Maurice Chevalier on Age
“A comfortable old age is the reward of a well-spent youth. Instead of its bringing sad and melancholy prospects of decay, it would give us hopes of eternal youth in a better world.” Maurice Chevalier
Edmond de Goncourt on Art
“A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world.” Edmond de Goncourt French artist & novelist (1822 – 1896)
Bertrand Russell on Happiness
“If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years.” Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
E. V. Lucas on Tardiness
“I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them.” E. V. Lucas
Erma Bombeck on Success
“Don’t confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other.” Erma Bombeck
Floyd Dell on Idleness
“Idleness is not doing nothing. Idleness is being free to do anything.” Floyd Dell
Isaac Asimov on Computers
“Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.” Isaac Asimov US science fiction novelist & scholar (1920 – 1992)
Philip G. Hamerton on Quotations
“Have you ever observed that we pay much more attention to a wise passage when it is quoted than when we read it in the original author?” Philip G. Hamerton, “The Intellectual Life”
Mark Twain on Education
“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.” Mark Twain
Plato on Humanity
“There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.” Plato
Lester J. Pourciau on Politics
“There is no monument dedicated to the memory of a committee.” Lester J. Pourciau
Philip Johnson on Architecture
“Architecture is the art of how to waste space.” Philip Johnson US architect (1906 – 2005)
Cecil Baxter Cynical Quote
“You don’t get anything clean without getting something else dirty.” Cecil Baxter
Denis Diderot on Morality
“There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it.” Denis Diderot French author, encyclopedist, & philosopher (1713 – 1784)
Socrates on Nature
“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” Socrates
Mark Twain on Life
“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.” Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author (1835 – 1910)
Aldous Huxley on Improvement
“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” Aldous Huxley
Christopher Reeve on Dreams
“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” Christopher Reeve
Poul Anderson on Problems
“I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated.” Poul Anderson US science fiction author (1926 – 2001)
Somerset Maugham on Love
“The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.” Somerset Maugham
George Orwell on Equality
“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.” George Orwell, Animal Farm English essayist, novelist, & satirist (1903 – 1950)
Salvador Dali on Success
“The thermometer of success is merely the jealousy of the malcontents.” Salvador Dali
Victor Hugo on Music
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” Victor Hugo
Robert E. Lee on War
“It is well that war is so terrible – otherwise we would grow too fond of it.” Robert E. Lee, Statement at the Battle of Fredericksburg (13th December 1862) US-Confederate general (1807 – 1870)
Doctor Who on Maturity
“There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes.” Doctor Who
George Lucas on Success
“A lot of people like to do certain things, but they’re not that good at it. Keep going through the things that you like to do, until you find something that you actually seem to be extremely good at. It can be anything.” George Lucas
Russell Baker on Misery
“Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it.” Russell Baker US columnist & journalist (1925 – )
Ted Turner on Sports
“Sports is like a war without the killing.” Ted Turner
Samuel Johnson on Integrity & Knowledge
“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” Samuel Johnson English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 – 1784)
Blore’s Razor
“Given a choice between two theories, take the one which is funnier.” Blore’s Razor
Douglas Adams on Space
“Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.” Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 – 2001)
Japanese Proverb about Reading
“If you believe everything you read, better not read.” Japanese Proverb
Sophocles on Wisdom
“A short saying oft contains much wisdom.” Sophocles Greek tragic dramatist (496 BC – 406 BC)
Arthur Rubinstein on Life and Love
“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.” Arthur Rubinstein US (Polish-born) composer & pianist (1886 – 1982)
Oliver Wendell Holmes on the Results of our Actions
“A hundred years after we are gone and forgotten, those who never heard of us will be living with the results of our actions.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, U.S. Supreme Court justice
Jeffery F. Chamberlain on America
“In a country as big as the United States, you can find fifty examples of anything.” Jeffery F. Chamberlain
Winston Churchill on Politics
“When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.” Sir Winston Churchill British politician (1874 – 1965)
John C. Dvorak on Computers and Business
“In all large corporations, there is a pervasive fear that someone, somewhere is having fun with a computer on company time. Networks help alleviate that fear.” John C. Dvorak
Elon Musk on Business
“Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.” Elon Musk
Benjamin Franklin on Money
“Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody.” Benjamin Franklin US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 – 1790)
Marshall McLuhan on Life
“There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening.” Marshall McLuhan Canadian author, educator, & philosopher (1911 – 1980)
Arthur Schopenhauer Cynical Quote
“Every nation ridicules other nations, and all are right.” Arthur Schopenhauer German philosopher (1788 – 1860)
Eugene McCarthy on Politics
“It is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember.” Eugene McCarthy US politician (1916 – 2005)
Publius Tacitus on Laws
“The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government.” Publius Tacitus, Annals (117 AD) (Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges)
Mohandas K. Gandhi on Money
“Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed.” Mohandas K. Gandhi
Tim Berners-Lee on Computers
“Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.” Tim Berners-Lee
John Ciardi on Politics
“The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself.” John Ciardi US poet (1916 – 1986)
Saint Augustine on Time
“What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know.” Saint Augustine
Antoine de Saint-Exupery on War
“War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Sidney J. Harris on Regret
“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” Sidney J. Harris