# October 2

Quotes of the day from previous years:

## 2004

    Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before. ~ Mae West
   * selected by Kalki

## 2005

    There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone. ~ Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone
   * proposed by Kalki The first episode of The Twilight Zone, "Where is Everybody?" aired on 2 October 1959.

## 2006

A man and a woman Are one. A man and a woman and a blackbird Are one. ~ Wallace Stevens ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2007

    If there must be a god in the house, must be, Saying things in the room and on the stair,
Let him move as the sunlight moves on the floor, Or moonlight, silently, as Plato's ghost
Or Aristotle's skeleton. Let him hang out His stars on the wall. He must dwell quietly.
~ Wallace Stevens ~ (born 2 October 1879)
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2008

    I am one of you and being one of you Is being and knowing what I am and know. Yet I am the necessary angel of earth, Since, in my sight, you see the earth again, Cleared of its stiff and stubborn, man-locked set And, in my hearing, you hear its tragic drone Rise liquidly in liquid lingerings, Like watery words awash; like meanings said By repetitions of half-meanings. ~ Wallace Stevens ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2009

    There is but one means to extenuate the effects of enemy fire: it is to develop a more violent fire oneself. ~ Ferdinand Foch (born 2 October 1851)
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2010

    The ideally non-violent state will be an ordered anarchy. That State is the best governed which is governed the least. ~ Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (born 2 October 1869)
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2011

    The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire. ~ Ferdinand Foch
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2012

* Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.
* ~ Wallace Stevens ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2013

* Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
* ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2014

* I know that I have still before me a difficult path to traverse. I must reduce myself to zero. So long as a man does not of his own free will put himself last among his fellow creatures, there is no salvation for him. Ahimsa is the farthest limit of humility.
* ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~
   * proposed by Nvvchar

## 2015

* An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self sustained.
* ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2016

* Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different road, so long as we reach the same goal. Wherein is the cause for quarrelling?
* ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2017

* There is a point of no return, unremarked at the time, in most lives.
* ~ Graham Greene ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2018

* In childhood we live under the brightness of immortality — heaven is as near and actual as seaside. Behind the complicated details of the world stand the simplicities: God is good, the grown-up man or woman knows the answer to every question, there is such a thing as truth, and justice is as measured and faultless as a clock. Our heroes are simple: they are brave, they tell the truth, they are good swordsmen and they are never in the long run really defeated. That is why no later books satisfy us like those which were read to us in childhood — for those promised a world of great simplicity of which we knew the rules, but the later books are complicated and contradictory with experience; they are formed out of our own disappointing memories…
* ~ Graham Greene ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2019

* The truth seems to be that we live in concepts of the imagination before the reason has established them. If this is true, then reason is simply the methodizer of the imagination.
* ~ Wallace Stevens ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2020

* Sooner or later...one has to take sides — if one is to remain human.
* ~ Graham Greene ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2021

* People don't like reality, they don't like common sense, until age forces it on them.
* ~ Graham Greene ~
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2022

* Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and the simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt.
* ~ Graham Greene ~
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2023

* The path of self-purification is hard and steep. To attain to perfect purity one has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech and action; to rise above the opposing currents of love and hatred, attachment and repulsion. I know that I have not in me as yet that triple purity, in spite of constant ceaseless striving for it. That is why the world's praise fails to move me, indeed it very often stings me. To conquer the subtle passions seems to me to be harder far than the physical conquest of the world by the force of arms. Ever since my return to India I have had experience of the dormant passions lying hidden with in me. The knowledge of them has made me feel humiliated though not defeated. The experiences and experiments have sustained me and given me great joy. But I know that I have still before me a difficult path to traverse. I must reduce myself to zero. So long as a man does not of his own free will put himself last among his fellow creatures, there is no salvation for him. Ahimsa is the farthest limit of humility.
* ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~ in ~ The Story of My Experiments with Truth ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2024

