Category Archives: Notable Quotables

  “Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” — Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881) Conservative British statesman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1868; 1874-1880)

  “You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.” — Rosalynn Smith Carter (1927 – 2023) US First Lady (1977 – 1981)

    “Those who wish to sing always find a song.” — Swedish proverb

    “Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule – and both commonly succeed, and are right.” — H.L. Mencken (1880 – 1956) American journalist, satirist, … Continue reading →

  “When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.” — Japanese proverb

  “Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need.” — Voltaire (1694 – 1778) French philosopher & writer

  “May we never forget our fallen comrades. Freedom isn’t free.” — Sgt. Major Wilfred “Bill” “Ooorah” Paxton (1938 – 2024) United States Marine Corps 30+ years  

“I shall never stop fighting. I mean this country to survive, to prosper and to be free…I haven’t fought the destructive forces of socialism for more than twenty years in order to stop now, when the critical phase of the … Continue reading →

  “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” — J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien (1892 – 1973) English writer, poet & scholar

  “As long as you have the opportunity to breathe, breathe.” — Johnny Depp (1963 – ) American actor (in Rolling Stone p. 78, Issue 1186/1187, July 4-18, 2013

  “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” — Irish proverb  

  “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) 3rd US President (1801 – 1809) American Founding Father & primary author of the Declaration of Independence On National Thomas Jefferson Day, may we learn from … Continue reading →

    “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” — Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American statesman 16th US President (1861-1865) Assassinated following the Civil War

  “A good friend is like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.” — Irish proverb

  “When terrorism strikes, divisive anger is a natural response.” — Mohsin Hamid (1971 – ) British-Pakistani novelist & writer

“Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need.” — Voltaire (pen name for Francoise-Marie Arouet  (1694 – 1778) French philosopher & writer

    “What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul.” — Jewish proverb

“When I play with my cat, who knows whether I do not make her more sport than she makes me?” — Michel de Montaigne (1533 – 1592) French philosopher & essayist

  “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled.” — African proverb

  “To know and not to act is not to know.” Wang Yangming (1472 – 1529) Minister of War of Imperial China (also attributed to Chinese philosopher Lao Tse and repeated by many other people in more recent years)

  “You can’t make me what you call me!”  — Alfred Fleishman (1905 – 2002) American businessman, Army veteran, & special consultant to US Secretary of Defense during the Holocaust

  “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.”  — Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) German-born theoretical physicist & Nobel laureate

  “The question is not what a man can scorn, or disparage, or find fault with, but what he can love, and value, and appreciate.” — John Ruskin (1819 – 1900) English polymath & writer

    “Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.” — Robert Frost (1874 – 1963) American poet

“Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years.” — Ausonius (c310 – 395 AD) Gallo-Roman poet, rhetorician & imperial tutor

“When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh … Continue reading →

  “Minds are like parachutes — they only function when they are open.” — Lord Thomas Dewar (1864 – 1930) Scottish distiller & humorist

  “Become a possibilitarian.  No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities — always see them, for they’re always there.” — Norman Vincent Peale (1898 – 1993) American Protestant clergyman and … Continue reading →

    “What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.” — Lao-tzu (aka Laozi) (circa 571BC to around 5th century BC) 6th-century Chinese philosopher, founder of Taoism    

“Fame or integrity: which is more important?  Money or happiness: which is more valuable?  Success or failure: which is more destructive?  If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never truly be fulfilled.  If your happiness depends on money, … Continue reading →

“A loving person lives in a loving world.  A hostile person lives in a hostile world.  Everyone you meet is your mirror.” — Ken S. Keys, Jr. (1921 – 1995) American author (Yup… I’m a bit of a monkey, but … Continue reading →

“What you are thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) American essayist & philosopher

“Without darkness, there are no dreams.” — Karla Kuban (1954 – ) American novelist Never lose faith, nor stop hoping.

“Liberty is the breath of life to nations.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950) Irish playwright, critic, & political activist