Wit & Wisdom

“The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.”

Vladimir Nabokov, quoted in the Irish Independent

“We do not live to think, but, on the contrary, we think in order that we may succeed in surviving.”

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José Ortega y Gasset, quoted in Forbes

“Every wrong attempt discarded is a step forward.”

Thomas Edison, quoted in ScienceDaily.com

“Every calamity is to be overcome by endurance.”

Virgil, quoted in the Montreal Gazette

“It’s a complex fate, being an American, and one of the responsibilities it entails is fighting against a superstitious valuation of Europe.”

Henry James, quoted in ESPN.com

“Superstition is foolish, childish, primitive, and irrational—but how much does it cost you to knock on wood?”

Author Judith Viorst, quoted in Refdesk.com

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.”

Aldous Huxley, quoted in The Wall Street Journal