Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004
Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. ~ John Stuart Mill
  • selected by Kalki
2005
Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining. ~ Jef Raskin (recent death)
  • selected by Kalki
2006
I dreamt the past was never past redeeming:
But whether this was false or honest dreaming
I beg death's pardon now. And mourn the dead.
~ Richard Wilbur (born 1 March 1921)
  • selected by Kalki
2007
We should not be simply fighting evil in the name of good, but struggling against the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found. ~ Tzvetan Todorov ( born 1 March 1922)
  • proposed by Fys, selected by Kalki
2008
Try to remember this: what you project
Is what you will perceive; what you perceive
With any passion, be it love or terror,
May take on whims and powers of its own.
~ Richard Wilbur ~
  • proposed and selected by Kalki
2009
From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step. ~ Napoleon I of France
  • proposed and selected by Kalki
2010
Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art. ~ Frédéric Chopin
  • proposed by Zarbon, selected by Kalki
2011
My social and political interests are part of my career. I cannot separate them. My songs reflect the human condition. The role of art isn't just to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be. ~ Harry Belafonte
  • proposed by Zarbon, selected by Kalki
2012
We should not be simply fighting evil in the name of good, but struggling against the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found. ~ Tzvetan Todorov
  • proposed by bystander, selected by Kalki
2013

A =POPE= is someone who is not under the authority of the authorities.
~ Principia Discordia ~
  • proposed and selected by Kalki
2014
I, who have sent armies into fire and soldiers to their death, say today: We sail onto a war which has no casualties, no wounded, no blood nor suffering. It is the only war which is a pleasure to participate in — the war for peace.
~ Yitzhak Rabin ~
  • proposed by bystander, selected by Kalki
2015
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
~ Anonymous ~
  • proposed and selected by Kalki
2016
Neither the sword of popes, nor the cross, nor the image of death — nothing will halt the march of truth. I wrote what I felt and that is what I preached with trusting spirit. I am convinced that after my destruction the teachings of false prophets will collapse.
~ Ferenc Dávid ~
  • proposed and selected by Kalki
2017
It is true that the poet does not directly address his neighbors; but he does address a great congress of persons who dwell at the back of his mind, a congress of all those who have taught him and whom he has admired; that constitute his ideal audience and his better self. To this congress the poet speaks not of peculiar and personal things, but of what in himself is most common, most anonymous, most fundamental, most true of all men. And he speaks not in private grunts and mutterings but in the public language of the dictionary, of literary tradition, and of the street. Writing poetry is talking to oneself; yet it is a mode of talking to oneself in which the self disappears; and the products something that, though it may not be for everybody, is about everybody.
~ Richard Wilbur ~
  • proposed and selected by Kalki
2018
Military cemeteries in every corner of the world are silent testimony to the failure of national leaders to sanctify human life.
~ Yitzhak Rabin ~
  • proposed by Fys, selected by Kalki
2019
Pride is not a wise counselor. People who believe themselves to be the incarnation of good have a distorted view of the world. The absence of any obstacle to the deployment of strength is dangerous for the strong themselves: passion takes precedence over reason. "No power without limit can be legitimate," as Montesquieu wrote long ago. Political wisdom does not consist in seeking only immediate victory, nor does it require systematic preference of "us" over "them."
~ Tzvetan Todorov ~
  • proposed by Fys, selected by Kalki
2020
I am neither a saint nor a theologian.
To me, good works are more important than theology. We all know that religion has been historically, and still is today, a cause of great evil as well as great good in human affairs. We have seen terrible wars and terrible persecutions conducted in the name of religion. We have also seen large numbers of people inspired by religion to lives of heroic virtue, bringing education and medical care to the poor, helping to abolish slavery and spread peace among nations. Religion amplifies the good and evil tendencies of individual souls. Religion will always remain a powerful force in the history of our species. To me, the meaning of progress in religion is simply this, that as we move from the past to the future the good works inspired by religion should more and more prevail over the evil.
~ Freeman Dyson ~
  • proposed by Kalki, in regard of his recent death.
2021 
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 am standing on the threshold of another trembling world. May God have mercy on my soul. ~ Diary entry by Bobby Sands, 1 March 1981.

  • 4. Fys. “Ta fys aym”. 10:12, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 20:44, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 03:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full. ~ Lucius Cornelius Sulla (sacking of Athens occurred on this date)

  • 2 Kalki 20:44, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
  • 3 because revenge is sweet and loyalty is that much sweeter. Zarbon 03:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
  • 0 JessRek6 (talk) 22:20, 29 February 2020 (UTC) Nominations from the same editor used previously on this date (2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).

Those who are free from common prejudices acquire others. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte (returned to France from Elba on this date)

  • 3 Kalki 20:44, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
  • 2 Zarbon 03:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 0 JessRek6 (talk) 22:20, 29 February 2020 (UTC) Nominations from the same editor used previously on this date (2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).

A great people may be killed, but they cannot be intimidated. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

  • 3 Kalki 20:44, 28 February 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 2 Zarbon 03:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 (leaning toward 2) allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
  • 0 JessRek6 (talk) 22:20, 29 February 2020 (UTC) Nominations from the same editor used previously on this date (2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).

