Archives for January 2009

True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance.
—Akhenaten (Egyptian Monarch)

Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea.
It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off,
and does something about it that makes a difference.
—Nolan Bushnell

A clever man commits no minor blunders.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Poet)

While we are postponing, life speeds by.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (Roman Philosopher)

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
—Albert Einstein (German-born Theoretical Physicist)

Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority.
—William Jennings Bryan (American Political leader)

A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond it in an autonomy of perception and judgment.
—Lionel Trilling

There is no medicine like hope, no incentives so great, and no tonics so powerful as the expectation of something better tomorrow.
—Orison Swett Marden (American New Thought Writer)

Every man’s work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or anything else, is always a portrait of himself, and the more he tries to conceal himself the more clearly will his character appear in spite of him.
—Samuel Butler

We shall find peace. We shall hear angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.
—Anton Chekhov (Russian Short Story Writer)

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (American Civil Rights Leader)

It is the character of a brave and resolute man not to be ruffled by adversity and not to desert his post.
—Cicero (Roman Philosopher)

In all thy undertakings, let a reasonable assurance animate thy endeavours; if thou despairest of success, thou shalt not succeed.
—Akhenaten (Egyptian Monarch)

Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it is so hard.
—David McCullough (American Historian)

It is by intuition that we discover, by logic that we prove.
—Henri Poincare

We are ever free if we would only believe it, only have faith enough. You are the soul, free and eternal, ever free, ever blessed. Have faith enough and you will be free in a minute.
—Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)

To dare, to will, to know, to keep silent, to imagine.
—Common Proverb

To dare, To Will, To Know, To keep silent, To imagine
—Common Proverb

History, although sometimes made up of the few acts of the great, is more often shaped by the many acts of the small.
—Mark Twain (American Humorist)

In contemplation, if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.
—Francis Bacon (English Philosopher)

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
—Anne Bradstreet (English Poet)

Once you eliminate the impossible,
whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
—Arthur Conan Doyle (English Novelist)

Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.
—Publilius Syrus (Syrian-born Latin Writer)

Talent does what it can; genius does what it must.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (English Poet)

Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.
—Bob Knight (American Sportsperson)

This is the sum of duty: do naught to others which if done to thee, would cause thee pain.
—The Mahabharata (Hindu Religious Text)

It is the pull of opposite poles that stretches souls. And only stretched souls make music.
—Eric Hoffer (American Philosopher)

Let the stronger man give to the man whose need is greater; let him gaze upon the lengthening path of life. For riches roll like the wheels of a chariot, turning from one to another.
—The Rigveda

Man tends to treat all his opinions as principles.
—Herbert Agar

A wise man should keep far away from an unpleasant person, from injuring others, from other’s views, from unrighteous conduct and from untruth.
—Subhashita Manjari

True strength lies in submission which permits one to dedicate his life, through devotion, to something beyond himself.
—Henry Miller (American Novelist)

It is almost impossible to throw dirt on someone without getting a little on yourself.
—Pauline Phillips (Abigail van Buren) (American Columnist)

Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know… One who doesn’t try cannot fail and become wise.
—William Saroyan (American Novelist)

We are not creatures of circumstance; we are creators of circumstance.
—Benjamin Disraeli (British Head of State)

A leader is a dealer in hope.
—Napoleon I (French Monarch)

When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you’re slamming the door in the face of God.
—Charles L. Allen (American Methodist Minister)

Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.
—Jimi Hendrix (American Musician)

When you awaken some morning and hear that somebody or other has been discovered, you can put it down as a fact that he discovered himself years ago- since which time he has been working, toiling and striving to make himself worthy of general discovery.
—James Whitcomb Riley (American Children’s Books Writer)

Glory is fleeting,
but obscurity is forever.
—Napoleon I (French Monarch)

Reason and justice tell me there’s more love for humanity in electricity and steam than in chastity and vegetarianism.
—Anton Chekhov (Russian Short Story Writer)