Wit & Wisdom

From Michel de Montaigne, Leon Blum, C.S. Lewis, Damon Runyon, Queen Victoria, H.L. Mencken, Gay Talese

“Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.”

Michel de Montaigne, quoted in the Montreal Gazette

“I have often thought morality may perhaps consist solely in the courage of making a choice.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

C.S. Lewis, quoted in The Huffington Post

“You can become a winner only if you are willing to walk over the edge.”

Damon Runyon, quoted in the Associated Press

“Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.”

Queen Victoria, quoted Australia’s Canberra Times

“Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another.”

H.L. Mencken, quoted in the Monterey County, Calif., Herald

“The real problem is what to do with the problem solvers after the problems are solved.”

Gay Talese, quoted in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette