# June 24

Quotes of the day from previous years:

## 2004

    Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas. ~ Alfred Whitney Griswold
   * selected by Kalki

## 2005

    Conservative, n. A statesman enamored of existing evils, as opposed to a Liberal, who wants to replace them with new ones. ~ Ambrose Bierce (born 24 June 1842)
   * proposed by JeffQ

## 2006

    There is nothing better or more necessary than love. ~ John of the Cross (born 24 June 1542)
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2007

    Absurdity, n. A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion. ~ Ambrose Bierce
   * proposed by JeffQ

## 2008

    All I do is done in love; all I suffer, I suffer in the sweetness of love. ~ John of the Cross (born this day)
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2009

    Guilt, n. The condition of one who is known to have committed an indiscretion, as distinguished from the state of him who has covered his tracks. ~ Ambrose Bierce, born that day.
   * proposed by MosheZadka

## 2010

    Acquaintance, n. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to. ~ Ambrose Bierce
   * proposed by Jeff Q

## 2011

    A thousand graces diffusing He passed through the groves in haste, And merely regarding them As He passed Clothed them with His beauty. ~ John of the Cross ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2012

* The very pure spirit does not bother about the regard of others or human respect, but communes inwardly with God, alone and in solitude as to all forms, and with delightful tranquility, for the knowledge of God is received in divine silence.
* ~ John of the Cross ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2013

* I have said that God is pleased with nothing but love; but before I explain this, it will be as well to set forth the grounds on which the assertion rests. All our works, and all our labours, how grand soever they may be, are nothing in the sight of God, for we can give Him nothing, neither can we by them fulfil His desire, which is the growth of our soul. As to Himself He desires nothing of this, for He has need of nothing, and so, if He is pleased with anything it is with the growth of the soul; and as there is no way in which the soul can grow but in becoming in a manner equal to Him, for this reason only is He pleased with our love.
* ~ John of the Cross ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2014

* The soul may always say, whether occupied with temporal or spiritual things, "My sole occupation is love." Happy life! happy state! and happy the soul which has attained to it!
* ~ John of the Cross‎‎ ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2015

* Any law that takes hold of a man’s daily life cannot prevail in a community, unless the vast majority of the community are actively in favor of it. The laws that are the most operative are the laws which protect life.
* ~ Henry Ward Beecher ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2016

* Humor is … nearer right than any emotion we have. Humor is the atmosphere in which grace most flourishes.
* ~ Henry Ward Beecher ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2017

* The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man and never fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. The cynic puts all human actions into two classes — openly bad and secretly bad.
* ~ Henry Ward Beecher ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2018

* When, O crowned Jesus; when, O loving Saviour; when, O patient and just Judge — when wilt Thou come forth from Thy hiding, and change tears to smiles, and groans to joys? When shall that choral song burst forth, sweeping through the air, and circling about Thy throne, which shall proclaim the redemption of the world to the Lord God?
* ~ Henry Ward Beecher ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2019

* Idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but "pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2020

* Let us rejoice, O my Beloved! Let us go forth to see ourselves in Thy beauty, To the mountain and the hill, Where the pure water flows: Let us enter into the heart of the thicket.
* ~ John of the Cross ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2021

* Well, I play purely from the heart, y'know, and so if it doesn't work the first couple of hours, forget it. Unless we feel like we're somehow on the right track then I'll keep on going. That's it, really; I don't have any magic where I just press a button and it happens. It'll either happen or it won't.
* ~ Jeff Beck ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2022

* Insurrection, n. An unsuccessful revolution. Disaffection's failure to substitute misrule for bad government.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2023

* Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2024

* Past, n. That part of Eternity with some small fraction of which we have a slight and regrettable acquaintance. A moving line called the Present parts it from an imaginary period known as the Future. These two grand divisions of Eternity, of which the one is continually effacing the other, are entirely unlike. The one is dark with sorrow and disappointment, the other bright with prosperity and joy. The Past is the region of sobs, the Future is the realm of song. In the one crouches Memory, clad in sackcloth and ashes, mumbling penitential prayer; in the sunshine of the other Hope flies with a free wing, beckoning to temples of success and bowers of ease. Yet the Past is the Future of yesterday, the Future is the Past of to-morrow. They are one — the knowledge and the dream.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2025

    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

Circus, n. A place where horses, ponies and elephants are permitted to see men, women and children acting the fool. ~ Ambrose Bierce, born that day.
* 3 Jeff Q (talk) 00:23, 24 June 2007 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 19:03, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
* 2 InvisibleSun 22:40, 23 June 2007 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 04:28, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
* 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 02:10, 21 June 2013 (UTC) Clever but what about Cirque du Soleil; they don't use animals.
The little white dove Has returned to the ark with the bough; And now the turtle-dove Its desired mate On the green banks has found. ~ John of the Cross
* 3 Kalki 09:33, 21 June 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
* 1 Zarbon 02:38, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
* 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 02:10, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
My Beloved is the mountains, The solitary wooded valleys, The strange islands, The roaring torrents, The whisper of the amorous gales; The tranquil night At the approaches of the dawn, The silent music, The murmuring solitude, The supper which revives, and enkindles love. ~ John of the Cross
* 3 Kalki 09:33, 21 June 2009 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 02:38, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
* 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 02:10, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
* A popular author is one who writes what the people think. Genius invites them to think something else.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:07, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
* Freemasons, n. An order with secret rites, grotesque ceremonies and fantastic costumes, which, originating in the reign of Charles II, among working artisans of London, has been joined successively by the dead of past centuries in unbroken retrogression until now it embraces all the generations of man on the hither side of Adam and is drumming up distinguished recruits among the pre-Creational inhabitants of Chaos and Formless Void. The order was founded at different times by Charlemagne, Julius Caesar, Cyrus, Solomon, Zoroaster, Confucius, Thothmes, and Buddha. Its emblems and symbols have been found in the Catacombs of Paris and Rome, on the stones of the Parthenon and the Chinese Great Wall, among the temples of Karnak and Palmyra and in the Egyptian Pyramids — always by a Freemason.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:07, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
* Learning, n. The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:07, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
* Revelation, n. A famous book in which St. John the Divine concealed all that he knew. The revealing is done by the commentators, who know nothing.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:07, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
* Freedom, n. Exemption from the stress of authority in a beggarly half dozen of restraint's infinite multitude of methods. A political condition that every nation supposes itself to enjoy in virtual monopoly. Liberty. The distinction between freedom and liberty is not accurately known; naturalists have never been able to find a living specimen of either.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:07, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
* When prosperous the fool trembles for the evil that is to come; in adversity the philosopher smiles for the good that he has had.
* ~ Ambrose Bierce ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:07, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
* [T]here is no man I knowe in this realme [...] that hath shewed a better minde to the furthering of true religion then I have done, even from the first day of her Majestie's reigne to this [...] I take Almighty God to my record, I never altered my mind or thought from my youth touching my religion, and yow know I was ever from my cradle brought up in it. ~ Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (birthday)
** 4 Ficaia (talk) 14:59, 11 May 2024 (UTC)
** 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 17:44, 23 June 2024 (UTC)