Wikiquote:Quote of the day/June

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Today is Friday, December 5, 2008; it is now 13:17 (UTC)


May << June 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 >> July

This page lists quote of the day proposals specifically for dates in the month of June, and quotes proposed should ideally have some relation to the day, or persons born on it, though sometimes exceptions can be made, usually for notable quotes that relate to recent events, such as the death of prominent individuals. Developing ideas of people or works to quote on specific days can be explored through the Wikipedia page: List of historical anniversaries. The numeric section heading of each date is also a direct link to the Wikipedia list of births, deaths, and other events which occured on that date.

See also: June 2008

Ranking system:

4 : Excellent - should definitely be used.
3 : Very Good - strong desire to see it used.
2 : Good - some desire to see it used.
1 : Acceptable - but with no particular desire to see it used.
0 : Not acceptable - not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.
2004
In properly organized groups no faith is required; what is required is simply a little trust and even that only for a little while, for the sooner a man begins to verify all he hears the better it is for him. ~ G. I. Gurdjieff
2005
I want to walk through life instead of being dragged through it. ~ Alanis Morissette (born 1 June 1974)
  • This was the last quotation that was selected from the Quote of the Day proposals page, prior to setting up the current system of ranking quotes to be used for each day of the year. It was first proposed on that page on 8 August 2004 by IP 24.167.93.227 ~ Kalki
2006
Surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of numerical superiority is quite distinct from numerical superiority in general: it is the most powerful medium in the art of war. ~ Carl von Clausewitz (born 1 June 1780)
2007
Strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one’s balance in spite of them. Even with the violence of emotion, judgment and principle must still function like a ship’s compass, which records the slightest variations however rough the sea. ~ Carl von Clausewitz
2008
There are times when the utmost daring is the height of wisdom. ~ Carl von Clausewitz
2009

[edit] Suggestions

Intelligence alone is not courage, we often see that the most intelligent people are irresolute. Since in the rush of events a man is governed by feelings rather than by thought, the intellect needs to arouse the quality of courage, which then supports and sustains it in action. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

  • 3 because those who are smart aren't always those who are the victors in a dangerous situation. Sometimes it takes more than intellect to overcome unparalleled odds. And this quote I cherish because many people can write and fight with words, but few can actually show action. Zarbon 17:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing practical to alter or deflect the impulse to destroy the enemy, which is central to the very idea of war. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

  • 3 because this is true. The very existence of these vast improvements in artillery signal that the idea of war will always be stagnant. Zarbon 17:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

...the side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the better bargain. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

  • 4 because those who are far from heavy sympathy and peacefulness are those who end up obtaining most of the power, and hence, "the better bargain". Zarbon 17:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Beauty cannot be defined by abscissas and ordinates; neither are circles and ellipses created by their geometrical formulas. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

  • 3 because something that is beautiful for one may not be beautiful for another and vice versa. Zarbon 17:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Where execution is dominant, as it is in the individual events of a war whether great or small, then intellectual factors are reduced to a minimum. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

  • 3 because execution is the final judgment, but alas, a weaker form of proving a point where intellect fails. Zarbon 17:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

...it intuitively seems correct that the brain is just some sort of computer—it just seems natural. ... But it has undermined almost all of our work to build intelligent machines and understand thinking. It's just wrong ... the brain isn't like a computer at all. ~ Jeff Hawkins (born June 1)

  • 2 because the functions of the brain and its capacity in similarity to the workings of a computer have been compared often. Zarbon 16:15, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I never have hurt any person any other way except with this unruly member, my tongue. ~ Brigham Young (born June 1)

  • 2 because words are a weapon. Zarbon 16:15, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Angels are those beings who have been on an earth like this, and have passed through the same ordeals that we are now passing through...All the difference between men and angels is, men are passing through the day of trial that angels have already passed through. ~ Brigham Young

  • 2 eh, I just like the credit given to angels having experience beforehand. I shortened the quote since it was rather long. Zarbon 16:15, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Never let a day so pass that you will have cause to say, "I will live better tomorrow." ~ Brigham Young

  • 3 because the desired tomorrow may never come. Zarbon 16:15, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I want to live perfectly above the law, and make it my servant instead of my master. ~ Brigham Young

  • 2 I think what Young is trying to say here is that making the law one's servant is the same as serving the law...which is actually corresponding with law. To master the law, would actually be going against it...nice way of putting it, a little confusing, but nice nonetheless. Zarbon 16:15, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Any complex activity, if it is to be carried on with any degree of virtuosity, calls for appropriate gifts of intellect and temperament. If they are outstanding and reveal themselves in exceptional achievements, their possessor is called a "genius". ~ Carl von Clausewitz

With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. The greater they are, the greater the margin that can be left for accidents. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

If the mind is to emerge unscathed from this relentless struggle with the unforeseen, two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

Great things alone can make a great mind, and petty things will make a petty mind unless a man rejects them as completely alien. ~ Carl von Clausewitz


