Mark Twain on Life
“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.” Mark Twain
Will Rogers on Direction
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Will Rogers US humorist & showman (1879 – 1935)
Floyd Dell on Idleness
“Idleness is not doing nothing. Idleness is being free to do anything.” Floyd Dell
Alfred North Whitehead’s Cynical Quote
“Everything of importance has been said before by somebody who did not discover it.” Alfred North Whitehead English mathematician & philosopher (1861 – 1947)
Ernest Hemingway on Character
“A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Ernest Hemingway
Thomas Jefferson on Luck
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” Thomas Jefferson, (attributed) 3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)
Pablo Picasso on Imagination
“I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.” Pablo Picasso
Alec Bourne on Education
“It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated.” Alec Bourne
Samuel Johnson on Knowledge
“Mankind have a great aversion to intellectual labor; but even supposing knowledge to be easily attainable, more people would be content to be ignorant than would take even a little trouble to acquire it.” Samuel Johnson, quoted in Boswell’s Life of Johnson English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 – 1784)
The Bible on Money
“Give up trying so hard to get rich. Your money flies away before you know it, just like an eagle suddenly taking off.” The Bible Proverbs 23:4-5
Rene Char on Poetry
“A poet must leave traces of his passage, not proof.” Rene Char
Winston Churchill on Learning
“Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” Sir Winston Churchill British politician (1874 – 1965)
Isaac Asimov on Computers
“I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.” Isaac Asimov
G.K. Chesterton on Modernism
“He who marries the spirit of the times will soon find himself a widower.” Gilbert K. Chesterton English author & mystery novelist (1874 – 1936)
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
Thomas Sowell on Truth
“There are only two ways of telling the complete truth–anonymously and posthumously.” Thomas Sowell (1930 – )
Scott Adams on Business
“Informed decision-making comes from a long tradition of guessing and then blaming others for inadequate results.” Scott Adams
Charles de Gaulle on History
“I have tried to lift France out of the mud. But she will return to her errors and vomitings. I cannot prevent the French from being French.” Charles de Gaulle
Mark Twain on Education
“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.” Mark Twain
Doug Larson on Aging
“The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.” Doug Larson
John Elliot on Dreams
“You will not do incredible things without an incredible dream.” John Elliot
Robert H. Schuller on Character
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” Robert H. Schuller
Andre Gide on Discovery
“Man cannot discover new oceans until he has courage to lose sight of the shore.” Andre Gide
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”
Nancy Astor on Change
“The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything – or nothing.” Nancy Astor British politician (1879 – 1964)
Marlene Dietrich on Wisdom
“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.” Marlene Dietrich German movie actress (1901 – 1992)
Paul Valery on Poetry
“A poem is never finished, only abandoned.” Paul Valery
Flannery O’Connor on Truth
“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” Flannery O’Connor US author (1925 – 1964)
Bill Gates on Success
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” Bill Gates
Sophocles on Wisdom
“A short saying oft contains much wisdom.” Sophocles Greek tragic dramatist (496 BC – 406 BC)
Edgar Watson Howe on Lies
“Americans detest all lies except lies spoken in public or printed lies.” Edgar Watson Howe US journalist (1853 – 1937)
Groucho Marx on Books
“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” Groucho Marx US comedian with Marx Brothers (1890 – 1977)
Plautus on Friendship
“Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend.” Plautus
Gilbert K. Chesterton on Journalism
“Journalism largely consists of saying ‘Lord Jones is Dead’ to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive.” Gilbert K. Chesterton English author & mystery novelist (1874 – 1936)
R. D. Hitchcock on Character and Education
“The secret of all success is to know how to deny yourself. Prove that you can control yourself, and you are an educated man; and without this all other education is good for nothing.” R. D. Hitchcock
Mark Twain on Work
“Work is a necessary evil to be avoided.” Mark Twain
Robertson Davies on Society
“There is no nonsense so gross that society will not, at some time, make a doctrine of it and defend it with every weapon of communal stupidity.” Robertson Davies
William Shakespeare on Imagination
“The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact.” William Shakespeare
Elie Wiesel on Love
“The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference.” Elie Wiesel
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
Gail Sheehy on Change and Life
“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” Gail Sheehy
Albert Einstein on Wisdom at Solving Problems
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Albert Einstein
Salvador Dali on Sanity
“There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.” Salvador Dali Spanish Catalan Surrealist painter (1904 – 1989)
John F. Kennedy on Patriotism
“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” John F. Kennedy
Mark Twain on Truth
“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
Lord Acton on Power
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Lord Acton
Al Franken on Mistakes
“Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it’s a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.” Al Franken, “Oh, the Things I Know”, 2002
Iris Murdoch on Nature
“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” Iris Murdoch
W. C. Fields on Gambling
“Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.” W. C. Fields US actor (1880 – 1946)
Thomas H. Huxley on Truth
“Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.” Thomas H. Huxley English biologist (1825 – 1895)
