Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004
Where there is great love there are always miracles. ~ Willa Cather
  • selected by Kalki
2005
Everything comes gradually and at its appointed hour. ~ Ovid (born 20 March 43 BC)
  • selected by Kalki
2006
The spirit of truth and the spirit of freedom — these are the pillars of society. ~ Henrik Ibsen (born 20 March 1828)
  • selected by Kalki
2007
It is not only what we have inherited from our fathers and mothers that exists again in us, but all sorts of old dead ideas and all kinds of old dead beliefs and things of that kind. They are not actually alive in us; but there they are dormant, all the same, and we can never be rid of them. Whenever I take up a newspaper and read it, I fancy I see ghosts creeping between the lines. There must be ghosts all over the world. They must be as countless as the grains of the sands, it seems to me. And we are so miserably afraid of the light, all of us. ~ Henrik Ibsen (born 20 March 1828)
  • proposed by InvisibleSun
2008
If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run — and often in the short one — the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative. ~ Arthur C. Clarke (recent death)
  • selected by Kalki
2009
What is all that men have done and thought over thousands of years, compared with one moment of love. But in all Nature, too, it is what is nearest to perfection, what is most divinely beautiful! There all stairs lead from the threshold of life. From there we come, to there we go. ~ Friedrich Hölderlin
  • proposed by Zarbon
2010
A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm. ~ Henrik Ibsen
  • proposed by Zarbon
2011
When we dead awaken. … We see that we have never lived. ~ Henrik Ibsen
  • proposed by Kalki
2012
I knew the Spring was come. I knew it even
Better than all by this, that through my chase
In bush and stone and hill and sea and heaven
I seem'd to see and follow still your face.
Your face my quarry was. For it I rode,
My horse a thing of wings, myself a god.
~ Wilfrid Scawen Blunt ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2013
Being at one is god-like and good, but human, too human, the mania
Which insists there is only the One, one country, one truth, and one way.
~ Friedrich Hölderlin ~
  • proposed by bystander
2014
The trees are cloth'd with leaves, the fields with grass;
The blossoms blow; the birds on bushes sing;
And Nature has accomplish'd all the Spring.
~ Virgil ~
as translated by
~ John Dryden ~
  • proposed by DanielTom
2015
The number of the dead long exceedeth all that shall live. The night of time far surpasseth the day, and who knows when was the Æquinox? Every hour adds unto that current arithmetick, which scarce stands one moment.
~ Thomas Browne ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2016
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
~ Jesus ~
  • proposed by Kalki
2017
His mother told him "Someday you will be a man,
And you will be the leader of a big old band.
Many people coming from miles around
To hear you play your music when the sun go down.
Maybe someday your name will be in lights
Saying 'Johnny B. Goode tonight'."
~ Chuck Berry ~
  • proposed by Kalki in regard to his recent death.
2018
I've always assumed that every time a child is born, the Divine reenters the world. Okay? That's the meaning of the Christmas story. And every time that child's purity is corrupted by society, that's the meaning of the Crucifixion story. Your man Jesus stands for that child, that pure spirit, and as its surrogate, he's being born and put to death again and again, over and over, every time we inhale and exhale, not just at the vernal equinox and on the twenty-fifth of December.
~ Tom Robbins ~
  • proposed by Kalki for the March Equinox of 2018.
2019
Fas est et ab hoste doceri.
It is right to learn even from an enemy.
~ Ovid ~
in
~ Metamorphoses ~
  • proposed by Zarbon
2020
The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. The mystery which surrounds a thinking machine already surrounds a thinking man.
~ B. F. Skinner ~
  • proposed by Zarbon
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

You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone. ~ Henrik Ibsen

  • 3 because strength is heightened ten-fold by serenity, devoid of human obsessions and needs. Zarbon 05:33, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC) (Perhaps it can be said that the strongest human in the world is she or he who has the fortitude to stand alone, but that wouldn't mean ipso facto that she or he does does stand alone is the strongest human in the world.)

Nothing is stronger than habit. ~ Ovid

  • 3 because those governed by habit will become accustomed to it and the harder it will become to separate oneself from it. Zarbon 05:41, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 (leaning toward 2) allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are. ~ Ovid

  • 3 because convenience is a very powerful ally. To decipher motives based on convenience and to conceive of opportunities solely based on belief when needed, is how people become successful...it takes more than being at the right place at the right time. Zarbon 05:41, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Time, the devourer of all things. ~ Ovid

  • 3 because the description of time here is solid, a personification of the very word, characterizing time as a learner of man's history, and a devourer who has never subsided or been subdued. Zarbon 05:41, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC), but I would prefer to include the original Latin as well: Tempus edax rerum
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 Allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

You need a reason to be sad. You don't need a reason to be happy. ~ Louis Sachar

  • 2 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Yet still are you holy to me, as the might of the earth
That bore you away, audaciously perishing!
And I would follow the hero into the depths
Did love not hold me.
~ Friedrich Hölderlin

  • 3 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

What is the wisdom of a book compared with the wisdom of an angel? ~ Friedrich Hölderlin

  • 2 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Society attacks early, when the individual is helpless. ~ B. F. Skinner

  • 2 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. ~ B. F. Skinner

  • 2 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 bystander (talk) 16:20, 18 March 2012 (UTC)
  • 1 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Tho' Doubt's beleaguering forces hem us in,
Yet Truth upon the Serpent's head shall trample.
The cause of Love shall win —
Yes, Love shall win!
~ Henrik Ibsen ~

  • 3 Kalki 15:26, 19 March 2009 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 04:15, 20 March 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 (leaning toward 2) allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

The gods have their own rules. ~ Ovid

  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 04:40, 16 March 2012 (UTC)
  • 2 Allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

It is the mind that makes the man, and our vigour is in our immortal soul. ~ Ovid

  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 04:40, 16 March 2012 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 2 (leaning toward 1) allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these. ~ Ovid

  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 04:40, 16 March 2012 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 3 Allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

The mind, conscious of rectitude, laughed to scorn the falsehood of report. ~ Ovid

  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 04:40, 16 March 2012 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.

