May 30

"There is no sin but ignorance."

Christopher Marlowe
(02/06/1564 – 05/30/1593)
English writer (image courtesy of the superlative Bridgeman Art Library)

"How often have I not scolded you for this, and not merely scolded you but beaten you... but nothing has succeeded, nothing is any use, all is to no purpose, all is words spoken to the wind, and you want to do nothing but sit at home and enjoy yourself."

Tsar Peter the Great
(05/30/1672 – 01/28/1725)
Russian royalty , in a letter to his son

"Sir, I admit your gen'ral rule
that every poet is a fool:
but you yourself may serve to show it
that every fool is not a poet."

Alexander Pope
(05/21/1688 – 05/30/1744)
English writer

"This is no time for making new enemies."

Jean Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire
(11/21/1694 – 05/30/1778)
French philosopher , when asked on his deathbed to renounce Satan

"From the naturalistic point of view, all men are equal. There are only two exceptions to this rule of naturalistic equality: geniuses and idiots."

Mikhail Bakunin
(05/30/1814 – 07/01/1876)
Russian subversive

"Credit you give yourself is not worth having."

Irving Thalberg
(05/30/1899 – 09/14/1936)
US film director (was married to Norma Shearer [shown]) , on not allowing his name to appear in credits

"Women's virtue is man's greatest invention."

Cornelia Otis Skinner
(05/30/1901 – 07/09/1979)
US actor, writer

"Yet do I marvel at this curious thing:
To make a poet black, and bid him sing!"

Countee Cullen
(05/30/1903 – 01/09/1946)
US writer

"Today was tomorrow yesterday, so don't inhale."

Mel Blanc
(05/30/1908 – 07/10/1989)
US voice artist

"It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill."

Wilbur Wright
(04/16/1867 – 05/30/1912)
US inventor (brother of Orville)

"Have just read obituary in the Times. Kindly adjust pay to suit."

George Ernest Morrison
(02/04/1862 – 05/30/1920)
Australian adventurer , on the erroneus report of his death

"No one's death comes to pass without making some impression, and those close to the deceased inherit part of the liberated soul and become richer in their humaneness."

Hermann Broch
(11/01/1886 – 05/30/1951)
German writer

"No bad man can be a good poet."

Boris Pasternak
(02/10/1890 – 05/30/1960)
Russian writer (Doctor Zhivago)

"I think that if Pat Buchanan became president we would be in camps before the month was out. I don't doubt that. There is a mostly male, predominantly white, ruling elite in this country and all of the presidental candidates are chosen from their number. They're all beholden to wealth and property and corporate interest; that's just how you get elected in this country. There are no welfare mothers or homeless people or construction workers or auto workers running for president, it's all millionaries and billionaires and the fact that 1% of the population controls more than a third of all the wealth and 40 million live in total poverty ... And everybody else is fighting over the leftovers and are on each other's throats, and that's reflected everytime we have an election. Most people are just disregarded."

Tom Morello
(05/30/1964 – )
US singer, guitarist, activist (Rage Against the Machine) (also see Zack de la Rocha)

"Silence is refreshment for the soul."

Wynonna Judd
(05/30/1964 – )
US singer (daughter of Naomi Judd, half-sister of Ashley Judd)

"We turned the switch, saw the flashes, watched for ten minutes, then switched everything off and went home. That night I knew the world was headed for sorrow."

Leo Szilard
(02/11/1898 – 05/30/1964)
Hungarian-US scientist , on the making of the atomic bomb