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)
Charlotte Carpenter on Christmas
“He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.” Charlotte Carpenter
Victor Hugo on Education
“He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” Victor Hugo
Gerard De Nerval on Nature
“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” Gerard De Nerval
Robert Heinlein on Progress
“Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.” Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love US science fiction author (1907 – 1988)
Robert Copeland on Committees
“To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent.” Robert Copeland
Bertrand Russell on Love and Happiness
“Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.” Bertrand Russell, Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 12 British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
Burton Hillis on Christmas and Family
“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.” Burton Hillis
Will Rogers on Doctors
“The best doctor in the world is the veterinarian. He can’t ask his patients what is the matter-he’s got to just know.” Will Rogers US humorist & showman (1879 – 1935)
George Carlin on Freedom
“Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?” George Carlin US comedian and actor (1937 – 2008)
Robert H. Schuller on Character
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” Robert H. Schuller
Arnold Schwarzenegger on Movies
“I have a love interest in every one of my films – a gun” Arnold Schwarzenegger
Ronald Reagan on Politics
“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.” Ronald Reagan 40th president of US (1911 – 2004)
Helen Keller on Christmas
“The only blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his heart.” Helen Keller
Les Brown on Success
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Les Brown
Quentin Crisp Wisdom Quote
“Treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster.” Quentin Crisp
William Feather on Business
“A budget tells us what we can’t afford, but it doesn’t keep us from buying it.” William Feather
George Bernard Shaw on Politics
“Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.” George Bernard Shaw Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Robert Bakker on Taxes
“I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator and name it after the IRS.” Robert Bakker, paleontologist
Oren Arnold on Christmas
“Christmas gift suggestions: to your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.” Oren Arnold
John Sladek on the Future
“The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive.” John Sladek
Dale Evans on Christmas and Love
“Christmas is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.” Dale Evans
Pablo Picasso on Art
“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.” Pablo Picasso Spanish Cubist painter (1881 – 1973)
Anatole France on Work
“Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another.” Anatole France, The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard French novelist (1844 – 1924)
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)
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)
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
Thomas Sowell on Truth
“There are only two ways of telling the complete truth–anonymously and posthumously.” Thomas Sowell (1930 – )
Stephen Jay Gould on Science
“The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of human arrogance from one pedestal after another of previous convictions about our centrality in the cosmos.” Stephen Jay Gould US author, naturalist, paleontologist, & popularizer of science (1941 – 2002)
Plato on Humanity
“No human thing is of serious importance.” Plato Greek author & philosopher in Athens (427 BC – 347 BC)
Irving Kristol on Equality
“Democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions – it only guarantees equality of opportunity.” Irving Kristol
Bertrand Russell on Politics
“There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action.” Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
Mark Twain on Procrastination
“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
Thomas H. Huxley on Wisdom
“It is not who is right, but what is right, that is of importance.” Thomas Huxley
Calvin Coolidge on Christmas and Peace
“Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” Calvin Coolidge
Alfred North Whitehead on Dogs and Cats
“If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.” Alfred North Whitehead English mathematician & philosopher (1861 – 1947)
Aristotle on Politics
“Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.” Aristotle
William Feather on Society
“One of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person.” William Feather (1908 – 1976)
Maria Robinson on Success
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Maria Robinson
Heywood Broun on Atheism
“Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God.” Heywood Broun US journalist (1888 – 1939)
Jules Renard on Literature
“Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.” Jules Renard (1864 – 1910)
Steve Jobs on Innovation
“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” Steve Jobs
J. Paul Getty on Money
“If you can count your money, you don’t have a billion dollars.” J. Paul Getty
Bertrand Russell on Mathematics
“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty – a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture.” Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
Laurence J. Peter on Clutter
“If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?” Laurence J. Peter US educator & writer (1919 – 1988)
Bob Hope on Money
“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.” Bob Hope
Thomas A. Edison on Friendship
“I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.” Thomas A. Edison
George Bernard Shaw on Experience
“We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience.” George Bernard Shaw
Mark Twain on Humanity
“The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.” Mark Twain, What Is Man? (1906) US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 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)