Quotes

George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax photo

“Nothing hath an uglier Look to us than Reason, when it is not of our side.”

George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax (1633–1695) English politician

Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Reflections (1750), Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections

Mary, Queen of Scots photo

“Look to your consciences and remember that the theatre of the world is wider than the realm of England.”

Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587) Scottish monarch and queen consort of France

[Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart, Guy, John, 2005, Mariner Books, 0618619178]

Vladimir Lenin photo

“It is, of course, much easier to shout, abuse, and howl than to attempt to relate, to explain.”

Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian politician, led the October Revolution

April Thesis (1917)

Robert J. Marks II photo

“Computers are no more able to create information than iPods are capable of creating music.”

Robert J. Marks II (1950) American electrical engineering researcher and intelligent design advocate

Stephen C. Meyer, Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, HarperOne (2009) p. 292

Joseph Joubert photo
Elias Canetti photo

“Nothing was better for you than humiliation, for there was nothing you felt more deeply.”

Elias Canetti (1905–1994) Bulgarian-born Swiss and British jewish modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and non-fiction writer

J. Agee, trans. (1989), p. 130
Das Geheimherz der Uhr [The Secret Heart of the Clock] (1987)

Joseph Addison photo

“Thus I live in the world rather as a spectator of mankind than as one of the species.”

Joseph Addison (1672–1719) politician, writer and playwright

No. 1 (1 March 1711).
The Spectator (1711–1714)

Lin Yutang photo

“If life is all subjective, why not be subjectively happy rather than subjectively sad?”

Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese writer

On the Wisdom of America (1950), p. 155

Richard Hovey photo

“Who would not rather founder in the fight
Than not have known the glory of the fray?”

Richard Hovey (1864–1900) American writer

"Two and Fate", p. 29.
Along the Trail (1898)

Yochanan Afek photo

“I achieved more than I could dream of in chess and in chess composing.”

Yochanan Afek (1952) Israeli chess player, composer, trainer and arbiter

From an interview with Tibor Károlyi, Genius in the Background (2009), p. 59.

Arthur Schopenhauer photo

“A book can never be anything more than the impression of its author’s thoughts.”

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher

The value of these thoughts lies either in the matter about which he has thought, or in the form in which he develops his matter — that is to say, what he has thought about it.
Essays, On Authorship and Style

William James photo

“There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.”

William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist

Source: 1890s, The Principles of Psychology (1890), Ch. 4

A.E. Housman photo

“And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears.”

No. 19 ("To an Athlete Dying Young"), st. 4.
A Shropshire Lad (1896)

Alexander McCall Smith photo

“We think the world is ours forever, but we are little more than squatters.”

The Careful Use of Compliments, chapter 1.
The Sunday Philosophy Club series

Richard Stallman photo

“Any time I connect to a website other than Wikipedia, it's through Tor.”

Richard Stallman (1953) American software freedom activist, short story writer and computer programmer, founder of the GNU project

In a video interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkkDvKGcNSo around 38:20 (published on February 22, 2016)
2010s

Thomas Mann photo

“Human reason needs only to will more strongly than fate, and she is fate.”

Source: The Magic Mountain (1924), Ch. 6

Joanna Newsom photo

“And a thimble's worth of milky moon
Can touch hearts larger than a thimble.”

Joanna Newsom (1982) American musician

Bridges & Balloons
The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004)

Christine O'Donnell photo

“; Dan Gaffney *:They say that, that you got less votes than he did.”

Christine O'Donnell (1969) American Tea Party politician and former Republican Party candidate

Radio appearances

Glen Cook photo

“Somebody a lot smarter than me once said, “Put no trust in wizards.””

Source: She Is the Darkness (1997), Chapter 78 (p. 550)