He who possesses liberty otherwise than as an aspiration possesses it soulless, dead. One of the qualities of liberty is that, as long as it is being striven after, it goes on expanding. ~ Henrik Ibsen

  • 3 bystander (talk) 16:20, 18 March 2012 (UTC)
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 16:36, 18 March 2012 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
  • 3 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

The great secret of power is never to will to do more than you can accomplish. The great secret of action and victory is to be capable of living your life without ideals. Such is the sum of the whole world's wisdom. ~ Henrik Ibsen

  • 3 bystander (talk) 16:20, 18 March 2012 (UTC)
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 16:36, 18 March 2012 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 1 (leaning toward 2) allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

It is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals; let them make their experiments on journalists and politicians. ~ Henrik Ibsen

  • 2 bystander (talk) 16:20, 18 March 2012 (UTC) I have no strong desire to see this used, but I find it humorous.
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 16:36, 18 March 2012 (UTC) with a slight lean toward 4 (of course not agreeing with the suggestion literally, but accepting it as ironically humorous).
  • 2 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement. ~ B. F. Skinner

  • 3 bystander (talk) 16:20, 18 March 2012 (UTC)
  • 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 16:36, 18 March 2012 (UTC)
  • 3 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
Troops don't sacrifice. Only individuals can sacrifice. For some of them, the sacrifice is a year out of their lives. For others, the sacrifice is in living for a year or more in constant fear and danger.

But for too many, the sacrifice is one's life. The loss of one's whole life.

That's not the same as giving a tenth of your income to the church, or working 15 hours a week in a soup kitchen, or spending a day a week helping out at a nursing home. When you sacrifice your life, you give up everything. The world has ended. What you were no longer exists. No more life, no more love, no more music, no more sports, no more breathing, no more interest in anything.

~ Harry Browne ~

[Note: 20 March 2003 was the day the Iraq War began.  This quote is from an article about the Iraq War.  Source of quote.]

  • 4 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC)
  • 3. A bit long. – Illegitimate Barrister 09:14, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
The dead are dead, and they can't come back. They won't dance at any inaugural balls — or even attend their alumni reunions. They won't attend presidential banquets — or even eat at the local coffee shop. Not ever again.

They are dead. And George Bush killed them. He killed them as certainly as though he personally had fired a rocket launcher at their homes.

~ Harry Browne ~

[Note: 20 March 2003 was the day the Iraq War began.  This quote is from an article about the Iraq War.  Source of quote.]

  • 3 allixpeeke (talk) 21:30, 22 August 2014 (UTC).
  • 2.75. A bit political. It'd be better if the quote were "The dead are dead, and they can't come back. They won't dance at any inaugural ball, or even attend their alumni reunions. They won't attend presidential banquets, or even eat at the local coffee shop. Not ever again." That way, it'd be more general. – Illegitimate Barrister 09:02, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
This nation was created to give expression, validity and purpose to our spiritual heritage, the supreme worth of the individual. In such a nation, a nation dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, racial discrimination has no place. It can hardly be reconciled with a constitution that guarantees equal protection under law to all persons. In a deeper sense, too, it is immoral and unjust.
~ Republican Party Platform of 1960 ~
  • 3. March 20 was when the U.S. Republican Party was founded. – Illegitimate Barrister 09:02, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
With our republican fathers, we hold it to be a self-evident truth, that all men are endowed with the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the primary object and ulterior design of our federal government were to secure these rights to all persons under its exclusive jurisdiction.
~ Republican Party Platform of 1865 ~
  • 2.75. March 20 was when the U.S. Republican Party was founded. – Illegitimate Barrister 09:08, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
As slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the strength of this rebellion, and as it must be, always and everywhere, hostile to the principles of republican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the republic.
~ Republican Party Platform of 1865 ~
  • 3. March 20 was when the U.S. Republican Party was founded. – Illegitimate Barrister 09:12, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
We condemn bigots who inject class, racial and religious prejudice into public and political matters. Bigotry is un-American and a danger to the republic.
~ Republican Party Platform of 1952 ~
  • 2.75. March 20 was when the U.S. Republican Party was founded. – Illegitimate Barrister 11:29, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
The Republican Party will not mislead, exploit or attempt to confuse minority groups for political purposes. All American citizens are entitled to full, impartial enforcement of federal laws relating to their civil rights.
~ Republican Party Platform of 1952 ~
  • 2.75. March 20 was when the U.S. Republican Party was founded. – Illegitimate Barrister 11:29, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
A multi-racial society with guarantees of individual rights is possible and can work. We must remain open and helpful to all parties.
~ Republican Party Platform of 1980 ~
  • 2.75. March 20 was when the U.S. Republican Party was founded. – Illegitimate Barrister 21:07, 6 August 2015 (UTC)


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