Never write on a subject until you have read yourself full of it.
—Jean Paul (German Novelist)
Hardly ever can a youth transferred to the society of his betters unlearn the nasality and other vices of speech bred in him by the associations of his growing years. Hardly ever, indeed, no matter how much money there be in his pocket, can he ever learn to dress like a gentleman-born. The merchants offer their wares as eagerly to him as to the veriest “swell,” but he simply cannot buy the right things.
—William James (American Philosopher)
The only abnormality is the incapacity to love.
—Anais Nin (French-American Essayist)
There is great beauty in going through life without anxiety or fear. Half our fears are baseless, and the other half discreditable.
—Christian Nestell Bovee
Age is not all decay; it is the ripening, the swelling, of the fresh life within, that withers and bursts the husk.
—George MacDonald (Scottish Christian Author)
Each misfortune you encounter will carry in it the seed of tomorrow’s good luck.
—Og Mandino
On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (German Philosopher, Scholar)
A shared vision is not an idea. It is not even an important idea such as freedom. It is, rather, a force in people’s hearts, a force of impressive power… Shared vision is vital for the learning organization because it provides the focus and energy for learning.
—Peter Senge (American Management Consultant)
If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.
—Robert Fulghum (American Unitarian Universalist Author)
Friendship with the evil is like the shadow in the morning, decreasing every hour; but friendship with the good is like the evening shadows, increasing till the sun of life sets.
—Johann Gottfried Herder (German Lutheran Philosopher)
Love looks forward, hate looks back, anxiety has eyes all over its head.
—Mignon McLaughlin (American Journalist)
An ideal wife is any woman who has an ideal husband.
—Booth Tarkington (American Novelist)
No person has the right to rain on your dreams.
—Marian Wright Edelman (American Civil Regrets Advocate)
If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (Roman Philosopher)