Famous Quotes |
| No one who has read official
documents needs to be told how easy it is to conceal the essential truth under the apparently candid and all- disclosing
phrases of a voluminous and particularizing report.... |
Woodrow Wilson, _Congressional Government_, p. 109 |
28th president of US (1856 - 1924) |
| Today, a successful Congressman has
the fundraising ability of a hooker trying to raise cab fare home.... |
John L. Jackley, New York Times, 10/29/90, p. A15. |
| What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
US essayist & poet (1803 -
1882) |
| A politician will always tip off his
true belief by stating the opposite at the beginning of the sentence. For maximum comprehension, do not start listening
until the first clause is concluded. Begin instead at the word
"but" which begins the second, or active, clause. This is the way
to tell a liberal from a conservative -- before they tell you.<br>
Thus: "I have always believed in a strong national defense, second to
none, but ... " (a liberal, about to propose a $20 billion defense cut). |
Frank Mankiewicz |
| The danger from computers is not
that they will eventually get as smart as men, but that we will meanwhile agree to meet them halfway." |
Bernard Avishai |
| And, of course, you have the
commercials where savvy businesspeople Get Ahead by using their MacIntosh computers to create the ultimate American
business product: a really sharp-looking report. |
Dave Barry |
US columnist & humorist (1947
- ) |
| Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue. |
John Herschel |
English astronomer (1792 - 1871) |
| If the automobile had followed the
same development cyclee as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and
explode once a year, killing everyone inside." |
Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld |
| It is practically impossible to
teach good programming style to students that have had prior exposure to BASIC; as potential programmers they are mentally
mutilated beyond hope of regeneration. |
Professor Edsger Dijkstra |
| PL<br>1, "the fatal disease", belongs more to the problem
set than to the solution set. |
Professor Edsger Dijkstra |
| Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about
telescopes. |
Professor Edsger Dijkstra |
| Artificial Intelligence: the art of making computers that behave like the
ones in movies |
Bill Bulko |
| All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors. |
Unknown |
Quotations by unknown authors |
| An apprentice carpenter may want
only a hammer and saw, but a master craftsman employs many precision tools. Computer programming likewise
requires sophisticated tools to cope with the complexity of real
applications, and only practice with these tools will build skill in their
use. |
Robert L. Kruse, Data Structures and Program Design |
| Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. |
Jonathan Kozol |
| It is against the grain of modern
education to teach children to program. What fun is there in making plans, acquiring discipline in organizing thoughts,
devoting attention to detail, and learning to be self-critical? |
Alan Perlis |
| Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature. |
Kulawiec |
| Where a calculator on the ENIAC is
equpped with 18,000 vaccuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes
and perhaps weigh 1 1<br>2 tons. |
Popular Mechanics, March 1949 |
| Life was simple before World War II. After that, we had systems. |
G. Hopper |
| I have a cat named Trash. In the
current political climate it would seem that if I were trying to sell him (at least to a Computer Scientist), I would not
stress that he is gentle to humans and is self-sufficient, living mostly on
field mice. Rather, I would argue that he is object-oriented. |
Roger King |
| If you wish your merit to be known, acknowledge that of other people. |
Oriental Proverb |
| pixel, n.: A mischievous, magical
spirit associated with screen displays. The computer industry has frequently borrowed from mythology: Witness the
sprites in computer graphics, the demons in artificial intelligence, and the
trolls in the marketing department. |
Jeff Meyer |
| If we had less statemanship we could get along with fewer battleships. |
Mark Twain |
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910) |
| Before a war military science seems
a real science, like astronomy; but after a war it seems more like astrology. |
Rebecca West |
Irish critic, journalist, & novelist
(1892 - 1983) |
| War is just to those to whom war is necessary. |
Titus Livius |
Roman author & historian (59
BC - 17 AD) |
| Humility must always be the portion
of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends. |
Dwight David Eisenhower, address at Guildhall, London, 7/12/45 |
| Setting loose on the battlefield
weapons that are able to learn may be one of the biggest mistakes mankind has ever made. It could also be one of the
last. |
Richard Forsyth - Machine Learning for Expert Systems |
| Some people imagine that nuclear war
will mean instant and painless death. But for millions this will not be the case. The accounts of the injured at
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and of the doctors who tried to tend them, witness to
the horrors and torments which would be magnified thousands of times over in
the kinds of attack we analyse here. . . |
Stan Openshaw - Doomsday |
| Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power. |
Seneca |
Roman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC - 65 AD) |
| Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be
sorry. |
Mark Twain |
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910) |
| Any reviewer who expresses rage and
loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge
sundae. |
Kurt Vonnegut |
US novelist (1922 - ) |
| It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you
are not. |
Andre Gide |
French critic, essayist, & novelist
(1869 - 1951) |
| We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in
the world. |
Helen Keller |
US blind & deaf educator (1880
- 1968) |
| To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult. |
Plutarch |
Greek biographer & moralist
(46 AD - 120 AD) |
| For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing
them. |
Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics |
Greek critic, philosopher, physicist, & zoologist (384 BC - 322 BC) |
| Having once decided to achieve a
certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome
labor is immense. |
Arnold Bennett |
| Make up your mind to act decidedly
and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation. |
Thomas H. Huxley |
English biologist (1825 - 1895) |
| Any sufficiently advanced bureaucracy is indistinguishable from molasses. |
Unknown |
Quotations by unknown authors |
| We must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly
alive in repose. |
Indira Gandhi |
Indian politician (1917 - 1984) |
| If you refuse to be made straight
when you are green, you will not be made straight when you are dry. |