2004
The difference between a hooker and a ho ain't nothin' but a fee. ~ Cheryl James ("Salt" of the rap group "Salt 'N' Pepa")
  • proposed by IP 66.157.59.118
2005
I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat. ~ W. Mark Felt (recent revelation of identity)
2006
A lover without indiscretion is no lover at all. Circumspection and devotion are a contradiction in terms. ~ Thomas Hardy (born 2 June 1840)
2007
To find themselves utterly alone at night where company is desirable and expected makes some people fearful; but a case more trying by far to the nerves is to discover some mysterious companionship when intuition, sensation, memory, analogy, testimony, probability, induction — every kind of evidence in the logician's list — have united to persuade consciousness that it is quite in isolation. ~ Thomas Hardy
2008
The capacity to produce social chaos is the last resort of desperate people. ~ Cornel West
2009

[edit] Suggestions

If you are not doing what you love, you are wasting your time. ~ Billy Joel

—This unsigned comment is by Mrfandango (talk • contribs) .
  • 2 Kalki 20:53, 1 June 2007 (UTC) Good quote but no clear relation to the date; the one by Martha Washington (upon a similar theme) that I've added below is related to her birthday today.
  • 1 Zarbon 13:19, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

I am fond of only what comes from the heart. ~ Martha Washington

  • 3 Kalki 20:53, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
  • 1. This is an unsourced quote. InvisibleSun 22:46, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 13:19, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.

At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.

~ Thomas Hardy ~

Above the plain rose the hill, above the hill rose the barrow, and above the barrow rose the figure. Above the figure was nothing that could be mapped elsewhere than on a celestial globe. ~ Thomas Hardy

The capacity to produce social chaos is the last resort of desperate people. ~ Cornel West

To be an intellectual really means to speak a truth that allows suffering to speak. ~ Cornel West

They don't pay me to think, they pay me to be an Admiral. ~ Archibald Berkeley Milne

  • 3 Zarbon 06:22, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 1. This is an unsourced quote. InvisibleSun 22:12, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen! ~ John Godfrey Saxe


2004
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. That little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. ~ W. Clement Stone
2005
A time is marked not so much by ideas that are argued about as by ideas that are taken for granted. The character of an era hangs upon what needs no defense. Power runs with ideas that only the crazy would draw into doubt. The "taken for granted" is the test of sanity... In these times, the hardest task for social or political activists is to find a way to get people to wonder again about what we all believe is true. The challenge is to sow doubt. ~ Lawrence Lessig (born 3 June 1961)
2006
It's a bumper sticker culture. People have to get it like that, and if they don't, if it takes three seconds to make them understand, you're off their radar screen. Three seconds to understand, or you lose. This is our problem. ~ Lawrence Lessig
2007
We are on the cusp of this time where I can say, "I speak as a citizen of the world" without others saying, "God, what a nut." ~ Lawrence Lessig
2008
When government disappears, it's not as if paradise will take its place. When governments are gone, other interests will take their place. ~ Lawrence Lessig
2009

[edit] Suggestions

You can't incent a dead person. No matter what we do, Hawthorne will not produce any more works, no matter how much we pay him. ~ Lawrence Lessig

  • 4 because the dead remains dead...and the dead doesn't continue to please the public. The hint of this is to cherish something while it is still alive. Zarbon 17:13, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:25, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

The object of preaching is, constantly to remind mankind of what mankind are constantly forgetting; not to supply the defects of human intelligence, but to fortify the feebleness of human resolutions. ~ Sydney Smith (born June 3)

  • 2 because he says it as it is. Zarbon 16:28, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:25, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of every thing. ~ Sydney Smith

  • 3 because there's ignorance of some things, and there's complete ignorance of all things around, which can abound to weakness. Zarbon 16:28, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:25, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Every day sends to their graves a number of obscure men who have only remained obscure because their timidity has prevented them from making a first effort. ~ Sydney Smith

  • 3 because I agree. Many people who are timid, don't make an effort...but the possibilities would be endless if they did. Zarbon 16:28, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:25, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

No man can ever end with being superior, who will not begin with being inferior. ~ Sydney Smith

  • 3 because everyone starts inferior at something. It takes time to become superior, it doesn't happen overnight. Zarbon 16:28, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:25, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little. ~ Sydney Smith

  • 2 Zarbon 16:28, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 4 Kalki 04:14, 4 June 2008 (UTC) 3 Kalki 14:25, 2 June 2008 (UTC) This I would normally rank a 4, but for this year, I am preferring another Lessig quote.
  • 4 Lyle 18:11, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they can not be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them. ~ Sydney Smith

  • 2 because this one is rather comical, although it holds some abundant truth to it. Zarbon 16:28, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:25, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 2 June 2008 (UTC)


