All genuine quotes

385 quotes, each found in the text it is credited to. The ones that are not, are under misquotes; the newest of both are under recently added.

Aristotle 7 · Baruch 8 · Bukowski 6 · Camus 9 · Palahniuk 8 · Cicero 12 · Lewis 6 · Dostoevsky 64 · Seuss 5 · Einstein 2 · Hubbard 8 · Emerson 9 · Epictetus 14 · Epicurus 16 · Zappa 8 · Gandhi 4 · Gide 13 · Rowling 14 · Jung 2 · Lucretius 9 · West 8 · Aurelius 7 · Monroe 10 · Twain 14 · King 14 · Angelou 6 · Ravikant 11 · Nietzsche 7 · Wilde 18 · Pessoa 11 · Frost 12 · Seneca 14 · Chbosky 6 · Jobs 10 · Thoreau 9 · Purkey 4

Aristotle

  1. It is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring

    Nicomachean Ethics (330 BC), Book I, chapter 7, 1098a18–20 (chapter V in D. P. Chase).

  2. A friend is another self.

    Nicomachean Ethics (330 BC), Book IX, chapter 4 (1166a31, chapter IV in D. P. Chase).

  3. Happiness is a kind of working of the soul in the way of perfect Excellence

    Nicomachean Ethics (330 BC), Book I, chapter 13 (Chase: Book I, chapter XI).

  4. Virtue is a mean state; but in reference to the chief good and to excellence it is the highest state possible.

    Nicomachean Ethics (330 BC), Book II, chapter 6 (Chase: Book II, chapter VI).

  5. we are enquiring not merely that we may know what virtue is but that we may become virtuous

    Nicomachean Ethics (330 BC), Book II, chapter 2 (Chase: Book II, chapter II).

  6. what we have to make when we have learned how, these we learn how to make by making.

    Nicomachean Ethics (330 BC), Book II, chapter 1, 1103a–b (chapter I in D. P. Chase).

  7. no one would choose to live without friends.

    Nicomachean Ethics (330 BC), Book VIII, chapter 1, 1155a5–6 (chapter I in D. P. Chase).

Bernard Baruch

  1. Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.

    Associated Press, “Baruch Upholds U.S. Atom Plan; Hits at Wallace”, dateline 8 October 1946, in The Galveston Daily News, 9 October 1946, Remarks reported in an Associated Press article of 8 October 1946, “Baruch Upholds U.S. Atom Plan; Hits at Wallace”.

  2. We are now facing a problem more of ethics than of physics.

    Address to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (the Baruch Plan) (1946), Address to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 14 June 1946, immediately before the numbered measures beginning ‘1. General.’.

  3. All economic movements, by their very nature, are motivated by crowd psychology.

    Congressional Record, Senate, 12 March 1948, vol. 94, p. 2628, quotation of Bernard Baruch’s preface to the 1932 L. C. Page & Co. edition of Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Preface to Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1932), passage reprinted in the Congressional Record, 12 March 1948, p. 2628.

  4. We are here to make a choice between the quick and the dead.

    Address to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (the Baruch Plan) (1946), Opening of the address to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 14 June 1946.

  5. Old age is 15 years older than I am.

    TIME, ‘Nation: The Man Behind the Legend’, 2 July 1965, final paragraph, Reported in TIME, ‘Nation: The Man Behind the Legend’, 2 July 1965, final paragraph.

  6. Peace is never long preserved by weight of metal or by an armament race.

    Address to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (the Baruch Plan) (1946), Address to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 14 June 1946; paragraph after “Let this be anchored in our minds” and before the discussion of ethics and physics.

  7. We are today in the midst of a cold war.

    Bernard Baruch, speech to the South Carolina House of Representatives, Columbia, 16 April 1947; Journal of the House of Representatives of the First Session of the 87th General Assembly of the State of South Carolina, 1947, p. 1085, Speech to the South Carolina House of Representatives, Columbia, 16 April 1947.

  8. We must elect World Peace or World Destruction.

    Address to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (the Baruch Plan) (1946), Address to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 14 June 1946; opening paragraph beginning “Behind the black portent of the new atomic age”.

Charles Bukowski

  1. People empty me. I have to get away to refill.

    The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship (1998), Journal entry of 21 September 1991.