African Proverb |
| First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. |
Epictetus |
Roman (Greek-born) slave & Stoic philosopher (55 AD - 135 AD) |
| It is not enough to aim; you must hit. |
Italian Proverb |
| Keep away from people who try to
belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become
great. |
Mark Twain |
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910) |
| He who would leap high must take a long run. |
Danish Proverb |
| Anybody can win unless there happens to be a second entry. |
George Ade |
US dramatist & humorist (1866
- 1944) |
| Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry. |
Henry Ward Beecher |
US abolitionist & clergyman
(1813 - 1887) |
| To err is human; to forgive, infrequent. |
Franklin P. Adams |
US journalist (1881 - 1960) |
| The chief obstacle to the progress of the human race is the human race. |
Don Marquis |
US humorist (1878 - 1937) |
| When anger rises, think of the consequences. |
Confucius |
Chinese philosopher & reformer
(551 BC - 479 BC) |
| We are born charming, fresh and
spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society. |
Judith Martin, (Miss Manners) |
| People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children. |
Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes |
US cartoonist (1958 - ) |
| I was so naive as a kid I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing. |
Johnny Carson |
US comedian & television host
(1925 - 2005) |
| The denunciation of the young is a
necessary part of the hygiene of older people, and greatly assists in the circulation of their blood. |
Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts (1931) "Age and Death" |
(1865 - 1946) |
| I take my children everywhere, but they always find their way back home. |
Robert Orben |
| My parents only had one argument in forty-five years. It lasted
forty-three years. |
Cathy Ladman |
| Never do anything when you are in a temper, for you will do everything
wrong. |
Baltasar Gracian |
| You know that children are growing up when they start asking questions
that have answers. |
John J. Plomp |
| The best way to keep children home
is to make the home atmosphere pleasant--and let the air out of the tires. |
Dorothy Parker |
US author, humorist, poet, & wit
(1893 - 1967) |
| Never have children, only grandchildren. |
Gore Vidal |
US author & dramatist (1925
- ) |
| Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. |
Oscar Wilde |
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet
(1854 - 1900) |
| I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. |
Noel Coward |
English actor, dramatist, & songwriter (1899 - 1973) |
| I hope that while so many people are
out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some. |
Herbert Rappaport |
| Eat a third and drink a third and
leave the remaining third of your stomach empty. Then, when you get angry, there will be sufficient room for your rage. |
Babylonian Talmud, tractate Gittin |
| Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as
one goes on. |
Samuel Butler |
English composer, novelist, & satiric author (1835 - 1902) |
| Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge. |
Paul Gauguin |
French Post-Impressionist painter
(1848 - 1903) |
| Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit
a triple. |
Barry Switzer |
US football coach (1937 - ) |
| I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that
decision. |
Eleanor Roosevelt |
US diplomat & reformer (1884 -
1962) |
| Your first appearance, he said to
me, is the gauge by which you will be measured; try to manage that you may go beyond yourself in after times, but
beware of ever doing less. |
Jean Jacques Rousseau |
French political philosopher (1712
- 1778) |
| We are continually faced with a
series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. |
John W. Gardner |
US administrator (1912 - ) |
| We think in generalities, but we live in detail. |
Alfred North Whitehead |
English mathematician & philosopher
(1861 - 1947) |
| Life is an unbroken succession of false situations. |
Thornton Wilder |
US dramatist & novelist (1897
- 1975) |
| The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast
it. |
William James |
US Pragmatist philosopher & psychologist (1842 - 1910) |
| Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the
necessities. |
Frank Lloyd Wright |
US architect (1869 - 1959) |
| The man who says he is willing to meet you halfway is usually a poor
judge of distance. |
Laurence J. Peter |
US educator & writer (1919 -
1988) |
| We seem to believe it is possible to ward off death by following rules of
good grooming. |
Don Delillo |
| No matter how rich you become, how
famous or powerful, when you die the size of your funeral will still pretty much depend on the weather. |
Michael Pritchard |
| Beware so long as you live, of judging people by appearances. |
La Fontaine |
| Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese. |
G. K. Chesterton |
English author & mystery novelist
(1874 - 1936) |
| I no longer prepare food or drink with more than one ingredient. |
Cyra McFadden |
| Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the
food fight it out inside. |
Mark Twain |
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910) |
| Cockroaches and socialites are the only things that can stay up all night
and eat anything. |
Herb Caen |
| Keeping your clothes well pressed will keep you from looking hard
pressed. |
Coleman Cox |
| Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length. |
Robert Frost |
US poet (1874 - 1963) |
| There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge. |
Bertrand Russell |
British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970) |
| Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast. |
Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband, 1893, Act I |
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet
(1854 - 1900) |
| Since we cannot know all that there
is to be known about anything, we ought to know a little about everything. |
Blaise Pascal |
French mathematician, physicist
(1623 - 1662) |
| The incompetent with nothing to do can still make a mess of it. |
Laurence J. Peter |
US educator & writer (1919 -
1988) |
| It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument. |
William G. McAdoo |
US industrialist, lawyer, & politician (1863 - 1941) |
| An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more
than he knows. |
Dwight D. Eisenhower |
US general & Republican politician
(1890 - 1969) |
| An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been
not to have taken it. |
Laurence J. Peter |
US educator & writer (1919 -
1988) |
| Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time. |
Norman Ford |
| Do not judge men by mere
appearances; for the light laughter that bubbles on the lip often mantles over the depths of sadness, and the serious look may be
the sober veil that covers a divine peace and joy. |
E. H. Chapin |
| Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of
