# January 29

Quotes of the day from previous years:

## 2004

    I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. ~ Stephen Grellet
   * selected by Kalki

## 2005

    Time's glory is to command contending kings, To unmask falsehood, and bring truth to light. ~ William Shakespeare ~
   * selected by Kalki

## 2006

    Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring — it was peace. ~ Milan Kundera
   * selected by Kalki — 29 January 2006 is the start of the Chinese New Year 4704, a "Year of the Dog".

## 2007

    I speak an open and disinterested language, dictated by no passion but that of humanity. To me, who have not only refused offers, because I thought them improper, but have declined rewards I might with reputation have accepted, it is no wonder that meanness and imposition appear disgustful. Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good. ~ Thomas Paine
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2008

    The fear of freedom is strong in us. We call it chaos or anarchy, and the words are threatening. We live in a true chaos of contradicting authorities, an age of conformism without community, of proximity without communication. We could only fear chaos if we imagined that it was unknown to us, but in fact we know it very well. ~ Germaine Greer (born 29 January 1939)
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2009

    The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one's obsessions, is what distinguishes artists from entertainers, and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all. ~ John Updike (recent death)
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2010

    Each of us is full of too many wheels, screws and valves to permit us to judge one another on a first impression or by two or three external signs. ~ Anton Chekhov
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2011

    It is never to be expected in a revolution that every man is to change his opinion at the same moment. There never yet was any truth or any principle so irresistibly obvious that all men believed it at once. Time and reason must cooperate with each other to the final establishment of any principle; and therefore those who may happen to be first convinced have not a right to persecute others, on whom conviction operates more slowly. The moral principle of revolutions is to instruct, not to destroy. ~ Thomas Paine
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2012

    Every science has for its basis a system of principles as fixed and unalterable as those by which the universe is regulated and governed. Man cannot make principles, he can only discover them. ~ Thomas Paine
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2013

* Angels never attack, as infernal spirits do. Angels only ward off and defend.
* ~ Emanuel Swedenborg ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2014

* If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
* ~ Thomas Paine ~
   * proposed by DanielTom

## 2015

* It is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.
* ~ Thomas Paine ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2016

* Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others.
* ~ Edward Abbey ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2017

* When a person doesn’t understand something, he feels internal discord: however he doesn’t search for that discord in himself, as he should, but searches outside of himself. Thence a war develops with that which he doesn’t understand.
* ~ Anton Chekhov ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2018

* We're all undesirable elements from somebody's point of view.
* ~ Edward Abbey ~
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2019

* It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.
* ~ Thomas Paine ~
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2020

* It is ridiculous that nations are to wait and government be interrupted till boys grow to be men. Whether I have too little sense to see, or too much to be imposed upon; whether I have too much or too little pride, or of anything else, I leave out of the question; but certain it is, that what is called monarchy, always appears to me a silly, contemptible thing. I compare it to something kept behind a curtain, about which there is a great deal of bustle and fuss, and a wonderful air of seeming solemnity; but when, by any accident, the curtain happens to be open — and the company see what it is, they burst into laughter.
* ~ Thomas Paine ~
   * proposed by Illegitimate Barrister

## 2021

* He who doesn’t know how to be a servant should never be allowed to be a master; the interests of public life are alien to anyone who is unable to enjoy others' successes, and such a person should never be entrusted with public affairs.
* ~ Anton Chekhov ~
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2022

* A life of kindness is the primary meaning of divine worship.
* ~ Emanuel Swedenborg ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2023

* Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.
* ~ Edward Abbey ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2024

* Despicable means used to achieve laudable goals render the goals themselves despicable.
* ~ Anton Chekhov ~
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2025

* Advances in AI are making it easier to spread false or inauthentic information across the internet — and harder to detect it. At the same time, nations are engaging in cross-border efforts to use disinformation and other forms of propaganda to subvert elections, while some technology, media, and political leaders aid the spread of lies and conspiracy theories. This corruption of the information ecosystem undermines the public discourse and honest debate upon which democracy depends. The battered information landscape is also producing leaders who discount science and endeavor to suppress free speech and human rights, compromising the fact-based public discussions that are required to combat the enormous threats facing the world. Blindly continuing on the current path is a form of madness.
* ~ Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists ~
   * proposed by Kalki: recent remarks in setting "doomsday clock" one second closer to midnight than it has ever been.

## 2026

    Rank or add further suggestions…
Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:
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!

