Life
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
Cullen Hightower on Mistakes
“Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life. Laughing at someone else’s can shorten it.” Cullen Hightower
Leo Rosten on Happiness
“Money can’t buy happiness, but neither can poverty.” Leo Rosten US (Polish-born) author (1908 – 1997)
Woody Allen on Life
“You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.” Woody Allen US movie actor, comedian, & director (1935 – )
Thomas Szasz on Life
“The proverb warns that ‘You should not bite the hand that feeds you.’ But maybe you should, if it prevents you from feeding yourself.” Thomas Szasz
Arthur C. Clarke on Intelligence
“It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.” Arthur C. Clarke English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
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
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 – )
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)
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
E. B. White on Planning
“I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.” E. B. White US author & humorist (1899 – 1985)
Marshall McLuhan on Life
“There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening.” Marshall McLuhan Canadian author, educator, & philosopher (1911 – 1980)
Jake Roberts on Experience
“Every moment is an experience.” Jake Roberts
E. V. Lucas on Tardiness
“I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them.” E. V. Lucas
Danny Kaye on Life
“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.” Danny Kaye
Mark Twain on Life
“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.” Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author (1835 – 1910)
Marie Curie on Understanding
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” Marie Skłodowska-Curie Polish chemist & physicist (1867 – 1934)
Serbian Proverb on Humility
“Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars.” Serbian proverb
Theodore Roosevelt on Criticism
“It’s not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.” Theodore Roosevelt
Josh Billings on Life
“Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well.” Josh Billings
Arthur Rubinstein on Life and Love
“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.” Arthur Rubinstein US (Polish-born) composer & pianist (1886 – 1982)
Robertson Davies on Children
“A happy childhood has spoiled many a promising life.” Robertson Davies, “What’s Bred in the Bone”
Ambrose Bierce Philosophical Quote
“Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)” Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary US author & satirist (1842 – 1914)
Marie Curie on Science & Understanding
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” Marie Skłodowska-Curie Polish chemist & physicist (1867 – 1934)
Ian Fleming on Time
“I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.” Ian Fleming British novelist (1908 – 1964)
Edith Wharton on Happiness
“There are lots of ways of being miserable, but there’s only one way of being comfortable, and that is to stop running round after happiness. If you make up your mind not to be happy there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a fairly good time.” Edith Wharton, The Last Asset, 1904 US novelist (1862 – 1937)
Annie Lennox on Kindness
“Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world.” Annie Lennox
Francois de La Rochefoucauld on Faults
“We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld French author & moralist (1613 – 1680)
Ralph Waldo Emerson on Courage and Persistence
“Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sidney J. Harris on Regret
“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” Sidney J. Harris
Helen Rowland on Life
“The follies which a man regrets most, in his life, are those which he didn’t commit when he had the opportunity.” Helen Rowland, A Guide to Men, 1922 (1876 – 1950)
William Goldman on Life
“Life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death, that’s all.” William Goldman, “The Princess Bride”
Mark Twain on Desire
“A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs.” Mark Twain, Following the Equator US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
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)