1-12 2013

Quotation, n.: the act of repeating erroneously the words of another.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
The real source of inner strength and self-confidence is warm-heartedness.
Dalai Lama
If you don't get what you want, it's a sign either that you did not seriously want it, or that you tried to bargain over the price.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
It is only great souls that know how much glory there is in being good.
Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC)
Anyone can tell the truth, but only very few of us can make epigrams.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
And what he greatly thought, he nobly dared.
Homer (900 BC-800 BC)
 Strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others.
Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)
Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Congratulation, n.: The civility of envy.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
I never thrust my nose into other men's porridge. It is no bread and butter of mine; every man for himself, and God for us all.
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
 Fortune cannot aid those who do nothing.
Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC)
There is nothing so strange and so unbelievable that it has not been said by one philosopher or another.
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
 Best to live lightly, unthinkingly.
Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC)
The world is full of willing people: some willing to work, the others willing to let them.
Poet Robert Frost
I have seen gross intolerance shown in support of toleration.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.
Upton Sinclair (1878-1968)
One gets a bad habit of being unhappy.

George Eliot (1819-1880)

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.

Benjamin Franklin  

It is the stillest words which bring the storm. Thoughts that come with doves' footsteps guide the world.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

 "There's an old saying: If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. But given today's out-of-control change "inflation,' if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll get less than you have now."
Winning in the Game of Life. Tom Gegax
 Behold, the fool saith, "Put not all thine eggs in the one basket"—which is but a manner of saying, "Scatter your money and your attention"; but the wise man saith, "Put all your eggs in the one basket and—watch that basket!"
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble ... Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change.
H.G. Wells (1866-1946)
Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
There are not more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted.
Sun Tzu (544 BC-496 BC)
Traveling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
I have been, as the phrase is, liberally educated, and am fit for nothing.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)
Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
It would be better to give up the notion of writing until you are better prepared ... You must not become a mere peddler of words. The thing to learn is to know what people are thinking about, not what they say.
Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941)
What a pity that in life we only get our lessons when they are of no use to us.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Oh, be humble, my brother, in your prosperity! Be gentle with those who are less lucky, if not more deserving.
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863)
Pride is one of the seven deadly sins; but it cannot be the pride of a mother in her children, for that is a compound of two cardinal virtues—faith and hope.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Very few reputations are gained by unsullied virtue.
Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)
Virtue never has been as respectable as money.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
A common and natural result of an undue respect for the law is, that you may see a file of soldiers ... marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

1211

Bigotry may be roughly defined as the anger of men who have no opinions. Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)

It is impossible for good or evil to last for ever; and hence it follows that the evil having lasted long, the good must be now nigh at hand.
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between, he does what he wants to do.
Bob Dylan, poet

At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races throughout the world.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Great men are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.
Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)

It seems to me a hard case to make slaves of those whom God and nature have made free.
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

1111

A prince should be slow to punish, and quick to reward.
Ovid
Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
In this world you've just got to hope for the best and prepare for the worst and take whatever God sends.

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)

1011

Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

David F. D’Alessandro, author of Executive Warfare suggests a smart way to find smart applicants:
“Humor is a sign of intelligence…I never, ever hired someone who was mirthless. I may have hired a few who were worthless, but never mirthless.”

Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

0911

To be in the weakest camp is to be in the strongest school.
Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)

I can stand brute force, but brute reason is quite unbearable. There is something unfair about its use. It is hitting below the intellect. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

A steady hand in governing of military affairs is more requisite than in times of peace, because an error committed in war may, perhaps, prove irremediable.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)


"A new motto for the 21st century employee might well be: Be funny, make money. There is a direct correlation between having fun on the job and being more productive."
From Work Like Your Dog Fifty Ways to Work Less, Play More, and Earn More by Matt Weinstein and Luke Barber (Villard)

When a man bleeds inwardly, it is a dangerous thing for himself; but when he laughs inwardly, it bodes no good to other people.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

