I started reading very young. And having a good memory I memorized the best bits and pieces of what I read.
Then I sort of started thinking using those bits and pieces from poets, thinkers, and novelists in the languages I added as I gallivanted in libraries, lecture halls of universities. And later listened to online courses and lectures I found here and there.
Here I have a small selection of quotations from some of my favorites.
Considering all the horrors humanity has so far lived through, it is quite remarkable how much great art and superlative literature has been produced. This here is my little selection. Enjoy.
Kunst ist die höchste Form von Hofnung. (Art is the highest form of hope)
Gerhard Richter
« I always imagine that paradise will be a kind of library. Jorge Luis Borges
Death and taxes are unsolved engineering problems. Romana Machado
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings;
The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. Winston Churchill
Bumper Stickers:
Good girls go to heaven, Bad girls go everywhere. Susan Rivas
I’d rather be over the hill than under it. David Brown
I’ve run out of sick days, so I’m calling in dead. Jennie Cline
I don’t suffer from insanity….I enjoy every minute of it. Alison Anderson
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Voltaire:
Le meilleur des humains est celui qui contribue au bonheur des humains.
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third.
The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.
The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.
The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out.
The ear is the avenue to the heart.
The multitude of books is making us ignorant.
The true triumph of reason is that it enables us to get along with those who do not possess it.
To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid, you must also be well-mannered.
What a heavy burden is a name that has become too famous.
What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.
When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, that is metaphysics.
The husband who decides to surprise his wife is often very much surprised himself.
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A government of laws, and not of men. John Adams 1774
First ask yourself: what is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst. Dale Carnegie
Ne me dit pas quel est ton nom, ou ta croyance,
Dis-moi seulement quel est ta souffrance. Louis Pasteur
I always imagine that paradise will be a kind of library. Jorge Luis Borges
What you want, what you are hanging around in the world waiting for,
is for something to occur to you. Robert Frost