August 28

August 28

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003

Certain old men prefer to rise at dawn, taking a cold bath and a long walk with an empty stomach and otherwise mortifying the flesh. They then point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy health and ripe years; the truth being that they are hearty and old, not because of their habits, but in spite of them. The reason we find only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the others who have tried it. ~ The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce

• selected by Nanobug

2004

It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing. ~ Muhammad

• selected by Kalki

2005

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood... I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today... ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

• proposed by MosheZadka, expanded from the first Wikiquote Quote of the Day, selected by Nanobug.

2006

Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

• proposed by Kalki

2007

Moderation, the Golden Mean, the Aristonmetron, is the secret of wisdom and of happiness. But it does not mean embracing an unadventurous mediocrity: rather it is an elaborate balancing-act, a feat of intellectual skill demanding constant vigilance. Its aim is a reconciliation of opposites. ~ Robertson Davies

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2008

To which of the warring serpents should I turn with the problem that now faces me?
It is easy, and tempting, to choose the god of Science. Now I would not for a moment have you suppose that I am one of those idiots who scorns Science, merely because it is always twisting and turning, and sometimes shedding its skin, like the serpent that is its symbol. It is a powerful god indeed but it is what the students of ancient gods called a shape-shifter, and sometimes a trickster. ~ Robertson Davies

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2009

What is the use of being wise if we are not sometimes merry? The merriment of wise men is not the uninformed, gross fun of ignorant men, but it has more kinship with that than the pinched, frightened fun of those who are neither learned nor ignorant, gentle nor simple, bound nor free. The idea that a wise man must be solemn is bred and preserved among people who have no idea what wisdom is, and can only respect whatever makes them feel inferior. ~ Robertson Davies

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2010

The ironist is not bitter, he does not seek to undercut everything that seems worthy or serious, he scorns the cheap scoring-off of the wisecracker. He stands, so to speak, somewhat at one side, observes and speaks with a moderation which is occasionally embellished with a flash of controlled exaggeration. He speaks from a certain depth, and thus he is not of the same nature as the wit, who so often speaks from the tongue and no deeper. The wit's desire is to be funny; the ironist is only funny as a secondary achievement. ~ Robertson Davies

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2011

Love does not dominate, it cultivates. And that is more. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

• proposed by Kalki

2012

The best among our writers are doing their accustomed work of mirroring what is deep in the spirit of our time; if chaos appears in those mirrors, we must have faith that in the future, as always in the past, that chaos will slowly reveal itself as a new aspect of order.

~ Robertson Davies ~

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2013

To be apt in quotation is a splendid and dangerous gift. Splendid, because it ornaments a man's speech with other men's jewels; dangerous, for the same reason.

~ Robertson Davies ~

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2014

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state, sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.  I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

• proposed by allixpeeke

2015

⨀ My name is Harrison Bergeron. I am a fugitive, and a public threat. I am an abomination of the able. I am an exception to the accepted. I am the greatest man you have never known. And for the last six years, I have been held prisoner by the state — sentenced, without trial, to torture without end. They… had hoped to destroy in me any trace of the extraordinary … but the extraordinary, it seems, was simply out of their reach. So now I stand before you today, beaten, hobbled, and sickened … but, sadly, not broken. And I say to you, that if it is greatness we must destroy, then let us drag our enemy out of the darkness, where it has been hiding. Let us shine a light so, at last, all the world can see!

~ 2081 ~

• proposed by allixpeeke

2016

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

• proposed by allixpeeke

2017

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• proposed by Kalki

2018

Everyone thinks they can write a play; you just write down what happened to you. But the art of it is drawing from all the moments of your life.

~ Neil Simon ~

• proposed by Kalki, in regard to his recent death.

2019

What dazzles, for the Moment spends its spirit: What's genuine, shall Posterity inherit.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~ in ~ Faust ~

• proposed by Kalki

2020

I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.

~ Donald Trump ~

• proposed by Kalki, in regard of abiding assertions regarding his role as President of the United States of America.

2021

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• proposed by Kalki

2022

Behaviour is a mirror in which everyone shows his image.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• proposed by Kalki

2023

The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

• proposed by Kalki; for the 60th anniversary of the delivery of the famous "I Have a Dream" speech on 28 August 1963.

2024

Nothing is more frightful than to see ignorance in action.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• proposed by Kalki

2025

Rank or add further suggestions…

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

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2 : Good – some desire to see it used.