2004
We all have ability. The difference is how we use it. ~ Stevie Wonder
2005
I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance. ~ Socrates
2006
Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become endless night. Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul. ~ Victor Hugo in Les Misérables
  • proposed by Kalki earliest recorded solar eclipse (disputed), in China, 4 June 780 BC.
2007
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge —
That myth is more potent than history.
I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts —
That hope always triumphs over experience —
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.
~ Robert Fulghum ~
2008
To insist on one's place in the scheme of things and to live up to that place.
To empower others in their reaching for some place in the scheme of things.
To do these things is to make fairy tales come true.
~ Robert Fulghum ~
2009

[edit] Suggestions

Yelling at living things does tend to kill the spirit in them. Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts. ~ Robert Fulghum

  • 4 because sometimes, words can hurt deeper than anything else. Zarbon 23:01, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 20:52, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:47, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Love the battle between chaos and imagination. ~ Robert Fulghum

  • 3 because love for imagination will combat chaos and vice versa. Having love for this process, this battle, is what makes life worth living. Zarbon 23:05, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 20:52, 3 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:47, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Then no friends would not be like yourself (all friends would be as loyal as yourself). If you make a mistake, do not be afraid to correct it. --Confucius

  • 4 Aphaia 11:16, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 and I like the quote...I just don't see any relevance. On what day would Confucius be best to quote...considering his birth is unknown. I would rate this quote high, a 3 most likely, on a relevant date. Zarbon 03:27, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 20:52, 3 June 2008 (UTC) (as there is no clear relevance to the date, but clearly also not any that would be... this is a problem on the QOTD with most of the more ancient philosophers.)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:47, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I recall an old Sufi story of a good man who was granted one wish by God. The man said he would like to go about doing good without knowing about it. God granted his wish. And then God decided that it was such a good idea, he would grant that wish to all human beings.
And so it has been to this day. ~ Robert Fulghum

Be aware of wonder. And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you learned — the biggest word of all — LOOK. ~ Robert Fulghum

The human race has found out the hard way that we are what we do, not just what we think. This is true for kids and adults — for schoolrooms and nations. ~ Robert Fulghum


2004
Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
2005
A study of the history of opinion is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind. ~ John Maynard Keynes (born 5 June 1883)
2006
Nobody knows you. No. But I sing of you.
For posterity I sing of your profile and grace.
Of the signal maturity of your understanding.
Of your appetite for death and the taste of its mouth.
Of the sadness of your once valiant gaiety.
~ Federico García Lorca (born 5 June 1898)
2007
The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds. ~ John Maynard Keynes
2008
Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking. ~ John Maynard Keynes
2009

[edit] Suggestions

Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. (June,3,1944) ~ General George Smith Patton, Jr.

  • Deuxhero 01:23, 13 May 2007 (UTC) Rationale:June 5th is when his famous speech to the 3rd army was given (along with this quote).
  • 2 Kalki 19:55, 4 June 2007 (UTC) The famous speech, with slight variations, was actually given out over several days in June as Patton addressed the troops at several locations.
  • 3 Always liked this quote Zarbon 13:21, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:07, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. ~ John Maynard Keynes

Little black horse.
Where are you taking your dead rider? ~ Federico García Lorca

  • 3 if the nice imagery of the horse is seen here. Zarbon 04:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 14:29, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:07, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

As I have not worried to be born, I do not worry to die. ~ Federico García Lorca

  • 4 because this is a great quote. In both instances, it seems to be out of our hands, so to speak. It was never the decision of the person who is born to want to be born, and likewise, the worry is never attributed with any instance. Nice, nice picture depicted here. Zarbon 04:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 14:29, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:07, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

The reward for living is the living itself. ~ Charles Hartshorne

  • 3 although simplistic, it gets the message across. Zarbon 04:59, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:29, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:07, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

We live in a century in which everything has been said. The challenge today is to learn which statements to deny. ~ Charles Hartshorne

I work for a Government I despise for ends I think criminal. ~ John Maynard Keynes

  • 2 because this says it outright. Zarbon 05:10, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 14:29, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2. The quote could use more context to see what he was referring to. InvisibleSun 22:07, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that still carries any reward. ~ John Maynard Keynes

  • 2 for another outright gesture. Zarbon 05:10, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 14:29, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:07, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

If you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem. But if you owe a million, it has. ~ John Maynard Keynes

  • 2 for being a rather comical outlook. Zarbon 05:10, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:29, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:07, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong. ~ John Maynard Keynes

  • 3 for using correct terminologies as descriptive paraphrasing. Zarbon 05:10, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:29, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:07, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone. ~ John Maynard Keynes

  • 3 for being outright. Zarbon 05:10, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 14:29, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3; but did he really say "most wickedest" and not "most wicked"? InvisibleSun 22:07, 4 June 2008 (UTC)


2004
Do nothing, and everything is done. ~ Laozi
  • suggested by IP 68.201.219.53
2005
Fearing no insult, asking for no crown, receive with indifference both flattery and slander, and do not argue with a fool. ~ Aleksandr Pushkin (born 6 June 1799 {26 May O.S.})
2006
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. ~ The Book of Revelation
  • selected by Kalki; once a century date of 06/06/06; too rare a link to this old chestnut to pass up
2007
Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them. ~ Thomas Mann
2008
I can be forced to live without happiness, but I will never consent to live without honor. ~ Pierre Corneille
2009

