“Thirty million, mostly fools.”

  • Writer and economist Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), responding to a question on the size of the population of England.

    • For we have three great avantages;
    The first is, we have the richt,
    And for the richt ilk man should ficht,
    The tother is, they are comin here…
    To seek us in our awn land…
    The third is that we for our livis
    And for our childer and our wifis
    And for the fredome of our land
    Are strenyeit in battle for to stand

  • William Barbour, in his epic poem “The Bruce”

    • “Did not strong connections draw me elsewhere, I believe Scotland would be the country I would choose to end my days in.”

  • Benjamin Franklin

    • “It’s going to be a happy ending – though he still gets hung, drawn and quartered.”

  • Mel Gibson previewing the film “Braveheart”