Can I Quote You?

I find people to be remarkably clever, and I’m often struck by their wit, wisdom, and ability to inspire.  But as much as I’m determined to commit their sagacity to memory, there’s just too much bouncing around up there for me to keep it all straight.  I’ll read or hear something that strikes me as profound and memorable, but if I don’t write it down, the best I can do is think, “There was this thing, that someone said one time, that seemed relevant, or important, or valuable.  I sure do wish I could remember what it was.”  So I started a list.  Here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite things that other people have said:

“All you need is love.  But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”  Charles Schulz

“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”  George Washington

“I don’t know much about being a millionaire, but I bet I’d be darling at it.”  Dorothy Parker

“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”  FDR

“Try again.  Fail again.  Fail better.”  Thomas Beckett

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”  Mark Twain

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”  Milton Berle

“I have not failed.  I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  Thomas Edison

“Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember.  Involve me and I learn.”  Benjamin Franklin

“Wise men speak because they have something to say.  Fools because they have to say something.” Plato

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”  John Quincy Adams

“As long as the world is turning and spinning, we’re gonna be dizzy and we’re gonna make mistakes.”  Mel Brooks

 “Life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.”  Soren Kierkegaard

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal:  it is the courage to continue that counts.”  Winston Churchill

“Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.” Lily Tomlin

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  Edmund Burke

“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made president should on no account be allowed to do the job.”  Douglas Adams

“Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?”  A.A. Milne

“I don’t have to be what you want me to be.”  Muhammad Ali

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” Dr. Seuss

“When you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second.  When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second feels like an hour.  That’s relativity.”  Albert Einstein

“If you think no one cares about you, try missing a couple of payments.” Steven Wright

“You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.”  Malcolm X

“Don’t waste your love on somebody who doesn’t value it.”  William Shakespeare

“Inside every cynical person, there’s a disappointed idealist.”  George Carlin

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”  Abraham Lincoln

“Children are the most desirable opponents in scrabble, as they are both easy to beat and fun to cheat.”  Fran Lebowitz

“I have not the pleasure of understanding you.”  Jane Austen

“I stood face to face with the moon and the ocean and the future that spread out with all its bewildering immensity before me.”  Pat Conroy

“Nothing that happens on the surface of the sea can alter the calm of its depths.” Andrew Harvey

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.

“She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.” JD Salinger

 “In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.”  Anne Frank

“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.”  Jack Kerouac

“Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you’re gonna’ get.”  Forest Gump

“You just can’t beat the person who won’t give up.”  Babe Ruth

“An easy task becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance.”  Terence

“Isn’t it pretty to think so?”  Ernest Hemingway

 “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.”  Yogi Berra

“Light travels faster than sound.  That’s why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.”  I’ve seen this quote attributed to at least four people, so I’m not sure who actually said it.

“When a man opens a car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife.”  Prince Philip

You thought he said “Survival of the fittest,” but what he actually said was, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, it is the one that adapts successfully to change.”  Charles Darwin

“If you can’t handle me at my worst, you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.” Marilyn Monroe

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi

“Never let yesterday use up too much of today.”  Will Rogers

“To consider women an inferior creation, is that good for the world?” Christopher Hitchens

“I get knocked down, but I get up again.  You aren’t ever gonna keep me down.” Chumbawumba

“When things go wrong, don’t go with them.” Elvis Presley

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” Vince Lombardi Jr.

“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man without trials.” Confucius

Do you have a favorite?  Let me know.