[edit] Suggestions

The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths. ~ Aleksandr Pushkin

  • 3 because sometimes, illusion can steer us away from problems. Zarbon 23:09, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

‘Tis time, my friend, ‘tis time!
For rest the heart is aching;
Days follow days in flight, and every day is taking
Fragments of being, while together you and I
Make plans to live. Look, all is dust, and we shall die. ~ Aleksandr Pushkin

Time cools, time clarifies, no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours. ~ Thomas Mann

  • 3 because time mends the pain of loss and suffering. Zarbon 23:24, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

A man’s dying is more the survivors’ affair than his own. ~ Thomas Mann

  • 3 because the dead is unaware of suffering, but the survivors carry the weight of anguish and loss within. Zarbon 23:24, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols. ~ Thomas Mann

  • 3 because without the firing of these pistols, ringing of bells, blaring of trumpets, etc. mankind wouldn't distinguish where in time they stand. It's particularly nice how Mann decides to personify "time" as a character in itself. Zarbon 23:24, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

If you are possessed by an idea, you find it expressed everywhere, you even smell it. ~ Thomas Mann

  • 3 because obsession and possession of a certain idea...makes one become devoured by its very essence, and almost every move one makes, one makes revolving around that idea. Zarbon 23:24, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Who is all-powerful should fear everything. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 3 because those who have the power, trust no one. Zarbon 05:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 4 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

After having won a scepter, few are so generous as to disdain the pleasures of ruling. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 3 because it is difficult to avoid the intrigues of power when being at the height of power. Zarbon 05:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Your virtue raises your glory above your crime. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 2 because to fight with virtue is glorious. Zarbon 05:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

To die for one’s country is such a worthy fate that all compete for so beautiful a death. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 4 because this quote brilliantly depicts the epitome of that which I stand for. The gallant march to death. The very beauty of death. Yes, the magnificently charming texture of death, best depicted here in the verbalization of the context of this quote. And yes, the death for one's country is so beautiful, darn...beautiful. Zarbon 05:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

To conquer without risk is to triumph without glory. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 2 because without risk, there would be no excitement. Zarbon 05:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

He who fears not death fears not a threat. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 2 because the acceptance of death is admirable. Zarbon 05:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

As great as kings may be, they are what we are: they can err like other men. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 2 because kings are human, and they too make mistakes. Zarbon 05:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Reason and love are sworn enemies. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 3 and I love this quote. For those who decide with their heart are those who are "love" oriented. I, on the other hand, prefer the "reason" ascribed people. But regardless of any side, the beautiful image is painted well in this quote, as the characterization of "love" and "reason" is witnessed, neither is "right" and neither is "wrong", but both are different. Zarbon 05:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

One is often guilty by being too just. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 2 well said. Zarbon 05:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Sir, what does it matter whom I serve, so long as I am right? ~ Pierre Corneille

We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form. ~ William Ralph Inge

  • 2 for being outright. Zarbon 06:00, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3. 1. This quote is unsourced. InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
    • I sourced the quote. You may recast your vote. Zarbon 22:24, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

There are two kinds of fools: one says, "This is old, therefore it is good"; the other says, "This is new, therefore it is better." ~ William Ralph Inge

  • 2 for clarifying the difference between fools in a vivid manner. Zarbon 06:00, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3. 1. This quote is unsourced. InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
    • I sourced the quote. You may recast your vote. Zarbon 22:24, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Civilization is a disease which is almost invariably fatal. ~ William Ralph Inge

  • 3 because this statement says what I believe...all civilizations must come to an end. Zarbon 06:00, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2. 1. This quote is unsourced. InvisibleSun 21:54, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
    • I sourced the quote. You may recast your vote. Zarbon 22:24, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

We are most likely to get angry and excited in our opposition to some idea when we ourselves are not quite certain of our own position, and are inwardly tempted to take the other side. ~ Thomas Mann

Human reason needs only to will more strongly than fate, and she is fate. ~ Thomas Mann

For the sake of goodness and love, man shall let death have no sovereignty over his thoughts. And with that, I wake up. ~ Thomas Mann

  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 but I'd find the knowledge of death to control man's fate, regardless of his wanting it or not. Zarbon 22:46, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:49, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

While in the life of the human race the mythical is an early and primitive stage, in the life of the individual it is a late and mature one. ~ Thomas Mann

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 and that's the highest I could give this one after I had already examined Corneille fully. Zarbon 22:46, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:49, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

The greater the effort, the greater the glory. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 3 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 and that's the highest I could give this one after I had already examined Corneille fully. Zarbon 22:46, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:49, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Do your duty, and leave the rest to heaven. ~ Pierre Corneille

