Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry.
—Earl of Chesterfield
Books are a guide in youth, and an entertainment for age. They support us under solitude, and keep us from becoming a burden to ourselves. They help us to forget the crossness of men and things, compose our cares and our passions, and lay our disappointments asleep. When we are weary of the living, we may repair to the dead, who have nothing of peevishness, pride, or design in their conversation.
—Jeremy Collier (English Anglican Theater Critic)
Decide which is the line of conduct that presents the fewest drawbacks and then follow it out as being the best one, because one never finds anything perfectly pure and unmixed, or exempt from danger.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (Florentine Political Philosopher)
When you publish a book, it’s the world’s book. The world edits it.
—Philip Roth (American Novelist)
Clinging to the past is the problem. Embracing change is the answer.
—Gloria Steinem (American Feminist)
In the great mass of our people there are plenty individuals of intelligence from among whom leadership can be recruited.
—Herbert Hoover (American Head of State)
When I hear somebody sigh, “Life is hard,” I am always tempted to ask, “Compared to what?”
—Sydney J. Harris (American Journalist)
Do not hover always on the surface of things, nor take up suddenly with mere appearances; but penetrate into the depth of matters, as far as your time and circumstances allow, especially in those things which relate to your profession.
—Isaac Watts (English Hymn writer)