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October 13

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Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003
Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect. ~ Linus Torvalds
  • selected by IP 68.227.198.159
2004
Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't. ~ Richard Bach
2005
Forgive us the breach of positive commands and negative commands, whether or not they involve an act, whether or not they are known to us. ~ Liturgy for Yom Kippur (begins the night of the 12th)
2006
If you ever get trial by television or guilt by accusation, that day freedom dies because you have not had it done with all of the careful rules that have developed in a court of law. Press and television rely on freedom. Those who rely on freedom must uphold the rule of law and have a duty and a responsibility to do so and not try to substitute their own system for it. ~ Margaret Thatcher (born 13 October 1925).
2007
I'm always astounded at the way we automatically look at what divides and separates us. We never look at what people have in common. If you see it, black and white people, both sides look to see the differences, they don't look at what they have together. Men and women, and old and young, and so on. And this is a disease of the mind, the way I see it. ~ Doris Lessing (recent Nobel Prize winner for Literature)
2008
I think it's a disgrace for the international community that we have allowed so many conflicts to become frozen, and we are not making a serious effort to solve them. ~ Martti Ahtisaari (recent winner of the Nobel Peace prize of 2008)
2009
The practical reason for freedom is that freedom seems to be the only condition under which any kind of substantial moral fiber can be developed — we have tried law, compulsion and authoritarianism of various kinds, and the result is nothing to be proud of. ~ Albert Jay Nock (born 13 October 1873)
2010
In every civilization, however generally prosaic, however addicted to the short-time point of view on human affairs, there are always certain alien spirits who, while outwardly conforming to the requirements of the civilization around them, still keep a disinterested regard for the plain intelligible law of things, irrespective of any practical end. They have an intellectual curiosity, sometimes touched with emotion, concerning the august order of nature; they are impressed by the contemplation of it, and like to know as much about it as they can, even in circumstances where its operation is ever so manifestly unfavourable to their best hopes and wishes. ~ Albert Jay Nock
2011
Get up in one of our industrial centres today and say that two and two make four, and if there is any financial interest concerned in maintaining that two and two make five, the police will bash your head in. ~ Albert Jay Nock
2012
I write from instinct, from inexplicable sparkle. I don't know why I'm writing what I'm writing. Usually, I sit and I let my hands wander on my guitar. And I sing anything. I play anything. And I wait till I come across a pleasing accident. Then I start to develop it. Once you take a piece of musical information, there are certain implications that it automatically contains — the implication of that phrase elongated, contracted, or inverted or in another time signature. So you start with an impulse and go to what your ear likes.
~ Paul Simon ~
2013
When you're weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all
I'm on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
~ Paul Simon ~
2014
Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates.
The earth is blue.
And everything about it is a love song.
Everything about it.
~ Paul Simon ~
2015
The nature and intention of government … are social. Based on the idea of natural rights, government secures those rights to the individual by strictly negative intervention, making justice costless and easy of access; and beyond that it does not go. The State, on the other hand, both in its genesis and by its primary intention, is purely anti-social. It is not based on the idea of natural rights, but on the idea that the individual has no rights except those that the State may provisionally grant him. It has always made justice costly and difficult of access, and has invariably held itself above justice and common morality whenever it could advantage itself by so doing.
~ Albert Jay Nock ~
2016
It may be the cock that crows, but it is the hen that lays the eggs.
~ Margaret Thatcher ~
2017
In any given society the Remnant are always so largely an unknown quantity. You do not know, and will never know, more than two things about them. You can be sure of those — dead sure, as our phrase is — but you will never be able to make even a respectable guess at anything else. You do not know, and will never know, who the Remnant are, nor what they are doing or will do. Two things you do know, and no more: First, that they exist; second, that they will find you. Except for these two certainties, working for the Remnant means working in impenetrable darkness; and this, I should say, is just the condition calculated most effectively to pique the interest of any prophet who is properly gifted with the imagination, insight and intellectual curiosity necessary to a successful pursuit of his trade.
~ Albert Jay Nock ~
2018
When I speak of the fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming of intellectuals and religious leaders who dare to speak their minds, and then I tell you that I’m from Saudi Arabia, are you surprised?
~ Jamal Khashoggi ~
2019
It was painful for me several years ago when several friends were arrested. I said nothing. I didn’t want to lose my job or my freedom. I worried about my family.
I have made a different choice now. I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot. I want you to know that Saudi Arabia has not always been as it is now. We Saudis deserve better.
~ Jamal Khashoggi ~
2020
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices. We suffer from poverty, mismanagement and poor education. Through the creation of an independent international forum, isolated from the influence of nationalist governments spreading hate through propaganda, ordinary people in the Arab world would be able to address the structural problems their societies face.
~ Jamal Khashoggi ~
2021
The conservative is a person who considers very closely every chance, even the longest, of "throwing out the baby with the bath-water," as the German proverb puts it, and who determines his conduct accordingly. And so we see that the term conservative has little value as a label; in fact, one might say that its label-value varies inversely with one's right to wear it.
~ Albert Jay Nock ~
2022

