Category Archives: Notable Quotables

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

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and the government when it deserves it.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910) (pen name for Samuel Langhorne Clemens) 19th Century American author and humorist

  “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” — Confucius (551 – 479 BC) Chinese philosopher

  “Patience is also a form of action.”  — Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) French sculptor

“A thought is often original, though you have uttered it a hundred times.” — Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809 – 1894) American physician, poet & polymath “The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table” (1858)

“Courage without conscience is a wild beast.” — Robert Green Ingersoll, (1833 – 1899) American lawyer, Civil War veteran, orator, and abolitionist

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.” — Mark Twain (1835-1910) American author and humorist; pen name for Samuel Langhorne Clemens

  “Wise men don’t need advice. Fools won’t take it.” — Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790) Founding Father of the United States, inventor, publisher, political philosopher

  “It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.” — Johann Wolfgang … Continue reading →

  “The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.” — Will Durant (1885 – 1981) American historian & philosopher

  “The more you venture to live greatly, the more you will find within you what it takes to get on top of things and stay there.” — Norman Vincent Peal (1898 – 1993) American clergyman & author (in his … Continue reading →

” If your morals make you dreary, depend on it, they are wrong.” — Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 1894) Scottish novelist

  “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”  — Mae West (1893 – 1980) American actress

  “Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.” Mark Twain (1835-1910) 19th Century American author and humorist; pen name for Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Sometimes we can make ourselves happy. Sometimes we share happiness with others. Most times, happiness is a decision. “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain!” — Dolly Parton (1946 – … Continue reading →

“Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm & constant.”  — Socrates (? – 399 BC) Greek philosopher

    “Cookies are made of butter and love.” — Norwegian proverb

    “Courage is grace under pressure.” — Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American author

  “Confidence, like art, never comes from having all the answers; it comes from being open to all the questions.” — Diogenes Laërtius (180-240 AD) Biographer of the Greek philosophers

  “People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.” — Epictetus  (? – 135AD) Greek Stoic Philosopher

  “He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything.” — Arabian proverb

“The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually.” — Eeyore (character from “Winnie-the-Pooh” books) A.A. Milne (1882 – 1956) British author

  “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” — Edith Wharton (1862 – 1937) American writer

“There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) German theoretical theorist, physicist, & creator of the … Continue reading →

  “They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” — Andy Warhol (1928 – 1987) American artist & leading figure in the pop art movement

“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” — W. Clement Stone (1902 – 2002) American … Continue reading →

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and then help them to become what they are capable of being.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, playwright, & novelist

Wait! Hmmmm… Every day is “Social Media Day” for many of us. I try to post something positive on social media every day. I appreciate all the messages about how some postings have been helpful to someone. In truth, it … Continue reading →

“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.”  — Chinese Proverb

    “Life is an adventure in forgiveness.” — Norman Cousins (1915 – 1990) American journalist

  “Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them.” — Albert Einstein  (1879 – 1955) German theoretical physicist; developed theory of relativity

    “An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.” — James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) American painter

  “Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth.” –Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer & lexicographer