A MAN MAY AS WELL EXPECT TO GROW STRONGER BY ALWAYS EATING AS WISER BY ALWAYS READING.$Jeremy Collier, “Of the Entertainment of Books”
THERE IS NOT A MORE MEAN, STUPID, DASTARDLY PITILESS, SELFISH, SPITEFUL, ENVIOUS, UNGRATEFUL ANIMAL THAN THE PUBLIC.$William Hazlitt, “Table Talk”
WE PROMISE ACCORDING TO OUR HOPES, AND PERFORM ACCORDING TO OUR FEARS.$La Rochefoucauld, “Maxims”
TO BE POOR AND INDEPENDENT IS VERY NEARLY AN IMPOSSIBILITY.$William Cobbett, “Advice to Young Men”
AN HONEST POLITICIAN IS ONE WHO, WHEN HE IS BOUGHT, WILL STAY BOUGHT.$Simon Cameron (Republican Boss of Pennsylvania, c. 1860)
THE FLUTE IS NOT AN INSTRUMENT THAT HAS A GOOD MORAL EFFECT; IT IS TOO EXCITING.$Aristotle, “Politics”
THE PENGUIN FLIES BACKWARDS BECAUSE HE DOESN'T CARE TO SEE WHERE HE'S GOING, BUT WANTS TO SEE WHERE HE'S BEEN.$Fred Allen, “The Backward View”
TO MAKE US LOVE OUR COUNTRY, OUR COUNTRY OUGHT TO BE LOVELY.@ -EDMUND BURKE$“Reflections on the French Revolution”
THOSE WHO CANNOT REMEMBER THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT.$Santayana, “Life of Reason”
IT IS WITH OUR PASSIONS, AS IT IS WITH FIRE AND WATER, THEY ARE GOOD SERVANTS BUT BAD MASTERS.$Sir Roger L'Estrange, “Aesop”
CHILDREN BEGIN BY LOVING THEIR PARENTS; AS THEY GROW OLDER THEY JUDGE THEM; SOMETIMES THEY FORGIVE THEM.@ - OSCAR WILDE$“The Picture of Dorian Gray”
WHAT WE CALL “MORALS” IS SIMPLY BLIND OBEDIANCE TO WORDS OF COMMAND.$Havelock Ellis, “The Dance of Life”
WHEN IT'S A QUESTION OF MONEY, EVERYBODY IS OF THE SAME RELIGION.@ - VOLTAIRE$In conversation
A GOOD MARRIAGE WOULD BE A BLIND WIFE AND A DEAF HUSBAND.@ - MONTAIGNE$“Essays”
THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN IN LOVE IF THEY HAD NEVER HEARD LOVE SPOKEN OF.$La Rochefoucauld, “Maxims”
LIFE IS MADE UP OF SOBS, SNIFFLES, AND SMILES, WITH SNIFFLES PREDOMINATING.@ - O. HENRY$“Gift of the Magi”
THIS IS THE PUNISHMENT OF A LIAR: HE IS NOT BELIEVED EVEN WHEN HE SPEAKS THE TRUTH.$Babylonian Talmud
I KNOW NO METHOD TO SECURE THE REPEAL OF BAD OR OBNOXIOUS LAWS SO EFFECTIVE AS THEIR STRINGENT EXECUTION.$U. S. Grant, Inaugural Address, 1869
KNOWLEDGE IS THE ONLY INSTRUMENT OF POWER THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO DIMINISHING RETURNS.$J. M. Clark, “Journal of Political Economy”
LEAVE A KISS BUT IN THE CUP, AND I'LL NOT LOOK FOR WINE.@ - BEN JONSON$“To Celia”
THERE'S NOT A JOY THE WORLD CAN GIVE LIKE THAT IT TAKES AWAY.$Byron, “Stanzas for Music”
I WOULD RATHER SIT ON A PUMPKIN AND HAVE IT ALL TO MYSELF THAN BE CROWDED ON A VELVET CUSHION@ - THOREAU$“Walden”
HOME IS THE PLACE WHERE, WHEN YOU HAVE TO GO THERE, THEY HAVE TO TAKE YOU IN.@ - ROBERT FROST$“The Death of the Hired Man”
A HIGHBROW IS A PERSON EDUCATED BEYOND HIS INTELLIGENCE.$Brander Matthews, “Epigrams”
HATING PEOPLE IS LIKE BURNING DOWN YOUR OWN HOUSE TO GET RID OF A RAT.$Harry Emerson Fosdick, “The Wages of Hate”
THAT ACTION IS BEST WHICH PROCURES THE GREATEST HAPPINESS FOR THE GREATEST NUMBERS.$Francis Hutcheson, “An Inquiry Into ... Beauty and Virtue”
THE WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT CONSISTS IN THE ART OF BEING HONEST.@ - THOMAS JEFFERSON$“Works, VI”