Prayers offered in times of peace are silent conversations,
Appeals for love, or love's release, in private invocations

But all that is changed now.
Gone like a memory from the day before the fires.
People hungry for the voice of God
Hear lunatics and liars.

Wartime prayers. Wartime prayers
In every language spoken.
For every family scattered and broken.

~ Paul Simon ~
2023
As many here know, Hamas launched its attack on Simchat Torah. This is the day that Jews celebrate finishing the reading of the Torah. This Saturday, Jews around the world will chant the first words of the book of Genesis. They’ll read that in the beginning, there was darkness; and then there was light. That the first person was alone until a partner joined them.
I’m standing here today alongside our Israeli friends and all those who reject terror to help find the glimmers of light, even in this moment of deep darkness, and to make clear as that as long as there’s a United States, Israel will never be alone.
~ Antony Blinken ~
2024
For every idealistic peacemaker willing to renounce his self-defence in favour of a weapons-free world, there is at least one warmaker anxious to exploit the other's good intentions.
~ Margaret Thatcher ~
2025

Rank or add further suggestions…


Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

  • Hello darkness, my old friend
    I've come to talk with you again
    Because a vision softly creeping
    Left its seeds while I was sleeping
    And the vision that was planted in my brain
    Still remains
    Within the sound of silence.
    ~ Paul Simon ~
  • And the sign flashed out its warning
    In the words that it was forming
    And the sign said "The words of the prophets
    Are written on the subway walls
    And tenement halls
    And whispered in the sound of silence."
    ~ Paul Simon ~

The Quote of the Day (QOTD) is a prominent feature of the Wikiquote Main Page. Thank you for submitting, reviewing, and ranking suggestions!

Ranking system
4 : Excellent – should definitely be used. (This is the utmost ranking and should be used by any editor for only one quote at a time for each date.)
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.
An averaging of the rankings provided to each suggestion produces it’s general ranking in considerations for selection of Quote of the Day. The selections made are usually chosen from the top ranked options existing on the page, but the provision of highly ranked late additions, especially in regard to special events (most commonly in regard to the deaths of famous people, or other major social or physical occurrences), always remain an option for final selections.
Thank you for participating!

Suggestions

[edit]

Defeat—I do not recognise the meaning of the word! ~ Margaret Thatcher

  • 3 because this is very powerful, a gesture of determination, blind from failure. Zarbon 03:54, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:00, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:46, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3-4 representative of her attitude to life and politics. MurielMary (talk) 09:20, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

Pennies don't fall from heaven, they have to be earned here on earth. ~ Margaret Thatcher

  • 3 because praying only goes so far, one must still fight here on soil for profit. Zarbon 03:54, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 22:00, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:46, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3-4 represents one of her core values, the work ethic. MurielMary (talk) 09:20, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

If the answer is infinite light, why do we sleep in the dark? ~ Paul Simon

  • 4 because darkness compels and relaxes. Darkness soothes and creates serenity. Therefore, it is an answer just as light, if not an answer moreso. Zarbon 05:22, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 20:24, 12 October 2009 (UTC) * 2 Kalki 22:00, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:46, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 N6n 12:15, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

The mind is like the stomach. It is not how much you put into it that counts, but how much it digests. ~ Albert Jay Nock

Those that have wealth must be watchful and wary,
Power, alas! naught but misery brings! ~ Thomas Haynes Bayly

