Life Quotes (page 578)
Two things significantly distinguish human beings from the other animals; an interest in the past and the possibility of language. Brought together they make a third: Art. The invisible city not calculated to exist. Beyond the lofty pretensions of the merely ceremonial, long after the dramatic connivings of plitical life, like it or not, it remains. Time past eternally present and undestroyed.
Jeanette Winterson
The Silver Key: I. In the first daysof his bondagehe had turnedto the gentle churchlyfaith endeared to himby the naivetrust of his fathers, for thence stretchedmystic avenueswhich seemed to promiseescape from life. II. Only on closer viewdid he mark the starvedfancy and beauty, thestale and prosytriteness, and theowlish gravityand grotesqueclaims of solid truthwhich reigned bore somelyand overwhelminglyamong mostof its professors; or feelto the fullthe awkwardnesswith whichit sought to...
H. P. Lovecraft
A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means.
Thomas Jefferson
You would be miserable if you had to go through life with a human doormat with 'Welcome' written on him. You want some one made of sterner stuff. You want, as it were, a sparring-partner, some one with whom you can quarrel happily with the certain knowledge that he will not curl up in a ball for you to kick, but will be there with the return wallop.
P. G. Wodehouse
But Anatole said suddenly, 'Don't expect God's protection in places beyond God's dominion. It will only make you feel punished. I'm warning you. When things go bad, you will blame yourself.'
'What are you telling me?'
'I am telling you what I'm telling you. Don't try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When you are good, bad things can still happen. And if you are bad, you can still be lucky.
Barbara Kingsolver