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Degradation


Degradation

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Quotations

Nicolas Gomez DavilaDying societies accumulate laws like dying men accumulate remedies.

—  Nicolas Gomez Davila, 1913-1994, Colombian writer

14 likes
NapoleonDeath is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.

—  Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor

11 likes
Isaac AsimovThe day you stop learning is the day you begin decaying.

—  Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992, American Sci-Fi writer

9 likes
William BlakeEvery harlot was a virgin once.

—  William Blake, 1757-1827, English poet & painter

8 likes
Will DurantIn its youth a people produce mythology and poetry; in its decadence, philosophy and logic.

—  Will Durant, 1885-1981, American historian & philosopher

7 likes
Jean CocteauLife is a horizontal fall.

—  Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist

6 likes
Oscar WildeAll authority is quite degrading. It degrades those who exercise it, and degrades those over whom it is exercised.

—  Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer

5 likes
Douglas MacArthurOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.

—  Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964, American general

4 likes
RumiYou’ve seen my descent. Now watch my rising.

—  Rumi, 1207-1273, Persian mystic & poet

4 likes
Fyodor DostoyevskyI almost do not exist now and I know it; God knows what lives in me in place of me.

—  Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer

3 likes
Mae WestI used to be Snow White, but I drifted.

—  Mae West, 1893-1980, American actress

3 likes
Aleister CrowleyAs soon as you put men together, they somehow sink, corporatively, below the level of the worst of the individuals composing it.

—  Aleister Crowley, 1875-1945, British magician & occultist,

3 likes
Karl LagerfeldSweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life so you bought some sweatpants.

—  Karl Lagerfeld, 1933-2019, German fashion designer

2 likes
Jim RohnWe must all wage an intense, lifelong battle against the constant downward pull. If we relax, the bugs and weeds of negativity will move into the garden and take away everything of value.

—  Jim Rohn, 1930-2009, American self-help speker

2 likes
Mignon McLaughlinThe neurotic longs to touch bottom, so at least he won't have that to worry about anymore.

—  Mignon McLaughlin, 1913-1983, American magazine editor

2 likes
Pablo PicassoWe don’t grow older, we grow riper.

—  Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish painter

2 likes
Laurence J PeterWould the boy you were be proud of the man you are?

—  Laurence J Peter, 1919-1990, Canadian writer & educator

2 likes
Ayn RandThe most depraved type of human being ... the man without a purpose.

—  Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, American writer & philosopher

2 likes
Sylvia PlathWhat horrifies me most is the idea of being useless: well-educated, brilliantly promising, and fading out into an indifferent middle age.

—  Sylvia Plath, 1932-1963, American poet & writer

2 likes
Karl KrausWhen a culture feels that its end has come, it sends for a priest.

—  Karl Kraus, 1874-1936, Austrian writer

2 likes
Walt WhitmanWhoever degrades another degrades me.

—  Walt Whitman, 1819-1892, American poet

2 likes
Calvin CoolidgeIt is not industry, but idleness, that is degrading.

—  Calvin Coolidge, 1872-1933, American President [1923-1929]

2 likes
Georg Christoph LichtenbergJust as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at times before they're worn out and at times—and this is the worst of all—before we have new ones.

—  Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, 1742-1799, German author of maxims

2 likes
Marcel ProustDesire makes everything blossom; possession makes everything wither and fade.

—  Marcel Proust, 1871-1922, French writer

2 likes
Nicolas Gomez DavilaThe anarchy that threatens a degrading society is not its punishment, but its remedy.

—  Nicolas Gomez Davila, 1913-1994, Colombian writer

Gustave FlaubertAfter a certain age, the two arms of a chair attract you more than the two arms of a woman.

—  Gustave Flaubert, 1821-1880, French writer

Gustave FlaubertThe more humanity advances, the more it is degraded.

—  Gustave Flaubert, 1821-1880, French writer

Aldοus HuxleyA majority of young people seem to develop mental arteriosclerosis forty years before they get the physical kind.

—  Aldοus Huxley, 1894-1963, English writer

Graham GreeneLove had turned into “love affair” with a beginning and an end.

—  Graham Greene, 1904-1991, British writer

Graham GreeneMorality comes with the sad wisdom of age, when the sense of curiosity has withered.

—  Graham Greene, 1904-1991, British writer

William Hazlitt People are not soured by misfortune, but by the reception they meet with in it.

