Quotes
Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible. Thich Nhat Hanh
To know and not to do, is in fact not to know. Stephen R. Covey
A ship in port is safe, but that isn’t what ships are for. Grace Hooper
If you can do it, then why do it. Gertrude Stein
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Airman’s Odyssey
Minds are like parachutes — they work best when they’re open. Unknown
Some people don't have much to say, but you have to listen a long time to find out. Mark Twain
The earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson
After the ship has sunk, everyone knows how it might have been saved. Italian proverb
Our faults irritate us most when we see them in others. Pennsylvanian Dutch proverb
Nice thing about mistakes they don't have to be permanent. Thomas Edison
When we stop learning and merely act from the knowledge we have accumulated, disorder comes. Jiddu Krishnamurti
War is wrong, why fight it? Unknown
Don’t tell me this is a difficult problem. If it weren’t difficult, it wouldn’t be a problem. Ed Koch
The past is history, the future a mystery, and this moment a gift. That's why this moment is called 'the present'.
Numerous claimants
A mind once stretched by a new idea never returns to its original dimension. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Success has many parents, failure is an orphan. Unknown
If there was only one way of doing something, there’d only be one person in the world. Unknown
The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The anatomy of hate is possible to understand, but indifference . . .
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor
To put the bounty and the health of our land, our only commonwealth, into the hands of people who do not live on it and share its fate will always be an error. For whatever determines the fortune of the land determines also the fortune of the people. If history teaches anything, it teaches that. Wendell Berry
Travellers are people who never know where they are going, whereas tourists are those who never know where they've been. Paul Theroux
If we do not know what port we are steering for, no wind is favourable. Seneca
It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society. Jiddu Krishnamurti
If you put your head in the sand, it'll turn to dust. Unknown
If you love what you do, you'll never work another day in your life. Confucius
United we bargain, divided we beg. Unknown
If a person becomes too rich without sharing, like an over-ripe fruit, he or she will fall. Unknown
Live never to be ashamed if anything you do or say is published anywhere around the world — even if what's published isn't true. Richard Bach
We are confronted by insurmountable opportunities. Pogo
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
Those who see all beings in themselves, and their own selves in all beings, lose all fear. Starhawk, 'The Fifth Sacred Thing'
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Winston Churchill
Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. Mohammed Ali
You cannot say you are sorry you stole my pen if you continue to retain possession of it.
Desmond Tutu, on reconciliation and forgiveness
A good example has twice the value of good advice. Unknown
Improvement begins with I. Arnold Glasow
An eye for an eye will make the world go blind. Mahatma Gandhi
For those who know, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, no explanation will suffice. Unknown
When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion. Ethiopian proverb
If you get too close to people, you can catch their dreams, er I mean, germs. Preston Tucker
Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit. Edward R. Murrow
Real generosity is doing something for someone who'll never find out who it was. Frank A. Clark
The true meaning of generosity is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit. Nelson Henderson
You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you. Mary Tyler Moore
The cheapest facelift? A smile.
Life does not cease to be funny when people die, any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
George Bernard Shaw
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. Old English proverb
You don't feel the bullet you've just dodged. Unknown
Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up. Jesse Jackson
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Winston Churchill
The heart has reasons that reason knows nothing of. Blaise Pascal
Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. Abraham Lincoln
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Eleanor Roosevelt
No wise man ever wished to be younger. Jonathan Swift
Politicians are the same everywhere: they promise to build a bridge even when there’s no river. Nikita Khrushchev
Money can’t buy friends, but it can get you a better class of enemy. Spike Milligan
Bless you for your jealousy; it is a sign of empathy. Yoko Ono
Your reputation is none of your business. Wayne Dyer
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. Jimi Hendrix
Don’t ever take down a fence until you know why it was put up. Robert Frost
If someone betrays you once, it’s their fault. If they do it twice, it’s your fault. Unknown
Principles only mean something when we stick by them when they are inconvenient. The Contender (movie)
To be great is to be misunderstood. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Waiting for the moment when the moment has been waiting all the time. Jon Anderson
Magic is the art of changing consciousness at will. Starhawk
Cogs in the machine go round in circles, wear out and get replaced. Waking the Dead
Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it. André Gide
Art that doesn't attempt the impossible, isn't performing its function. William Butler Yeats
Drama is life with the dull bits cut out. Alfred Hitchcock
We make more money selling the advice than following it. Steve Forbes
The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Samuel Johnson
Expect the unexpected or you won't find it. Heraclitus
Giving money and power to the government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. P J O'Rourke
Poor people have access to the courts in the same sense that Christians had access to the lions Judge Earl Johnson Jr
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamour of the bad people but the appalling silence of the good people. Martin Luther King Jnr
The problem with success is you become what you detest. Jesus Jones
If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you have always got. Anthony Robbins
No one knows enough to be a pessimist. Wayne Dyer
Be yourself: there's nobody better qualified. Unknown
If you follow the herd, you'll end up stepping in shit. Wayne Dyer
A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something. Unknown
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not. Andre Gide
It is never too late to be what you might have been. George Eliot
