November 10 Quotations

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

When war is declared, truth is the first casualty. ~ Arthur Ponsonby

selected by Kalki

2005

We are always living in the final days. What have you got? A hundred years or much, much less until the end of your world. ~ Neil Gaiman (born 10 November 1960)

proposed by Kalki

2006

Rarely do we arrive at the summit of truth without running into extremes; we have frequently to exhaust the part of error, and even of folly, before we work our way up to the noble goal of tranquil wisdom. ~ Friedrich Schiller (born 10 November 1759)

proposed by InvisibleSun

2007

There's never been a true war that wasn't fought between two sets of people who were certain they were in the right. The really dangerous people believe they are doing whatever they are doing solely and only because it is without question the right thing to do. And that is what makes them dangerous. ~ "Mr. Wednesday" in American Gods by Neil Gaiman

proposed by Kalki

2008

The dignity of mankind is in your hands; protect it!
It sinks with you! With you it will ascend.

~ Friedrich Schiller ~

proposed by InvisibleSun

2009
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Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. ~ Friedrich Schiller
- used 24 August 2004, selected by Kalki

Suggestions

Dr. Livingstone, I presume? ~ Henry Morton Stanley, uttered that day

1 Kalki 08:07, 9 November 2007 (UTC) Many things by Neil Gaiman and some by Friedrich Schiller far outrank the appeal of this one for me.
0 Zarbon 06:00, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
0 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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If my dream was true, then everything we know, everything we think we know is a lie. It means the world's about as solid and as reliable as a layer of scum on the top of a well of black water which goes down forever, and there are things in the depths that I don't even want to think about. It means that we're just dolls. We don't have a clue what's really going down, we just kid ourselves that we're in control of our lives while a paper's thickness away things that would drive us mad if we thought about them for too long play with us, and move us around from room to room, and put us away at night when they're tired, or bored. ~ Neil Gaiman (date of birth)

3 Kalki 20:03, 9 November 2005 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 23:51, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 06:00, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
1 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

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Where'er I roam, whatever realms I see,
My heart untraveled fondly turns to thee;
Still to my brother turns with ceaseless pain,
And drags at each remove a lengthening chain.
~ Oliver Goldsmith (born November 10, ca. 1730)

3 InvisibleSun 23:51, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
2 Kalki 08:07, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 06:00, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
1 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

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Conscience is a coward, and those faults it has not strength enough to prevent it seldom has justice enough to accuse. ~ Oliver Goldsmith

3 InvisibleSun 23:51, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
3 Kalki 08:07, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 06:00, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
1 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

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All we have to believe with is our senses, the tools we use to perceive the world: our sight, our touch, our memory. If they lie to us, then nothing can be trusted. And even if we do not believe, then still we cannot travel in any other way than the road our senses show us; and we must walk that road to the end. ~ "Shadow" in American Gods by Neil Gaiman

3 Kalki 08:07, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 18:26, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
1 Zarbon 06:00, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
1 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

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All that is good is simple and all that is simple is good. ~ Mikhail Kalashnikov

3 Zarbon 03:39, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Waheedone 02:57, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:51, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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I would have prefered to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work - for example a lawnmower. ~ Mikhail Kalashnikov

3 Zarbon 03:39, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:51, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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God felt sorry for actors, so he gave them a place in the sun and a lot of money. All they had to sacrifice was their talent. ~ Claude Rains

2 Zarbon 03:42, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:51, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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For he who fights and runs away
May live to fight another day;
But he who is in battle slain
Can never rise and fight again.
~ Oliver Goldsmith

3 Zarbon 04:00, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
4 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:51, 9 November 2008 (UTC) I might rank this higher, but Goldsmith was apparently not the originator of such phrasing, though his version Is one of the more famous.
- Hey mate, I am curious, who did this originate from if not Goldsmith...I always thought it was his, regardless of it being one of the more famous versions. Zarbon 05:04, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
  - See the link accompanying the quote on the Oliver Goldsmith page. - InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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For just experience tells; in every soil,
That those that think must govern those that toil.
~ Oliver Goldsmith

3 Zarbon 04:00, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:51, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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Let schoolmasters puzzle their brain,
With grammar, and nonsense, and learning;
Good liquor, I stoutly maintain,
Gives genus a better discerning.
~ Oliver Goldsmith

2 Zarbon 04:00, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:51, 9 November 2008 (UTC) I don't rank this highly, and the exact phrasing is also disputed — there are many published variants using either genius or genus, though genius seems more appropriate.
2 using "genius." - InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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Too fair to worship, too divine to love. ~ Henry Hart Milman

2 Zarbon 04:00, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Waheedone 02:55, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:51, 9 November 2008 (UTC) I might possibly rank this higher with more context.
2 InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely a man when he plays. ~ Friedrich Schiller

3 Kalki 01:17, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
3 Zarbon 05:04, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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The greater part of humanity is too much harassed and fatigued by the struggle with want, to rally itself for a new and sterner struggle with error. ~ Friedrich Schiller

3 Kalki 01:17, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 05:04, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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There's no such thing as chance;
And what to us seems merest accident
Springs from the deepest source of destiny.

~ Friedrich Schiller ~

3 Kalki 01:17, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 05:04, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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He who has done his best for his own time has lived for all times. ~ Friedrich Schiller

3 Kalki 01:17, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
3 Zarbon 05:04, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 22:35, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

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