There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (Florentine Political Philosopher)
Philosophy, rightly defined, is simply the love of wisdom.
—Cicero (Roman Philosopher)
People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.
—George Bernard Shaw (Irish Playwright)
Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
—Carl Sagan (American Astronomer)
Where there is no counsel, the people perish; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
—The Holy Bible (Scripture in the Christian Faith)
Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.
—Frederic Chopin (Polish Composer, Pianist)
Truth is not introduced into the individual from without, but was within him all the time.
—Soren Kierkegaard (Danish Philosopher, Theologian)
The strength of criticism lies in the weakness of the thing criticized.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)
Difficult as it is really to listen to someone in affliction, it is just as difficult for him to know that compassion is listening to him.
—Simone Weil (French Philosopher, Political Activist)
There is no hell or heaven somewhere else, the hell is right here, when you are dishonest. The heaven is right here when you conduct yourself with honesty and truthfulness.
—Basava (Indian Hindu Philosopher)
By all means marry. If you get a good wife you will become happy, and if you get a bad one you will become a philosopher.
—Socrates (Anceient Greek Philosopher)
The Buddha’s last words instructed us to be heedful—to see our actions as important and to keep that importance in mind at all times.
—Thanissaro Bhikkhu (American Buddhist Monk)
Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it’s addressed to someone else.
—Ivern Ball (American Writer, Aphorist)
There are lots of things that you can brush under the carpet about yourself until you’re faced with somebody whose needs won’t be put off.
—Angela Carter (English Novelist, Short Story Writer)
An intelligent person spends his time by enjoying poetry and scientific literature. In contrast, a fool spends his time in his addiction to bad habits, laziness or in some kind of quarrel.
—The Hitopadesha (Indian Collection of Fables)