America is a country that doesn't know where it is going but is determined to set a speed record getting there - Laurence J. Peter Peter Laurence J. Americans are healthy carriers of democracy Gaber Giorgio a bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it (Bob Hope) Hope Bob a bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain - Robert Frost Frost Robert a bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog - Jack london London Jack a book is one of the fonts of joy available to us Borges Jorge Luis a book that can't stand two readings is not worth even one Descalzo José Luis Martín a business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business (Henry Ford) Ford Henry a cavil is a matter of principle that we have forgotten (Sir Elwyn Jones) Jones Sir Elwyn a child is not a vase to be filled, but a fire to be lit Rabelais François a child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of home - Carl Burns Burns Carl a cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want? - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar a compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece Erhard Ludwig a concert to save the planet... reminds me of the Titanic Anónimo a conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done (Fred Allen) Allen Fred a consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually - Abba Eban Eban Abba a corporation is closer to any totalitarian institution as any that humans have devised - Noam Chomsky Chomsky Noam a country without documentary films is like a family without a photo album Guzmán Patricio a critic is a legless man who teaches running - Channing Pollock Pollock Channing a cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin - H.L. Mencken Mencken H.L. a cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future - Sydney J. Harris Harris Sydney J. a day will come in which men will look upon an animal's murder the same way they look today upon a man's murder Da Vinci Leonardo a dictionary can embrace only a small part of the vast tapestry of a language Leopardi Giacomo a dictionary is the whole universe arranged in alphabetical order France Anatole a diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age - Robert Frost Frost Robert a disadvantageous peace is better than the most righteous war Erasmus von Rotterdam Desiderius a fan club is a group of people who tell an actor he's not alone in the way he feels about himself - Kenneth Williams Williams Kenneth a fiancé is a happy man who is ready to cease being so Poncela Enrique Jardiel a free woman is the exact opposite of a fickle woman Beauvoir Simone de a friend is not someone who wipes your tears; he's someone who doesn't make you cry - Anonymous Anonymous a friend is someone who can readily accept your silence Sbarbaro Camillo a fruitful conversation springs only from minds absorbed in reinforcing their own confusion Cioran Emile a good dictionary is like a mirror: if you know how to use it well, you can find what you already suspected Anónimo a good man is intelligent, and a bad man is also an idiot. Moral and intellectual characteristics go together Borges Jorge Luis a good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a re-reader (Vladimir Nabokov) Nabokov Vladimir a good review from the critics is just another stay of execution - Dustin Hoffman Hoffman Dustin a government is the only vessel that leaks from the top - James Reston Reston James a journalist is someone whose business it is to explain to others what he personally does not understand (Lord Alfred Northcliff) Lord Northcliff Alfred a jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer - Robert Frost Frost Robert a language is a dialect with an army and a navy - Joshua A. Fishman Fishman Joshua A. a lawful kiss is never worth as much as a stolen one Maupassant Guy de a lawyer is a gentleman who rescues your estate from your enemies and keeps it for himself - Lord Brougham Brougham Lord Henry a learned man is an idler who kills time by study (George Bernard Shaw) Shaw George Bernard a liar should keep in mind that to be believed he shouldn't tell more lies than are necessary Svevo Italo a literary classic is one of those books that leaves the reader wondering what more there is to the story Calvino Italo a little inaccuracy saves a world of explanation - Clarence Edwin Ayres Ayres Clarence Edwin a man alone is always in bad company Valéry Paul a man can't ride on your back unless it's bent (Martin Luther King) King Martin Luther a man generally has two reasons for doing a thing: one that sounds good, and a real one (J. Pierpoint Morgan) Morgan John Pierpont a man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone - Henry David Thoreau Thoreau Henry David a man is rich once he has become familiar with scarcity Epicurus a man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy, that's the only reason. That's all, that's all! Whoever discovers this will become happy instantly (Fedor Michailovich Dostoevskij) Dostoevskij Fedor Michailovich a man who does not know how to be angry does not know how to be good (H. W. Beecher) Beecher Henry Ward a man who does not lose his mind over certain things has no mind to lose Lessing Gotthold Ephraim a man who won't die for something is not fit to live - Martin Luther King King Martin Luther a man with no dreams, no illusions and no ideals would be a monster, a wild boar with a degree in pure mathematics De André Fabrizio a man's worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes - Thomas Henry Huxley Huxley Thomas Henry a man, any man, is worth more than a flag, any flag Chillida Eduardo a memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer (Dean Acheson) Acheson Dean Gooderham a myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes - James K. Feibleman Feibleman James K. a natural language is the archive where the experiences, knowledge and beliefs of a community are stored Carreter Fernando Lázaro a painter is a man who paints what he sells; an artist, on the other hand, is a man who sells what he paints Picasso Pablo a paranoid is a man who knows a little of what's going on - William S. Burroughs Burroughs William S. a philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there. A theologian is the one who finds it - H.L. Mencken Mencken H.L. a poet understands Nature better than a scientist Novalis a political campaign costs much more than an honest man can pay - Anonymous Anonymous a politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen - Winston Churchill Churchill Winston a politician thinks about the coming elections, the statesman about the next generations Bismarck Otto von a prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him - Winston Churchill Churchill Winston a process which led from the amoeba to man appeared to philosophers to obviously be progress, though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known (Bertrand Russell) Russell Bertrand a proverb is a short sentence based on long experience Cervantes Miguel de a psychiatrist is a fellow who asks you a lot of expensive questions your wife asks for nothing - Joey Adams Adams Joey a real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us (WH Auden) Auden Wystan Hugh a reformer is a man who rides through a sewer in a glass-bottomed boat - James J. Walker Walker James J. a scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician: he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales Curie Marie a sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking - Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson Ralph Waldo a sensible conclusion is that languages are 'difficult' in inverse proportion to the strength of motivation for learning them (Reg Hindley) Hindley Reg a shadow is lost in too much light... or too much darkness Ovadia Moni a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use - Washington Irving Washington Irving a slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him - Ezra Pound Pound Ezra a smile is the shortest distance between two people (Víctor Borge) Borge Víctor a sociologist is someone who goes to a football match to look at the spectators Bufalino Gesualdo a specialist is one who knows more and more about less and less, ultimately knowing everything... about nothing! Somma Luciano a speech belongs half to the speaker and half to the listener Montaigne Michel de a strong foe is better than a weak friend (Edward Dahlberg) Dahlberg Edward a synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the word you first thought of - Burt Bacharach Bacharach Burt a tooth ought to be valued much more than a diamond Cervantes Miguel de a tragic indicator of the values of our civilization is that there's no business like war business (Douglas Mattern) Mattern Douglas a traitor is someone who leaves a party to join another and a convert is someone who leaves this other party to join yours Clemenceau Georges a translation done badly is not a translation Anónimo a woman is a present that chooses you Brassens Georges a word is nothing but a noise and books are nothing but paper Claudel Paul act well your part, there all the honor lies (Edgar Lee Masters) Masters Edgar Lee advertising is the art of making whole lies out of half truths - Edgar A. Shoaff Shoaff Edgar advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it Leacock Stephen after all, it's your relationships with other people that give value to life Humboldt von Wilhelm after all, the language is our homeland Cela Camilo José after discrediting virtues, our century succeeded in discrediting vices Dávila Nicolás after suffering so much, at least there is the recompense of dying like dogs Pavese Cesare after three appearances on TV, any fool being interviewed says what he thinks and what others think too Biagi Enzo age has whitened the hair of some men while leaving their hearts unaffected, which remain fresh and young and beat just as strongly for every good and beautiful thing Zamenhof Ludoviko albeit there are as many grammairiennes as grammariens, indeed more... Erasmus von Rotterdam Desiderius all charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others - Cyril Connolly Connolly Cyril all exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation Russell Bertrand all gods were immortal Lec Stanislaw Jerzy all happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way Tolstoy Lev all ideas are already in the brain, just as all statues are in the marble Dossi Carlo all is worth nothing and the rest is worth even less Greiff León de all men have a woman in their thoughts, and married men have another at home Serrat Noel Clarasó all men play a role except, perhaps, some actors Ionesco Eugene all men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers - Orison Swett Marden Marden Orison Swett all our knowledge merely helps us to die a more painful death than animals that know nothing Maeterlinck Maurice all she needs do is shout the truth in everyone's face. No one will believe it and everyone will think her mad! Pirandello Luigi all speech, written or spoken, is a dead language Stevenson Robert Louis all that which is invented, is true Flaubert Gustave all the brains in the world are powerless against any kind of stupidity that is in vogue La Fontaine Jean de all the glory of the world lies in a grain of corn Martí José all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances Shakespeare William all things considered, nothing is beautiful Horatius Quintus Flaccus all tramps and beggars are equal under the law Dossi Carlo all universal moral principles are idle fantasies Sade Donatien-Alphonse-François all we are saying is give peace a chance - John Lennon Lennon John all would live long, but none would be old - Benjamin Franklin Franklin Benjamin almost all physicians have their favourite diseases - Henry Fielding Fielding Henry although death is terrifying, knowing that you are living to eternity without ever being able to die is even more terrifying Chekhov Anton among my most prized possessions are words that I have never spoken Rega Card Orson amusing yourself almost always means a different way of being bored Régismanset Charles an Ambassador is an honest man, sent to lie abroad for the good of his country - Sir Henry Wotton Wotton Sir Henry an absolutely logical language without its own idioms would be lifeless and too mechanical Zamenhof Ludoviko an actor is a guy who, if you ain't talking about him, he ain't listening Brando Marlon an actor is a sincere liar Camus Albert an archaeologist is the best husband any woman can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her Christie Agatha an arts degree is like a diploma in origami. And about as much use - JG Ballard Ballard James Graham an e-mail cannot express the sentiment of a tear Saramago José an editor is someone who separates the wheat from the chaff and then prints the chaff Stevenson Adlai an expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field Bohr Niels an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad an incompetent lawyer can delay a trial for months or years. A competent lawyer can delay one even longer Younger Evelle an intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself Camus Albert an intellectual is the type of person who has bound those books he has not read Longanesi Leo an international gang of exchange speculators has mindlessly and heartlessly created a world of inequality, misery and horror. Their criminal hegemony must be ended without delay Ziegler Jean an optimist is he who believes that things cannot get any worse Morandotti Alessandro and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared Machiavelli Niccolò and of all plagues with which mankind are cursed, ecclesiastic tyranny's the worst Defoe Daniel and so we find ourselves with this simple, two-pronged truism: firstly, we are a community of people speaking the same language and, secondly, speaking it is one of the ways of marking us as human beings Paz Octavio and to avoid it being stolen... money is entrusted to the banks Anónimo and yet, the contrary is always true as well Longanesi Leo anthropoid apes and baboons don't speak because, if they could, human beings would force them to work Le Grand Antoine any kind of divorce is a patching-up exercise on something that has ended up badly. Battling to get divorce legalised is a battle behind the lines. Marriage should be fought against Bianciardi Luciano any man worthy of the name must reproach himself for the reproaches directed against any other man Martí José any one of us would term barbaric what is not habitual to us Montaigne Michel de any private property is necessarily under a 'social mortgage' Paolo VI any woman would like to be faithful. The difficulty is finding a man to be faithful to Dietrich Marlene anybody that wants the Presidency so much that he'll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office Broder David anyone being born should exercise great prudence in the choice of place, year, and parents Bufalino Gesualdo anyone can speak obscurely, but very few with clarity Galilei Galileo anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist - Kenneth Boulding Boulding Kenneth anyone who holds power for even one minute commits a crime Pintor Luigi anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old Kafka Franz anyone who teaches people to die teaches them to live Montaigne Michel de anything capable of being imagined will one day be made reality Verne Jules apart from a few men, all animals have a soul Anónimo approbation from others is stimulating, but it is as well sometimes to distrust it Cézanne Paul art is a call to which too many who are not called give an answer Longanesi Leo art is a hammer to beat the world, not a mirror to reflect it Majakovskij Vladimir art is an investment of capital, culture an excuse Flaiano Ennio art is the lie that makes us realize truth Picasso Pablo art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life Picasso Pablo as I didn't mind being born, I don't mind dying García Lorca Federico as a body everyone is single, but as a soul, never Hesse Hermann as a rule I use only words that enhance the silence Galeano Eduardo as fathers commonly go, it is seldom a misfortune to be fatherless; and considering the general run of sons, as seldom a misfortune to be childless - Lord Chesterfield Lord Chesterfield as in friendship so in love, we are often happier from ignorance than from knowledge Rochefoucauld François Duc de La as long as I still have something to do, I will have done nothing Caesar Caius Iulius as long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it Cavett Dick as long as there is oil, there will be no peace in the Middle East Anónimo as long as translations exist, language is a vehicle, not a destination Tharoor Shashi as long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular Wilde Oscar as men are not able to fight against death, misery, ignorance, they have taken it into their heads, in order to be happy, not to think of them at all Pascal Blaise as regards obstacles, the shortest distance between two points can be a curve Brecht Bertolt as soon as you tolerate something, it becomes bearable, and before long it will become common Zangwill Israel ask no questions and you will be told no lies Anónimo ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so - John Stuart Mill Mill John Stuart asking an entrepreneur not to cheat on his income is like asking a dentist not to cheat on invoices Anónimo at present, with the exception of tobacco, alcohol and television, most drugs are illegal, and yet our kids can always find them on every school corner Chao Manu at times it's better to strive to be happy in misfortune by accepting it, rather than fighting or trying to overcome it Maeterlinck Maurice Berlusconi is one of those illnesses cured by vaccine. To get over Berlusconi you need a good injection of Berlusconi Montanelli Indro Britain is the only country in the world where the food is more dangerous than the sex (Jackie Mason) Mason Jackie bad books engender bad habits and bad habits engender good books Descartes René barometer. An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having Bierce Ambrose base impulses dominate our lives, just like 50,000 years ago Levi Montalcini Rita basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing - Wernher von Braun von Braun Wernher be frank and explicit with your lawyer... It will then be his job to make everything confused - Anonymous Anonymous be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet them on your way down - Wilson Mizner Mizner Wilson be unselfish: respect the selfishness of others Lec Stanislaw Jerzy be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so Lord Chesterfield beauty is in the eye of the beholder Anonymous become the change you want to see in the world Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad before anything else, emotion! Comprehension only comes afterwards! Gauguin Paul before changing your mind make sure that you already have an opinion to change Brie Albert before thinking about how to educate, one would do well to clarify what results one wishes to obtain - Bertrand Russell Russell Bertrand before we came, the world lacked nothing; after we depart, the world will lack nothing Khayyam Omar being a woman is a terribly difficult trade, since it consists principally of dealing with men - Joseph Conrad Conrad Joseph being childless is a happy misfortune Euripide being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it's important McCarthy Eugene Joseph being right is one more good reason for not succeeding Dávila Nicolás being young and not revolutionary is even a biological contradiction Allende Salvador believe in everything you are told about the world - nothing is too awful to be impossible Balzac Honoré de beware of defining as intelligent only those who share your opinions Ojetti Ugo bigamy is having one husband too many. Monogamy is the same Jong Erica blessed is he who expects no gratitude, for he shall not be disappointed Bennett W.C. book-lovers with shelves full of books and who do not even turn a page can be compared to eunuchs in a harem Dossi Carlo books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content Valéry Paul books have their pride too - when they are lent out they don't return Fontane Theodor books will be the salvation of mankind Voltaire boredom is an infirmity for which the remedy is work; pleasure is only a palliative Lewis Duke of brevity is the soul of wit Shakespeare William bureaucracy is a giant mechanism run by small people Balzac Honoré de bureaucracy: a difficulty for every solution (H. Samuel) Samuel H. but the universe is infinite Epicurus by coming to resemble what we are not, we cease to be what we are Jünger Ernst Christ died for our sins. Dare we make his martyrdom meaningless by not committing them? - Jules Feiffer Feiffer Jules Christianity has done a great deal for love by making a sin of it France Anatole capitalism is the worst enemy of humanity Morales Evo castilian is the lingua franca of American Indians Fuentes Carlos caution: Marx's corpse is still breathing Parra Nicanor cease to hope and you will cease to fear Seneca Lucius Annaeus chastity: the most unnatural of the sexual perversions - Aldous Huxley Huxley Aldous childhood has its own way of seeing, thinking and feeling and nothing is more foolish than to try to substitute ours for theirs Rousseau Jean-Jacques children find everything in nothing, men find nothing in everything Leopardi Giacomo children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them