"In general, life is better than it has ever been, and if you think that, in the past, there was some golden age of pleasure and plenty to which you would, if you were able, transport yourself, let me say one single word : Dentistry."

-- P. J. O'Rourke

#Past Quotes #Thinking Quotes #History Quotes

“Let no man dare, when I am dead. to charge me with dishonor; let no man attaint my memory by believing that I could have engaged in any cause but that of my country's liberty and independence, or that I could have become the pliant minion of power in the oppression or the miseries of my countrymen.”

Source : Charles Phillips, John Philpot Curran, Henry Grattan, Robert Emmet (1834). “Irish Eloquence: The Speeches of the Celebrated Irish Orators: Phillips, Curran and Grattan, to which is Added the Powerful Appeal of Robert Emmett, at the Close of His Trial for High Treason”, p.369
“As a composer seeking to remain anonymous I am shy of confessing my musical activity. This is intelligible enough. For others it is their chief business, the occupation and aim of life. For me it is a relaxation, a pastime which distracts me from my principal business, my professorship. I love my profession and my science. I love the Academy and my pupils, male and female, because to direct the work of young people, one must be close to them.”
“I assumed from the outset that photography was already art, and that I and other people working in photography were artists. I understand now that this was a minority point of view.”
“To make music means to express human intelligence by sonic means. This is intelligence in its broadest sense, which includes not only the peregrinations of pure logic but also the "logic" of emotions and intuition. My musical techniques, although often rigorous in their internal structure, leave many openings through which the most complex and mysterious factors of the intelligence may penetrate.”
“I didn't know love felt like this, like turning into brightness.”
“I guess my biggest influence was actually my Grandfather. He used to play old records on vinyl, and would play old jazz and soul music like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and The Rat Pack and swing music.”
“It is so seldom in this world that things come just when they are wanted ...”

Source : Margaret Oliphant (2015). “Delphi Works of Margaret Oliphant with Complete Stories of the Seen and Unseen”, p.2376, Delphi Classics
“It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right.”

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