The stability and peace which seemed to be so firmly established by the brilliant monarchy of Francis I vanished with the terrible outbreak of the Wars of Religion. – Lytton Strachey
A single gnomic line can come to resonate with centuries of subsequent wisdom. – Gary Saul Morson, The Words of Others: From Quotations to Culture, 2011
I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant. – H. L. Mencken