January 13

day of the year

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004
There may be love without jealousy, but there is none without fear. ~ Miguel de Cervantes
2005
Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one's awareness of one's ignorance. ~ Anthony de Mello
2006
I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul. ~ Émile Zola (J'accuse published 13 January 1898)
2007
I still feel that sincerity and realism are avant-garde, or can be, just as I did when I started out. ~ Edmund White (born January 13, 1940)
2008
The explorers of the past were great men and we should honour them. But let us not forget that their spirit lives on. It is still not hard to find a man who will adventure for the sake of a dream or one who will search, for the pleasure of searching, not for what he may find. ~ Sir Edmund Hillary
  • proposed by Kalki (recent death)
2009
All religions speak about death during this life on earth. Death must come before rebirth. But what must die? False confidence in one’s own knowledge, self-love and egoism. Our egoism must be broken. ~ G. I. Gurdjieff
2010
Conscious faith is freedom.
Emotional faith is slavery.
Mechanical faith is foolishness.
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2011
Ill can he rule the great, that cannot reach the small. ~ Edmund Spenser
2012
LIBERATION LEADS TO LIBERATION.
These are the first words of truth — not truth in quotation marks but truth in the real meaning of the word; truth which is not merely theoretical, not simply a word, but truth that can be realized in practice. The meaning behind these words may be explained as follows:
By liberation is meant the liberation which is the aim of all schools, all religions, at all times.
This liberation can indeed be very great. All men desire it and strive after it. But it cannot be attained without the first liberation, a lesser liberation. The great liberation is liberation from influences outside us. The lesser liberation is liberation from influences within us. ~ G. I. Gurdjieff
2013
Knowledge can be acquired by a suitable and complete study, no matter what the starting point is. Only one must know how to "learn." What is nearest to us is man; and you are the nearest of all men to yourself. Begin with the study of yourself; remember the saying "Know thyself." ~ G. I. Gurdjieff
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2014
Faith can not be given to man. Faith arises in a man and increases in its action in him not as the result of automatic learning, that is, not from any automatic ascertainment of height, breadth, thickness, form and weight, or from the perception of anything by sight, hearing, touch, smell or taste, but from understanding.
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2015
Knowledge and understanding are quite different. Only understanding can lead to being, whereas knowledge is but a passing presence in it.
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2016
It is the greatest mistake to think that man is always one and the same. A man is never the same for long. He is continually changing. He seldom remains the same even for half an hour.
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2017
RELIGION IS DOING; a man does not merely think his religion or feel it, he lives his religion as much as he is able, otherwise it is not religion but fantasy or philosophy. Whether he likes it or not he shows his attitude towards religion by his actions and he can show his attitude only by his actions.
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2018
The gentle minde by gentle deeds is knowne.
For a man by nothing is so well bewrayd,
As by his manners.
~ Edmund Spenser ~


2019
Objective knowledge, the idea of unity included, belongs to objective consciousness. The forms which express this knowledge when perceived by subjective consciousness are inevitably distorted and, instead of truth, they create more and more delusions. With objective consciousness it is possible to see and feel the unity of everything. But for subjective consciousness the world is split up into millions of separate and unconnected phenomena. Attempts to connect these phenomena into some sort of system in a scientific or philosophical way lead to nothing because man cannot reconstruct the idea of the whole starting from separate facts and they cannot divine the principles of the division of the whole without knowing the laws upon which this division is based.
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2020
In right knowledge the study of man must proceed on parallel lines with the study of the world, and the study of the world must run parallel with the study of man.
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2021
Rosalynn and I are troubled by the violence at the U.S. Capitol today. This is a national tragedy and is not who we are as a nation. Having observed elections in troubled democracies worldwide, I know that we the people can unite to walk back from this precipice to peacefully uphold the laws of our nation, and we must. We join our fellow citizens in praying for a peaceful resolution so our nation can heal and complete the transfer of power as we have for more than two centuries.
~ Jimmy Carter ~
2022
I learned have, not to despise,
Whatever thing seemes small in common eyes.
~ Edmund Spenser ~
2023
Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave.
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2024
Don't judge a man by the tales of others.
~ G. I. Gurdjieff ~
2025
Rank or add further suggestions…

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!


Suggestions edit

Sometimes I look at the battered exteriors of apartment buildings in New York and think how these sorry shells have housed such a long procession of styles. The money! The effort! One tenant mirrors everything, the next panels the walls, the third lines them with mylar, the fourth turns to toile de Jouy, the fifth to pegboard or handblocked rice paper. The expensive if often shoddy interiors installed only to be dismantled, the exterior left untouched as it turns yet another shade sootier — this transience seems a fitting emblem for the way we stay up-to-date without ever changing. ~ Edmund White


Being up on something is a way of dismissing it. To espouse any point of view is a danger — it might leave us stuck with last year's cause. Prized for their novelty alone, ideas, gimmicks, trends become equivalent, interchangeable. ~ Edmund White

  • 3 Kalki 00:06, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
  • 1 Zarbon 18:09, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:41, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Fierce warres and faithfull loves shall moralize my song. ~ Edmund Spenser

  • 2 Zarbon 06:10, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
  • 2 Kalki 15:42, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:41, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Remember your self always and everywhere. ~ G. I. Gurdjieff

  • 3 Kalki 15:42, 6 January 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 1 Zarbon 05:26, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 2 InvisibleSun 22:41, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Be bold, be bold, and every where Be bold,
That much she muz'd, yet could not construe it
By any ridling skill, or commune wit.
At last she spyde at that same roomes upper end,
Another yron dore, on which was writ,
Be not too bold.
~ Edmund Spenser ~

  • 3 Kalki 15:42, 6 January 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
  • 2 Zarbon 05:26, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 InvisibleSun 22:41, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
  • 3 DanielTom (talk) 00:39, 30 January 2017 (UTC) but include the lines: "And as she lookt about, she did behold,/ How over that same dore was likewise writ," and maybe end with an exclamation point: "Be not too bold!".

Sleepe after toyle, port after stormie seas,
Ease after warre, death after life does greatly please. ~ Edmund Spenser