“Go and see with how little wisdom this world is governed.”
John Adams, in a letter to John Quincy Adams (received June 3, 1794), advising of a diplomatic position opening up. See Phyllis Lee Levin, The Remarkable Education of John Quincy Adams (2015), first page.
Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.
Edgard Varèse, as quoted by Martha Graham, Dance Observer, Volumes 24-27 (1957), p. 5.
More individualistic countries are also richer, more innovative, and more economically productive.
Joseph Henrich, The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous (2020).
If a man appears as a witness, but withdraws his oath, he must make payment, to the extent of the value in litigation of the case.
The Code of Ur-Nammu, 21st century B.C.
We are a nationwide organization of people looking for clues.
Owen “The Hammer,” of the “Hammered Out” YouTube channel, in “‘Twin Peaks’ Explained, Part Three: Cooper Cooper Cooper,” describing the “Twin Peaks” fanbase. The next line is “We are a federal bureau of investigation.”
Who overcomes
John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book One (1667).
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.
While I support legal immigration, no one likes line skippers at Disney World or the border. Legal citizens who are here pursuant to our laws should have the right to vote — no one else.
West Virginia State Senator Mike Stuart, as quoted in “Proposed amendment to add U.S. citizenship to W.Va. voting requirement passes House,” West Virginia Record (February 7, 2024).
There are people with whom everything they consider a means turns mysteriously into an end.
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel, Philosophical Fragments, P. Firchow, trans. (1991) § 428.
The old Romans all wished to have a king over them because they had not yet tasted the sweetness of freedom.
Titus Livius, History of Rome, Book I, §17.
Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.
Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace (1947; 1997 edition), p. 120.