Famous Quotes,John F. Kennedy's "ask not what you can do for your country…" is one of the most famous presidential quotes in history. But the speakers behind other noteworthy phrases may not be so easy to identify. Keep reading to see if you can guess the famous (or not-so-famous) person behind these popular quotes.
“Caruthers Dorm had been closed and was scheduled for demolition before Katrina hit. Louisiana Tech officials decided to repair the building's air conditioning system and take in evacuees. On Monday, the Green Wave moved into the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth floors, sharing a facility with 3-month old babies to 90-year-olds, ... Our hearts go out to the people who have been displaced. And when you hear their stories, it's amazing. . . . It's emotional because of all the unknown.”

18th century poets
The quote: "To err is human, to forgive divine."

When: 1711

The story: This English poet overcame childhood illness and religious discrimination and spent years working on a translation of an epic poem.

Who said it?alexander pope

The 18th. Century heralded the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the short-lived Neo-Classical period, that soon followed the Renaissance and shortly gave way to the Romanticism. The world had begun to search for knowledge and rely on scientific learning. At the beginning of this century, England did command the respect of its eternal archenemy, Spain, when England seized Gibraltar, though it would not be the deathblow to Spanish might. England was still preparing for the coming of that day.

By 1707, England had merged with Scotland and Wales, in order to constitute the United Kingdom of Great Britain. On the other side of the Atlantic, the colonies were now known as The United States. This former colonial territory was a mecca to European people, especially Germans. These hard-working immigrants would help to create new industries, based on the latest agricultural achievements. All those enthusiastic new Americans were helping grease the wheels of progress in regard to world history.

But, as the new American residents worked hard, they also loved freedom - the love of freedom that the Puritans had brought with them, at the nation's earliest beginnings. Soon brilliant, thinking men who would speak about democracy, economy and other vital ideologies would appear. These new ideologies would be swiftly and strongly embraced by North Americans and would kick-start its destiny of changing the world.

If we are to speak about poetry during this period, then we must start with Alexander Pope (1688-1744). He was, along with several contemporaries who followed the French poet and theorist, Nicholas Boileau, (1636-1711), who, in turn, was a fervent follower of the Roman poet Horace (Quintus Horatious Flaccus, 65-8 B.C.), author of Ars Poetica. and other classical Latin and Greek poets.
Boileau was the author of the book Art Poetique, which became the manual of the poets who founded the Neo-Classical era which was noted for the imitation of classical aesthetics in poetry.

Pope was considered a prodigy, because he wrote quality verse at only twenty years of age. One of his more celebrated poem was "The Dunciad" (begun in 1728 and completed in 1741), a satire aimed at his detractors and the dullness of some pieces of art in those days. This poem uses the heroic couplet. The heroic couplet comes from Horace and was used first in England by John Donne, Andrew Marvell and John Milton. It is considered to have been perfected by John Dryden (1631-1700), poet laureate.

Famous Quotes:Founding Fathers
The quote: "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

When: 1735

The story: This prolific writer signed the Declaration of Independence and was the first U.S. ambassador to this nation. He was known for his many inventions, including a popular type of eyewear.

Who said it?benjamin franklin

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some other key contribution. Within the large group known as the "Founding Fathers", there are two key subsets: the "Signers of the Declaration of Independence" (who signed the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776) and the Framers of the Constitution (who were delegates to the Federal Convention and took part in framing or drafting the proposed Constitution of the United States). A further subset is the group that signed the Articles of Confederation.
Some historians define the "Founding Fathers" to mean a larger group, including not only the Signers and the Framers but also all those who, whether as politicians, jurists, statesmen, soldiers, diplomats, or ordinary citizens, took part in winning American independence and creating the United States of America. American historian Richard B. Morris in 1973 identified the following seven figures as the key Founding Fathers: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.
The newspaper publisher Warren G. Harding, then a Republican Senator from Ohio, coined the phrase "Founding Fathers" in his keynote address to the 1916 Republican National Convention. He used it several times thereafter, most prominently in his 1921 inaugural address as President of the United States.


Famous Quotes:American Revolution
The quote: "Give me liberty or give me death!"

When: March 23, 1775

The story: This Revolutionary War hero – who spoke these famous words at the House of Burgesses (what was that?) – became a governor (of which state?) and led the opposition to this tax.