Baldwin James chips are one of the most spiritual creations of Parisian genius Sailland Maurice Edmond dit Curnonsky civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them Whitehead Alfred North civilized people can't satisfy their sexual instincts to the full without love - Bertrand Russell Russell Bertrand clarity is the philosopher's courtesy Ortega y Gasset José cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing - Phyllis Diller Diller Phyllis clothes are semiotic artifices: in other words, machines of communication Eco Umberto coca cola is good for the health... of the US economy Anónimo conscience is a dog that doesn't bar our way forward, but we can't stop it from barking Chamfort Nicolas de conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking Mencken H.L. conscience is what your mother told you before you were six years old Chisholm Brock consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago Berenson Bernard consul. In American politics, a person who having failed to secure an office from the people is given one by the Administration on condition that he leave the country Bierce Ambrose corruption is like garbage, it must be removed every day Pichardo Pagaza Ignacio courage is the fear of being thought a coward Smith Horace creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training Freud Anna creative people are the opposite of civilised people Camus Albert crimes committed with automobiles are called accidents Galeano Eduardo culture has benefited above all from books on which the publishers have lost Fuller Thomas culture is always like that - layer upon layer of quotation after quotation, of ideas that give rise to other ideas, lively exchanges of words that span time and space Montero Rosa culture is an instrument manipulated by school-teachers to produce school-teachers who, in turn, will produce school-teachers Weil Simone culture is not to read a lot, neither to know a lot - it means to experience a lot Pessoa Fernando culture is what is left in man when he has forgotten everything Herriot Edouard curse that instant of happiness that has made me unhappy for evermore Trincale Franco cursed be the soldier who fires on his people Bolivar Simon cynic: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be Bierce Ambrose darling: the popular form of address used in speaking to a person of the opposite sex whose name you cannot at the moment recall - Oliver Herford Herford Oliver dear Democracy come back home as it's not too late Fossati Ivano death is a state of perfection, the only one within reach of mortals Cioran Emile death is expiated by living Ungaretti Giuseppe death is something we don't have to fear, since as long as we exist death doesn't and when it does we don't Epicurus death may be the best part of life Silva Carlos death used to be part of me until it abandoned me for someone else Paz Octavio death, until now, is life's most concrete invention Cioran Emile defining a word is like catching a butterfly on the wing Holanda Ferreira Aurélio Buarque de democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear Coren Alan democracy gives every man the right to be his own oppressor - James Russell Lowell Lowell James Russell democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance Mencken H.L. democracy is fragile and if too many flags are raised to it, it falls apart Biagi Enzo democracy is the name we give to the people each time we need them de Flers Robert democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner - James Bovard Bovard James democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few - George Bernard Shaw Shaw George Bernard democracy: thus being unable to make justice strong, we have determined that strength is justice Pascal Blaise desire nothing and you will be the richest man in the world Cervantes Miguel de despots can change laws but not habits Benavente y Martínez Jacinto development is a voyage with more castaways than survivors Galeano Eduardo development is like a dead star whose light we can still see, even though it has been dead for ages and for ever Rist Gilbert dictionaries are like watches: the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true Johnson Samuel dictionaries need to be corrected continually, like maps Dossi Carlo digital is speed and efficiency. Paper is pleasure Annoscia Giuseppe disarmament conferences amount to fire prevention exercises by pyromaniacs Osborne John discoveries are of no help to the Third World, they just compound the existing injustice Kapuściński Ryszard dissent is the highest form of patriotism Jefferson Thomas do arms factories contribute to combatting unemployment? Anónimo do not read as children do to enjoy themselves, or, as the ambitious do to educate themselves. No, read to live Flaubert Gustave do not try to live forever. You will not succeed Shaw George Bernard do not use that foreign word 'ideals'. We have that excellent native word 'lies' Ibsen Henrik do stupid things, but do them with enthusiasm Colette do we have to cohabit with the mafia even in sport? Cattaneo Carlo do you believe then that our dear God is Catholic? Lichtenberg Georg Christoph do you want lots of people coming to your aid? Try and avoid the need for it Manzoni Alessandro do you want to damage someone's reputation? Speak well of them Siegfried André do you want to make it impossible for anyone to oppress his fellow-man? Then make sure that no one shall possess power Bakunin Mikhail doctors. Lucky men. Their successes gleam in the sun... and their mistakes are buried Montaigne Michel de does the death penalty make any sense to those condemned to die? Anónimo does the end justify the means? Thanks, Moggi Anonimo doesn't it scare you, a world of ignoramuses with no memory other than that of their computers? Bloom Harold Irving doing no evil is very good. But doing no good is very bad Hurtado Padre Alberto don't allow the imposition of the liberty of speech before having the liberty of thought Lec Stanislaw Jerzy don't ask me to be kind; just ask me to behave as if I was Renard Jules don't be so humble - you are not that great - Golda Meir Meir Golda don't shout for help at night. You may wake your neighbors Lec Stanislaw Jerzy don't wait for the right opportunity: create it Shaw George Bernard don't waste time looking for obstacles: it may be that none exist Kafka Franz doping for an athlete is like lying and stealing for a politician. Hard to avoid Anónimo doubt is one of the names of intelligence Borges Jorge Luis doubt is unpleasant, but certainty is ridiculous Voltaire dream and you will be free in spirit, fight and you will be free in life Guevara Ernesto Che dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them - John Updike Updike John ducks lay their eggs in silence while hens cackle like madwomen. The result? Everybody eats hens' eggs Ford Henry duty is what one expects from others Wilde Oscar England and America are two countries divided by a common language (George Bernard Shaw) Shaw George Bernard each moment of ours is never the same and we are never the same from one moment to the next, one period of time to the next Heraclitus education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices - Laurence J. Peter J. Peter Laurence education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance - Will Durant Durant Will education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught Wilde Oscar education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one Forbes Malcolm Steve enough of drugs in sport: ban testing! Anonymous even an ass can go to Mecca, but that does not make an ass a pilgrim Proverbio arabo even if you travel down its every path, you will not find the limits of the soul: such are the depths of its logos Heraclitus every attraction is reciprocal Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von every conviction is a prison Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm every idiot confuses price and value Machado Antonio every individual stands alone at the heart of the world transfixed by a ray of sunlight; and suddenly it is evening Quasimodo Salvatore every man has a task in life and it is never the one he would have chosen Hesse Hermann every man is as God made him, and often worse Cervantes Miguel de every so often it is well to realize that even today, even now, we are shaping the nostalgia that will give warmth to a prospective tomorrow Benedetti Mario every thought is an exception to a general rule - which is not thinking Valéry Paul every word carries its own memory Pérsico Eduardo every word has been, at sometime, a neologism Borges Jorge Luis everyone betrays the defects of their own qualities Olivetti Adriano everyone only listens to what he understands Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von everyone smiles in the same language Anonymous everyone takes the limits of his field of vision for the confines of the world Schopenhauer Arthur everyone worries about rhinos, but crab louses are in danger of extinction too Anónimo everything in life is bearable, except for many days of uninterrupted happiness Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von everything is dangerous. If it wasn't so, life wouldn't be worth living Wilde Oscar everything is ridiculous when one thinks of death Bernhard Thomas everything left unsaid is said forever Cortázar Julio everything we define today as immoral has in some place and at some time been considered moral. What guarantee do we have that history will not go back on itself? Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm everything we eat without really needing to is plunder from the stomachs of the poor Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad everything you read in newspapers is absolutely true, except for that rare story of which you happen to have first-hand knowledge Knoll Erwin everytime I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the human race Wells HG expansion presupposes complexity, and complexity decadence Parkinson Cyril N. experience is a flame which cannot illuminate without burning Pérez Galdós Benito experience is a lottery ticket bought after the draw has been made Mistral Gabriela experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again Jones Franklin P. experience: a comb that life gives you after you've lost your hair Stern Judith 'for your own good' is a persuasive argument that will eventually make a man agree to his own destruction - Janet Frame Frame Janet ...from his windows he listens to the life of the world and men and knows he's excluded, but he does not kill himself, because a vestige of faith tells him he must bear this suffering in his heart to the end, this immense suffering, which represents what, in the end, will die Hesse Hermann facts are always popping up to confuse the theories Dossi Carlo failure went to my head Flaiano Ennio faithfulness is the art of committing adultery only with one's mind Décoly faithfulness lives where love is stronger than instinct Carvel Paul false impressions still persist in spite of reason and knowledge Leopardi Giacomo familial affections are put on only for special occasions Kraus Karl fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim - George Santayana Santayana George fashion is always a reflection of its time but unfortunately we forget it when it's stupid Chanel Coco few see us as we are, but everyone sees what we pretend to be Machiavelli Niccolò few things are as immutable as the addiction of political groups to the ideas by which they have won office - John Kenneth Galbraith Galbraith Kenneth finance is the art of passing money from hand to hand until it finally disappears - Rober W. Sarnoff Sarnoff Robert W. first be free - then ask for freedom Pessoa Fernando flatterers look like friends, as wolves like dogs Chapman George follow the example of the best, those who give up everything to build a better world Allende Salvador football is popular because stupidity is popular Borges Jorge Luis for an Indian, the gold of the sun is enough and more Parra Violeta for each of us, the past has the greatest attraction because it's the only thing we know and truly love Pasolini Pier Paolo for every complex problem, there is always a simple solution - that is wrong Mencken H.L. for every language that becomes extinct, an image of man disappears Paz Octavio for how many will it still be worth living, when we no longer die? Canetti Elias for many women the shortest path to perfection is tenderness Mauriac François for money you can have everything it is said. - No that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honour; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money Garborg Arne for most men life is a search for the proper manila envelope in which to get themselves filed Fadiman Clifton for some communists, if you are an anticommunist, you are a fascist. This is so incomprehensible as to say that if you are not a catholic, you are a mormon Borges Jorge Luis for those who do not think, it is best at least to rearrange their prejudices once in a while Burbank Luther fortunately Bush has come to the defence of democracy Anónimo frankly speaking, you sometimes have to get annoyed to make things work well Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm freedom does not exist, but the quest for freedom does, and it is this quest that makes us free Fuentes Carlos freedom for supporters of the government only, for members of a party only - no matter how big its membership may be - is no freedom at all. Freedom is always only freedom for the man who thinks differently about it Luxemburg Rosa freedom is always and only the freedom of those who think otherwise Luxemburg Rosa freedom is like poetry - it doesn't have to have epithets, it's total freedom! Biagi Enzo freedom of the press is perhaps the one that has suffered the most from the slow degradation of the idea of liberty Camus Albert friends are that part of the human race one can be human with - George Santayana Santayana George friendship is a disinterested commerce between equals; love, an abject intercourse between tyrants and slaves - Oliver Goldsmith Goldsmith Oliver friendship is a product of loyalty, not of passive allegiance De Bortoli Ferruccio friendship is the childhood of love Anónimo friendships are like marriages: only one in ten is for love De Amicis Edmondo from smokers, we can learn tolerance. I've never met anybody who protested against non smokers Pertini Sandro from the brain, and the brain alone, arise our pleasures, joys, laughter and jests, as well as our pains and griefs Hippocrates fur: a skin that changes its animal Scholl A. future generations' international lingua franca will certainly be just a programmed language Zamenhof Ludoviko God cannot alter the past, that is why he is obliged to connive at the existence of historians - Samuel Butler Butler Samuel God created man and, seeing he was not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion so that he would feel his solitude more Valéry Paul God will forgive me. It's his job Heine Heinrich God, like a comma, can change everything Guerrasio G. Good cannot be vanquished, Evil can (Rabindranâth Tagore) Tagore Rabindranath generosity can, unfortunately, also amount to good business Ojetti Ugo generous souls are more offended by flattery than insult Tommaseo Nicolò give every man your ear, but few thy voice. Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment - William Shakespeare Shakespeare William giving in to the vice of obedience is always comfortable Milani Don Lorenzo globalization is a process that enables the powerful to exploit the weak Llano Alejandro going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you a car - Laurence J. Peter Peter Laurence J. governments never learn. Only people learn - Milton Friedman Friedman Milton grasp the subject, the words will follow Cato Marcus Porcius great loves take off in a very precise way - as soon as you set eyes on her you ask yourself: who is that idiot? Flaiano Ennio greatness does not consist in receiving honours but in deserving them Aristotle grown up? Never Pasolini Pier Paolo guilt lasts as long as the feeling of remorse Borges Jorge Luis Hollywood's a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss, and fifty cents for your soul (Marilyn Monroe) Monroe Marilyn half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it - Robert Frost Frost Robert happiness is a gift that comes to he who did not seek it Chekhov Anton happiness is a marvellous thing: the more you give, the more you are left with Pascal Blaise happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults Szasz Thomas happiness is getting on with yourself Buñuel Luis happiness is the perpetual possession of being well deceived Swift Jonathan happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember - Oscar Levant Levant Oscar happiness lies in being free, that is, in desiring nothing Epitteto happy is he who laughs at himself; he will not go short of entertainment Bourguiba Habib having had a good upbringing nowadays is a great disadvantage as it excludes you from so many things - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar having no vices adds nothing to virtue Machado Antonio he hoisted his own flag high....so that he didn't have to look at it Lec Stanislaw Jerzy he makes no friend who never made a foe Tennyson Alfred he who asks for nothing expects everything Rostand Jean he who does not punish evil, commands it to be done da Vinci Leonardo he who is in love with himself has at least this advantage - he won't encounter many rivals Lichtenberg Georg Christoph he who is so fortunate as to have nothing more to gain is not as lucky as the man who has nothing to lose Quevedo y Villegas Francisco de he who knows how to laugh is master of the world Leopardi Giacomo he who pays no attention to what his neighbour does, says or thinks, preferring to concentrate on making his own actions appropriate and justifiable, better uses his time Marcus Aelius Aurelius Antoninus heaven and hell seem out of proportion to me: the actions of men do not deserve so much Borges Jorge Luis help me understand what I am telling you about and I will explain it better Machado Antonio here lies my wife: here let her lie! Now she's at rest, and so am I - John Dryden Dryden John here lives a free man. No one serves him Camus Albert heresy is only another word for freedom of thought - Graham Greene Greene Graham high school in our time amounts to little more than day care for virtual adults in which some learning might incidentally take place, much of it of dubious value - James Howard Kunstler Kunstler James Howard his conscience was clear; indeed he never used it Lec Stanislaw Jerzy his designs were strictly honorable, as the phrase is; that is, to rob a lady of her fortune by way of marriage Fielding Henry history teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives Eban Abba history teaches us the lesson of war but we tend to forget it all the same Mussolini Benito history: an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools Bierce Ambrose hope is alright for breakfast, but it makes a very poor dinner Bacon Francis how do you recognise a work of art? How can it be kept apart, even if only for a moment, from its critics, commentators, its indefatigable plagiarists, its defacers and its final destiny in solitude? Simple-just translate it Bolaño Roberto how easy it is to write difficultly Colorni Eugenio how is it that the Mafia 'invests' by giving away drugs outside schools and publishers don't do the same with books? Anónimo how many lives there are in one life, how many men there are in one man Papini Giovanni how many worries simply flow away when you decide to be somebody instead of just something Chanel Coco human beings can be grouped into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are bored to death, and those who are worried to death - Winston Churchill Churchill Winston human history, what with salvation and perdition, is ambiguous. We don't even know whether we are masters of our destiny Bobbio Norberto human nature: what makes you swear at a pedestrian when you are driving and at the driver when you are a pedestrian Oren Arnold human rights are not respected in Cuba, except in Guantánamo Anónimo humanity is as it is, it's not a question of changing it but getting to know it Flaubert Gustave humankind cannot stand very much reality Jung Carl husbands are chiefly good as lovers when they are betraying their wives Monroe Marilyn hypocrisy is homage paid by vice to virtue Rochefoucauld François de La I adore political parties. They are the only place left to us where people don't talk politics - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar I also read books, many books: but I learn less from them than I do from life. The only book that has taught me a lot is the dictionary. The dictionary, how I adore it! But I also love the road, an even more wonderful dictionary Petrolini Ettore I am I plus my circumstances Ortega y Gasset José I am a heavy burden on a person, I almost suffocate him and demand that he should carry me; and, without relieving him, I persuade myself and others that I am sorry and want to make it easy for him by all possible means, but not by allowing him to get rid of my weight Tolstoy Leo I am a part of all that I have met - Alfred Tennyson Tennyson Alfred I am always of the opinion with the learned, if they speak first - William Congreve Congreve William I am in favour of legalizing all drugs. This is for one reason: I don't like the mafia Chao Manu I am never so busy as when I have