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We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion and medicine, law, business, engineering. These are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.

Dead Poets Society

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Topic

Poetry Purpose of life Life

Speaker

John Keating

Actor

Robin Williams

Source

Dead Poets Society

Medium

Film

Genre

Teen (film) Drama (film) Teen Drama

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dead Poets Society. Directed by Peter Weir, Touchstone Pictures/Silver Screen Partners IV, 1989.

Radical Chic, after all, is only radical in style; in its heart it is part of Society and its traditions.

Tom Wolfe

Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers

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Topic

Radicalism Elites

Author

Tom Wolfe

Source

Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wolfe, Tom. "Radical Chic." Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1970. Originally an essay called "These Radical Chic Evenings." New York Magazine, June 1970.

Resolve to be thyself: and know, that he
Who finds himself, loses his misery.

Matthew Arnold

More information about this quote

Topic

Being true to oneself Authenticity

Author

Matthew Arnold

Source

Self-Dependence

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Arnold, Matthew, [published as A]. "Self-Dependence." Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems. London: B. Fellowes, 1852, l. 31.

That voice, the one that tells you you're worthless and stupid and ugly…it goes away, right?

Bojack Horseman

More information about this quote

Topic

Self-hatred Self-doubt Self-criticism Self-esteem

Speaker

Hollyhock

Actor

Aparna Nancherla

Source

Bojack Horseman

Medium

TV program

Genre

Drama (TV) Comedy (TV) Drama Comedy

Language

English

Time

2017 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

"Stupid Piece of Sh*t." BoJack Horseman, written by Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Alison Tafel, directed by Anne Walker Farrell, season 4, episode 6, ShadowMachine and Tornante Company, 2017.

'Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but death and taxes.

Christopher Bullock

More information about this quote

Topic

Certainty Death Taxes

Speaker

Toby Guzzle

Author

Christopher Bullock

Source

The Cobler of Preston, a Farce

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedic play

Language

English

Time

1716 1710s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bullock, Christopher. The Cobler of Preston. 24 Jan. 1716, Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London, England, UK.

I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more—the feeling that I could last for ever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men; the deceitful feeling that lures us on to joys, to perils, to love, to vain effort—to death; the triumphant conviction of strength, the heat of life in the handful of dust, the glow in the heart that with every year grows dim, grows cold, grows small, and expires—and expires, too soon, too soon—before life itself.

Joseph Conrad

Youth

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Topic

Youth Looking back

Author

Joseph Conrad

Source

Youth Blackwood's Magazine

Medium

Short story Magazine

Language

English

Time

1898 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Conrad, Joseph. "Youth: A Narrative." Blackwood's Magazine. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, Sept. 1898.

Current Citation

Conrad, Joseph. "Youth." Heart of Darkness and Other Tales, edited by Cedric Watts. Oxford University Press, 2008.

The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent.

Stanley Kubrick

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of the universe The universe

Speaker

Stanley Kubrick

Source

Playboy

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kubrick, Stanley. "Playboy Interview: Stanley Kubrick." Interviewed by Eric Norden. Playboy, Sept. 1968.

Just as I am - without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Charlotte Elliott

Just as I Am

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Topic

God and man Forgiveness of sins

Author

Charlotte Elliott

Source

Just as I Am

Medium

Hymn Song

Language

English

Time

1834 1830s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Elliott, Charlotte. "Just as I am." Christian Remembrancer, c. 1835.

I can remember absolutely everything, young man, that's my curse. That's one of the greatest curses ever inflicted on the human race, memory.

Citizen Kane

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Topic

Memory

Speaker

Jedediah Leland

Actor

Joseph Cotten

Source

Citizen Kane

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1941 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Citizen Kane. Directed by Orson Welles. RKO Radio Pictures/Mercury Productions, 1941.

Passions are likened best to floods and streams:
The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb.

Sir Walter Raleigh

More information about this quote

Topic

Passion

Author

Sir Walter Raleigh

Source

The Silent Lover

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1618 1610s 17th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Raleigh, Walter. Sir Walter Raleigh to the Queen. London, 1655, I. 1.

Current Citation

Raleigh, Walter. "Sir Walter Raleigh to the Queen." The New Oxford Book of Sixteenth-Century Verse. Oxford University Press, 2009, I. 1.

