Life
Alfred Hitchcock on Media
“Seeing a murder on television… can help work off one’s antagonisms. And if you haven’t any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.” Alfred Hitchcock British movie director (1899 – 1980)
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
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)
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
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
Erma Bombeck on Life
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me”. Erma Bombeck
James M. Barrie on Life
“Life is a long lesson in humility.” James M. Barrie
Robert Frost on Work
“The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.” Robert Frost US poet (1874 – 1963)
Robert Byrne on Life
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Robert Byrne
Sharon Salzberg on Life and Education
“We learn and grow and are transformed not so much by what we do but by why and how we do it.” Sharon Salzberg, O Magazine, The Power of Intention, January 2004
Helen Keller on Knowledge
“Knowledge is happiness, because to have knowledge – broad, deep knowledge – is to know true ends from false, and lofty things from low. To know the thoughts and deeds that have marked man’s progress is to feel the great heartthrobs of humanity through the centuries; and if one does not feel in these pulsations a heavenward striving, one must indeed be deaf to the harmonies of life.” Helen Keller
Soren Kierkegaard on Life
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard Danish philosopher (1813 – 1855)
Herb Caen on the Past
“I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there.” Herb Caen
Tom Morris on Love and Life
“The meaning of life is creative love. Not love as an inner feeling, as a private sentimental emotion, but love as a dynamic power moving out into the world and doing something original.” Tom Morris
Oscar Wilde on Selfishness
“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” Oscar Wilde Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 – 1900)
George Bernard Shaw on Life
“There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it.” George Bernard Shaw, “Man and Superman” (1903), act 4 Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Marlon Brando on Television
“If there’s anything unsettling to the stomach, it’s watching actors on television talk about their personal lives.” Marlon Brando US movie actor (1924 – 2004)
Samuel Johnson on Curiosity
“A generous and elevated mind is distinguished by nothing more certainly than an eminent degree of curiosity.” Samuel Johnson
C. S. Lewis on Life
“We are what we believe we are.” C. S. Lewis
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
Helen Keller on Life
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” Helen Keller
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)
Rodney Dangerfield on Marriage
“I haven’t spoken to my wife in years. I didn’t want to interrupt her.” Rodney Dangerfield US actor & comedian (1921 – 2004)
Anatole France on Life
“The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever.” Anatole France French novelist (1844 – 1924)
David Russell on Life
“The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.” David Russell
King Solomon on Value
“Good people are remembered long after they are gone, but the wicked are soon forgotten.” Solomon a king of Israel and a thinker
John Andrew Holmes on Self
“It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others.” John Andrew Holmes
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg on Belief
“First there is a time when we believe everything, then for a little while we believe with discrimination, then we believe nothing whatever, and then we believe everything again – and, moreover, give reasons why we believe.” Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 – 1799)
Helen Keller on Comfort
“To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.” Helen Keller US blind & deaf educator (1880 – 1968)
Marcus Aurelius on Life
“The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.” Marcus Aurelius
James F. Byrnes on Life
“Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death.” James F. Byrnes US jurist & politician (1879 – 1972)
R. Buckminster Fuller on Life
“Everyone is born a genius, but the process of living de-geniuses them.” R. Buckminster Fuller US architect & engineer (1895 – 1983)
Ambrose Bierce on Politeness
“Politeness, n. The most acceptable hypocrisy.” Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary US author & satirist (1842 – 1914)
Agatha Christie on Age
“I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming that comes when you finish the life of the emotions and of personal relations; and suddenly find – at the age of fifty, say – that a whole new life has opened before you, filled with things you can think about, study, or read about… It is as if a fresh sap of ideas and thoughts was rising in you.” Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, 1977 English mystery author (1890 – 1976)
Horace Walpole on Life
“Life is a comedy for those who think… and a tragedy for those who feel.” Horace Walpole
Zig Ziglar on Success
“I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles.” Zig Ziglar
Robert Frost on Life
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” Robert Frost US poet (1874 – 1963)
Henry Van Dyke on Death
“Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.” Henry Van Dyke
Louis L’Amour on Contentment
“Nobody got anywhere in the world by simply being content.” Louis L’Amour US novelist of westerns (1908 – 1988)
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
Matthew Arnold on Society
“This strange disease of modern life, with its sick hurry, its divided aims.” Matthew Arnold
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 – )
Anonymous Quote
“Write a wise saying and your name will live forever.” Anonymous
George Harrison on Direction
“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” George Harrison, “Any Road”, Brainwashed, 2002 English singer & songwriter (1943 – 2001)
Antoine de Saint-Exupery on Life
“Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Barry LePatner on Experience
“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” Barry LePatner
John Ruskin Wisdom Quote
“What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.” John Ruskin English critic, essayist, & reformer (1819 – 1900)
William James on Life
“The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” William James US Pragmatist philosopher & psychologist (1842 – 1910)
Robert Louis Stevenson on Life
“Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.” Robert Louis Stevenson Scottish author (1850 – 1894)
John F. Kennedy on Power
“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.” John F. Kennedy