  • 3 Kalki 23:05, 5 June 2008 (UTC) 4 Kalki 22:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC) Personally I still much prefer this to any on the page, but am making a tactical shift to favor another one by Corneille, which everyone else agrees is impressive.
  • 2 and I don't particularly find this quote excessively exhilarating. I don't quite comprehend what is meant by "leaving it to heaven". Is it like saying you will be judged if you do and judged if you don't?...a bit confusing. Maybe if it's better explained. Zarbon 22:46, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
I actually don't approve of turning the QOTD suggestion pages into running commentaries on the quotes (which can often indicate very poor understanding or nearly complete obliviousness about what has been expressed very eloquently by others), but I will respond to this query, and indicate why I held this in higher value than the others.
It is somewhat related to the quote which was selected, in that it indicates one's happiness is not always in one's control, and cannot always be assured, but one's efforts to cleave to an honorable path is something that ultimately depends upon one's own integrity and not that of others, nor upon one's external fortunes. To elaborate on it a little further, I would say that it indicates very succinctly: Do what is right to do, and attempt what is right to attempt — without regard to success or failure, or to punishments and rewards. Leave that which cannot be known to fate, and make efforts to do what one knows to be worthy of doing in a noble way. There is no higher duty than that. One cannot usually have a clear idea of the full results of one's efforts in many regards, but one can have a clear idea of whether something is a worthy effort or not. That which helps and advances noble causes is worthy to attempt, that which merely petty and destructive towards anyone is petty and destructive to one's own integrity and path of honor. ~ Kalki 04:44, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
Indeed, the message was similar to that expressed by the quote chosen. I ranked it accordingly as a 2 then. I don't normally ask for an explanation of meaning, this was uncommon and it had to be cleared as a rarity, thanks for taking the time to explain my dear comrade. Zarbon 11:31, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Upon the brink of the wild stream
He stood, and dreamt a mighty dream.
~ Aleksandr Pushkin ~

  • 3 Kalki 23:05, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Zarbon 03:52, 6 June 2008 (UTC)


2004
Man's most valuable trait is a judicious sense of what not to believe. ~ Euripides
2005
Truth-tellers are not always palatable. There is a preference for candy bars. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks (born 7 June 1917)
2006
Nature has mysterious infinities and imaginative power. It is always varying the productions it offers to us. The artist himself is one of nature's means. ~ Paul Gauguin (born 7 June 1848)
2007
Exhaust the little moment.
Soon it dies.
And be it gash or gold it will not come
Again in this identical guise.
~ Gwendolyn Brooks ~
2008
A young man who is unable to commit a folly is already an old man. ~ Paul Gauguin (born 7 June 1848)
2009

[edit] Suggestions

No one wants my painting because it is different from other people's— peculiar, crazy public that demands the greatest possible degree of originality on the painter's part and yet won't accept him unless his work resembles that of the others! ~ Paul Gauguin (born June 7, 1848)

  • 3 InvisibleSun 05:51, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 12:53, 6 June 2006 (UTC) A bit too petulant to be entirely admirable.
  • 2 Zarbon 13:23, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Art is a refining and evocative translation of the materials of the world. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks

As you get older, you find that often the wheat, disentangling itself from the chaff, comes out to meet you.
~ Gwendolyn Brooks ~

Art hurts. Art urges voyages — and it is easier to stay at home. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks

A time will come when people will think I am a myth, or rather something the newspapers have made up. ~ Paul Gauguin


2004
It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action. ~ Lin Yutang
2005
I have something to tell you today. Mac OS X has been leading a secret double life — for the past five years. ~ Steve Jobs (on the plans for Apple Computer to begin using Intel processors in its Macintosh computers)
2006
The present is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright (born 8 June 1867)
2007
I knew that good like bad becomes a routine, that the temporary tends to endure, that what is external permeates to the inside, and that the mask, given time, comes to be the face itself. ~ Marguerite Yourcenar
2008
History does not always repeat itself. Sometimes it just yells, "Can't you remember anything I told you?" and lets fly with a club. ~ John W. Campbell (born 8 June 1910)
2009

[edit] Suggestions

Every great architect is — necessarily — a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright (born 8 June 1867)

The scientist has marched in and taken the place of the poet. But one day somebody will find the solution to the problems of the world and remember, it will be a poet, not a scientist. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright (born 8 June 1867)

Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasion to change. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright (born 8 June 1867)

The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright (born 8 June 1867)

The written word has taught me to listen to the human voice, much as the great unchanging statues have taught me to appreciate bodily motions. ~ Marguerite Yourcenar (born June 8, 1903)

Nothing is slower than the true birth of a man. ~ Marguerite Yourcenar

  • 3 InvisibleSun 19:32, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 22:31, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
  • 3 because this one is great. It takes a long time for man to understand. Zarbon 13:27, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

The true birthplace is that wherein for the first time one looks intelligently upon oneself; my first homelands have been books. ~ Marguerite Yourcenar