THE NEAREST WAY TO GLORY IS TO BE WHAT YOU WISH TO BE THOUGHT TO BE.@ - SOCRATES$quoted by Cicero
THE EAGLE NEVER LOST SO MUCH TIME AS WHEN HE SUBMITTED TO LEARN OF THE CROW.$William Blake, “Proverbs of Hell”
I NEVER THINK OF THE FUTURE. IT COMES SOON ENOUGH.@ - ALBERT EINSTEIN$Interview, December, 1930
MOST FRIENDSHIP IS FEIGNING, MOST LOVING MERE FOLLY.@ - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE$“As You Like It”
FORTUNE NEVER SEEMS SO BLIND AS TO THOSE UPON WHOM SHE HAS BESTOWED NO FAVORS.$La Rochefoucauld, “Maxims”
ONE CATCHES MORE FLIES WITH A SPOONFUL OF HONEY THAN WITH TWENTY CASKS OF VINEGAR.$Henry IV of France
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOUSE IN THE WORLD IS THE ONE THAT YOU BUILD FOR YOURSELF.$Witold Rybczynski, “The Most Beautiful House in the World”
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MORAL OR IMMORAL BOOK. BOOKS ARE WELL WRITTEN OR BADLY WRITTEN. THAT IS ALL.@ - OSCAR WILDE$“The Picture of Dorian Gray”
ALL HAPPY FAMILIES RESEMBLE ONE ANOTHER; EVERY UNHAPPY FAMILY IS UNHAPPY IN ITS OWN WAY.@ - LEO TOLSTOY$“Anna Karenina”
NOTHING IN EDUCATION IS SO ASTONISHING AS THE AMOUNT OF IGNORANCE IT ACCUMULATES IN THE FORM OF INERT FACTS.$Henry Adams, “The Education of Henry Adams”
IF YOU PICK UP A STARVING DOG AND MAKE HIM PROSPEROUS, HE WILL NOT BITE YOU. THAT IS THE PRINCIPAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DOG AND A MAN.@ - MARK TWAIN$“Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar”
WHEN YOU HAVE GOT AN ELEPHANT BY THE HIND LEG, AND HE IS TRYING TO RUN AWAY, IT'S BEST TO LET HIM RUN.@ - ABRAHAM LINCOLN$Remark to C. A. Dana
THERE ARE TWO TRAGEDIES IN LIFE. ONE IS NOT TO GET YOUR HEART'S DESIRE. THE OTHER IS TO GET IT.@ -GEORGE BERNARD SHAW$“Man and Superman”
A CYNIC IS A MAN WHO KNOWS THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING AND THE VALUE OF NOTHING.@ - OSCAR WILDE$“Lady Windermere's Fan”
SUNS ARE ABLE TO RISE AND SET, BUT THE SHORT LIGHT OF DAY FALLS FOR US BUT ONCE.@ - CATULLUS$Poem
THE TWO MAXIMS OF ANY GREAT MAN AT COURT ARE, ALWAYS TO KEEP HIS COUNTENANCE, AND NEVER TO KEEP HIS WORD.@ - JONATHAN SWIFT$“Thoughts on Various Subjects”
A CONSERVATIVE IS A MAN WHO IS TOO COWARDLY TO FIGHT AND TOO FAT TO RUN.@ - ELBERT HUBBARD$“Epigrams”
ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH MEN OF GOOD QUALITY IF YOU ESTEEM YOUR OWN REPUTATION; FOR 'TIS BETTER TO BE ALONE THAN IN BAD COMPANY.$George Washington, “Rules of Civility”
WHY IS IT THAT WE REJOICE AT A BIRTH AND GRIEVE AT A FUNERAL? IS IT BECAUSE WE ARE NOT THE PERSON CONCERNED?@ - MARK TWAIN$“Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar”
THERE IS NO EXCELLENT BEAUTY THAT HATH NOT SOME STRANGENESS IN THE PROPORTION.@$Francis Bacon, “Essays: Of Beauty”
BY AN IMAGE WE HOLD ON TO OUR LOST TREASURES, BUT IT IS THE WRENCHING LOSS THAT FORMS THE IMAGE, COMPOSES, BINDS THE BOUQUET.$Colette, “Mes Apprentissages”
ALL AMBITIONS ARE LAWFUL EXCEPT THOSE WHICH CLIMB UPWARD ON THE MISERIES OR CREDULITIES OF MANKIND.@ - JOSEPH CONRAD$“A Personal Record”