nothing to do Scipione Publio Cornelio (l'Africano) I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace - Albert Einstein Einstein Albert I am not young enough to know everything - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar I am of the opinion that law must be respected never forgetting to apply it in a way to protect the weaker ones among us Prodi Romano I am optimistic for the future of pessimism Rostand Jean I am surely mad; but if I am not, then neither should the others be free (George Bernard Shaw) Shaw George Bernard I am unable to hold translators in any kind of regard, because otherwise I would begin to write with an impersonal and flat language completely devoid of character Grass Günter I believe I have found the missing link between animals and civilized man. It is us Konrad Lorenz I believe that some day we will deserve to be free of governments Borges Jorge Luis I call a man, one who is master of his tongue Milani Don Lorenzo I can't change the past, but I can change my memories Anónimo I cannot afford to waste my time making money (Alexander Agassiz) Agassiz Alexander I cannot live with someone who can't live without me (Nadine Gordimer) Gordimer Nadine I carry inside of me a heavy burden: the weight of the riches I did not give to others (Rabindranath Tagore) Tagore Rabindranath I committed the worst sin ever: I was not happy Borges Jorge Luis I consider as barbaric any offence to a human being because he belongs to a different people, language, religion or social class Zamenhof Ludoviko I could never figure how they can teach boys how to bomb villages with napalm - and not let them write the word 'fuck' on their airplanes - Marlon Brando Brando Marlon I dedicate this edition to my enemies who have helped me so much in my career Cela Camilo José I delight in men over seventy, they always offer one the devotion of a lifetime - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar I desire little, and that little I desire, I desire it little San Francesco d'Assisi I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forget their use Galilei Galileo I do not meddle willingly in my own private affairs Kraus Karl I do not think you want too much sincerity in society. It would be like an iron girder in a house of cards - William Somerset Maugham Maugham Wìlliam Somerset I don't drink alcohol. But not because of virtue, but because there is a drink which I like better, and that is water Borges Jorge Luis I don't ever write my name on books that I buy; I only do so after having read them as only then can I say they're mine Dossi Carlo I don't have time to be in a hurry (John Wesley) Wesley John I don't know whether God exists, but if he doesn't he makes a better impression Benni Stefano I don't want to demonstrate anything, I just want to show Fellini Federico I firmly reserve the right to contradict myself Claudel Paul I give no alms. I am not poor enough for that Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm I got disappointed in human nature as well and gave it up because I found it too much like my own (J.P. Donleavy) Donleavy J.P. I have always planned my life so that I could die with three hundred thousand things on my conscience but not a single regret De André Fabrizio I have learned that a life is worthless but nothing is worth more than a life Malraux André I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with the greatest caution - Wernher von Braun von Braun Wernher I have simple tastes. I am always satisfied with the best - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar I heartily believe revolution to be the source of legal right Castro Fidel I know nothing of today's literature. For some time now my contemporary writers have been the Greeks Borges Jorge Luis I know that poetry is indispensable, but to what I just do not know Cocteau Jean I like talking. A lot of times I talk to myself, just to hear myself talk. Sometimes I am so clever that even I don't understand what I said - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar I love women, but I don't admire them (Charles Chaplin) Chaplin Charlie I love, you love, he loves, we love, you love, they love. If only they were not conjugations, but reality Moreno Mario (Cantinflas) I loved, I was loved, the sun caressed my face. Life, you owe me nothing! Life, we're even! Nervo Amado I made this drawing in less than five minutes, but it took me sixty years to be able to do that Renoir Auguste I need poetry to express what cannot be said Hierro José I need to be needed Anónimo I need to feel the same respect for my mother as one feels for an ideal Frank Anne I never intended to get close to the people with my writings. Actually, I never intended to get close to anybody Borges Jorge Luis I paint things as I think them, not as I see them Picasso Pablo I possess nothing so completely as that which I have given away Seneca Lucius Annaeus I quote others only in order to express myself the better Montaigne Michel de I read the newspaper avidly. It is my one form of continuous fiction - Aneurin Bevan Bevan Aneurin I really do feel that genuine translation of text requires understanding of the text, and understanding requires having lived in the world and dealt with the physical world and is not just a question of manipulating words - Douglas Hofstadter Hofstadter Douglas I see no error made which I might not have committed myself Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my dog (Emperor Charles V) Emperor Charles V I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death (Anne Frank) Frank Anne I support the legalisation of drugs... at least in sport Badiali Massimiliano I think, therefore I exist Descartes René I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees Neruda Pablo I wanted perfection and I ruined what was working well Monet Claude Oscar I was not afraid of the words of the violent, but of the silence of the honest - Martin Luther King King Martin Luther I will look at all lands as if they belonged to me, and at mine as if they belonged to everyone Seneca Lucius Annaeus I wish only not to have desires Anónimo I would like the death certificate of every human being to be written in the same language as his birth certificate Brecht Bertolt I would like to see priests getting married, hetero-and homo-sexuals alike Anónimo I would rather be an optimist and wrong than a pessimist and right Gödel Kurt I'd rather annoy with the truth than please with adulation Seneca Lucius Annaeus I'm a man with the same limits of anyone of my generation. But I've never said what I didn't want to say, even if I've not always said what I wanted to say Biagi Enzo I'm no communist - I can't afford to be one Flaiano Ennio I'm not denyin' the women are foolish: God Almighty made 'em to match the men - George Eliot Eliot George I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner. Being here in America doesn't make you an American (Malcolm X) Malcolm X I'm still an atheist, thank God Buñuel Luis I'm surrounded by priests who harp on about their authority not being of this world, but who, all the same, help themselves to and greedily grasp anything that comes within reach Bonaparte Napoleon I'm their leader, I've got to follow them Ledru-Rollin Alexandre Auguste I'm worried as I'm beginning to have ideas that I don't agree with Altan Francesco Tullio I've a grand memory for forgetting - Robert Louis Stevenson Stevenson Robert Louis I've always been astonished by the absurd turns rivers have to make to flow under every bridge Grillo Beppe I've always believed that if there's somewhere in the world where there are no pure-breds, that place is definitely Italy. In fact, our ancestors had too many opportunities for amusement Biagi Enzo I've been on a calendar, but never on time (Marilyn Monroe) Monroe Marilyn I've done a peaceful coexistence deal with time - it doesn't pursue me nor do I flee from it, but one day we'll meet Lago Mario I've never let school interfere with my education - Mark Twain Twain Mark I've spent my life proving the rule Guitry Sacha Italians are always ready to rush to the aid of winners Flaiano Ennio Italians lose wars as if they were football matches, and football matches as if they were wars (Winston Churchill) Churchill Winston Italy is decaying into a state of affluence that translates into selfishness, stupidity, lack of culture, gossip, self-righteousness, compulsion, conventionality - fascism is now lending itself in some way to contribute to this decay Pasolini Pier Paolo idealism increases in direct proportion to one's distance from the problem Galsworthy John idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality the cost becomes prohibitive Buckley William F. idealism is the noble toga that political gentlemen drape over their will to power - Aldous Huxley Huxley Aldous ideas are more powerful than nuclear weapons Castro Fidel if God had not made woman, He wouldn't have made the flower either Hugo Victor if I could write the beauty of your eyes Shakespeare William if I have written such a long letter, it means that I did not have enough time to make it shorter Pascal Blaise if I was an emperor, I would start by making a dictionary, in order to give a meaning to every word Confucio if I were to say what I really think I would be arrested or shut away in a lunatic asylum. Come on, I am sure that it would be the same for everyone Bolaño Roberto if a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good Pound Ezra if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties - Francis Bacon Bacon Francis if a man would move the world, he must first move himself Socrates if a master can't do without his slave, which of the two is a free man? Camus Albert if a woman is shabbily dressed it's her dress that's noticed, but if she is impeccably dressed it's she who is noticed Chanel Coco if a woman surrenders it is only because she has won Camarota Aldo if culture has become merchandise it is little wonder that men too have come to the same end Anonymous if inspiration comes to me, it will find me painting Picasso Pablo if it is committed in the name of God or country, there is no crime so heinous that the public will not forgive it Robbins Tom if it's possible to donate organs to save a patient's life, why not donate proteins to save those dying of hunger? Anónimo if liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear - George Orwell Orwell George if one had to learn all the laws, there would be no time left to break them Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von if only it were as easy to uncover the truth as to demonstrate the falsehood Cicero Marcus Tullius if only we were able to become united... how beautiful and near at hand the future would be Guevara Ernesto Che if people better understood the danger of using certain words, dictionaries would be displayed in bookstore windows wrapped in a red band: 'Explosive. Handle with care' Maurois Andrè if people knew themselves better they would learn to hate themselves Flaiano Ennio if spouses did not live together, good marriages would be more frequent Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm if the Republicans will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them Stevenson Adlai if the youth of today effectively disapprove of the omnipotent and mysterious mafia it could very well cease to be a pervasive nightmare Borsellino Paolo if there is no price to pay, neither is there any value Einstein Albert if there is violence in football, it's because today in Italy winning is all that counts Sacchi Arrigo if there were no prisons, we would realise that we are all in chains Blanchot Maurice if they come for me in the morning, they will come for you in the night Davis Angela if two people love each other there can be no happy end to it - Ernest Hemingway Hemingway Ernest if voting changed anything, they would make it illegal - Anonymous Anonymous if we want an end to ethnic conflict we have to invest less in war and more in the culture of peace Mayor Zaragoza Federico if we want things to change, the banks should be occupied and the television should be blown up. There is no other revolutionary solution possible Bianciardi Luciano if you are a fatalist, what can you do about it? Edwards-Duff Ann if you are afraid of loneliness, don't marry Chekhov Anton if you are so intelligent, how come you've become rich? Anónimo if you are sure you understand everything that is going on, you are hopelessly confused - Walter F. Mondale Mondale Walter F. if you do not expect the unexpected you will not unearth it, so evasive and improbable is it Heraclitus if you explain yourself with an example, I won't understand a thing Flaiano Ennio if you give the impression that you need something, you will get nothing. To make money you have to appear to be rich Dumas Alexander if you hate a person, you hate something in him that is a part of yourself Hesse Hermann if you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke Behan Brendan Francis if you have faith in yourself, others will have faith in you, too Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von if you help someone in trouble you can be sure that they'll remember it ... the next time they're in trouble Prochnow H.V. if you live long enough, you'll see every victory turn into a defeat Beauvoir Simone de if you love what you do, it will never be a job Confucio if you say yes to everything and everyone it's as if you don't exist Ben Jelloun Tahar if you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything Twain Mark if you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever Orwell George if you want an old age that lasts many years, start being old soon Cato Marcus Porcius if you want friendship, gentleness and poetry to cross your path through life, take them with you Duhamel Georges if you want to get rich from writing, write the sort of thing that's read by persons who move their lips when they're reading to themselves - Don Marquis Marquis Don if you want to learn, then teach Cicero Marcus Tullius if you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans Pascal Blaise if you wish to avoid looking at an idiot, break your mirror first Rabelais François if you wish to make someone happy, rather than give him gifts you should deprive him of desires Seneca Lucius Annaeus if you wish to savour your good qualities, commit a sin from time to time Ojetti Ugo if you're going to tell people the truth, be funny or they'll kill you Wilder Billy if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate Tillman Henry J. if your morals make you dreary, depend upon it, they are wrong Stevenson Robert Louis ignorance is closer to the truth than a priori knowledge Diderot Denis ignorance is spreading in a terrifying way Saramago José ignorance is the greatest source of happiness Leopardi Giacomo ignorance is the mother of sexual happiness and bliss Bruno Giordano ignorance of your own ignorance, is ignorance at its worst San Girolamo imagination consoles us for what we are not, humour for what we are Churchill Winston imagination is merely the exploitation of our memory Bonnard Pierre immature poets imitate. Mature poets steal Eliot Thomas Stearns immunity is to impunity as honourable is to man of honour Casanova Giacomo in Italy the majority of politicians don't fight for projects, but to defend their own interests Montanelli Indro in all ages hypocrites, called priests, have put crowns on the heads of thieves, called kings - Robert G. Ingersoll Ingersoll Rober Green in all things we learn only from those we love Eckermann Johann Peter in an age of madness, to expect to be untouched by madness is a form of madness Bellow Saul in archaeology you uncover the unknown. In diplomacy you cover the known Pickering Thomas in cases of doubt, one decides for what is right Kraus Karl in certain situations unkind words are best Anónimo in fact, I usually say what I really think. A great mistake nowadays. It makes one so liable to be misunderstood - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar in general, every country has the language it deserves Borges Jorge Luis in general, men believe easily in that which they desire Caesar Caius Iulius in great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen; in small things they show themselves as they are Chamfort Nicolas de in jest one can say anything, even the truth (Sigmund Freud) Freud Sigmund in many cases servitude is not an instance of duress on the part of the master, but a temptation for the servile Montanelli Indro in matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad in matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing Wilde Oscar in my love stories remorse used to come afterwards, now it goes before me Flaiano Ennio in my times there were no best-sellers, and we could not prostitute ourselves. There was nobody wanting to buy our prostitution Borges Jorge Luis in no other language is it as difficult to reach agreement as in one's own Kraus Karl in order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep Einstein Albert in order to live many years the only thing to be avoided is life Anónimo in prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends Collins John Churton in seeking the good of others, we find our own Plato in seeking wisdom, the first step is silence; the second, listening; the third, remembering; the fourth, practicing; the fifth, teaching others Ibn Gabirol Solomon in the United States, more prisons are built each year than schools and colleges Sepúlveda Jesús in the concentration camps we used to live from minute to minute and we had to keep reflection to a minimum, for thinking is wearing Sephiha Haïm-Vidal in the confusion we stay with each other, happy to be together, speaking without uttering a single word Whitman Walt in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends - Martin Luther King King Martin Luther in the fight between you and the world, back the world - Frank Zappa Zappa Frank in the future world there will be I don't know how many dialects, but only four languages: Spanish, English, Arabic and Chinese Cela Camilo José in the past, to subjugate the people, the powerful used force, laws and religion; now, they also have football and television Brown Carl William in this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich Beecher Henry Ward in this world there are only two tragedies; one is not getting what one wants, the other is getting it Wilde Oscar in times of war, the law falls silent Cicero Marcus Tullius in war-time, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies Churchill Winston incompetence will show in the use of too many words - Ezra Pound Pound Ezra increase in wisdom can be measured accurately by the corresponding decrease in anger Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm indigenous peoples are the moral reserve of humanity Morales Evo infidel: in New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, one who does Bierce Ambrose inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist - George Carlin George Carlin interpreter: one who enables two persons of different languages to understand each other by repeating to each what it would have been to the interpreter's advantage for the other to have said Bierce Ambrose is it democratic to make people pay taxes in a country where 90 per cent of the population doesn't want to pay them? Anónimo is it the girls on the street that imitate the girls on the television or the other way round? Or is it simply that they go to the same consultants? Anónimo is there any sense in talking about 'compulsory schooling'? Anónimo is there any use in living if you don't have the courage to fight? Fava Giuseppe is there anything in what we say? Steiner George is there anything more precious to a people than the language of its forefathers? Herder Johann Gottfried von isn't it ironic that a place known as the Holy Land is the place of the fiercest and deepest hatred that exists on this planet? Luttazzi Daniele it can sound ridiculous, but let me say it: the true revolutionary is guided by deep feelings of love Guevara Ernesto Che it doesn't much signify whom one marries, for one is sure to find next morning that it was someone else - Samuel Rogers Rogers Samuel it is a crime against humanity to convert agricultural productive soil into soil which produces food stuff that will be turned into biofuel Ziegler Jean it is a heretic which builds a fire, not she who burns in't Shakespeare William it is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education Einstein Albert it is a mistake to suppose that no man understands his own character. Most persons know even their failings very well, only they persist in giving them names different from those usually assigned by the rest of the world - Arthur Helps Helps Arthur it is as difficult for the rich to acquire wisdom as is it for the wise to acquire riches Epitteto it is because humanity didn't know where it was going that it managed to find its path Wilde Oscar it is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember McCarthy Eugene Joseph it is dangerous to be right when the established authorities are wrong Voltaire it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it - Upton Sinclair Sinclair Upton it is difficult to say who do you the most harm: enemies with the worst intentions or friends with the best Lord Lytton it is difficult to see who willingly goes along with the tide Lec Stanislaw Jerzy it is difficult, in art, to say something that is as good as saying nothing Wittgenstein Ludwig it is easier to fight for your beliefs than live up to