The memory of most men is an abandoned cemetery where lie, unsung and unhonored, the dead whom they have ceased to cherish. ~ Marguerite Yourcenar

Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch. ~ Tim Berners-Lee

  • 3 because being committed requires one to sometimes make sacrifices...missing lunch is a comical example, but well said regardless. Zarbon 06:20, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:11, 7 June 2008 (UTC)


2004
A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence. ~ David Hume
2005
There are always good parts. They may not pay what you want, and they may not have as many days' work as you want, they may not have the billing that you want, they may not have a lot of things, but — the content of the role itself — I find there are many roles. ~ Anne Bancroft (recent death)
2006
When you were born in this world
Everyone laughed while you cried
Conduct not yourself in manner such
That they laugh when you are gone.
~ Kabir (à propos of recent death of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi)
2007
What is this thing called love?
This funny thing called love?
~ Cole Porter ~
2008
Be a clown, be a clown,
All the world loves a clown.
Act the fool, play the calf,
And you'll always have the last laugh.
~ Cole Porter ~
2009

[edit] Suggestions

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above.
Don't fence me in. ~ Cole Porter

I get no kick from champagne.
Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all,
So tell me why it should be true
That I get a kick out of you? ~ Cole Porter

  • 2 Zarbon 03:44, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 13:29, 24 June 2008 (UTC)


2004
History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap. ~ Ronald Reagan (recent death)
2005
A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life. It tells us that for every human being there is a diversity of existences, that the single existence is itself an illusion in part, that these many existences signify something, tend to something, fulfill something; it promises us meaning, harmony and even justice. ~ Saul Bellow (born 10 June 1915)
2006
All that you see has appeared because of Love.
All shines from Love,
All pulses with Love,
All flows from Love —
No, once again, all is Love!
~ Fakhruddin 'Iraqi (born 10 June 1213)
2007
Goodness is achieved not in a vacuum, but in the company of other men, attended by love. ~ Saul Bellow
2008
We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely. ~ E. O. Wilson
2009

[edit] Suggestions

Writers are greatly respected. The intelligent public is wonderfully patient with them, continues to read them, and endures disappointment after disappointment, waiting to hear from art what it does not hear from theology, philosophy, social theory, and what it cannot hear from pure science. Out of the struggle at the center has come an immense, painful longing for a broader, more flexible, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we human beings are, who we are, and what this life is for. ~ Saul Bellow (born June 10, 1915)

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. ~ Saul Bellow

Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door. ~ Saul Bellow

Apparently the rise of consciousness is linked to certain kinds of privation. It is the bitterness of self-consciousness that we knowers know best. Critical of the illusions that sustained mankind in earlier times, this self-consciousness of ours does little to sustain us now. The question is: which is disenchanted, the world itself or the consciousness we have of it? ~ Saul Bellow

Writers, poets, painters, musicians, philosophers, political thinkers, to name only a few of the categories affected, must woo their readers, viewers, listeners, from distraction. To this we must add, for simple realism demands it, that these same writers, painters, etc., are themselves the children of distraction. As such, they are peculiarly qualified to approach the distracted multitudes. They will have experienced the seductions as well as the destructiveness of the forces we have been considering here. This is the destructive element in which we do not need to be summoned to immerse ourselves, for we were born to it. ~ Saul Bellow

For the first time in history, the human species as a whole has gone into politics. Everyone is in the act, and there is no telling what may come of it. ~ Saul Bellow

We are all such accidents. We do not make up history and culture. We simply appear, not by our own choice. We make what we can of our condition with the means available. We must accept the mixture as we find it — the impurity of it, the tragedy of it, the hope of it. ~ Saul Bellow

In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as our education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves. ~ Saul Bellow

Most joyful let the Poet be;
It is through him that all men see. ~ William Ellery Channing (born June 10)

  • 4 because the poet illustrates for others. Zarbon 17:15, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 17:55, 8 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 06:42, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

And when he came to the place where the wild things are, they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws till Max said, "Be still" and tamed them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once. And they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all and made him king of all wild things. ~ Maurice Sendak (born June 10, 1928)

  • 3 InvisibleSun 06:42, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 I liked the wild things books when I was young. Zarbon 14:58, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

From their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things. ~ Maurice Sendak

Children are tough, though we tend to think of them as fragile. They have to be tough. Childhood is not easy. We sentimentalize children, but they know what's real and what's not. They understand metaphor and symbol. ~ Maurice Sendak

  • 3 InvisibleSun 06:42, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 although I don't particularly agree with this assumption. Zarbon 14:58, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Children are willing to expose themselves to experiences. We aren't. Grownups always say they protect their children, but they're really protecting themselves. Besides, you can't protect children. They know everything. ~ Maurice Sendak


