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These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial and article as Freedom should not be highly rated.

Thomas Paine

The American Crisis

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Topic

Price of freedom Benefits of adversity American Revolution

Author

Thomas Paine

Source

The American Crisis

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Paine, Thomas. The American Crisis: Number 1. Philadelphia: Styner and Cist, 1776.

Current Citation

Paine, Thomas. "The American Crisis, Number I, December 19, 1776." Common Sense, The Crisis, & Other Writings from the American Revolution. Library of America, 2015.

Politics makes strange bedfellows.

Charles Dudley Warner

More information about this quote

Topic

Political coalitions Politics

Author

Charles Dudley Warner

Source

My Summer in a Garden

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1870 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Warner, Charles Dudley. My Summer in a Garden. Boston: James R Osgood, 1870, fifteenth week.

God Almighty first planted a garden; and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.

Francis Bacon

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Topic

Gardens Garden of Eden

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

Of Gardens Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1625 1620s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Bacon, Francis "Of Gardens." Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall. London: John Haviland, 1625.

Current Citation

Bacon, Francis. "Essays, or Counsels, Civil and Moral (1625): Of Gardens." Francis Bacon: The Major Works, edited by Brian Vickers. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.

On Conciliation with America

More information about this quote

Topic

Compromise

Speaker

Edmund Burke

Source

On Conciliation with America

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1775 1770s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech on Conciliation with America." House of Commons. 22 Mar. 1775, Palace of Westminster, Westminster, London, England, UK.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

There's no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves.

Frank Herbert

More information about this quote

Topic

Balance Flexibility Adaptability Waves

Speaker

Darwi Odrade

Author

Frank Herbert

Source

Chapterhouse: Dune

Genre

Science fiction

Statement Type

Advice Zen koan

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Herbert, Frank. Chapterhouse: Dune. Putnam, 1985.

Success is relative:
It is what we can make of the mess we have
made of things.

T.S. Eliot

More information about this quote

Topic

Success

Speaker

Agatha

Author

T.S. Eliot

Source

The Family Reunion

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Eliot, T. S. The Family Reunion. Performed by Michael Redgrave, Helen Haye, and Catherine Lacey. 1939, Westminster Theatre, London, England, UK, pt. 2, sc. 3.

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen

Dulce et Decorum Est

A Latin phrase, originally from Horace's Odes, meaning "it is sweet and fitting to die for the homeland."

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Topic

Dying for one's country Self-sacrifice Patriotism War

Author

Wilfred Owen

Source

Dulce et Decorum Est

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1918 1910s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Original Citation

Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." Poems by Wilfred Owen. Chatto & Windus, 1920.

Current Citation

Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." The War Poems Of Wilfred Owen. Random House UK, 2018.

The heart of another is a dark forest, always, no matter how close it has been to one’s own.

Willa Cather

The Professor's House

More information about this quote

Topic

Limits of knowledge Inscrutability Connecting with others Intimacy

Author

Willa Cather

Source

The Professor's House

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cather, Willa. The Professor's House. Alfred A. Knopf, 1925, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

Edgar Allan Poe

New York Evening Mirror

More information about this quote

Topic

Unexpected visitors Guests and visitors

Author

Edgar Allan Poe

Source

The Raven New York Evening Mirror

Medium

Poem Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1845 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Raven." New York Evening Mirror, 29 Jan. 1845, st. 1.

Current Citation

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Raven." Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales, edited by Patrick F. Quinn. Library of America, 1984, st. 1.

Happy is he who, like Ulysses, has made a glorious voyage.

Joachim Du Bellay

Les Regrets

More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of travel Travel

Author

Joachim Du Bellay

Source

Les Regrets

Medium

Poem

Language

French

Time

1558 1550s 16th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Du Bellay, Joachim. "Heureux qui, comme Ulysse, a fait un beau voyage." Les Regrets. Paris: Fédéric Morel, 1558.

Current Citation

Du Bellay, Joachim. "Happy is he who, like Ulysses, has made a fine journey." The Regrets, translated by David R. Slavitt. Northwestern University Press, 2003.

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there-
O! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!

Francis Scott Key

The Star-Spangled Banner

More information about this quote

Topic

American flag

Author

Francis Scott Key

Source

The Star-Spangled Banner

Medium

Song

Language

Engish

Time

1814 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Key, Francis Scott. "Defence of Fort M'Henry." Analectic Magazine, 1814.

Current Citation

Key, Francis Scott. The Star-Spangled Banner. Composed by John Stafford Smith. Became official national anthem of the United States on March 3, 1931.

Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden.

T.S. Eliot

Burnt Norton

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Topic

The road not taken Grass is always greener Counterfactual history

Author

T.S. Eliot

Source

Burnt Norton Four Quartets

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1936 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Eliot, T. S. “Burnt Norton.” Collected Poems 1909–1935. Harcourt, Brace And Company, 1936, pt. 1.

The very touch of the letter was as if you had taken me all into your arms.

Anaïs Nin

More information about this quote

Topic

Letters

Author

Anaïs Nin

Source

Letters of Anaïs Nin

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1932 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Nin, Anaïs and Henry Miller. "August 6, 1932." A Literate Passion: Letters of Anaïs Nin & Henry Miller, 1932-1953, edited by Gunther Stuhlmann. Harcourt Brace & Company, 1987.

The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence

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Topic

Zen Hiking Climbing mountains Spending time in nature Nature

Author

Robert M. Pirsig

Source

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1974 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pirsig, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. William Morrow and Company, 1974.

Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, had always been the systematic organization of hatreds.

Henry Adams

The Education of Henry Adams

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Topic

Political division Nature of politics Political theory Politics

Author

Henry Adams

Source

The Education of Henry Adams

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams. 1907, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Adams, Henry. "The Education of Henry Adams." Henry Adams: Democracy, Esther, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, The Education of Henry Adams, edited by Ernest Samuels and Jayne Samuels. Library of America, 1983, ch. 1.

Birth, and copulation, and death.
That's all the facts when you come to brass tacks.

T.S. Eliot

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of life Life

Speaker

Sweeney

Author

T.S. Eliot

Source

Fragment of an Agon

Language

English

Time

1932 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Eliot, T. S. "Fragment of an Agon." Sweeney Agonistes: Fragments of an Aristophanic Melodrama. Faber & Faber, 1932.

Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings.

Heinrich Heine

More information about this quote

Topic

Book burning Censorship Freedom of speech and expression Freedom Totalitarianism

Author

Heinrich Heine

Source

Almansor

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragic play

Language

German

Time

1821 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Heine, Heinrich. Almansor. 1821.

Hope raises no dust.

Paul Eluard

More information about this quote

Topic

Hope

Author

Paul Eluard

Medium

Poem

Language

French

Time

1946 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Eluard, Paul. "Ailleurs, Ici Partout." Poesie ininterrompue. Paris: Gallimard, 1946.

The test of a vocation is the love of the drudgery it involves.

Logan Pearsall Smith

More information about this quote

Topic

Vocation Work

Author

Logan Pearsall Smith

Language

English

Time

1931 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Smith, Logan Pearsall. "Art and Letters." Afterthoughts. Constable & Company, 1931.

You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?"

George Bernard Shaw

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Topic

Thinking outside the box Thinking big Creativity

Speaker

The Serpent

Author

George Bernard Shaw

Source

In the Beginning: B.C. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden) Back to Methuselah

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1921 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Shaw, George Bernard. "In the Beginning: B.C. 4004." Back to Methuselah. Penguin, 1988, pt. 1, act 1. Originally published by Constable/Brentano's, 1921.