It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. Agnes Repplier
People need to know what you stand for, and what you won't stand for. Unknown
The ends don't justify the means. The means shape the ends. You become what you do. Starhawk
We who have no time for our health today, may have no health for a time tomorrow. Unknown
Our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world — that is the myth of the Atomic Age — as in being able to remake ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi
Gambling is the only business where dissatisfied customers keep coming back for more. Unknown
He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake since for him the spinal cord would suffice. Albert Einstein
If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together. Lilla Watson, Aboriginal educator/activist
Possess yourself — somebody else will. The Fixx
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. Herman Melville
To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform. Theodore H. White
Live as if to die tomorrow. Learn as if to live forever. Mahatma Gandhi
If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. General George S. Patton, Jr
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. Bertrand Russell
Newspapers are unable, seemingly, to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of civilisation.
George Bernard Shaw
All the flowers on a tree do not produce fruit. Wolof people saying
When the monkey cannot reach the ripe banana, he says it’s sour. Bambara people saying
He who is unable to dance says the yard is stony. Kenyan proverb
In journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right. Ellen Goodman
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Mahatma Gandhi
Our job is to become more and more of what we are. The growth of a poet seems to be related to his or her becoming less and less embarrassed about more and more. Marvin Bell, poet
The safest nuclear reactor in the world is the one that hasn’t been built. Unknown
You’ve got to declare yourself openly, otherwise, you’ll stay right where you are. Carry on Cruising
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race. H. G. Wells
I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones. John Cage
[Why be] always on the move, but going nowhere fast? Billie, Boardwalk Empire (TV show)
If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember what you said. Mark Twain
After the chess match, the King and the pawn go into the same box. Italian proverb
Fame is the mask that eats away the face John Updike
"I think it would be a good idea." Mahatma Gandhi, when asked by a British reporter what he thought about western civilisation
Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it’s useless. Thomas Edison
We didn’t all come over on the same ship, but we’re all in the same boat. Bernard M. Baruch
Acting is the easiest thing in the world, just don't get caught doing it. Spencer Tracy, on the challenge of acting
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust
Don’t go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson
I imagine God is weary being called down on both sides of an argument. Cold Mountain (movie)
The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. Mark Twain
The moment you realise you are in the moment takes you out of the moment. Unknown
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different. C.S. Lewis
Don’t criticise what you can’t understand. You have never walked in that man's shoes. Elvis Presley
Would you believe in what you believe in if you were the only one who believed it? Kanye West
A sense of humour is common sense dancing. Clive James
Comparison is the thief of joy. Theodore Roosevelt
Abilities wither under faultfinding, blossom under encouragement. Donald A Laird
The brightest colour crayon isn’t always the sharpest in the box. Many things are bright but that doesn’t mean they're sharp. TTM
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African proverb
The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. Stephen McCranie
Only the dead have seen the end of war. Plato
Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace. Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Some people die at twenty-five and aren’t buried until seventy-five. Benjamin Franklin
The sun dries without prejudice the clothes of the rich and poor alike. Mahatma Gandhi
Life becomes easier when you accept the apology you never got. Robert Bault
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour. Unknown
Pay attention to the cracks, because that’s where the light gets in. Leonard Cohen
Intelligence is not what one knows . . . but what one does when one does not know. Jean Piaget
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to Truth: not going all the way and not starting. The Buddha
Appeasement is the hope that the alligator will eat you last. Winston Churchill
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Benjamin Franklin
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. Christopher Hitchens
Character is simply habit long continued. Plutarch
Where words fail, music speaks. Hans Christian Andersen
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C Clarke
War happens when politicians fail. Jesse Ventura
To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root. Chinese proverb
Those who never change their minds, never change anything. Winston Churchill
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. Chinese proverb
History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Mark Twain
Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you get a lot of scum on top. Edward Abbey
The job of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable. Finley Peter Dunne
Legal partner to admin assistant, caught talking to another staff member about relationships in the toilets: ’’Haven't you got work to do?’’ Admin assistant: ’’Oh yes, but this is what I do best.’’ from The Ally McBeal Show (TV show)
Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don’t want (or need) to impress people they don’t like (or really know). Adapted from Will Rogers
If you think you are too small to make a difference, then you have never been in bed with a mosquito. Betty Reese
Go the extra mile. It's never crowded. Unknown
Gambling is the only business where dissatisfied customers keep coming back for more. Unknown
Here’s a test to see if your mission on Earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't. Richard Bach
Death can’t stop love. All it can do is delay it for a while. The Princess Bride (movie)
People who have nothing to worry about are usually on their way to the cemetery. Moonlighting (TV show)
Always love your enemies. Nothing annoys them as much. Oscar Wilde
Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. Grace Hansen
If your horse dies, get off. Unknown
W C Fields: ’’I wonder what kind of woman you are?’’