2004
Whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty's lamp guiding your steps and opportunity's arm steadying your way. ~ Ronald Reagan (recent death)
2005
The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone's neurosis, and we'd have a mighty dull literature if all the writers that came along were a bunch of happy chuckleheads. ~ William Styron (born 11 June 1925)
2006
In small proportions we just beauties see,
And in short measures life may perfect be.
~ Ben Jonson (born 11 June 1572)
2007
The world is wide; no two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of the world; and the genuine productions of art, like those of nature, are all distinct from one another. ~ John Constable
2008
Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks. ~ Ben Jonson (born June 11, 1572)
2009

[edit] Suggestions

Of all wild beasts preserve me from a tyrant; and of all tame, a flatterer. ~ Ben Jonson (born June 11, 1572)

Robes loosely flowing, hair as free,
Such sweet neglect more taketh me
Than all the adulteries of art:
They strike mine eyes, but not my heart.
~ Ben Jonson ~ (born June 11, 1572)

Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup
And I'll not look for wine.
~ Ben Jonson ~ (born June 11, 1572)

The great vice of the present day is bravura, an attempt to do something beyond the truth. In endeavouring to do something better than well, they do what in reality is good for nothing. Fashion always had, & will have, its day — but truth (in all things) only will last, and can only have just claims on posterity. ~ John Constable (born June 11, 1776)

There is nothing ugly; I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may, — light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful. ~ John Constable

  • 3 InvisibleSun 06:18, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
  • 4 Kalki 21:33, 10 June 2007 (UTC) Though I don't agree with all the ways by which this statement might be interpreted, it is a powerful statement. I do believe that there is actually ugliness in the world, which exists as a quality in many situations, but apart from circumstances, and most especially the circumstances of how they are perceived, there are no absolutely ugly "things" as such.
  • 2 Zarbon 13:35, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

We see nothing truly till we understand it. ~ John Constable


2004
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
2005
I don't want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that's why I'm grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop and to express all that's inside me! ~ Anne Frank (born 12 June 1929)
2006
If one is but secure at the foundation, he will not be pained by departure from minor details or affairs that are contrary to expectation. But in the end, the details of a matter are important. The right and wrong of one's way of doing things are found in trivial matters. ~ Yamamoto Tsunetomo (born 12 June 1659)
2007
I don't believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone are guilty of the war. Oh, no, the little man is just as keen, otherwise the people of the world would have risen in revolt long ago! There is an urge and rage in people to destroy, to kill, to murder, and until all mankind, without exception, undergoes a great change, wars will be waged, everything that has been built up, cultivated and grown, will be destroyed and disfigured, after which mankind will have to begin all over again. ~ Anne Frank
2008
We are adhering to life now with our last muscle — the heart. ~ Djuna Barnes
2009

[edit] Suggestions

Give me a dozen men who are not afraid to die, and I'll accomplish what all the Generals and Admirals with all their Armies and Battleships cannot. ~ Otto Skorzeny (born June 12)

  • 3 because this redefines courage and seriously outlines the great secret missions that he undertook. Zarbon 04:52, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:07, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:16, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

My knowledge of pain, learned with the sabre, taught me not to be afraid. And just as in dueling when you must concentrate on your enemy's cheek, so, too, in war. You cannot waste time on feinting and sidestepping. You must decide on your target and go in. ~ Otto Skorzeny (born June 12)

  • 4 because eradicating fear is worthwhile, and the comparison between sabre dueling and timing is brilliant. I would have gave this a 4, but I am limiting that rating to my three favorite quotes of all time (September 22, October 4, and November 30) Zarbon 04:52, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:07, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:16, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else. ~ Len Wein (born June 12)

Never be embarrassed by the things you cannot do. Be embarrassed by the things you can do and don't do well. ~ Len Wein

Everyone's got the same insecurities as you
Believe me it is true
Do not be afraid
To show people the real you. ~ Justin Heazlewood

It is possible to tell things by a handshake. ~ George H. W. Bush

I do not mistrust the future; I do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater. And if our flaws are endless, God's love is truly boundless. ~ George H. W. Bush

  • 2 and I don't really like this quote, but it's one of the few even worth mentioning from the slew of quotes on his page. Zarbon 17:30, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:07, 11 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:16, 11 June 2008 (UTC)


2004
To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level. ~ Bertrand Russell
2005
Talent perceives differences, Genius unity. ~ William Butler Yeats (born 13 June 1865)
2006
It is difficult to know yourself if you do not know others. To all Ways there are side-tracks. If you study a Way daily, and your spirit diverges, you may think you are obeying a good way, but objectively it is not the true Way. If you are following the true Way and diverge a little, this will later become a large divergence. You must realise this. ~ Miyamoto Musashi (died 13 June 1645)
2007
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with the golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams beneath your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
~ William Butler Yeats ~
2008
So long as all is ordered for attack, and that alone, leaders will instinctively increase the number of enemies that they may give their followers something to do. ~ William Butler Yeats
2009