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

William Hazlitt The worst old age is that of the mind.

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

Noel CowardI don't know what London’s coming to — the higher the buildings the lower the morals.

—  Noel Coward, 1899-1973, British playwright

Noel CowardComedies of manners swiftly become obsolete when there are no longer any manners.

—  Noel Coward, 1899-1973, British playwright

D. H. LawrenceYou'll never succeed in idealizing hard work. Before you can dig mother earth you've got to take off your ideal jacket. The harder a man works, at brute labor, the thinner becomes his idealism, the darker his mind.

—  D. H. Lawrence, 1885-1930, British writer

D. H. LawrenceVitally, the human race is dying. It is like a great uprooted tree, with its roots in the air. We must plant ourselves again in the universe.

—  D. H. Lawrence, 1885-1930, British writer

Pierre Claude BoisteA beautiful woman dies twice.

—  Pierre Claude Boiste, 1765-1824, French lexicographer

André FrossardOn Earth, the vast majority of people live in physical misery; the rest too often live in mental misery.

—  André Frossard, 1915-1995, French politician & essayist

Henry MillerI have always looked upon decay as being just as wonderful and rich an expression of life as growth.

—  Henry Miller, 1891-1980, American writer

Philip DickNo structure, even an artificial one, enjoys the process of entropy. It is the ultimate fate of everything, and everything resists it.

—  Philip Dick, 1928-1982, American sci-fi writer

Francis Scott FitzgeraldThough the Jazz Age continued it became less and less an affair of youth. The sequel was like a children’s party taken over by the elders.

—  Francis Scott Fitzgerald, 1896-1940, American writer

Susan SontagIt is not suffering as such that is most deeply feared but suffering that degrades.

—  Susan Sontag, 1933-2004, American writer, critic, activist

Nicolas Gomez DavilaThe increasing disintegration of the person can be measured by comparing the expression “amorous adventure,” which was in style in the 18th century, with the expression “sexual experience,” which is used in the 20th century.

—  Nicolas Gomez Davila, 1913-1994, Colombian writer

Latin Quotes

CiceroO, the times! O, the morals!

O tempora! Ο mores!

—  Cicero, 106-43 BC, Roman orator & statesman

38 likes

Quotes in Verse

Constantine KavafyDon’t hope for things elsewhere:
there is no ship for you, there is no road.
As you’ve wasted your life here, in this small corner,
you’ve destroyed it everywhere else in the world.

—  Constantine Kavafy, 1868-1933, Greek poet ‐ The city

2 likes

Ancient Greek

HomerAnd you, old man, we are told you prospered once.

Και σε γέρον το πριν μεν ακούομεν όλβιον είναι.

—  Homer, c. 800-750 BC, Ancient Greek Poet ‐ Iliad XXIV

     (Achilles to Priam)

6 likes
Marcus AureliusAll things are in the process of changing; and you yourself are in continuous mutation and in continuous wear and the whole universe too.

Πάντα εν μεταβολήι· και αυτός συ εν διηνεκεί αλλοιώσει και κατά τι φθορά, και ο κόσμος δε όλος.

—  Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor ‐ Meditations IX, 19

3 likes
AeschylusAnd now I am the miserable sport of the wind!

Νυν δ’ αιθέριον κίνυγμ’ ο τάλας.

—  Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Prometheus Bound

2 likes
EuripidesIt’s bad to be poor. My noble bloodline brought me no food.

Κακόν το μη έχειν. Το γένος ουκ έβοσκέ με.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Phoenician women

2 likes

Movie Quotes

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)- You're not the man I knew ten years ago.
- It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.

—  from the film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

3 likes



Similar categories & topics of Quotations






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Rise & Decline

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Success & Failure

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Mercy

Destruction

Hunger

Strength & Weakness

Self-destruction

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Transience

Contrary Topics

Progress

Fame & Glory

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 Popular Topics
1 Friendship
2 Victory & Defeat
3 Solitude
4 Seduction
5 Self-reliance
6 Ego
7 Drinking
8 Cunning
9 Eroticism
10 Nudity
11 Vanity
12 Self-deprecation
13 Incompetence
14 Sex
15 Religion
16 Meaning of Life
17 Life
18 Death
19 Corruption
20 Democracy
 

2024: Manolis Papathanassiou