Outside of a dog, a book is probably man’s best friend; inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. — Groucho Marx
The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it. — Patrick Young
Laughter is the closest distance between two people. — Victor Borge
I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way. — Franklin P. Adams
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. — Leo Tolstoy
A signature always reveals a man’s character – and sometimes even his name. — Evan Esar
I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them. — E. V. Lucas
Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person. — Mark Twain
A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world. — John le Carré, English author
It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible. — Francois de La Rochefoucauld
I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind. — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,
French writer and aviator
Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other. — Ann Landers
Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. – Oscar Wilde
The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think. — Horace Walpole
When ideas fail, words come in very handy. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” — Winnie the Pooh
Only the mediocre are always at their best. — Jean Giraudoux
There are only two ways of telling the complete truth — anonymously and posthumously. — Thomas Sowell
Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. — David Lloyd George (English prime minister early 20th century)
Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book. — Dwight D. Eisenhower
Most of the basic truths of life sound absurd at first hearing. — Elizabeth Goudge
Privacy has no commercial value, but nosiness is worth a fortune — source unknown
Depend not on fortune, but on conduct. — Publilius Syrus, Syrian writer of maxims
Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. — Arthur Schopenhauer
Living apart and at peace with myself, I came to realize more vividly the meaning of the doctrine of acceptance. To refrain from giving advice, to refrain from meddling in the affairs of others, to refrain, even though the motives be the highest, from tampering with another’s way of life – so simple, yet so difficult for an active spirit. — Henry Miller
Always get married early in the morning. That way, if it doesn’t work out, you haven’t wasted a whole day. — Mickey Rooney
If the human mind was simple enough to understand, we’d be too simple to understand it. — Emerson Pugh
We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society. — Judith Martin, “Miss Manners” author on etiquette.
Where facts are few, experts are many. — Donald R. Gannon
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye. — Antoine de St. Exupery
A little learning is a dangerous thing but a lot of ignorance is just as bad. — Bob Edwards
Men are born with two eyes, but only one tongue, in order that they should see twice as much as they say. — Charles Caleb Colton
Never let the fear of failure be an excuse for not trying. Society tells us that to fail is the most terrible thing in the world, but I know it isn’t. Failure is part of what makes us human. — Amber Deckers
Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man. — Bertrand Russell
I seek constantly to improve my manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted. — Og Mandino
Sometimes a slow gradual approach does more good than a large gesture. — Craig Newmark
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. – Joseph Campbell, professor and author
A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. — William Feather
The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. — Paul Valery
We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves. — Eric Hoffer
Do not be in a hurry to succeed. What would you have to live for afterwards? Better make the horizon your goal; it will always be ahead of you. — William M. Thackeray
It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into. — Jonathan Swift
Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another. — Jacques Anatole Thibault (French novelist, from “The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard”)
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. — John F. Kennedy (do not put your trust in nobles)
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.— Judy Garland
There was a time when we expected nothing of our children but obedience, as opposed to the present, when we expect everything of them but obedience. — Anatole Broyard
The closer one gets to the top, the more one finds there is no “top.” — Nancy Barcus
I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it. — Jonathan Winters
A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future. — Sidney J. Harris
Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success. — Brian Adams
Even on the most exalted throne in the world we are only sitting on our own bottom. — Michel Eyquem De Montaigne
Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies, for instance. — John Ruskin
Wisdom doesn’t automatically come with old age. Nothing does – except wrinkles. It’s true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place. — Abigail Van Buren
Beauty is an outward gift, which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused. — Edward Gibbon
“Oh liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!” — Manon Roland
Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices. — Benjamin Franklin
When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained. — Mark Twain
We learn something every day, and lots of times it’s that what we learned the day before was wrong. — Bill Vaughan
The important thing was to love rather than to be loved. — W. Somerset Maugham
We have, I fear, confused power with greatness. — Stewart L. Udall
Clothing is only the most visible battleground in the war against formality. Nerds tend to eschew formality of any sort. They’re not impressed by one’s job title, for example, or any of the other appurtenances of authority. — Paul Graham
Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. – Will Durant
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. — Sir Francis Bacon
Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity for experience. — James Boswell
Friends are the angels of life. You never lose by loving; you always lose by holding back. — Anonymous
The most difficult thing in the world is to know how to do a thing and to watch someone else doing it wrong, without commenting. — T. H. White
Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it. — Margaret Thatcher
Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come. — Chinese proverb
Children are natural mimics. They act like their parents in spite of every attempt to teach them good manners.
Heat causes things to expand. Thus, in summer, the days are longer.
When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. When planets do it we say they are orbiting.
You can’t tell which way the train went by looking at the track.
There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation
Someone who thinks logically is a nice contrast to the real world.
Be careful of giving people a piece of your mind — you may not be able to afford the investment.
Reading without meditating is like dreaming of a nice meal. It’s nice but you still wake up hungry. No calories = no satisfaction.
Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds. The most powerful ones are those we can’t even describe, aren’t even aware of. — Ellen Goodman
The greater man the greater courtesy. — Alfred Lord Tennyson
“Passion is the thing you can’t control, by definition…it controls the person, not vice versa.” – Scott Adams
Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. — Jane Wagner
Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. — Natalie Goldberg
Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards. — Fred Hoyle
I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened. — Mark Twain
I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy. — J. D. Salinger
Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion. — Robertson Davies
Sometimes you do your best work when you got a gun to your head. (from a movie)
In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. — Bertrand Russel
We require from buildings, as from men, two kinds of goodness: first, the doing their practical duty well: then that they be graceful and pleasing in doing it; which last is itself another form of duty. — John Ruskin
The real power behind whatever success I have now was something I found within myself – something that’s in all of us, I think, a little piece of God just waiting to be discovered. — Tina Turner
Inspiration may be a form of superconsciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness – I wouldn’t know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self- consciousness. — Aaron Copland
I have a terrible need of — dare I say the word? — religion. Then I go out at night to paint the stars… – Vincent van Gogh
If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it’s another nonconformist who doesn’t conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity. — Bill Vaughan
It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously. — Peter Ustinov, British actor and writer
Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had. — Michael Crichton, lecture
The best way to realize the pleasure of feeling rich is to live in a smaller house than your means would entitle you to have. — Edward Clarke
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
The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving. — Oliver Wendell Holmes
Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to. — Granville Hicks
“If a little is not enough for you, nothing is.” — Epicurus
“I won’t belong to any organization that would have me as a member.” Groucho Marx
There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions. — Albert Einstein
When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves. — Confucius
If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane. — Jimmy Buffett
There is always a well-known solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong. — H. L. Mencken
We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. — Albert Einstein
There is a feeling which persists in England that making a sandwich interesting, attractive, or in any way pleasant to eat is something sinful that only foreigners do. – Douglas Adams
If you’re considered a beauty, it’s hard to be accepted doing anything but standing around. — Cybil Shepard
From birth to age 18 a girl needs good parents; from 18 to 35 she needs good looks; from 35 to 55 she needs a good personality; and from 55 on she needs cash. — Sophie Tucker
The average girl would rather have beauty than brains because she believes the average man can see much better than he can think. — source unknown
Beauty. The power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband. — Ambrose Bierce
We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success. Henry David Thoreau
Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak. — William Congreve
My formula for success is rise early, work late, and strike oil. — J. Paul Getty
Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year. — Victor Borge
A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute. He may not seem such a good friend after telling. — Arthur Brisbane
Criticism is prejudice made plausible. — H. L. Mencken
The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass wherever you may be. — Robert Fulghum
An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field. — Niels Bohr
The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism. — Sir William Osler
Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. — Will Durant
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
Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person. — Dr. David M. Burns
We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. — Albert Einstein
In your clothes avoid too much gaudiness; do not value yourself upon an embroidered gown; and remember that a reasonable word, or an obliging look, will gain you more respect than all your fine trappings. — Sir George Savile
A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized. — Fred Allen
The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us. — Paul Valery
Life is a long lesson in humility. — James M. Barrie
The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of. — Blaise Pascal
Saying what we think gives us a wider conversational range than saying what we know. — Cullen Hightower
Wine makes a man more pleased with himself; I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others. — Samuel Johnson
An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today. — Laurence J. Peter
Abundance is, in large part, an attitude. — Sue Patton Thoele
Wit is so shining a quality that everybody admires it; most people aim at it, all people fear it, and few love it unless in themselves. — Lord Chesterfield
To be mature means to face, and not evade, every fresh crisis that comes. — Fritz Kunkel
Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own. — Aesop
Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year. — Horace Mann
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
I know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that! — Tom Lehrer
“It has been my experience that people with no defects have very few qualities.” — Abraham Lincoln
“The man who’s travelled the furthest is the most aware of the road that still lies ahead.” – Pascal Rassi
To the soul, there is hardly anything more healing than friendship. — Thomas Moore
Remember, that if thou marry for beauty, thou bindest thyself all thy life for that which perchance will neither last nor please thee one year; and when thou hast it, it will be to thee of no price at all; for the desire dieth when it is attained, and the affection perisheth when it is satisfied. — Sir Walter Raleigh
All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that. — Baltasar Gracian
Character – the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life – is the source from which self respect springs. — Joan Didion
He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. — Benjamin Franklin
A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts. — Herbert Victor Prochnow
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. — Joseph Heller, “Catch-22”
Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home. — Bill Cosby
Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it. — Soren Kierkegaard
I know that there are people who do not love their fellow man, and I hate people like that! — Tom Lehrer
To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else. — Burnadette Devlin
When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion. — C. P. Snow
A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents. — Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Ah, stardom! They put your name on a star in the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard and you walk down and find a pile of dog manure on it. That tells the whole story, baby. — Lee Marvin (actor)
The mood of sickness is in the audience; the filmmaker is only reflecting the climate of society. You don’t make films to change a nation; you make films to be historically true to their time. That’s what makes them current and commercial. If the audience responds to it, baby, you know where the sickness is. Criminal violence always attracts a crowd, though people are afraid to admit it. The bigger the crowd, the more the shoving; the more the shoving, the more irate the viewer becomes – till eventually he’s part of the riot. The current cycle of crime films is a vicarious way to participate in the current crime wave without committing a crime yourself. That feeling is latent within each of us. Everybody wants to get even with somebody. Because of the wave of riots, the distrust, the various assassinations and the lack of socially acceptable answers to them. So you go see it on film. — Lee Marvin (actor)