Who said it?patrick henry

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. They first rejected the authority of the Parliament of Great Britain to govern them from overseas without representation, and then expelled all royal officials. By 1774, each colony had established a Provincial Congress, or an equivalent governmental institution, to govern itself, but still within the empire. The British responded by sending combat troops to re-impose direct rule. Through representatives sent in 1775 to the Second Continental Congress, the states joined together at first to defend their respective self-governance and manage the armed conflict against the British known as the American Revolutionary War (also: American War of Independence, 1775–83). Ultimately, the states collectively determined that the British monarchy, by acts of tyranny, could no longer legitimately claim their allegiance. They then severed ties with the British Empire in July 1776, when the Congress issued the United States Declaration of Independence, rejecting the monarchy on behalf of the new sovereign nation separate and external to the British Empire. The war ended with effective American victory in October 1781, followed by formal British abandonment of any claims to the United States with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
The American Revolution was the result of a series of social, political, and intellectual transformations in early American society and government, collectively referred to as the American Enlightenment. Americans rejected the oligarchies common in aristocratic Europe at the time, championing instead the development of republicanism based on the Enlightenment understanding of liberalism. Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a democratically-elected representative government responsible to the will of the people. However, sharp political debates erupted over the appropriate level of democracy desirable in the new government, with a number of Founders fearing mob rule.
Many fundamental issues of national governance were settled with the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788, which replaced the relatively weaker first attempt at a national government adopted in 1781, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. In contrast to the loose confederation, the Constitution established a strong federated government. The United States Bill of Rights (1791), comprising the first 10 constitutional amendments, quickly followed. It guaranteed many "natural rights" that were influential in justifying the revolution, and attempted to balance a strong national government with relatively broad personal liberties. The American shift to liberal republicanism, and the gradually increasing democracy, caused an upheaval of traditional social hierarchy and gave birth to the ethic that has formed a core of political values in the United States.


Famous British poets
The quote: "The pen is mightier than the sword."

When: 1839

The story: This British politician (for which party?) –whose estranged wife chronicled their bitter split in her memoir – was buried (against his wishes) in this noted cathedral.

Who said it?edward bulwer-lytton


Famous British poets have been a major part of English and world literature ever since the time of Geoffrey Chaucer. There are however, several great poets who have written in English who are not British, such as the great Irish poets William Butler Yeats, Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett; or the American and Anglophone poets. These are not considered "British poets."


American Civil War
The quote: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

When: Nov. 19, 1863

The story: This wartime president left his mark on history with his now-iconic speech at a military burial ground following this tide-turning battle.

Who said it?abraham lincoln


The American Civil War (1861–1865), often referred to as The Civil War in the United States, was a civil war fought over the secession of the Confederacy. In response to the election of an anti-slavery Republican as President, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ("the Confederacy"); the other 25 states supported the federal government ("the Union"). After four years of warfare, mostly within the Southern states, the Confederacy surrendered and slavery was outlawed everywhere in the nation. Issues that led to war were partially resolved in the Reconstruction Era that followed, though others remained unresolved.
In the presidential election of 1860, the Republican Party, led by Abraham Lincoln, had campaigned against expanding slavery beyond the states in which it already existed. The Republicans strongly advocated nationalism, and in their 1860 platform they denounced threats of disunion as avowals of treason. After a Republican victory, but before the new administration took office on March 4, 1861, seven cotton states declared their secession and joined to form the Confederate States of America. Both the outgoing administration of President James Buchanan and the incoming administration rejected the legality of secession, considering it rebellion. The other eight slave states rejected calls for secession at this point. No country in the world recognized the Confederacy.
Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a volunteer army from each state to recapture federal property, which led to declarations of secession by four more slave states. Both sides raised armies as the Union seized control of the border states early in the war and established a naval blockade. Land warfare in the East was inconclusive in 1861–62, as the Confederacy beat back Union efforts to capture its capital, Richmond, Virginia, notably during the Peninsular Campaign. In September 1862, the Confederate campaign in Maryland ended in defeat at the Battle of Antietam, which dissuaded the British from intervening.Days after that battle, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal.
In 1863, Confederate general Robert E. Lee's northward advance ended in defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg. To the west, the Union gained control of the Mississippi River after the Battle of Shiloh and Siege of Vicksburg, splitting the Confederacy in two and destroying much of their western army. Due to his western successes, Ulysses S. Grant was given command of the eastern army in 1864, and organized the armies of William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip Sheridan and others to attack the Confederacy from all directions, increasing the North's advantage in manpower. Grant restructured the union army, and put other generals in command of divisions of the army that were to support his push into Virginia. He fought several battles of attrition against Lee through the Overland Campaign to seize Richmond, though in the face of fierce resistance he altered his plans and led the Siege of Petersburg which nearly finished off the rest of Lee's army. Meanwhile, Sherman captured Atlanta and marched to the sea, destroying Confederate infrastructure along the way. When the Confederate attempt to defend Petersburg failed, the Confederate army retreated but was pursued and defeated, which resulted in Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
The American Civil War was one of the earliest true industrial wars. Railroads, the telegraph, steamships, and mass-produced weapons were employed extensively. The practices of total war, developed by Sherman in Georgia, and of trench warfare around Petersburg foreshadowed World War I in Europe. It remains the deadliest war in American history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 750,000 soldiers and an undetermined number of civilian casualties. Historian John Huddleston estimates the death toll at ten percent of all Northern males 20–45 years old, and 30 percent of all Southern white males aged 18–40. Victory for the North meant the end of the Confederacy and of slavery in the United States, and strengthened the role of the federal government. The social, political, economic and racial issues of the war decisively shaped the reconstruction era that lasted to 1877.

