Quote of the day, Dec. 5

P.J. O’Rourke, on books

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”

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Quote of the day, Feb. 24

Gustave Flaubert, on critics (1846)

“A man is a critic when he cannot be an artist, in the same way that man becomes an informer when he cannot be a soldier.”

Quote of the day, Dec. 27

J.R.R. Tolkein, on fantasy

“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape? … If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”

Quote of the day, Dec. 24

François Mauriac, on writing

“I write whenever it suits me. During a creative period I write every day; a novel should not be interrupted.”

Quote of the day, Dec. 23

Thomas Carlyle, from Sartor Resartus

“That there should one Man die ignorant who had capacity for Knowledge, this I call a tragedy.”

Quote of the day, Nov. 22

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from “The Sign of Four”

Holmes: “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

Quote of the day, Aug. 21

Soren Kierkegaard, from Fear and Trembling

“The true knight of faith is a witness, never a teacher, and therein lies his deep humanity, which is worth a good deal more than this silly participation in others’ weal and woe which is honored by the name of sympathy, whereas in fact it is nothing but vanity.”

Quote of the day, April 26

Alfred Lord Tennyson, on wisdom

“Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”

Quote of the day, Dec. 22

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, on man

“Time ripens all things; no man is born wise.”

Quote of the day, Dec. 18

Italian proverb

“Chi ha bisogno, domandi.” (Lose nothing for want of asking.)