December 13

"Teach thy tongue to say 'I do not know,' and thou shalt progress."

Moses ben Maimon
(03/30/1135 – 12/13/1204)
Spanish philosopher ("The Guide for the Perplexed")

"Lexicographer. A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge."

Dr. Samuel Johnson
(09/18/1709 – 12/13/1784)
English writer, lexicographer ("A Dictionary of the English Language")

"Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments when he was merely stupid."

Heinrich Heine
(12/13/1797 – 02/17/1856)
German writer ("Die Harzreise (The Harz Journey)")

"Others live on in a careless and lukewarm state—not appearing to fill Longfellow's measure: 'Into each life, some rain must fall.'"

Mary Todd Lincoln
(12/13/1818 – 07/16/1882)
US First Lady (20)
(was married to Abraham Lincoln)

"It is while you are patiently toiling at the little tasks of life that the meaning and shape of the great whole of life dawn on you."

Phillips Brooks
(12/13/1835 – 01/23/1893)
US clergyman ("O Little Town of Bethlehem")

"Of course there's a lot of knowledge in universities: the freshmen bring a little in; the seniors don't take much away, so knowledge sort of accumulates."

Dr. Abbott Lawrence Lowell
(12/13/1856 – 01/06/1943)
US educator, lawyer ("What a University President has Learned")
(grandfather of Amy Lowell)

"Twenty can't be expected to tolerate sixty in all things, and sixty gets bored stiff with twenty's eternal love affairs."

Emily Carr
(12/13/1871 – 03/02/1945)
Canadian artist, writer ("Odds and Ends")

"A private railroad car is not an acquired taste. One takes to it immediately."

Eleanor Robson Belmont
(12/13/1879 – 10/24/1979)
English-US actor, writer

"Nothing is wrong with Southern California that a rise in the ocean level wouldn't cure."

Ross MacDonald
(12/13/1915 – 07/11/1983)
US writer ("The Drowning Pool")

"I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances were very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about that."

George P. Shultz
(12/13/1920 – 02/06/2021)
US Secretary of State (60)

"I learned everything that I know about comedy and about show business and a lot about life from Carl [Reiner]."

Dick van Dyke
(12/13/1925 – )
US comic, actor (Dick Van Dyke Show)

"Working with Julie Andrews is like being hit over the head with a Valentine card."

Christopher Plummer
(12/13/1929 – 02/05/2021)
Canadian actor ("Beginners")

"Black is like the silence of the body after death, the close of life."

Wassily Kandinsky
(12/16/1866 – 12/13/1944)
Russian artist ("The Blue Rider")
(died near his birthday)

"The press deserves nothing but lies."

Tom Verlaine
(12/13/1949 – )
US singer, songwriter, guitarist (Television) ("Little Johnny Jewel")

"To err is dysfunctional, to forgive codependent."

Berton Averre
(12/13/1953 – )
US singer (the Knack) ("My Sharona")

"My favorite review described me as the cinematic equivalent of junk mail."

Steve Buscemi
(12/13/1957 – )
US actor, fireman ("Boardwalk Empire")

"A primitive artist is an amateur whose work sells."

"Grandma" Moses
(09/07/1860 – 12/13/1961)
US artist ("Fireboard")

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."

L. P. Hartley
(12/30/1895 – 12/13/1972)
English writer ("The Go-Between")

"In hatred as in love, we grow like the thing we brood upon. What we loathe, we graft into our very soul."

Mary Renault
(09/04/1905 – 12/13/1983)
English writer ("The Persian Boy")

"I've always strived to be successful, not famous."

Taylor Swift
(12/13/1989 – )
US singer ("You Need to Calm Down")

"It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic."

Lew Grade
(12/25/1906 – 12/13/1998)
Ukrainian producer ("The Prisoner") , on his film "Raise the Titanic"

"Explorers have to be ready to die lost."

Russell Hoban
(02/04/1925 – 12/13/2011)
US writer ("Amaryllis Night and Day")