In the little world in which children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt, as injustice.

Novels as dull as dishwater, with the grease of random sentiments floating on top.

Italo Calvino

Public opinion is a permeating influence, and it exacts obedience to itself; it requires us to drink other men's thoughts, to speak other men's words, to follow other men's habits.

Walter Bagehot

There are good and bad times, but our mood changes more often than our fortune.

Thomas Carlyle

Present mirth hath present laughter. What's to come is still unsure.

William Shakespeare

I must decline your invitation owing to a subsequent engagement.

Oscar Wilde

In view of all this, I have no doubt that Cambyses was completely out of his mind; it is the only possible explanation of his assault upon, and mockery of, everything which ancient law and custom have made sacred in Egypt. If anyone, no matter who, were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations in the world the set of beliefs which he thought best, he would inevitably, after careful consideration of their relative merits, choose that of his own country. Everyone without exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best; and that being so, it is unlikely that anyone but a madman would mock at such things. There is abundant evidence that this is the universal feeling about the ancient customs of one's country. One might recall, in particular, an anecdote of Darius. When he was king of Persia, he summoned the Greeks who happened to be present in his court, and asked them what they would take to eat the dead bodies of their fathers. They replied that they would not do it for any money in the world. Later, in the presence of the Greeks, and through an interpreter, so that they could understand what was said, he asked some Indians, of the tribe called the Callatiae, who do in fact eat their parents' dead bodies, what they would take to burn them. They uttered a cry of horror and forbade him to mention such a dreadful thing. One can see by this what custom can do, and Pindar, in my opinion, was right when he called it king of all.(Herodotus is expressing his own feelings about the story of the madness of Cambyses)

Herodotus, Custom Rules (from Th

Men do weird things when they experience fear. It's like a fight-or-flight thing.

Rashida Jones

Always, however brutal an age may actually have been, its style transmits its music only.

Andre Malraux

Oh, I am very weary, Though tears no longer flow My eyes are tired of weeping, My heart is sick of woe.

Anne Bronte

I have to be on such a strict diet constantly.

Lady Gaga

I couldn't take my eyes off him. Like a desert wanderer afraid of mirages, I gazed at my oasis, but he was real.

Laura Whitcomb

I loved education, and, yes, I did want to go on learning.

Arthur Hailey