April 3

April 3

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they might have been. ~ William Hazlitt

• selected by Kalki

2005

Not all are called to be artists in the specific sense of the term. Yet, as Genesis has it, all men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: in a certain sense, they are to make of it a work of art, a masterpiece. ~ Pope John Paul II (recent death)

• selected by Kalki

2006

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse; as I have found in travelling in a stage-coach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position and be bruised in a new place. ~ Washington Irving (born 13 April 1783)

• selected by Kalki

2007

There rise authors now and then, who seem proof against the mutability of language, because they have rooted themselves in the unchanging principles of human nature. ~ Washington Irving

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2008

Stretch or contract me, Thy poor debtor;
This is but tuning of my breast,
To make the music better.

Whether I fly with angels, fall with dust,
Thy hands made both, and I am there;
Thy power and love, my love and trust
Make one place ev'rywhere.

~ George Herbert ~

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2009

If you have accomplished all that you have planned for yourself, you have not planned enough. ~ "Meggido Message" (misattributed to Edward Everett Hale)

• proposed by Zarbon

2010

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
~ Edward Everett Hale

• proposed by Zarbon

2011

We do not want our world to perish. But in our quest for knowledge, century by century, we have placed all our trust in a cold, impartial intellect which only brings us nearer to destruction. We have heeded no wisdom offering guidance. Only by learning to love one another can our world be saved. Only love can conquer all. ~ Dora Russell

• proposed by Zarbon

2012

I don't care a straw for your newspaper articles, my constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures. ~ Boss Tweed

• proposed by Zarbon

2013

Humanity will ever seek but never attain perfection. Let us at least survive and go on trying.

~ Dora Russell ~

• proposed by Zarbon

2014

Art that means anything in the life of a community must bear some relation to current interpretations of the mystery of the universe. Our rigid separation of the humanities and the sciences has temporarily left our art stranded or stammering and incoherent. Both art and science ought to be blended in our early education of our children's emotions and powers of observation, and that harmony carried forward in later education.

~ Dora Russell ~

• proposed by Kalki

2015

Teach me, my God and King, In all things thee to see And what I do in any thing, To do it as for thee.

~ George Herbert ~

• proposed by Kalki

2016

The most important thing is to actually think about what you do. To become aware and actually think about the effect of what you do on the environment and on society. That's key, and that underlies everything else.

~ Jane Goodall ~

• proposed by Zarbon

2017

You may not believe in evolution, and that is all right. How we humans came to be the way we are is far less important than how we should act now to get out of the mess we have made for ourselves.

~ Jane Goodall ~

• proposed by Zarbon

2018

I think if we study the primates, we notice that a lot of these things that we value in ourselves, such as human morality, have a connection with primate behavior. This completely changes the perspective, if you start thinking that actually we tap into our biological resources to become moral beings. That gives a completely different view of ourselves than this nasty selfish-gene type view that has been promoted for the last 25 years.

~ Frans de Waal ~

• proposed by Kalki — but originally improperly selected as a quote of Jane Goodall, due to section with an interview with Frans de Waal, rather than Goodall, having been posted to her page.

2019

My mission is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature. And can I do that alone? No. So there is a whole army of youth that can do it. So I suppose my mission is to reach as many of those young people as I can through my own efforts.

~ Jane Goodall ~

• proposed by Kalki

2020

The greatest danger to our future is apathy.

~ Jane Goodall ~

• proposed by Zarbon

2021

Lasting change is a series of compromises. And compromise is all right, as long your values don't change.

~ Jane Goodall ~

• proposed by Zarbon

2022

Ukraine has shown the world how to stand up for freedom & democracy, for our shared humanity & for our common values.

~ Roberta Metsola ~

• proposed by Kalki

2023

Show me a liar, and I'll show thee a thief.

~ George Herbert ~

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2024

There is a healthful hardiness about real dignity, that never dreads contact and communion with others, however humble. It is only spurious pride that is morbid and sensitive, and shrinks from every touch.

~ Washington Irving ~

• proposed by Kalki

2025

Unnecessary hardship is being borne by Americans of all backgrounds; our institutions are being recklessly and unconstitutionally attacked and even shattered. In just 71 days, the President has inflicted harm after harm on Americans' safety; financial stability; the foundations of our democracy; and any sense of common decency. These are not normal times in our nation. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent and we all must do more to stand against them.

~ Cory Booker ~

• proposed by Kalki; recent remarks at the start of his record-breaking 25 hour speech in the US Senate. 

2026

Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right.

~ Jane Goodall ~

• proposed by Zarbon

2027

Rank or add further suggestions…

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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!

