Quotes for All
I am not in favor of immortality. I believe death for humans is the way of getting rid of accumulated errors – as in trial and error. Without death, the old folks would start to gang up on the babies (the new trials). Immortality –> immortal mistakes. Esther Dyson
No idea can succeed except at the expense of sacrifice; no one ever escapes without enduring strain from the struggle of life. Ernest Renan
I am little concerned with beauty or perfection. I don’t care for the great centuries. All I care about is life, struggle, intensity. Emile Zola
Being an old maid is like death by drowning, a really delightful sensation after you cease to struggle. Edna Ferber
You had that action and counteraction which, in the natural and in the political world, from the reciprocal struggle of discordant powers draws out the harmony of the universe. Edmund Burke
The spiritual life is indeed a life of struggle; but it is also a life of well grounded hope. Hope is grounded in freedom, and freedom is grounded in all the high purposes and powers of spirit, human and divine. The last word of spirit is Victory. Edgar S. Brightman
When under the pretext of fraternity, the legal code imposes mutual sacrifices on the citizens, human nature is not thereby abrogated. Everyone will then direct his efforts toward contributing little to, and taking much from, the common fund of sacrifices. Now, is it the most unfortunate who gains from this struggle? Certainly not, but rather … Read more
If all properly economic problems were solved once for all . . . the social struggle and strife would . . . [not necessarily] be reduced in amount or intensity . . . in the absence of some moral revolution which could by no means be assumed to follow in consequence of this change itself. … Read more
The struggle is so great that the triumph over fascism alone is worth the sacrifice of our lives. Federica Montseny
We should think more about it, and accustom ourselves to the thought of death. We can’t allow the fear of death to creep up on us unexpectedly. We have to make the fear familiar, and one way is to write about it. I don’t think writing and thinking about death is characteristic only of old … Read more