Famous Quotes:Underground Railroad
The quote: "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

When: Mid-19th century

The story: This former slave (where was she born?) made 13 missions to bring rescued slaves to the “free states” and played an integral part in an attempted uprising.

Who said it?harriet tubman

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists, both black and white, free and enslaved, who aided the fugitives. Other various routes led to Mexico or overseas. While an "underground railroad" running south toward Florida, then a Spanish possession, existed from the late 17th century until shortly after the American Revolution, the network now generally known as the Underground Railroad was formed in the early 19th century, and reached its height between 1850 and 1860. One estimate suggests that by 1850, 100,000 slaves had escaped via the "Railroad". British North America, where slavery was prohibited, was a popular destination, as its long border gave many points of access. More than 30,000 people were said to have escaped there via the network at its peak, although U.S. Census figures account for only 6,000. The Underground Railroad fugitives' stories are documented in the Underground Railroad Records.

Quotes about beauty
The quote: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

When: 1878

The story: Many writers have expressed some form of this sentiment – from the world’s most famous playwright to a Founding Father – but this Irish novelist is credited with this particular incarnation.

Who said it?margaret wolfe hungerford

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir


Our hearts are drunk with a beauty our eyes could never see. ~George W. Russell


I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful. ~Author Unknown


By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower. ~Rabindrath Tagore


Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. ~Kahlil Gibran


Against Him those women sin who torment their skin with potions, stain their cheeks with rouge and extend the line of their eyes with black coloring. Doubtless they are dissatisfied with God's plastic skill. In their own persons they convict and censure the Artificer of all things. ~Tertullian


That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful. ~Ninon de L'Enclos


Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked. ~Ralph Ellison, "Battle Royal"


Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces into their hearts. ~Martin Buxbaum


Tell them dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for being
~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Rhodora"


Close your eyes and see the beauty. ~Author Unknown


It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness. ~Leo Tolstoy


In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty. ~Christopher Morley


Beauty always promises, but never gives anything. ~Simone Weil


What humbugs we are, who pretend to live for Beauty, and never see the Dawn! ~Logan Pearsall Smith


The most beautiful view is the one I share with you. ~Author Unknown


When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. ~Chinese Proverb


Beauty comes in all sizes, not just size 5. ~Roseanne


I don't like standard beauty - there is no beauty without strangeness. ~Karl Lagerfeld


There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect. ~Gilbert Keith Chesterton


Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Beauty and folly are generally companions. ~Baltasar Gracian


May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend....
~William Butler Yeats, "A Prayer for my Daughter"


Beauty comes as much from the mind as from the eye. ~Grey Livingston
We ascribe beauty to that which is simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end; which stands related to all things; which is the mean of many extremes. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. ~Confucius


Plainness has its peculiar temptations quite as much as beauty. ~George Eliot


As we grow old, the beauty steals inward. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone. ~Johann von Goethe


A woman who cannot be ugly is not beautiful. ~Karl Kraus


Beauty deprived of its proper foils and adjuncts ceases to be enjoyed as beauty, just as light deprived of all shadows ceases to be enjoyed as light. ~John Ruskin


