Right Attitudes

Never expect justice from a vain man; if he has the negative magnanimity not to disparage you, it is the most you can expect.
—Washington Allston (American Artist, Writer)

There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship of science and poetry in the description of nature, and exquisite form in a molecule. Attempts to place different disciplines in different camps are revealed as artificial in the face of the unity of knowledge. All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan and the musician.
—Glenn T. Seaborg (American Chemist)

The dichotomy between selfishness and unselfishness disappears altogether in healthy people because in principle every act is both selfish and unselfish.
—Abraham Maslow (American Psychologist)

Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time.
—Margaret Wander Bonanno (American Writer)

Often we have no time for our friends but all the time in the world for our enemies.
—Leon Uris (American Writer)

Nobody’s interested in sweetness and light.
—Hedda Hopper (American Actress, Gossip Columnist)

Since I and other beings both,
In wanting happiness, are equal and alike,
What difference is there to distinguish us,
That I should strive to have my bliss alone?
—Shantideva (Indian Buddhist Scholar)

If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are.
—John W. Gardner (American Activist)

It is the greatest shot of adrenaline to be doing what you’ve wanted to do so badly. You almost feel like you could fly without the plane.
—Charles Lindbergh (American Aviator, Conservationist)

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (American Poet, Journalist)

If our senses conveyed the whole truth to us, we would see the Earth as rivers and glaciers of electrons, each speck of dust as a rolling mass of light.
—Paramahansa Yogananda (Indian Hindu Mystic)

Let us live for the beauty of our own reality.
—Tim Robbins (American Actor, Director)

Why do grandparents and grandchildren get along so well? They have the same enemy—the mother.
—Claudette Colbert (American Actress)

The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as life remains.
—Josephine Baker (American Dancer, Campaigner)

You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave—win or lose.
—Gordie Howe (Canadian Hockey Player)

Sometimes, the most profound of awakenings come wrapped in the quietest of moments.
—Stephen Crane (American Writer)

Of course we all have our limits, but how can you possibly find your boundaries unless you explore as far and as wide as you possibly can? I would rather fail in an attempt at something new and uncharted than safely succeed in a repeat of something I have done.
—A. E. Hotchner (American Author, Playwright)

In your area of responsibility, if you do not control events, you are at the mercy of events.
—Harland Svare (American Football Player, Coach)

Pain and fear and hunger are effects of causes which can be foreseen and known: but sorrow is a debt which someone else makes for us.
—Freya Stark (British Explorer, Writer)

Revenge may not be a particularly high consciousness-oriented activity.
—Carrie Fisher (American Actress)

Things do not change, we change.
—Kalidasa (Indian Sanskrit Poet, Dramatist)

Less shame a greater fault would palliate.
—Dante Alighieri (Italian Poet, Philosopher)

They can cut all the flowers, but they cannot stop the coming of spring.
—Pablo Neruda (Chilean Poet)

The notion of religious liberty is that you cannot be forced to participate in a religious ceremony that’s not of your choosing simply because you’re out-voted
—Ira Glass (American Radio Personality)

The greatest inspiration is often born of desperation.
—Comer Cottrell (American Entrepreneur)

I never doubted my ability, but when you hear all your life you’re inferior, it makes you wonder if the other guys have something you’ve never seen before. If they do, I’m still looking for it.
—Hank Aaron (American Baseball Player)

In everyday life the exchange of opinion with others checks our partiality and widens our perspective; we are made to see things from the standpoint of others and the limits of our vision are brought home to us.
—John Rawls (American Philosopher)

It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more “manhood” to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind.
—Alex Karras (American Football Star, Actor)

Citizenship is a tough occupation which obliges the citizen to make his own informed opinion and stand by it.
—Martha Gellhorn (American Novelist, Journalist)

Simplicity is indeed often the sign of truth and a criterion of beauty.
—Mahlon Hoagland (American Biochemist)

It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.
—Benito Mussolini (Italian Head of State)

Money alone isn’t enough to bring happiness . . . happiness is when you’re actually truly ok with losing everything you have.
—Tony Hsieh (American Entrepreneur)

He prays best who does not know that he is praying.
—Anthony of Padua (Portuguese Friar)

Myth is supposed to bring us together, but fantasy alienates us.
—Dustin Hoffman (American Actor)

There are three answers to prayer: yes, no, and wait awhile. It must be recognized that no is an answer.
—Ruth Stafford Peale (American Self-Help Author)

Any creator owes a debt to past creation.
—Lukas Foss (German-American Composer)

Let us consider the nature of true greatness in men. The people who can catch hold of men’s minds and feelings and inspire them to do things bigger than themselves are the people who are remembered in history… . those who stir feelings and imagination and make men struggle toward perfection.
—Henry Eyring (American Chemist)

I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine.
—Caskie Stinnett (American Travel Writer, Humorist)

I believe everybody is creative and everybody is talented, I just don’t think that everybody is disciplined. I think that’s a rare commodity.
—Al Hirschfeld (American Caricaturist)