The Quotes canon
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Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
War3 quotes
There are no atheists in the fox holes. — William Thomas Cummings · 1943We all make mistakes. We know we make mistakes. I don't know any military commander, who is honest, who would say he has not made a mistake. There's a wonderful phrase: "the fog of war." What "the fog of war" means is: war is so complex it's beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend all the variables. Our judgment, our understanding, are not adequate. And we kill people unnecessarily. — Robert McNamara · 2003Military force—especially when wielded by an outside power—just cannot bring order in a country that cannot govern itself. — Robert McNamara · 1995Facing death2 quotes
There are no atheists in the fox holes. — William Thomas Cummings · 1943A good idea, he thought, to sleep off to death. It was like taking an anaesthetic. Freezing was not so bad as people thought. There were lots worse ways to die... Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known. — Jack London · 1902Living life to the fullest2 quotes
I'd rather sing one wild song and burst my heart with it, than live a thousand years watching my digestion and being afraid of the wet. — Jack London · 1916I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. — Jack London · 1916Patriarchy2 quotes
What little girls learn is not the desire for the other, but the desire to be desired. — Naomi Wolf · 1990"Beauty" is a currency system like the gold standard. Like any economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the West it is the last, best belief system that keeps male dominance intact. — Naomi Wolf · 1990Adults and children1 quote
Dinosaurs are a touchstone that separates the mentality of children from that of adults. — Dale Russell · 1989American politics1 quote
I live in a rather special world. I know only one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don't know. They're outside my ken. But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them. — Pauline Kael · 1972Artist and audience1 quote
No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. — Robert Frost · 1939Beauty1 quote
"Beauty" is a currency system like the gold standard. Like any economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the West it is the last, best belief system that keeps male dominance intact. — Naomi Wolf · 1990Being a good example1 quote
Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining. — Anne Lamott · 1994Charity1 quote
A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog. — Jack London · 1907Conservatism1 quote
I never dared be radical when young
For fear it would make me conservative when old. — Robert Frost · 1936Culture1 quote
There is no such thing as a human nature independent of culture. — Clifford Geertz · 1973Death1 quote
A good idea, he thought, to sleep off to death. It was like taking an anaesthetic. Freezing was not so bad as people thought. There were lots worse ways to die... Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known. — Jack London · 1902Depression1 quote
I have been one acquainted with the night. — Robert Frost · 1928Dinosaurs1 quote
Dinosaurs are a touchstone that separates the mentality of children from that of adults. — Dale Russell · 1989Disconnecting1 quote
Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes-including you. — Anne Lamott · 2017Experiencing things1 quote
Now no joy but lacks salt
That is not dashed with pain
And weariness and fault;
I crave the stain
Of tears, the aftermark
Of almost too much love,
The sweet of bitter bark
And burning clove. — Robert Frost · 1923Fear1 quote
I'd rather sing one wild song and burst my heart with it, than live a thousand years watching my digestion and being afraid of the wet. — Jack London · 1916Feeling alive1 quote
There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive. — Jack London · 1903Following the crowd1 quote
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I ––
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. — Robert Frost · 1916Forgiveness1 quote
Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee
And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me. — Robert Frost · 1962God and man1 quote
Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee
And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me. — Robert Frost · 1962God and war1 quote
There are no atheists in the fox holes. — William Thomas Cummings · 1943Happiness1 quote
Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length. — Robert Frost · 1942Home1 quote
Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in. — Robert Frost · 1914Human nature1 quote
There is no such thing as a human nature independent of culture. — Clifford Geertz · 1973Individualism1 quote
All those who try to go it sole alone,
Too proud to be beholden for relief,
Are absolutely sure to come to grief. — Robert Frost · 1946Jumping in1 quote
I'd rather sing one wild song and burst my heart with it, than live a thousand years watching my digestion and being afraid of the wet. — Jack London · 1916Life1 quote
He was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars. — Jack London · 1903Living in a bubble1 quote
I live in a rather special world. I know only one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don't know. They're outside my ken. But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them. — Pauline Kael · 1972