#fortunes

What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class. ↗

— Alexis de Tocqueville

#democracy #exist #form #fortunes #great

Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us. ↗

— Voltaire

#greater #harm #i #know #life

[I]f the name of wife appears more sacred and more valid, sweeter to me is ever the word friend, or, if thou be not ashamed, concubine ... And thou thyself wert not wholly unmindful of that ... [as in the narrative of thy misfortunes] thou hast not disdained to set forth sundry reasons by which I tried to dissuade thee from our marriage, from an ill-starred bed; but wert silent as to many, in which I preferred love to wedlock, freedom to a bond. I call God to witness, if Augustus, ruling over the whole world, were to deem me worthy of the honour of marriage, and to confirm the whole world to me, to be ruled by me forever, dearer to me and of greater dignity would it seem to be called thy concubine than his empress. ↗

— Héloïse d'Argenteuil

#concubine #devotion #dignity #freedom #honor

Loneliness and hunger were my fortunes of creation. ↗

— Mo Yan

#fortunes #hunger #loneliness #were

Let us be of cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come. ↗

— Amy Lowell

#cheer #come #hardest #let us #misfortunes

The most superficial student of Roman history must be struck by the extraordinary degree in which the fortunes of the republic were affected by the presence of foreigners, under different names, on her soil. ↗

— Henry James Sumner Maine

#degree #different #different names #extraordinary #foreigners

I was just very interested in the American frontier and the growth of capitalism - those enormous fortunes that were being made, more often than not, on the blood of poor people, black people, Indian people. They were the ones who paid very dearly for those great fortunes. ↗

— Peter Matthiessen

#being #black #blood #capitalism #dearly

For us political activists and candidates, the morning after any election is a mix of emotions - the personal and the immediate, the culmination of your own recent campaigning efforts; and the fortunes of your party and the success or otherwise of what you stand for and believe in. ↗

— Lucy Powell

#after #any #believe #campaigning #candidates

If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart. ↗

— Socrates

#contented #depart #equal #everyone #heap

How sweet for those faring badly to forget their misfortunes even for a short time. ↗

— Sophocles

#even #faring #forget #how #misfortunes