Quotations

   A Quotes

What is the purpose of the giant sequoia tree? The purpose of the giant sequoia tree is to provide shade for the tiny titmouse. - Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989)

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against its government. -Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989)

If my decomposing carcass helps nourish the roots of a juniper tree or the wings of a vulture - that is immortality enough for me. -Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989)

It is by doubting that we come to investigate, and by investigating that we recognize the truth. -Peter Abelard

In the absence of touching and being touched, people of all ages can sicken and grow touch-starved. -Diane Ackerman, writer (1948- )

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. -Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton), historian (1834-1902)

Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity. -Lord Acton, historian (1834-1902)

The most certain test by which we can judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities. -Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton), historian (1834-1902)

It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment. -Ansel Adams, photographer (1902-1984)

To the complaint, 'There are no people in these photographs,' I respond, 'There are always two people: the photographer and the viewer.' -Ansel Adams, photographer (1902-1984)

The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance. -Ansel Adams, photographer (1902-1984)

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. -Douglas Adams [Last Chance to See]

The trouble with this country is that there are too many politicians who believe, with a conviction based on experience, that you can fool all of the people all of the time. -Franklin P. Adams, columnist (1881-1960)

There is no such thing as a 'self-made' man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts. -George Matthew Adams

They know enough who know how to learn. -Henry Adams (1838-1918)

No one means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean, for words are slippery and thought is viscous. -Henry Brooks Adams, historian (1838-1918)

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. -Henry Adams, historian and teacher (1838-1918)

The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty. -John Adams, 2nd US president (1735-1826)

May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof (White House).-John Adams, 2nd US President, and the first one to live in the White House(1735-1826)

Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws. -John Adams, 2nd US president (1735-1826)

The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality. -John Quincy Adams, 6th president of the U.S. (1767-1848)

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear, and obstacles vanish into air. -John Quincy Adams, 1767-1848, Sixth President of the USA

Dilbert Principle: The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management. -Scott Adams

Remember there is no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. -- Scott Adams

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. -Scott Adams, cartoonist (1957- )

What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul.-Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1672-1719)

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. -Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1672-1719)

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Addison (1672-1719)

Content thyself to be obscurely good. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, the post of honor is a private station. -Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1672-1719)

A misery is not to be measured from the nature of the evil, but from the temper of the sufferer. -Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1672-1719)

It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them. -Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you. -Mortimer J. Adler, philosopher, educator and author (1902-2001)

Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality. -Theodor Adorno, philosopher and composer (1903-1969)

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.-Aesop, Greek fabulistI

f we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon. -George D. Aiken, US senator (1892-1984)

The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. -Amos Bronson Alcott

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in. -Alan Alda, actor and director (1936-)

If at first you don't succeed, you are running about average. --M H Alderson

Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. -James Allen

Everything is for the eye these days - TV, Life, Look, the movies. Nothing is just for the mind. The next generation will have eyeballs as big as cantaloupes and no brain at all. -Fred Allen

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. - James Allen

Dream lofty dreams. and as you dream, . so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be. -James Allen

It's not that I'm afraid to die; I just don't want to be there when it happens. -Woody Allen

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. -Woody Allen, author actor, and filmmaker (1935- )


I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It involves Russia. -Woody Allen, author, actor (1935- )

Love is the answer, but while you are waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty good questions. Woody Allen

The only thing you take with you when you're gone is what you leave behind. -John Allston

Whenever books are burned men also in the end are burned. -Heinrich Heine Almansor

Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease. -Lisa Alther

Life is short. Be swift to love! Make haste to be kind! -Henri Frederic Amiel philosopher and writer (1821-1881)

Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not to be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism and doubt. -Henri Frederic Amiel

We are never more discontented with others than when we are discontented with ourselves. -Henri Frederic Amiel, philosopher and writer (1821-1881)

He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature...is less liable than anyone else to miss and waste life. -Henri Frederic Amiel (1821-1881)

You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering. -Henri Frederic Amiel, philosopher and writer (1821-1881)

Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence. -Henri Frederic Amiel philosopher and writer (1821-1881)

The language of truth is unadorned and always simple.-Marcellinus Ammianus {Egyptian Historian & Author}

Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen. -Louis L'Amour, novelist (1908-1988)

What is man's chief enemy? Each man is his own. --Anacharsis (f1. c. 600 B.C.), Scythian philosopher

I'm sometimes asked "Why do you spend so much of your time and money talking about kindness to animals when there is so much cruelty to men?" I answer: "I am working at the roots." -George T. Angell, reformer (1823-1909)

There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you. -Maya Angelou, poet (1928- )

We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders. -Maya Angelou, poet (1928- )

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the spaces between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. -Maya Angelou, poet (1928- )

Jealousy in romance is like salt in food. A little can enhance the savor, but too much can spoil the pleasure and, under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening. -Maya Angelou, poet (1928- )

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back. -Maya Angelou, poet (1928- )

Propaganda is a soft weapon; hold it in your hands too long, and it will move about like a snake, and strike the other way. -Jean Anouilh, playwright (1910-1987)

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -Susan B Anthony, reformer and suffragist (1820-1906)

Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults. -Antisthenes

It is one of the maladies of our age to profess a frenzied allegiance to truth in unimportant matters, to refuse consistently to face her where graver issues are at stake. -Janos Arany, poet (1817-1882)

All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies. -John Arbuthnot, writer and physician (1667-1735)

The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution. -Hannah Arendt, historian and philosopher (1906-1975)

This is the precept by which I have lived: Prepare for the worst; expect the best; and take what comes.
Hannah Arendt

I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies. -Pietro Aretino, satirist and dramatist (1492-1556)

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself. -Pietro Aretino, satirist and dramatist (492-1556)

Aristotle

Every dollar I spend is a vote. Where are you going to put your dollar into? What is worth investing into? -
Billie Joe Armstrong

There's a fine line between being on the leading edge and being in the lunatic fringe. -Frank Armstrong [Preparing for Tomorrow's Challenges]

One's age should be tranquil, as childhood should be playful. Hard work at either extremity of life seems out of place. At midday the sun may burn, and men labor under it; but the morning and evening should be alike calm and cheerful. -Thomas Arnold, educator (1795-1842)

Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation.
Tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego. -Jean Arp, artist and poet (1887-1948)

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you. -William Arthur

A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one. -Mary Kay Ash

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life. -Arthur Ashe {1943-1993 American Tennis Player}

No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be. -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...' -Isaac Asimov

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome. -Isaac Asimov, science-fiction writer (1920-1992)

Self-education is,  I firmly believe the only kind of education there is. -Isaac Asimov

Dalton's records, carefully preserved for a century, were destroyed during the World War II bombing of Manchester. It is not only the living who are killed in war. -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)

Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments.-Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-92)

If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul. -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)

Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)

Tears are not arguments. -Machado de Assis, writer (1839-1908)

I married beneath me. All women do. -Nancy, Lady Astor

One reason why I don’t drink is because I wish to know when I am having a good time. -Nancy Astor

The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything - or nothing. -Nancy Astor, first woman member of Parliament in England (1879-1964)

I and the public know. / What all schoolchildren learn. / Those to whom evil is done. / Do evil in return -W.H. Auden, poet (1907-1973)

And none will hear the postman's knock / Without a quickening of the heart./ For who can bear to feel himself forgotten? -W.H. Auden, poet (1907-1973)

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. -Berthold Auerbach, German Writer (1812-1882)

If stock market experts were so expert, they would be buying stock, not selling advice. -Norman R. Augustine, industrialist (1935- )
 

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back! Don't expect love in return, just wait for it to grow in their hearts. But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours. ~ Author Unknown

A friend is someone who looks past your broken-down gate, and admires the flowers in your window -Author Unknown

Always hold firmly to the thought that each one of us can do something to bring some portion of misery to an end. ~ Author Unknown ~

Whenever you fall, pick something up. -Oswald Avery