

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Sanskrit

Time

200 BC 200s BC 3rd century BC

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Vyasa. The Bhagavad Gita. c. 200 BCE, ch. 2, v. 58.

Current Citation

Vyasa. The Bhagavad Gita, translated W. J. Johnson. Oxford University Press, 2009, ch. 2, v. 58.

We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom...because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul.

George W. Bush

Second Inaugural Address of George W. Bush

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Topic

American foreign policy Spread of freedom and democracy Freedom

Speaker

George W. Bush

Source

Second Inaugural Address of George W. Bush Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

2005 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bush, George W. "Second Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 2005, West Front, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.