Mae West: ’’I'm sorry I don't give out free samples.’’ from My Little Chickadees (movie)
I never forget a face, but in your case, I'll make an exception. Groucho Marx
Look, you can’t keep on blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, then move on. Homer Simpson
You can do anything when you’re famous. That’s why famous people are so dumb. Jarvis Cocker, Pulp
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Unknown
The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell. Simone Weil
If you have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, you’ll shit all over the present. Queer As Folk (TV show, US version)
The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you, the better you hear what is sounding outside of you.
Dag Hammarskjold
Do what you know is right, but try not to get caught. Ashleigh Brilliant
Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself. Unknown
A committee is a cul-de-sac to which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled. John A Lincoln
Always remember you’re unique . . . just like everyone else. Unknown
The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you're playing by somebody else’s rules, while quietly playing by your own.
Michael Konda
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. Don Marquis
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. Oscar Wilde
If people don’t know what you're doing, they won't know what you’re doing wrong.
episode Open Government, Yes, Minister (TV show)
Trying is the first step toward failure. Homer Simpson
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, and to have the two as close together as possible. George Burns
The best thing about always being honest is you never have to remember what you’ve said. Unknown
When ’i’ is replaced by ’we’, ’illness’ becomes ’wellness’. Unknown
People know the price of everything but the value of nothing. Oscar Wilde
Kill one man and you’re a murderer, kill a million and you're a conqueror. Jean Rostand
As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind: Every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder. John Glenn, astronaut
A true friend is one who stabs you in the front. Oscar Wilde
Life isn’t fair, it’s just fairer than death. The Princess Bride (movie)
If you can’t explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. Albert Einstein
Some people die at twenty-five, and aren't buried until they're seventy-five. Benjamin Franklin
Officer to motorist: ’’This is a one-way street.’’
Motorist: ’’Well, I'm only going one way.’’
That’s the thing with doctors: the only time the public's safe is when they're on the golf course.
Why size does matter: You can sit on top of a mountain, but you can’t sit on pinhead.
It’s better to keep your mouth shut and give the impression you’re stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. Rami Belson
There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. Mary Kay Ash
Don’t do something permanently stupid just because you are temporarily upset. Unknown
A man who can smile when things go wrong has found someone to blame it on. Yeck Brothers
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams, Who looks inside, awakens. Carl Jung
Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something. The Princess Bride (movie)
You’ve got to go out on a limb sometimes because that’s where the fruit is. Will Rogers
Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go. Oscar Wilde
Live every day like it’s your last and someday you'll be right. Woody Allen from Café Society (movie)
Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul. Mark Twain
These are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others. Groucho Marx
Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute. George Bernhard Shaw
Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now. Neale Donald Walsch
Better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie. Russian proverb
If you're going to do something tonight that you'll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late. Henry Youngman
Better to write for yourself and have no public than to write for the public and have no self. Cyril Connolly
A free society is a place where it's safe to be unpopular. Adlai E. Stevenson Jr
There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle. Robert Alden
You can't fake listening. It shows. Raquel Welch
It started off badly, tapered off in the middle, and the less said about the end the better. Other than that it was excellent.
Blackadder, from TV series, reviewing something or other!
