Philadelphia Quotes

“To live in peace as long as the waters run in the rivers and creeks, and as long as the stars and moon endure.”
― Tamanend, The Peace Treaty

“In Boston they ask, how much does he know? In New York, how much is he worth? In Philadelphia, who were his parents?”
― Mark Twain

“It is at least as possible for a Philadelphian to feel the presence of Penn and Franklin as for an Englishman to see the ghosts of Alfred and Becket. Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means that it still matters what Penn did two hundred years ago or what Franklin did a hundred years ago; I never could feel in New York that it mattered what anybody did an hour ago.”
― G.K. Chesterton, What I Saw in America

“On my desk is an appeal from the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. It asks me to become a sponsor and donor of this soon-to-be-opened institution, while an accompanying leaflet has enticing photographs of Bob Dylan, Betty Friedan, Sandy Koufax, Irving Berlin, Estee Lauder, Barbra Streisand, Albert Einstein, and Isaac Bashevis Singer. There is something faintly kitsch about this, as there is in the habit of those Jewish papers that annually list Jewish prize-winners from the Nobel to the Oscars. (It is apparently true that the London Jewish Chronicle once reported the result of a footrace under the headline 'Goldstein Fifteenth.') However, I think I may send a contribution. Other small 'races' have come from unpromising and hazardous beginnings to achieve great things—no Roman would have believed that the brutish inhabitants of the British Isles could ever amount to much—and other small 'races,' too, like Gypsies and Armenians, have outlived determined attempts to eradicate and exterminate them. But there is something about the persistence, both of the Jews and their persecutors, that does seem to merit a museum of its own.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Hitch 22: A Memoir

“From the floor, I see the tops of the Philadelphia skyline out of her window. Staring at it, I realize that the night sky isn't really black, which is the way I've always thought of it. It's actually a dark shade of blue, the darkest possible.”
― Siobhan Vivian, Same Difference

“Philadelphia

Your liberty Bell still rings.

Freedom, from Philadelphia
Still rings.

Freedom rings....
Liberty
Rings.

This is the heart of the USA,
The point where our heart
Incarnated.

Men gathered here
To sign three sacred contracts:

First, The Declaration of Independence,
Then, the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

And they said to the world
"By God,
Let Freedom Ring.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr., The Pursuit of Happiness: A Book of Poems Honoring Our American Values

“My first vegetable garden was in a hard-packed dirt driveway in Boulder, Colorado. I was living in a basement apartment there, having jumped at the chance to come out West with a friend in his Volkswagen Bug, fleeing college and inner-city Philadelphia. I was twenty, hungry for experience, and fully intending to be a ski bum in my new life. But it didn’t turn out that way.”
― Jane Shellenberger, Organic Gardener's Companion: Growing Vegetables in the West

“Depending who you ask, the Pen & Pencil is either the oldest press club in America "the place I score coke”
― Brian McManus, Philadelphia's Best Dive Bars: Drinking and Diving in the City of Brotherly Love

“Philadelphia has more to offer than Cheesesteaks and WAWA hoagies,

Here’s a list of ten places you’ll enjoy while visiting this beautiful city of Brotherly Love.


The Betsy Ross House- 239 Arch Streets
Reading Terminal Market-12th and Arch Streets
Boat House Row/Kelly Drive-1 Boathouse Row
National Constitution Center-525 Arch St
Delaware River Waterfront-121 N. Columbus Blvd
The Liberty Bell-526 Market St
Benjamin Franklin Parkway-
Franklin Institute-222 N 20th St
Philadelphia Museum of Art-2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy
City Hall and its Observation deck-1400 John F Kennedy Blvd”
― Charmaine J Forde

“-Welcome to Phildelphia-
No one leaves this beautiful city feeling the same way they came”
― Charmaine J Forde

“Red and white wine (TBD)
Victory Brewing Company Prima Pilsner
Soft pretzel bread/spicy mustard sauce
Cheesesteak arancini/homemade marinara sauce
Deconstructed pork sandwich: braised pork belly, sautéed broccoli rabe, provolone bread pudding
Lemon water ice
Commissary carrot cake


I'm particularly proud of my riff on the pork sandwich, one of Philadelphia's lesser-known specialties. Everyone presupposes the cheesesteak is Philadelphia's best sandwich, when, in fact, my favorite has always been the roast pork. Juicy, garlicky slices of pork are layered with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone on a fresh roll, the rich juices soaking into the soft bread while the crunchy crust acts like a torpedo shell, keeping everything inside. The flavors explode in your mouth in each bite: the bitter broccoli rabe, the assertive cheese, the combination of garlic and spices and tender pork.”
― Dana Bate, The Girls' Guide to Love and Supper Clubs