[edit] Suggestions

A line will take us hours maybe;
Yet if it does not seem a moment’s thought,
Our stitching and unstitching has been naught.
Better go down upon your marrow-bones
And scrub a kitchen pavement, or break stones
Like an old pauper, in all kinds of weather;
For to articulate sweet sounds together
Is to work harder than all these, and yet
Be thought an idler by the noisy set
Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen
The martyrs call the world.
~ William Butler Yeats ~

I am content to follow to its source
Every event in action or in thought;
Measure the lot; forgive myself the lot!
When such as I cast out remorse
So great a sweetness flows into the breast
We must laugh and we must sing,
We are blest by everything,
Everything we look upon is blest.
~ William Butler Yeats ~

All hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
And learns at last that it is self-delighting,
Self-appeasing, self-affrighting,
And that its own sweet will is Heaven’s will;
She can, though every face should scowl
And every windy quarter howl
Or every bellows burst, be happy still.
~ William Butler Yeats ~

Man can embody truth but he cannot know it. ~ William Butler Yeats

A powerful class by terror, rhetoric, and organised sentimentality, may drive their people to war but the day draws near when they cannot keep them there. ~ William Butler Yeats

A lofty morality should be tolerant, for none declare its laws but those worn out with its warfare, and they must pity sinners. ~ William Butler Yeats


2004
Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an ideal, with takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice. ~ Arnold J. Toynbee
2005
At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality... We must strive every day so that this love of living humanity will be transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples, as a moving force. ~ Che Guevara (14 June 1928 is his official date of birth, though it is disputed)
2006
The longest day must have its close — the gloomiest night will wear on to a morning. An eternal, inexorable lapse of moments is ever hurrying the day of the evil to an eternal night, and the night of the just to an eternal day. ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe (born 14 June 1811)
2007
That play of black upon white, white upon black, has the intent and takes the form of creative art. It has in it a flow of the spirit and a harmony of music. Everything is lost when suddenly a false note is struck, or one party in a duet suddenly launches forth on an eccentric flight of his own. A masterpiece of a game can be ruined by insensitivity to the feelings of an adversary. ~ Yasunari Kawabata (born 14 June 1899)
2008
True love ennobles and dignifies the material labors of life; and homely services rendered for love's sake have in them a poetry that is immortal. ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe
2009

[edit] Suggestions

The Zen disciple sits for long hours silent and motionless, with his eyes closed. Presently he enters a state of impassivity, free from all ideas and all thoughts. He departs from the self and enters the realm of nothingness. This is not the nothingness or the emptiness of the West. It is rather the reverse, a universe of the spirit in which everything communicates freely with everything, transcending bounds, limitless. ... The disciple must, however, always be lord of his own thoughts, and must attain enlightenment through his own efforts. And the emphasis is less upon reason and argument than upon intuition, immediate feeling. Enlightenment comes not from teaching but through the eye awakened inwardly. Truth is in "the discarding of words", it lies "outside words"... ~ Yasunari Kawabata

What makes saintliness in my view, as distinguished from ordinary goodness, is a certain quality of magnanimity and greatness of soul that brings life within the circle of the heroic. ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

O, with what freshness, what solemnity and beauty, is each new day born; as if to say to insensate man, "Behold! thou hast one more chance! Strive for immortal glory!" There is no speech nor language where this voice is not heard; but the bold, bad man heard it not. He woke with an oath and a curse. What to him was the gold and purple, the daily miracle of morning! ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

By what strange law of mind is it that an idea long overlooked, and trodden under foot as a useless stone, suddenly sparkles out in new light, as a discovered diamond? ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

In our zeal as revolutionists we try to move ahead as fast as possible, clearing the way, but knowing we must draw our sustenance from the mass and that it can advance more rapidly only if we inspire it by our example. ~ Che Guevara

  • 3 Kalki 01:31, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
  • 2 Zarbon 23:24, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 21:20, 13 June 2008 (UTC)
  • A footnote on the Wikipedia page for Che Guevara states: "Guevara's birth certificate was incorrectly and purposely dated one month later: June 14, 1928. Che's mother was three months pregnant when she married his father. To avoid possible scandal, she had a Rosario doctor forge the birth certificate to say that Che was born on June 14, instead of May 14, and then told her family he was born 2 months premature (Anderson 1997, p. 3)." As the WP and WQ pages now have a DOB of May 14, perhaps his QotD nominations should be moved to that day. - InvisibleSun 21:20, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

In moments of great peril it is easy to muster a powerful response to moral stimuli; but for them to retain their effect requires the development of a consciousness in which there is a new priority of values. ~ Che Guevara

In the end, you're measured not by how much you undertake but by what you finally accomplish. ~ Donald Trump

  • 3 because accomplishments are what people remember, negative or positive. What you undertake, a struggle so to speak, you keep to yourself. Zarbon 17:37, 18 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 21:20, 13 June 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 21:49, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Many things are possible. Few things are certain. ~ Harry Turtledove

The earth is alive. If it was not, it could not produce: If you find a piece of earth that is dead, you cannot produce anything from it, except you resurrect it and restore it to life. ~ Heber C. Kimball