Beauty in the flesh will continue to rule the world. ~Florenz Ziegfeld


Do I love you because you're beautiful,
Or are you beautiful because I love you?
~Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Cinderella


Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for instance. ~John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, 1851


Glamour is a shooting star, it catches your eye, but fades away, beauty is the sun always brilliant day after day. ~Mike Dolan, www.hawaiianlife.com


Beauty is the promise of happiness. ~Stendhal


Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick. ~Gwyneth Paltrow


Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness. ~Dr. SunWolf, professorsunwolf.com


One summer night, out on a flat headland, all but surrounded by the waters of the bay, the horizons were remote and distant rims on the edge of space. Millions of stars blazed in darkness, and on the far shore a few lights burned in cottages. Otherwise there was no reminder of human life. My companion and I were alone with the stars: the misty river of the Milky Way flowing across the sky, the patterns of the constellations standing out bright and clear, a blazing planet low on the horizon. It occurred to me that if this were a sight that could be seen only once in a century, this little headland would be thronged with spectators. But it can be seen many scores of nights in any year, and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead; and because they could see it almost any night, perhaps they never will. ~Rachel Carson


Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844


A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. ~Walt Whitman


Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes


...[K]now that however ugly the parts appear the whole remains beautiful. A severed hand
Is an ugly thing, and man dissevered from the earth and stars and his history... for contemplation or in fact...
Often appears atrociously ugly. Integrity is wholeness, the greatest beauty is
Organic wholeness, the wholeness of life and things, the divine beauty of the universe....
~Robinson Jeffers, from "The Answer"


Beauty... is the shadow of God on the universe. ~Gabriela Mistral, Desolacíon


Beauty... when you look into a woman's eyes and see what is in her heart. ~Nate Dircks


You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen. But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your soul's own doing. ~Marie Stopes


Beauty - in projection and perceiving - is 99.9% attitude. ~Grey Livingston


Beauty?... To me it is a word without sense because I do not know where its meaning comes from nor where it leads to. ~Pablo Picasso


I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want - an adorable pancreas? ~Jean Kerr, The Snake Has All the Lines


Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked. ~Saint Augustine


Taking joy in living is a woman's best cosmetic. ~Rosalind Russell


I hope you have lost your good looks, for while they last any fool can adore you, and the adoration of fools is bad for the soul. No, give me a ruined complexion and a lost figure and sixteen chins on a farmyard of Crow's feet and an obvious wig. Then you shall see me coming out strong. ~George Bernard Shaw, to Mrs. Patrick Campbell


Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head. ~Garrison Keillor
Beauty for some provides escape, who gain a happiness in eyeing the gorgeous buttocks of the ape or Autumn sunsets exquisitely dying.
Aldous Huxley

Beauty in art is often nothing but ugliness subdued.
Jean Rostand

Beauty in not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.
Kahlil Gibran

Beauty is a form of genius -- is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon.
Oscar Wilde

Beauty is a good letter of introduction.
Portuguese Proverb


Historical examples of absolute power
The quote: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

When: 1887

The story: This English politician – who wrote this still-used critique in a letter (to whom?) – backed this side in the American Civil War.

Who said it?lord acton


Historical examples of absolute power,I believe absolute power corrupts absolutely because of all the examples in history and our modern world. This can be seen in Communist countries, African states, and in South America. All communist
countries have been affected by corruption in one way or another. Famous examples include the Soviet Union, Cuba, and China. In Africa, corruption and absolute rule is widespread, in places such as Uganda and Sudan. There was also corruption due to absolute power also found in the Renaissance/Colonial times. Today, throughout the world's developing countries, there are many examples of absolute power corrupting absolutely as there was during the Renaissance/Colonial time period.
Absolute power and corruption are common in countries with communist governments. In China, there was Mao Zedong. Mao led a revolution to create a better life for the peasants and strengthen China, but instead killed thousands of Chinese, destroyed much of his peoples' culture, and damaged the economy. Mao's desire for control over people, and his acquisition of it hurt China for years to come. In Cuba, Fidel Castro is the Communist leader. Castro was born into the working-class, and was angered by the lack of social justice and all the corruption in the government. He led a revolution, which he won, and set himself up as dictator. Now Castro restricts freedom of speech and cracks down on any who oppose his rule in order to stay in power. Fidel Castro became the very thing he despised after gaining power. In the Soviet Union, Stalin rose to power and killed and deported millions. Stalin was already an immoral person, but used his power as a means to express his corruption. Before Stalin gained power, he didn't have the control over people that is necessary to harm them, so Stalin's power made him even more corrupt.

