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)
Jeffery F. Chamberlain on America
“In a country as big as the United States, you can find fifty examples of anything.” Jeffery F. Chamberlain
Indira Gandhi on Peace
“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” Indira Gandhi Indian politician (1917 – 1984)
Cecil Baxter Cynical Quote
“You don’t get anything clean without getting something else dirty.” Cecil Baxter
Rene Char on Poetry
“A poet must leave traces of his passage, not proof.” Rene Char
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Truth
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, (Sherlock Holmes) British mystery author & physician (1859 – 1930)
Epictetus on Difficulty
“The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it.” Epictetus
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
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)
Erma Bombeck on Dreams
“Dreams have only one owner at a time. That’s why dreamers are lonely.” Erma Bombeck
Winston Churchill on Politics
“When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.” Sir Winston Churchill British politician (1874 – 1965)
Thomas H. Huxley on Wisdom
“It is not who is right, but what is right, that is of importance.” Thomas Huxley
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
Samuel Johnson Funny Quote
“Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others.” Samuel Johnson English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 – 1784)
Henry David Thoreau on Success
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” Henry David Thoreau US Transcendentalist author (1817 – 1862)
Marie Curie on Work
“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.” Marie Skłodowska-Curie, Letter to her brother, 1894 Polish chemist & physicist (1867 – 1934)
Charles De Gaulle on Politics
“How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” Charles De Gaulle, in “Les Mots du General”, 1962 French general & politician (1890 – 1970)
J.R.R Tolkien on Wisdom
“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crown less again shall be king.” J.R.R Tolkien
Edmond de Goncourt on Art
“A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world.” Edmond de Goncourt French artist & novelist (1822 – 1896)
Mark Twain on Truth
“Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t.” Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
Doug Larson on Age
“The surprising thing about young fools is how many survive to become old fools.” Doug Larson
Mark Twain on Education
“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.” Mark Twain
Roger Allen on Age
“In case you’re worried about what’s going to become of the younger generation, it’s going to grow up and start worrying about the younger generation.” Roger Allen
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
Cullen Hightower on Knowledge
“Saying what we think gives us a wider conversational range than saying what we know.” Cullen Hightower
George Lucas on Success
“A lot of people like to do certain things, but they’re not that good at it. Keep going through the things that you like to do, until you find something that you actually seem to be extremely good at. It can be anything.” George Lucas
Benjamin Franklin on Secrets
“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” Benjamin Franklin US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 – 1790)
Sun Tzu on War and Strategy
“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” Sun Tzu Chinese general & military strategist (~400 BC)
Robert Benchley on Quotations
“The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him.” Robert Benchley US actor, author, & humorist (1889 – 1945)
Elie Wiesel on Love
“The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference.” Elie Wiesel
Clive Barnes on Television
“Television is the first truly democratic culture – the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want.” Clive Barnes
Mother Teresa on Peace
“Peace begins with a smile.” Mother Teresa
Pope John Paul II on War
“Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it.” Pope John Paul II
Franklin P. Jones on Punctuality
“The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.” Franklin P. Jones
Nikola Tesla on Science
“Today’s scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality.” Nikola Tesla, Modern Mechanics and Inventions, July, 1934 US (Serbian-born) electrical inventor (1857 – 1943)
Oscar Wilde Cynical Quote
“Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.” Oscar Wilde Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 – 1900)
Marilyn Monroe on Hollywood
“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.” Marilyn Monroe US actress (1926 – 1962)
Peter Ustinov on Science
“If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done.” Peter Ustinov English actor & author (1921 – 2004)
Confucius on Wisdom
“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” Confucius
Dean Acheson on Change
“Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.” Dean Acheson
Ernest Benn on Politics
“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.” Ernest Benn
Joseph Conrad on Evil
“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes, 1911 English (Polish-born) novelist (1857 – 1924)
Ernest Hemingway on Character
“A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Ernest Hemingway
William Blake on Forgiveness
“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” William Blake English engraver, illustrator, & poet (1757 – 1827)
Alec Bourne on Education
“It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated.” Alec Bourne
Steven Wright Cynical Quote
“What’s another word for Thesaurus?” Steven Wright US comedian and actor (1955 – )
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
Otto von Bismarck on Law
“Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” Otto von Bismarck German Prussian politician (1815 – 1898)
Doug Larson on Children
“Few things are more satisfying than seeing your own children have teenagers of their own.” Doug Larson
Bertrand Russell on Injustice
“In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which of those is the more annoying.” Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
