Mean spirits under disappointment, like small beer in a thunderstorm, always turn sour.
—John Randolph (American Politician)
Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.
—Fred Astaire (American Dancer, Singer)
Many regulations primarily protect the past, prop up privilege or prevent sensible economic choices.
—Jerry Brown (American Politician)
Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.
—Arthur Wing Pinero (English Playwright)
You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.
—Jeannette Rankin (American Politician)
A pure style in writing results from the rejection of everything superfluous.
—Suzanne Curchod (French-Swiss Salonist, Writer)
A writer is not a confectioner, a cosmetic dealer, or an entertainer. He is a man who has signed a contract with his conscious and his sense of duty.
—Anton Chekhov (Russian Short Story Writer)
The mind of man will never be able to contemplate the being, perfections, and providence of God without meeting with inexplicable difficulties.
—Joseph Priestley (English Clergyman, Scientist)
He who sees the truth, let him proclaim it, without asking who is for it or who is against it.
—Henry George (American Economist)
One of the advantages of defeat in life—maybe the main advantage—is that it provides an excuse for change. Defeat … invariably leads to new adventures.
—James Reston
You can’t escape history, or the needs and neuroses you’ve picked up like layers and layers of tartar on your teeth.
—Charles R. Johnson (American Author)
When you fall into a man’s conversation, the first thing you should consider is, whether he has a greater inclination to hear you, or that you should hear him.
—Richard Steele (Irish Writer, Journalist)
The only people who think children are carefree are the ones who’ve forgotten their own childhood.
—Orson Scott Card (American Author)
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives.
—Howard Zinn (American Historian, Activist)
He who endures penance and hardships for another delights in that person’s company.
—Malik Muhammad Jayasi (Indian Poet)