November 2

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

We’d all like t’vote fer th’best man, but he’s never a candidate. ~ Kin Hubbard

selected by Kalki

2005

Courage! I have shown it for years; think you I shall lose it at the moment when my sufferings are to end? ~ Marie Antoinette (born 2 November 1755)

proposed by Kalki

2006

It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness. ~ Marie Antoinette

proposed by Kalki

2007

By the theory of our Government majorities rule, but this right is not an arbitrary or unlimited one. It is a right to be exercised in subordination to the Constitution and in conformity to it. One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just rights. Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression. ~ James K. Polk (born 2 November 1795)

proposed by InvisibleSun

2008

You know, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"? It's the same with powerlessness. Absolute powerlessness corrupts absolutely. Einstein said everything had changed since the atom was split, except the way we think. We have to think anew. ~ Studs Terkel (recent death)

proposed by InvisibleSun

2009

Hunting hawks do not belong in cages, no matter how much a man covets their grace, no matter how golden the bars. They are far more beautiful soaring free. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

proposed by Zarbon

2010

Being desirous of allaying the dissensions of party strife now existing within our realm, I do hereby dissolve and abolish the Democratic and Republican parties, and also do hereby decree the disfranchisement and imprisonment, for not more than 10, nor less than five, years, to all persons leading to any violation of this our imperial decree. ~ Joshua A. Norton (US Election Day 2010)

proposed by Kalki

2011

All great human deeds both consume and transform their doers. Consider an athlete, or a scientist, or an artist, or an independent business creator. In the service of their goals they lay down time and energy and many other choices and pleasures; in return, they become most truly themselves. A false destiny may be spotted by the fact that it consumes without transforming, without giving back the enlarged self. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

proposed by Kalki

2012

Tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2013

Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself. … Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2014

Men may move mountains, but ideas move men.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2015

Those who can, do; those who can't, teach. And those who can't teach, go into administration.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2016

Like integrity, love of life was not a subject to be studied, it was a contagion to be caught. And you had to catch it from someone who had it.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2017

The general laws of Nature are not, for the most part, immediate objects of perception. They are either inductive inferences from a large body of facts, the common truth in which they express, or, in their origin at least, physical hypotheses of a causal nature serving to explain phenomena with undeviating precision, and to enable us to predict new combinations of them. They are in all cases, and in the strictest sense of the term, probable conclusions, approaching, indeed, ever and ever nearer to certainty, as they receive more and more of the confirmation of experience. But of the character of probability, in the strict and proper sense of that term, they are never wholly divested. On the other hand, the knowledge of the laws of the mind does not require as its basis any extensive collection of observations. The general truth is seen in the particular instance, and it is not confirmed by the repetition of instances.

~ George Boole ~

proposed by Kalki

2018

I was suddenly arrested by what seemed to be an awful voice proclaiming the words, "Eternity! Eternity! Eternity!" It reached my very soul — my whole man shook — it brought me like Saul to the ground. The great depravity and sinfulness of my heart were set before me, and the gulf of everlasting destruction to which I was verging. I was made to bitterly cry out, "If there is no God — doubtless there is a hell." I found myself in the midst of it.

~ Stephen Grellet ~

proposed by Kalki — in regard to Grellet's date of birth, and All Soul's Day.

2019

The really unforgivable acts are committed by calm men in beautiful green silk rooms, who deal death wholesale, by the shipload, without lust, or anger, or desire, or any redeeming emotion to excuse them but cold fear of some pretended future. But the crimes they hope to prevent in that future are imaginary. The ones they commit in the present — they are real.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2020

If you desire a man to tell you comfortable lies about your prowess, and so fetter any hope of true excellence, I'm sure you may find one anywhere. Not all prisons are made of iron bars. Some are made of feather beds.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2021

A lot of writers write as if the hero sort of popped out of the box at age 22 fully formed. And one thing that raising children does is give you some sense of how human beings really are put together. So when you go to put together a character you can have a more realistic sense of where people really come from, why they really behave the way they do and what a tremendous amount of life and complexity lies behind every human being.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2022

There is no safety. Only varying states of risk. And failure.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2023

War is not its own end, except in some catastrophic slide into absolute damnation. It’s peace that’s wanted. Some better peace than the one you started with.

~ Lois McMaster Bujold ~

proposed by Kalki

2024

I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.

~ Stephen Grellet ~

proposed by Zarbon

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!

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His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. ~ Arthur Balfour, in a letter sent that day.

3 ~ MosheZadka (Talk) 10:18, 30 October 2005 (UTC)
0 Zarbon 17:15, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
1 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

I put on my rouge and wash my hands in front of the whole world! ~ Marie Antoinette (date of birth)

3 Kalki 16:11, 1 November 2005 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 18:28, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
2 Zarbon 17:15, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
2 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
0 because it is unsourced. InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

I prefer to supervise the whole operations of the government myself rather than entrust the public business to subordinates, and this makes my duties very great. ~ James K. Polk

3 because if you want something done, it's best to do it yourself. Zarbon 04:04, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
2 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

I was a queen, and you took away my crown; a wife, and you killed my husband; a mother, and you deprived me of my children. My blood alone remains: take it, but do not make me suffer long. ~ Marie Antoinette (born November 2)

3 because this is a brilliant quote. To die quickly and save oneself the trouble of suffering. Damn brilliant. Zarbon 01:21, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
2 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
0 because it is unsourced. InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies in a fight. But my friends, my goddamned friends, they're the ones who keep me walking the floor at nights! ~ Warren G. Harding

3 Zarbon 03:59, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
2 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Zarbon 04:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
3 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Those who do not know their history are doomed to keep stepping in it. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Zarbon 04:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
3 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

A weapon is a device for making your enemy change his mind. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Zarbon 04:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
1 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Seems to me the only difference between your friends and your enemies is how long they stand around chatting before they shoot you. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Zarbon 04:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
1 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
2 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

If it ever came down to exerting power by force, it would mean I'd already lost it. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

2 Zarbon 04:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
2 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
3 InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Leadership is mostly a power over imagination, and never more so than in combat. The bravest man alone can only be an armed lunatic. The real strength lies in the ability to get others to do your work. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Zarbon 04:36, 7 July 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:52, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
1 Antiquary 21:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
1 InvisibleSun 22:42, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

No general method for the solution of questions in the theory of probabilities can be established which does not explicitly recognize, not only the special numerical bases of the science, but also those universal laws of thought which are the basis of all reasoning, and which, whatever they may be as to their essence, are at least mathematical as to their form. ~ George Boole

- 3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
2 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

Good soldiers never pass up a chance to eat or sleep. They never know how much they'll be called on to do before the next chance. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
2 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

Endure pain, find joy, and make your own meaning, because the universe certainly isn't going to supply it. Always be a moving target. Live. Live. Live. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
2 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

Power is a live thing, by which you reach out to grasp the future. Revenge is a dead thing, reaching out from the past to grasp you. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
4 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

A hundred objective measurements didn't sum the worth of a garden; only the delight of its users did that. Only the use made it mean something. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
2 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

We don't just march on the future, we charge it. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
2 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

I can love you. I can grieve for you, or with you. I can share your pain. But I cannot judge you. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
3 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

If you make it plain you like people, it's hard for them to resist liking you back. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
1 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

If the truth doesn't save us, what does that say about us? ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
2 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

Surely only correct understanding could lead to correct action. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
3 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

The gods’ most savage curses come upon us as answers to our own prayers, you know. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

3 Kalki 23:38, 1 November 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
2 Zarbon (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

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