them Adler Alfred it is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend Blake William it is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor Hoffer Eric it is easier to teach everyone a second language than to build a machine capable of translating Anónimo it is easy to write one's memoirs, when one has a bad memory Schnitzler Arthur it is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself Jefferson Thomas it is good to follow one's own bent, so long as it leads upward Gide André it is hard to be sincere if you are intelligent, in the same way as being honest when you are ambitious Pessoa Fernando it is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place Mencken H.L. it is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself Emerson Ralph Waldo it is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do Jerome K. Jerome it is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals; let them make their experiments on journalists and politicians Ibsen Henrik it is more shameful to distrust one's friends than to be deceived by them Rochefoucauld François de La it is much easier to suppress a first desire than to satisfy those that follow Rochefoucauld François de La it is my opinion, and I share it Monnier Henri-Bonaventure it is not a good thing to get all you want Heraclitus it is not freedom that is wanting, but free men Longanesi Leo it is not life that is prolonged, it is old age Anónimo it is not uncommon to meet thieves who sermonize against theft Unamuno Miguel de it is nothing to die; it is frightful not to live Hugo Victor it is often so: the harder it is to hear, the more a truth is worth saying Gide André it is perfectly monstrous the way people go about, nowadays, saying things behind one's back that are absolutely and entirely true Wilde Oscar it is possible to fail in many ways, while to succeed is possible only in one way Aristotle it is rare that men who nurture the utmost respect for women are held in high regard by them Addison Joseph it is the mark of an inexperienced man not to believe in luck - Joseph Conrad Conrad Joseph it is very good advice to believe only what an artist does, rather than what he says about his work - David Hockney Hockney David it often happens that the firebug is not brought to book but the person who gave the alarm is castigated Chamfort Nicolas de it seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more Allen Woody it takes a very long time to become young Picasso Pablo it takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the heart: the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you Twain Mark it took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up, because by that time I was too famous Benchley Robert it was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, 'always do what you are afraid to do' - Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson Ralph Waldo it was his fate, as it is for all men, to live through hard times Borges Jorge Luis it's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose your own - Harry S. Truman Truman Harry S. it's amazing that one fortune-teller doesn't laugh at the sight of another Cicero Marcus Tullius it's amusing the thoughtlessness with which the wicked think that all will go well Hugo Victor it's better not to have laws than to break them every day Foscolo Ugo it's better to fret in doubt than to rest in error Manzoni Alessandro it's difficult not to have a desire for someone else's woman; those belonging to nobody are, after all, not very attractive Biagi Enzo it's easier to disintegrate an atom than a prejudice Einstein Albert it's good to slowly come to the realisation that you understand nothing Maeterlinck Maurice it's never his virtues, but always his vices, that tell us on each occasion who the man is Galimberti Umberto it's not the struggle that makes us be artists, but Art that makes us struggle Camus Albert it's possible to love a human being if you don't know them too well Bukowski Charles it's this love I have for books that's made me the smartest idiot in the world Brooks Louise it's very difficult working in an exemplary way and, at the same time, despising the job you are doing Kundera Milan it's when we forget ourselves that we do things which deserve to be remembered Anonymous jealousy is a barking of dogs that attracts thieves Kraus Karl journalism is only the art of filling a blank space - Rebecca West West Rebecca journalism is publishing what someone doesn't want us to know; the rest is propaganda Verbitsky Horacio journalism is to history as a prostitute is to an honest woman Huot Goncourt Jules de journalists don't believe the lies of politicians, but they do repeat them - which is even worse! Coluche just as we are corrupted by the flattery of friends, we are often corrected by the rebukes of enemies Sant'Agostino just one ray of sunshine is enough to dispel millions of shadows San Francesco d'Assisi justice is how established injustices are sanctioned France Anatole justice is simply the convenience of the stronger Plato keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards Franklin Benjamin kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see Twain Mark knowing useless things is better than nothing Seneca Lucius Annaeus knowledge continues to make progress because we are able to base ourselves on the work of the great minds that have preceded us Hack Margherita language is a part of our organism and no less complicated than it Wittgenstein Ludwig language is a sign, the most important sign of our human makeup Paz Octavio language is a skin: I rub my language against the other Barthes Roland language is an aggregate of which each speaker possesses a portion Dupriez Bernard language is an anonymous, collective and unconscious art; the result of the creativity of thousands of generations Sapir Edward language is much more restless than life Seco Manuel language is the mere reduction of thought to its simplest form Anonymous language is the skin of the soul Carreter Fernando Lázaro language may well be a distorting mirror, but it is the only mirror we have Dummet Michael languages, like religions, live on heresies Unamuno Miguel de laws are applied to enemies, but only interpreted as regards friends Giolitti Giovanni laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught Balzac Honoré de lawyer - one who protects us from robbers by taking away the temptation Mencken H.L. lawyer: an accomplice who does not run any risk Anónimo lawyers are the only civil delinquents whose judges must of necessity be chosen amongst themselves Colton Charles Caleb lawyers are the only persons in whom the ignorance of the law is not punished Bentham Jeremy learning to talk is learning to translate Paz Octavio let me tell you something that we Israelis have against Moses. He took us forty years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil - Golda Meir Meir Golda let others brag about the pages they have written; I'm proud of those I've read Borges Jorge Luis let us enrich ourselves with our mutual differences Valéry Paul let whoever can't do what he wants want what he can do Ortega y Gasset José let yourself be guided by the child you were Saramago José let's also say that liberty is something rather vague, but there's no vagueness about its absence Rey Rosa Rodrigo let's hope that the normal athletes who won medals at the paralympics did not use drugs Anónimo let's unite and we'll be invincible Bolivar Simon liberty is precious, so precious that it must be rationed Lenin Wladimir Iljitsch liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it Shaw George Bernard life being what it is, one dreams of revenge Gauguin Paul life can be wonderful if it doesn't frighten you - Charlie Chaplin Chaplin Charlie life has great value if one despises it Kleist Heinrich von life has stopped being a joke for me, I do not find it amusing Chaplin Charlie life is a hereditary disease Anónimo life is a school of probability Bagehot Walter life is an interrupted sentence Hugo Victor life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it Lehrer Tom life is like a tram, when you get to sit down it's the end of the line Sbarbaro Camillo life is like playing the violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on Butler Samuel life is long, if it is full Seneca Lucius Annaeus life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it García Márquez Gabriel life is not worth living if you have not had a real taste for what it has to offer Wathelet Emmanuel life is the touchstone of words Manzoni Alessandro life is to be understood backwards, but it is lived forwards Kierkegaard Soren life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans Lennon John life takes up too much of a person's time Lec Stanislaw Jerzy life's best is not to be sought, but found Anonymous lighting a match is often worth more than cursing the darkness Don Tonino Bello literature is often accused of making it easy for prisoners to flee from reality Lec Stanislaw Jerzy live more simply so that others may simply live Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it Renard Jules looking ahead is difficult, especially when the future is concerned Chinese saying love ceases to be a pleasure when it ceases to be a secret Behn Aphra love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs Shakespeare William love is eternal while it lasts Henri de Régnier love is infinity that even poodle dogs could understand Céline Louis-Ferdinand love is never wasted Cervantes Miguel de love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species - William Somerset Maugham Maugham Wìlliam Somerset love is so short and oblivion so long Neruda Pablo love is what happens to a man and a woman who don't know each other - Wìlliam Somerset Maugham Maugham Wìlliam Somerset love makes us crazy, marriage cuckolds and patriotism cruel imbeciles Léautaud Paul love of country knows nothing about the borders of others Lec Stanislaw Jerzy love? Perhaps after a while when we know less about each other Flaiano Ennio lying is an indispensable part of making life tolerable Evans Bergen Mafia is the best example of capitalism we have (Marlon Brando) Brando Marlon Meskimen law: there's never enough time to do a good translation, but there's alway enough time to redo it Meskimen madness is a human condition. Madness is inside us as much as reason. The point is that a so called civil society should accept madness as much as reason Basaglia Franco madness is something rare in individuals - but in groups, parties, peoples, epochs it is the rule Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity Mingus Charles man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them Stevenson Adlai man is a domesticated animal that, over the centuries, has controlled the other animals with fraud, violence and cruelty Chaplin Charlie man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when he is called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason Wilde Oscar man is a social animal that detests his equals Delacroix Eugène man is an animal with a formidable talent for adaptation Ferrari Enzo man is an apprentice, pain is his master Musset Alfred de man is made up of about 80% water so it is no wonder that he is polluted Brown Carl William man is ready to die for an idea, provided that idea is not quite clear to him Eldridge Paul man is the only animal that blushes - or needs to Twain Mark man knows no more than any other animal - he knows less! Other animals know what they need to know - we don't Pessoa Fernando man looks in too many places for what he is in search of, whereas only one would suffice Saint-Exupéry Antoine de man produces evil as a bee produces honey Golding William man reaches the threshold of each stage of life as a novice Chamfort Nicolas de man ruins things much more with his words than with his silence Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad man would not know anything and would not know how to do anything without his memory Leopardi Giacomo man's highest duty is to protect animals from cruelty Zola Emile man's most difficult to guard secret is his opinion of himself Pagnol Marcel man's worst crime was to be born Calderón de la Barca Pedro mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind - John F. Kennedy Kennedy John F. many a long dispute among divines may be thus abridged: 'It is so. It is not so. It is so. It is not so' Franklin Benjamin many people live happily without knowing it Vauvenargues Luc de Clapiers Marquis de many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness - Pearl S. Buck Buck Pearls S. many would be cowards if they had courage enough - Thomas Fuller Fuller Thomas many would love to avoid paying tax but only the rich manage to do so. The poor realise, therefore, that they have to pay taxes even for them Brown Carl William marriage is like mushrooms: we notice too late if they are good or bad - Woody Allen Woody Allen marriage is the chief cause of divorce Marx Groucho marriage is two people agreeing to tell the same lie Durbin Karen marriage, in life, is like a duel in the midst of a battle About Edmond marriage: a community consisting of a master, a mistress, and two slaves, making in all, two Bierce Ambrose marriage: a necessary formality before obtaining a divorce Herford Oliver & Clay John C. maybe Ethics is a science that has disappeared from the whole world. It does not matter, we will have to invent it again Borges Jorge Luis maybe this world is another planet's hell Huxley Aldous melancholy is the happiness of being sad Hugo Victor memories are interpreted like dreams Longanesi Leo memory is always a rendezvous Allende Isabel men are always sincere. They just change from one kind of sincerity to another, that's all Bernard Tristan men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education Russell Bertrand men are not ashamed to think something dirty, but they are ashamed when they imagine that others might believe them capable of these dirty thoughts Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds Roosevelt Franklin Delano men build too many walls and not enough bridges Newton Isaac men change feelings and demeanour with the same speed that they change their interests Schopenhauer Arthur men have become the tools of their tools Thoreau Henry David men have little respect for others, but neither do they have much for themselves Trotsky Leon men have slow reflexes - in general it takes several generations later for them to understand Lec Stanislaw Jerzy men of few words are the best men Shakespeare William men shout to avoid listening to one another Unamuno Miguel de men use... speech only to conceal their thoughts Voltaire men who best get along with women are the very ones who know how to do without them Baudelaire Charles merry Christmas and a happy New Year Anonymous military intelligence is a contradiction in terms Marx Groucho mistrust first impulses; they are nearly always good Talleyrand-Périgord Charles Maurice De misunderstanding is the most frequent form of communication between people Benary Peter money helps one tolerate poverty Allais Alphonse money is a good servant but a bad master Dumas Alexander money is becoming so important that soon we will be speaking of Kennedy as the first husband of Onassis's wife Anónimo more die in flight than in combat Lagerlöf Selma more than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly Allen Woody most men will not swim before they are able to Hesse Hermann most people would rather die than think; in fact they do so Russell Bertrand mother is the dead heart of the family, spending father's earnings on consumer goods to enhance the environment in which he eats, sleeps and watches the television Greer Germaine my cat does what I would like to do, with less literature Flaiano Ennio my concern is not to know whether I am great or not, rather whether I am developing as a person with every day that passes Chillida Eduardo my dream is that of Picasso: to have plenty of money so I can live peacefully like the poor Savater Fernando my future starts when I wake up every morning... Every day I find something creative to do with my life Davis Miles my maxim is that all men are crazy Horatius Quintus Flaccus my religion is to seek out truth in life and life in truth Unamuno Miguel de nature is commanded by obeying her Bacon Francis nature never does anything without a reason Aristotle nearly all men die of their cure, not of their diseases Molière necessity has no law Cromwell Oliver never before has there been such a wide difference between those who work and those who make money without working Shiva Vandana never does the human soul appear so strong as when it forgoes revenge, and dares to forgive an injury Chapin E.H. never feel remorse for what you have thought about your wife. She has thought much worse things about you Rostand Jean never follow the beaten track, it leads only where others have been before Bell Alexander Graham never judge a book by its movie Eagan J.W. never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level Crisp Quentin never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday language equivalent Orwell George ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad name Kissinger Henry Alfred ninety-nine parts out of a hundred in any 'creation' are imitation, in sounds or in thoughts. Theft, more or less deliberate Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm no day is too long for anyone who works Seneca Lucius Annaeus no good can give us pleasure if we do not share it with others Seneca Lucius Annaeus no government can be long secure without a formidable opposition - Benjamin Disraeli Disraeli Benjamin no man fully capable of his own language ever masters another Shaw George Bernard no man, for any considerable time, can show one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally becoming bewildered as to which may be the true one Hawthorne Nathaniel no need to run, rather to set off in good time Esopo no one can win without the other losing Seneca Lucius Annaeus no one gossips about other people's secret virtues Russell Bertrand no one has the right to be happy by themselves Follereau Raoul no people do so much harm as those who go about doing good Creighton Mandell no person deserves your tears and who deserves them won't make you cry García Márquez Gabriel no philosopher has changed the customs of the street where he lives Voltaire no snowflake ever falls in the wrong place Zen saying no two persons ever read the same book Wilson Edmund no unpoetic description of reality could ever be complete Barrow John David no woman can endure a gambling husband, unless he is a steady winner Dewar Thomas no-one is ever short of a good reason for killing himself Pavese Cesare nobody consults a dictionary before speaking Anónimo non-communication is not a state of death, but no longer being able to be understood certainly is Pasolini Pier Paolo nostalgia is not what it used to be Signoret Simone not even one's own thoughts are able to be successfully translated into words Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm not everyone can boast of having a friend Saint-Exupéry Antoine de not everyone is condemned to being intelligent Gadda Carlo Emilio not only do most people accept violence if it is perpetuated by legitimate authority, they also regard violence against certain kinds of people as inherently legitimate, no matter who commits it Friedenberg Edgar Z. not wanting is the same as having Seneca Lucius Annaeus nothing has an uglier look to us than reason, when it is not on our side Halifax George Saville Marquess of nothing impoverishes so much as greed Anónimo nothing in the world is more difficult than frankness and nothing is easier than flattery Dostoevskij Fedor Michailovich nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone Borges Jorge Luis nothing is harder to resist than a bit of flattery Lobel Arnold nothing is illegal if one hundred businessmen decide to do it Young Andrew nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself Weiler A.H. nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses San Tommaso D'Aquino nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has Descartes René nothing is permanent, except change Heraclitus nothing is poison and everything is poison; the difference is in the dose Paracelsus nothing is said that has not been said before Terentius nothing is so practical as a good theory Lewin Kurt nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all Balfour Arthur James nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits Twain Mark novelty is as old as the world Prévert Jacques now I do not dispute that medicine benefits some kinds of men, but I say that it is deadly for mankind Rousseau Jean-Jacques now I see the secret of making the best persons: it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth Whitman Walt obscenity is not pornography, obscenity is that someone could die of hunger Saramago José of all the sexual aberrations, perhaps the most peculiar is chastity Gourmont Remy de of all things that are certain, the most certain is doubt Brecht Bertolt of course a platonic relationship is possible - but only between husband and wife Anonymous of course the people don't want war. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country Göring Hermann often we do good so that we can then do evil with impunity Rochefoucauld François de La oh! don't use big words. They mean so little Wilde Oscar on today's world stage we westerners are, unfortunately, the only actors and the only spectators, and so, through our television and our press, we listen only to our reasons and feel only our sorrows Terzani Tiziano once I read a dictionary from cover to cover; I thought it was a lovely poem about everything Ophelia one achieves self-control only by dint of lack of restraint. The brothel defends the house Dossi Carlo one can really forgive a man for being a fool for an hour when there are so many who never stop being fools even for an hour in their entire life Quevedo y Villegas Francisco de one day we will be people again, and not only Jews Frank Anne one does not conduct politics with morality, but neither can one conduct them without Malraux André one does not fear vice in men, because it enslaves them; virtue yes, because it makes them masters Saavedra Fajardo Diego one does not sell the earth upon which the people walk Tashunka Witko one is able to adopt the strategy of a lover only when not in love Pavese Cesare one is easily fooled by that which one loves Molière one is not born a woman, one becomes a woman Beauvoir Simone de one is not deceived by one's senses, but by one's judgement Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von one is not what one is for that which one writes, but for that which one has read Borges Jorge Luis one is worth as many people as the languages one knows Carlo V one may sometimes tell a lie, but the grimace that accompanies it tells the truth Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm one must be very strong to love solitude Pasolini Pier Paolo one never goes so far as when one doesn't know where one is going Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von one never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done Curie Marie one of the advantages of not being happy is that one can long for happiness Unamuno Miguel de one of the advantages of pleasure over pain is that for pleasure you can say 'stop' Ojetti Ugo one of the benefits of group sex is that, if someone wants, they can take a nap Woody Allen one of the greatest pleasures in life is friendship, and one of the pleasures of friendship is to have someone in whom to confide a secret Manzoni Alessandro one of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter - James Earl Jones Earl Jones James one of the pleasures of reading old letters is the knowledge that they need no answer Byron Lord one person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests Mill John Stuart one should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry Wilde Oscar one should always play fairly when one has the winning cards Wilde Oscar one shows respect for books by using them Eco Umberto one weeps more for prayers answered than for those unanswered Santa Teresa de Jesús only a fool would choose war over peace - for in peace sons bury their fathers and in war fathers their sons (Herodotus) Herodotus only at the extremes of the social scale are kings recognised Pasolini Pier Paolo only cultured people like learning; ignoramuses prefer to teach Berquier Edouard Le only great men have great faults Rochefoucauld François Duc de La only he who is without expectation is truly free Young Edward only idiots have no doubts. Are you sure? I have no doubt! De Crescenzo Luciano only one who is very unhappy has the right to pity another Wittgenstein Ludwig only silence is great; all else is weakness Vigny Alfred de only someone who has no fear of dying for the truth is worthy of speaking it Vargas Vila José María only that which I have lost belongs to me for always Félix Elisa only that which is not paid for proves costly Sbarbaro Camillo only the brave know how to forgive. A coward never - it is not in his nature Sterne Laurence only the dead have the right to forgive and the living have no right to forget Herzog Chaim only the dead see the end of war Plato only the human rights of the legal persons are respected Anónimo only the vigilance of public opinion ensures the future of any society Chomsky Noam only the winners decide what were war crimes Wills Gary only those who want to pay taxes should live in tax havens: so small are they all Anónimo only through usage shall words be made good, true and legitimate words of a language Manzoni Alessandro only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars - Martin Luther King King Martin Luther opulence is the ruin of the rich and augments the misery of the poor Diderot Denis organized crime is just the other (dirty) face of the dollar Chandler Raymond originality is undetected plagiarism Inge William R. our conscience is no defence against our sins, however, it unfortunately denies us the pleasure of enjoying them Madariaga Salvador de our current economy system is a global machine that is destroying the environment and producing millions of losers that nobody knows what to do with George Susan our greatest and most glorious achievement is to live as we should. Everything else such as ruling, ammassing wealth and constructing are at most only adjuncts and props Montaigne Michel de our intellect not only makes us more rational, unfortunately it also makes us more dangerous Wiesenthal Simon our lives end the day we become silent about things that really matter King Martin Luther our memories are card indexes consulted and then returned in disorder by authorities whom we do not control Connolly Cyril our morals rectify our instinctive errors, and love our moral errors Ortega y Gasset José ownership is a trap: what we think we own in fact owns us Karr Alphonse 'peace' is when nobody's shooting. A 'just peace' is when our side gets what it wants - Bill Mauldin Mauldin Bill Pasolini was killed in 1975 and it is surprising to see how the silencing of just one voice could cost an entire nation so dear Aramcheck Picasso is a painter, so am I; Picasso is Spanish, so am I; Picasso is a communist, neither am I Dalí Salvador Public Opinion... an attempt to organize the ignorance of the community, and to elevate it to the dignity of physical force - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar pacifists are like sheep who believe that wolves are vegetarians Montand Yves pain that kills pain serves as medicine Publilius Syrus passions are defects or virtues, only if carried to the extreme Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it (George Bernard Shaw) Shaw George Bernard paying taxes is synonymous with being on the Left Anónimo peace is not God's gift to his creatures, peace is our gift to each other Wiesel Elie peace is not the absence of war; it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, and justice Spinoza Baruch De peace within oneself is necessary to counteract the terror messages with which the powers-that-be try to aggravate everyone's lives Paoli Arturo people are divided into two groups - the righteous and the unrighteous - and the righteous do the dividing Wilde Oscar people are more willing to sympathize with unhappiness than happiness Beauvoir Simone de people are only ridiculous when they want to be or to appear to be what they are not Leopardi Giacomo people are subjected so often to opinion polls that now they have no opinion at all Baudrillard Jean people become heroes only when they cannot be otherwise Claudel Paul people do not die for lack of incomes. They die for lack of access to resources Shiva Vandana people don't have great ideas, great ideas find people Modigliani Franco people never lie so much as before an election, during a war, or after a hunt Bismarck Otto von people of a sanguinary nature display a natural propensity to cruelty with regard to animals Montaigne Michel de people should know the risks they run trying to commit suicide Carman Ron C. people travel to marvel at the mountains, seas, rivers and stars; and they pass right by themselves without astonishment Sant'Agostino people who boasted that they had made a revolution have always seen the next day that they had no idea what they were doing, that the revolution made did not in the least resemble the one they would have liked to make Engels Friedrich people who never laugh, are not serious Dac Pierre people who talk a lot don't say anything Sagan Françoise people will swim through shit if you put a few shillings in it Sellers Peter people won't let you live the way you want to, but if you're strong enough, at least you don't have to live the way they want you to Vachss Andrew H. people, like sheep, tend to follow a leader - occasionally in the right direction Chase Alexander perhaps the aim nowadays is not to discover what we are, but to refute what we are Foucault Michel personally I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught Churchill Winston pessimism has to do with intelligence; optimism with will Gramsci Antonio philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways, but now it is a matter of changing it Marx Karl physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it Feynman Richard P. please forgive me if I call you gentlemen, but I don't know you very well Marx Groucho plundering, slaughtering, stealing, these things they misname empire; and where they create a wilderness, they call it peace Tacitus poetry adds life to life Luzi Mario poetry is the art of putting the ocean into a glass Calvino Italo poets are people who can still see the world throught the eyes of children Daudet Alphonse poets treat their experiences shamelessly: they exploit them Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax Schopenhauer Arthur political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - Tom Lehrer Lehrer Tom politicians are just the bankers' waiters - Ezra Pound Pound Ezra politicians speak for their parties, and parties never are, never have been, and never will be wrong Dwight Walter politics - the art of dealing with public life - is the work of politicians who are artists in private affairs Brown Carl William politics and the fate of mankind are formed by men without ideals and without greatness. Those who have greatness within them do not go in for politics Camus Albert politics doesn't make strange bedfellows, marriage does Marx Groucho politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable - John Kenneth Galbraith Galbraith John Kenneth politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies Marx Groucho politics is the art of seeing that people do not become interested in that which concerns them Valéry Paul politics is the entertainment department of industry Zappa Frank politics is the shadow cast on society by big business - John Dewey Dewey John politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed Mao Zedong politics: a balancing act between people who want to become involved and those who don't want to become uninvolved Bossuet Jacques-Benigne politics: a conflict of interests masquerading as a contest of principles Bierce Ambrose poor are not those who have too little, but those who want too much Seneca Lucius Annaeus poverty of language debilitates: it risks making us slaves to other people's ideas Barberi Squarotti Giorgio practical politics consists in ignoring facts Adams Henry Brooks premature ideas do not exist, one must bide one's time until the right moment comes along Monnet Jean pretending to be a fool, Pinochet has shown great intelligence... military Anónimo probably the only place where a man can feel really secure is in a maximum security prison, except for the imminent threat of release Greer Germaine progress in this world is made by achieving things deemed impossible Maurois André propaganda is that branch of the art of lying which consists in nearly deceiving your friends without quite deceiving your enemies Cornford Frances proving that I am right would be admitting that I could be wrong Pierre Caron de Beaumarchais prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by incapacity Blake William punishments serve to frighten those who do not want to commit sins Kraus Karl pupils eat that which the teachers have digested Kraus Karl questions that don't answer themselves when they arise will never be answered Kafka Franz rather add life to your days than days to your life Levi Montalcini Rita rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth Thoreau Henry David readers are imaginary people who exist in the fantasies of writers Campanile Achille reading is a form of happiness Savater Fernando reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body Addison Joseph real pleasure is contempt for pleasure Seneca Lucius Annaeus reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away Dick Philip K. reflect, before thinking Lec Stanislaw Jerzy regarding numbers of deaths, arms manufacturers are charitable institutions compared to cigarette manufacturers Garattini Silvio religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think Schopenhauer Arthur remembrance is one thing, remembering is another Machado Antonio research into illness has progressed so much that it is almost impossible to find someone who is completely healthy Huxley Aldous riches don't make you rich, but busy Rojas Fernando de Spanish will not be a real language of culture until science is written in Spanish Municio Angel Martín satire that a censor can understand deserves to be suppressed Kraus Karl saying friendship is as if to say perfect understanding, immediate trust and lengthy reminiscing, that is to say trustworthiness Mistral Gabriela scandal starts when the police put a stop to it Kraus Karl science ain't perfect, but that doesn't mean you need religion Anonymous science doesn't interest me. It doesn't take into account dreams, chance, laughter, emotion and contradiction, things that are precious to me Buñuel Luis science is anything that is always open to discussion Ortega y Gasset José science only serves to verify the discoveries of instinct Cocteau Jean see all, conceal much, modify little Gregorio Magno seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal Hesse Hermann selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live Wilde Oscar serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting Orwell George setting up libraries is like building public granaries, storing up reserves for a hibernation of the mind which, despite myself, I see many signs of its approach Yourcenar Marguerite sex alleviates tension. Love causes it Allen Woody shaped teeth she fell in love the same way all intelligent women fall in love: like a fool Mastretta Angeles silence is unbearable for some because they have too much noise inside them - Robert Fripp Fripp Robert silence, bloody hell! - all those who want to revive themselves raise your hand and all those who want to rejuvenate themselves take a step forward Parra Nicanor simplicity is the form of real greatness De Sanctis Francesco since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word De Gaulle Charles since it's publicly known that cigarettes are dangerous, why are they sold? Tavano Francesco since their birth the great banks, decorated with national titles, were only associations of private speculators, who placed themselves by the side of governments... Marx Karl since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed (Constitution of UNESCO) UNESCO smile, your teeth are not only made for eating or biting - Man Ray Ray Man smoking kills so beautiful was she that they had forbidden her to approach the Leaning Tower of Pisa Anónimo so long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly rise and make them miserable - Aldous Huxley Huxley Aldous so much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to work - Peter Drucker Drucker Peter soccer is beginning to be a lie as is well documented by the media Valdano Jorge soccer needs to free itself from chemists and accountants Zeman Zdenek socialism can only arrive by bicycle José Antonio Viera Gallo society can exist only on the basis that there is some amount of polished lying and that no one says exactly what he thinks (Lin Yutang) Yutang Lin society highly values its normal man. It educates children to lose themselves and to become absurd, and thus to be normal. Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years - R.D. Laing Laing R.D. society is permissive with things that cost absolutely nothing Biagi Enzo solidarity is not a question of giving, rather is it opposing injustice Pierre Abbé solitude is a beautiful thing; but it really needs someone to tell you that solitude is a beautiful thing Balzac Honoré de solitude is to the soul as food is to the body Seneca Lucius Annaeus solving our problems involves radically changing the relationship we have with ourselves and with all of our past Jodorowsky Alejandro some intellectuals work at filling our brains, whereas others do their best to empty them. Naturally the latter are in the majority Brown Carl William some of the greatest love affairs I've known involved one actor, unassisted (Wilson Mizner) Mizner Wilson some people would pay to sell themselves Hugo Victor some poor countries are proud and would rather solve their problems by themselves but, fortunately, the multinationals can't resist sacrificing themselves to help Anónimo some regard themselves as perfect only because they are less demanding of themselves Hesse Hermann some smiles are not happy smiles, rather are they a way of crying with kindness Mistral Gabriela some things are easier to legalize than legitimize Chamfort Nicolas de someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie Wittgenstein Ludwig sometimes in life you have to know how to fight, not only fearlessly but also without much hope Pertini Sandro sometimes it can be better to continue on one's way without arriving. After all arriving is a nonentity, only a point in time Vermicelli Gino sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light (Albert Schweitzer) Schweitzer Albert sometimes, in order to be listened to, one must remain silent Anónimo sooner rather than later the grand avenues will open and free people will pass to build a better society Allende Salvador speaking different languages, we understand each other better Loewenthal Elena specialisation in the extreme translates as the highest degree of lack of culture Ortega y Gasset José specialists are people who always repeat the same mistakes - Walter Gropius Gropius Walter spontaneity is the fruit of long meditation Neruda Pablo stories are our dreams. And our dreams are our life (Tim Burton) Burton Tim strife among the poor means good business for the rich Pérsico Eduardo success is easy to obtain, what is difficult is to deserve it Camus Albert success is getting what you want. Happiness is liking what you get (H. Jackson Brown) Brown Jackson H. sustainable development is like the road to hell, paved with good intentions Latouche Serge ...the only true book, a writer does not have to invent it in the ordinary sense of the word, for it already exists in each one of us; he must only translate it. The duty and task of a writer are those of a translator Proust Marcel teaching a man how to die is tantamount to teaching him how to live Montaigne Michel de tears represent the melting of an icy heart Hesse Hermann television has done much for psychiatry, by spreading information about it as well as contributing to the need for it - Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock Alfred television is a mirror in which the negation of the whole of our cultural system is reflected Fellini Federico television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your house - David Frost Frost David television is as strong as a lion, television fears nobody and television puts you to sleep like an idiot Jannacci Enzo television is more interesting than people. If it were not, we would have people standing in the corners of our rooms - Alan Coren Coren Alan television is the first truly democratic culture - the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want (Clive Barnes) Barnes Clive television is the only sleeping pill taken through the eyes De Sica Vittorio tell the truth every now and then so that they believe you when you lie Renard Jules temptations, unlike opportunities, will always give you a second chance - Orlando Aloysius Battista Battista Orlando Aloysius thank God, I am a communist Amado Jorge that man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest - Henri David Thoreau Thoreau Henry David that men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history - Aldous Huxley Huxley Aldous that new inspiration - without which to translate merely means to paraphrase into another language Pessoa Fernando that some bankers have ended up in prison is not a matter of scandal, but what is outrageous is the fact that all the others are free Balzac Honoré de that the vulgar express their thoughts clearly, is far from true; and what perspicuity can be found among them proceeds not from the easiness of their language, but the shallowness of their thoughts - Samuel Johnson Johnson Samuel that which is difficult to obtain is highly valued (Aristotle) Aristotle that which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee Marcus Aelius Aurelius Antoninus that which makes men sociable is their inability to bear solitude Schopenhauer Arthur that which makes the vanity of others insupportable to us, is that it wounds our own Rochefoucauld François de La the Bible teaches us to love our enemies as much as our friends. Probably, because they are the same persons De Sica Vittorio the British Empire was created as a by-product of generations of desperate Englishmen roaming the world in search of a decent meal (Bill Marsano) Marsano Bill the Christian resolution to find the world ugly and bad has made the world ugly and bad Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm the Church says that the Earth is flat, but I know that it is round. For I have seen the shadow on the moon and I have more faith in a shadow than in the Church Magellano Ferdinando the Earth belongs to its owners, but the landscape belongs to those who know how to appreciate it (Upton Sinclair) Sinclair Upton the English instinctively admire any man who has no talent and is modest about it - James Agate Agate James the First Law of Journalism: to confirm existing prejudice, rather than contradict it - Alexander Cockburn Cockburn Alexander the Internet is also an authentic murderer of language variety Wunderlich Dieter the New Economy is that wonderful concept whereby wealth can be created losing money Anónimo the Swiss are fanatics for cleaning, they even launder money Vergara Meersohn Marcos the United States seems destined by Providence to plague America with misery in the name of democracy Bolivar Simon the Vatican is the most reactionary force in Italy. According to the church, governments that encroach on its privileges are despotic and those, like fascism, that add to them are heaven-sent Gramsci Antonio the advice that is wanted is commonly not welcome and that which is not wanted, evidently an effrontery - Samuel Johnson Johnson Samuel the animal of friendship is a companion, not one of a herd Plutarch the art of winning is learned from defeats Bolivar Simon the baddies exist because there are goodies - eliminate the goodies and the baddies will gradually disappear too Brown Carl William the banking system creates money from nothing just like counterfeiters, the only difference is who profits Allais Maurice the basic law of capitalism is you or I, not both you and I Liebknecht Karl the beauty of war is that each leader of a band of assassins has his flag blessed and invokes God before setting off to exterminate his neighbors Voltaire the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter (Winston Churchill) Churchill Winston the best gift of Nature to man is the briefness of his life Plinius Secundus the best part of the fiction in many novels is the notice that the characters are purely imaginary - Franklin P. Adams Adams Franklin Pierce the best thing about forgetfulness is remembering Hierro José the best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time - Abraham Lincoln Lincoln Abraham the best way of duping yourself is to believe that you are more cunning than others Rochefoucauld François Duc de La the best way to be more free is to grant more freedom to others Dossi Carlo the best way to develop responsibility in people is to give them responsibility (Kenneth Blanchard) Blanchard Kenneth the best way to learn how to make a film is to make one - Stanley Kubrick Kubrick Stanley the big difference between sex for money and sex for free is sex for money costs less (Brendan Francis) Behan Brendan Francis the biggest obstacle for the comprehension of a piece of art is the attempt to understand it Munari Bruno the bourgeoisie can be termed as any group of people who are discontented with what they have, but satisfied with what they are Dávila Nicolás the broad mass of a nation will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one Hitler Adolf the camera cannot lie, but it can be an accessory to untruth - Harold Evans Evans Harold the chains of wedlock are so heavy that it takes two to carry them; sometimes three Dumas Alexander the chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions Adler Alfred the chief source of problems is solutions (Eric Sevareid) Sevareid Eric the cinema, like paintings, shows the invisible Godard Jean-Luc the circumstances make the man no less than the man makes the circumstances Marx Karl the cock even crows in the morning on which it ends up in the pot Lec Stanislaw Jerzy the course of our lives represents the true mirror of our reasoning Montaigne Michel de the credulity of love is the most fundamental source of authority Freud Sigmund the cruelest revenge of a woman is to remain faithful to a man Bossuet Jacques-Benigne the cult of perfection always leads to preferring myth to authenticity Ariès Paul the death of someone who's dreaming of us is the death of a part of us Unamuno Miguel de the deepest thing in man is his skin Valéry Paul the degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons Dostoevski Fedor Michailovich the denial of cultural rights to minorities is as disruptive of the moral fabric of mainstream society as is the denial of civil rights (Joshua A. Fishman) Fishman Joshua A. the destiny of a people depends on the state of its grammar. There is no great country without propriety of language Pessoa Fernando the devil is an optimist if he thinks he can make people meaner Kraus Karl the difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting - Charles Bukowski Bukowski Charles the distance between one molecule and another is the distance between the stars Dossi Carlo the distrust of words is much less damaging than an excessive confidence in them (Vaclav Havel) Havel Vaclav the divine light blinds the world instead of illuminating it Emin Patrick the dominant ideology has always been the ideology of the dominant class Marx Karl the dread of loneliness is greater than the fear of bondage so we get married - Cyril Connolly Connolly Cyril the dream of everyone without a brother is that all men be brothers Chincholles Charles the duration of passion is proportionate with the original resistance of the woman Balzac Honoré de the earth has a skin and that skin has diseases; one of these diseases is called 'man' Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm the easiest person to deceive is one's self (Edward Bulwer-Lytton) Bulwer-Lytton Edward the end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end Trotsky Leon the end of wisdom is to dream high enough to lose the dream in the seeking of it (William Faulkner) Faulkner William the end sprouts from the means, as the tree germinates from the seed (Mahatma Gandhi) Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad the era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences - Winston Churchill Churchill Winston the essence of mathematics resides in its freedom Cantor Georg the evil we do does not attract as much hate and hostility as do our good deeds Rochefoucauld François de La the fact that there are different tongues is one of the greatest mysteries of humanity Canetti Elias the failings of others are too much like our own Longanesi Leo the final illusion is the belief that one has lost all illusions Chapelan Maurice the first and most important step towards knowledge is mutual love between learner and teacher Erasmus von Rotterdam Desiderius the first casualty when war comes is truth (Hiram Warren Johnson) Johnson Hiram Warren the first half of our life is ruined by our parents and the second half by our children - Clarence Darrow Darrow Clarence the first myth of management is that it exists. The second myth of management is that success equals skill - Robert Heller Heller Robert the first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull. This is not always easy to achieve - Dean Acheson Acheson Dean the first symptom of death is birth Lec Stanislaw Jerzy the first thing a woman should do when she wants a man is to start to run Molière the force of habit is great Cicero Marcus Tullius the force of habit is such that even living becomes a habit Bufalino Gesualdo the foreigner is within us. And when we flee from or struggle against the foreigner, we are fighting our own unconscious Kristeva Julia the freedom to love is no less sacred than the freedom to think. That which today is called adultery was once called heresy Hugo Victor the function of an expert is not to be more right than other people, but to be wrong for more sophisticated reasons - David Butler Butler David the function of punishment is to improve the punisher Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm the future belongs to people who see possibilities before they become obvious - Ted Levitt Levitt Ted the future is the only kind of property that the masters willingly concede to the slaves Camus Albert the future of children is always of today. Tomorrow will be too late Mistral Gabriela the future will win, there will be no property in cyberspace. Behold DotCommunism (John Perry Barlow) Barlow John Perry the general public has a duty to resist relentlessly, as if it was in an irremissible line of troops on the Piave, against the damage from a perilous disintegration of the general willpower, the collapse of civic awareness with the loss of a sense of what is right - the last and final bastion of what is or is not moral Borrelli Francesco Saverio the goal is to depart Ungaretti Giuseppe the good thing about democracy is just this: everyone can say their piece but there's no need to listen to them Biagi Enzo the great events of the world take place in the brain (Oscar Wilde) Wilde Oscar the great merit of society is that it makes us appreciate solitude Chincholles Charles the great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes - Stanley Kubrick Kubrick Stanley the great torment in our lives stems from the fact that we are eternally alone, and all our efforts and actions are aimed only at fleeing from this solitude Maupassant Guy de the greatest of all the things that wisdom provides to make life sublimely happy is undoubtedly the possession of friendship Epicurus the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today is the government of the United States of America (Martin Luther King) King Martin Luther the greatest souls are capable of the greatest vices as well as the greatest virtues Descartes René the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way in which its animals are treated (Mahatma Gandhi) Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad the greedy dig their pit with their teeth Estienne Henri the growth of third world countries depends on demilitarization Arias Oscar the hardest of our battles is combatting ourselves, however the most satisfactory victory comes from conquering ourselves Logau Friedrich von the hare likes polenta. The cook said it Lec Stanislaw Jerzy the hen is an egg's way of producing another egg - Samuel Butler Butler Samuel the hope of becoming rich is one of the most widespread causes of poverty Tacitus the hours are long and life is short Fénelon François de Salignac de la Mothe- the human imagination is immensely poorer than reality Pavese Cesare the human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter - Mark Twain Twain Mark the imagination is as good as many voyages and how much cheaper (George William Curtis) Curtis George William the important thing is not to have a lot of ideas, but to live one of them Bernasconi Ugo the journalist is stimulated by a deadline. He writes worse if he has time Kraus Karl the key to building a superstar is to keep their mouth shut. To reveal an artist to the people can be to destroy him. It isn't to anyone's advantage to see the truth - Bob Ezrin Ezrin Bob the killer instinct is, like many other instincts, innate in a human being. Man and death, man and cruelty, man and blood - they all go together. Not a pleasant state of affairs, but that is certainly how things are Bolaño Roberto the kiss is an ingenious expedient that prevents lovers from talking too much nonsense Morandotti Alessandro the last day of the year is not the last day of time Drummond Carlos Andrade de the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges France Anatole the less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they sleep Bismarck Otto von the less we have, the more we give. It seems absurd, but this is the logic of love Madre Teresa di Calcutta the limits of my language are the limits of my world Wittgenstein Ludwig the little I know, I owe to my ignorance Guitry Sacha the mad open up roads that later are taken by the sane Dossi Carlo the madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason - G.K. Chesterton Chesterton Gilbert Keith the mafia is like any other business except that once in a while it uses firearms Puzo Mario the major sin is the sin of being born (Samuel Beckett) Beckett Samuel the man of the third millennium will have Bush's culture, Berlusconi's honesty and Putin's kind heart Anónimo the man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them (Mark Twain) Twain Mark the man who endeavors to purchase affection by benevolent actions becomes disillusioned by experience of human ingratitude - Bertrand Russell Russell Bertrand the man who has no imagination has no wings (Muhammad Ali) Muhammad Ali the man who knows no foreign language knows nothing of his mother tongue Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von the man who loses his honour for doing business loses both business and honour Quevedo y Villegas Francisco de the man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds - Mark Twain Twain Mark the market is a place where men may deceive one another Anacharsis the media are toys in the hands of the rich, and the rich use them to become even richer Kapuściński Ryszard the medical establishment has become a major threat to health - Ivan Illich Illich Iván the mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires - William Arthur Ward Ward William Arthur the memories that we have of one another, even when we are in love, are not the same Proust Marcel the memory left by a book is more important than the book itself Bécquer Gustavo Adolfo the memory of a human being is a marvellous thing although it is prone to error Levi Primo the memory of joy is no longer joy; the memory of pain is pain still (Lord Byron) Lord Byron the moment a man questions the meaning and value of life, he is sick Freud Sigmund the more intelligent one is the less one suspects an absurdity (Joseph Conrad) Conrad Joseph the more laws there are, the more thieves there are Lao Tse the more we go up in the world, the more insignificant we appear to those who are unable to fly Nietzsche Friedrich the more you have the more you want, the less you have the more you give Anonymous the more you resemble the idea you have imagined of yourself the more authentic you are Almodóvar Pedro the most dangerous food is wedding cake - James Thurber Thurber James the most democratic thing in the world is the dictionary: it is the only possession we have in common Pivot Bernard the most important book for a communist like me is the Bible Vendola Nichi the most popular labor-saving device today is still a husband with money - Joey Adams Adams Joey the most precious things in life are not those one gets for money (Albert Einstein) Einstein Albert the most prolific period of pessimism comes at twenty-one or thereabouts, when the first attempt is made to translate dreams into reality - Heywood Broun Broun Heywood the most solid pleasure in this life is the empty pleasure of illusion Leopardi Giacomo the nation that destroys its soil destroys itself - Franklin Delano Roosevelt Roosevelt Franklin Delano the new economy is perhaps the biggest mirage ever projected on the planet: a non-existent market for non-existent needs Bocca Giorgio the nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from (Andrew S. Tanenbaum) Tanenbaum Andrew S. the old complaint that mass culture is designed for eleven-year-olds is of course a shameful canard. The key age has traditionally been more like fourteen - Robert Christgau Christgau Robert the oldest, shortest words - 'yes' and 'no' - are those which require the most thought Pythagoras the one and only truth lies in instinct France Anatole the one who obeys is almost always better than the one who commands Renan Ernest the only beautiful eyes are those that look at you with tenderness Chanel Coco the only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable - John Kenneth Galbraith Galbraith John Kenneth the only joy in this world is beginning. Living is beautiful because every moment of living is always a beginning Pavese Cesare the only mission the working class has is to set a good example - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar the only ones who are always coming back from somewhere are those who've never gone anywhere Machado Antonio the only solid and lasting peace between a man and his wife is, doubtless, a separation - Lord Chesterfield Lord Chesterfield the only statistics you can trust are those you falsified yourself - Winston Churchill Churchill Winston the only struggle you lose is the one you abandon Madres de Plaza de Mayo the only tendency in modern cinema is to make a lot of money (Roman Polanski) Polanski Roman the only thing experience teaches us is that experience teaches us nothing Maurois André the only thing of importance, when we depart, will be the traces of love we have left behind (Albert Schweitzer) Schweitzer Albert the only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible (Richard M. DeVos) DeVos Richard M. the only thing that stops God from sending another flood is that the first one was useless Chamfort Nicolas de the only time my education was interrupted was when I was in school - George Bernard Shaw Shaw George Bernard the only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within me - Mahatma Gandhi Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad the only useful answers are those that pose new questions Foa Vittorio the only victories you achieve by fleeing are those over women Bonaparte Napoleon the only way a reporter should look at a politician is down - Frank Kent Kent Frank the only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not - Mark Twain Twain Mark the only way to preserve your culture is to put it in jeopardy Andreu Paul the only way to prevent others from knowing your limits is to never go beyond them Leopardi Giacomo the only wise men are those who live each day of their lives as if they were to die the same day or hour Quevedo y Villegas Francisco de the optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true - Robert Oppenheimer Oppenheimer Robert the order of the links was changed but the chain remained a chain Rodari Gianni the organization of American society is an interlocking system of semi-monopolies notoriously venal, an electorate notoriously unenlightened, misled by a mass media notoriously phony - Paul Goodman Goodman Paul the original is unfaithful to the translation Borges Jorge Luis the paths of loyalty are always straight Ortega y Gasset José the pen is the tongue of the mind Cervantes Miguel de the perfect love affair is one which is conducted entirely by post (George Bernard Shaw) Shaw George Bernard the photograph itself doesn't interest me. I want only to capture a fraction of a second of reality Cartier-Bresson Henri the pleasure of living without trouble is well worth the trouble of living without pleasure Sant'Agostino the poet is like this monarch of the clouds riding the storm above the marksman's range; exiled on the ground, hooted and jeered, he cannot walk because of his great wings Baudelaire Charles the poet is worth what his best poem is worth Pessoa Fernando the point is not to humanize war but to abolish it Einstein Albert the point isn't doing many things, but to do everything with so much enthusiasm Madre Teresa di Calcutta the police force used to be run by men of integrity. That is a mistake which has been rectified (Joe Orton) Orton Joe the political left is an evil that only the presence of the right makes tolerable D'Alema Massimo the politician is an acrobat. He keeps his balance by saying the opposite of what he does Barrès Maurice the poor go to war to fight and die for the whims, wealth and excesses of others Plutarch the possession of a book becomes a substitute for reading it - Anthony Burgess Burgess Anthony the preface is the most important part of a book. Even the critics read it (Philip Guedalla) Guedalla Philip the press does not want to inform the reader but to persuade him he's being informed Dávila Nicolás the price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side (James Baldwin) Baldwin James the primary objective for an educator is to produce autodidacts De Montmollin Frère Daniel the prince is the first servant of his State Friedrich II von Preußen the principle of education is to preach by example Turgot Anne Robert Jacques the prohibition against incest actually don't apply to self love - Yossi Sarid Sarid Yossi the public debt is big enough to take care of itself (Ronald Reagan) Reagan Ronald the public good consists of a great number of private evils France Anatole the punishment for a crime is having committed it; the penalty added by the law is superfluous France Anatole the pursuit of perfection often impedes improvement - George F. Will Will George F. the quality of a book depends on the reader Praga Emilio the ratio of literacy to illiteracy is unchanged, only nowadays the illiterates can read Moravia Alberto the reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more (Jonas Edward Salk) Salk Jonas Edward the root cause of diffusing mass ignorance is the fact that everyone knows how to read and write (Peter de Vries) Vries Peter de the salary of the chief executive of a large corporation is not a market award for achievement. It is frequently in the nature of a warm personal gesture by the individual to himself - John Kenneth Galbraith Galbraith John Kenneth the same words uttered by different mouths take on different, even antithetic, meanings Morandotti Alessandro the secret of happiness is to yield to temptations - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar the secret of success