SOME BOOKS ARE TO BE TASTED, OTHERS TO BE SWALLOWED, AND SOME FEW TO BE CHEWED AND DIGESTED.$Francis Bacon, “Essays”
A MAN FINDS ROOM IN THE FEW SQUARE INCHES OF HIS FACE FOR THE TRAITS OF ALL HIS ANCESTORS; FOR THE EXPRESSION OF ALL HIS HISTORY, AND HIS WANTS.$Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Conduct of Life”
IT IS THE COMMON WONDER OF ALL MEN, HOW AMONG SO MANY MILLIONS OF FACES, THERE SHOULD BE NONE ALIKE.$Thomas Browne, “Religio Medici”
THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD HAS TWO EDGES, ONE OF LAUGHTER, ONE OF ANGUISH, CUTTING THE HEART ASUNDER.$Virginia Woolf, “A Room of One’s Own”
BEAUTY IS ALL VERY WELL AT FIRST SIGHT, BUT WHO EVER LOOKS AT IT WHEN IT HAS BEEN IN THE HOUSE THREE DAYS?$George Bernard Shaw, “Man and Superman”
WE ALL KNOW THAT ART IS NOT TRUTH. ART IS A LIE THAT MAKES US REALIZE TRUTH, AT LEAST THE TRUTH THAT IS GIVEN US TO UNDERSTAND.$Pablo Picasso, quoted by Dore Ashton in “Picasso on Art”
ART IS THE UNCEASING EFFORT TO COMPETE WITH THE BEAUTY OF FLOWERS -- AND NEVER SUCCEEDING.$Marc Chagall, attributed
PAINTING IS THE ART OF PROTECTING FLAT SURFACES FROM THE WEATHER AND EXPOSING THEM TO THE CRITIC.$
Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
THE MOST SAVAGE CONTROVERSIES ARE THOSE ABOUT MATTERS AS TO WHICH THERE IS NO GOOD EVIDENCE EITHER WAY.$Bertrand Russell, “Unpopular Essays”
WHEN MEN UNDERSTAND WHAT EACH OTHER MEAN, THEY SEE, FOR THE MOST PART, THAT CONTROVERSY IS EITHER SUPERFLUOUS OR HOPELESS.$John Cardinal Newman, sermon, 1893
THE PHYSICIAN CAN BURY HIS MISTAKES, BUT THE ARCHITECT CAN ONLY ADVISE HIS CLIENTS TO PLANT VINES.$Frank Lloyd Wright, quoted in “New York Times Magazine”
IT IS ONLY SHALLOW PEOPLE WHO DO NOT JUDGE BY APPEARANCES. THE TRUE MYSTERY OF THE WORLD IS THE VISIBLE, NOT THE INVISIBLE.$Oscar Wilde, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
THE WORST SIN TOWARDS OUR FELLOW CREATURES IS NOT TO HATE THEM, BUT TO BE INDIFFERENT TO THEM; THAT’S THE ESSENCE OF INHUMANITY.$George Bernard Shaw, “The Devil’s Disciple”
SCIENCE MAY HAVE FOUND A CURE FOR MOST EVILS; BUT IT HAS FOUND NO REMEDY FOR THE WORST OF THEM ALL -- THE APATHY OF HUMAN BEINGS.$Helen Keller, “My Religion”
WHEN I PLAY WITH MY CAT, WHO KNOWS WHETHER SHE ISN’T AMUSING HERSELF WITH ME MORE THAN I AM WITH HER?$Michel de Montaigne, “Essays”
THE DENUNCIATION OF THE YOUNG IS A NECESSARY PART OF THE HYGIENE OF OLDER PEOPLE, AND GREATLY ASSISTS THE CIRCULATION OF THEIR BLOOD.$Logan Pearsall Smith, “Afterthoughts”
WHENEVER A MAN’S FRIENDS BEGIN TO COMPLIMENT HIM ABOUT LOOKING YOUNG, HE MAY BE SURE THAT THEY THINK HE IS GROWING OLD.$Washington Irving, “Bracebridge Hall”
AGE IS STRICTLY A CASE OF MIND OVER MATTER. IF YOU DON’T MIND, IT DOESN’T MATTER.$Jack Benny, quoted in the “New York Times”
THE ADVICE OF THE ELDERS TO YOUNG MEN IS VERY APT TO BE AS UNREAL AS A LIST OF THE HUNDRED BEST BOOKS.$Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., speech, 1897
ADVICE IS SELDOM WANTED; AND THOSE WHO WANT IT THE MOST ALWAYS LIKE IT THE LEAST.$Lord Chesterfield, “Letters to His Son”
MISHAPS ARE LIKE KNIVES, THAT EITHER SERVE US OR CUT US, AS WE GRASP THEM BY THE BLADE OR THE HANDLE.$James Russell Lowell, “Fireside Travels”
MOST OF OUR MISFORTUNES ARE MORE SUPPORTABLE THAN THE COMMENTS OF OUR FRIENDS UPON THEM.$Charles Caleb Colton, “Lacon”
THE TRUE ADVENTURER GOES FORTH AIMLESS AND UNCALCULATING TO MEET AND GREET UNKNOWN FATE.$O. Henry, “The Green Door”
AT SIXTEEN, THE ADOLESCENT KNOWS ABOUT SUFFERING BECAUSE HE HIMSELF HAS SUFFERED, BUT HE BARELY KNOWS THAT OTHER BEINGS ALSO SUFFER.$Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “Émile”
EVERY MAN FEELS INSTINCTIVELY THAT ALL THE BEAUTIFUL SENTIMENTS IN THE WORLD WEIGH LESS THAN A SINGLE LOVELY ACTION.$James Russell Lowell, “Among My Books”
I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THE ACTIONS OF MEN THE BEST INTERPRETERS OF THEIR THOUGHTS.$John Locke, “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”
WE NEVER DO ANYTHING WELL UNTIL WE CEASE TO THINK ABOUT THE MANNER OF DOING IT.$William Hazlitt, “Sketches and Essays”
IN ORDER TO ACT YOU MUST BE SOMEWHAT INSANE. A REASONABLY SENSIBLE MAN IS SATISFIED WITH THINKING.$Georges Clemenceau, quoted in “Clemenceau, The Events of His Life as Told by Himself to His Former Secretary, Jean Martet”
TO ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS WE MUST LIVE AS THOUGH WE WERE NEVER GOING TO DIE.$Marquis de Vauvenargues, “Reflections and Maxims”
TO DO ALL THAT ONE IS ABLE TO DO, IS TO BE A MAN; TO DO ALL THAT ONE WOULD LIKE TO DO, IS TO BE A GOD.$Napolean I, attributed
WE JUDGE OURSELVES BY WHAT WE FEEL CAPABLE OF DOING, WHILE OTHERS JUDGE US BY WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY DONE.$Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Kavanagh”
ONE NEVER NOTICES WHAT HAS BEEN DONE; ONE CAN ONLY SEE WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE.$Marie Curie, letter, 1849
LIFE IS FULL OF INFINITE ABSURDITIES, WHICH, STRANGELY ENOUGH, DO NOT EVEN NEED TO APPEAR PLAUSIBLE, SINCE THEY ARE TRUE.$Luigi Pirandello, “Six Characters in Search of an Author”
THE ABSURD HAS MEANING ONLY IN SO FAR AS IT IS NOT AGREED TO.$Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus”
ABSENCE IS TO LOVE WHAT WIND IS TO A FIRE; IT PUTS OUT THE LITTLE, IT KINDLES THE GREAT.$Roger de Bussy-Rabutin, “Histoire amoureuse des Gaules”
INTELLIGENCE IS QUICKNESS TO APPREHEND, AS DISTINCT FROM ABILITY, WHICH IS CAPACITY TO ACT WISELY ON THE THING APPREHENDED.$Alfred North Whitehead, “Dialogues”
THE WINDS AND WAVES ARE ALWAYS ON THE SIDE OF THE ABLEST NAVIGATORS.$Edward Gibbon, “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire”
NATURAL ABILITY WITHOUT EDUCATION HAS MORE OFTEN ATTAINED TO GLORY AND VIRTUE THAN EDUCATION WITHOUT NATURAL ABILITY.$Cicero, “Pro Archia Poeta”
IN THE LAST ANALYSIS, ABILITY IS COMMONLY FOUND TO CONSIST MAINLY IN A HIGH DEGREE OF SOLEMNITY.$Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
THERE IS NO MAN SO FRIENDLESS BUT WHAT HE CAN FIND A FRIEND SINCERE ENOUGH TO TELL HIM DISAGREEABLE TRUTHS.$Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Baron Lytton, “What Will He Do With It?”
THE HUMBLEST CITIZEN OF ALL THE LAND, WHEN CLAD IN THE ARMOR OF A RIGHTEOUS CAUSE, IS STRONGER THAN ALL THE HOSTS OF ERROR.$William Jennings Bryan, National Democratic Convention, Chicago, 1896
THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS IS TO ADMIRE WITHOUT DESIRING. AND THAT IS NOT HAPPINESS.$F. H. Bradley, “Aphorisms”
IN THE MIDST OF ADVERSITY, THE WORST MISFORTUNE OF ALL IS TO HAVE ONCE BEEN HAPPY.$Boethius, “The Consolation of Philosophy”
IF THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION WERE CLEANSED, EVERYTHING WOULD APPEAR AS IT IS, INFINITE.$William Blake, “A Memorable Fancy”
IF THE FOOL WOULD PERSIST IN HIS FOLLY HE WOULD BECOME WISE.$William Blake, “Proverbs of Hell”
THE WORLD CONTINUES TO OFFER GLITTERING PRIZES TO THOSE WHO HAVE STOUT HEARTS AND SHARP SWORDS.$Earl of Birkenhead (F. E. Smith), Rectorial Address at Glasgow University, November 1923
PROSE IS WHEN ALL THE LINES EXCEPT THE LAST GO ON TO THE END. POETRY IS WHEN SOME OF THEM FALL SHORT OF IT.$Jeremy Bentham, quoted by M. St.J. Packe in “Life of John Stuart Mill”
JOURNALISTS SAY A THING THAT THEY KNOW ISN’T TRUE, IN THE HOPE THAT IF THEY KEEP ON SAYING IT LONG ENOUGH IT WILL BE TRUE.$Arnold Bennett, “The Title”
THE DULLARD’S ENVY OF BRILLIANT MEN IS ALWAYS ASSUAGED BY THE SUSPICION THAT THEY WILL COME TO A BAD END.$Max Beerbohm, “Zuleika Dobson”
