# March 11

Quotes of the day from previous years:

## 2004

    To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts expressed. That can make life a garden. ~ Goethe
   * selected by Kalki

## 2005

    Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. ~ Douglas Adams (born 11 March 1950)
   * selected by Kalki

## 2006

    Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable, let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all. ~ Douglas Adams (born 11 March 1950)
   * selected by Kalki

## 2007

    Science has a simple faith, which transcends utility. Nearly all men of science, all men of learning for that matter, and men of simple ways too, have it in some form and in some degree. It is the faith that it is the privilege of man to learn to understand, and that this is his mission. If we abandon that mission under stress we shall abandon it forever, for stress will not cease. Knowledge for the sake of understanding, not merely to prevail, that is the essence of our being. None can define its limits, or set its ultimate boundaries. ~ Vannevar Bush
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2008

    The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it. ~ Vannevar Bush
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2009

    All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others. ~ Douglas Adams
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2010

    Perhaps if only once you did enjoy The thousandth part of all the happiness A heart beloved enjoys, returning love, Repentant, you would surely sighing say, "All time is truly lost and gone Which is not spent in serving love." ~ Torquato Tasso ~
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2011

    I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day. ~ Douglas Adams
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2012

    We are not an endangered species ourselves yet, but this is not for lack of trying. ~ Douglas Adams
   * proposed by Zarbon

## 2013

* There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
   * proposed by bystander

## 2014

* We puzzle as to whether the universe is bounded or extends forever; whether, indeed, it may only be one universe among many. We speculate as to whether our universe began in a vast explosion, whether it pulsates between utter compression and wide diffusion, whether it is self-renewing and thus unchanged forever. And we are humble. But science teaches more than this. It continually reminds us that we are still ignorant and there is much to learn. Time and space are interconnected in strange ways; there is no absolute simultaneity.
* ~ Vannevar Bush ~
   * proposed by bystander

## 2015

* One Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, a girl sitting on her own in a small café in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything. Sadly, however, before she could get to a phone to tell anyone about it, the Earth was unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass, and so the idea was lost, seemingly for ever.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~ in ~ So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2016

* Scientific progress on a broad front results from the free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for exploration of the unknown.
* ~ Vannevar Bush ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2017

* In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~ in ~ The Restaurant at the End of the Universe ~
   * proposed by bystander

## 2018

* Advances in science when put to practical use mean more jobs, higher wages, shorter hours, more abundant crops, more leisure for recreation, for study, for learning how to live without the deadening drudgery which has been the burden of the common man for ages past. Advances in science will also bring higher standards of living, will lead to the prevention or cure of diseases, will promote conservation of our limited national resources, and will assure means of defense against aggression. But to achieve these objectives — to secure a high level of employment, to maintain a position of world leadership — the flow of new scientific knowledge must be both continuous and substantial.
* ~ Vannevar Bush ~
   * proposed by bystander

## 2019

* Science, by itself, provides no panacea for individual, social, and economic ills. It can be effective in the national welfare only as a member of a team, whether the conditions be peace or war. But without scientific progress no amount of achievement in other directions can insure our health, prosperity, and security as a nation in the modern world.
* ~ Vannevar Bush ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2020

* Better defence than shield or breastplate, is holy innocence to the naked breast.
* ~ Torquato Tasso ~
   * proposed by DanielTom

## 2021

* These are hard times. The world hurts. We live in fear and forget to walk with hope. But hope has not forgotten you. So ask it to dinner. It's probably hungry and would appreciate the invitation.
* ~ Libba Bray ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2022

* People underestimate how dangerous dictators are. In 2014, we spoke to the UK parliament, we spoke at the Senate in the US, we were asked by a lot of people how they should talk to Putin, how they should frame the conversation, and I always advised that they should be as strict as they could. You cannot play nice with Putin.
* ~ Nadezhda Tolokonnikova ~
   * proposed by Kalki; recent remarks on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

## 2023

* My favorite word is "redemption." I like both its meaning and the sound. My least favorite word is "maybe." "Maybe" is almost always a "no" drawn out in cruel fashion.
* ~ Libba Bray ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2024

* In our travels, we have come across many equations — math for understanding the universe, for making music, for mapping stars, and also for tipping, which is important. Here is our favorite equation: Us plus Them equals All of Us. It is very simple math. Try it sometime. You probably won’t even need a pencil.
* ~ Libba Bray ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2025

