The Quotes canon

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There is a tide in the affairs of men Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. — William Shakespeare · 1599Men must endure Their going hence even as their coming hither. Ripeness is all. — William Shakespeare · 1606
An accident of timing makes the book in question indelible. — Colson Whitehead · 2005
The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves. — E.M. Forster · 1944
Hesiod1 quote
Observe due measure, for right timing is in all things the most important factor. — Hesiod · 700 BC
Just as every conviction begins as a whim so does every emancipator serve his apprenticeship as a crank. A fanatic is a great leader who is just entering the room. — Heywood Broun · 1928
Horace1 quote
Mix a little foolishness with your prudence: It's good to be silly at the right moment. — Horace · 11 BC
There is nothing in the world which does not have its decisive moment, and the masterpiece of good management is to recognize and grasp this moment. — Jean-Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz · 1717
The cause of the bad and of the good fortune of men is the way in which their method of working fits the times. — Niccolo Machiavelli · 1531
Plutarch1 quote
It is circumstance and proper timing that give an action its character and make it either good or bad. — Plutarch · 119
You should hammer your iron when it is glowing hot. — Publilius Syrus · 43 BC
Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us. — Ralphie Parker · 1983
Shi Nai'An1 quote
A man should not marry after thirty years of age; should not enter the government service after the age of forty; should not have any more children after the age of fifty; and should not travel after the age of sixty. This is because the proper time for those things has passed. — Shi Nai'An · 1524
It’s good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that and I know. But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over. — Tony Soprano · 1999
If you trap the moment before it's ripe, The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe; But if once you let the ripe moment go You can never wipe off the tears of woe. — William Blake · 1792