# February 10

Quotes of the day from previous years:

## 2004

    Misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than even malice and wickedness. At all events, the two latter are of less frequent occurrence. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in The Sorrows of Young Werther
   * selected by Kalki

## 2005

    Be nice to people on your way up, because you're going to meet them all on your way down. ~ Jimmy Durante (born 10 February 1893)
   * selected by Kalki

## 2006

    What for centuries raised man above the beast is not the cudgel but the irresistible power of unarmed truth. ~ Boris Pasternak (born 10 February 1890)
   * selected by Kalki

## 2007

    I have read descriptions of Paradise that would make any sensible person stop wanting to go there. ~ Charles de Montesquieu (died 10 February 1755)
   * proposed by Fys

## 2008

    Our theater must stimulate a desire for understanding, a delight in changing reality. Our audience must experience not only the ways to free Prometheus, but be schooled in the very desire to free him. Theater must teach all the pleasures and joys of discovery, all the feelings of triumph associated with liberation. ~ Bertolt Brecht (born 10 February 1898)
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2009

    Don't be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life. ~ Bertolt Brecht
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2010

    Reason gains all men, by compelling none. Mercy was always Heaven's distinguished mark: And he, who bears it not, has no friend there. ~ Aaron Hill ~
   * proposed by Fys

## 2011

    Let nothing be called natural In an age of bloody confusion, Ordered disorder, planned caprice, And dehumanized humanity, lest all things Be held unalterable! ~ Bertolt Brecht ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2012

    No one can be good for long if goodness is not in demand. ~ Bertolt Brecht
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2013

* Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
* ~ Jesus Christ ~
   * proposed by Kalki as one of the most famous and striking quotes about serpents, for the start of the Chinese Year of the Snake

## 2014

* Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions.
* ~ Bertolt Brecht ~
   * proposed by Fys

## 2015

* Don't put no constrictions on da people. Leave 'em ta hell alone.
* ~ Jimmy Durante ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2016

* Courage is poorly housed that dwells in numbers; the lion never counts the herd that are about him, nor weighs how many flocks he has to scatter.
* ~ Aaron Hill ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2017

* I think that if the beast who sleeps in man could be held down by threats — any kind of threat, whether of jail or of retribution after death — then the highest emblem of humanity would be the lion tamer in the circus with his whip, not the prophet who sacrificed himself. … What has for centuries raised man above the beast is not the cudgel but an inward music: the irresistible power of unarmed truth, the powerful attraction of its example.
* ~ Boris Pasternak ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2018

* It has always been assumed that the most important things in the Gospels are the ethical maxims and commandments. But for me the most important thing is that Christ speaks in parables taken from life, that He explains the truth in terms of everyday reality. The idea that underlies this is that communion between mortals is immortal, and that the whole of life is symbolic because it is meaningful.
* ~ Boris Pasternak ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2019

* The great majority of us are required to live a life of constant duplicity. Your health is bound to be affected if, day after day, you say the opposite of what you feel, if you grovel before what you dislike, and rejoice at what brings you nothing but misfortune. Our nervous system isn't just a fiction, it's part of our physical body, and our souls exists in space and is inside us, like the teeth in the mouth. It can't forever be violated with impunity.
* ~ Boris Pasternak ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2020

* I believe that cruelty, spite, The powers of darkness will in time Be crushed by the spirit of light.
* ~ Boris Pasternak ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2021

* What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup.
* ~ Boris Pasternak ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2022

* How sickness enlarges the dimensions of a man's self to himself! he is his own exclusive object. Supreme selfishness is inculcated upon him as his only duty.
* ~ Charles Lamb ~

## 2023

* I knew I was doing things different but at the same time I was doing things that were very natural for me … I wasn’t trying to break any rules. But I wrote the way I heard things.
* ~ Burt Bacharach ~
   * proposed by Kalki; in regard of his recent death.

## 2024

* Politics is developing more comedians than radio ever did.
* ~ Jimmy Durante ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2025

* There are many things worth living for, there are a few things worth dying for, but there is nothing worth killing for.
* ~ Tom Robbins ~
   * proposed by Kalki; in regard of his recent death.

