Quotations by Author

   P Quotes

It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry. -Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809)

The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. -Thomas Paine

A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.-Thomas Paine

He who would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself. -Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809)

That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.-Thomas Paine {1737-1809 American Political Theorist, Writer}

He that is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death. -Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809)

He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809)

I'm defeated and I know it, if I meet any human being from whom I find myself unable to learn anything. -George Herbert Palmer

A leader who keeps his ear to the ground allows his rear end to become a target. -Angie Papadakis

It is probably no mere historical accident that the word person, in its first meaning, is a mask. It is rather a recognition of the fact that everyone is always and everywhere, more or less consciously, playing a role.-Robert Ezra Park, sociologist (1864-1944)

There's a helluva distance between wisecracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words. Dorothy Parker

If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to. -Dorothy Parker

Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it, and it darts away. -Dorothy Parker, author (1893-1967)

I might repeat to myself, slowly and soothingly, a list of quotations beautiful from minds profound - if I can remember any of the damn things. - Dorothy Parker  ability to quote is a serviceable substitute

The man who is denied the opportunity of taking decisions of importance begins to regard as important the decisions he is allowed to take. -C. Northcote Parkinson, author and historian (1909-1993)

The way I see it, if you want rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. -Dolly Parton

Man is born to live, not to prepare to live. -Boris Pasternak

What is laid down, ordered, factual is never enough to embrace the whole truth: life always spills over the rim of every cup. -Boris Pasternak

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. -Louis Pasteur, chemist and bacteriologist (1822-1895)

When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments; tenderness for what he is, and respect for what he may become. -Louis Pasteur, chemist and bacteriologist (1822-1895)

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. --- George S. Patton

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking -George S. Patton

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. -General George S. Patton, Jr.

I don't mind that you think slowly but I do mind that you are publishing faster than you think. -Wolfgang Pauli, physicist, Nobel laureate(1900-1958)

The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. -Linus Pauling

Change your thoughts and you change your world. -Norman Vincent Peale

Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all. -Norman Vincent Peale, American Christian Reformed Pastor

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. -M. Scott Peck, psychiatrist and author (1936-2005)

Like a force of nature/Love can fade with the stars at dawn. -N. Peart

Truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders than the arguments of its opposers. -William Penn

I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do for any fellow being, let me do it now… as I shall not pass this way again. William Penn (1644-1718, British Religious Leader, Founder of Pennsylvania

A good end cannot sanctify evil means; nor must we ever do evil, that good may come of it. -William Penn, Quaker, founder of Pennsylvania (1644-1718)

They have a right to censure, that have a heart to help: The rest is cruelty, not justice. -William Penn, Quaker, founder of Pennsylvania
(1644-1718)

Time is the wisest counsellor. -Pericles

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you. -Pericles, statesman (430 BCE)

Formula for success: Underpromise and overdeliver. -Tom Peters

Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance. ~ John Petit-Senn ~
1792-1870, French Poet

You will soon break the bow if you keep it always stretched. -Phaedrus (fl. 25 A.D.)

This is the final test of the gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him. -William Lyon Phelps

I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this. -Emo Phillips, comedian, actor (1956- )

If words are to enter men's minds and bear fruit, they must be the right words shaped cunningly to pass men's defenses and explode silently and effectually within their minds. -J.B. Phillips

The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. -Eden Phillpotts

Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone. -Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. -Pablo Picasso, painter and sculptor (1881-1973)

Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun. -Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. -William Pitt, British prime-minister (1759-1806)

Drive-thru banking was invented so cars could meet their true owners. -Ron Picavet

A book is a story for the mind. A song is a story for the soul. -Eric Pio, poet
 

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my eyes and all is born again. -Sylvia Plath, poet (1932-1963)

Plato (427-347 BC) Greek philosopher, student of Socrates

He whom the gods love, dies young. -Titus Maccius Plautus, dramatist (circa 254-184 BCE)

An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit. -Gaius Plinius (c. 61-112 A.D.)

We ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away. -Plutarch, biographer (c. 46-120)

The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. – Plutarch, 46-120 AD, Greek Essayist, Biographer

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. -Edgar Allan Poe, poet and short-story writer (1809-1849)

Science is built with facts as a house is with stones--but a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house. -Jules Henry Poincare (1854-1912)

There's a schizoid quality to our relationship with animals, in which sentiment and brutality exist side by side. Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us pause to consider the miserable life of the pig -- an animal easily as intelligent as a dog -- that becomes the Christmas ham. -Michael Pollan, professor and writer
(1955- )

But every eye wanders from time to time and the moment comes when he is comparing his wife to other women , while she is comparing him to solitude' Pollit 1986

How often are we to die before we go right off this stage? In every friend we lose a part of ourselves, and the best part.- Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet

Words are like leaves; and where they most abound /
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found. -Alexander Pope

In words as fashions the same rule will hold,/ Alike fantastic if too new or old;/ Be not the first by whom the new are tried,/ Nor yet the last to lay the old aside. -Alexander Pope, poet (1688-1744)

Be thou the first true merit to befriend, his praise is lost who stays till all commend. -Alexander Pope, poet (1688-1744)

A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. -Alexander Pope, poet (1688-1744)

'Tis with our judgements as our watches: none Go just alike, yet each believes his own. -Alexander Pope, poet (1688-1744)

I know what I have given you. I do not know what you have received.-Antonio Porchia, writer (1886-1968)

My sole inspiration is a telephone call from a director. -Cole Porter, composer and songwriter (1893-1964)

He who forsees calamities, suffers them twice over. --Beilby Porteus

Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.- Laurens van der Post

Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree. -Ezra Pound [ABC of Reading]

Blessed is he who has learned to laugh at himself, for he shall never cease to be entertained. -John Powell

It is in vain to hope to please all alike. Let a man stand with his face in what direction he will, he must necessarily turn his back on one half of the world. -George Dennison Prentice

No humorist laughs at his own wheeze: A snuff-box has no right to sneeze.
-Keith Preston, journalist and author (1884-1927)

Verbosity obfuscates. -William Priest

You have to decide at the end of the day if you can live with yourself. -Princess Anne

A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts. -Herbert V. Prochnow

A visitor from Mars could easily pick out the civilized nations. They have the best implements of war. -Herbert V. Prochnow, banker (1897-1998)

You may be sorry you spoke, sorry you stayed or went, sorry you won or lost, sorry so much was spent. But as you go through life you'll find, you're never sorry you were kind. Herbert V. Prochnow

The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust

Every reader finds himself. The writer's work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to discern what, without this book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself. -Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)

There is no one, no matter how wise he is, who has not in his youth said things or done things that are so unpleasant to recall in later life that he would expunge them entirely from his memory if that were possible.
-Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)

We are healed of a suffering only by expressing it to the full. -Marcel Proust, novelist (1871-1922)
 

Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous. -William Proxmire, US senator, reformer (1915-2005)

You can't turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again. -Bonnie Prudden, fitness trainer and author (1914- )

The lie that exalts us is dearer than a thousand sober truths. -Alexander Pushkin.

 If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers. -Thomas Pynchon, writer (1937- )