Bierce, Ambrose -- “Genealogy,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
GENEALOGY, n. An account of one’s descent from an ancestor who did not particularly care to trace his own. Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist“Genealogy,” The Cynic’s Word Book...
View ArticleDon Juan, Canto 3, st. 86a “The Isles of Greece,” st. 1 (1821)
The Isles of Greece, the Isles of Greece! Where burning Sappho loved and sung, Where grew the arts of war and peace, Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung! Eternal summer gilds them yet, But all, except...
View ArticleVirgil -- Eclogues [Eclogae, Bucolics, Pastorals], No. 9 “Lycidas and...
Graft your pears, Daphnis, now; your children’s children will enjoy the fruit. [Insere, Daphni, piros: carpent tua poma nepotes.] Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also...
View ArticleGay, John -- “The Pack-Horse and Carrier (To a young Nobleman),” ll. 41-42
Whence had you this illustrious name? From virtue and unblemish’d fame. By birth the name alone descends; Your honour on yourself depends: Think not your coronet can hide Assuming ignorance and pride....
View ArticleBorges, Jorge Luis -- Quoted in “The Talk of the Town” column, The New Yorker...
When writers die they become books, which is, after all, not too bad an incarnation. Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) Argentine writerQuoted in “The Talk of the Town” column, The New Yorker (1986-07-07)...
View ArticleEuripides -- Bellerophon [Βελλεροφῶν], frag. 303 (c. 430 BC) [tr. Wodhull...
The prosperous fortunes, and the haughty wealth Of an unrighteous man, we never ought To deem establish’d on a solid base, Or that the children of th’ unjust can prosper: For Time, who from no Father...
View ArticleDante Alighieri -- The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 1 “Inferno,”...
Consider what you came from: you are Greeks! You were not born to live like mindless brutes but to follow paths of excellence and knowledge. [Considerate la vostra semenza: fatti non foste a viver come...
View ArticleMaimonides -- Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3, Introduction (c. 1190) [tr....
If I had omitted setting down something of that which has appeared to me as clear, so that the knowledge would perish when I perish, as is inevitable, I should have considered that conduct as extremely...
View ArticleCommager, Henry Steele -- “Conversations with Historians,” interview by John...
We should not be surprised that the Founding Fathers didn’t foresee everything, when we see that the current Fathers hardly ever foresee anything. Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian,...
View ArticleCicero, Marcus Tullius -- De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The...
But the best inheritance that fathers can give their children, more precious than any patrimony however large, is a reputation for virtue and for worthy deeds, which if the child disgraces, his conduct...
View ArticleWilliams, Bern -- (Attributed)
The average man will bristle if you say his father was dishonest, but he will brag a little if he discovers that his great-grandfather was a pirate. Bernard J. "Bern" Williams (1913-2004) American...
View ArticleBelloc, Hilaire -- (Misattributed)
Men will learn eventually, and if they insist on rejecting the received wisdom of generations past, they do not thereby succeed at invalidating it; they merely condemn themselves to learning it, time...
View ArticleArdrey, Robert -- African Genesis: A Personal Investigation into the Animal...
We were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments? Or our...
View ArticleAristotle -- Attributed in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent...
When a man boasted in his presence that he was a native of an illustrious city, he said, “That is not what one ought to look at, but whether one is worthy of a great city.” [πρὸς τὸν καυχώμενον ὡς ἀπὸ...
View ArticleWashburn, Lemuel -- Is the Bible Worth Reading and Other Essays (1911)
A dogma is the hand of the dead on the throat of the living. Lemuel K. Washburn (1846-1927) American freethinker, writerIs the Bible Worth Reading and Other Essays (1911)
View ArticleLerner, Alan Jay -- “Finale Ultimo (Camelot Reprise)” [Arthur], Camelot(1960;...
Each evening, from December to December, Before you drift to sleep upon your cot, Think back on all the tales that you remember Of Camelot. Ask ev’ry person if he’s heard the story, And tell it strong...
View ArticleCicero, Marcus Tullius -- Orator, ad M. Brutus, ch. 34, sec. 120 (55 BC) [tr....
To be unacquainted with what has passed in the world, before we came into it ourselves, is to be always children. For what is the age of a single mortal, unless it is connected, by the aid of History,...
View ArticlePeterson, Peter G. -- “The Morning After,” Atlantic (Oct 1987)
The future has no lobby. Peter G. Peterson (1926-2018) American investment banker, author, politician“The Morning After,” Atlantic (Oct 1987)
View ArticleThe Natural History of Nonsense, ch. 1 “Adam’s Navel” (1946)
Another fine quotation from WIST - Wish I'd Said That! . We may be through with the past, but the past is not through with us. Ideas of the Stone Age exist side by side with the latest scientific...
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Kennedy, John F. -- Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (4 Nov 1963)
Today we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers — for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and...
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