Escritas — Editor's Picks

Dylan Thomas

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

3,162

Carl Sandburg

Grass

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work
-I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and the passengers ask the conductor:

What place is this?
Where are we now?

I am the grass.
Let me work.

6,723

Wallis Simpson

Fill what's empty, empty what's

Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches.

1,174

Xenocrates

I have often regretted my

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.

752

W. B. Prescott

In any contest between power

In any contest between power and patience, bet on patience.

711

Paul Erdos

A mathematician is a device

A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.

716

Gloria Leonard

The difference between pornography and

The difference between pornography and erotica is lighting.

693

Charlton Heston

Political correctness is tyranny with

Political correctness is tyranny with manners.

952

Yogi Berra

In theory, there is no

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.

1,401

Yoda

Do, or do not. There

Do, or do not. There is no 'try'.

676

Woody Allen

Not only is there no

Not only is there no God, but try finding a plumber on Sunday.

1,616

Woody Allen

I don't want to achieve

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying.

1,202

Wolfgang Pauli

This isn't right, this isn't

This isn't right, this isn't even wrong.

896

Winston Churchill

Sometimes it is not enough

Sometimes it is not enough that we do our best; we must do what is required.

1,523

Winston Churchill

If you are going through

If you are going through hell, keep going.

1,564

Wilson Mizner

Copy from one, it's plagiarism;

Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from two, it's research.

1,098

Vince Lombardi

We didn't lose the game;

We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time.

1,087

Tom Clancy

The difference between fiction and

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.

1,084

Thomas Edison

I have not failed. I've

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

1,221

Soren Kierkegaard

People demand freedom of speech

People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.

767

Socrates

My advice to you is

My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher.

1,241

Samuel Johnson

The true measure of a

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

1,001

Sacha Guitry

You can pretend to be

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.

1,258

Robin Williams

God gave men both a

God gave men both a penis and a brain, but unfortunately not enough blood supply to run both at the same time.

1,193

Oscar Wilde

To love oneself is the

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance

1,127

Oscar Wilde

Some cause happiness wherever they

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.

1,240

Maya Angelou

I've learned that people will

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

1,128

Mario Andretti

If everything seems under control,

If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.

983

Leon Trotsky

You may not be interested

You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.

1,295

Igor Stravinsky

Too many pieces of music

Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end.

767

Henry Kissinger

The nice thing about being

The nice thing about being a celebrity is that if you bore people they think it's their fault.

1,240

Henry David Thoreau

Success usually comes to those

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it

978

H. H. Munro (Saki)

He is one of those

He is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death.

646

Galileo Galilei

I do not feel obliged

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use

1,173

Friedrich Nietzsche

When you gaze long into

When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

1,065

Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Talent does what it can;

Talent does what it can; genius does what it must.

790

Douglas MacArthur

We are not retreating we

We are not retreating we are advancing in another direction

972

Clarence Darrow

I have never killed anyone,

I have never killed anyone, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction.

1,363

Che Guevara

Silence is argument carried out

Silence is argument carried out by other means.

1,669

George Bernard Shaw

If you can't get rid

If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance.

1,235

Ernest Hemingway

Write drunk; edit sober.

1,238

Ayn Rand

You can avoid reality, but

You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.

1,276

Ambrose Bierce

Egotist: a person more interested

Egotist: a person more interested in himself than in me.

1,293

Al Capone

You can get more with

You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.

1,498

Abba Eban

His ignorance is encyclopedic

1,787

Abba Eban

A consensus means that everyone

A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually.

1,323

Oscar Wilde

As long as war is regarded as wicked

As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination.
When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular.

858

Oscar Wilde

We are all in the

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

1,194

Oscar Wilde

I can resist anything but

I can resist anything but temptation.

1,526

Oscar Wilde

Only dull people are brilliant

Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.

1,331

Oscar Wilde

Whenever people agree with me

Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.

1,326

Oscar Wilde

Illusion is the first of

Illusion is the first of all pleasures.

1,604

Oscar Wilde

God in creating Man somewhat

God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability.

1,346

Oscar Wilde

Always forgive your enemies. Nothing

Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much.

1,207

Oscar Wilde

America is the only country

America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.

1,747

Oscar Wilde

Consistency is the last resort

Consistency is the last resort of the unimaginative.

1,249

Oscar Wilde

The pure and simple truth

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.

1,149