Seduction is the art of selling something the other party isn't even sure they want. Pocket Listing (movie)
Seduction is manipulation disguised as romance. Retort, same movie
I'm not strange, weird, off, nor crazy; my reality is just different from yours. Lewis Carroll
The root of all evil will die if not watered. Unknown
Golf is a good walk spoiled. Mark Twain
A collection from Regina Brett
When you don’t get what you want, you get something better — experience.
What they call you is up to them. What you answer to is up to you.
Give others a second chance to make a first impression.
There’s a time for everything but not always at the same time.
Only you can determine your worth.
When things fall apart, they could actually be falling into place.
Not everything that counts can be counted. Don’t confuse your work with your worth.
Just because someone isn’t on your path doesn’t mean they’re lost.
No one can drain you without your permission.
Power is an inside job.
Don’t die with your music in you.
Nothing you want is upstream, so stop struggling.
You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.
To go after what you want in life, you have to silence the critics, starting with the biggest one: you.
If you don't have a strategy, you're part of someone else's strategy. Alvin Toffler
The future hurts. But only once. Denying it stings forever. Billions (TV series, s3e4)
Take care of your memories, because you can't relive them. Bob Dylan
Billionaires paying millionaires to tell the middle class to blame the poor.
a line from The Grinning Barretts' song Plutocrass on the mainstream media
Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change. Bob Kerrey
Want to know what God thinks of money? Look at the people he gave it to. Dorothy Parker
I have noticed that even people who claim everything is predetermined and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road. Stephen Hawking
Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow Internet to see who they really are.
Will Ferrell
Never follow someone else's path; unless you're in the woods and you're lost and you see a path, then by all means, you should follow that. Ellen DeGeneres
The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing, and then they marry him. Cher
Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones. John Lennon
To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research. Wallace Notestein
When a thief kisses you, count your teeth. Yiddish proverb
You cannot waken someone who pretends to be asleep. Edward Snowden
Failure is the line of least persistence. Stephanie Martino
When you listen to a political speech, it is like shooting at a target, you must allow for the wind. Hugh Allen
A gift shop is a place where you can see all the things you hope your friends won't send you for Christmas. Jack Woolsey
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. Alice Walker
One must be poor to know the luxury of giving. George Eliot
The media won't connect the dots. The dots give them a job. Major Danny Sjurzen (ret.)
Leadership is not a title. Leadership is seeing something that needs doing, and doing it. Rachael Robertson
Here is a test to determine whether your mission on Earth is finished. If you're still alive, it isn't. Unknown
The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about. Oscar Wilde
Nature is not a place to visit. It is home. Gary Snyder
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. Pablo Picasso
The plural of anecdote is not data. Marc Bekoff
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
If con is the opposite of pro, then isn’t Congress the opposite of progress? Jon Stewart
The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. Mark Twain
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. Greek proverb
A wonderful fact to reflect upon is that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. Charles Dickens
You may not think about politics but politics thinks about you. Aung San Suu Kyi
When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general. If you become a monk, you'll end up as the pope.' Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso. Pablo Picasso
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. Winston Churchill
The first step in liquidating a people is to erase their memory. Destroy their books, their culture, their history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long that nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was . . . The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. Milan Kundera
Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.
Albert Einstein
Many of life's failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas Edison
If I never came back it wouldn't be a tragedy, because a tragedy would be someone who dies at 80 and had spent 80 years not being satisfied. I was out there doing what I wanted.
Jesse Martin, modern-day adventurer, after sailing solo around the world, aged 18
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. Plato
The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. Herman Goering
Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you. Aldous Huxley
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. Henry Ford
The one who pursues revenge should dig two graves. Chinese proverb
It's better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies. Arthur Caldwell
A lie gets halfway around the world before truth has a chance to get its pants on. Winston Churchill
It takes a constant effort of mind to avoid the abundance that life offers naturally. Stuart Wilde
Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it. Winston Churchill
Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts. William Bruce Cameron
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.
Michelangelo
The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.
