Alan Turing on Technology
“Machines take me by surprise with great frequency.” Alan Turing English logician & mathematician (1912 – 1954)
Carl Sagan on Science
“I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning, science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of being true.” Carl Sagan US astronomer & popularizer of astronomy (1934 – 1996)
Virgil Thomson on Music
“The way to write American music is simple. All you have to do is be an American and then write any kind of music you wish.” Virgil Thomson US composer, conductor, & music critic (1896 – 1989)
A. H. Weiler on Power
“Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn’t have to do it himself.” A. H. Weiler (1909 – 2002)
Yoda Wisdom Quote
“Do or do not… there is no try.” Jedi Master Yoda – Star Wars (created by George Lucas)
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg on Intelligence
“Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together.” Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 – 1799)
Louis Pasteur on Education
“Fortune favors the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur
Ronald Reagan Cynical Quote
“The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.” Ronald Reagan 40th president of US (1911 – 2004)
John F. Kennedy on History
“History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.” John F. Kennedy
Thomas A. Edison on Opportunity
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas A. Edison US inventor (1847 – 1931)
Gilbert K. Chesterton on Adventure
“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.” Gilbert K. Chesterton English author & mystery novelist (1874 – 1936)
Walter Winchell on Friendship
“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” Walter Winchell
Michael E. Gerber on Life
“The difference between great people and everyone else is that great people create their lives actively, while everyone else is created by their lives, passively waiting to see where life takes them next. The difference between the two is the difference between living fully and just existing.” Michael E. Gerber
W. Somerset Maugham Cynical Quote
“I always find it more difficult to say the things I mean than the things I don’t.” W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil, 1925 English dramatist & novelist (1874 – 1965)
Clive James on Technology
“It is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are.” Clive James
Don Marquis on Work
“When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: ‘Whose?'” Don Marquis US humorist (1878 – 1937)
Mark Twain Wisdom Quote
“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
Thomas A. Edison
“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” Thomas A. Edison US inventor (1847 – 1931)
David Broder on Politics
“Anybody who wants the presidency so much that he’ll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office.” David Broder
Francis Bacon on Certainties
“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.” Sir Francis Bacon English author, courtier, & philosopher (1561 – 1626)
Dave Barry on Argument
“I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don’t even invite me.” Dave Barry US columnist & humorist (1947 – )
Bill Watterson on Intelligent Life
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.” Bill Watterson, cartoonist, Calvin and Hobbes US cartoonist (1958 – )
H. L. Mencken on Money
“The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated.” H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)
A. A. Milne on Disorder
“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” A. A. Milne English juvenile author (1882 – 1956)
L. M. Boyd Cynical Quote
“There are 350 varieties of shark, not counting loan and pool.” L. M. Boyd
Stanislaw J. Lec on Patience
“You must first have a lot of patience to learn to have patience.” Stanislaw J. Lec, “Unkempt Thoughts” Polish writer (1909 – 1966)
Edward Abbey on Tyranny
“No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets.” Edward Abbey US radical environmentalist (1927 – 1989)
Peter Ustinov on Money
“The only reason I made a commercial for American Express was to pay for my American Express bill.” Peter Ustinov English actor & author (1921 – 2004)
Saint Thomas Aquinas on Faith
“Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.” Saint Thomas Aquinas
Jeff Marder Cynical Quote
“We live in an age when pizza gets to your home before the police.” Jeff Marder
Ambrose Bierce on Absurdity
“Absurdity, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.” Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary US author & satirist (1842 – 1914)
Gertrude Stein on Information
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” Gertrude Stein US author in France (1874 – 1946)
Marshall McLuhan’s Funny Quote
“I don’t necessarily agree with everything I say.” Marshall McLuhan Canadian author, educator, & philosopher (1911 – 1980)
Maya Angelou on Change
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” Maya Angelou
Napoleon Bonaparte on Peace
“If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.” Napoleon Bonaparte
Frank Gifford on Sports
“Pro football is like nuclear warfare. There are no winners, only survivors.” Frank Gifford
Albert Einstein on Science
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein, (attributed) US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
Jay Leno Cynical Quote
“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Teach a man to create an artificial shortage of fish and he will eat steak.” Jay Leno US comedian & television host (1950 – )
Jerry Seinfeld on Society
“A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.” Jerry Seinfeld US comedian & television actor (1954 – )
Carl Becker on Humanity
“The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.” Carl Becker
J. Bartlett Brebner on Politics
“Americans are benevolently ignorant about Canada, while Canadians are malevolently well informed about the United States.” J. Bartlett Brebner
Hannah Arendt on Forgiveness
“Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.” Hannah Arendt
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)
Otto von Bismarck Cynical Quote
“When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn’t the slightest intention of putting it into practice.” Otto von Bismarck German Prussian politician (1815 – 1898)
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
Saint Augustine on Wisdom
“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” Saint Augustine
George Orwell on Language
“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.” George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”, 1946 English essayist, novelist, & satirist (1903 – 1950)
Victor Hugo on Music
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” Victor Hugo
Annie Dillard on Life
“There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by.” Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
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)
