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Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end... We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.

Henry David Thoreau

Walden

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Topic

Can vs. should

Author

Henry David Thoreau

Source

Economy Walden

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1854 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Economy." Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854.

Current Citation

Thoreau, Henry David. "Economy." Walden and Civil Disobedience. Signet, 2012.

The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you.

David Foster Wallace

Infinite Jest

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Topic

The painful truth Truth

Author

David Foster Wallace

Source

Infinite Jest

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wallace, David Foster. Infinite Jest. Little, Brown and Company, 1996.

Men are never so serious, thoughtful, and intent as when they are at stool.

Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels

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Topic

Mindfulness Thinking clearly

Author

Jonathan Swift

Source

Gulliver's Travels

Genre

Satire Travel writing

Language

English

Time

1726 1720s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Swift, Jonathan. Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships. London: Benjamin Motte, 1726, pt. 3, ch. 6.

Current Citation

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels, edited by Albert J. Rivero. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001, pt. 3, ch. 6.

You gotta fight
For your right
To party.

Beastie Boys

Fight For Your Right

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Topic

Having fun

Speaker

Beastie Boys

Source

Fight For Your Right Licensed to Ill

Medium

Song

Genre

Hip hop

Language

English

Time

1986 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rubin, Rick and Adam Yauch and Adam Horovitz. "Fight for Your Right." Performed by Beastie Boys. Licensed to Ill. Def Jam Recordings/Columbia Records, 1986.

They change their skies above them,
But not their hearts that roam!

Rudyard Kipling

More information about this quote

Topic

Limitations of travel Travel

Author

Rudyard Kipling

Source

The Native-Born

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1895 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kipling, Rudyard. "The Native-Born." London Times, 1895, st. 2.

The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

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Topic

New York City

Author

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Source

The Great Gatsby

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925, ch. 4.

I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star … to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius … and a very stable genius at that!

Donald Trump

More information about this quote

Topic

American politics

Author

Donald Trump

Medium

Tweet

Language

English

Time

2018 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

@realDonaldTrump. "I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star....." Twitter, 6 Jan. 2018, 7:27a.m., https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949618475877765120. ...to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!" Twitter, 6 Jan. 2018, 7:30 a.m., https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949619270631256064.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged... On account of sex.

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Topic

Nineteenth Amendment Voting rights Women's rights Civil Rights Amendments

Source

Constitution of the United States

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

The United States Constitution. Amend. 19, sec. 1.

Current Citation

"The Constitution of the United States." The Constitution of the United States and The Declaration of Independence. Racehorse, 2016, amend. 19, sec. 1.

Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.

Abraham Lincoln

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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Topic

American Civil War American politics

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1865 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1865, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugral Address, March 4, 1865." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.

All collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago.

Herman Melville

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

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Topic

Ocean and sea

Author

Herman Melville

Source

Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Closing lines

Language

English

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. London: Richard Bentley/New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851, ch. 135.

Current Citation

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick or, The Whale. Penguin Classics, 2002, ch. 135.

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too.

Fleetwood Mac

Landslide

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Topic

Fear of change Aging

Speaker

Fleetwood Mac

Source

Landslide

Medium

Song

Genre

Pop music

Language

English

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Nicks, Stevie. "Landslide." Performed by Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac. Reprise Records, 1975.

Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.

Abraham Lincoln

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Read the full text of this speech at umich.edu

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Topic

Might makes right Justice American Civil War

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Address at Cooper Institute, New York City

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1860 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Address at Cooper Institute, New York City." 27 Feb. 1860, New York City, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Address at Cooper Institute, New York City, February 27, 1860." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

Men are what their mothers made them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fate

More information about this quote

Topic

Mothers and sons Formation of character

Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source

Fate The Conduct of Life

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1860 1860s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Fate." The Conduct of Life. Boston: Ticknor & Fields/London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1860.

Current Citation

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Fate." The Conduct of Life, edited by Barbara L. Packer, Joseph Slater, and Douglas Emory Wilson. Vol. 6, Belknap Press, 2004.

Your lamb shall be without blemish.

God

Exodus 12:5

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Topic

Sacrificial lamb

Speaker

God

Source

Exodus The Bible

Medium

Scripture

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Hebrew

Time

1405 BC 1400s BC 15th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Holy Bible: The King James Version. 1611. (Exodus 12:5).

We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full.

Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time

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Topic

Healing Suffering

Author

Marcel Proust

Source

The Fugitive In Search of Lost Time

Medium

Novel

Genre

Modernist literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

French

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Proust, Marcel. Albertine disparue [Albertine Gone]. Paris: Gallimard, 1927.

Current Citation

Proust, Marcel. The Fugitive, edited and translated by Peter Collier. Penguin Classics, 2021.

A man gonna be a man. A man is basically as faithful as his options. That’s how faithful a man is, no more, no less.

Chris Rock

Bigger & Blacker

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Read the full transcript of this special at scrapsfromtheloft.com

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Topic

Infidelity

Speaker

Chris Rock

Source

Bigger & Blacker

Medium

Comedy special

Genre

Comedy (stand up)

Language

English

Time

1999 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Rock, Chris. Bigger & Blacker. HBO, 10 July 1999.

There is a strong shadow where there is much light.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

More information about this quote

Topic

Light and shadow Contrasts Yin and yang

Speaker

Gotz von Berlichingen

Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

German

Time

1773 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Gotz von Berlichingen. 1773, act 1.

I feel your pain.

Bill Clinton

To an AIDS activist who was accusing him of avoiding the issue of AIDS.

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Topic

Empathy American politics

Speaker

Bill Clinton

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Clinton, Bill. Response to AIDS activist Bob Rafsky. 26 Mar, 1992. Laura Belle Nightclub, New York, NY, USA.

Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky.

T.S. Eliot

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Topic

Adventure Beginning of a journey

Author

T.S. Eliot

Source

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1915 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Eliot, T. S. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Poetry: A Magazine of Verse, June 1915, I. 1.

Current Citation

Eliot, T. S. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." The Waste Land and Other Poems. Vintage, 2021, I. 1.

They are unanimous in their hatred for me-and I welcome their hatred.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

On his political opponents.

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More information about this quote

Topic

Eff the haters Hate Political conflict

Speaker

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1936 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. Reelection campaign speech. 31 Oct. 1936, Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, USA.