men who try to. |
H. Mumford Jones |
US critic & educator (1892 -
1980) |
| He is indebted to his memory for his jests and to his imagination for his
facts. |
Richard Brinsley Sheridan |
Irish dramatist & politician
(1751 - 1816) |
| The advantage of a bad memory is
that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time. |
Friedrich Nietzsche |
German philosopher (1844 - 1900) |
| Confusion is always the most honest response. |
Marty Indik |
| The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously. |
Henry Kissinger |
US (German-born) diplomat & scholar
(1923 - ) |
| Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. |
Oscar Wilde |
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet
(1854 - 1900) |
| 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) |
| If you go in for argument, take care
of your temper. Your logic, if you have any, will take care of itself. |
Joseph Farrell |
| Only exceptionally rational men can afford to be absurd. |
Allan Goldfein |
| It is a far, far better thing to
have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought. |
John Kenneth Galbraith |
US (Canadian-born) administrator & economist (1908 -
) |
| He who builds a better mousetrap
these days runs into material shortages, patent-infringement suits, work stoppages, collusive bidding, discount
discrimination--and taxes." |
H. E. Martz |
| Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons. |
R. Buckminster Fuller |
US architect & engineer (1895
- 1983) |
| The days of the digital watch are numbered. |
Tom Stoppard |
British dramatist & screenwriter
(1937 - ) |
| The significant problems we have
cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them. |
Albert Einstein, (attributed) |
US (German-born) physicist (1879 -
1955) |
| The murals in restaurants are on par with the food in museums. |
Peter De Vries |
| Before you contradict an old man, my fair friend, you should endeavor to
understand him. |
George Santayana |
US (Spanish-born) philosopher
(1863 - 1952) |
| A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else
in the world. |
Edmond de Goncourt |
French artist & novelist (1822
- 1896) |
| It is only an auctioneer who can equally and impartially admire all
schools of art. |
Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist, 1891 |
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet
(1854 - 1900) |
| In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others. |
Andre Maurois |
French author (1885 - 1967) |
| Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other
people. |
Philip Guedalla |
English author & popular historian
(1889 - 1944) |
| The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the
human bladder. |
Alfred Hitchcock, In Simon Rose, Classic Film Guide (1995) |
British movie director (1899 -
1980) |
| Television is more interesting than
people. If it were not, we would have people standing in the corners of our rooms. |
Alan Corenk |
| Imitation is the sincerest form of television. |
Fred Allen |
US radio comedian (1894 - 1956) |
| Imagine what it would be like if TV actually were good. It would be the
end of everything we know. |
Marvin Minsky |
| Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined. |
Samuel Goldwyn |
US (Polish-born) movie producer
(1882 - 1974) |
| Ask, and it shall be given you; Seek, and ye shall find; Knock, and it
shall be opened unto you. |
Bible, New Testament, Matthew 7:7 |
| My father hated radio and could not wait for television to be invented so
he could hate that too. |
Peter De Vries |
| Television news is like a lightning
flash. It makes a loud noise, lights up everything around it, leaves everything else in darkness and then is suddenly gone. |
Hodding Carter |
| The prime purpose of eloquence is to keep other people from talking. |
Louis Vermeil |
| Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of
witnesses. |
Margaret Millar |
| Part of the inhumanity of the
computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest. |
Isaac Asimov |
US science fiction novelist & scholar
(1920 - 1992) |
| To err is human--and to blame it on a computer is even more so. |
Robert Orben |
| Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face. |
Dave Barry |
US columnist & humorist (1947
- ) |
| It is fun to be in the same decade with you. |
Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a letter to Winston Churchill |
32nd president of US (1882 - 1945) |
| Know how to ask. There is nothing more difficult for some people, nor for
others, easier. |
Baltasar Gracian |
| She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B. |
Dorothy Parker, speaking of Katharine Hepburn |
US author, humorist, poet, & wit
(1893 - 1967) |
| I can forgive Alfred Nobel for
having invented dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize. |
George Bernard Shaw |
Irish dramatist & socialist
(1856 - 1950) |
| Never give a party if you will be the most interesting person there. |
Mickey Friedman |
| I write down everything I want to
remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking
for the paper I wrote it down on. |
Beryl Pfizer |
| If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the
second, or even the third, place. |
Cicero |
Roman author, orator, & politician
(106 BC - 43 BC) |
| We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of
course, language. |
Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost, 1882 |
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet
(1854 - 1900) |
| The town where I grew up has a zip code of E-I-E-I-O. |
Martin Mull |
US comedian and actor (1943 - ) |
| I have just returned from Boston. It is the only sane thing to do if you
find yourself up there. |
Fred Allen, in a letter to Groucho Marx, 1953 |
US radio comedian (1894 - 1956) |
| Behind the phony tinsel of Hollywood lies the real tinsel. |
Oscar Levant |
(1906 - 1972) |
| Turn the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los
Angeles. |
Frank Lloyd Wright |
US architect (1869 - 1959) |
| To disagree with three-fourths of the British public is one of the first
requisites of sanity. |
Oscar Wilde |
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet
(1854 - 1900) |
| The Romans would never have found
time to conquer the world if they had been obliged first to learn Latin. |
Heinrich Heine |
German critic & poet (1797 -
1856) |
| Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to believe. |
Laurence J. Peter, paraphrasing Sir Walter Scott |
US educator & writer (1919 -
1988) |
| A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is
absolutely fatal. |
Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist, part 2, 1891 |
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet
(1854 - 1900) |
| There are only two ways of telling the complete truth--anonymously and
posthumously. |
Thomas Sowell |
(1930 - ) |
| A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on
its shoes. |
Mark Twain, (attributed) |
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910) |
| Reminds me of my safari in Africa.
Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water. |
W. C. Fields |
US actor (1880 - 1946) |
| I never took hallucinogenic drugs
because I never wanted my consciousness expanded one unnecessary iota. |
Fran Lebowitz |
US writer and humorist (1950
- ) |
| Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to
the town gossip. |
Will Rogers |
US humorist & showman (1879 -
1935) |
| Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing. |
Oscar Wilde |
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet
(1854 - 1900) |
| Vigorous let us be in attaining our ends, and mild in our method of
attainment. |
Lord Newborough, Motto |
| A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin. |
H. L. Mencken |
US editor (1880 - 1956) |
| Against logic there is no armor like ignorance. |
Laurence J. Peter |
US educator & writer (1919 -
1988) |
| What some people mistake for the high cost of living is really the cost
of high living. |
Doug Larson |
| Money frees you from doing things
you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy. |
Groucho Marx |
US comedian with Marx Brothers
(1890 - 1977) |
| I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of
liking them. |
Jane Austen |
English novelist (1775 - 1817) |
| A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of
water. |
Carl Reiner |
| If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an
apostrophe with fur. |
Doug Larson |
| Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. Plan more than you can do,
then do it. |
Anonymous |
| Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under. |
H. L. Mencken |
US editor (1880 - 1956) |
| The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a
damn fool of himself. |
John Ciardi |
US poet (1916 - 1986) |
| I never vote for anyone; I always vote against. |
W. C. Fields |
US actor (1880 - 1946) |
| If your daily life seems poor, do
not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches. |
Rainer Maria Rilke |
German lyric poet (1875 - 1926) |
| Get all the fools on your side and you can be elected to anything. |
Frank Dane |
| Communism is like one big phone company. |
Lenny Bruce |
(1923 - 1966) |
| When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are
broken. |
Benjamin Disraeli |
British politician (1804 - 1881) |
| Lawyers spend a great deal of their time shoveling smoke. |
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. |
US jurist (1841 - 1935) |
| I quit therapy because my analyst was trying to help me behind my back. |
Richard Lewis |
| Finance is the art of passing money from hand to hand until it finally
disappears. |
Robert W. Sarnoff |
| Every man serves a useful purpose: A miser, for example, makes a
wonderful ancestor. |
Laurence J. Peter |
US educator & writer (1919 -
1988) |
| When you have only two pennies left
in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. |
Chinese Proverb |
| I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education. |
Wilson Mizner |
US screenwriter (1876 - 1933) |
| I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. |
Mark Twain |
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910) |
| So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for
people to work. |
Peter Drucker |
| No man ever listened himself out of a job. |
Calvin Coolidge |
30th president of US (1872 - 1933) |
| Making duplicate copies and computer
printouts of things no one wanted even one of in the first place is giving America a new sense of purpose. |
Andy Rooney |
US news commentator (1919 - ) |
| Censorship, like charity, should begin at home; but, unlike charity, it
should end there. |
Clare Booth Luce |
US diplomat, dramatist, journalist, & politician (1903 - 1987) |
| Your manuscript is both good and
original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good. |
Samuel Johnson, (attributed) |
English author, critic, & lexicographer (1709 - 1784) |
| He who postpones the hour of living
rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses. |
Horace |
Roman lyric poet & satirist
(65 BC - 8 BC) |
| Reading this book is like waiting for the first shoe to drop. |
Ralph Novak |
| If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
conclusion. |
George Bernard Shaw |
Irish dramatist & socialist
(1856 - 1950) |
| The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about
it. |
Benjamin Disraeli |
British politician (1804 - 1881) |
| Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers. |
T. S. Eliot |
British (US-born) critic, dramatist & poet (1888 - 1965) |
| A magician pulls rabbits out of hats. An experimental psychologist pulls
habits out of rats. |
Anonymous |
| A lawyer starts life giving $500 worth of law for $5 and ends giving $5
worth for $500. |
Benjamin H. Brewster |
US lawyer (1816 - 1888) |
| You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. |
Ray Bradbury, advice to writers |
US science fiction author (1920
- ) |
| There are painters who transform the
sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow
spot into the sun. |
Pablo Picasso |
Spanish Cubist painter (1881 -
1973) |
| Treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a
triviality as if it were a disaster. |
Quentin Crisp |
| It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always
dull. |
H. L. Mencken |
US editor (1880 - 1956) |
| Criticism is prejudice made plausible. |
H. L. Mencken |
US editor (1880 - 1956) |
| Washington is the only place where sound travels faster than light. |
C. V. R. Thompson |
| Life is a zoo in a jungle. |
Peter De Vries |
| Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above
principles. |
George Jean Nathan |
US drama critic & editor (1882
- 1958) |
| In all recorded history there has
not been one economist who has had to worry about where the next meal would come from. |
Peter Drucker |
| It is necessary to try to surpass oneself always; this occupation ought
to last as long as life. |
Queen Christina, of Sweden, 1629-1689 |
Swedish queen 1632-1654 (1626 -
1689) |
| To knock a thing down, especially if
it is cocked at an arrogant angle, is a deep delight of the blood. |
George Santayana |
US (Spanish-born) philosopher
(1863 - 1952) |
| Education is a state-controlled manufactory of echoes. |
Norman Douglas |
| Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another. |
H. L. Mencken |
US editor (1880 - 1956) |
| If mankind minus one were of one
opinion, then mankind is no more justified in silencing the one than the one - if he had the power - would be justified
in silencing mankind. |
John Stuart Mill |
English economist & philosopher
(1806 - 1873) |
| The male is a domestic animal which, if treated with firmness, can be
trained to do most things. |
Jilly Cooper |
| If we were not all so interested in
ourselves, life would be so uninteresting that none of us would be able to endure it. |
Arthur Schopenhauer |
German philosopher (1788 - 1860) |
| Nothing can so alienate a voter from the political system as backing a
winning candidate. |
Mark B. Cohen |
| Women should be obscene and not heard. |
Groucho Marx |
US comedian with Marx Brothers
(1890 - 1977) |
| There ought to be one day-- just one-- when there is open season on
senators. |
Will Rogers |
US humorist & showman (1879 -
1935) |
| The fascination of shooting as a
sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of the gun. |
P. G. Wodehouse |
British humorist & novelist in US
(1881 - 1975) |
| Be bold and mighty powers will come to your aid. |
Basil King |
| To know all is not to forgive all. It is to despise everybody. |
Quentin Crisp |
| The multitude of books is making us ignorant. |
Voltaire |
French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 - 1778) |
| It was one of those perfect English
autumnal days which occur more frequently in memory than in life. |
P. D. James |
| It is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might
remember. |
Eugene McCarthy |
US politician (1916 - ) |
| There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn. |
Albert Camus |
French existentialist author & philosopher (1913 - 1960) |