## Suggestions

Man is not the enemy of man but through the medium of a false system of government. ~ Thomas Paine (born January 29, 1737)
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 00:14, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. ~ Thomas Paine
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 23:12, 28 January 2007 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
* 1 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
* 3 DanielTom (talk) 14:41, 16 January 2014 (UTC)
People who live alone always have something on their minds that they would willingly share. ~ Anton Chekhov (born January 29, 1860)
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 00:14, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress. When I get tired of one I spend the night with the other. Though it's disorderly it's not so dull, and besides, neither really loses anything through my infidelity. ~ Anton Chekhov
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 2 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 00:14, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
The person who wants nothing, hopes for nothing, and fears nothing can never be an artist. ~ Anton Chekhov
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 00:29, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
* 2 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may not ever need to go there. ~ Edward Abbey
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 23:12, 28 January 2007 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
* 3 because it's true. People want many things although they may never need them. It's a perplex explanation of the human spirit and the will for things, and refuge would suffice as a perfect example, for someone to want to have it regardless of ever needing it. Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need — if only we had the eyes to see. ~ Edward Abbey
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 00:29, 29 January 2007 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
* 2 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
* 3 bystander (talk) 01:17, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself. ~ Edward Abbey
* 3 bystander (talk) 01:17, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
Next time round Hitler will be a machine. ~ Germaine Greer
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 2 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 00:14, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace, and wit, reminders of order, calm, and continuity, lakes of mental energy, neither warm nor cold, light nor dark. The pleasure they give is steady, unorgastic, reliable, deep, and long-lasting. In any library in the world, I am at home, unselfconscious, still, and absorbed. ~ Germaine Greer
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 23:12, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
Women over fifty already form one of the largest groups in the population structure of the western world. As long as they like themselves, they will not be an oppressed minority. In order to like themselves they must reject trivialization by others of who and what they are. A grown woman should not have to masquerade as a girl in order to remain in the land of the living. ~ Germaine Greer
* 3 InvisibleSun 14:15, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
Thought and beauty, like a hurricane or waves, should not know conventional, delimited forms. ~ Anton Chekhov (born 29 January 1860)
* 3 Kalki 23:12, 28 January 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:21, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
It’s not a matter of old or new forms; a person writes without thinking about any forms, he writes because it flows freely from his soul. ~ Anton Chekhov
* 3 Kalki 23:12, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:21, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
A long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason. ~ Thomas Paine (born 29 January 1737)
* 3 Kalki 23:12, 28 January 2007 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:21, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 19:21, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
Love, friendship, respect, do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something. ~ Anton Chekhov
* 4 Zarbon 06:18, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 00:14, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 21:22, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
I find war detestable but those who praise it without participating in it even more so. ~ Romain Rolland
* 3 Kalki 00:38, 27 December 2008 (UTC) with a VERY strong lean toward 4.
* 1 I don't agree with this. Zarbon 02:02, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 29 December 2008 (UTC)
Freedom begins between the ears. ~ Edward Abbey
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:23, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast... a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards. ~ Edward Abbey
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:23, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
The more corrupt a society, the more numerous its laws. ~ Edward Abbey
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:23, 19 January 2010 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothing can beat teamwork. ~ Edward Abbey
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:23, 19 January 2010 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. ~ Thomas Paine
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:23, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
* 3 DanielTom (talk) 14:41, 16 January 2014 (UTC)
It is only by the exercise of reason that man can discover God. ~ Thomas Paine
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:23, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
The word of god is the creation we behold and it is in this word, which no human invention can counterfeit or alter, that God speaketh universally to man. ~ Thomas Paine
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:23, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
Men did not make the earth... It is the value of the improvements only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property... Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds. ~ Thomas Paine
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:23, 19 January 2010 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
We are not people because of our bodies but because of our spirits.~ Emanuel Swedenborg
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:59, 8 December 2011 (UTC)
All in heaven take joy in sharing their delights and blessings with others.~ Emanuel Swedenborg
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:59, 8 December 2011 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
All religion relates to life, and the life of religion is to do good.~ Emanuel Swedenborg
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:59, 8 December 2011 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
Man knows that love is, but not what it is.~ Emanuel Swedenborg
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 23:59, 8 December 2011 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
No one ever reads a book. He reads himself through books, either to discover or to control himself. ~ Romain Rolland
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 19:31, 27 December 2011 (UTC)
It is not peace that I seek, but life. ~ Romain Rolland
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 19:31, 27 December 2011 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
Thou art not alone, and thou dost not belong to thyself. Thou art one of My voices, thou art one of My arms. Speak and strike for Me. But if the arm be broken, or the voice be weary, then still I hold My ground: I fight with other voices, other arms than thine. Though thou art conquered, yet art thou of the army which is never vanquished. Remember that and thou wilt fight even unto death. ~ Romain Rolland
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 19:31, 27 December 2011 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
* Arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not others dare not lay them aside. And while a single nation refuses to lay them down, it is proper that all should keep them up. Horrid mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them; for while avarice and ambition have a place in the heart of man, the weak will become a prey to the strong. The history of every age and nation establishes these truths, and facts need but little arguments when they prove themselves.
* ~ Thomas Paine ~
* 3.50. – Illegitimate Barrister, 13:37, 22 September 2015 (UTC)
The proof of a theory is in its reasoning, not in its sponsorship. Ludwig_von_Mises
* —This unsigned comment is by Balaji.md au (talk • contribs) . (25 January 2016)
If poverty was a man I would kill him, because poverty is behind every crime.~ Ali (Died January 29th, 661 CE from injuries from assassination ending the Rashadun caliphate.)
* 3 CensoredScribe (talk) 22:47, 28 January 2017 (UTC)