In Africa, absolute power governments are found in many countries. In Uganda, Idi Amin, born into an African tribe, works his way up through the British-controlled government and finally leads a revolution. He proclaimed himself dictator ("president for life"). Amin committed many atrocities. He sponsored death squads to kill his enemies, he ordered the deportation of all Asians and whites, and he supported terrorist groups. In Sudan, the government, which has absolute power, has killed thousands, committed many human rights violations, and persecuted people base on their race or religion. Sudan has been struck by civil war and atrocities (like the Darfur conflict) for decades. Absolute power gives the government the ability to do anything they want for their people, and in this case, what the government does isn't for the better. In Liberia, Charles Taylor was brought to absolute power. He killed and assassinated human rights and political activists and also took part in a recent civil war. The U.N. has charged Taylor with 17 counts of war crimes.

There was also corruption in the Renaissance and Colonial eras. During the Renaissance, one of the greatest powers in Europe was the Catholic Church. The Church had great power over almost all Europeans, and became corrupt because of it. In ancient times, the Church cared for its followers, but as time passed and its power grew, the Church began to sell indulgences, practice nepotism, and generally became immoral. Before the French Revolution, most European monarchs were corrupt to some extent. They had everything how they wanted it and cared little for the common people, sending them off to fight wars and slave away on farms for the monarch's profit. All of the wealth they gained just made them want more, and act even crueler to their subjects. Their absolute power led them to exploit their people. One of the greatest rulers of France was Napoleon Bonaparte. He rose to power in the early 1800's, overthrowing the weak French government and proclaiming himself Emperor for life. Napoleon took away many of the people's rights after his rise to power. Napoleon also manipulated European countries against each other in forceful diplomacy, and fought many wars, simply for more land at the expense of his people. Napoleon's absolute power made him eager for conquest and control over all Europe.

I believe absolute power corrupts absolutely because of all the examples in history and our modern world. In Communist countries, Stalin, Mao, and Castro killed thousands and restricted human rights to stay in power. In Africa, leaders practiced ethnic cleansing, persecution, and committed wartime atrocities, which wouldn't have been possible without their absolute power. In history, specifically the Renaissance and Colonial eras, absolute power's corruption caused the Church and other European rulers to manipulate their subjects for their own wealth and profit. The corruption of absolute power has been the downfall of many countries, and has created some of the most terrible events in our history.

Famous Quotes:Famous philosophers
The quote: "What does not kill him, makes him stronger."

When: 1888

The story: This German philosopher – who began his career as a classical philologist – was a leading proponent of nihilism.

Who said it?friedrich nietzsche


Peter Abelard
Theodor Adorno
Thomas Aquinas
Hannah Arendt
Aristotle
Augustine
Francis Bacon
Roland Barthes
Georges Bataille
Jean Baudrillard
Simone de Beauvoir
Walter Benjamin
George Berkeley
Judith Butler
Albert Camus

The Chronicle of Higher Education has posted a nice set of portraits called “Gallery of Minds,” featuring images of 10 world-famous philosophers, including Richard Rorty, David Chalmers, and renowned philosopher and art critic Arthur Danto, who also wrote a compelling introduction. Danto focuses on the visual artistry of the series’ photographer Steve Pyke, a long-time staff member at the New Yorker, but we found the great thinkers’ own statements — their answers to the “why” of their chosen pursuits — equally, if not more, compelling. Here is MIT’s feminist metaphysician Sally Haslinger:

Given the amount of suffering and injustice in the world, I flip-flop between thinking that doing philosophy is a complete luxury and that it is an absolute necessity. The idea that it is something in between strikes me as a dodge.
And Robin Jeshion, best known for a theory of singular thought which she calls Cognitivism, has this to say:

Philosophy’s distinguishing value? For me, it resides not so much in the big questions’ multifarious answers, themselves, nor, alas, in wisdom attained through the exacting process of answering them, but rather in how it invariably reminds us how little we really do know. Philosophy is, or should be, humbling — and is, for this, ennobling.
Finally, perhaps our favorite ‘mission statement,’ from Jerry Fodor, the cognitive scientist who has worked out theories on the architecture of the mind:

To the best of my recollection, I became a philosopher because my parents wanted me to be a lawyer. It seems to me, in retrospect, that there was much to be said for their suggestion.

