Whisenton Public Scholars Quotes & Sayings

The authors of recent histories of mass killing are adamant that the idea of an unprecedented "century of genocide" (the 20th) is a myth. On their first page Chalk and Jonassohn write, "Genocide has been practiced in all regions of the world and during all periods in history," and add that their eleven case studies of pre-20th-century genocides "are not intended to be either exhaustive or representative. — Steven Pinker

I've just been playing the Trout Quintet on the phonograph. Listening to the andantino makes me want to be a trout myself. You can't help rejoicing and laughing, however moved or sad you feel, when you see the springtime clouds in the sky, the budding branches, moved by the wind, in the bright early sunlight. I'm really looking forward to the spring again. In that piece of Schubert's you can positively feel and smell the breeze and hear the birds and the whole of creation shouting for joy. — Sophie Scholl

Failures test our faith. — Lailah Gifty Akita

The Beauty raised her eyes, the only part of her that was truly beautiful. — George R R Martin

Wonder of wonders, the box had Elvis. Immediately the bar seemed a better place. She fed in coins and then punched the keys for "Hound Dog." Too bad Elvis had never recorded one called "Dickhead. — Jennifer Crusie

Communism will win. — Slavoj Zizek

Just go with it. You are a princess.'
'What does that *mean*, though?' Cam asked. 'How-'
'Oh, my God, Campbell. Be quiet!' He laughed. — Wendy Wunder

Most people lived under the illusion that they were in control of their lives, but that wasn't completely true. Yeah, you could decide what to have for breakfast and what to wear and all those little things, but as soon as you stepped out into the world, you were pretty much at the mercy of everyone else around you, and all you could do was hope that if they were having a bad day, they wouldn't decide to take it out on you. — Nicholas Sparks

The English philosopher Michael Oakeshott notes that one of the signs of being cold today is that one knows what one doesn't have to know. — Joseph Epstein