is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake those, you've got it made - Groucho Marx Marx Groucho the secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made! (Arthur Bloch) Bloch Arthur the starry sky above me and the moral law within me Kant Immanuel the statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you - Rita Mae Brown Brown Rita Mae the strength of a language does not lie in rejecting what is foreign but in assimilating it Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von the struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting Kundera Milan the stupidity of people comes from having an answer to everything. The wisdom of the novel comes from having a question for everything - Milan Kundera Kundera Milan the tactful aspect of audacity is knowing to what extent one can go too far Cocteau Jean the thing that impresses me the most about America is the way parents obey their children (King Edward VIII) King Edward VIII the things we know best are the things we haven't been taught Vauvenargues Luc de Clapiers Marquis de the thought dies in the mouth Parra Nicanor the three things I always forget are names, faces and the third one I can't remember Svevo Italo the trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate it - Franklin P. Jones Jones Franklin P. the trouble with capitalism is that capitalists are almost always very good at what they do within their company, but outside they are often dull and boring imbeciles, and sometimes even worse Montanelli Indro the trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt - Bertrand Russell Russell Bertrand the trouble with this country is that there are too many politicians who believe, with a conviction based on experience, that you can fool all of the people all of the time - Franklin P. Adams Franklin Pierce Adams the true value of a human being is determined by his ability to attain liberation from himself - Albert Einstein Einstein Albert the truth is as difficult to deny as it is to hide Guevara Ernesto Che the truth is to be found nowhere else other than within ourselves, nor can it be found by using violence against outside enemies (Mahatma Gandhi) Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad the twentieth century can be forgiven for everything, even the two World Wars and those that followed, the fashion shows and the Formula One races, but certainly not for having sacrificed the cinema for television Pintor Luigi the universal religion, for the majority of homo sapiens, is none other than football - George Steiner Steiner George the verb 'to read' does not tolerate the imperative. This is a characteristic it shares with other verbs like 'to love' and 'to dream' Pennac Daniel the very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we hold of ourselves with the appalling things that other people think about us - Quentin Crisp Crisp Quentin the victor belongs to the spoils (Francis Scott Fitzgerald) Fitzgerald Francis Scott the victor will not be asked afterwards, whether he told the truth or not. When starting and waging war it is not right that matters but victory Hitler Adolf the virtue of the parents is a large dowry Horatius Quintus Flaccus the weaker the body the more it demands; the stronger it is the more it obeys Rousseau Jean-Jacques the wealth of the poor is represented by their children, that of the rich by their parents Troisi Massimo the white race is the cancer of human history. It is the white race and it alone - its ideologies and inventions - which eradicates autonomous civilizations wherever it spreads, which has upset the ecological balance of the planet, which now threatens the very existence of life itself (Susan Sontag) Sontag Susan the whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum - Havelock Ellis Ellis Havelock the wind is never favorable to those who don't know where they are going Seneca Lucius Annaeus the woman whose behavior indicates that she will make a scene if she is told the truth asks to be deceived - Elizabeth Jenkins Jenkins Elizabeth the words you use to describe your reality, create reality (Sir Martin Brofman) Brofman Sir Martin the world economy is the most efficient expression of organized crime. The international bodies that control currency, trade, and credit practice international terrorism against poor countries, and against the poor of all countries, with a cold-blooded professionalism that would make the best of the bomber terrorists blush Galeano Eduardo the world has the structure of language and language is moulded by the mind Montale Eugenio the world is a better place without Saddam. And without Bush......? Anónimo the world is a den of crazies Campanella Tommaso the world is a prison in which it is better to occupy a solitary-confinement cell Kraus Karl the world is destined to become even more comical; that is why humorists are the real precursors of our future civilisation Brown Carl William the world is full of wonderful books, that no one reads Eco Umberto the world is maternal for men and male chauvinist for women Sanchez Belén the world is not true, but it's real Pessoa Fernando the world is split between those who do not sleep because they are hungry and those who do not sleep because they are afraid of those who are hungry Freire Paulo the world should laugh more. But after having eaten Moreno Mario (Cantinflas) the worldwide economy is today a gigantic casino Castro Fidel the worldwide shortage of food that threatens up to five hundred million children could be alleviated at the cost of only one day of modern warfare - Peter Ustinov Ustinov Peter the worst kind of intolerance comes from what is known as reason Unamuno Miguel de the worst that can happen to a genius is to be understood Flaiano Ennio the writer who does not explore the depths will always stay afloat Lec Stanislaw Jerzy the young delude themselves about their future; the old folks about their past Décoly the young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened - H. H. Munro Munro Hector Hugh then progress came and destroyed everything, even more than any war, because if wars destroyed our property, progress destroyed our very way of life Ugolotti Bruno there are doors to the sea that are unlocked with words Alberti Rafael there are flowers everywhere for those who want to see them Matisse Henri there are honest journalists like there are honest politicians. When bought they stay bought (Bill Moyers) Moyers William there are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar there are many ways to arrive; the best is not to leave Flaiano Ennio there are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer Ionesco Eugene there are no facts, but only interpretations Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm there are no illegitimate children, only illegitimate parents (Leon R.Yankwich) Yankwich Leon R. there are no rules. All men are exceptions to a non-existing rule Pessoa Fernando there are no such things as bad plants or bad men. There are only bad cultivators Hugo Victor there are occasions, situations and contexts in which violence, and therefore murder (violence carried to the extreme), naturally becomes concrete, present and a reality Bolaño Roberto there are people so poor that they only have money - Anonymous Anonymous there are people who know everything, but that's all they know Machiavelli Niccolò there are so many laws that no-one can rule out being hanged Bonaparte Napoleon there are things you should never do, not on sea or land: such as war Rodari Gianni there are two types of television: intelligent television which makes people difficult to govern, and the television of imbeciles which makes people easy to govern Guéhenno Jean there are two ways to achieve happiness: one is to play the fool, the other is to be a fool Poncela Enrique Jardiel there are words that should only serve once Chateaubriand François-René de there is a more terrible weapon than calumny: the truth Talleyrand-Périgord Charles Maurice De there is always a right way; there is always a wrong way. The wrong way always seems more reasonable (George Moore) Moore George there is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm there is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive - Jack London London Jack there is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide Camus Albert there is mutual advantage in that, even while men teach, they learn Seneca Lucius Annaeus there is no beginning and no end, only the infinite passion for life Fellini Federico there is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy (Robert Louis Stevenson) Stevenson Robert Louis there is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies (Winston Churchill) Churchill Winston there is no greatness where there is not simplicity Tolstoy Leo there is no happiness without freedom and no freedom without courage Pericles there is no justice in the fact that drugs can be freely had only in prisons Anónimo there is no love without suffering or causing suffering Régnier Henri François Joseph de there is no moderation in religion, reason is always desecrated by religion Emin Patrick there is no opinion so absurd that some philosopher will not express it Cicero Marcus Tullius there is no passion in which the ego reigns so strongly as being in love; one is always more prepared to sacrifice the tranquility of the person being loved than to lose one's own Rochefoucauld François de La there is no path to peace. Peace is the path (Mahatma Gandhi) Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad there is no sincerer love than the love of food (George Bernard Shaw) Shaw George Bernard there is not the slightest doubt that sustainable development is one of the most destructive concepts - Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen Georgescu-Roegen Nicholas there is nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman. It is a thing no married man knows anything about - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar there is nothing more useful and splendid than a dictionary as a plaything for children five years and older. Likewise, with a little luck, for good writers up to their hundredth year García Márquez Gabriel there is nothing potentially more dirty than a hidden war (Susan Sontag) Sontag Susan there is nothing so absurd or ridiculous that has not at some time been said by some philosopher - Oliver Goldsmith Goldsmith Oliver there is one rule for politicians all over the world: don't say in power what you say in opposition; if you do, you only have to carry out what the other fellows have found impossible - John Galsworthy Galsworthy John there is one way to find out if a man is honest; ask him! If he says yes you know he's crooked - Groucho Marx Marx Groucho there is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way - Christopher Morley Morley Cristopher there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar there is only one thing in this world that never deceives: appearances Bernasconi Ugo there is only one thing that excites animals more than pleasure, and it is pain Eco Umberto there is only one war open to mankind and that is the war against our extinction (Isaac Asimov) Asimov Isaac there is something to be learned from a great man even when he is silent Seneca Lucius Annaeus there is something tragic in the fact that as soon as man had invented a machine to do his work he began to starve - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar there must be something wrong with work, otherwise the rich would have kept it all for themselves Moreno Mario (Cantinflas) there never was a good war or a bad peace - Benjamin Franklin Franklin Benjamin there where books are burnt, men finish up being burnt too Heine Heinrich there will be vice as long as there are men Tacitus there's just one decorous stinginess, and that's the stinginess of words Vigil Constancio there's no curse greater than an idea propagated by violence (Ezra Pound) Pound Ezra there's no difference between reading and curiosity Quignard Pascal there's no harm in thinking Guareschi Giovanni there's nothing as hard as spotting an idiot, if he remains silent Ercilla y Zuñiga Alonso de there's only one good, Knowledge, and only one evil, Ignorance Socrates they can cut all the flowers, but they'll never stop the Spring Neruda Pablo they have developed treatments for unknown illnesses (Ronald Reagan) Reagan Ronald they want a war, but we shall not leave them in peace Saramago José they were saying to me that a few deaths were necessary to bring in a world in which no one would be killed any more Camus Albert they who live only for beauty always live for the moment Kierkegaard Soren they who seek to combat usage with grammar deceive themselves Montaigne Michel de thieves respect property; they merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it - G.K. Chesterton Chesterton Gilbert Keith thinking is always a terrible exercise Panizza Oskar thinking is the hardest work there is (Henry Ford) Ford Henry this life is a hospital where every patient is possessed with the desire to change beds Baudelaire Charles this suspense is terrible. I hope it will last - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others - Groucho Marx Marx Groucho those ideas that seem an empty fantasy to contemporaries and obvious to posterity also include the introduction of a common language between different peoples Zamenhof Ludoviko those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night - Edgar Allan Poe Poe Edgar Allan those who write as they speak, and speak well, write badly Buffon Conde de thoughts are like a grain of sand in the power machine Arpaia Bruno thoughts draw back, objects move forward (Nina Ivanoff) Nina Ivanoff thoughts, like fleas, jump from man to man, but they don't bite everybody Lec Stanislaw Jerzy time and the hour runs through the roughest day - William Shakespeare Shakespeare William time is the best author. It always writes the perfect ending - Charles Chaplin Chaplin Charlie to arrange a library is a silent way of carrying on the art of critique Borges Jorge Luis to be clever enough to get all that money, one must be stupid enough to want it (G. K. Chesterton) Chesterton Gilbert Keith to be ourselves we need to be someone Lec Stanislaw Jerzy to be patriotic, hate all nations but your own; to be religious, all sects but your own; to be moral, all pretences but your own - Lionel Strachey Strachey Lionel to be perfect she lacked just one defect Kraus Karl to be proud of learning is the greatest ignorance (Jeremy Taylor) Taylor Jeremy to be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand Ortega y Gasset José to be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness (Bertrand Russell) Russell Bertrand to believe in progress does not mean believing that any progress has yet been made Kafka Franz to call itself civilized, society should accept reason and folly in equal measure Basaglia Franco to desire the same things and to reject the same things, constitutes true friendship Sallustius Crispus Caius to die is poignantly bitter, but the idea of having to die without having lived is unbearable (Erich Fromm) Fromm Erich to divorce because you don't love a man is almost as silly as getting married because you love him (Zsa Zsa Gabor) Zsa Zsa Gabor Sari to find a friend one must close one eye - to keep him, two - Norman Douglas Douglas Norman to find a new country, and invade it has always been the same - Samuel Johnson Johnson Samuel to find happiness, one should not seek it Anonymous to have doubts about oneself is the first sign of intelligence Ojetti Ugo to have everything needed to be happy, is not a reason for being happy (Jacques Normand) Normand Jacques to improve one's style means to improve one's way of thinking Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm to lead does not mean to dominate, but to fulfil a duty Seneca Lucius Annaeus to love one's work is the nearest real approximation to happiness on earth Levi Montalcini Rita to love our enemies (as the Gospel asks) is not a job for men, but for angels Borges Jorge Luis to make a gift of culture is to make a gift of thirst. The rest is a consequence Saint-Exupéry Antoine de to marry a woman you love and who loves you is to lay a wager with her as to who will stop loving the other first Capus Alfred to most men, experience is like the stern lights of a ship, which illumine only the track it has passed (Samuel Taylor Coleridge) Coleridge Samuel Taylor to read is to translate, for no two persons' experiences are the same. A bad reader is like a bad translator. In learning to read well, scholarship is less important than instinct - W.H. Auden Auden Wystan Hugh to repent and then start again from the beginning - that's what life is Cherbuliez Victor to suffer without complaining is the only lesson we must learn in this life Van Gogh Vincent to tell the truth in bad faith should be considered dishonest Kraus Karl to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric Adorno Theodor W. to you, my holy language / to you, the one I adore / more than all the silver / and more than all the gold Sephiha Haïm-Vidal today's Don Quixotes don't fight against but for windmills Anónimo today, more than ever, cultured men have the duty to raise doubts rather than collect certitudes Bobbio Norberto too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxi cabs and cutting hair - George Burns Burns George too great haste to repay an obligation is a kind of ingratitude Rochefoucauld François Duc de La tourism is travelling very far in search of the desire to return home Elgozy George translating is the most profound form of reading Paz Octavio translating literature is like having sex: better to talk less about it and do it better Casalegno Andrea translations (like wives) are seldom faithful if they are in the least attractive - Roy Campbell Campbell Roy translators are like portrait painters - they can prettify the copy but it must always resemble the original Fréron Elie translators are the draught horses of culture (Aleksandr Pushkin) Pushkin Aleksandr travel serves only to endear us more to the place where we were born Serrat Noel Clarasó treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von true achievement is to become the best that you can become (Harold Taylor) Taylor Harold true ignorance is not the absence of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it Popper Karl true philosophy is learning to see the world again Merleau-Ponty Maurice true power is in the hands of whoever controls the mass media Gelli Licio truth does not reside in one dream alone but in many dreams Pasolini Pier Paolo truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it (Mark Twain) Twain Mark truth never damages a cause that is just (Mahatma Gandhi) Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad truths that matter - important principles - are, in the final analysis, still only two or three. They are those that your mother taught you as a child Biagi Enzo try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value - Albert Einstein Einstein Albert two things strike me: the intelligence of the beast and the bestiality of man Tristán Flora uncertainty is like a daisy whose petals you never quite finish plucking Vargas Llosa Mario unemployment amounts to a negation of the right to live and is worse even than death itself Ortega y Gasset José unforgettable days in one's life amount to five or six at most - the others are just there to make up the numbers Flaiano Ennio unfortunately, it is possible to be in love at the age of eighty. Actually, I write to forget about love Borges Jorge Luis unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations - Edward De Bono De Bono Edward unless men are free to be vicious they cannot be virtuous (Frank Meyer) Meyer Frank until the colour of a man's skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes - everywhere is war (Bob Marley) Marley Bob upbringing is a way of passing on the shortcomings of parents to their children Carrel Armand usage is the best language teacher Quintilianus using your intellect free from restraint, that's true happiness Aristotle usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things - Russell Baker Baker Russell utopia is on the horizon. I move two steps closer, it moves two steps further away. I walk another ten steps and the horizon runs ten steps further away. As much as I may walk, I'll never reach it. So what's the point of utopia? The point is this: to keep walking Galeano Eduardo very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all: the conscientious historian will correct these defects Herodotus very often to be good we must stop being honest Benavente y Martínez Jacinto vice is such a hideous creature, that the more you see of it the better you like it - Finley Peter Dunne Dunne Finley Peter virtue: an act contrary to the will - Anonymous Anonymous vote for the man who promises least; he'll be the least disappointing - Bernard Baruch Baruch Bernard war amounts to shedding blood in the search for peace, while peace is a continuation of combat without shedding blood Anonimo war is God's way of teaching Americans geography - Ambrose Bierce Bierce Ambrose war is all about the massacre of men who don't know each other, for the benefit of men who know each other but will not massacre each other Valéry Paul war is delightful to those who have had no experience of it Erasmus von Rotterdam Desiderius war is the most common form of modern terrorism Strada Gino warning: Health Authorities can be harmful López Ana watch your thoughts... they become your