  2. A writer owes nothing except to his writing.

    The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship (1998), Journal entry of 28 August 1991, 11:28 PM, final paragraph.

  3. All a guy needed was a chance. Somebody was always controlling who got a chance and who didn’t.

    Ham on Rye (1982), Chapter 15, p. 62 in the HarperCollins e-book, said by Henry Chinaski.

  4. It began as a mistake.

    Post Office (1971), Opening sentence; ‘Chapter One’ in the licensed publisher excerpt, said by Henry Chinaski.

  5. The subs themselves made Jonstone possible by obeying his impossible orders.

    Post Office (1971), ‘Chapter Three’ in the licensed publisher excerpt, opening sentence, said by Henry Chinaski.

  6. There is a loneliness in this world so great that you can see it in the slow movement of the hands of a clock.

    Love Is a Dog from Hell (1977), ‘the crunch’ (the poem begins on p. 162), said by the poem’s lyric speaker.

Albert Camus

  1. I rebel, therefore we are.

    The Rebel (1951), Part I, “L’Homme révolté”.

  2. In the middle of winter, I was finally learning that there was an invincible summer within me.

    Albert Camus, “Retour à Tipasa”, in L’Été (Paris: Gallimard, 1954); French excerpt headed “Retour à Tipasa” hosted at edder.org, “Retour à Tipasa” (collected in L’Été, 1954); paragraph beginning “Car il y a seulement de la malchance à n’être pas aimé”, as reproduced in the cited excerpt.

  3. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

    The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), Final sentence of the title essay, “Le mythe de Sisyphe” (before the Kafka appendix in expanded editions).

  4. There is only one truly serious philosophical problem: suicide.

    The Myth of Sisyphus (1942), Opening sentence of the essay.

  5. It consists in preventing the world from falling apart.

    Albert Camus, speech at the Nobel Banquet, Stockholm City Hall, 10 December 1957; French text published by NobelPrize.org (copyright Éditions Gallimard), Nobel Banquet speech, Stockholm, 10 December 1957; paragraph beginning with Camus’s generation.

  6. Refusing to lie about what one knows, and resisting oppression.

    Albert Camus, speech at the Nobel Banquet, Stockholm City Hall, 10 December 1957; French text published by NobelPrize.org (copyright Éditions Gallimard), Nobel Banquet speech, Stockholm, 10 December 1957; paragraph on the two commitments of the writer’s craft.

  7. By definition, he cannot today put himself at the service of those who make history: he serves those who undergo it.

    Albert Camus, speech at the Nobel Banquet, Stockholm City Hall, 10 December 1957; official French transcript on NobelPrize.org, copyright Éditions Gallimard, Nobel Banquet speech, Stockholm, 10 December 1957; paragraph beginning Le rôle de l’écrivain.

  8. Today, my mother died.

    The Stranger (1942), Opening sentence (incipit), said by Meursault.

  9. That is why true artists despise nothing: they require themselves to understand rather than judge.

    Albert Camus, speech at the Nobel Banquet, Stockholm City Hall, 10 December 1957; official French transcript on NobelPrize.org, copyright Éditions Gallimard, Nobel Banquet speech, Stockholm, 10 December 1957; paragraph beginning Je ne puis vivre personnellement sans mon art.

Chuck Palahniuk

  1. A good addiction takes the guesswork out of death.

    Choke (2001), Publisher’s excerpt, reflection following Miss Lacey’s remark about James Bond and sex addiction, said by Victor Mancini.

  2. Big Brother isn’t watching. He’s singing and dancing.

    Lullaby (2002), Chapter 3, while Streator builds a model house amid his neighbors’ noise, said by Carl Streator.

  3. The first step to eternal life is you have to die.

    Fight Club (1996), Opening paragraph, said by Tyler Durden.

  4. By the time you read this, you’ll be older than you remember.

    Diary (2003), Entry headed June 22, opening sentence.

  5. The problem with every story is you tell it after the fact.

    Lullaby (2002), Chapter 1, opening sentence, said by Carl Streator.

  6. The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything close-up.

    Lullaby (2002), Chapter 3, after the miniature house is finished and illuminated, said by Carl Streator.

  7. That old saying, how you always kill the one you love, well, look, it works both ways.

    Fight Club (1996), Opening rooftop scene at the Parker-Morris Building.

