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)
Peter Borden on Science
“Most advances in science come when a person for one reason or another is forced to change fields.” Peter Borden
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)
Oscar Wilde on Experience
“Experience is one thing you can’t get for nothing.” Oscar Wilde
Albert Einstein on Love
“Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.” Albert Einstein
Bertrand Russell Cynical Quote
“Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day.” Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays (1928), “Dreams and Facts” British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
Rita Rudner Funny Quote
“My husband gave me a necklace. It’s fake. I requested fake. Maybe I’m paranoid, but in this day and age, I don’t want something around my neck that’s worth more than my head.” Rita Rudner US comedian
Frank Lloyd Wright on Technology
“If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.” Frank Lloyd Wright
Napoleon Hill on Time
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” Napoleon Hill
Aristotle on Art
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Aristotle
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas on the Future
“The future lies in the strength with which people can set their powers of creation against their impulses for destruction. Perhaps this is the unending frontier.” Marjorie Stoneman Douglas
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)
Doug Larson on Children
“Few things are more satisfying than seeing your own children have teenagers of their own.” Doug Larson
Robert Byrne on Life
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Robert Byrne
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)
Anonymous on Politics
“Liberals are very broadminded: they are always willing to give careful consideration to both sides of the same side.” Anonymous
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
William Blake on Forgiveness
“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” William Blake English engraver, illustrator, & poet (1757 – 1827)
Cullen Hightower on Knowledge
“Saying what we think gives us a wider conversational range than saying what we know.” Cullen Hightower
Will Durant on Education
“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” Will Durant US historian (1885 – 1981)
George Lucas on Movies
“The secret to film is that it’s an illusion.” George Lucas
Marcus Tullius Cicero on Faith
“A man of courage is also full of faith.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
Oscar Wilde Cynical Quote
“Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.” Oscar Wilde Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 – 1900)
Freeman Dyson on Technology
“Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God’s gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.” Freeman Dyson
George Eliot on Anger
“Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.” George Eliot
Frank Lloyd Wright on Truth
“The truth is more important than the facts.” Frank Lloyd Wright US architect (1869 – 1959)
Thomas Jefferson on Liberty
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson, to Archibald Stuart, 1791 3rd president of US (1743 – 1826)
Thomas A. Edison on Thinking
“There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.” Thomas A. Edison US inventor (1847 – 1931)
Franklin P. Jones on Punctuality
“The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.” Franklin P. Jones
Jean Cocteau on Movies
“A film is a petrified fountain of thought.” Jean Cocteau
Putt’s Law
“Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand.” Archibald Putt
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
Mahatma Gandhi on Work
“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” Mahatma Gandhi Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 – 1948)
Sun Tzu on Fear
“Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy” Sun Tzu Chinese general & military strategist (~400 BC)
Carl Sagan on Imagination
“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” Carl Sagan
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)
Esther Dyson on Internet
“The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect.” Esther Dyson, Interview in Time Magazine, October 2005
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
Zig Ziglar on Success
“It was character that got us out of bed, commitment moved us into action, and discipline enabled us to follow through.” Zig Ziglar
M. C. Escher on Work
“My work is a game, a very serious game.” M. C. Escher Dutch artist (1898 – 1972)
Anne Frank on Happiness
“Whoever is happy will make others happy too.” Anne Frank
Bertrand Russell on Scepticism
“It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it is true.” Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays (1928), “On the Value of Scepticism” British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)
Victor Hugo on Society
“There is always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher.” Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, 1862 French dramatist, novelist, & poet (1802 – 1885)
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)
H. L. Mencken on Imagination
“Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.” H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)
Saint Thomas Aquinas on Friendship
“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” Saint Thomas Aquinas
Louis Pasteur on Science
“There are no such things as applied sciences, only applications of science.” Louis Pasteur French biologist & bacteriologist (1822 – 1895)
Ralph Waldo Emerson on Greatness
“To be great is to be misunderstood.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, An Essay on Self-Reliance US essayist & poet (1803 – 1882)
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)
Arthur C. Clarke on Science Fiction
“Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.” Arthur C. Clarke English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
