Seemes Library Quotes & Sayings

I do not believe, from what I have been told about this people, that there is anything barbarous or savage about them, except that we all call barbarous anything that is contrary to our own habits. — Michel De Montaigne

(about William Blake)
As for Blake's happiness
a man who knew him said: "If asked whether I ever knew among the intellectual, a happy man, Blake would be the only one who would immediately occur to me."
And yet this creative power in Blake did not come from ambition ... He burned most of his own work. Because he said, "I should be sorry if I had any earthly fame, for whatever natural glory a man has is so much detracted from his spiritual glory. I wish to do nothing for profit. I wish to live for art. I want nothing whatever. I am quite happy."
... He did not mind death in the least. He said that to him it was just like going into another room. On the day of his death he composed songs to his Maker and sang them for his wife to hear. Just before he died his countenance became fair, his eyes brightened and he burst into singing of the things he saw in heaven. — Brenda Ueland

There's no money in poetry, but there's no poetry in money, either. — Robert Graves

The hour of happiness which comes unexpectedly is the happiest. — Horace

It wasn't so much that I was in search of answers. In fact, I was wary of the whole idea of answers. I wanted to climb all the way inside of the questions and see what was there. — Dani Shapiro

People are roasting each other at parties, at work events, around the fire. It's so fun. People are busting each other's chops, and it's a sign of affection, truly. It's a true test of love and friendship: can you make a man laugh at himself? So what makes a good burn? Go after targets you love and respect. And hit 'em hard. — Jeff Ross

What's to stop the populace from decrying you as a witch and rising against you?"
"I don't know. A couple hundred years of social evolution, combined with a general failure to believe in anything that doesn't have a Wikipedia entry? — Seanan McGuire

The - the prophecy ... the prediction ... Trelawney ... "
"Ah, yes. How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"
"Everything - everything I heard! That is why - it is for that reason - he thinks it means Lily Evans!"
"The prophecy did not refer to a woman. It spoke of a boy born at the end of July - "
"You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down - kill them all - "
"If she means so much to you, surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?"
"I have - I have asked him - "
"You disgust me. — J.K. Rowling

Sometimes when she thought of Eric, and now more powerfully when she saw him, she felt some achy nostalgia for her old self. For the dauntless, daring soul she used to be. There were certain qualities you possessed carelessly. And you couldn't retrieve them when they were gone. — Ann Brashares

If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories. — Richard M. Nixon

Many of our choices have led to the predicaments we are presently complaining about. — Monica Johnson

I want to see everyone contribute to the overall costs of the system, and with their entire earnings. I'm convinced that an objective discussion will reveal that the differences between the parties, which have been greatly exaggerated in some quarters, aren't that significant after all. — Angela Merkel

What?"
"You're so neat," she said, looking almost embarrassed.
He glanced pointedly over his shoulder. "There are four hundred on the other side of this door."
"But you're ruining me."
"I can't do it neatly? — Julia Quinn