# September 18

Quotes of the day from previous years:

## 2003

    Remember that time is money. ~ Benjamin Franklin
   * selected by Nanobug

## 2004

    The cardinal doctrine of a fanatic's creed is that his enemies are the enemies of God. ~ Andrew Dickson White
   * selected by Kalki

## 2005

    Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought; our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. ~ Samuel Johnson (born 18 September 1709)
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2006

    I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drives into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark. ~ Samuel Johnson
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2007

    All the performances of human art, at which we look with praise or wonder, are instances of the resistless force of perseverance; it is by this that the quarry becomes a pyramid, and that distant countries are united with canals. If a man was to compare the single stroke of the pickaxe, or of one impression of the spade, with the general design and the last result, he would be overwhelmed by the sense of their disproportion; yet those petty operations, incessantly continued, in time surmount the greatest difficulties, and mountains are leveled and oceans bounded by the slender force of human beings. ~ Samuel Johnson
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2008

    A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still. ~ Samuel Johnson (date of birth)
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2009

    As it is necessary not to invite robbery by supineness, so it is our duty not to suppress tenderness by suspicion; it is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust. ~ Samuel Johnson
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2010

    To contribute usefully to the advance of science, one must sometimes not disdain from undertaking simple verifications. ~ Léon Foucault (born 18 September 1819)
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2011

    It is always observable that silence propagates itself, and that the longer talk has been suspended, the more difficult it is to find any thing to say. ~ Samuel Johnson
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2012

* In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it.
* ~ Samuel Johnson ~

## 2013

* The time comes in the life of each of us when we realize that death awaits us as it awaits others, that we will receive at the end neither preference nor exemption. It is then, in that disturbed moment, that we know life is an adventure with an ending, not a succession of bright days that go on forever.
* ~ William March ~
   * proposed by bystander

## 2014

* Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
* ~ Samuel Johnson ~
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2015

* It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentional lying, that there is so much falsehood in the world.
* ~ Samuel Johnson ~
   * proposed by InvisibleSun

## 2016

* The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
* ~ Samuel Johnson ~
   * proposed by bystander

## 2017

* There will always be a part, and always a very large part of every community, that have no care but for themselves, and whose care for themselves reaches little further than impatience of immediate pain, and eagerness for the nearest good.
* ~ Samuel Johnson ~
   * proposed by bystander

## 2018

* Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged must end in disappointment. If it be asked, what is the improper expectation which it is dangerous to indulge, experience will quickly answer, that it is such expectation as is dictated not by reason, but by desire; expectation raised, not by the common occurrences of life, but by the wants of the expectant; an expectation that requires the common course of things to be changed, and the general rules of action to be broken.
* ~ Samuel Johnson ~
   * proposed by bystander

## 2019

* I have to tell you I don't just see this role of women as caretakers in the world that I cover, I see it in the world I live in. Slowly, slowly, slowly but definitely, the workplace is becoming a more humane place because of the presence of women.
* ~ Cokie Roberts ~
   * proposed by Kalki, in regard to her recent death.

## 2020

* Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.
* ~ Samuel Johnson ~
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2021

* When I behold the works of thy hands and consider the course of thy providence, give me Grace always to remember that thy thoughts are not my thoughts, nor thy ways my ways. And while it shall please Thee to continue me in this world where much is to be done and little to be known, teach me by thy Holy Spirit to withdraw my mind from unprofitable and dangerous enquiries, from difficulties vainly curious, and doubts impossible to be solved. Let me rejoice in the light which thou hast imparted, let me serve thee with active zeal, and humble confidence, and wait with patient expectation for the time in which the soul which Thou receivest, shall be satisfied with knowledge.
* ~ Samuel Johnson‎ ~
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2022

* You can always tell an old battlefield where many men have lost their lives. The next spring the grass comes up greener and more luxuriant than on the surrounding countryside; the poppies are redder, the corn-flowers more blue. They grow over the field and down the sides of the shell holes and lean, almost touching, across the abandoned trenches in a mass of color that ripples all day in the direction that the wind blows. They take the pits and scars out of the torn land and make it a sweet, sloping surface again. Take a wood, now, or a ravine: In a year's time you could never guess the things which had taken place there. … To me it has always seemed that God is so sickened with men, and their unending cruelty to each other, that he covers the places where they have been as quickly as possible.
* ~ William March ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2023