words. Watch your words... they become your actions. Watch your actions... they become your habits. Watch your habits... they become your character. Watch your character... it becomes your destiny (Frank Outlaw) Outlaw Frank water talks unceasingly but never repeats itself Paz Octavio we all have a common origin: we are all offspring of the evolution of the universe and the stars, and so true brothers and sisters Hack Margherita we all have to obey laws, but a lawyer is needed to understand them Fumi Fabio we and everything else are, after all, just words Concha Víctor García de la we are all amateurs, life is too short for us to be anything else (Charlie Chaplin) Chaplin Charlie we are all equal before the law, but not before those appointed to apply it Lec Stanislaw Jerzy we are all inclined to judge ourselves by our ideals; others, by their acts - Harold Nicolson Nicolson Harold we are all very ignorant, but not all ignorant of the same things - Albert Einstein Einstein Albert we are learning by bitter experience that the organism which destroys its environment destroys itself - Gregory Bateson Gregory Bateson we are on a train travelling at three hundred kilometres per hour, we don't know where it's taking us and, what is more, we have realized there is no driver Rubbia Carlo we are our own memory, we are that chimerical museum of changing shapes, that heap of broken mirrors Borges Jorge Luis we are such stuff / as dreams are made on (William Shakespeare) Shakespeare William we are what we do to change what we are Galeano Eduardo we are what we eat Feuerbach Ludwig we are what we repeatedly do (Aristotle) Aristotle we believe only in what we see, so since the advent of television we believe in everything Hildebrandt Dieter we believe we are a real country, but the truth is we are little more than a landscape Parra Nicanor we can always stop ourselves on the way up, but never on the way down Bonaparte Napoleon we can do nothing worse to a person than busy ourselves exclusively with him Canetti Elias we can either overcome opposing ideas through discussion, or we have to let them be aired/heard. It is not possible to overcome such ideas by force as this prevents free development of our intelligence Guevara Ernesto Che we can invent only with memory Karr Alphonse we cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain (Alan Watts) Watts Alan we do not remember days, we remember moments Pavese Cesare we don't know what's happening to us - that's what's happening to us Ortega y Gasset José we don't know who discovered water, but we're certain it wasn't a fish - John Culkin Culkin John we don't see things as they are, we see them as we are - Anaïs Nin Nin Anaïs we forget our faults easily when they are known to ourselves alone Rochefoucauld François Duc de La we have all sufficient strength to endure the misfortunes of others Rochefoucauld François Duc de La we have been taught to believe that what is beautiful need not be useful and what is useful cannot be beautiful. I want to show that what is useful can also be beautiful (Mahatma Gandhi) Gandhi Mohandas Karamchad we have certainly been quick to forget the time when we were the emigrants Agnelli Susanna we have convictions only if we have studied nothing thoroughly Cioran Emile we have globalised the circus but not bread Anónimo we have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another - Jonathan Swift Swift Jonathan we have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it - George Bernard Shaw Shaw George Bernard we have nothing to fear but fear itself - Franklin Delano Roosevelt Roosevelt Franklin Delano we have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, the language Wilde Oscar we have to fight against language to prevent the imposition of its formulae, clichés and set phrases, everything that typifies a poor writer Cortázar Julio we inhabit a language rather than a country Cioran Emile we know accurately only when we know little; with knowledge, doubt increases Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von we know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he can play Bach and Schubert, and go to his day's work at Auschwitz in the morning - George Steiner Steiner George we lie in order to tolerate our existence and, most of all, we lie to ourselves Ferrante Elena we make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give - Winston Churchill Churchill Winston we must be modest and at the same time realise that others are inferior to us - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar we must beware of needless innovations, especially when guided by logic - Winston Churchill Churchill Winston we must make way for the new generations for if we do not, they will impose themselves anyway Lama Luciano we must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means (Martin Luther King) King Martin Luther we only have the happiness we have given Pailleron Eduard we only hear questions that we are able to answer Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm we should distrust any enterprise that requires new clothes (Henry David Thoreau) Thoreau Henry David we should think more of doing well than feeling well, then we would end up feeling better Manzoni Alessandro we still haven't learned that real cultural growth only comes with enjoyment, passion and laughter Fo Dario we work to earn our leisure Aristotle we would often be ashamed of our most well-intentioned actions if others could see what motivated them Rochefoucauld François de La we're all of us sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life! - Tennessee Williams Tennessee Williams we're born princes and the civilizing process turns us into frogs (Eric Berne) Berne Eric western science has managed only to advance from the simple to the complex, by way of the ineffectual Crivellaro Marco what I regret about the follies of youth is not having committed them but not being able to do so again Benoit Pierre what I want is for everything to be round without, so to speak, a beginning or end of the figure anywhere, so that it makes one, lifelike harmonious whole Van Gogh Vincent what frightens me most is the winter of memory Arreola Juan José what has always made the State a hell on earth has been precisely mankind's attempt to turn it into a paradise Hölderlin Friedrich what is Man, that he should make plans? Hofmannsthal Hugo von what is art? Prostitution Baudelaire Charles what is irritating about love is that it is a crime that requires an accomplice Baudelaire Charles what is past is prologue (William Shakespeare) Shakespeare William what is robbing a bank compared to founding a bank? Brecht Bertolt what luck for rulers that men don't think Hitler Adolf what makes this a terrible world is that we strive with the same passion in seeking to be happy and in preventing others from being so Rivarol Antoine de what matters is not that which one says, but that which does not need to be said Camus Albert what matters is not the idea a man holds, but the depth at which he holds it (Ezra Pound) Pound Ezra what really counts in life is done free Magris Claudio what the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the rest of the world calls a butterfly Lao Tse what we call 'progress' is the exchange of one nuisance for another nuisance - Havelock Ellis Ellis Havelock what we have in common is that we are all different from each other Anónimo what will be exhausted first - air or oil? Anónimo what would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Van Gogh Vincent what you think is the summit is only a step up Seneca Lucius Annaeus what's in the writing of a book? Reading it is the hard bit Bufalino Gesualdo what, a Professional Register of Journalists! Just an idea propagated by pedants, bogus professors, would-be hacks, and people who are trying to prevent others from thinking for themselves. Such a register is a laughable non-starter and is immoral since it aims to put a limit on what has no limits and indeed shouldn't have any, and is inclined to restricting the free expression of the mind Einaudi Luigi whatever I don't know, I learnt at school Flaiano Ennio whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult (Charlotte Whitton) Whitton Charlotte whatever you want to say, there is only one noun to express it, one verb to animate it and one adjective to qualify it Maupassant Guy de when Dr. Johnson defined patriotism as the last refuge of a scoundrel, he ignored the enormous possibilities of the word 'reform' - Roscoe Conkling Conkling Roscoe when God is silent, you can make him say anything you want Sartre Jean-Paul when I gave food to the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked why the poor have nothing to eat, they called me a communist Câmara Dom Hélder when I grow up, I want to be a little boy - Joseph Heller Heller Joseph when I hear a man applauded by the mob I always feel a pang of pity for him. All he has to do to be hissed is to live long enough (H.L. Mencken) Mencken H.L. when I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. I'm beginning to believe it (Clarence Darrow) Darrow Clarence when I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not - Mark Twain Twain Mark when I'm dead nobody will weep for me, and no earth will cover me as I am the very wind of freedom Guevara Ernesto Che when a banker jumps out of a window, jump after him - that's where the money is Robespierre Maximilien when a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong - Arthur C. Clarke Clarke Arthur C. when a government depends on bankers for money, they and not the heads of government control matters. The hand that gives holds sway over the hand that receives. Money has no homeland and financiers have no patriotism or decency - their only objective is gain Bonaparte Napoleon when a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her Guitry Sacha when a man wants to murder a tiger, it's called sport; when the tiger wants to murder him, it's called ferocity (George Bernard Shaw) Shaw George Bernard when a people no longer dares to defend its language, it is ripe for slavery Gourmont Remy de when a person claims to know what happiness is, one can sense that person has lost it Maeterlinck Maurice when a person reads it is an exercise in self-examination. A writer's work amounts only to providing the reader with a means of seeing within himself what he might not otherwise be able to discern Proust Marcel when childhood dies, its corpses are called adults and they enter society, one of the politer names of hell. That is why we dread children, even if we love them. They show us the state of our decay - Brian Aldiss Aldiss Brian when choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I've never tried before - Mae West West Mae when man is no longer cold, hungry or afraid, he is dissatisfied Flaiano Ennio when people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other - Eric Hoffer Hoffer Eric when the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the Land and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible - Jomo Kenyatta Kenyatta Jomo when the brain develops in the mother's womb, it is empty of ideas Blanchot Maurice when the gods choose to punish us, they merely answer our prayers - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar when the language is corrupted, people lose faith in what they hear and this leads to violence - W. H. Auden Auden Wystan Hugh when the need is strong, there are those who will believe anything - Arnold Lobel Lobel Arnold when there are two conflicting versions of the story, the wise course is to believe the one in which people appear at their worst - H. Allen Smith Smith H. Allen when two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary - William Wrigley Jr. Wrigley William Jr. when two personalities meet it is as if two chemicals are coming into contact: if there is any reaction at all, both of them undergo some transformation Jung Carl when virtue has slept, she will get up more refreshed Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm when we are ill we realise that we do not exist alone but chained to a different domain, from which we are separated by an abyss, which doesn't know us and by which it is impossible to make ourselves understood: our body Proust Marcel when we say 'think', we mean think about death Savinio Alberto when will UNESCO get around to naming the planet a Patrimony for Humanity? Anónimo when you desire something, the entire universe conspires to realize your wish Coelho Paulo when you destroy monuments, spare the pedestals. A use can always be found for them Lec Stanislaw Jerzy when you fall asleep, you forget yourself. And when you wake up, you remember yourself Borges Jorge Luis when you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to stop and reconsider - Mark Twain Twain Mark when you jump for joy, beware that no one moves the ground from beneath your feet Lec Stanislaw Jerzy when you look deep into the eyes of another person, you are forced to look at yourself Ben Jelloun Tahar whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty by close application thereto it is worse when executed by two persons - and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein - George Washington Washington George whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar whenever you teach, teach your hearers to doubt whatever you teach Ortega y Gasset José where all men think alike, no one thinks very much (Walter Lippmann) Lippmann Walter where are you going, Ivan? I'm going to Minsk. You lie, Ivan! You tell me you're going to Minsk to make me believe you're going to Moscow, but you're really going to Minsk. You lie, Ivan! Borges Jorge Luis where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe - Thomas Jefferson Jefferson Thomas where the sword of the law cannot reach, there reaches the lash of satire (A. Pushkin) Pushkin Aleksandr where there is much light, the shadow is deep Goethe Johann Wolfgang Von whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent Wittgenstein Ludwig which clones more, genetics or TV? Anónimo who can deny that the environment has been destroyed? Grass Günter who is the guiltiest of these two who misbehave; she who sins for pay, or he who pays for sinning? De la Cruz Juana Inés who knows what Columbus would have discovered if America hadn't got in the way Lec Stanislaw Jerzy who, being loved, is poor? - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar whoever looks at his own failings fails to see those in others Ali ibn Abi Talib whosoever wants to travel towards the stars should not look for company Hebbel Christian Friedrich why did Nature create man? Was it to show that she is big enough to make mistakes, or was it pure ignorance? - Holbrook Jackson Jackson Holbrook why do we generally avoid solitude? Because few of us are good company to ourselves Dossi Carlo why do we kill people who have killed other people? To tell other people that killing is wrong? - Norman Mailer Mailer Norman why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure in life (Charles Frohman) Frohman Charles why repeat the old errors, if there are so many new errors to commit? - Bertrand Russell Russell Bertrand why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done for me? - Groucho Marx Marx Groucho wine is a grave danger to the (mental) health of someone who does not drink it Anónimo wisdom has less to do with destroying idols than in never creating them in the first place Eco Umberto wisdom is getting rid of the unnecessary (Lin Yutang) Yutang Lin wise is he who enjoys the show offered by the world Pessoa Fernando witches ceased to exist when we stopped burning them Voltaire without money and lacking time, imagination is a mere fleeting dream that cannot be transformed into an event Baudelaire Charles women - they are attracted by the slightest thing and a compliment makes them hurry away Quatorze Raymond women are so hypocritical that all children firmly believe that their own mother was a saint Gourmont Remy de women do what they say one hundred per cent, whereas men stop at fifty per cent Lelouch Claude women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our gigantic intellects - Oscar Wilde Wilde Oscar women need to be beautiful to be loved by men, and stupid enough to love them Chanel Coco women take the shape of the dream that embraces them Arreola Juan José word makes men free. Whoever cannot express himself is a slave Feuerbach Ludwig words are all we have (Samuel Beckett) Beckett Samuel words are important if they are few Romano Lalla words are like money, one is worth as much as many and many are not worth as much as one Quevedo y Villegas Francisco de words are not created by academics in universities and suchlike, rather it is the man in the street who does so. Dictionary compilers almost always recognise them too late and embalm them in alphabetical order, in many cases when they have lost their original meaning García Márquez Gabriel words don't always agree with the heart Metastasio Pietro words take on the value that the listener attributes to them Verga Giovanni words that really become popular impoverish a language Guitry Sacha work distances us from three great evils: tedium, vice and need Voltaire work is less boring than play Baudelaire Charles work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do (Oscar Wilde) Wilde Oscar work makes for a shorter day and a longer life Diderot Denis writing always means hiding something in such a way that it then is discovered Calvino Italo writing is a way of talking without being interrupted Renard Jules writing is also made difficult by the illiteracy of others Lec Stanislaw Jerzy writing poetry is like making love: one will never know if one's joy is shared Pavese Cesare YES to the market economy NO to the market society Jospin Lionel yes to the commerce of culture, no to the culture of commerce Anónimo yes we are three times richer than our grandparents. But are we three times happier? (Tony Blair) Blair Tony yesterday's criminals are today's gentry and today's criminals will be tomorrow's gentry Brown Carl William you are Miss Smith, the daughter of multi-millionaire banker Smith, aren't you? No? I beg your pardon, for a moment I thought I had fallen in love with you - Groucho Marx Marx Groucho you are forgetting that the fruits of the earth belong to everyone but the earth itself to no one Rousseau Jean-Jacques you can be to the left of anything you like, but not of good sense Biagi Enzo you can be unfaithful, but never disloyal García Márquez Gabriel you can even shoot me, but you will not stop this country's march towards democracy Djindjic Zoran you can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough (Joseph Levine) Levine Joseph you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving (Amy Carmichael) Carmichael Amy you can have language without money, property, government or marriage, but you cannot have money, property, government or marriage without language - John Searle Searle John you can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution - G. K. Chesterton Chesterton Gilbert Keith you can't learn the truth about a man's intentions by asking him Proust Marcel you can't say that civilization don't advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way - Will Rogers Rogers Will you cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you (Brian Tracy) Tracy Brian you cannot shake hands with a clenched fist - Indira Gandhi Gandhi Indira you cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself Galilei Galileo you do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother (Albert Einstein) Einstein Albert you don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them (Ray Bradbury) Bradbury Ray you don't stick a knife in a man's back nine inches and then pull it out six inches and say you are making progress (Malcolm X) Malcolm X you don't translate what the author wrote, but what he meant to say, this is why computers will never be able to translate Anónimo you go round and round and when you stop, you fall to the ground Bene Carmelo you grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself - Ethel Barrymore Barrymore Ethel you have not understood anything as you are an average man. An average man is a monster, a dangerous delinquent, a conformist, a racist, a slave-driver and a man who couldn't care less about politics Pasolini Pier Paolo you have ten minutes at your disposal to put an idea into action before it goes back to dreamland Buckminster Fuller Richard you know what charm is: a way of getting the answer yes without having asked a clear question Camus Albert you love a city not for its seven or seventy-seven wonders, but because it has an answer to your special question Calvino Italo you need to have a streak of idealistic lunacy in you to be a lexicographer, as it is impossible to take a photo of language Seco Manuel you only have to improve a person to ruin him Wilde Oscar you only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough Lewis Joe E. you vote every time you go shopping Zanottelli Alex you will have plenty of time if you don't waste it Bernard Fontenelle de you wouldn't be looking for me if you hadn't already found me Pascal Blaise young couples have no idea how much they owe to television. Once upon a time you even had to speak to your partner Loi Isidoro young people nowadays assume that money is everything, and when they get older they know it Wilde Oscar your body, treated well, can last a life time Daudí Enrique Clarasó youth is a disease from which we all recover Fuldheim Dorothy