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.
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