Albert Einstein
The truth is that enlightenment is neither remote nor unattainable. It is closer than your skin and more immediate than your next breath. If we wonder why so few seem able to find that which can never be lost, we might recall the child who was looking in the light for a coin he dropped in the dark because "the light is better over there." Humanity has spent ages looking in the light for a coin that awaits for us not in the light nor in the dark, but beyond all oppsites. Jed McKenna
What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen. Henry David Thoreau
If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
If we understand the mechanisms and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing it. In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind. Edward Bernays, Propaganda, 1924
It is a particularly gruesome characteristic of politicians the world over that, in order to legitimise their own prejudices and self-interest, they place them in the mouth of some shadowy collective constituent. Thus, they lobby the cause of those who pay them in the guise of voicing the fears of those who vote for them. Ben Elton, This Other Eden
For those who know, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not, no explanation will suffice. Unknown
You never do anything that works out the first time, unless you're doing something that's already been done. Amy Dean
When the uncertain experiencing of reality is dawning upon me here, with the every thought of fear and terror or awe for all set aside, may I recognise whatever appears as the reflection of my own consciousness . . . may I not fear the bands of wrathful deities my own thought forms. The Tibetan Book of the Dead
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong — because someday in life you will have been all of these.
George Washington Carver
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, s/he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Robert Kennedy, from his speech at University of Capetown, South Africa on June 6, 1966
Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due. William Ralph Inge
When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door, that we do not see the one that has opened for us. Helen Keller
One of the biggest challenges to a relationship is learning how to say, 'I disagree with you' while still holding hands.
Alexandra Penney
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
First attributed to Al-Anon/12-Step Program, October 1981
Death belongs to life as birth does. The walk is in the raising of the foot as in the laying of it down.
Tagore, Stray Birds CCLXVII
The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible. Mark Twain
Apologies are a bore. What we want is an explanation. Christopher Hitchens
An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it. Edward Gibbon
What we learn from history is that no one learns from history. Otto von Bismarck
You don't have to attend every argument to which you're invited. Unknown
If you don't pick a day to relax, your body will pick one for you. Unknown
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Bigfoot is sometimes confused with Sasquatch. Yeti never complains. Unknown
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Without order, nothing can exist. Without chaos, nothing can evolve. Oscar Wilde
If I am to be insulted, I must first value your opinion. Unknown
Rather fail with honour than succeed by fraud. Sophocles
What do you call someone who knows it's all going to shit, but still thinks things will turn out okay? An apocaloptimist.
Unknown
When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need. Ayurvedic proverb
If we do not believe in freedom of speech for those we despise, we do not believe in it at all. Noam Chomsky
I have learned that every mortal will taste death, but only some will taste life. Rumi
There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally. Don Miguel Ruiz
You can tell a lot about a person by the things they run from and the person they run to. Chloe Frayne
Those who dare not offend cannot be honest. Thomas Paine
I prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
There are only two industries that call their customers 'users': illegal drugs and software. Edward Tufte
A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right and evil doesn't become good, just because it's accepted by the majority. Rick Warren
Those who tell the stories rule the world. Hopi proverb
Thinking is difficult. That's why most people judge. Carl Jung
Those who do not know the torment of the unknown cannot have the joy of discovery. Claude Bernard
Clutter is nothing more than postposed decisions. Unknown
Our entire universe is probably in a tiny glass jar somewhere placed on a shelf in an alien child's room as a science project that scored a C-. Unknown
Crisis doesn't create character. It reveals it. Unknown
A good friend is like a four-leaf clover: Hard to find and lucky to have. Irish proverb
A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything. another Irish proverb
If you name me, you negate me. By giving me a name, a label, you negate all the other things I could possibly be.
Sören Kikegaard
Never argue with someone whose TV is bigger than their bookshelf. Emilia Clarke
The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. Aleksander Solzhenitsyn
In politics, not happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way. Franklin D Roosevelt
If it's important enough to you, you will find a way. If it's not, you will find a excuse. Unknown
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.
William Morris, The Beauty of Life 1880
It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone. Hans F. Hansen
For the seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out, and everything changes. To someone who don't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction. Cynthia Occelli
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Plato
There is no happiness if the things we believe in are different to the things we do. Albert Camus
I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand. John Wayne
The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because its handle was made of wood, it was one of them. Turkish proverb
I AM. Two of the most powerful words. Because what you put after them, shapes your reality. Unknown
In the very end, civilisations perish because they listen to their politicians and not their poets. Jonas Mekas
It all seems impossible until it's done. Nelson Mandela
Once a country is conditioned to liars, it takes generations to get the truth back. Gore Vidal
I have certain rules I live by. My first rule: I don't believe anything the government tells me. Nothing. Zero. George Carlin
If you wish to understand the Universe, think in terms of frequency and vibration. Nikola Tesla
The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in a lie. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The only difference between an ordeal and an adventure is your attitude. Unknown
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin
The most powerful form is civil disobedience is to resist the temptation to hate. Unknown
There are some people who could hear you speak a thousand words and still not understand you. And there are others who will understand without you even speaking a word. Unknown
Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end.