  8. You cannot be the person they know and the great, glorious person you want to become. Not at the same time.

    Haunted (2005), Chapter 1, bus journey to the writers’ retreat, said by Mr. Whittier.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

  1. Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.

    Philippics (44 BC), Twelfth Philippic, section 5 (Philippics XII.2.5).

  2. The safety of the people shall be the highest law.

    On the Laws (52 BC), On the Laws (De Legibus), Book III, section 8 (De Legibus III.3.8).

  3. O tempora, o mores!

    Against Catiline (63 BC), First Oration, section 2 (In Catilinam I.1.2).

  4. For he is, as it were, a second self.

    On Friendship (44 BC), Chapter XXI, section 80 (Laelius de Amicitia 21.80), said by Gaius Laelius.

  5. For a short term of life is long enough for living well and honourably.

    On Old Age (44 BC), Chapter XIX, section 70 (Cato Maior de Senectute 19.70), said by Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder.

  6. The fact is that fewer people are endowed with virtue than wish to be thought to be so.

    On Friendship (44 BC), Chapter XXVI, section 98 (Laelius de Amicitia 26.98), said by Gaius Laelius.

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  1. But, it is said, memory dwindles. No doubt, unless you keep it in practice, or if you happen to be somewhat dull by nature.

    On Old Age (44 BC), Chapter VII, section 21 (Cato Maior de Senectute 7.21), said by Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder.

  2. More law, less justice.

    On Duties (44 BC), Book I, chapter X, section 33 (I.10.33).

  3. No one is so old as to think that he may not live a year.

    On Old Age (44 BC), Chapter VII, section 24 (Cato Maior de Senectute 7.24), said by Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder.

  4. The older the sweeter, as in wines that keep well.

    On Friendship (44 BC), Chapter XIX, section 67 (Laelius de Amicitia 19.67), said by Gaius Laelius.

  5. You might just as well take the sun out of the sky as friendship from life.

    On Friendship (44 BC), Chapter XIII, section 47 (Laelius de Amicitia 13.47), said by Gaius Laelius.

  6. We are not born for ourselves alone.

    On Duties (44 BC), Book I, chapter VII, section 22 (I.7.22).

C. S. Lewis

  1. Friendship is born at the moment when one man says to another “What! You too? I thought that no one but myself...”

    The Four Loves (1960), Chapter IV, “Friendship”.

  2. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.

    Mere Christianity (1952), Book III, chapter 10, ‘Hope’.

  3. Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

    The Screwtape Letters (1942), letter XXIX, p. 148 in the 1944 printing, said by Screwtape.

  4. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.

    The Problem of Pain (1940), Chapter VI, ‘Human Pain’, p. 81 in the 1946 printing.

  5. No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.

    A Grief Observed (1961), Part I, opening sentence.

  6. To love at all is to be vulnerable.

    The Four Loves (1960), Chapter VI, ‘Charity’.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

  1. Beauty is a terrible and awful thing! … God and the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart of man.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 1, Book 3, chapter 3 (“The Confession of a Passionate Heart—in Verse”), said by Dmitri Karamazov.

  2. Beauty will save the world.

    The Idiot (1869), Part 3, chapter 5, said by Ippolit Terentyev.

  3. Happiness does not lie in happiness, but in the achievement of it.

    A Writer’s Diary (1876), January 1876, chapter 3, section 2 (“Spiritualism. Something about devils. The extraordinary cunning of devils, if only they are devils”).

  4. What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 6, chapter 3 (“Conversations and Exhortations of Father Zossima”), section (i) (“Of Hell and Hell Fire, a Mystic Reflection”), said by Father Zosima.

  5. The more I love humanity in general, the less I love man in particular.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 1, Book 2, chapter 4 (“A Lady of Little Faith”), said by an unnamed elderly doctor.

  6. The higher harmony is not worth the tears of one tortured child.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 5, chapter 4 (“Rebellion”), said by Ivan Karamazov.

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  1. Love life more than the meaning of it.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 5, chapter 3 (“The Brothers Make Friends”), said by Alyosha Karamazov.

  2. It’s not God that I don’t accept, only I most respectfully return Him the ticket.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 5, chapter 4 (“Rebellion”), said by Ivan Karamazov.

