December 2008

John Quincy Adams Quotations

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. John Quincy Adams

Howard Thurman Quotations

-Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive… then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. -Follow the grain in your own wood. Howard Thurman

Ruby Dee Quotations

-The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within – strength, courage, dignity. Ruby Dee

Joseph Epstein Quotations

-The acquisition of one sort of ability often makes that of another unlikely, if not impossible … To take the gifts one does have, to concentrate one’s strength upon their development, to disallow distractions – none of these is an easy task. Joseph Epstein

Robert Benchley Quotations

-I do most of my work sitting down; that’s where I shine. Robert Benchley

Richard Greenberg Quotations

I appreciate people who are civil, whether they mean it or not. I think: Be civil. Do not cherish your opinion over my feelings. There’s a vanity to candor that isn’t really worth it. Be kind.

Charlize Theron Quotations

There’s only so much you can do, but if somebody doesn’t give you a chance there is nothing you can do. Charlize Theron

Rebecca West Quotations

-Before a war military science seems a real science, like astronomy; but after a war it seems more like astrology. -Life ought to be a struggle of desire toward adventures whose nobility will fertilize the soul. -It’s the soul’s duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itself to its master passion. [...]

Salman Rushdie Quotations

-Writers and politicians are natural rivals. Both groups try to make the world in their own images; they fight for the same territory. Salman Rushdie

Brendan Behan Quotations

When I came back to Dublin I was courtmartialed in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence. Brendan Behan

Matthew Prior Quotations

Be to her virtues very kind. Be to her faults a little blind. Matthew Prior

Julie-Jeanne-Eleonore de Lespinasse Quotations

If you can attain repose and calm, believe that you have seized happiness. Julie-Jeanne-Eleonore de Lespinasse

Andy Merrifield Quotations

-There’s something amazing about watching donkeys graze in the middle of nowhere. It’s a kind of therapy, even a sort of meditation. Andy Merrifield

Jane Cahill Pfeiffer Quotations

It is not easy, but you have to be willing to make mistakes. And the earlier you make those mistakes, the better. Jane Cahill Pfeiffer

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal Quotations

-We cannot destroy kindred: Our chains stretch a little sometimes, but they never break. Marie de Rabutin-Chantal

Michael Kinsley Quotations

-A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth. Michael Kinsley

Leo Buscaglia Quotations

Perfect love is rare indeed – for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain. Leo [...]

Seth MacFarlane Quotations

The two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a big fat white guy who is threatened by change. Seth MacFarlane

Thomas Guthrie Quotations

-Do it now. It is not safe to leave a generous feeling to the cooling influences of the world. Thomas Guthrie

W. Lee Grant Quotations

-Shared laughter creates a bond of friendships. When people laugh together, they cease to be young and old, teacher and pupils, worker and boss. They become a single group of human beings. W. Lee Grant

Herbert Rappaport Quotations

I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some. Herbert Rappaport

John Fletcher

Man is his own star and the soul that can render an honest and perfect man commands all light, all influence, all fate. John Fletcher

Langston Coleman Quotations

-Luck is what you have left over after you give 100 percent. Langston Coleman

Barack Obama Quotations

-A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.’ -Americans… still believe in an America where anything’s possible – they just don’t think their leaders do.

Garry Trudeau Quotations

I’ve been trying for some time to develop a lifestyle that doesn’t require my presence. Garry Trudeau

Millicent Fenwick Quotations

-Never feel self-pity, the most destructive emotion there is. How awful to be caught up in the terrible squirrel cage of self. Millicent Fenwick

Frances Moore Lappe Quotations

Even the fear of death is nothing compared to the fear of not having lived authentically and fully. Frances Moore Lappe

Laura Preble Quotations

-There are worse things than looking stupid. Sleeping through life is one of them. Laura Preble

Rebecca Beard Quotations

The past is finished. There is nothing to b gained by going over it. Whatever it gave us in the experiences it brought us was something we had to know.

David M. Ogilvy Quotations

-In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. Management cannot be expected to recognize a good idea unless it is presented to them by a good salesman. -The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible. [...]

