Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004
In properly organized groups no faith is required; what is required is simply a little trust and even that only for a little while, for the sooner a man begins to verify all he hears the better it is for him. ~ G. I. Gurdjieff
  • selected by Kalki
2005
I want to walk through life instead of being dragged through it. ~ Alanis Morissette (born 1 June 1974)
  • This was the last quotation that was selected from the Quote of the Day proposals page, prior to setting up the current system of ranking quotes to be used for each day of the year. It was first proposed on that page on 8 August 2004 by IP 24.167.93.227 ~ Kalki
2006
Surprise becomes effective when we suddenly face the enemy at one point with far more troops than he expected. This type of numerical superiority is quite distinct from numerical superiority in general: it is the most powerful medium in the art of war. ~ Carl von Clausewitz (born 1 June 1780)
  • selected by Kalki
2007
Strength of character does not consist solely in having powerful feelings, but in maintaining one’s balance in spite of them. Even with the violence of emotion, judgment and principle must still function like a ship’s compass, which records the slightest variations however rough the sea. ~ Carl von Clausewitz
  • selected by Kalki
2008
There are times when the utmost daring is the height of wisdom. ~ Carl von Clausewitz
  • proposed by Kalki
2009
If the mind is to emerge unscathed from this relentless struggle with the unforeseen, two qualities are indispensable: first, an intellect that, even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead. ~ Carl von Clausewitz
  • proposed by Kalki
2010
There is a legend about a bird that sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. Dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of the great pain. … Or so says the legend. ~ Colleen McCullough
  • proposed by Kalki
2011
With uncertainty in one scale, courage and self-confidence should be thrown into the other to correct the balance. The greater they are, the greater the margin that can be left for accidents. ~ Carl von Clausewitz
  • proposed by Kalki
2012
Angels are those beings who have been on an earth like this, and have passed through the same ordeals that we are now passing through. They have kept their first estate far enough to preserve themselves in the Priesthood. They did not so violate the law of the Priesthood and condemn themselves to the sin against the Holy Ghost as to be finally lost. They are not crowned with the celestial ones. They are persons who have lived upon an earth, but did not magnify the Priesthood in that high degree that many others have done who have become Gods, even the sons of God. Human beings that pertain to this world, who do not magnify or are not capable of magnifying their high calling in the Priesthood and receive crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives, will also, when they again receive their bodies, become angels and will receive a glory. They are single, without families or kingdoms to reign over. All the difference between men and angels is, men are passing through the day of trial that angels have already passed through.
~ Brigham Young ~
  • proposed by Zarbon
2013
Beauty cannot be defined by abscissas and ordinates; neither are circles and ellipses created by their geometrical formulas.
~ Carl von Clausewitz ~
  • proposed by Zarbon
2014
Seize the time, Meribor. Live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
~ Jean-Luc Picard ~
in
Star Trek : The Next Generation
~ "The Inner Light" ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2015
I want to decide between survival and bliss
And though I know who I'm not I still don't know who I am
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim.
~ Alanis Morissette ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2016
Determination in a single instance is an expression of courage; if it becomes characteristic, a mental habit. But here we are referring not to physical courage but to courage to accept responsibility, courage in the face of a moral danger. This has often been called courage d'esprit, because it is created by the intellect. That, however, does not make it an act of the intellect: it is an act of temperament. Intelligence alone is not courage; we often see that the most intelligent people are irresolute. Since in the rush of events a man is governed by feelings rather than by thought, the intellect needs to arouse the quality of courage, which then supports and sustains it in action.
Looked at in this way, the role of determination is to limit the agonies of doubt and the perils of hesitation when the motives for action are inadequate.
~ Carl von Clausewitz ~
  • proposed by Zarbon
2017

There's an obvious attraction
To the path of least resistance in your life
Well there's an obvious aversion no amount of my insistence
Could make you try tonight

'Cause it's easy not to
So much easier not to
And what goes around never comes around to you
To you, to you, to you, to you, to you.

~ Alanis Morissette ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2018
The mind is formed by the knowledge and the direction of ideas it receives and the guidance it is given. Great things alone can make a great mind, and petty things will make a petty mind unless a man rejects them as completely alien.
~ Carl von Clausewitz ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2019
The truth is I've never fooled anyone. I've let men sometimes fool themselves. Men sometimes didn’t bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn't argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn't. When they found this out, they would blame me for disillusioning them — and fooling them.
~ Marilyn Monroe ~
  • proposed by Kalki


2020 
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

The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing practical to alter or deflect the impulse to destroy the enemy, which is central to the very idea of war. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

  • 3 because this is true. The very existence of these vast improvements in artillery signal that the idea of war will always be stagnant. Zarbon 17:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

...the side that feels the lesser urge for peace will naturally get the better bargain. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

  • 4 because those who are far from heavy sympathy and peacefulness are those who end up obtaining most of the power, and hence, "the better bargain". Zarbon 17:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Where execution is dominant, as it is in the individual events of a war whether great or small, then intellectual factors are reduced to a minimum. ~ Carl von Clausewitz

  • 3 because execution is the final judgment, but alas, a weaker form of proving a point where intellect fails. Zarbon 17:06, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

...it intuitively seems correct that the brain is just some sort of computer—it just seems natural. … But it has undermined almost all of our work to build intelligent machines and understand thinking. It's just wrong … the brain isn't like a computer at all. ~ Jeff Hawkins (born June 1)

  • 2 because the functions of the brain and its capacity in similarity to the workings of a computer have been compared often. Zarbon 16:15, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I never have hurt any person any other way except with this unruly member, my tongue. ~ Brigham Young (born June 1)

  • 2 because words are a weapon. Zarbon 16:15, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Never let a day so pass that you will have cause to say, "I will live better tomorrow." ~ Brigham Young

  • 3 because the desired tomorrow may never come. Zarbon 16:15, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 ♞☮♌Kalki·†·⚓⊙☳☶⚡ 14:00, 30 May 2012 (UTC) 3 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I want to live perfectly above the law, and make it my servant instead of my master. ~ Brigham Young

  • 2 I think what Young is trying to say here is that making the law one's servant is the same as serving the law...which is actually corresponding with law. To master the law, would actually be going against it...nice way of putting it, a little confusing, but nice nonetheless. Zarbon 16:15, 17 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Any complex activity, if it is to be carried on with any degree of virtuosity, calls for appropriate gifts of intellect and temperament. If they are outstanding and reveal themselves in exceptional achievements, their possessor is called a "genius". ~ Carl von Clausewitz

  • 2 Kalki 20:08, 31 May 2009 (UTC) * 3 Kalki 01:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 03:24, 31 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Every time I scratch my nails down someone else's back I hope you feel it. ~ Alanis Morissette

  • 2 Kalki (talk · contributions) 01:17, 28 May 2010 (UTC)


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