Will Rogers on Ignorance
“You know everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” Will Rogers, New York Times Aug. 31 1924 US humorist & showman (1879 – 1935)
Don Marquis on Procrastination
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.” Don Marquis US humorist (1878 – 1937)
Benjamin Franklin on Liberty
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759 US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 – 1790)
Peter Kreeft on Hell
“The national anthem of Hell is ‘I did it my way’.” Peter Kreeft
Lewis Carroll on Memory
“It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backward.” Lewis Carroll English author & recreational mathematician (1832 – 1898)
Mark Twain on Death
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Mark Twain
Carl Gustav Jung on Change
“There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.” Carl Gustav Jung
Aristotle on Education
“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” Aristotle
Stephen Covey on Problems
“The way we see the problem is the problem.” Stephen Covey
Francois de La Rochefoucauld on Agreement
“We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld, Maximes (1678) French author & moralist (1613 – 1680)
Jodie Foster Wisdom Quote
“Normal is not something to aspire to, it’s something to get away from.” Jodie Foster US movie actress (1962 – )
Napoleon Bonaparte on Politics
“He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.” Napoleon Bonaparte
Judith Martin on Conversation
“Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.” Judith Martin, (Miss Manners)
W. Somerset Maugham on Criticism
“People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.” W. Somerset Maugham English dramatist & novelist (1874 – 1965)
Galileo Galilei on Ignorance
“I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him.” Galileo Galilei Italian astronomer & physicist (1564 – 1642)
Helen Keller on Life
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” Helen Keller
W. L. George on War
“Wars teach us not to love our enemies, but to hate our allies.” W. L. George
George Bernard Shaw on Wisdom
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” George Bernard Shaw, “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” (1893) act II Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Laurence J. Peter on Anger
“Speak when you are angry – and you will make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” Laurence J. Peter US educator & writer (1919 – 1988)
George Bernard Shaw on History
“If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.” George Bernard Shaw Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Richard Brinsley Sheridan on Imagination
“He is indebted to his memory for his jests and to his imagination for his facts.” Richard Brinsley Sheridan Irish dramatist & politician (1751 – 1816)
Euripides on Foolishness
“Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.” Euripides Greek tragic dramatist (484 BC – 406 BC)
H. L. Mencken on Humanity
“The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.” H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)
Douglas Adams on Politics
“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 – 2001)
Thomas Carlyle on Silence
“Silence is more eloquent than words.” Thomas Carlyle
Voltaire on Beliefs
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)
James Magary on Computers
“Computers can figure out all kinds of problems, except the things in the world that just don’t add up.” James Magary
Abraham Maslow on Problems
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970)
Pedro Calderon de la Barca on Love
“Love that is not madness is not love.” Pedro Calderon de la Barca
Greg Anderson on Character
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” Greg Anderson
William Hazlitt on Humanity
“Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.” William Hazlitt English essayist (1778 – 1830)
Robert Frost on Love
“Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” Robert Frost US poet (1874 – 1963)
H. L. Mencken Cynical Quote
“The men the American public admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)
George Santayana on Progress
“Those who speak most of progress measure it by quantity and not by quality.” George Santayana US (Spanish-born) philosopher (1863 – 1952)
Mark Twain on Lies
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Mark Twain
Hector Berlioz on Ideas
“Every composer knows the anguish and despair occasioned by forgetting ideas which one had no time to write down.” Hector Berlioz French composer (1803 – 1869)
Jim Clark on the Internet
“The Internet is not just one thing, it’s a collection of things – of numerous communications networks that all speak the same digital language.” Jim Clark
Nicholas Chamfort on Character
“In great affairs men show themselves as they wish to be seen; in small things they show themselves as they are.” Nicholas Chamfort (1741 – 1794)
Arnold Lobel on Books
“Books to the ceiling, Books to the sky, My pile of books is a mile high. How I love them! How I need them! I’ll have a long beard by the time I read them.” Arnold Lobel
H. L. Mencken on Politics
“Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.” H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)
Winston Churchill on Law
“If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law.” Winston Churchill
Blaise Pascal on Faith
“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.” Blaise Pascal
Isaac Asimov on Knowledge
“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” Isaac Asimov US science fiction novelist & scholar (1920 – 1992)
Demetri Martin Funny Quote
“I bought a cactus. A week later it died. And I got depressed, because I thought, Damn. I am less nurturing than a desert.” Demetri Martin, New York Magazine, October 3, 2005
L. Frank Baum on Imagination
“Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity.” L. Frank Baum
Sir Barnett Cocks on Politics
“A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.” Sir Barnett Cocks (1907 – 1989)
Lewis Thomas on Language
“The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand.” Lewis Thomas US author, biologist, physician (1913 – 1993)
George Carlin on Nature
“Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.” George Carlin US comedian and actor (1937 – 2008)
Cicero on Philosophy
“There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.” Cicero, De Divinatione Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC – 43 BC)
George Orwell on Society
“Society has always seemed to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice.” George Orwell
Proverbs 15:17 on Love
“A simple meal with love is better than a feast where there is hatred.” Proverbs 15:17
Randall Jarrell on Children
“One of the most obvious facts about grownups to a child is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child.” Randall Jarrell US author & poet (1914 – 1965)
Ellen Goodman on Journalism
“In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right.” Ellen Goodman American journalist (1941 – )
Chinese Proverb on Wisdom
“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.” Chinese Proverb
William Wrigley Jr. on Business
“When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary.” William Wrigley Jr. US chewing gum industrialist (1861 – 1932)
Doug Larson on Work
“Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.” Doug Larson
Margaret Atwood on Love
“The Eskimo has fifty-two names for snow because it is important to them; there ought to be as many for love.” Margaret Atwood
T. S. Eliot on Humor
“Humor is also a way of saying something serious.” T. S. Eliot British (US-born) critic, dramatist & poet (1888 – 1965)
Mark Twain on Anger
“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” Mark Twain
Anonymous on Character
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” Author unknown
