The coldest word was once
a glowing new metaphor.
(Carlyle: Past and Present.)
Ben Jonson, «Language…»
Language most shows a man:
Speak, that I may see thee.
(Ben Jonson: Timber; or Discoveries.)
John Selden, «Syllabes…»
Syllables govern the world.
(John Selden: Table Talk.)
Rabelais, «To laugh…»
To laugh is proper to man.
(Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel.)
Jules Renard, «Look…»
Look for the ridiculous in everything
and you will find it.
(Jules Renard: Journal.)
Jean Paul Richter, «Freedom…»
Freedom produces jokes
and jokes produce freedom.
(Jean Paul Richter: Introduction to Aesthetics.)
Benjamin Whichcote, «All expectation…»
All expectation hath
something of torment.
(Benjamin Whichcote: Moral and Religious Aphorisms.)
Xavier Forneret, «The future…»
The future is a mirror
without any glass in it.
(Xavier Forneret.)
Nietzsche, «When we are tired…»
When we are tired,
we are attacked by ideas
we conquered long ago.
(Nietzsche.)
Emerson, «I pay the schoolmaster…»
I pay the schoolmaster,
but it’s the schoolboys
that educate my son.
(Emerson: Journal.)