December 30

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003

They were nothing like the French people I had imagined. If anything, they were too kind, too generous and too knowledgable in the fields of plumbing and electricity. ~ David Sedaris

selected by Basil Fawlty

2004

I sometimes hold it half a sin
To put in words the grief I feel;
For words, like Nature, half reveal
And half conceal the Soul within.
~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson ~

selected by Kalki

2005 & 2006 (mistakenly used twice)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too...

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And — which is more — you'll be a Man, my son!
~ Rudyard Kipling ~ (born 30 December 1865)

proposed by UDScott

2007

The greatest book is not the one whose message engraves itself on the brain, as a telegraphic message engraves itself on the ticker-tape, but the one whose vital impact opens up other viewpoints, and from writer to reader spreads the fire that is fed by the various essences, until it becomes a vast conflagration leaping from forest to forest. ~ Romain Rolland (died 30 December 1944)

proposed by UDScott

2008

It is the artist's business to create sunshine when the sun fails. ~ Romain Rolland

proposed by Kalki

2009

Justice has nothing to do with victor nations and vanquished nations, but must be a moral standard that all the world's peoples can agree to. To seek this and to achieve it — that is true civilization. ~ Hideki Tojo

proposed by Zarbon

2010

One makes mistakes; that is life. But it is never a mistake to have loved. ~ Romain Rolland

proposed by Kalki

2011

I am not all that is. I am Life fighting Nothingness. I am not Nothingness, I am the Fire which burns in the Night. I am not the Night. I am the eternal Light; I am not an eternal destiny soaring above the fight. I am free Will which struggles eternally. Struggle and burn with Me. ~ Romain Rolland

proposed by Kalki

2012

Never do I hesitate to look squarely at the unexpected face that every passing hour unveils to us, and to sacrifice the false images of it formed in advance, however dear they may be. In me, the love of life in general predominates over love of my own life (that, indeed, would never have sufficed to bear me up). May life herself speak! However inadequate I may be in listening to her, and in repeating her words, I shall try to record them, even if they contradict my most secret desires. In all that I write, may her will, not mine, be done!

~ Romain Rolland ~

proposed by Kalki

2013

The true Vedantic spirit does not start out with a system of preconceived ideas. It possesses absolute liberty and unrivaled courage among religions with regard to the facts to be observed and the diverse hypotheses it has laid down for their coordination. Never having been hampered by a priestly order, each man has been entirely free to search wherever he pleased for the spiritual explanation of the spectacle of the universe.

~ Romain Rolland ~

proposed by Kalki

2014

God was Life, the drop of light fallen into the darkness, spreading out, reaching out, drinking up the night. But the night is limitless, and the Divine struggle will never cease: and none can know how it will end. It was a heroic symphony wherein the very discords clashed together and mingled and grew into a serene whole!

~ Romain Rolland ~

proposed by Kalki

2015

Every man who is truly a man must learn to be alone in the midst of all others, and if need be against all others.

~ Romain Rolland ~

proposed by Kalki

2016

I was a simple kid who was thrown into the wonderful world of show business. I've loved every moment.

~ Debbie Reynolds ~

proposed by Kalki

2017

Skepticism, riddling the faith of yesterday, prepared the way for the faith of tomorrow.

~ Romain Rolland ~

proposed by Kalki

2018

I imagine that a hero is a man who does what he can. The others do not do it.

~ Romain Rolland ~

proposed by Kalki

2019

The emperor needs all the headmasters he can get. If a quarter of his people were headmasters he would be perfectly happy. But more than two poets would tear his kingdom apart.

~ Alasdair Gray ~

proposed by Kalki, in regard to his recent death.

2020

Ye know who use the Crystal Ball
⁠(To peer by stealth on Doom),
⁠The Shade that, shaping first of all,
⁠⁠Prepares an empty room.
⁠⁠⁠Then doth It pass
⁠⁠⁠Like breath from glass,
⁠But, on the extorted vision bowed intent,
⁠No man considers why It came or went.

~ Rudyard Kipling ~

proposed by Kalki

2021

I said … unprepared, unscripted, that, "I know how to fight and I know how to dance, and I'd much rather dance than fight." ... What I didn't tell everybody was I was always a better fighter than dancer.

~ Harry Reid ~

proposed by Kalki, in regard of his recent death.

2022

Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pelé. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man.

~ Pelé ~

proposed by Kalki; in regard of his recent death.

2023

I conclude… that the record establishes that Mr. Trump, over the course of several months and culminating on January 6, 2021, used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the Capitol to prevent certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power. I likewise conclude that Mr. Trump was aware of the likelihood for violence and at least initially supported its use given he both encouraged it with incendiary rhetoric and took no timely action to stop it. … I do not reach this conclusion lightly. … I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.

~ Shenna Bellows ~

proposed by Kalki; recent remarks on a major historical decision.

2024: 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

For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack. ~ Rudyard Kipling, born that day

2 ~ UDScott 15:16, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
2 - --Mister Six 11:10, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
3, including the expansion as shown below. - InvisibleSun 22:12, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
3 because united they stand and divided they fall. The wolf is a grandiose example, and happens to be one of my most favorite animals, if not my most favorite. Furthermore, the wolf pack ideology is a powerful one. Zarbon 20:57, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:38, 27 December 2008 (UTC) but I would also probably eventually rank it 3 or maybe even a 4 with the use of these complete stanzas:

Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the Law runneth forward and back;
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

It goes without saying that when survival is threatened, struggles erupt between peoples, and unfortunate wars between nations result. ~ Hideki Tojo

3 Zarbon 16:25, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
2 Kalki 00:38, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
2 InvisibleSun 23:18, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

If you think it's simple, then you have misunderstood the problem. ~ Bjarne Stroustrup

2 Zarbon 16:25, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
3 Kalki 00:38, 27 December 2008 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
2 InvisibleSun 23:18, 29 December 2008 (UTC)