October 21

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

It doesn't matter if we were down 3-0. You've just got to keep the faith. The game is not over until the last out. ~ David Ortiz

selected by Kalki

2005

Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration. ~ Thomas Alva Edison (tested first practical light bulb 21 October 1879)

proposed by MosheZadka

2006

He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

proposed by InvisibleSun

2007

All thoughts, all passions, all delights,
Whatever stirs this mortal frame,
All are but ministers of Love,
And feed his sacred flame.
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

proposed by Kalki

2008

You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A wizard's power of Changing and Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

proposed by Zarbon

2009

Should children be permitted to read Romances, & Relations of Giants & Magicians, & Genii? — I know all that has been said against it; but I have formed my faith in the affirmative. — I know no other way of giving the mind a love of "the Great," & "the Whole." — Those who have been led by the same truths step by step thro' the constant testimony of their senses, seem to me to want a sense which I possess — They contemplate nothing but parts — and all parts are necessarily little — and the Universe to them is but a mass of little things. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

proposed by InvisibleSun

2010

If we must all agree, all work together, we're no better than a machine. If an individual can't work in solidarity with his fellows, it's his duty to work alone. His duty and his right. We have been denying people that right. We've been saying, more and more often, you must work with the others, you must accept the rule of the majority. But any rule is tyranny. The duty of the individual is to accept no rule, to be the initiator of his own acts, to be responsible. Only if he does so will the society live, and change, and adapt, and survive. We are not subjects of a State founded upon law, but members of a society founded upon revolution. Revolution is our obligation: our hope of evolution. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin, in The Dispossessed

proposed by Kalki

2011

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
~ Robert Frost ~

proposed by Kalki ("End of the world" prophesied on this date by some... )

2012

To love for the sake of being loved is human, but to love for the sake of loving is angelic.

~ Alphonse de Lamartine ~

proposed by Zarbon

2013

It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end.

~ Ursula K. Le Guin ~

proposed by Zarbon

2014

If a man is not rising upwards to be an angel, depend upon it, he is sinking downwards to be a devil. He cannot stop at the beast. The most savage of men are not beasts; they are worse, a great deal worse.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

proposed by Kalki

2015

Veracity does not consist in saying, but in the intention of communicating truth.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

proposed by Kalki

2016

All knowledge is local, all truth is partial. … No truth can make another truth untrue. All knowledge is part of the whole knowledge. … Once you have seen the larger pattern, you cannot get back to seeing the part as the whole.

~ Ursula K. Le Guin ~

proposed by Kalki

2017

The poet, described in ideal perfection, brings the whole soul of man into activity, with the subordination of its faculties to each other according to their relative worth and dignity. He diffuses a tone and spirit of unity, that blends, and (as it were) fuses, each into each, by that synthetic and magical power, to which I would exclusively appropriate the name of Imagination.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

proposed by Kalki

2018

It is of the nature of idea to be communicated: written, spoken, done. The idea is like grass, It craves light, likes crowds, thrives on crossbreeding, grows better for being stepped on.

~ Ursula K. Le Guin ~

proposed by Ningauble

2019

If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind us!

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

proposed by InvisibleSun

2020

I pass, like night, from land to land;
I have strange power of speech;
That moment that his face I see,
I know the man that must hear me:
To him my tale I teach.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~
in
~ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ~

proposed by InvisibleSun

2021

Great artists make the roads; good teachers and good companions can point them out. But there ain't no free rides, baby. No hitchhiking. And if you want to strike out in any new direction — you go alone. With a machete in your hand and the fear of God in your heart.

~ Ursula K. Le Guin ~

proposed by Kalki

2022

I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability.
Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills.
Putin's illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent.
And our country had been held back for too long by low economic growth.
I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this.
We delivered on energy bills and on cutting national insurance.
And we set out a vision for a low tax, high growth economy — that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit.
I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.
I have therefore spoken to His Majesty The King to notify him that I am resigning as Leader of the Conservative Party.

~ Liz Truss ~

proposed by Kalki

2023

Every reform, however necessary, will by weak minds be carried to an excess, that itself will need reforming.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

proposed by Kalki

2024

True myth may serve for thousands of years as an inexhaustible source of intellectual speculation, religious joy, ethical inquiry, and artistic renewal. The real mystery is not destroyed by reason. The fake one is. You look at it and it vanishes. You look at the Blond Hero — really look — and he turns into a gerbil. But you look at Apollo, and he looks back at you. The poet Rilke looked at a statue of Apollo about fifty years ago, and Apollo spoke to him. “You must change your life,” he said. When true myth rises into consciousness, that is always its message. You must change your life.

~ Ursula K. Le Guin ~

proposed by Kalki

2025: Rank or add further suggestions…

The Quote of the Day (QOTD) is a prominent feature of the Wikiquote Main Page. Thank you for submitting, reviewing, and ranking suggestions!

Ranking system

4 : Excellent – should definitely be used. (This is the utmost ranking and should be used by any editor for only one quote at a time for each date.)

3 : Very Good – strong desire to see it used.

2 : Good – some desire to see it used.

1 : Acceptable – but with no particular desire to see it used.