“I first tried a cheesesteak spring roll ten years ago at my cousin's wedding at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia, and though I wasn't as unconvinced as Shauna, I had my doubts. That Philadelphians could bastardize a menu item didn't surprise me- this is, after all, the city that invented The Schmitter, a sandwich made of sliced beef, cheese, grilled salami, more cheese, tomatoes, fried onions, more cheese, and some sort of Thousand Island sauce- but the fact that the Four Seasons found it worthy of their fancy-pants menu intrigued me.
One bite and I knew I'd struck gold. The cheesy meat and onion filling oozed out of the crisp, fried wonton wrapper, enhancing the celebrated cheesesteak flavor with a sophisticated crunch. This weekend, I'm doing a similar riff, but instead of spring rolls, I'm using arancini, the Sicilian fried risotto balls that are usually stuffed with mozzarella and meat ragu. Instead, I will stuff mine with sautéed chopped beef, provolone, and fried onions and mushrooms. The crispy, saffron-scented rice balls will ooze with unctuous cheesesteak flavor, and I will secure my place among the culinary legends.”
― Dana Bate, The Girls' Guide to Love and Supper Clubs

“I tell them about Philadelphia's Italian neighborhoods and how they gave rise to the famous cheesesteak and lesser-known roast pork sandwich, and about the Pennsylvania Dutch and how they introduced the pretzel to North America. I talk about water ice and The Commissary, Tastykakes, and South Philly, the ongoing cheesesteak rivalry between Pat's and Geno's and my personal preference for Delassandro's Steaks over either one. One diner originally from Chicago jumps in with his own stories about Lou Malnati's pizza and Chicago-style hot dogs, and another from New Haven talks about white clam pizza at Pepe's and burgers at Louis' Lunch.”
― Dana Bate, The Girls' Guide to Love and Supper Clubs

“Zara had two sisters, one of whom struggled with anorexia, and the other with depression, two conditions that Emira's mother believed black people didn't "get.”
― Kiley Reid

“Inside an H Mart complex, there will be some kind of food court, an appliance shop, and a pharmacy. Usually, there's a beauty counter where you can buy Korean makeup and skin-care products with snail mucin or caviar oil, or a face mask that vaguely boasts "placenta." (Whose placenta? Who knows?) There will usually be a pseudo-French bakery with weak coffee, bubble tea, and an array of glowing pastries that always look much better than they taste.
My local H Mart these days is in Elkins Park, a town northeast of Philadelphia. My routine is to drive in for lunch on the weekends, stock up on groceries for the week, and cook something for dinner with whatever fresh bounty inspires me. The H Mart in Elkins Park has two stories; the grocery is on the first floor and the food court is above it. Upstairs, there is an array of stalls serving different kinds of food. One is dedicated to sushi, one is strictly Chinese. Another is for traditional Korean jjigaes, bubbling soups served in traditional earthenware pots called ttukbaegis, which act as mini cauldrons to ensure that your soup is still bubbling a good ten minutes past arrival. There's a stall for Korean street food that serves up Korean ramen (basically just Shin Cup noodles with an egg cracked in); giant steamed dumplings full of pork and glass noodles housed in a thick, cakelike dough; and tteokbokki, chewy, bite-sized cylindrical rice cakes boiled in a stock with fish cakes, red pepper, and gochujang, a sweet-and-spicy paste that's one of the three mother sauces used in pretty much all Korean dishes. Last, there's my personal favorite: Korean-Chinese fusion, which serves tangsuyuk---a glossy, sweet-and-sour orange pork---seafood noodle soup, fried rice, and black bean noodles.”
― Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart

“Falling in love with Philadelphia is like celebrating Valentine's Day every day.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

“Rough going had been encountered by the Masses in its efforts to remain a medium for free interpretation in a time of hysteria. Because of its pitiless reporting in trying to reveal true causes, its lack of respect for commercialized religion, and its attacks on sex taboos in art and literature, the magazine had earlier been barred from the reading rooms of many libraries, ousted from the subway and elevated news stands in New York, and refused by distributing companies of Boston and Philadelphia; and our right to use the mails in Canada had been revoked by the Dominion government”
― Art Young, Art Young: His Life and Times

