Category: Quote of the Day

“La mejor salsa del mundo es el hambre.” (The best sauce in the world is hunger.) Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), ‘Don Quixote’ (1605) Part 2, Chapter 5

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, …

“Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach. The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment. A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of …

“They’re murdering us here. Let’s move inland and get murdered.” – Colonel Charles D. Canham, 116th Infantry Regiment commander, on Omaha Beach. June 6, 1944. (Pictured later, as a Major General.)

“Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.” Translated: Let him who desires peace, prepare for war.” – Publius Vegetius Renatus, commonly known as Vegetius, a Roman writer of the 4th Century, A.D.. (This quote is usually cited in the form: Si vis pacem, para bellum — “If you want peace, prepare for war”)  From: ‘De Rei Militari’ 3, prologue.

“Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though for but one year, can never willingly abandon it.” – Edmund Burke (1729-1797), from ‘Letter to a Member of the National Assembly’ (1791)

“We shouldn’t be stockpiling bitcoins. We should stockpiling guns, bullets, tanks, planes, drones, you know, rare earths. We know we need to do it. It’s not a mystery.” – JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, May 30, 2025

“An experienced, industrious, ambitious, and quite often picturesque liar.” – Mark Twain, from ‘Private History of a Campaign that Failed’ in Century Magazine, December 1885

“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward …

“Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord; what then should a king do to us? They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the …

“When writing your will, I suggest that you show some studied regard for what you leave in the hands of your progeny.  You should name each of your children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews with specific tangible bequests. Merely writing a Dollar sum signifies nothing.  Do not leave them toys and trifles.  Instead, leave them tools and rifles.  Specifically name for each inheritor a quantity of silver, a couple of guns, a knife, several quality hand tools, and a stack of good books — to educate and to edify. A proper bequest becomes a quest for a righteous and meaningful life.” …

“Men, you are all marksmen—don’t one of you fire until you see the white of their eyes.” – Israel Putnam (1718-1790), at Bunker Hill, 1775; as quoted in R. Frothingham’s History of the Siege of Boston (1873) ch. 5.  Note that these words were also attributed to William Prescott (1726-1795)

“It took more than 60 years between when the notion of Artificial Intelligence was first proposed and studied, and for us to reach today’s capabilities. Solving safety of superhuman intelligence—not perfect safety, safety in the sense of ‘not killing literally everyone’—could very reasonably take at least half that long. And the thing about trying this with superhuman intelligence is that if you get that wrong on the first try, you do not get to learn from your mistakes, because you are dead. Humanity does not learn from the mistake and dust itself off and try again, as in other challenges …

“Hang out our banners on the outward walls; The cry is still, ‘They come’; our castle’s strength Will laugh a siege to scorn.” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth (1606) Act 5, Scene 5

“La tyrannie est toujours mieux organisèe que la libertè.” (Translated: Tyranny is always better organized than liberty.) – Charles Pèguy (1873-1914)