Nowadays, anyone who wishes to combat lies and ignorance and to write the truth must overcome at least five difficulties. He must have the courage to write the truth when truth is everywhere opposed; the keenness to recognize it, although it is everywhere concealed; the skill to manipulate it as a weapon; the judgment to select those in whose hands it will be effective; and the cunning to spread the truth among such persons.
—Bertolt Brecht (German Poet)
There is a great deal of human nature in man.
—Charles Kingsley (English Clergyman)
If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (French Novelist, Aviator)
Concentrate on finding your goal, then concentrate on reaching it.
—Michael Friedsam (American Philanthropist)
There is no power like that of true oratory. Caesar controlled men by exciting their fears; Cicero, by captivating their affections and swaying their passions. The influence of the one perished with its author; that of the other continues to this day.
—Henry Clay (American Politician)
There is a strong correlation between knowledge and humility. The best investors realize how little they know.
—Morgan Housel (American Financial Journalist, Investor)
OPTIMISM: A kind of heart stimulant—the digitalis of failure.
—Elbert Hubbard (American Writer)
There is a Light before which all other light is darkness. There is a Strength before which all other strength is weakness. There is a Joy before which all other joy is suffering.
—Nolini Kanta Gupta (Indian Hindu Revolutionary)
If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.
—George Orwell (English Novelist, Essayist, Journalist)
Faith is the surrender of the mind; it’s the surrender of reason, it’s the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It’s our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me. Of all the supposed virtues, faith must be the most overrated.
—Christopher Hitchens (Anglo-American Essayist, Social Critic)
It is less important, I believe, where you start. It is more important how and what you learn. If the quality of the learning is high, the development gradient is steep, and, given time, you can find yourself in a previously unattainable place.
—N. R. Narayana Murthy (Indian Businessperson)
I’ll fight tooth and nail to make something succeed. But the moment I realize it’s not going to succeed, the next day, I will have forgotten about it. I will just move on to the next venture.
—Richard Branson (British Entrepreneur)
The most unhappy of all men is he who believes himself to be so.
—David Hume (Scottish Philosopher, Historian)
There is no advancement to him who stands trembling because he cannot see the end from the beginning.
—E. J. Klemme (American Educator)