Leon Tec Quotations

A sailor without a destination cannot hope for a favorable wind. Leon Tec

Katharine Graham Quotations

To love what you do and feel that it matters – how could anything be more fun. Katharine Graham

Clyde M. Narrimore Quotations

When you see the value of continued growth, the circumstances around you become stepping stones. Clyde M. Narrimore

John Barrymore Quotations

Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him. John Barrymore

Carol Burnett Quotations

When you have a dream you’ve got to grab it and never let go. Carol Burnett

Peter Hoeg Quotations

Reading snow is like listening to music. To describe what you’ve read is to describe what you’ve read isn to try to explain music in writing. Peter Hoeg

Farley Mowat Quotations

I think we as a species have run our course. … We’ve had our time and, yes, look around, we’ve done amazing things. But it’s all over but the shouting. Farley Mowat

Anonymous

Spiritual awakenings are usually preceded by rude awakenings.

Al Capp Quotations

[Abstract art is] a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered. Al Capp

Garrison Keillor Quotations

-A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together. -It’s a shallow life that doesn’t give a person a few scars. Garrison Keillor

The Dhammapada

Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. The Dhammapada

C. W. Ceran Quotations

Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple. C. W. Ceran

Louis Vermeil Quotations

The prime purpose of eloquence is to keep other people from talking. Louis Vermeil

Aimee Mullins Quotations

Confidence is the sexiest thing a woman can have. It’s much sexier than any body part. Aimee Mullins

Lucretius Quotations

Look at a man in the midst of doubt and danger, and you will learn in his hour of adversity what he really is. It is then that true utterances are wrung from the recesses of his breast. The mask is torn off; the reality remains. Lucretius

Jack Benny Quotations

I don’t deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either. Jack Benny

Florence Shinn Quotations

The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy. Florence Shinn

David Neiswanger Quotations

If each of us can be helped by science to live a hundred years, what will it profit us if our hates and fears, our loneliness and our remorse will not permit us to enjoy them? What use is an extra year or two to the man who “kills” what time he has? David Neiswanger

Chantal Saperstein Quotations

All marriages are mixed marriages. Chantal Saperstein

Kurdish Proverbs

Do not throw the arrow which will return against you. Kurdish Proverbs

R. D. Hitchcock Quotations

-The secret of all success is to know how to deny yourself. Prove that you can control yourself, and you are an educated man; and without this all other education is good for nothing. R. D. Hitchcock

Frank Zappa Quotations

-Communism doesn’t work because people like to own stuff. Frank Zappa

Henri de Lubac Quotations

Habit and routine have an unbelievable power to waste and destroy. Henri de Lubac

Shelley Winters Quotations

I think on-stage nudity is disgusting, shameful and damaging to all things American. But if I were 22 with a great body, it would be artistic, tasteful, patriotic and a progressive religious experience. Shelley Winters

Lisa Williams Quotations

The only way to last a really long time is to build something useful enough that people will want to keep it going after you die, and to cultivate a sense of ownership in other people. In short: make good shit and give it away as fast as you can. Lisa Williams

Alice Rice Quotations

Solitude, if rightly used, becomes not only a privilege but a necessity. Only a superficial soul fears to fraternize with itself. Alice Rice

Alan Turing Quotations

Machines take me by surprise with great frequency. Alan Turing

James Howell Quotations

Respect a man, he will do the more. James Howell

Cindy Chupack Quotations

That’s the key to having it all: stop expecting it to look like what you thought it was going to look like.

Louisa May Alcott Quotations

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead. Louisa May Alcott

Ruben Studdard Quotations

You can be confident and secure and know that you do a good job at what you do. But you don’t know to be arrogant about it. Ruben Studdard

Hsu Hsing Quotations

To earn his keep a good and wise ruler shares the work of tilling the land with his people. He rules while cooking his own meals. Hsu Hsing

John Grogan Quotations

-A dog is the greatest gift a parent can give a child. OK, a good education, then a dog. John Grogan

Frank Herbert Quotations

-The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand. -Seek freedom and become captive of your desires, seek discipline and find your liberty. Frank Herbert

Daniel Burnham Quotations

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. [...]

John Lubbock Quotations

When we have done our best we should wait the result in peace. John Lubbock

Robert X. Cringely Quotations

-If the automobile had followed the same development cycle 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