    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

I have taken your horrible idea and turned it into a brilliant one!" ~ Peggy Hill, "King of the Hill"
* 4 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.167.242.65 (talk • contribs) 05:05, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
* 1 Kalki 01:35, 13 September 2007 (UTC) * 2 Kalki 23:33, 17 September 2005 (UTC) No clear correlation with the date.
* 1 InvisibleSun 09:35, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 23:08, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
The excellence of aphorisms consists not so much in the expression of some rare or abstruse sentiment, as in the comprehension of some useful truth in few words. ~ Samuel Johnson (date of birth)
* 3 Kalki 23:33, 17 September 2005 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 09:35, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 23:08, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
He who praises everybody praises nobody. ~ Samuel Johnson
* 2 Zarbon 04:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 22:06, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 23:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Ficaia (talk) 16:57, 31 May 2024 (UTC)
Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. ~ Samuel Johnson
* 3 Zarbon 04:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 22:06, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 23:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)z
No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned. ~ Samuel Johnson
* 3 Zarbon 04:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 22:06, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 23:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his works. ~ Samuel Johnson
* 3 Zarbon 04:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 22:06, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 23:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
The vanquished know war. They see through the empty jingoism of those who use the abstract words of glory, honor, and patriotism to mask the cries of the wounded, the senseless killing, war profiteering, and chest-pounding grief. ~ Chris Hedges
* 2 Zarbon 04:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 22:06, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 23:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
...man...is a frail, lost creature, too weak to walk unaided. ~ William March
* 2 Zarbon 04:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 22:06, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 23:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
...To me it has always seemed that God is so sickened with men, and their unending cruelty to each other, that he covers the places where they have been as quickly as possible. ~ William March
* 2 Zarbon 04:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 22:06, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 23:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
People are born in sorrow and move about the earth in patterns of sorrow without sense and without plan. Why should I take myself so seriously? I am no more important to the Creator than the trees or the vegetation which live with me on His earth. There is no eye to watch over me nor a hand to direct me, and there will be no preferred fate for me at the end, no matter what I am, or what I do with my life. ~ William March
* 2 Zarbon 04:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 22:06, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 23:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
As an experimental psychologist, I have been trained not to believe anything unless it can be demonstrated in the laboratory on rats or sophomores. ~ Steven Pinker
* 2 Zarbon 04:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
* 3 InvisibleSun 22:06, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 23:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
You are invited to come to see the Earth turn, tomorrow, from three to five, at Meridian Hall of the Paris Observatory. ~ Léon Foucault (born 18 September 1819)
* 3 Kalki 23:38, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
* 3 N6n 11:38, 8 September 2010 (UTC)
He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man. ~ Samuel Johnson
    —This unsigned comment is by D is for d (talk • contribs) .
* 2 Kalki (talk · contributions) 09:29, 14 September 2010 (UTC)
A man of genius has been seldom ruined but by himself. ~ Samuel Johnson
    —This unsigned comment is by D is for d (talk • contribs) .
* 2 Kalki (talk · contributions) 09:29, 14 September 2010 (UTC)
We on the left have forgotten that the question is not how do you get good people to rule, most people who rule are mediocre at best and usually venal. The question is how do we make those in power frightened of us and not be seduced by formal political processes. ~ Chris Hedges
* 3 bystander (talk) 02:02, 16 September 2012 (UTC)
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 20:34, 17 September 2013 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
* The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them. ~ Joseph Story (dob)
* 3 bystander (talk) 02:02, 16 September 2012 (UTC)
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 20:34, 17 September 2013 (UTC)
* 3 Ficaia (talk) 16:57, 31 May 2024 (UTC)
* There's no dallying with love Though he be a child and blind; Then let none the danger prove, Who would to himself be kind: Smile he does when thou dost play, But his smiles to death betray.
** Edward Sherburne (dob)
*** 3 Ficaia (talk) 16:57, 31 May 2024 (UTC)