Interesting Quotes - Page 12

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A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

- Mark Twain

Academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small.

- Unknown, falsely attributed to Henry Kissinger

Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

- Henry Kissinger

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.

- Don Marquis

England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during God save the King than of stealing from a poor box.

- George Orwell

16 Comments

Level 70

Apr 9, 2020

Napoleon Bonaparte ......"Power is what they like - it is the greatest of all aphrodisiacs"

Level 58

May 10, 2020

59 is already featured (number 11)

Level 68

Aug 26, 2021

I think you're missing the point.

Level 73

Sep 19, 2022

11. "There is nothing new under the sun."

59. "There is no new thing under the sun."

The quotes are correct.

Level 63

Sep 23, 2020

Realism right there by Dr. Henry

Level 42

Feb 10, 2021

#60 - You can say that about almost all western countries

+14

Level ∞

Mar 4, 2021

I can imagine a vociferous argument between professors from Sweden, England, and the United States who each insist that their country is the worst, most vile, racist country in the entire history of the world.

"We suck"

"Oh yeah, we suck worse"

"No it is we who truly suck"

Level 66

May 31, 2021

its obviously england tho

Level 60

May 4, 2022

They are all equally awful

Level 82

Dec 2, 2023

Sweden was very prominent during the early modern period in Europe, made several attempts at Empire, had colonies in Africa and the Caribbean, and participated in the slave trade. The fact that they were less successful than other Western European empires isn't testament to their lesser ambitions.

Level 57

Jan 2, 2026

Kinda pointless to score ambition as practically every country throughout history would probably be ready to conquer major parts of the world if they were given the capability to.

Level 69

Mar 6, 2025

I think this is a characteristic of all "intellectuals" in every country in the world. In Russia, anyone who wants to show themselves to be intelligent is simply obliged to say what a disgusting country Russia is.

Level 61

Dec 29, 2022

*cough* Switzerland *cough*

Level 80

May 10, 2021

"England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality."

The American intellectual class is racing to catch up, and has probably passed them.

Level 48

Nov 18, 2025

And here I go sticking my oar in...#60 is quite correct. Not only for intellectuals though: a lot of English people think that flying the flag of England is racist and xenophobic.

Not sure who to blame for that.

Bl..dy foreigners, no doubt!

In my experience, English people are also far more likely to accept being called British, home and abroad, than Scottish or Welsh people do. They are more likely to insist on being called Scottish or Welsh. The Northern Irish might go either way.

Just my own experience there.

And yes: I'm English.

Level 92

Feb 6, 2026

If someone from the U.K. uses the word British (aside from referring to the government itself) I automatically know that they're English. It's ironic that the descendants of the actual Britons - the Welsh, Scots and Irish - distance themselves from the English so much that they won't even use their native term that the English adopted for themselves.