  3. There are three powers, three powers alone, able to conquer and to hold captive for ever the conscience of these impotent rebels for their happiness: miracle, mystery and authority.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 5, chapter 5 (“The Grand Inquisitor”), said by the Grand Inquisitor.

  4. If the devil doesn’t exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 5, chapter 4 (“Rebellion”), said by Ivan Karamazov.

  5. The secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 5, chapter 5 (“The Grand Inquisitor”), said by the Grand Inquisitor.

  6. Twice two makes four is not life, gentlemen, but the beginning of death.

    Notes from Underground (1864), Part 1 (“Underground”), chapter 9, said by the Underground Man.

  7. Some good, sacred memory, preserved from childhood, is perhaps the best education.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Epilogue, chapter 3 (“Ilusha’s Funeral. The Speech at the Stone”), said by Alyosha Karamazov.

  8. Go at once, this very minute, stand at the cross-roads, bow down, first kiss the earth which you have defiled, and then bow down to all the world and say to all men aloud, ‘I am a murderer!’

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 5, chapter 4, said by Sonia Marmeladova.

  9. Life is a gift, life is happiness, every minute can be an eternity of happiness.

    Letters (1849), letter to his brother Mikhail, 22 December 1849.

  10. Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 6, chapter 3 (“Conversations and Exhortations of Father Zossima”), section (g) (“Of Prayer, of Love, and of Contact with other Worlds”), said by Father Zosima.

  11. Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 1, Book 2, chapter 4 (“A Lady of Little Faith”), said by Father Zosima.

  12. Man is a creature that can get used to anything, and I think that is the best definition of him.

    The House of the Dead (1862), Part 1, chapter 1 (“The House of the Dead”), said by the narrator.

  13. Man grows used to everything, the scoundrel!

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 1, chapter 2, said by Rodion Raskolnikov.

  14. The whole work of man really seems to consist in nothing but proving to himself every minute that he is a man and not a piano-key!

    Notes from Underground (1864), Part 1 (“Underground”), chapter 8, said by the Underground Man.

  15. If someone proved to me that Christ is outside the truth, and it really were so that the truth is outside Christ, I would rather remain with Christ than with the truth.

    Letters (1854), letter to Natalya Fonvizina, end of January to late February 1854.

  16. We are each responsible to all for all.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 6, chapter 2, section (c) (“Recollections of Father Zossima’s Youth before he became a Monk. The Duel”), said by Markel.

  17. Though I may not believe in the order of the universe, yet I love the sticky little leaves as they open in spring. I love the blue sky.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 5, chapter 3 (“The Brothers Make Friends”), said by Ivan Karamazov.

  18. If he had to remain standing on a square yard of space all his life, a thousand years, eternity, it were better to live so than to die at once! Only to live, to live and live! Life, whatever it may be!

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 2, chapter 6, said by Rodion Raskolnikov.

  19. To be too conscious is an illness — a real thorough-going illness.

    Notes from Underground (1864), Part 1 (“Underground”), chapter 2, said by the Underground Man.

  20. Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 1, Book 2, chapter 2 (“The Old Buffoon”), said by Father Zosima.

  21. Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience, but nothing is a greater cause of suffering.

    The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Part 2, Book 5, chapter 5 (“The Grand Inquisitor”), said by the Grand Inquisitor.

  22. I didn’t kill a human being, I killed a principle!

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 3, chapter 6, said by Rodion Raskolnikov.

  23. Money is coined liberty, and so it is ten times dearer to the man who is deprived of freedom.

    The House of the Dead (1862), Part 1, chapter 1 (“The House of the Dead”), said by the narrator.

  24. Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 1, chapter 1, said by Rodion Raskolnikov.

  25. Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth, nothing easier than flattery.

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 6, chapter 4, said by Arkady Svidrigailov.

  26. Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 3, chapter 5, said by Rodion Raskolnikov.

  27. If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect yourself.

    Humiliated and Insulted (1861), Part 3, chapter 2, said by Alyosha Valkovsky.

  28. Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately, in love with suffering. … Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness.

    Notes from Underground (1864), Part 1 (“Underground”), chapter 9, said by the Underground Man.