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Suggestions

Be calm in arguing: for fierceness makes
Error a fault, and truth discourtesy.
~ George Herbert (born April 3, 1593)

• 3 InvisibleSun 19:19, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 1 Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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Man is no star, but a quick coal

Of mortal fire:

Who blows it not, nor doth control

A faint desire,

Lets his own ashes choke his soul.~ George Herbert

• 3 InvisibleSun 19:19, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
• 2 Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 15:58, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

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And now in age I bud again,

After so many deaths I live and write;

I once more smell the dew and rain,

And relish versing: O my only light,

It cannot be

That I am he

On whom thy tempests fell all night.~ George Herbert

• 3 InvisibleSun 19:19, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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For want of a nail the shoe is lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse the rider is lost. ~ George Herbert

• 3 InvisibleSun 19:19, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC) (with a strong lean toward a 4, but might do more sourcing of variants of this, including the famous one of Franklin's today, or sometime soon...)
• 1 Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use. ~ Washington Irving (born April 3, 1783)

• 3 InvisibleSun 19:19, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
• 2 Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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A verse may find him, who a sermon flies. ~ George Herbert

• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:00, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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Love your neighbor, yet pull not down your hedge. ~ George Herbert

• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:00, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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One sword keeps another in the sheath. ~ George Herbert

• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:00, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 because this is true. Through the usage of one's own force and power, one keeps another from raising his sword. Very beautiful ideological perspective. Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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None knows the weight of another's burden. ~ George Herbert

• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC) — but this appears to be a saying Herbert collected in Jacula Prudentum; or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. Selected by Mr. George Herbert (1651), rather than one which he created.
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:00, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 because one understands one's own suffering better than all others. Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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How convenient it would be to many of our great men and great families of doubtful origin, could they have the privilege of the heroes of yore, who, whenever their origin was involved in obscurity, modestly announced themselves descended from a god. ~ Washington Irving

• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:00, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted. ~ Washington Irving

• 3 Kalki 12:30, 2 April 2007 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:00, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 23:18, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

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No matter what happens to you, no matter who flatters you or who abuses you, never look at another flag, never let a night pass but you pray God to bless that flag. Remember, boy, that behind all these men you have to do with, behind officers, and government, and people even, there is the Country Herself, your Country, and that you belong to Her as you belong to your own mother. Stand by Her, boy, as you would stand by your mother, if those devils there had got hold of her to-day. ~ Edward Everett Hale

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 1 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

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To look up and not down,
To look forward and not back,
To look out and not in, and
To lend a hand. ~
Edward Everett Hale

• 3 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 3, or even 4 but only for a more fully sourced version:

Look up and not down, look forward and not back, look out and not in, and lend a hand!

• 2 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

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In the name of Hypocrites, doctors have invented the most exquisite form of torture ever known to man: survival. ~ Edward Everett Hale

• 3 and strong lean toward 4. Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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Never bear more than one kind of trouble at a time. Some people bear three — all they have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have. ~ Edward Everett Hale

• 3 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 3.

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The visionaries of yesterday are the realists of today. ~ Helmut Kohl

• 3 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

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He who approves family, must also approve the woman. ~ Helmut Kohl

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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I don't care who does the electing, so long as I get to do the nominating. ~ Boss Tweed

• 3 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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The way to have power is to take it. ~ Boss Tweed

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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The world can't spend its life looking over its shoulder and nursing hatreds. There would be no progress that way. ~ Marlon Brando

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

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I suppose the story of my life is a search for love, but more than that, I have been looking for a way to repair myself from the damages I suffered early on and to define my obligation, if I had any, to myself and my species. ~ Marlon Brando

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

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When I lie on the beach there naked, which I do sometimes, and I feel the wind coming over me and I see the stars up above and I am looking into this very deep, indescribable night, it is something that escapes my vocabulary to describe. Then I think: 'God, I have no importance. Whatever I do or don't do, or what anybody does, is not more important than the grains of sand that I am lying on, or the coconut that I am using for my pillow.' ~ Marlon Brando

• 3 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

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Privacy is not something that I'm merely entitled to, it's an absolute prerequisite. ~ Marlon Brando

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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Strictly speaking, no person who believes that wars between classes and nations are inevitable is fit to be in charge of the destiny of children. To believe in the unity of the human race and get children to believe it in early youth would mean the creation of that unity and the end of war. ~ Dora Russell

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 07:42, 31 March 2011 (UTC) 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

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We want better reasons for having children than not knowing how to prevent them. ~ Dora Russell

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)
• 3 DanielTom (talk) 03:30, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

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That I did not fail was due in part to patience... ~ Jane Goodall

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves. ~ Jane Goodall

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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Anyone who tries to improve the lives of animals invariably comes in for criticism from those who believe such efforts are misplaced in a world of suffering humanity. ~ Jane Goodall

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

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The US is not a superpower. The US is a financially dependent country that foreign lenders can close down at will. Washington still hasn't learned this. American hubris can lead the administration and Congress into a bailout solution that the rest of the world, which has to finance it, might not accept. ~ Paul Craig Roberts

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 1 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

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The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you'll grow out of it. ~ Doris Day

• 3 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:17, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

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Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty. ~ Doris Day

• 2 Zarbon 19:46, 30 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 07:35, 31 March 2009 (UTC) This seems to be Day quoting a hymn.

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You have to have the courage to stand up for what you believe in — no matter how hard it is — as your beliefs make you who you are amid all the celeb madness. ~ Leona Lewis (born 3 April 1983)

• 3 Kalki (talk · contributions) 15:58, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

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God has signed our Liberty and will not go back on his promise.

~ Theodoros Kolokotronis ~

• 3 ♞☤☮♌︎Kalki ⚚⚓︎⊙☳☶⚡ 14:13, 13 December 2013 (UTC)

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A kiss can be a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point.

~ Mistinguett (dob) ~

• 3 Lisa (talk) 07:51, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

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• The Rose of the World hangs high on a thorny Tree.
  Whoso would gather must harrow his hands and feet.
  But oh! It is sweet. ~ Rachel Annand Taylor (dob)
  • 3 Ficaia (talk) 02:17, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

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