"I, who have so much and so universally adored this , "excellent mediocrity," 32 of ancient times, and who have concluded the most moderate measure the most perfect, shall I pretend to an unreasonable and prodigious old age?"

Michel de Montaigne Philosophy See all quotes by Michel de Montaigne →

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“The day of your birth is one day’s advance towards the grave.”

“All the opinions of the world agree in this, that pleasure is our end.”

“Je veux que la mort me trouve plantant mes choux.”

“He who should teach men to die would at the same time teach them to live.”

“C'est ce de quoi j'ai le plus de peur que la peur.”

“We are, I know not how, double in ourselves, which is the cause that what we believe we do not believe, and cannot disengage ourselves from what we condemn.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Ellen Willis, 64; radical critic targeted foibles wherever she saw them, on the left or right" by Jocelyn Y. Stewart, Los Angeles Times"

— Ellen Willis

Literature1941–2006

#art

"If I leave the Quarter-master's department, I should be glad of the South Carolina appointment. How ever, I shall wish to consult your Excellency upon the affair."

— Nathanael Greene

Military1742–1786

#justice