  29. I say that the world may go to pot for me so long as I always get my tea.

    Notes from Underground (1864), Part 2 (“À Propos of the Wet Snow”), chapter 9, said by the Underground Man.

  30. I am a sick man.... I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man.

    Notes from Underground (1864), Part 1 (“Underground”), chapter 1, said by the Underground Man.

  31. To go wrong in one’s own way is better than to go right in someone else’s.

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 3, chapter 1, said by Dmitri Razumikhin.

  32. To love people as they are is impossible. And yet one must.

    The Adolescent (1875), Part 2, chapter 1, section 4, said by Andrei Petrovich Versilov.

  33. My God, a whole moment of happiness! Is that too little for the whole of a man’s life?

    White Nights (1848), “Morning” (the last section), said by the narrator.

  34. To become a true Russian means to become brother of all men.

    The Pushkin Speech (1880), Speech of 8 June 1880 at the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, Moscow; printed in A Writer’s Diary, August 1880, chapter 2.

  35. The dreamer, if you want an exact definition, is not a human being but a creature of an intermediate sort.

    White Nights (1848), “Second Night”, said by the narrator.

  36. An ‘extraordinary’ man has the right to decide in his own conscience to overstep certain obstacles.

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 3, chapter 5, said by Rodion Raskolnikov.

  37. If there is no God, then I am God.

    Demons (1872), Part 3, chapter 6 (“A Busy Night”), section 2, said by Kirillov.

  38. What if I were not to die! What if I could go back to life — what eternity! I would turn every minute into an age; I would lose nothing, I would count every minute as it passed.

    The Idiot (1869), Part 1, chapter 5, said by Prince Myshkin.

  39. The chief thing is to love others like yourself, that’s the great thing, and that’s everything; nothing else is wanted.

    The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877), Chapter 5, said by the ridiculous man.

  40. People, love one another — who said that? Whose commandment is that?

    The Meek One (1876), Chapter 2, section 4 (“Only Five Minutes Too Late”), said by the pawnbroker.

  41. If one wanted to crush and destroy a man entirely, to inflict on him the most terrible punishment, one need only give him work of an absolutely, completely useless and meaningless character.

    The House of the Dead (1862), Part 1, chapter 2 (“First Impressions”), said by the narrator.

  42. If it were mathematically proved to you that the truth excludes Christ, you’d prefer to stick to Christ rather than to the truth.

    Demons (1872), Part 2, chapter 1 (“Night”), section 7, said by Ivan Shatov.

  43. Neither a person nor a nation can exist without some higher idea.

    A Writer’s Diary (1876), December 1876, chapter 1, section 3 (“Unfounded Assertions”).

  44. Suffer and expiate your sin by it, that’s what you must do.

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 5, chapter 4, said by Sonia Marmeladova.

  45. Better be unhappy and know the truth, than be happy and live . . . like a fool.

    The Idiot (1869), Part 4, chapter 5, said by Ippolit Terentyev.

  46. The one essential condition of human existence is that man should always be able to bow down before something infinitely great.

    Demons (1872), Part 3, chapter 7 (“Stepan Trofimovitch’s Last Wandering”), section 3, said by Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky.

  47. Compassion is the chief and perhaps the only law of human existence.

    The Idiot (1869), Part 2, chapter 5, said by Prince Myshkin.

  48. Even in toothache there is enjoyment.

    Notes from Underground (1864), Part 1 (“Underground”), chapter 4, said by the Underground Man.

  49. I have seen the truth; I have seen and I know that people can be beautiful and happy without losing the power of living on earth. I will not and cannot believe that evil is the normal condition of mankind.

    The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1877), Chapter 5, said by the ridiculous man.

  50. He is a man of intelligence, but to act sensibly, intelligence is not enough.

    Crime and Punishment (1866), Part 3, chapter 3, said by Rodion Raskolnikov.

  51. It’s life that matters, nothing but life — the process of discovering, the everlasting and perpetual process, not the discovery itself, at all.

    The Idiot (1869), Part 3, chapter 5 (“My Necessary Explanation”), said by Ippolit Terentyev.

  52. Judge the Russian people not by the abominations they so often commit, but by the great and holy things for which, even in their abomination, they constantly yearn.

    A Writer’s Diary (1876), February 1876, chapter 1, section 2 (“On Love of the People. An Essential Pact with the People”).