| It is the wretchedness of being rich that you have to live with rich
people. |
Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts (1931) "In the World" |
(1865 - 1946) |
| To die for an idea; it is
unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true! |
H. L. Mencken |
US editor (1880 - 1956) |
| America is a large, friendly dog in
a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair. |
Arnold Toynbee |
English historian & historical philosopher (1889 - 1975) |
| Never read a book through merely because you have begun it. |
John Witherspoon |
US clergyman, educator, & politician
(1723 - 1794) |
| I prefer the company of peasants
because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. |
Michel de Montaigne |
French essayist (1533 - 1592) |
| Acting is the most minor of gifts
and not a very high-class way to earn a living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four. |
Katharine Hepburn |
US actress (1907 - 2003) |
| Be as careful of the books you read,
as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter. |
Paxton Hood |
| A quotation, like a pun, should come
unsought, and then be welcomed only for some propriety of felicity justifying the intrusion. |
Robert Chapman |
| You keep changinÆ the rules and I
canÆt play the game. I canÆt take it much longer. I think I might go insane. |
Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, Scream |
| If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, then
make that change. |
Michael Jackson, Man In The Mirror |
| Imagine thereÆs no countries, it
isnÆt hard to do; nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace. |
John Lennon, Imagine |
English singer & songwriter
(1940 - 1980) |
| Wear the old coat and buy the new book. |
Austin Phelps |
| DonÆt go chasinÆ waterfalls. Please stick to the rivers and the lakes
that youÆre used to. |
TLC, Waterfalls |
| We can always take but never give. |
Jamiroquai, Virtual Insanity |
| ItÆs a wonder man can eat at all, when things are big that should be
small. |
Jamiroquai, Virtual Insanity |
| Look whoÆs standing if you please, æthough you tried to bring me to my
knees. |
Michael Jackson, 2Bad |
| Prejudice is ignorance. |
Michael Jackson |
| The world is moved not only by the
mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. |
Helen Keller |
US blind & deaf educator (1880
- 1968) |
| AinÆt no mountain that I canÆt climb, baby |
Michael Jackson, Leave Me Alone |
| Above all, try something. |
Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
| If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. |
Dolly Parton |
| Fear makes strangers of people who should be friends. |
Shirley MacLaine |
US movie actress (1934 - ) |
| Never fear the want of business. A
man who qualifies himself well for his calling, never fails of employment. |
Thomas Jefferson |
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826) |
| It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop. |
Confucius |
Chinese philosopher & reformer
(551 BC - 479 BC) |
| Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons. |
Ruth Ann Schabaker |
| Always aim for achievement, and forget about success. |
Helen Hayes |
US actress (1900 - 1993) |
| The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
US essayist & poet (1803 -
1882) |
| If you should die before me, ask if you could bring a friend. |
Stone Temple Pilots |
| True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known
until it be lost. |
Charles Caleb Colton |
(1780 - 1832) |
| If you live to be a hundred, I want
to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you. |
Winnie the Pooh |
| Success has made failures of many men. |
Cindy Adams |
| Problems are only opportunities in work clothes. |
Henry J. Kaiser |
US industrialist (1882 - 1967) |
| Keep cool and you command everybody. |
Louis de Saint-Just |
French politician & revolutionary
(1767 - 1794) |
| A critic is a legless man who teaches running. |
Channing Pollock |
| Each new day is a blank page in the
diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can. |
Douglas Pagels, A Wonderful Resolution For The New Year! |
| The man who has no imagination has no wings. |
Muhammad Ali |
US boxer (1942 - ) |
| We are behaving like people without
compassion and love for the most vulnerable section of society. The children of the universe are without a
spokesperson, they are voicelessàWe are all touched by the atrocities
committed against children: sexual, physical abuse, child slave labor,
educational neglect. We feel ashamed. Angry. Appalled. But there is no
actionàNo action. |
Michael Jackson |
| Dreams can become a reality when we
possess a vision that is characterized by the willingness to work hard, a desire for excellence and a belief in our
right and our responsibility to be equal members of society. |
Janet Jackson |
| to be yourself in a world that is
doing its best, day and night to make you like everybody else--is to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight. |
e.e. cummings |
| I always knew i would look back on
my tears and laugh but i never tought i would look back on the laughter and cry |
Unknown |
Quotations by unknown authors |
| For what are posessions but things we guard for fear we might need them
tomorrow? |
Kahlil Gibron, (book) The Profit |
| Always behave like a duck - keep
calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath. |
Jacob Braude |
| Patience is often merely the guise of Cowardice. |
C. Lee Hopkin |
| He who limps still walks. |
Stanislaw Lec |
| The mere sense of living is joy enough. |
Emily Dickinson |
US poet (1830 - 1886) |
| A good garden may have some weeds. |
Thomas Fuller |
English clergyman & historian
(1608 - 1661) |
| Look at a stone cutter hammering
away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow
it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but
all that had gone before. |
Jacob A. Riis |
| To make a man happy, fill his hands with work. |
Frederick E. Crane |
| Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. |
Raymond Lindquist |
| No one knows what he can do until he tries. |
Publilius Syrus |
(~100 BC) |
| Imagination is more important than knowledge. |
Albert Einstein |
US (German-born) physicist (1879 -
1955) |
| Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing. |
Benjamin Franklin |
US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790) |
| The game of life is not so much in holding a good hand as playing a poor
hand well. |
H.T. Leslie |
| People are ridiculous only when they try or seem to be that which what
they are not. |
Giacomo Leopardi |
| Free your mind, and the rest will follow. Be colorblind, donÆt be so
shallow. |
En Vogue, Free Your Mind |
| Concern should drive us into action and not into depression. |
Karen Horney |
| Treat people as if they were what
they should be, and you help them become what they are capable of becoming. |
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
German dramatist, novelist, poet, & scientist (1749 - 1832) |
| Always be ready to speak your mind and a base man will avoid you. |
William Blake |
English engraver, illustrator, & poet
(1757 - 1827) |
| It is never too late to give up your prejudices. |
Henry David Thoreau |
US Transcendentalist author (1817
- 1862) |
| The person who knows "how"
will always have a job. The person who knows "why" will always be his boss. |
Diane Ravitch |
| I decided long ago never to walk in
anyoneÆs shadow. If I fail, if I succeed, at least IÆll live as I believe. |
Whitney Houston, The Greatest Love Of All |
| As each child looks at the world
through innocent eyes all they can see, Is the worlds way of life and the way they think their lives should be. |
Kandice Hehner, Innocent Eyes |
| The superior man is modest in his speech, but excels in his actions. |
Confucius |
Chinese philosopher & reformer
(551 BC - 479 BC) |
| If you want a quality, act as if you already had it. |
William James |
US Pragmatist philosopher & psychologist (1842 - 1910) |
| You can do anything that you wanna