## 2026

    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!

## Suggestions

The man who laughs has simply not yet had the terrible news. ~ Bertolt Brecht.
* 3. Fys. &#147;Ta fys aym&#148;. 23:28, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 21:05, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
* 1 Kalki (talk · contributions) 21:17, 2 February 2010 (UTC) * 2 Kalki 23:45, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
* 2 Zarbon 22:08, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
I love to lose myself in other men's minds. ~ Charles Lamb (born February 10, 1775)
* 3 InvisibleSun 21:05, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 23:45, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 22:08, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
I am determined my children shall be brought up in their father's religion, if they can find out what it is. - Charles Lamb
* 3 InvisibleSun 21:05, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 23:45, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 22:08, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
What answer can we give to the families of victims of the Karabakh movement and to those who have become disabled. Why did their sons fight? And about Turkey, we cannot leave the word genocide out of our vocabulary and forget about the 1.5 million victims. ~ Mikael Harutyunyan (born February 10)
* 3 Zarbon 05:01, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
* 1 Kalki 23:21, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
Youth is ever apt to judge in haste, And lose the medium in the wild extreme, Do not repent, but regulate your passion: Though love is reason, its excess is rage. Give me, at least, your promise to reflect, In cool, impartial solitude, and still. No last decision till we meet again. ~ Aaron Hill ~
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 17:24, 23 December 2010 (UTC)
You talk no more of that gay nation now, Where men adore their wives, and woman's power Draws reverence from a polished people's softness, Their husbands' equals, and their lovers' queens; Free without scandal; wise without restraint; Their virtue due to nature, not to fear. ~ Aaron Hill ~
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 17:24, 23 December 2010 (UTC)
Joys, which we do not know, we do not wish. ~ Aaron Hill ~
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 17:24, 23 December 2010 (UTC)
Tender-handed stroke a nettle, And it stings you for your pains; Grasp it like a man of mettle, And it soft as silk remains.
’Tis the same with common natures: Use ’em kindly, they rebel; But be rough as nutmeg-graters, And the rogues obey you well. ~ Aaron Hill ~
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 17:24, 23 December 2010 (UTC)
I say on the air all time, "if you take what I say as gospel, you're an idiot." ~ Glenn Beck
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 05:47, 22 January 2011 (UTC) with a lean toward 4; a statement by Beck which I can fully agree with, and with extreme emphasis.
When you choose the path, you choose the destination. ~ Glenn Beck
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 05:47, 22 January 2011 (UTC)
Political Correctness doesn't change us, it shuts us up. ~ Glenn Beck
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 05:47, 22 January 2011 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
Most times we're so focused on what we think we want that we can't appreciate how happy we already are. It's only when we forget about our problems and help others forget theirs that we realize how good we really have it. ~ Glenn Beck
* 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 05:47, 22 January 2011 (UTC) 4 Kalki (talk · contributions) 05:25, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
All men are created equal. It is what you do from there that makes the difference. We are all free agents in life. We make our own decisions. We control our own destiny. ~ Glenn Beck
* 3 bystander 22:19, 11 February 2012 (UTC) (I don't really like Beck, but I like the quote.)
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 01:00, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
You cannot take away freedom to protect it, you cannot destroy the free market to save it, and you cannot uphold freedom of speech by silencing those with whom you disagree. To take rights away to defend them or to spend your way out of debt defies common sense. ~ Glenn Beck
* 3 bystander 22:19, 11 February 2012 (UTC) (I don't really like Beck, but I like the quote.)
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 01:00, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
Some party hack decreed that the people had lost the government's confidence and could only regain it with redoubled effort. If that is the case, would it not be be simpler, if the government simply dissolved the people and elected another? ~ Bertolt Brecht.
* 3 bystander 22:19, 11 February 2012 (UTC) (with a lean towards 4).
* 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 01:00, 4 February 2013 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
* Don't sleep, don't sleep, artist, Don't give in to sleep. You are eternity's hostage A captive of time.
* ~ Boris Pasternak ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 18:48, 9 February 2017 (UTC)
* They don’t ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.
* ~ Boris Pasternak ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 18:48, 9 February 2017 (UTC)