Famous letters in history,
The quote: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

When: Jan. 26, 1900

The story: The president who wrote these words in a letter (he was then serving in this political office) claimed the phrase came from this region.

Who said it?president theodore roosevelt


These days, traditional handwritten letters have given way to digital emails, chats and texts. But some elegance and grace remains in the act of putting pen to paper and sending someone your thoughts through traditional mail.
As a commemoration of the art of the written word, Dec. 7 is Letter Writing Day, and we have collected some of the most famous and beautiful letters ever written. Some are historic, some are political and some are love letters, but all will make you want to take a break from your keyboard and scribe a handwritten note or two.
The Bixby Letter
To: Widow Lydia Bixby
From: Abraham Lincoln
Date: Nov. 21, 1864
Written to the mother of five fallen Civil War soldiers, this letter is one of Lincoln’s most famous pieces of literature. Controversy still exists over whether the letter was written by Lincoln or his personal secretary John Hay, but the precise and powerful use of the English language keeps the letter relevant even today.

“Dear Madam,—I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln”
Horace Greeley/New York Tribune
To: Horace Greeley
From: Abraham Lincoln
Date: August 22, 1862
Greeley was the editor of the Tribune during the Civil War, and in 1862 he published an editorial challenging Lincoln and his administration’s leadership. Lincoln responded immediately and included hints of the Emancipation Proclamation, a draft of which was already complete at the time.
Text:
“Dear Sir.
I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the New-York Tribune. If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

Famous American humorists
The quote: "Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest."

When: Feb. 16, 1901

The story: This American humorist often used his hometown as a backdrop for his stories and was born and died in the same years as this phenomenon.

Who said it?mark twain


"Humorist" redirects here. For the thoroughbred racehorse, see Humorist (horse).
A humorist is a person who writes or performs humorous material. The material written or performed by humorists tends to be more subtle and cerebral than the material created by stand-up comics and comedy writers. The intention is often to provoke wry smiles and amusement rather than outright belly laughs.
Notable humorists include:
İncili Çavuş
Kajetan Abgarowicz
Cecil Adams
Douglas Adams
Scott Adams
George Ade
Moin Akhter
Sholom Aleichem
Henry Alford
Baba Ali
Woody Allen
Michael "Atters" Attree
Arthur "Bugs" Baer
Russell Baker
Linwood Barclay
Dave Barry
Robert Benchley
Stefano Benni
Ambrose Bierce
Josh Billings
Lewis Black
Roy Blount, Jr.
Tom Bodett
Erma Bombeck
Victor Borge
Andy Borowitz
Art Buchwald
Christopher Buckley
W. Bruce Cameron
Nicolas Canteloup
Al Capp
George Carlin
Jimmy Carr
Lewis Carroll
Guy Wetmore Carryl
Al Clouston
Stephen Colbert
William Combe
Alan Coren
Tony Crowley
Will Cuppy
Ivor Cutler
Hugleikur Dagsson
Dick DeBartolo
Raymond Devos
Daniel Dickey
Drew
Gad Elmaleh
Evan Esar
John O'Farrell
Max Ferguson
Will Ferguson
Scott Fivelson
Michael Flanders
Michael Frayn
Ian Frazier
Lewis Burke Frumkes
Stephen Fry
Rémi Gaillard
Neil Gaiman
James Finn Garner
Veronica Geng
Michael Gerber
Strickland Gillilan
Arnold Glasow
Janey Godley
Jonathan Goldstein
Lewis Grizzard
Robert Grossman
Jack Handey
Chelsea Handler
A.P. Herbert
Don Herold
Carl Hiaasen
Bill Hicks
Nasrettin Hoca
John Hodgman
Andy Offutt Irwin
Donald Jack
Roberta Beach Jacobson
Jay Jason
Jerome K. Jerome
Chris Kanik
George S. Kaufman
Garrison Keillor
Walt Kelly
Doug Kenney
Ronald Knox
Harvey Kurtzman
Christian Lander
Ring Lardner
Hugh Laurie
Gary Lautens
Stephen Leacock
Fran Lebowitz
Tom Lehrer
Virginie Lemoine
David Letterman
Martin Lewis
Lennie Lower
Paul B. Lowney
Bill Maher
Merrill Markoe
Don Marquis
David Martin
Demetri Martin
Steve Martin
Bruce McCall
Stuart McLean
Patrick F. McManus
H. L. Mencken
Michael Moore
John Bingham Morton
Ebrahim Nabavi
Petroleum V. Nasby
Ogden Nash
Richard J. Needham
Aziz Nesin
Eric Nicol
Jay Onrait
Raffaele Palma
Dorothy Parker
S. J. Perelman
Terry Pratchett
Roger Price
Bolesław Prus
Joe Queenan
David Rakoff
Bob & Ray
Paul Rhymer
Bill Richardson
Will Rogers
Andy Rooney
Anne Roumanoff
P. J. O'Rourke
Helen Rowland
Paul Rudnick
Tim Sample
George Saunders
David Sedaris
Dr. Seuss
Tom Sharpe
Jean Shepherd
Herb Shriner
Wil Shriner
Mark Shulman
Max Shulman
H. Allen Smith
Jill Sobule
Ron Sparks
Jon Stewart
Ed Subitzky
Catherine Tate
Jeremy Taylor
William Tenn
Thomas Bangs Thorpe
James Thurber
John Kennedy Toole
Calvin Trillin
Mark Twain
Aisha Tyler
Brian Unger
Kurt Vonnegut
Sarah Vowell
Artemus Ward
Bill Watterson
Ellis Weiner
E.B. White
Oscar Wilde
Marshall P. Wilder
Connie Willis
Justin Wilson
P. G. Wodehouse
Frank Zappa
Lorna Jean Moorhead

