"So many are the deaths we die Before we can be dead indeed."

--

Source : William Ernest Henley (1921). “Poems”

William Ernest Henley

“All we ask is to be let alone.”

Source : 1861 Inaugural address, 18 Feb.
“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.”
“GRINNING, DUCKING MY HEAD FOR BALANCE, I START TO SPIN WILDLY AS I CAN.Â THAT IS MY FAVORITE DANCE, BECAUSE IT CONTAINS A SECRET.Â THE FASTER I TWIRL, THE MORE I AM STILLÂ INSIDE.Â MY DANCE IS ALL MOTION WITHOUT,Â ALL SILENCE WITHIN.Â AS MUCH AS I LOVE TO MAKE MUSIC, IT'S THE UNHEARD MUSIC THAT NEVER DIES.Â AND SILENCE IS MY REAL DANCE, THOUGH IT NEVER MOVES.Â IT STANDS ASIDE, MY CHOREOGRAPHER OF GRACE, AND BLESSES EACH FINGER AND TOE.”
“It's bad if we are controlled, but if we're not, it can be even worse.”
“The open society is one in which men have learned to be to some extent critical of taboos, and to base decisions on the authority of their own intelligence.”
“We are like boxers, one never knows how much longer one has”
“I am surprised that anyone can profess to be an atheist.”
“Critics can't even make music by rubbing their back legs together.”

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