Pierre Beaumarchais Cynical Quote
“It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them.” Pierre Beaumarchais French businessman & comic dramatist (1732 – 1799)
Roger Ebert on Movies
“Every great film should seem new every time you see it.” Roger Ebert
Isaac Newton on Science
“I keep the subject of my inquiry constantly before me, and wait till the first dawning opens gradually, by little and little, into a full and clear light.” Isaac Newton English mathematician & physicist (1642 – 1727)
Abraham Lincoln on Character
“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” Abraham Lincoln
James Thurber on Questions
“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” James Thurber US author, cartoonist, humorist, & satirist (1894 – 1961)
Josh Billings on Marriage
“Marrying for love may be a bit risky, but it is so honest that God can’t help but smile on it.” Josh Billings
Ronald Reagan on Politics
“I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I’m in a cabinet meeting.” Ronald Reagan 40th president of US (1911 – 2004)
Thomas Jefferson on Dreams and History
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” Thomas Jefferson
Herb Caen on the Past
“I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there.” Herb Caen
Benjamin Disraeli on Strategy
“The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps.” Benjamin Disraeli British politician (1804 – 1881)
Gilbert K. Chesterton on Imagination
“It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong.” Gilbert K. Chesterton English author & mystery novelist (1874 – 1936)
Chester Bowles on Politics
“Government is too big and too important to be left to the politicians.” Chester Bowles US diplomat & economist (1901 – 1986)
Fred Allen on Hollywood
“You can take all the sincerity in Hollywood, place it in the navel of a firefly and still have room enough for three caraway seeds and a producer’s heart.” Fred Allen US radio comedian (1894 – 1956)
Emile Chartier on Ideas
“There are only two kinds of scholars; those who love ideas and those who hate them.” Emile Chartier
Christopher Lasch on Success
“Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.” Christopher Lasch
Oswald Chambers on Work
“The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.” Oswald Chambers
Ludwig Wittgenstein on Philosophy
“Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.” Ludwig Wittgenstein Austrian philosopher (1889 – 1951)
Albert Einstein on War
“The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
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
Albert Einstein on Technology & Humanity
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” Albert Einstein
Seneca on Difficulties
“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; It is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” Seneca
Baltasar Gracian on Wisdom
“A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.” Baltasar Gracian
Edward R. Murrow on TV
“When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.” Edward R. Murrow US broadcast journalist & newscaster (1908 – 1965)
Abraham Lincoln on Tact
“Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.” Abraham Lincoln 16th president of US (1809 – 1865)
John Kenneth Galbraith on Politics
“Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite.” John Kenneth Galbraith US (Canadian-born) administrator & economist (1908 – 2006)
Francis Bacon on Beauty
“There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.” Sir Francis Bacon, “Of Beauty” English author, courtier, & philosopher (1561 – 1626)
Pearl S. Buck on Work
“To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” Pearl S. Buck
Anatole France on Law
“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.” Anatole France, The Red Lily, 1894, chapter 7 French novelist (1844 – 1924)
Winston Churchill on Strategy and Results
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” Winston Churchill
Ambrose Bierce on Anger
“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” Ambrose Bierce
Harlan Ellison’s Funny Quote
“The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.” Harlan Ellison US science fiction author & screenwriter (1934 – )
Eleanor Roosevelt on Character
“People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.” Eleanor Roosevelt
Sun Tzu on Leadership
“A leader leads by example not by force.” Sun Tzu Chinese general & military strategist (~400 BC)
Kin Hubbard on Success
“There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it?” Kin Hubbard (1868 – 1930)
Arthur C. Clarke on Science
“If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.” Arthur C. Clarke English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
An English Professor on Writing
“I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.” An English Professor, Ohio University
Thomas E. Lawrence on Dreams
“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.” Thomas E. Lawrence
Ernest Hemingway Cynical Quote
“Never confuse movement with action.” Ernest Hemingway US author & journalist (1899 – 1961)
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)
Arnold J. Toynbee on Work
“The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.” Arnold J. Toynbee
Abraham Lincoln’s Cynical Quote
“It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.” Abraham Lincoln 16th president of US (1809 – 1865)
Honoré de Balzac on Marriage
“A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.” Honoré de Balzac
Stephen Leacock on Advertising
“Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.” Stephen Leacock Canadian economist & humorist (1869 – 1944)
Henry Ford on Reputation
“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” Henry Ford US automobile industrialist (1863 – 1947)
Bo Jackson on Success
“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” Bo Jackson
Albert Einstein on Science
“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
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)
Voltaire on Freedom
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire, (Attributed); originated in “The Friends of Voltaire”, 1906, by S. G. Tallentyre (Evelyn Beatrice Hall) French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 – 1778)
Will Rogers Cynical Quote
“Everything is funny as long as it is happening to Somebody Else.” Will Rogers, Illiterate Digest (1924), “Warning to Jokers: lay off the prince” US humorist & showman (1879 – 1935)
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)
Groucho Marx on TV and Books
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” Groucho Marx US comedian with Marx Brothers (1890 – 1977)
Isadora Duncan on Experience
“What one has not experienced, one will never understand in print.” Isadora Duncan
Michel de Montaigne on Silliness
“No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.” Michel de Montaigne French essayist (1533 – 1592)
Samuel Johnson on Curiosity
“A generous and elevated mind is distinguished by nothing more certainly than an eminent degree of curiosity.” Samuel Johnson
Marquis de la Grange on Advice
“When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.” Marquis de la Grange (1639 – 1692)
Henry Austin Dobson on Time
“Time goes, you say? Ah, no! alas, time stays, we go.” Henry Austin Dobson
Antoine de Saint-Exupery on Language
“Language is the source of misunderstandings.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery French writer (1900 – 1944)
Francis Bacon on Change
“Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly.” Francis Bacon
Sophocles on Wisdom
“Wisdom outweighs any wealth.” Sophocles
C. S. Lewis on Life
“We are what we believe we are.” C. S. Lewis