0 : Not acceptable – not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.

An averaging of the rankings provided to each suggestion produces it’s general ranking in considerations for selection of Quote of the Day. The selections made are usually chosen from the top ranked options existing on the page, but the provision of highly ranked late additions, especially in regard to special events (most commonly in regard to the deaths of famous people, or other major social or physical occurrences), always remain an option for final selections.

Thank you for participating!

The Earth with its scarred face is the symbol of the Past; the Air and Heaven, of Futurity. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

3 InvisibleSun 03:23, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
3 Kalki 00:17, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 05:22, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

He told me that facts gave birth to, and were the absolute ground of, principles; to which I said, that unless he had a principle of selection, he would not have taken notice of those facts upon which he grounded his principle. You must have a lantern in your hand to give light, otherwise all the materials in the world are useless, for you cannot find them; and if you could, you could not arrange them. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

3 InvisibleSun 03:23, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
3 Kalki 21:59, 20 October 2006 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
1 Zarbon 05:22, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

There is still a difference between something and nothing, but it is purely geometrical and there is nothing behind the geometry. ~ Martin Gardner

2 Zarbon 16:52, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
3 DanielTom (talk) 13:02, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied. ~ Alfred Nobel

2 Zarbon 16:52, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
3 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace. ~ Alfred Nobel

2 Zarbon 16:52, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

O time, arrest your flight! and you, propitious hours, arrest your course! Let us savor the fleeting delights of our most beautiful days! ~ Alphonse de Lamartine

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Limited in his nature, infinite in his desires, man is a fallen god who remembers the heavens. ~ Alphonse de Lamartine

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

What is our life but a succession of preludes to that unknown song whose first solemn note is sounded by death? ~ Alphonse de Lamartine

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Sometimes, only one person is missing, and the whole world seems depopulated. ~ Alphonse de Lamartine

4 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

I am often asked how I got into the business. I didn't. The business got into me. ~ Leo Burnett

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

We are not saved because we're good. We're good because we're saved. ~ Rich Mullins

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours. ~ Rich Mullins

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

My political opponents can have their pound of flesh, and they do, but they will not eat into my beliefs, what I stand for and have done in politics. That is the inner steel in me. ~ Peter Mandelson

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

In my orchestra, I hate slackness, idle talk and lost time. I always hated this and still hate it. But I can achieve much more when I am quiet and not shouting. ~ Georg Solti

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Between the two men, somewhere, a truth is lying, and that is what I try to find. ~ Georg Solti

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

To hear, one must be silent. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
3 DanielTom (talk) 13:02, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

Light is the left hand of darkness
and darkness the right hand of light.
Two are one, life and death, lying
together like lovers in kemmer,
like hands joined together,
like the end and the way. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

I haven't any strength, I haven't any character, I'm a born tool. I haven't any destiny. All I have is dreams. And now other people run them. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

2 Zarbon 17:27, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 19:40, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 21:37, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? — it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-by. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies. ~ Jack Kerouac, On The Road

—This unsigned comment is by D is for d (talk • contribs) .

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

I would not leave anything to a man of action as he would be tempted to give up work; on the other hand, I would like to help dreamers as they find it difficult to get on in life. ~ Alfred Nobel

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

To oppose vulgarity is inevitably to be vulgar. You must go somewhere else; you must have another goal; then you walk another road. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

All of us have to learn how to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them. We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don't, our lives get made up for us by other people. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

You cannot buy the Revolution. You cannot make the Revolution. You can only be the Revolution. It is in your spirit or, it is nowhere. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin, in The Dispossessed

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.

The Revolution is in the individual spirit, or it is nowhere. It is for all, or it is nothing. If it is seen as having any end, it will never truly begin. We can't stop here. We must go on. We must take the risks. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin, in The Dispossessed

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.

With the myth of the State out of the way, the real mutuality and reciprocity of society and individual became clear. Sacrifice might be demanded of the individual, but never compromise: for though only the society could give security and stability, only the individual, the person, had the power of moral choice — the power of change, the essential function of life. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin, in The Dispossessed

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
3 DutchOff (talk) 02:30, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

The bond that binds us is beyond choice. We are brothers. We are brothers in what we share. In pain, which each of us must suffer alone, in hunger, in poverty, in hope, we know our brotherhood. We know it, because we have been forced to learn it. We know that there is no help for us but from one another, that no hand will save us if we do not reach out our hand. And the hand that you reach out is empty, as mine is. You have nothing. You possess nothing. You own nothing. You are free. All you have is what you are, and what you give. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin, in The Dispossessed

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.

During the act of knowledge itself, the objective and subjective are so instantly united, that we cannot determine to which of the two the priority belongs. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

The primary Imagination I hold to be the living power and prime agent of all human perception, and as a repetition in the finite mind of the eternal act of creation in the infinite I AM. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.

Joy is the sweet voice, Joy the luminous cloud —
We in ourselves rejoice!
And thence flows all that charms or ear or sight,
All melodies the echoes of that voice,
All colours a suffusion from that light.
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.

No man was ever yet a great poet, without being at the same time a profound philosopher. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

3 Kalki 18:55, 20 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

October 21

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October 21

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