Your hands hold roses always in a way that says
They are not only yours; the beautiful changes
In such kind ways,
Wishing ever to sunder
Things and things' selves for a second finding, to lose
For a moment all that it touches back to wonder.
~ Richard Wilbur ~

  • 3 Kalki 20:44, 28 February 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 1 Zarbon 03:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 (leaning toward 2) allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
  • 0 JessRek6 (talk) 17:14, 28 February 2020 (UTC) Quotes from the same source Wilbur used previously on this date (2006, 2008, 2017); nominations from the same editor used previously on this date (2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).

A thrush, because I'd been wrong,
Burst rightly into song
In a world not vague, not lonely,
Not governed by me only.
~ Richard Wilbur ~

  • 3 Kalki 20:44, 28 February 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 1 Zarbon 03:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 0 JessRek6 (talk) 17:14, 28 February 2020 (UTC) Quotes from the same source Wilbur used previously on this date (2006, 2008, 2017); nominations from the same editor used previously on this date (2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).

The relation between the artist and reality is an oblique one, and indeed there is no good art which is not consciously oblique. If you respect the reality of the world, you know that you can approach that reality only by indirect means. ~ Richard Wilbur

  • 3 Kalki 20:44, 28 February 2007 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
  • 1 Zarbon 03:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
  • 0 JessRek6 (talk) 17:14, 28 February 2020 (UTC) Quotes from the same source Wilbur used previously on this date (2006, 2008, 2017); nominations from the same editor used previously on this date (2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).

I wish I could throw off the thoughts which poison my happiness, but I take a kind of pleasure in indulging them. ~ Frédéric Chopin

  • 3 and leaning toward a 4. Zarbon 15:49, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 16:12, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Her mouth is a honey-blossom,
No doubt, as the poet sings;
But within her lips, the petals,
Lurks a cruel bee that stings.
~ William Dean Howells

  • 3 Zarbon 15:49, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 16:12, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

He who sleeps in continual noise is wakened by silence. ~ William Dean Howells

  • 4 Zarbon 15:49, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 16:12, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 (leaning toward 3) allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

The mortality of all inanimate things is terrible to me, but that of books most of all. ~ William Dean Howells

  • 3 and leaning toward a 4. Zarbon 15:49, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 16:12, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 (strongly leaning toward 4) allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
  • 4 JessRek6 (talk) 22:33, 29 February 2020 (UTC) Birthday; source Howells not used previously on this date.

I am an invisible man… I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. ~ Ralph Ellison

  • 3 Zarbon 15:49, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 16:12, 28 February 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 bystander (talk) 18:08, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
  • 2 (leaning toward 3) allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do? ~ Ralph Ellison

  • 3 Zarbon 15:49, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 16:12, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 (leaning toward 3) allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm not interested in truths, like drawing an accurate picture of the real world. I'm interested in exploring the verities of the human condition. ~ Jim Crace

  • 2 Zarbon 16:32, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 00:29, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 (leaning toward 1) allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

It is perhaps as difficult to write a good life as to live one. ~ Lytton Strachey

  • 3 Zarbon 16:32, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 23:18, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 00:29, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

I AM A REALIST. I AM A CONSERVATIVE realist. I cling to logic, morality, and history, and I apply them consistently. I find no reason not to apply them; after all, if something is true, then is it not wise to give it proper credence? It is not only proper, but it is also in our best interest. To know the truth leads to a more potent and effective solution. Often falsities plague society with the equally false premise that they give us effective solutions, but in all actuality they hurt society. ~ Jonathan Krohn Defining Conservatism (born 01 Mar 1995)

  • 3 bystander (talk) 18:08, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:24, 28 February 2012 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 2 allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. ~ Ralph Ellison (born 01 Mar 1913)

  • 3 bystander (talk) 18:08, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:24, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

See how today's achievement is only tomorrow's confusion;
See how possession always cheapens the thing that was precious.
~ William Dean Howells (born 01 Mar 1837)

  • 3 bystander (talk) 18:08, 19 February 2012 (UTC)
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 00:24, 28 February 2012 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
I love life. I love my wife Pamela. I love being in love with her. I love the 19 years we've been playing house together — pretending we're grown-ups, just like our parents.

I love music. I love food. I love reading. I love sports. I even love sleeping. I taste and love so many parts of life.

I don't ever want to die.

~ Harry Browne ~

[Note: Harry Browne died on 1 March 2006.  1 March 2016 will mark the tenth anniversary of his death.  Source of quote.]

  • 4 if used in 2016, 3 (strongly leaning toward 4) if used before or after 2016. allixpeeke (talk) 21:02, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
  • 2 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 23:18, 29 February 2016 (UTC), with a lean toward 3; I simply prefer the Ferenc Dávid quote as a stronger one for this year, but will consider this a strong contender for next year.
For evil to take place, the acts of a few people are not sufficient; the great majority also has to remain indifferent. That is something of which we are all quite capable.

~ Tzvetan Todorov ~
  • 0 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 15:06, 5 March 2020 (UTC) this appears to have been an improperly cited misattribution — it has not been reliably sourced, and it appears unlikely to become so. 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki·⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 22:38, 28 February 2019 (UTC) with a lean toward 4; but with some reservations — not able to precisely locate the original source of this, as yet.
  • 0 JessRek6 (talk) 16:37, 28 February 2020 (UTC) Unsourced; quotes from the same source Todorov used previously on this date (2007, 2012, 2019); nominations from the same editor used previously on this date (2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017).


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