* If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a nonworking cat.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
   * proposed by Kalki

## 2026

    Rank or add further suggestions…
Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:
* This must be Thursday... I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~ in ~ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ~
   * used 25 May 2017, proposed by Kalki for Towel Day 2017 — which fell on a Thursday that year.
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

Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too? ~Douglas Adams
* 3 not every quote needs to be paraphrased Lyle 15:26, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
* 1 Zarbon 19:21, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
* 2 Kalki 08:08, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
* 2 UDScott 20:01, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
* 2 Ningauble 22:44, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
You can be in the public eye all the time and still have a private life, but the important thing is to keep in touch with the people who put you there. ~ John Barrowman
* 2 Zarbon 04:42, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
* 3 Kalki 22:27, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
* 2 Ningauble 22:44, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
The pioneer spirit is still vigorous within this nation. Science offers a largely unexplored hinterland for the pioneer who has the tools for his task. The rewards of such exploration both for the Nation and the individual are great. Scientific progress is one essential key to our security as a nation, to our better health, to more jobs, to higher standard of living, and to our cultural progress. ~ Vannevar Bush
* 3 bystander (talk) 09:42, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 09:21, 7 March 2013 (UTC)
* I'm one of those people who has to write. If I don't write, I feel itchy and depressed and cranky. So everybody's glad when I write and stop complaining already.
* ~ Libba Bray ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 08:21, 27 August 2019 (UTC)
* "The dark does not weep for itself because there is no light. Rather, it accepts that it is the dark. It is said that even the gods must die." He winks. "But not without one hell of a fight."
* ~ Libba Bray ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 08:21, 27 August 2019 (UTC)
* Balder holds up a completely blank rune. Wyrd. The beginning and the end. Fate. I don't know what that means, but it's not doing anything to uncreep me.
* ~ Libba Bray ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 08:21, 27 August 2019 (UTC)
* At the moment we can't afford to go to other planets. We don't have the ships to take us there. There may be other people out there (I don't have any opinions about Life Out There, I just don't know) but it's nice to think that one could, even here and now, be whisked away just by hitchhiking.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* You are disoriented. Blackness swims toward you like a school of eels who have just seen something that eels like a lot.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* There are some oddities in the perspective with which we see the world. The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be, but we have done various things over intellectual history to slowly correct some of our misapprehensions.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* We don't have to save the world. The world is big enough to look after itself. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not the world we live in will be capable of sustaining us in it.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome. I mean the idea that such complexity can arise not only out of such simplicity, but probably absolutely out of nothing, is the most fabulous extraordinary idea. And once you get some kind of inkling of how that might have happened, it's just wonderful. And … the opportunity to spend 70 or 80 years of your life in such a universe is time well spent as far as I am concerned.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* If the Universe came to an end every time there was some uncertainty about what had happened in it, it would never have got beyond the first picosecond. And many of course don’t. It’s like a human body, you see. A few cuts and bruises here and there don’t hurt it. Not even major surgery if it’s done properly. Paradoxes are just the scar tissue. Time and space heal themselves up around them and people simply remember a version of events which makes as much sense as they require it to make.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* May I recommend serenity to you? A life that is burdened with expectations is a heavy life. Its fruit is sorrow and disappointment. Learn to be one with the joy of the moment.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* Radio did not kill books and television did not kill radio or movies — what television did kill was cinema newsreel. TV does it much better because it can deliver it instantly. Who wants last week's news?
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* For us, there is no longer a fundamental mystery about Life. It is all the process of extraordinary eruptions of information, and it is information which gives us this fantastically rich, complex world in which we live; but at the same time that we've discovered that we are destroying it at a rate that has no precedent in history, unless you go back to the point when we are hit by an asteroid!
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* My absolute favourite piece of information is the fact that young sloths are so inept that they frequently grab their own arms and legs instead of tree limbs, and fall out of trees.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)
* Wildlife conservation is always a race against time. As zoologists and botanists explore new areas, scrabbling to record the mere existence of species before they become extinct, it is like someone hurrying through a burning library desperately trying to jot down some of the titles of books that will now never be read.
* ~ Douglas Adams ~ in ~ Last Chance to See ~
* 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:17, 10 March 2025 (UTC)