"A proper autobiography is a death-bed confession. A true man finds so much work to do that he has no time to contemplate his yesterdays; for to-day and to-morrow are here, with their impatient tasks. The world is so busy, too, that it cannot afford to study any man's unfinished work; for the end may prove it a failure, and the world needs masterpieces."

Mary Antin Literature See all quotes by Mary Antin →

React to this quote

More by Mary Antin

“Outside America I should hardly be believed if I told how simply, in my experience, Dover Street merged into the Back Bay.”

“A little instruction in the elements of chartography—a little practice in the use of the compass and the spirit level, a topographical map of the town common, an excursion with a road map—would have given me a fat round earth in place of my paper ghost.”

“It is painful to be consciously of two worlds. The Wandering Jew in me seeks forgetfulness. I am not afraid to live on and on, if only I do not have to remember too much. A long past vividly remembered is like a heavy garment that clings to your limbs when you would run.”

“Encyclopaedia Brittanica's Guide to Women”

Resonant Thoughts

"During the last six years the United States Army has not only matured greatly, but its officers have grown vastly more aware of their world-wide responsibilities as military men. Allied command has be…"

— Omar Bradley

Military1893–1981

#time

"What is a throne? — a bit of wood gilded and covered in velvet. I am the state— I alone am here the representative of the people. Even if I had done wrong you should not have reproached me in public —…"

— Napoleon I of France

Politics1769–1821

#time

"If politicians continue to promote separatism in Australia, they should not continue to hold their seats in this parliament. They are not truly representing all Australians, and I call on the people t…"

— Pauline Hanson

Politics1961

#time

"As Hitler sat down in the Leiberzimmer to listen to the proceedings, he was surrounded by memorabilia for veterans… Yet on the evening of September 12, the room was not filled with veterans of the reg…"

— Thomas Weber (historian)

Education1969

#time