Famous quotes containing the words north, american and/or star:
“In England if something goes wrong—say, if one finds a skunk in the garden—he writes to the family solicitor, who proceeds to take the proper measures; whereas in America, you telephone the fire department. Each satisfies a characteristic need; in the English, love of order and legalistic procedure; and here in America, what you like is something vivid, and red, and swift.”
—Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947)
“The train was crammed, the heat stifling. We feel out of sorts, but do not quite know if we are hungry or drowsy. But when we have fed and slept, life will regain its looks, and the American instruments will make music in the merry cafe described by our friend Lange. And then, sometime later, we die.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Firmness yclept in heroes, kings and seamen,
That is, when they succeed; but greatly blamed
As obstinacy, both in men and women,
Whene’er their triumph pales, or star is tamed —
And ‘twill perplex the casuist in morality
To fix the due bounds of this dangerous quality.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)