Bob Marley
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed — and hence clamorous to be led to safety — by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary. H.L. Mencken
Normality is a paved road: it's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow there. Vincent van Gogh
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer. Joseph Campbell
When I react, I become a reflection of their perception instead of a projection of my truth. Samqurashi
You don't need to return to older versions of yourself to satisfy people who aren't ready to see how you've grown. Unknown
There will always be shit tons going on. You will likely always have too many grownup things to get done. I don't care. Don't you dare let a single day go by without doing something you love. Life is too damn short to live days without magic.
Brooke Hampton
The oppressor would not be so strong if he did not have accomplices among the oppressed. Simone de Beauvoir
The problem with putting two and two together is that sometimes you get four, and sometimes you get 22. Dashiell Hammett
Don't be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart. Unknown
As soon as we free ourselves from the mirage of hurrying time, we are alive again, as in childhood, to the ecstasies of ordinary life. Alan Watts
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. Edward R Murrow
The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison. Fyodor Dostoevsky
If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you. Oscar Wilde
Men do not learn much from the lessons of history and that is the most important lesson of history. Aldous Huxley
Be like a tree, and let the dead leaves drop . . . Rumi
The secret to living well and longer is: eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and love without measure. Tibetan proverb
The nature of ignorance is to separate, to isolate, to create discrimination and differences, so that finally we cannot communicate as a harmonious whole. These differences we create appear as fighting, anger, hatred, and war.
Katagiri Roshi
Characterise people by their actions and you will never be fooled by the words. Unknown
I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left. Margaret Thatcher
Never forget you have every right to question any individual, system, movement, or group that only tolerates you when you think and behave exactly as they do. Africa Brooke
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The technique of infamy is start two lies at once and get people arguing heatedly over which is the truth. Ezra Pound
Information is just bits of data. Knowledge is putting them together. Wisdom is transcending them. Ram Dass
You can be a good person with a kind heart and still say no. Lori Deschene
It is very easy to conform to what your society or parents and teachers tell you. That is a safe and easy way of existing, but that is not living. To live is to find out for yourself what is true. Jiddu Krishnamurti
Do not speak badly of yourself, for the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them. David Gemmell
Open up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong. Terrence McKenna
The 'belonging' gained from following the crowd is not belonging. It is performative self-abandonment. Emma Zeck
Sometimes the greatest test is how you quietly handle those who so boldly mishandled you. Morgan Richard Olivier
How strange that nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude. Emily Dickinson
Be patient with yourself . . . Nothing in nature blooms all year round. Unknown
I wish people came with a thirty-second trailer, so I could see what I'm getting myself into. Unknown
Our common folly is to believe everything in creation is destined for our service. Unknown
People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health. And are treated by the health industry, which pays no attention to food. Wendell Berry
Drop all illusion there has ever been anything outside of you that can save you. Lorie Ladd
Trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair. Unknown
I used to care what people thought about me, until one day I tried to pay my bills with their opinions. Unknown
Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly and most underrated agent of human change. Bob Kerrey
The more real you get the more unreal the world gets. John Lennon
The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous rather than cowardly. George Carlin
Don't let anyone else ruin your day. It's your day. Ruin it yourself. Unknown
Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Desmond Tutu
The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them. George Bernard Shaw
And the strongest trust is built by the smallest actions, the keeping of the little promises. It is the constant truthfulness, the continued dependability, the remembrance of minor things that most inspire confidence and faith. Walter Wangerin Jr
It's okay to fall apart sometimes. Tacos do and we still love them. A sign posted outside a café
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it. Upton Sinclair
The best predictors of the future aren’t smarter. They’re just willing to take one more look, one more time, than the other folks. Adam Grant, Think Again (paraphrased)
Don't compare yourself to others. There's no comparison between the sun and the moon. They shine when it's their time.