    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

We do not choose our concerns. ~ Graham Greene (born 2 October 1904)
* 3 InvisibleSun 07:20, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 00:07, 2 October 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
* 2 Zarbon 03:45, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
Style is not something applied. It is something that permeates. It is of the nature of that in which it is found, whether the poem, the manner of a god, the bearing of a man. It is not a dress. ~ Wallace Stevens
* 3 Kalki 00:07, 2 October 2007 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
* 1 Zarbon 03:45, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:43, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear. ~ Ferdinand Foch (born October 2)
* 3 because only those who are inexperienced in the art of war would boast about it. Zarbon 17:39, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 00:35, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:43, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
The will to conquer is the first condition of victory. ~ Ferdinand Foch (born October 2)
* 3 because the man who has the will will find the way. Zarbon 17:39, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 00:35, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 23:43, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
You can’t conceive, nor can I, the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God. ~ Graham Greene
* 2 Zarbon 04:16, 13 June 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 00:35, 1 October 2008 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:43, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
It is impossible to go through life without trust: that is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself. ~ Graham Greene
* 2 Zarbon 04:16, 13 June 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 00:35, 1 October 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:43, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
* 3 N6n 14:10, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in. ~ Graham Greene
* 2 Zarbon 17:53, 4 July 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 00:35, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 23:43, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
A petty reason perhaps why novelists more and more try to keep a distance from journalists is that novelists are trying to write the truth and journalists are trying to write fiction. ~ Graham Greene
* 3 Kalki 01:44, 1 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
* 3 Zarbon 13:05, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
* 3 N6n 14:10, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
Catholics and communists have committed great crimes, but at least they have not stood aside, like an established society, and been indifferent. I would rather have blood on my hands than water like Pilate...if you have abandoned one faith, do not abandon all faith. There is always an alternative to the faith we lose. Or is it the same faith under another mask? ~ Graham Greene
* 3 Kalki 01:44, 1 October 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4, but perhaps trimmed a bit to just:
       If you have abandoned one faith, do not abandon all faith. There is always an alternative to the faith we lose. Or is it the same faith under another mask?
* 1 Zarbon 13:05, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
* 3 N6n 14:10, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
Cynicism is cheap — you can buy it at any Monoprix store — it's built into all poor-quality goods. ~ Graham Greene
* 3 Kalki 01:44, 1 October 2009 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 13:05, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
* 3 N6n 14:10, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
There's a virtue in slowness, which we have lost. ~ Graham Greene
* 3 Kalki 01:44, 1 October 2009 (UTC)
* 2 Zarbon 13:05, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
* 3 N6n 14:10, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
We mustn't complain too much of being comedians — it's an honourable profession. If only we could be good ones the world might gain at least a sense of style. We have failed — that's all. We are bad comedians, we aren't bad men. ~ Graham Greene
* 3 Kalki 01:44, 1 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
* 2 Zarbon 13:05, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
* 3 N6n 14:10, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
The world about us would be desolate except for the world within us. ~ Wallace Stevens
* 3 Kalki 02:12, 1 October 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
* 2 Zarbon 13:05, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
* 3 N6n 14:10, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
The imagination is one of the forces of nature. ~ Wallace Stevens
* 3 Kalki 02:12, 1 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
* 1 Zarbon 13:05, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
* 3 N6n 14:10, 15 September 2010 (UTC)
I like my philosophy smothered in beauty and not the opposite. ~ Wallace Stevens
* 3 Kalki 02:12, 1 October 2009 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
* 2 Zarbon 13:05, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
* Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in the human condition.
* ~ Graham Greene ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 22:55, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
* Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.
* ~ Graham Greene ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 22:55, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
* A major character has to come somehow out of the unconscious. … The moment comes when a character does or says something you hadn't thought about. At that moment he's alive and you leave it to him.
* ~ Graham Greene ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 22:55, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
* No human being can really understand another, and no one can arrange another's happiness.
* ~ Graham Greene ~ in ~ The Heart of the Matter ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 22:55, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
* So much of a novelist’s writing, as I have said, takes place in the unconscious: in those depths the last word is written before the first word appears on the paper. We remember details of our story, we do not invent them.
* ~ Graham Greene ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 22:55, 1 October 2016 (UTC)
* A people’s representative is one who feels the pain of others; one who removes the sorrows of others and yet does not let a trace of pride or arrogance come into his heart.
* ~ Vaishnav Jan bhajan (This bhajan became popular thanks to Mahatma Gandhi. To commemorate Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary artists from 124 countries recreated this song. Translation is from Narendra Modi as quoted in Kishwar, Madhu (2014). Modi, Muslims and media: Voices from Narendra Modi's Gujarat. p.379-380, but the translation from here could also be used) ~
* 3 --ΞΔΞ (talk) 09:32, 22 April 2019 (UTC)
* A perfect vision of Truth can only follow a complete realization of Ahimsa. To see the universal and all-pervading Spirit of Truth face to face one must be able to love the meanest of creation as oneself. And a man who aspires after that cannot afford to keep out of any field of life. That is why my devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; and I can say without the slightest hesitation, and yet in all humility, that those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means. Identification with everything that lives is impossible without self-purification; without self-purification the observance of the law of Ahimsa must remain an empty dream; God can never be realized by one who is not pure of heart. Self-purification therefore must mean purification in all the walks of life.
* ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~ in ~ The Story of My Experiments with Truth ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:23, 1 October 2023 (UTC)
* Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free Feelin' good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues And buddy, that was good enough for me Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.
* ~ Kris Kristofferson ~
* 4 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:04, 2 October 2024 (UTC); in regard of his recent death.