W. H. Auden on Poetry
“A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.” W. H. Auden
Eugene McCarthy on Bureaucracy
“The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.” Eugene McCarthy, Time magazine, Feb. 12, 1979 US politician (1916 – 2005)
Carl Sandburg on Time
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” Carl Sandburg
Lyndon B. Johnson on Politics
“If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read ‘President Can’t Swim’.” Lyndon B. Johnson 36th president of US (1908 – 1973)
Peter Drucker on Management
“So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.” Peter Drucker American (Austrian-born) management writer (1909 – 2005)
Charles de Gaulle on Patriotism
“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.” Charles de Gaulle
Ausonius on Forgiveness
“Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself.” Ausonius
Charles Caleb Colton on Hate
“We hate some persons because we do not know them; and we will not know them because we hate them.” Charles Caleb Colton (1780 – 1832)
Joseph Conrad on Work
“I don’t like work… but I like what is in work—the chance to find yourself.” Joseph Conrad
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)
Edward Teller on Science
“A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective.” Edward Teller US (Hungarian-born) physicist (1908 – 2003)
Doug Larson on Language
“If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.” Doug Larson
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
James Russell Lowell on Art and Creativity
“Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found.” James Russell Lowell US diplomat, essayist, & poet (1819 – 1891)
Indira Gandhi on Forgiveness
“Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.” Indira Gandhi
Elbert Hubbard on Vacations
“No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.” Elbert Hubbard US author (1856 – 1915)
Victor Hugo on Love
“To love another person is to see the face of God.” Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
J. W. Eagan on Books and Movies
“Never judge a book by its movie.” J. W. Eagan
Edith Wharton on Happiness
“If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time.” Edith Wharton US novelist (1862 – 1937)
George Bernard Shaw on Liberty
“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.” George Bernard Shaw Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Napoleon Bonaparte on History
“History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.” Napoleon Bonaparte
Maya Angelou on Work
“Nothing will work unless you do.” Maya Angelou
Robert Benchley on Humor
“Defining and analyzing humor is a pastime of humorless people.” Robert Benchley US actor, author, & humorist (1889 – 1945)
Sun Tzu on War
“There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare.” Sun Tzu Chinese general & military strategist (~400 BC)
Thomas H. Huxley on Science
“The great tragedy of Science – the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.” Thomas H. Huxley English biologist (1825 – 1895)
Barry LePatner on Experience
“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” Barry LePatner
Francois de La Rochefoucauld Cynical Quote
“We always like those who admire us; we do not always like those whom we admire.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld French author & moralist (1613 – 1680)
Marquis de Vauvenargues on Education
“The things we know best are the things we haven’t been taught.” Marquis de Vauvenargues
Henry J. Tillman’s Cynical Quote
“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.” Henry J. Tillman
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)
Dorothy Day on Love and Community
“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.” Dorothy Day
John Barrymore on Dreams
“A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.” John Barrymore
La Fontaine on Judging
“Beware so long as you live, of judging people by appearances.” La Fontaine
Georges Clemenceau on Experience
“All that I know I learned after I was thirty.” Georges Clemenceau
Nancy Astor on Money
“The only thing I like about rich people is their money.” Nancy Astor British politician (1879 – 1964)
George Orwell on Writing
“In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.” George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”, 1946 English essayist, novelist, & satirist (1903 – 1950)
Pablo Picasso on Imagination
“Everything you can imagine is real.” Pablo Picasso Spanish Cubist painter (1881 – 1973)
Mark Twain on Temptation
“There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.” Mark Twain, Following the Equator (1897) US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 – 1910)
John Calvin Coolidge on Honor
“No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.” John Calvin Coolidge
Maya Angelou on Music
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” Maya Angelou
William Shakespeare on Honesty
“Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance.” William Shakespeare Greatest English dramatist & poet (1564 – 1616)
Bernard Baruch on Politics
“Vote for the man who promises least; he’ll be the least disappointing.” Bernard Baruch
Gerard De Nerval on Nature
“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” Gerard De Nerval
Victor Hugo on Education
“He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” Victor Hugo
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)
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
Emily Matthews on Christmas
“From home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another the warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other.” Emily Matthews
Charlotte Carpenter on Christmas
“He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.” Charlotte Carpenter
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
Helen Keller on Christmas
“The only blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his heart.” Helen Keller
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
Dale Evans on Christmas and Love
“Christmas is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.” Dale Evans
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
Charles M. Crowe on Easter
“Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things but in terms of ideals.” Charles M. Crowe