But true Love is a durable fire,
In the mind ever burning;
Never sick, never old, never dead,
From itself never turning.

Sir Walter Raleigh

More information about this quote

Topic

True love Love

Author

Sir Walter Raleigh

Source

Walsinghame

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1580 1580s 16th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Raleigh, Walter. Walsinghame. London, c. 1580, I. 41.

Current Citation

Raleigh, Walter. "As You Came from the Holy Land." The New Oxford Book of Sixteenth-Century Verse. Oxford University Press, 2009, I. 41.

Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.

Josephine Hart

More information about this quote

Topic

Suffering Adversity Survival

Speaker

Anna

Author

Josephine Hart

Source

Damage

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hart, Josephine. Damage. Alfred A. Knopf/Chatto & Windus, 1991, ch. 12.

My heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.

William Sharp

More information about this quote

Topic

Existential solitude

Author

William Sharp

Source

The Lonely Hunter

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1896 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Sharp, William [published as Fiona McLeod]. "The Lonely Hunter." From the Hills of Dream. Edinburgh: Patrick Geddes & Colleagues, 1896.

He felt the loyalty we all feel to unhappiness—the sense that that is where we really belong.

Graham Greene

The Heart of the Matter

More information about this quote

Topic

Unhappiness Melancholy Depression

Author

Graham Greene

Source

The Heart of the Matter

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1948 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Greene, Graham. The Heart of the Matter. William Heinemann/The Viking Press, 1948, bk. 2, pt. 2, sec. 1.

And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his gods.

Thomas Babington Macaulay

More information about this quote

Topic

Dying for one's country Dying for one's religion

Author

Thomas Babington Macaulay

Source

Horatius Lays of Ancient Rome

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1842 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Macaulay, Thomas Babington. "Horatius." Lays of Ancient Rome. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1842, st. 27.

Man, it’s the same bullshit they tried to pull in my day. You know, if it ain’t that piece of paper, there’s some other choice they’re gonna try and make for you. You gotta do what Randall "Pink" Floyd wants to do, man. Let me tell you this: the older you do get, the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin’, man, L-I-V-I-N.

Dazed and Confused

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Topic

Following your heart Society and the individual The man

Speaker

David Wooderson

Actor

Matthew McConaughey

Source

Dazed and Confused

Medium

Film

Genre

Coming of age (film) Comedy (film) Coming of age Comedy

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1993 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dazed and Confused. Directed by Richard Linklater, Detour Filmproduction/Alphaville Films, 1993.

When guys cheat, it’s like we want something new. But then you know what happens? Your woman finds out, and now she’s new. She is never the same again.

Chris Rock

Tamborine

More information about this quote

Topic

Infidelity Men and women

Speaker

Chris Rock

Source

Tamborine

Medium

Standup comedy

Genre

Comedy

Language

English

Time

2018 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Rock, Chris. Chris Rock: Tamborine. Netflix, 14 Feb. 2018.

The Day in its hotness,
The strife with the palm;
The Night in its silence,
The Stars in their calm.

Matthew Arnold

Empedocles on Etna

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More information about this quote

Topic

Night and day

Author

Matthew Arnold

Source

Empedocles on Etna

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1852 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Arnold, Matthew, [published as A]. "Empedocles on Etna." Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems. London: B. Fellowes, 1852, act 2.

What is the worst of woes that wait on age?
What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow?
To view each loved one blotted from life's page,
And be alone on earth, as I am now.

Lord Byron

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

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Read Childe Harold's Pilgrimage at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Losing a loved one Aging Loneliness The human condition

Author

Lord Byron

Source

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Question

Language

English

Time

1818 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lord Byron. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. London: John Murray, 1812-1818, canto 2, st. 98.

Current Citation

Lord Byron. "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." Lord Byron: The Major Works, edited by Jerome J. McGann. Oxford University Press, 2008, canto 2, st. 98.

My point is rock and roll, by its very nature, leads to a breakdown in discipline.

Mr. Holland's Opus

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Topic

Rock music Authority figures

Speaker

Vice Principal Wolters

Actor

William H. Macy

Source

Mr. Holland's Opus

Medium

Film

Genre

Drama (film) Drama

Language

English

Time

1995 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mr. Holland's Opus. Directed by Stephen Herek, Hollywood Pictures/Interscope Communications/PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1995.