0811

There must be a limit to the mistakes one person can make, and when I get to the end of them, then I'll be through with them. That's a very comforting thought.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)

Where there is sorrow there is holy ground.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900

Make the workmanship surpass the materials.
Ovid

The world is full of willing people: some willing to work, the others willing to let them.
Poet Robert Frost

0711

 The most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe...We think that for a general about to fight an enemy, it is important to know the enemy's numbers, but still more important to know the enemy's philosophy. Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)

In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

A God that can be understood is no God. Who can explain the Infinite in words?
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

0611

 "Judge others not lest ye be judged"
Jesus
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Nature has left this tincture in the blood,
That all men would be tyrants if they could.
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

People join companies - but they leave managers and supervisors.

0511

Fashion is the science of appearance, and it inspires one with the desire to seem rather than to be.
Henry Fielding (1707-1754)

The world is full of willing people: some willing to work, the others willing to let them.
Poet Robert Frost

Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon. E. M. Forster (1879-1970)

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. Mark Twain (1835-1910)

The new and terrible dangers which man has created can only be controlled by man.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

0511

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

You can learn from anyone even your enemy.
Ovid

The idol of today pushes the hero of yesterday out of our recollection; and will, in turn, be supplanted by his successor of tomorrow.
Washington Irving (1783-1859)

Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

The new and terrible dangers which man has created can only be controlled by man.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

0411

Nothing exists; all is a dream. God—man—the world—the sun, the moon, the wilderness of stars—a dream, all a dream; they have no existence. Nothing exists save empty space—and you!...And you are not you—you have no body, no blood, no bones, you are but a thought.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

If you are foolish enough to be contented, don't show it, but grumble with the rest.
Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927)

It is not from nature, but from education and habits, that our wants are chiefly derived.

Henry Fielding(1707-1754)

It is so pleasant to come across people more stupid than ourselves. We love them at once for being so.

Jerome K. Jerome(1859-1927)

The common idea that success spoils people is erroneous: on the contrary it makes them humble, tolerant and kind. Failure makes people cruel and bitter.
W. Somerset Maugham 


We must eat to live and live to eat.

Henry Fielding(1707-1754)

There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.

Mark Twain (1835-1910)

0311

When the sword is once drawn, the passions of men observe no bounds of moderation.

Alexander Hamilton(1755-1804)

Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.

Alexander Hamilton(1755-1804)

The principal thing in this world is to keep one's soul aloft.

Gustave Flaubert(1821-1880)

Idleness, like kisses, to be sweet must be stolen.

Jerome K. Jerome(1859-1927)

I have come to have the firm conviction that vanity is the basis of everything, and finally that what one calls conscience is only inner vanity.

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)

0211

Make the workmanship surpass the materials.
Ovid
Money's a horrid thing to follow, but a charming thing to meet.

Henry James(1843-1916)

The almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages.

Washington Irving (1783-1859)

Don't shake the sh!t so the smell will not come out.
An old adage
I think the first duty of society is justice.

Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804)

Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

John F. Kennedy(1917-1963)

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.
Dr. Seuss

Bart: I am through with working. Working is for chumps.
Homer: Son, I'm proud of you. I was twice your age before I figured that out. 
The Simpsons 
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Morals are an acquirement, like music, like a foreign language, like piety, poker, paralysis, no man is born with them.

Mark Twain (1835-1910)

1110

Reality, as usual, beats fiction out of sight.

Joseph Conrad(1857-1924)

He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great.
Herman Melville (1819-1891)
I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

0910

Debt, n.: An ingenious substitute for the chain and whip of the slave-driver.

Ambrose Bierce

0810

Lord help me, I'm just not that bright.
Homer Simpson 

0710

There is no worth in that which is not a difficult achievement.
Ovid 

0610

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
Dr. Seuss

0510

He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.
Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC)