August 28
2003
- Certain old men prefer to rise at dawn, taking a cold bath and a long walk with an empty stomach and otherwise mortifying the flesh. They then point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy health and ripe years; the truth being that they are hearty and old, not because of their habits, but in spite of them. The reason we find only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the others who have tried it. ~ The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce
- selected by Nanobug
2004
- It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing. ~ Muhammad
- selected by Kalki
2005
- I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood... I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today... ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
- proposed by MosheZadka, expanded from the first Wikiquote Quote of the Day, selected by Nanobug.
2006
- Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- proposed by Kalki
2007
- Moderation, the Golden Mean, the Aristonmetron, is the secret of wisdom and of happiness. But it does not mean embracing an unadventurous mediocrity: rather it is an elaborate balancing-act, a feat of intellectual skill demanding constant vigilance. Its aim is a reconciliation of opposites. ~ Robertson Davies
- proposed by InvisibleSun
2008
- To which of the warring serpents should I turn with the problem that now faces me?
It is easy, and tempting, to choose the god of Science. Now I would not for a moment have you suppose that I am one of those idiots who scorns Science, merely because it is always twisting and turning, and sometimes shedding its skin, like the serpent that is its symbol. It is a powerful god indeed but it is what the students of ancient gods called a shape-shifter, and sometimes a trickster. ~ Robertson Davies- proposed by InvisibleSun
2009
- What is the use of being wise if we are not sometimes merry? The merriment of wise men is not the uninformed, gross fun of ignorant men, but it has more kinship with that than the pinched, frightened fun of those who are neither learned nor ignorant, gentle nor simple, bound nor free. The idea that a wise man must be solemn is bred and preserved among people who have no idea what wisdom is, and can only respect whatever makes them feel inferior. ~ Robertson Davies
- proposed by InvisibleSun
2010
Suggestions
The ironist is not bitter, he does not seek to undercut everything that seems worthy or serious, he scorns the cheap scoring-off of the wisecracker. He stands, so to speak, somewhat at one side, observes and speaks with a moderation which is occasionally embellished with a flash of controlled exaggeration. He speaks from a certain depth, and thus he is not of the same nature as the wit, who so often speaks from the tongue and no deeper. The wit's desire is to be funny; the ironist is only funny as a secondary achievement. ~ Robertson Davies (born August 28, 1913)- 3 InvisibleSun 10:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
- 3 Kalki 05:43, 29 August 2007 (UTC) with a VERY strong lean toward 4.
- 1 Zarbon 16:20, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
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To be apt in quotation is a splendid and dangerous gift. Splendid, because it ornaments a man's speech with other men's jewels; dangerous, for the same reason. ~ Robertson Davies
- 3 InvisibleSun 10:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
- 3 Kalki 23:07, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
- 3 Zarbon 16:20, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
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It is mankind's discovery of language which more than any other single thing has separated him from the animal creation. Without language, what concept have we of past or future as separated from the immediate present? Without language, how can we tell anyone what we feel, or what we think? It might be said that until he developed language, man had no soul, for without language how could he reach deep inside himself and discover the truths that are hidden there, or find out what emotions he shared, or did not share, with his fellow men and women. ~ Robertson Davies
- 3 InvisibleSun 10:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
- 3 Kalki 23:07, 25 August 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
- 1 Zarbon 16:20, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
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The best among our writers are doing their accustomed work of mirroring what is deep in the spirit of our time; if chaos appears in those mirrors, we must have faith that in the future, as always in the past, that chaos will slowly reveal itself as a new aspect of order. ~ Robertson Davies
- 3 InvisibleSun 10:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
- 3 Kalki 23:07, 25 August 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
- 2 Zarbon 16:20, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
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