Gracián, Baltasar -- The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de...
Princes like to be helped, but not surpassed. When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see. [Gustan de ser...
View ArticleMcLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 3 (1963)
Try as we will, we cannot honestly recall our youth, for we have lost the feel of its main ingredient: suspense. Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and authorThe Neurotic’s Notebook, ch....
View ArticlePratchett, Terry -- The Last Continent [Death and Rincewind] (1999)
“Is it true that your life passes before your eyes before you die?” YES. “Ghastly thought, really.” Rincewind shuddered. “Oh, gods, I’ve just had another one. Suppose I am about to die and this is my...
View ArticleRogers, Will -- “Weekly Article” column (1935-06-02)
Those were great old days, (but darn it any old days are great old days. Even the tough ones, after they are over, you can look back with great memories.) Will Rogers (1879-1935) American...
View ArticleThomas a Kempis -- The Imitation of Christ [De Imitatione Christi], Book 1,...
Today a man is here; tomorrow he is gone. And when he is out of sight, he is soon out of mind. [Hodie homo est, et cras non comparet. Cum autem sublatus fuerit ab oculis, etiam cito transit a mente.]...
View ArticleByron, George Gordon, Lord -- “Sun of the Sleepless!” Hebrew Melodies (1815)
So gleams the past, the light of other days, Which shines, but warms not with its powerless rays. George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet“Sun of the Sleepless!” Hebrew Melodies (1815)
View ArticleBachelard, Gaston -- The Poetics of Reverie, ch. 3 “Reveries Toward...
So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us. Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) French philosopher.The Poetics of Reverie, ch. 3 “Reveries Toward Childhood,” sec. 2 (1969)
View ArticleBainbridge, Beryl -- “Beryl Bainbridge and Her Tenth Novel,” interview by...
Childhood is a thing that happens so early you don’t forget it. Everything else you grow out of, but you never recover from childhood. Beryl Bainbridge (1932-2010) English novelist“Beryl Bainbridge and...
View ArticleMcLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)
We hear only half of what is said to us, understand only half of that, believe only half of that, and remember only half of that. Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and authorThe...
View ArticleAugustine of Hippo -- City of God [De Civitate Dei], Book 22, ch. 22 (22.22)...
Why is it that we remember with effort but forget without effort? That we learn with effort but stay ignorant without effort? That we are active with effort, and lazy without effort? [Quid est enim,...
View ArticleLeonardo da Vinci -- MS. 2038, Bib. Nat. 34 r. [tr. McCurdy (1908)]
Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian artist,...
View ArticleTeasdale, Sara -- “The Look,” Love Songs (1918)
Strephon kissed me in the spring, Robin in the fall, But Colin only looked at me And never kissed at all. Strephon’s kiss was lost in jest, Robin’s lost in play, But the kiss in Colin’s eyes Haunts me...
View ArticleLarkin, Philip -- “The Old Fools,” High Windows (1974)
Perhaps being old is having lighted rooms Inside your head, and having people in them, acting. People you know, yet can’t quite name. Philip Larkin (1922-1985) English poet, novelist, librarian“The Old...
View ArticlePogrebin, Letty -- Deborah, Golda, and Me, ch. 1 (1991)
I want to visit Memory Lane, I don’t want to live there. Letty Cottin Pogrebin (b. 1939) American author, journalist, lecturer, social activistDeborah, Golda, and Me, ch. 1 (1991)
View ArticleKeats, John -- Letter to Fanny Brawne (1820-03)
You are always new. The last of your kisses was ever the sweetest; the last smile the brightest; the last movement the gracefullest. John Keats (1795-1821) English poetLetter to Fanny Brawne (1820-03)
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