I collect quotes. They come from many places. Many of them come from the quote of the day page of The Quotations Page–it’s my browser’s home page. Here is a sampling of quotations that I’ve especially enjoyed over the past two months:
Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.
Steven Wright (1955 – )Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well- warmed, and well-fed.
Herman Melville (1819 – 1891)“Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.”
— Thomas EdisonWe forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860)If men could only know each other, they would neither idolize nor hate.
Elbert Hubbard (1856 – 1915)The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950)We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
Aesop (620 BC – 560 BC)“Believe those who are seeking the truth; be careful of those who find it.” – Andre Gide
Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.
Samuel Johnson (1709 – 1784), (attributed)“Let no young man choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield to the popular belief — resolve to be honest at all events; and if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer.”
–Abraham Lincoln. From the July 1, 1850 [?] Notes for a Law LectureEveryone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
Leo Tolstoy (1828 – 1910)If you don’t know what to do, call the media and at least give the appearance of doing something.
David PetersonA wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.
Baltasar GracianPuritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
H. L. Mencken (1880 – 1956)