Oh, I have roamed o'er many lands,
And many friends I've met;
Not one fair scene or kindly smile
Can this fond heart forget. ~ Thomas Haynes Bayly

My fond affection thou hast seen,
Then judge of my regret
To think more happy thou hadst been
If we had never met. ~ Thomas Haynes Bayly

Surely 't is better, when summer is over
To die when all fair things are fading away. ~ Thomas Haynes Bayly

I 've wandered east, I 've wandered west,
Through mony a weary way;
But never, never can forget
The luve o' life's young day! ~ William Motherwell

Mournfully, oh, mournfully,
The midnight wind doth sigh,
Like some sweet plaintive melody
Of ages long gone by. ~ William Motherwell

Absence makes the heart grow fonder:
Isle of Beauty, fare thee well!
~ Thomas Haynes Bayly

  • 3 Kalki 01:12, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 N6n 12:15, 24 September 2010 (UTC)
  • 3 Ficaia (talk) 07:20, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

The State's criminality is nothing new and nothing to be wondered at. It began when the first predatory group of men clustered together and formed the State, and it will continue as long as the State exists in the world, because the State is fundamentally an anti-social institution, fundamentally criminal. The idea that the State originated to serve any kind of social purpose is completely unhistorical. It originated in conquest and confiscation — that is to say, in crime. It originated for the purpose of maintaining the division of society into an owning-and-exploiting class and a propertyless dependent class — that is, for a criminal purpose. ~ Albert Jay Nock

  • 3 Kalki 01:12, 13 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
  • 3 tending to 4 N6n 12:15, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

Here is the Golden Rule of sound citizenship, the first and greatest lesson in the study of politics: you get the same order of criminality from any State to which you give power to exercise it; and whatever power you give the State to do things for you carries with it the equivalent power to do things to you. ~ Albert Jay Nock

  • 3 Kalki 01:12, 13 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

Trust your intuition. It's just like goin' fishin'. You cast your line and hope you get a bite.
But you don't need to waste your time worrying about the marketplace, try to help the human race. Struggling to survive its harshest night.
~ Paul Simon ~

  • 3 Kalki 01:12, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

Once upon a time there was an ocean.
But now it's a mountain range.
Something unstoppable put into motion.
Nothing is different, but everything's changed.
~ Paul Simon ~

  • 3 Kalki 01:12, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

"The universe loves a drama," you know. And ladies and gentlemen this is the show. ~ Paul Simon

  • 3 Kalki 01:12, 13 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin',
I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where.
~ Paul Simon ~

  • 3 Kalki 01:12, 13 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
  • 3 tending to 4 N6n

No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
~ Paul Simon ~

  • 3 Kalki 01:12, 13 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
When we speak freely, let us speak plainly, for plain speech is wholesome; especially, plain speech about public affairs and public men.
~ Albert Jay Nock ~
The glossary of politics is so full of euphemistic words and phrases — as in the nature of things it must be — that one would suppose politicians must sometimes strain their wits to coin them.
~ Albert Jay Nock ~
I thought our youth could manage to bear up under a little corrupting — they always have — and if they were corrupted by Communism, they stood a first-rate chance to get over it, whereas if they grew up fools or hypocrites, they would never get over it.
~ Albert Jay Nock ~

You cannot walk with the holy,
If you're just a halfway decent man.
But I don't pretend that I'm a mastermind
With a genius marketing plan.

I'm trying to tap into some wisdom,
Even a little drop would do.
I want to rid my heart of envy
And cleanse my soul of rage
Before I'm through.

~ Paul Simon ~
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:29, 13 October 2022 (UTC); most of the as yet unused remainder of a quote I first proposed in 2009, the first portion of it now used for QOTD.
  • Some days my thoughts are just cocoons—all cold, and dull, and blind,
    They hang from dripping branches in the gray woods of my mind;
    And other days they drift and shine—such free and flying things!
    I find the gold-dust in my hair, left by their brushing wings. ~ Karle Wilson Baker
It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the phrase, "as pretty as an airport."
~ Douglas Adams ~

3 Cremastra (talk) 01:06, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

  • 1 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 22:46, 12 October 2024 (UTC); but would rank this higher were it related to the date — such as it would have on Adams' birthdate of 11 March.


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