John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
2426 Sir Thomas Browne 1605-1682 John Bartlett
| NUMBER: | 2426 |
| AUTHOR: | Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682) |
| QUOTATION: | It is the common wonder of all men, how among so many million of faces there should be none alike. 1 |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Religio Medici. Part ii. Sect. ii. |
| Note 1. The human features and countenance, although composed of but some ten parts or little more, are so fashioned that among so many thousands of men there are no two in existence who cannot be distinguished from one another.—Pliny the Elder: Natural History, book vii. chap. i. Of a thousand shavers, two do not shave so much alike as not to be distinguished.—Samuel Johnson (1777). There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.—Montaigne: Of the Resemblance of Children to their Fathers, book i. chap. xxxvii. [back] |