Unknown
Those who love peace must learn to organise as effectively as those who love war. Martin Luther King,Jr
A physician once said, "The best medicine for humans is love." Someone then asked, "What if it doesn't work?" The physician smiled and replied, "Increase the dose." Unknown
We are all leaves of one tree, all waves of one sea. Thich Nhat Hanh
If we were to erase all the ‘mistakes’ from our pasts, we would be erasing all the wisdom we now have from having learnt from those ‘mistakes’. Remember the lesson, not the disappointment. Unknown
The truth has no defence against a fool determined to believe a lie. Mark Twain
We meet our destiny on the road we take to avoid it. Carl Jung
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Socrates
The final stage of healing is using what happened to you to help other people. Gloria Steinem
Rock bottom will teach you lessons mountain tops never will. Unknown
All healing is reinterpreting what you believe has happened to you. Barbara Marchiniak
Open your mind. Your brain won't fall out, but years of conditioning will. Unknown
A true master is not a master if he is a slave to his own knowledge. Unknown
Live by your code, stand by your work. Unknown
Live not in your past tense, live not in your future tense, rather live in your pleasant tense. St Germaine
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.
Winston Churchill
We, the unwilling, led by the unqualified, have been doing so much with so little for so long, that we are now expected to do everything, with nothing, forever. Konstantin Josef Jireček
The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity. George Bernard Shaw
There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent. Michel de Montaigne
The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one. William Stekel
If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it. Socrates
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Maya Angelou
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, five-star general who led Allied forces to victory in World War II, in a 1953 speech
We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both. Louis D. Brandeis
Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt
I don't know what I may seem to the world. But as to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than the ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. Isaac Newton
Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right. Martin Luther King Jr
Circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks his whip, but the really well-trained dog is the one that turns his somersault when there is no whip. George Orwell
When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When government fears the people, there is liberty.
Thomas Jefferson
Summer friends melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever. George R R Martin’s grandmother
The story has been told. If it was bad, it was my fault, because I am the storyteller. But if it was good, it belongs to everybody. The Swahili storytellers
The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.
George Eliot, Middlemarch
The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths to it are not found but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination. John Schaar
When we walk to the edge of the all the light we have and then step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two thing will happen: there will be something solid for us to stand on, or we will be taught to fly.
Patrick Overton, The Leaning Tree
The carbon inside you could have existed in any number of creatures or natural disasters before finding you. That particular atom residing somewhere above your left eyebrow? It could well have been a sooth riverbed pebble before deciding to call you home. You are rock and wave and the peeling bark of trees, you are ladybirds and the smell of a garden after the rain. Ella Frances Sanders
I didn't climb the tree because I was angry at corporations and government; I climbed the tree because when I fell in love with the redwoods, I fell in love with the world. My feelings of connection drive me, not my anger and feelings of being disconnected.
Julia Butterfly Hill, who once spent two years living in a redwood tree, her goal being to save it from being cut down by a logging company
I do not know what I am to the world, but to myself, I am but a small boy, playing on the seashore, searching for an ever more perfect pebble or seashell, while before me lies the great ocean of truth. Sir Isaac Newton
That which is not slightly distorted lacks sensible appeal, from which it follows that irregularity — that is to say, the unexpected, surprise and astonishment — is an essential part and characteristic of beauty. Charles Baudelaire
TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More
FEAR = Fantasised Expectation Appearing Real
or Face Everything And Recover
Politicians are a lot like diapers [nappies]. They should be changed frequently and for the same reason. John Wallner
Privacy is the foundation of all other rights. Arguing that you don't care about privacy because you have nothing to hide, is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say. Edward Snowden
The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don't tell you what to see. Alexandra K. Trenfor
One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. Carl Jung
The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply. Unknown
Looking at life from a different perspective makes you realise that it's not the deer that's crossing the road, it's the road that is crossing the forest. Unknown
He who works with his hands is a labourer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is a an artist. St Francis of Assisi
No matter how sophisticated and complex and powerful our institutions, we are still exactly as dependent on the earth as the earthworm. Wendell Berry
You should sit in nature for twenty minutes a day . . . unless you're busy, in which case you should sit for an hour. Zen saying
It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it's the pebble in your shoe. Muhammad Ali
Keep you face always towards the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you. Walt Whitman
The more you give up who you are to be liked by other people, the more you become a product of what everyone else wants, and not who you’re supposed to be. Unknown
I don't care that they stole my idea. I care that they don't have any of their own. Nikola Tesla
The best cure for the body is a quiet mind. Napoleon Bonaparte
Feeling the need to be busy all the time is a trauma response and fear-based distraction from what you'd be forced to acknowledge and feel if you slowed down. Unknown
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man reads nothing but newspapers. Thomas Jefferson
Adventure may hurt you but monotony will kill you. Unknown
We are all one. Only egos, beliefs and fears separate us. Nikola Tesla
The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders who drop bombs and massacre villages. Banksy
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking. Henry Ford
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. William Arthur Ward
The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about his own life but that it bothers him less and less.
