Only Socrates knew, after a lifetime of unceasing labor, that he was ignorant. Now every high-school student knows that. How did it become so easy? – Allan Bloom
The dust and odour of ancient libraries, the gloom of those crypts of literature, have… all the charm of freshest images and freshest poetry. – Alexandre Vinet (1797–1847)
I believe it was Gayelord Hauser, the nutritionist, who said that “you are what you eat,” but if you happen to be an intellectual, you are what you quote. – Joseph Epstein, “Quotatious,” A Line Out for a Walk: Familiar Essays, 1991
Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are like men eating cherries or oysters: they choose out the best at first, and end by eating all. – Sébastien-Roch Nicolas