do. All you gotta do is to put your brain into it. Take your time and educate your mind. |
Coolio, The Winner |
| Life.....is a series of dogs. |
George Carlin |
US comedian and actor (1937 - ) |
| If indeed you must be candid, be candid beautifully. |
Kahlil Gibran |
Lebanese artist & poet in US
(1883 - 1931) |
| In the hearts and minds of the people, the grapes of wrath were growing
heavy for the vintage. |
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath |
US novelist (1902 - 1968) |
| The concept of progress acts as a
protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future. |
Frank Herbert |
US science fiction novelist (1920
- 1986) |
| Do not let the body be dragged along by mind nor the mind be dragged
along by the body |
Miyamoto Musashi |
| If women understood and exercised their power they could remake the
world. |
Emily Taft Douglas |
| What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to
what lies within us. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
US essayist & poet (1803 -
1882) |
| Courage is fear that has said its prayers. |
Maya Angelou |
US author & poet (1928 - ) |
| We are the hero of our own story. |
Mary McCarthy |
| Think wrongly if you please, but in all cases think for yourself. |
Doris Lessing |
| I told you I was sick. |
Erma Bombeck, on her tombstone |
US author & humorist (1927 -
1996) |
| Your representative owes you, not
his industry only, but judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion. |
Edmund Burke, Speech to the electors of Bristol. 3 Nov. 1774 |
Irish orator, philosopher, & politician (1729 - 1797) |
| I never knew an early-rising,
hard-working, prudent man, careful of his earnings, and strictly honest who complained of bad luck. |
Henry Ward Beecher |
US abolitionist & clergyman
(1813 - 1887) |
| Necessity is the plea for every
infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. |
William Pitt |
| Government is not reason; it is not
eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. |
George Washington |
First president of US (1732 -
1799) |
| ...in order that a man may be happy,
it is necessary that he should not only be capable of his work, but a good judge of his work. |
John Ruskin |
English critic, essayist, & reformer
(1819 - 1900) |
| Politics is the pursuit of trivial
men who, when they succeed at it, become important in the eyes of more trivial men. |
George Jean Nathan |
US drama critic & editor (1882
- 1958) |
| We think so because other people all
think so; or because after all, we do think so; or because we were told so, and think we must think so; or because we
once thought so, and think we still think so; or because, having thought so,
we think we will think so. |
Henry Sedgwick |
| To me there is something thrilling
and exalting in the thought that we are drifting forward into a splendid mystery-into something that no mortal eye hath yet
seen, and no intelligence has yet declared. |
E. H. Chapin |
| To hate a man because he was born in
another country, because he speaks a different language, or because he takes a different view of this subject or
that, is a great folly. Desist, I implore you, for we are all equally
human...Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity. |
John Comenius |
| Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use. |
Charles M. Schulz |
US cartoonist (1922 - 2000) |
| Whoever said love is blind is dead
wrong. Love is the only thing that lets us see each other with the remotest accuracyà |
Martha Beck |
| Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow. |
Philip Gulley |
| If you have no confidence in self
you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence you have won even before you started. |
Marcus Garvey |
| Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others with out getting a few
drops on yourself. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
US essayist & poet (1803 -
1882) |
| What we do is less than a drop in
the ocean. But if it were missing, the ocean would lack something. |
Mother Teresa |
Indian humanitarian & missionary
(1910 - 1997) |
| Do what you can with what you have, where you are. |
Theodore Roosevelt |
26th president of US (1858 - 1919) |
| Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great
because of their passion. |
Martha Graham |
US choreographer & dancer
(1893 - 1991) |
| If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain. |
Dolly Parton |
| Imagination is the reality of the dreamer. |
Scott Ringenbach |
| The first casualty when war comes is truth. |
Hiram Warren Johnson, (1917) |
| From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a
life. |
Arthur Ashe |
| The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30
years of his life. |
Muhammad Ali |
US boxer (1942 - ) |
| We judge ourselves by what we are
capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. |
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
US poet (1807 - 1882) |
| My kittens look at me like little angels, and always after doing
something especially devilish. |
Jamie Ann Hunt |
| When life itself seems lunatic, who
knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical may be madness. To surrender dreams, this may be madness. To
seek treasures where there is only trash...Too much sanity may be madness,
and maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be. |
Miguel De Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Mancha |
Spanish adventurer, author, & poet
(1547 - 1616) |
| Whenever it is in any way possible,
every boy and girl should choose as his life work some occupation which he should like to do anyhow, even if he did
not need the money. |
William Lyon Phelps |
| To be proud of virtue is to poison oneself with the antidote. |
Benjamin Franklin, ? |
US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790) |
| The difference between God and the
historians consists above all in the fact that God cannot alter the past. |
Samuel Butler, 1835-1902 |
English composer, novelist, & satiric author (1835 - 1902) |
| While my interest in natural history
has added very little to my sum of achievement, it has added immeasurably to my sum of enjoyment in life. |
Theodore Roosevelt |
26th president of US (1858 - 1919) |
| If people let government decide what
foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those
who live under tyranny. |
Thomas Jefferson |
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826) |
| First make yourself unpopular, then people will take you seriously. |
Konrad Adenauer, 1876-1967 |
| In the end, our society will be
defined not only by what we create but by what we refuse to destroy. |
John C. Sawhill |
| I foresee the time when industry
shall no longer denude the forests which require generations to mature, nor use up the mines which were ages in the
making, but shall draw its materials largely from the annual produce of the
fields. |
Henry Ford, 1934 |
US automobile industrialist (1863
- 1947) |
| I believe that the great Creator has
put ores and oil on this earth to give us a breathing spell. As we exhaust them, we must be prepared to fall back on our
farms, which is GodÆs true storehouse and can never be exhausted. We can
learn to synthesize material for every human need from things that grow. |
George Washington Carver |
| Create like a god. Command like a king. Work like a slave! |
Constantin Brancusi |
| A threat is basically a means for
establishing a bargaining position by inducing fear in the subject. When a threat is used, it should always be implied that
the subject himself is to blame by using words such as "You leave me no
other choice but to..." |
CIA Manual |
| Nothing in the world makes people so afraid as the influence of
independent-minded people. |
Albert Einstein, 1879-1955 |
US (German-born) physicist (1879 -
1955) |
| There are seven sins in the world:
Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science
without humanity, Worship without sacrifice and politics without principle. |
Mahatma Gandhi |
Indian ascetic & nationalist leader