Vaclav Havel, Letters to Olga 1988
Empathy is not simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through, but having the will to muster enough courage to do something about it. In a way, empathy is predicated on hope.
Cornel West, The Moral Obligations of Living in a Democratic Society, in The Good Citizen 1999
Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence. Leonardo da Vinci
The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet to be determined to make them better. F. Scott Fitzgerald
Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create. Albert Einstein
Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. M. C. Escher
Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing there is a field. I will meet you there. Rumi, Sufi poet, 1207-1273
If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.
Lao Tzu
Live as if to die tomorrow; learn as if to live forever. Gandhi
Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement, to get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal, everything is incredible. Never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed. Abraham Joshua Heschel
It is only with the greatest care that memory can be kept from becoming a prison or a gallows. The Orville (TV series) S03E02
You think you know stress? When I grew up, if you missed a TV show, you just missed it. Forever. As seen on a t-shirt. Unknown, but most likely someone living in the 1950s or the 1960s!
The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government, which is the true ruling power of our country. Edward Bernays
The difficulty is that we do not know how to listen, how to see, and how to hear because when a new things is said, we put it into old bottles, fit it into old terminologies, and therefore we spoil it. J Krishnamurti
It is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has. Hippocrates
If you are in a bad mood go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood go for another walk. Hippocrates
Before you heal someone, ask them if they're willing to give up the things that make them sick. Hippocrates
I would rather have questions that can't be answered, than answers that can't be questioned.
Richard Feynman, theoretical physicist
If you pay attention to the patterns of your life, you will realise everything always works out. Everything always takes you to a greater destination. You still grow, and the things you think you can't survive, you somehow divinely make it through. That's life. Always remember that. Idil Ahmed
There is a price to be paid for every increase in consciousness. We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain. Alan Watts
Today’s truth is frequently tomorrow’s error. If truth is to emerge and in the long run be triumphant, the process of free debate — the untrammelled clash of opinion — must go on. Robert Menzies
The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas. Carl Sagan
Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear the path. Paulo Coelho
One generation of deeply loving parents would change the brain of the next generation, and with that, the world.
Charles Raison
The way you alchemise a soulless world into a sacred world is by treating everyone as if they are sacred, until the sacred in them remembers. Sarah Durham Wilson
When we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. Wendell Berry
Ships don't sink because of the water around them. Ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don't let what's happening around you get inside you and weigh you down. Unknown
In the end, only three things matter: How much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you. Buddha
People aren't yelling at you. They're yelling at their projected fear and unresolved trauma. You're simply the mirror they don't know they're looking at. Danielle Paige
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. Martin Luther King Jr
A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. John F Kennedy Jr
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Seneca
The fearful seek to serve themselves by mastering the world, while the fearless seek to serve the world by mastering themselves. Unknown
Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted. Aldous Huxley
A friend is someone who does things that count but doesn't stop to count them. Unknown
I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. Agatha Christie
Confidence isn't walking into a room and thinking you're better than everyone; it's walking in and not having to compare yourself to anyone at all. Unknown
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. John F Kennedy
If you are depressed you are living in the past, if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace, you are living in the present. Lao Tzu
Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all. Sam Ewing
Experience is a hard teacher because it gives the test first, the lesson afterward. Vernon Law
The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. Unknown
Overscheduled children lose the space to simply be with themselves and learn the art of being alone. In our noisy, busy world, the importance of developing the life skill of solitude, meditation, and quietly being with oneself can not be overstated. Joshua Becker, Clutterfree With Kids: Change Your Thinking, Discover New Habits. Free Your Home
It's not where you take things from, it's where you take them to. John Luke Goddard
The amount of strength it takes to choose to be alone instead of poorly surrounded, is extremely underrated. If you are strong enough to choose yourself, I honour you. Xavier Dagba