Nonviolent resistance
The quote: "Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary."

When: May 3, 1919

The story: This often-imprisoned Indian leader led his country’s fight for independence using peaceful protest, which was later employed by a famous 1960s civil rights leader.

Who said it?mahatma gandhi

The Great Depression
The quote: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

When: March 4, 1933

The story: This Democratic president said this in his first inaugural speech and implemented sweeping legislation to get America out of its severe economic crisis.

Who said it?franklin delano roosevelt

Classic ad campaigns
The quote: "Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need."

When: 1920-30s

The story: This oft-quoted satirist born in Indian Territory was known for his witty one-liners, played a cowboy in a popular Broadway revue, befriended a famous aviator and was a proponent of this political movement.

Who said it?will rogers

World War II
The quote: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

When: Aug. 20, 1940

The story: This British statesman – speaking about an infamous World War II battle – went on to become his country’s only prime minister to win an esteemed prize.

Who said it?winston churchill

1960 presidential election
The quote: "Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country."

When: Jan. 20, 1961

The story: This president encouraged Americans to serve their country in his inaugural speech.

Who said it?president john f kennedy

Women's Liberation Movement of the 1960s

The quote: "A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after."

When: 1960s

The story: This writer and activist ironically got her big break at a men’s publication but went on to co-found a magazine that served as voice for the feminist movement.

Who said it?gloria steinem

Famous Quotes:Media studies
The quote: "The medium is the message."

When: 1964

The story: This Canadian scholar – whose observation can still be used to describe mass media (get the definition) today – predicted one modern-day convenience 30 years before it was invented.

Who said it?marshall mcluhan

Pop Art Movement
The quote: "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

When: 1968

The story: This New York City artist – known for painting a famous soup can – made his all-too-true prediction nearly 40 years before the first YouTube video .

Who said it?andy warhol

1969 moon landing

The quote: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

When: July 20, 1969

The story: This Apollo 11 astronaut spoke his famous line as he took his first step on the moon. Who was with him?

Who said it?neil armstrong

Major League Baseball
The quote: "Close don't count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."

When: July 1973

The story: This former player-manager – he earned this distinction in 1982 – first said this common refrain in a Time magazine interview.

Who said it?frank robinson

Famous New York Yankees

The quote: "It ain't over till it's over."

When: July 1973

The story: This quote-worthy Major League catcher and manager spent most of his career with the Bronx Bombers, and the rumor is a wisecracking cartoon bear was named after him.

Who said it?yogi berra

Famous Quotes:Presidential scandals

The quote: "I am not a crook."

When: Nov. 17, 1973

The story: In a televised interview, this president denied any involvement with the scandal that eventually pushed him out of the White House.

Who said it?President Richard Nixon