(1869 - 1948) |
| You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge
yourself one. |
James A. Froude |
English historian (1818 - 1894) |
| Courage means going against majority opinion in the name of the truth. |
Vßlcav Havel, parade, Times Picayune |
| States should have the right to
enact... laws...particularly to end the inhumane practice of ending a life that otherwise could live. |
George W. Bush, Gov. of Texas, state leading in executions |
43rd President of US (1946 - ) |
| If once a man indulges himself in
murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he next comes to drinking and Sabbath-breaking,
and from that to incivility and procrastination. |
Thomas De Quincey |
| Without a dream to light your way, the world is a very dark place. |
Marrion Zimmer Bradley |
| Once in a while you get shown the light in the stangest of places if you
look at it right. |
Jerry Garcia, Scarlet Bergonias |
| We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. |
Oscar Wilde |
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet
(1854 - 1900) |
| There is nothing more contagious on this planet than enthusiasm. |
Carlos Santana, Television program--aired on VH1, september 2000 |
| In attempts to improve your character, know what is in your power and
what is beyond it. |
Francis Thompson |
English poet (1859 - 1907) |
| For a true writer each book should
be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something
that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then
sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed. |
Ernest Hemingway, in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech |
US author & journalist (1899 -
1961) |
| When one is grateful for something
too good for common thanks, writing is less unsatisfactory than speech-one does not, at least, hear how inadequate the
words are. |
George Eliot |
English novelist (1819 - 1880) |
| The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person
doing it. |
Chinese Proverb, The Graduates Book of Wisdom |
| Nothing we human beings do is without emotion. |
Pete Townshend |
| I believe that what woman resents is
not so much giving herself in pieces as giving herself purposelessly. |
Anne Morrow Lindbergh |
| One golfer a year is hit by lightning. This may be the only evidence we
have of GodÆs existence. |
Steve Aylett, Atom (a novel, 2000) |
| The truth is easiest to disprove - its defenses are down. |
Steve Aylett, Toxicology (a book, 1999) |
| Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. |
Arthur Ashe |
| Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity. |
Unknown |
Quotations by unknown authors |
| Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath. |
Solon |
Greek lawgiver & politician in Athens
(638 BC - 559 BC) |
| To really enjoy the better things in
life, one must have first experienced the things they are better than. |
Oscar Homolka |
| Some people get angry because God
put thorns on roses, while others praise him for putting roses among thorns. |
Anonymous |
| It is never too late to become what we might have been. |
George Eliot, 1819-1880 |
English novelist (1819 - 1880) |
| Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls
and looks like work. |
Thomas A. Edison, 1847-1931 |
US inventor (1847 - 1931) |
| Farmers are the only indispensable people on the face of the earth. |
Ambassador Li Zhaoxing, PRC, Idaho Grain, Fall 2000, p.8 |
| Grown ups never understand anything
for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them. |
Antoine de Saint-Exupery |
French writer (1900 - 1944) |
| When the reviews are bad, I tell myself that they can join me as I cry
all the way to the bank. |
Liberace |
US pianist (1919 - 1987) |
| Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal. |
T.S. Eliot |
| I...have never been able to find out
precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist when I express sentiments that differentiate me
from a doormat, or a prostitute. |
Rebecca West |
Irish critic, journalist, & novelist
(1892 - 1983) |
| To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive. |
Robert Louis Stevenson |
Scottish author (1850 - 1894) |
| The first prerogative of an artist in any medium is to make a fool of
himself. |
Pauline Kael |
| It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees. |
Emiliano Zapata |
| Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. |
M. Kathleen Casey |
| Only the educated are free. |
Epictetus |
Roman (Greek-born) slave & Stoic philosopher (55 AD - 135 AD) |
| Never give a child a sword. |
Latin Proverb |
| If you have a fallback plan, you will fall back. |
Nedra Carroll |
| If you do not think about the future, you cannot have one. |
John Galsworthy |
| Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. |
Russell Baker |
US columnist & journalist
(1925 - ) |
| Education is life itself. |
John Dewey |
US educator, Pragmatist philosopher, & psychologist (1859 - 1952) |
| Words are the pen of the heart, but music is the pen of the soul. |
Shneur Zalman |
| People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy. |
Bob Hope |
US (English-born) actor & comedian
(1903 - 2003) |
| He knew the things that were and the things that would be and the things
that had been before. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| If you are very valiant, it is a god, I think, who gave you this gift. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt. |
Clarence Darrow |
US defense lawyer (1857 - 1938) |
| Whoever obeys the gods, to him they particularly listen. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| A councilor ought not to sleep the
whole night through, a man to whom the populace is entrusted, and who has many responsibilities. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| A multitude of rulers is not a good thing. Let there be one ruler, one
king. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| The glorious gifts of the gods are not to be cast aside. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| He lives not long who battles with
the immortals, nor do his children prattle about his knees when he has come back from battle and the dread fray. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| A generation of men is like a
generation of leaves; the wind scatters some leaves upon the ground, while others the burgeoning wood brings forth - and the
season of spring comes on. So of men one generation springs forth and another
ceases. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Hateful to me as the gates of Hades
is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Even when someone battles hard,
there is an equal portion for one who lingers behind, and in the same honor are held both the coward and the brave man;
the idle man and he who has done much meet death alike. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Level with your child by being honest. Nobody spots a phony quicker than
a child. |
Mary MacCracken |
| It was built against the will of the immortal gods, and so it did not
last for long. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| There is a strength in the union even of very sorry men. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| There is a fullness of all things, even of sleep and love. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| You will certainly not be able to
take the lead in all things yourself, for to one man a god has given deeds of war, and to another the dance, to another lyre
and song, and in another wide-sounding Zeus puts a good mind. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| It is not possible to fight beyond your strength, even if you strive. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| It is not unseemly for a man to die fighting in defense of his country. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Of men who have a sense of honor,
more come through alive than are slain, but from those who flee comes neither glory nor any help. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| The outcome of the war is in our hands; the outcome of words is in the
council. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Once harm has been done, even a fool understands it. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Cleanliness and order are not
matters of instinct; they are matters of education, and like most great things, you must cultivate a taste for them. |
Benjamin Disraeli |
British politician (1804 - 1881) |
| I too shall lie in the dust when I am dead, but now let me win noble
renown. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Miserable mortals who, like leaves,
at one moment flame with life, eating the produce of the land, and at another moment weakly perish. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| It is entirely seemly for a young
man killed in battle to lie mangled by the bronze spear. In his death all things appear fair. But when dogs shame the gray
head and gray chin and nakedness of an old man killed, it is the most piteous
thing that happens among wretched mortals. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| The fates have given mankind a patient soul. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Thus have the gods spun the thread
for wretched mortals: that they live in grief while they themselves are without cares; for two jars stand on the floor of
Zeus of the gifts which he gives, one of evils and another of blessings. |
Homer, The Iliad |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| By their own follies they perished, the fools. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Look now how mortals are blaming the
gods, for they say that evils come from us, but in fact they themselves have woes beyond their share because of their
own follies. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| You ought not to practice childish ways, since you are no longer that
age. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| For rarely are sons similar to their fathers: most are worse, and a few
are better than their fathers. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people. |
William Butler Yeats |
Irish dramatist & poet (1865 -
1939) |
| A young man is embarrassed to question an older one. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| All men have need of the gods. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| The minds of the everlasting gods are not changed suddenly. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| A small rock holds back a great wave. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| May the gods grant you all things
which your heart desires, and may they give you a husband and a home and gracious concord, for there is nothing
greater and better than this -when a husband and wife keep a household in
oneness of mind, a great woe to their enemies and joy to their friends, and
win high renown. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| All strangers and beggars are from Zeus, and a gift, though small, is
precious. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| We are quick to flare up, we races of men on the earth. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| So it is that the gods do not give
all men gifts of grace - neither good looks nor intelligence nor eloquence. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Evil deeds do not prosper; the slow man catches up with the swift. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Among all men on the earth bards
have a share of honor and reverence, because the muse has taught them songs and loves the race of bards. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| It is tedious to tell again tales already plainly told. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| The wine urges me on, the bewitching
wine, which sets even a wise man to singing and to laughing gently and rouses him up to dance and brings forth
words which were better unspoken. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| It is equally wrong to speed a guest
who does not want to go, and to keep one back who is eager. You ought to make welcome the present guest, and send
forth the one who wishes to go. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Even his griefs are a joy long after to one that remembers all that he
wrought and endured. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| The gods, likening themselves to all
kinds of strangers, go in various disguises from city to city, observing the wrongdoing and the righteousness of men. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Nothing feebler than a man does the
earth raise up, of all the things which breathe and move on the earth, for he believes that he will never suffer evil
in the future, as long as the gods give him success and he flourishes in his
strength; but when the blessed gods bring sorrows too to pass, even these he
bears, against his will, with steadfast spirit, for the thoughts of earthly
men are like the day which the father of gods and men brings upon them. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Be very circumspect in the choice of
thy company. In the society of thine equals thou shalt enjoy more pleasure; in the society of thy superiors thou
shalt find more profit. To be the best in the company is the way to grow
worse. |
Francis Quarles |
English poet (1592 - 1644) |
| Dreams surely are difficult,
confusing, and not everything in them is brought to pass for mankind. For fleeting dreams have two gates: one is fashioned of
horn and one of ivory. Those which pass through the one of sawn ivory are
deceptive, bringing tidings which come to nought, but those which issue from
the one of polished horn bring true results when a mortal sees them. |
Homer, The Odyssey |
Greek epic poet (800 BC - 700 BC) |
| Often an entire city has suffered because of an evil man. |
Hesiod |
Greek didactic poet (~800 BC) |
| He harms himself who does harm to another, and the evil plan is most
harmful to the planner. |
Hesiod |
Greek didactic poet (~800 BC) |
| A bad neighbor is a misfortune, as much as a good one is a great
blessing. |
Hesiod |
Greek didactic poet (~800 BC) |
| Do not seek evil gains; evil gains are the equivalent of disaster. |
Hesiod |
Greek didactic poet (~800 BC) |
| The dawn speeds a man on his journey, and speeds him too in his work. |
Hesiod |
Greek didactic poet (~800 BC) |
| Observe due measure, for right timing is in all things the most important
factor. |
Hesiod |
Greek didactic poet (~800 BC) |
| Know thyself. |
Thales, (The Seven Sages) from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent
Philosophers |
Greek philosopher & scientist
(640 AD - 546 AD) |
| Do not speak ill of the dead. |
The Seven Sages, from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers |
(650 BC - 550 BC) |
| Not even the gods fight against necessity. |
Simonides, from Plato, Dialogues, Protagoras |
Greek poet (556 BC - 468 BC) |
| Forsake not an old friend; for the
new is not comparable to him: a new friend is as new wine; when it is old, thou shalt drink it with pleasure. |
Bible, Old Testament |
| Know the right moment. |
Pittacus, (The Seven Sages) from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent
Philosophers |
| When the people of the world all
know beauty as beauty,<br>There arises the recognition of ugliness.<br>When they all know the good as
good,<br>There arises the recognition of evil. |
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu |
Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531
BC) |
| The best [man] is like
water.<br>Water is good; it benefits all things and does not compete
with them.<br>It dwells in [lowly] places
that all disdain.<br>This is why it is so near to Tao. |
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu |
Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531
BC) |
| He who loves the world as his body may be entrusted with the empire. |
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu |
Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531
BC) |