“As dedicated as a Philadelphia Sports Fan”
― Charmaine J Forde

“The two-story dwellings of this city are, beyond all question, the best, as a system, not only owing to the
single family ideas they represent, but because their cost is within the reach of all who desire to own
their own homes. They have done more to elevate and to make a better home life than any other known
influence. They typify a higher civilization, as well as a truer idea of American home life, and are better,
purer, sweeter than any tenement house systems that ever existed. They are what make Philadelphia
a city of homes, and command the attention of visitors from every quarter of the globe”
― Frank H. Taylor

“The two-story dwellings of this city are, beyond all question, the best, as a system, not only owing to the single family ideas they represent, but because their cost is within the reach of all who desire to own their own homes. They have done more to elevate and to make a better home life than any other known influence. They typify a higher civilization, as well as a truer idea of American home life, and are better, purer, sweeter than any tenement house systems that ever existed. They are what make Philadelphia a city of homes, and command the attention of visitors from every quarter of the globe.”
― Frank H. Taylor

“Six years after the first savings bank was established in 1810 in England by Henry Duncan, the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society became the first savings bank formed in the United States.”
― Ted Ihde, Thinking About Becoming A Real Estate Developer?

“Whereas Philadelphia was home to the first savings bank established in the United States - Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, in the year 1816 - Philadelphia is also the city that became home to the first commercial bank established in the United States. 

Thirty-four years before America had its first savings bank - Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, in 1816 - the first commercial bank in the United States was established. This first American commercial bank was also established in the very same city that America’s first savings bank had been created - the city of Philadelphia.”
― Ted Ihde, Thinking About Becoming A Real Estate Developer?

“However one felt about the Mummers, guys like Franny infused South Philadelphia with a hint of the carnivalesque. Any bulky white man on the street—plumber, roofer, carpenter, cop—might abruptly slide into a swoop or a twirl, buoyant and sleek as a synchronized swimmer. He might prance like a reindeer, lurch like a tyrannosaur, pulse like a rave girl in a festival crowd. He would strut one minute and complain about Mexicans the next.”
― Michael Deagler, Early Sobrieties

“Comparison will either make you feel superior or inferior. Neither honors God.”
― Not Sure

“Comparison will either make you feel superior or inferior. Neither honors God.”
― Fatima

“One day a young man stood at the foot of Shackamaxon Street in Philadelphia, sugar town, 1882. Folded into his vest, a letter of reference. He had an idea that involved a railroad ticket and the millions of dead buffalo out west. If he could get those bones into railroad cars and ship them to Philadelphia, they could be heated in a sealed vessel at 700 degrees Celsius, which was 1292 degrees Fahrenheit, not easy to imagine. The super-heating would drive off the organic matter in the bones, leaving activated carbon, composed of tricalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, and carbon. Bone charcoal. Bone black. Ivory black. Animal charcoal. Abaiser. Pigment black 9. Bone char. Carbo animalis. Buffalo black. This substance could be used to refine crude raw sugar processed from sugarcane, slave sugar, although of course the slave trade had been abolished, then as now, but there still were enslaved people, then as now. Bone char worked better than bull’s blood or egg whites or any other substance to bleach the sugar white. And the bones! The bones were everywhere, he’d heard, littering the ground, so thick that a farmer couldn’t plow without stacking them beside the fields. (197)”
― Louise Erdrich

“My rules in life:

Rule 1. No rules.
Rule 2. Flip your hair!
Rule 3. Save the pigs!”
― Ida Celestia Pond

“Compositions of Black joy is a "compelling story of the vitality and brilliance of the Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival in Germantown.”
― Tieshka K Smith, Compositions of Black Joy: A Visual Chronicle of the Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival

“Germantown helped shape my work and practice as a visual storyteller and image maker. But if there is a word I could use to describe what Germantown means to me, I would choose the word home. It was home then, and will always continue to be home for me.”
― Tieshka K Smith, Compositions of Black Joy: A Visual Chronicle of the Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival

“Consider the Johnson House and the Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival in Germantown together as sites of joy, freedom, celebration and resilience in the face of tremendous odds and struggle. Both operate at the intersection of Black protest, Black ritual and Black pomp and circumstance. Together, they embody the legacy and ongoing project of Black liberation, and show us exactly what it looks like in a majority-Black neighborhood in Philadelphia, a northern city that is not only the birthplace of American democracy but has its own complicated history. Together, they connect to Galveston, Texas 5, the birthplace of the Juneteenth holiday and a southern city that is 1,500 miles away.”
― Tieshka K Smith, Compositions of Black Joy: A Visual Chronicle of the Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival