Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003

I found one day in school a boy of medium size ill-treating a smaller boy. I expostulated, but he replied: 'The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that's fair.' In these words he epitomized the history of the human race. ~ Education and the Social Order by Bertrand Russell

• selected by Gaurav

2004

We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

• selected by Kalki

2005

That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. ~ Neil Armstrong on first stepping onto the surface of the moon, 20th July 1969.

• proposed by MosheZadka

2006

You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things — to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated. ~ Edmund Hillary (born 20 July 1919)

• proposed by Kalki

2007

People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things. ~ Edmund Hillary (this attribution may be erroneous)

• proposed by Kalki

2008

Sameness is the mother of disgust, variety the cure. ~ Petrarch

• proposed by Zarbon

2009

Houston: Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed. ~ Neil Armstrong (first words of a human on the moon)

• proposed by 121a0012

2010

Hitherto your eyes have been darkened and you have looked too much, yes, far too much, upon the things of earth. If these so much delight you what shall be your rapture when you lift your gaze to things eternal! ~ Petrarch

• proposed by Kalki

2011

Books have led some to learning and others to madness, when they swallow more than they can digest. ~ Petrarch

• proposed by Zarbon

2012

• proposed by Kalki

2013

• proposed by Zarbon

2014

• proposed by Kalki

2015

• proposed by Zarbon

2016

• proposed by Kalki

2017

• proposed by Kalki

2018

• proposed by Kalki

2019

• proposed by Kalki

2020 

Rank or add further suggestions…

Ranking system:

4 : Excellent - should definitely be used.

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.

Suggestions

Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together. ~ Petrarch

• 3 Zarbon 19:16, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Kalki 22:22, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 21:08, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
• 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 13:05, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

A good death does honor to a whole life. ~ Petrarch

• 4 Zarbon 19:16, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
• 1 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 23:40, 16 July 2014 (UTC) 2 Kalki 22:22, 19 July 2008 (UTC) this is true, but there are more important things to note than something which can be misconstrued as a glorification of honored deaths rather than honorable lives.
• 2 InvisibleSun 21:08, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
• 3 //Gbern3 (talk) 13:05, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

It is better to will the good than to know the truth. ~ Petrarch

• 3 Zarbon 19:16, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 22:22, 19 July 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
• 3 InvisibleSun 21:08, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
• 2 //Gbern3 (talk) 13:05, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

The powers, aspirations, and mission of man are such as to raise the study of his origin and nature, inevitably and by the very necessity of the case, from the mere physiological to the psychological stage of scientific operations. ~ Richard Owen

• 2 Zarbon 05:08, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 20:07, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 21:08, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
• 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 13:05, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

Manifold subsequent experience has led to a truer appreciation and a more moderate estimate of the importance of the dependence of one living being upon another. ~ Richard Owen

• 1 Zarbon 05:08, 3 July 2009 (UTC)
• 1 Kalki 20:07, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 21:08, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
• 1 //Gbern3 (talk) 13:05, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

[L]ife itself sends its own stories across billions of years. It's a message that every one of us carries inside, inscribed in all the cells of our bodies, in a language that all life on Earth can read. ~ In commemoration of the 20 July 1822 birth of Gregor Mendel, from the eleventh episode of the science documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014).

• 4 Pithy Francoln (talk) 22:04, 11 October 2016 (UTC)
• 1 ♞☤☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 09:00, 18 July 2017 (UTC) with a lean toward 2, but would probably prefer an actual quote by Mendel, rather than a quote about the subject of genetic heredity which he pioneered.

The people we lost in Aurora loved, and were loved. They were mothers and fathers; husbands and wives; sisters and brothers; sons and daughters; friends and neighbors. They had hopes for the future and dreams that were not yet fulfilled. And if there's anything to take away from this tragedy, it's a reminder that life is fragile. Our time here is limited and it is precious. And what matters in the end are not the small and trivial things which often consume our lives. It's how we choose to treat one another, and love one another. It's what we do on a daily basis to give our lives meaning and to give our lives purpose. That's what matters. That's why we're here. ~ President Barack Obama, weekly address, July 21, 2012.

• 4 on the 7 year anniversary of the shooting JessRek6 (talk) 19:24, 17 November 2018 (UTC)