Robertson Davies on Books
“A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” Robertson Davies
Samuel Goldwyn on Movies
“A wide screen just makes a bad film twice as bad.” Samuel Goldwyn
Evan Esar on Character
“A signature always reveals a man’s character – and sometimes even his name.” Evan Esar American Humorist (1899 – 1995)
Thomas Jefferson on Liberty
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Thomas Jefferson 3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)
The Bible on Love
“Hatred stirs up trouble; love overlooks the wrongs that others do.” The Bible, Proverbs 10:12
P. J. O’Rourke on Politics and Luck
“A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.” P. J. O’Rourke US humorist & political commentator (1947-2022)
Scott Adams Cynical Quote
“You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.” Scott Adams, The Dilbert Future US cartoonist (1957 – )
Zig Ziglar on Success
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar on Success
“Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.” Zig Ziglar
Benjamin Franklin on Wisdom
“The doors of wisdom are never shut.” Benjamin Franklin
Matthew Arnold on Society
“This strange disease of modern life, with its sick hurry, its divided aims.” Matthew Arnold
Benjamin Disraeli Cynical Quote
“How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.” Benjamin Disraeli, Speech at the House of Commons, January 24, 1860 British politician (1804 – 1881)
Dwight D. Eisenhower on Television
“I can think of nothing more boring for the American people than to have to sit in their living rooms for a whole half hour looking at my face on their television screens.” Dwight D. Eisenhower 34th president of US 1953-1961 (1890 – 1969)
Amanda Cross on Quotations
“The point of quotations is that one can use another’s words to be insulting.” Amanda Cross US mystery novelist (1926 – 2003)
Robertson Davies Cynical Quote
“Few people can see genius in someone who has offended them.” Robertson Davies
Ann Landers on Love
“Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times.” Ann Landers
W. C. Fields Cynical Quote
“I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally.” W. C. Fields US actor (1880 – 1946)
William Shakespeare on Peace
“A peace is of the nature of a conquest; for then both parties nobly are subdued, and neither party loser.” William Shakespeare
Francois de La Rochefoucauld Cynical Quote
“We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld French author & moralist (1613 – 1680)
Mark Twain on Genius
“Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others.” Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
Gilbert K. Chesterton on Education
“Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” Gilbert K. Chesterton
James Thorpe on Work
“Household tasks are easier and quicker when they are done by somebody else.” James Thorpe US football player & track athlete (1888 – 1953)
Stephen Hawking on Science
“If human life were long enough to find the ultimate theory, everything would have been solved by previous generations. Nothing would be left to be discovered.” Stephen Hawking, Interview with The Guardian (UK) September 27, 2005 English cosmologist and physicist (1942 – )
C. P. Snow on Happiness
“The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase; if you pursue happiness you’ll never find it.” C. P. Snow English novelist & scientist (1905 – 1980)
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg on Opinions
“Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinions at all.” Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 – 1799)
Albert Einstein on Computers
“Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid; humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination.” Albert Einstein
Arthur C. Clarke on Technology
“At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved – if it can be achieved at all – within the next few hundred years.” Arthur C. Clarke, 1983 English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
Millard Fuller on Community
“For a community to be whole and healthy, it must be based on people’s love and concern for each other.” Millard Fuller
Peter Drucker on Work
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” Peter Drucker American (Austrian-born) management writer (1909 – 2005)
Ronald Reagan on Economy
“The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” Ronald Reagan 40th president of US (1911 – 2004)
Tom Stoppard on Age
“I think age is a very high price to pay for maturity.” Tom Stoppard British dramatist & screenwriter (1937 – )
Anatole France on Education
“An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t.” Anatole France
Mark Twain on Courage
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
F. Scott Fitzgerald on Intelligence
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crack-Up (1936) US novelist (1896 – 1940)
Voltaire on Boredom
“The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.” Voltaire, Discours en vers sur l’homme, 1737 French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)
Aesop on Kindness
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop
Olin Miller Cynical Quote
“You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.” Olin Miller
Indira Gandhi on Science
“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.” Indira Gandhi
Winston Churchill on Success
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
Albert Camus on Experience
“You cannot acquire experience by making experiments. You cannot create experience. You must undergo it.” Albert Camus French existentialist author & philosopher (1913 – 1960)
Michel de Montaigne on Education
“I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.” Michel de Montaigne
Stanley Kubrick on Movies
“A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.” Stanley Kubrick
Eric Hoffer on Freedom
“When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983)
Leonard Bernstein on Inspiration
“Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time… The wait is simply too long.” Leonard Bernstein US composer & conductor (1918 – 1990)
Niels Bohr on the Future
“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” Niels Bohr Danish physicist (1885 – 1962)
Anonymous Quote
“Write a wise saying and your name will live forever.” Anonymous
Judith Viorst on Marriage
“One advantage of marriage is that, when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until you fall in again.” Judith Viorst
Friedrich Nietzsche on Memory
“The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.” Friedrich Nietzsche German philosopher (1844 – 1900)
George Bernard Shaw on Reading
“Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman. Believing what he read made him mad.” George Bernard Shaw Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Fred Hoyle Cynical Quote
“There is a coherent plan in the universe, though I don’t know what it’s a plan for.” Fred Hoyle English astronomer, mathematician, & popularizer of science (1915 – 2001)
Stephen Hawking on Computers
“I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.” Stephen Hawking
Arthur C. Clarke on Technology
“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” Arthur C. Clarke, “Technology and the Future” (Clarke’s second law) English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
George Santayana on History
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana
Mohandas Gandhi on Anger
“Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.” Mohandas Gandhi
Tom Stoppard on Democracy
“It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.” Tom Stoppard, Jumpers (1972) act 1 British dramatist & screenwriter (1937 – )
Frank Zappa on the Mind
“A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” Frank Zappa
Confucius on Change
“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.” Confucius
Nancy Astor on Success
“The penalty for success is to be bored by the people who used to snub you.” Nancy Astor British politician (1879 – 1964)
Dave Barry on Sports
“Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face.” Dave Barry
Sir William Preece on the Telephone
“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.” Sir William Preece Chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876