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

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Suggestions

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It is mankind's discovery of language which more than any other single thing has separated him from the animal creation. Without language, what concept have we of past or future as separated from the immediate present? Without language, how can we tell anyone what we feel, or what we think? It might be said that until he developed language, man had no soul, for without language how could he reach deep inside himself and discover the truths that are hidden there, or find out what emotions he shared, or did not share, with his fellow men and women. ~ Robertson Davies

• 3 InvisibleSun 10:24, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 23:07, 25 August 2007 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
• 1 Zarbon 16:20, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2.5 //Gbern3 (talk) 01:55, 15 August 2013 (UTC)
• 3 allixpeeke (talk) 08:58, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

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When young, one is confident to be able to build palaces for mankind, but when the time comes one has one's hands full just to be able to remove their trash. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (dob)

• 3 bystander (talk) 16:33, 26 August 2012 (UTC)
• 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 01:55, 15 August 2013 (UTC)
• 3 (leaning toward 2 because of the poor grammar; "one" is singular while "their" is plural) allixpeeke (talk) 08:58, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

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I had much rather be myself the slave, And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him. We have no slaves at home–Then why abroad? And they themselves once ferried o'er the wave That parts us are emancipate and loosed. Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free. They touch our country, and their shackles fall. That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud And jealous of the blessing.  Spread it then, And let it circulate through every vein Of all your empire; that, where Britain's power Is felt, mankind may feel her mercy too.

~ William Cowper ~

Note: According to this page, "The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 receives Royal Assent, abolishing slavery through most the British Empire" on 28 August 1833.

• 3 allixpeeke (talk) 08:58, 25 August 2014 (UTC)
• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 13:29, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

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When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.  This note was a promise that all men, yes black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

Note: King's "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered on 28 August 1963.  This quote is from said speech.

• 3 allixpeeke (talk) 10:05, 25 August 2014 (UTC)
• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 13:29, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

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Racism is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism.  It is the notion of ascribing moral, social or political significance to a man's genetic lineage—the notion that a man's intellectual and characterological traits are produced and transmitted by his internal body chemistry.  Which means, in practice, that a man is to be judged, not by his own character and actions, but by the characters and actions of a collective of ancestors. Racism claims that the content of a man's mind (not his cognitive apparatus, but its content) is inherited; that a man's convictions, values and character are determined before he is born, by physical forces beyond his control.  This is the caveman's version of the doctrine of innate ideas—or of inherited knowledge—which has been thoroughly refuted by philosophy and science.  Racism is a doctrine of, by and for brutes.

~ Ayn Rand ~

Note: King's "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered on 28 August 1963.  This quote was written around the same time as King's speech.

• 3 (very strongly leaning toward 4) allixpeeke (talk) 10:05, 25 August 2014 (UTC)
• 3, but tenuously; I like the quote, but the link to the date seems tenuous. ~ ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 13:29, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

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I'm fairly certain YOLO is Carpe Diem for stupid people.

~ Jack Black ~

Note: Jack Black was born 28 August 1969.

• 2 (leaning toward 3) allixpeeke (talk) 10:21, 25 August 2014 (UTC)
• 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 13:29, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

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First you have to know—not fear, know—that, someday, you're gonna die.

~ Tyler Durden in Fight Club ~

Note: The film Fight Club was directed by David Fincher who, in turn, was born 28 August 1962.

• 3 allixpeeke (talk) 10:21, 25 August 2014 (UTC)
• 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 13:29, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

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The first and last thing demanded of genius is love of truth.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

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You ask which form of government is the best? Whichever teaches us to govern ourselves.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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Piety is not an end but a means to attain by the greatest peace of mind the highest degree of culture. This is why we may say that those who parade piety as a purpose and an aim mostly turn into hypocrites.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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A noble person attracts noble people, and knows how to hold on to them.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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Investigate what is, and not what pleases.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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The greatest happiness for the thinking man is to have fathomed the fathomable, and to quietly revere the unfathomable.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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Age does not make us childish, as they say. It only finds us true children still.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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There are occasions ... when all consolation is base and it is a duty to despair.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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A world without love would be no world.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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The deed is everything, the glory nothing.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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All perishable is but an allegory.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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All poetry is supposed to be instructive but in an unnoticeable manner; it is supposed to make us aware of what it would be valuable to instruct ourselves in; we must deduce the lesson on our own, just as with life.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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One must be something in order to do something.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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The man who, solely from regard to the opinion of others, and without any wish or necessity of his own, toils after gold, honour, or any other phantom, is no better than a fool.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~ in ~ The Sorrows of Young Werther ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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One never goes so far as when one doesn't know where one is going.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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Life teaches us to be less harsh with ourselves and with others.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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One lives but once in the world.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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All that must disappear Is but a parable; What lay beyond us, here All is made visible; Here deeds have understood Words they were darkened by; The Eternal Feminine Draws us on high.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~ in ~ Goethe's Faust ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.

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There is strong shadow where there is much light.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 06:30, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

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"Hughie, get your tanks off my lawn."" -- Harold Wilson

• Submitted by DarcyTy 1 (talk · contributions)
• 1, with a lean toward 0; this appears to have no strong relation to this date and does not seem a highly notable statement. ~ ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 07:07, 26 August 2018 (UTC)

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When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 27 August 2023 (UTC)

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This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 27 August 2023 (UTC)

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Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state, sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 27 August 2023 (UTC) (even though most of this one has already been used previously, in 2014)

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I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 27 August 2023 (UTC)

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This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 27 August 2023 (UTC)

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