Here’s a nice compilation of wisdom and insight from people who, today, would almost certainly be either incredibly old, or more likely, emphatically dead. Here are some excerpts:
Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent. —Fredrick Nietzsche
No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. —Voltaire
Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices. —Voltaire
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. —Plato
Religion, to me, is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don’t need. —Bill Maher
Good stuff, that. (Who knew Nietzsche had a sense of humor?)