  53. From the beginning, all the world over, lack of originality has been reckoned the chief characteristic and best recommendation of an active, businesslike and practical man

    The Idiot (1869), Part 3, chapter 1, said by the narrator.

  54. Man is fond of reckoning up his troubles, but does not count his joys.

    Notes from Underground (1864), Part 2 (“À Propos of the Wet Snow”), chapter 6, said by the Underground Man.

  55. Man is a mystery. It needs to be unravelled, and if you spend your whole life unravelling it, don’t say that you’ve wasted time. I am studying that mystery because I want to be a human being.

    Letters (1839), letter to his brother Mikhail, 16 August 1839.

  56. Man is unhappy because he doesn’t know he’s happy. It’s only that.

    Demons (1872), Part 2, chapter 1 (“Night”), section 5, said by Kirillov.

  57. The soul is healed by being with children.

    The Idiot (1869), Part 1, chapter 6, said by Prince Myshkin.

  58. Starting from unlimited freedom, I arrive at unlimited despotism.

    Demons (1872), Part 2, chapter 7 (“A Meeting”), section 2, said by Shigalyov.

Dr. Seuss

  1. A person’s a person, no matter how small.

    Horton Hears a Who! (1954), Horton’s repeated defence of the Whos on the speck of dust (unpaginated picture book), said by Horton the elephant.

  2. I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.

    The Lorax (1971), The Lorax introduces himself to the Once-ler after the first Truffula tree is cut down (unpaginated picture book), said by the Lorax.

  3. The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play.

    The Cat in the Hat (1957), Opening two lines.

  4. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

    The Lorax (1971), Closing exchange: the Once-ler explains the word UNLESS and entrusts the last Truffula seed to the child (unpaginated picture book), said by the Once-ler.

  5. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

    Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (1990), The narrator’s address to “you”; English excerpt on Auckland University Press’s book page (no book page number confirmed).

Albert Einstein

  1. Nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that a planned economy is not yet socialism.

    Why Socialism? (1949), Why Socialism?, paragraph beginning Nevertheless, it is necessary; February 1951 pamphlet, PDF page 8.

  2. This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism.

    Why Socialism? (1949), Why Socialism?, paragraph beginning This crippling of individuals; February 1951 pamphlet, PDF page 8.

Elbert Hubbard

  1. Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.

    Roycroft Dictionary and Book of Epigrams (1923), Roycroft Dictionary and Book of Epigrams (1923), Book of Epigrams, p. 105; first in The Philistine, December 1900, p. 24.

  2. The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.

    The Philistine (1901), The Philistine, November 1901, p. 188 (among short sayings); later in the Roycroft Dictionary and Book of Epigrams (1923), p. 131, and The Note Book of Elbert Hubbard (1927), p. 129.

  3. Never explain — your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.

    Fra Elbertus [Elbert Hubbard], The Motto Book; Being a Catalogue of Epigrams by Fra Elbertus, Assisted at Times by Solomon, Ruskin, Shakespeare, Joaquin Miller, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Ali Baba and Felix Cyrenius (East Aurora: The Roycrofters, copyright 1909 by Elbert Hubbard), The Motto Book (1909), No. 127, p. 31; first, in another wording, on the cover of The Philistine, February 1904.

  4. An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.

    A Message to Garcia (1899), ‘Horse Sense’, prefatory material in the 1914 edition of A Message to Garcia.

  5. Art is not a thing; it is a way.

    Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great (1894), Volume 10, To the Homes of Great Teachers (Memorial Edition, 1916), ‘Thomas Arnold’, opening paragraph.

  6. Freedom cannot be bestowed — it must be achieved.

    Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great (1894), To the Homes of Great Teachers, ‘Booker T. Washington’ (Memorial Edition, 1916), p. 207.

  7. The true teacher is a learner.

    Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great (1894), Volume 10, To the Homes of Great Teachers (Memorial Edition, 1916), ‘Friedrich Froebel’, discussion of the young ‘school-mothers’.

  8. To teach is to influence, and influence never dies.

    Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great (1894), Volume 10, To the Homes of Great Teachers (Memorial Edition, 1916), ‘Plato’, final paragraph.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

  1. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.

    Essays: First Series (1841), Essay II, “Self-Reliance”.

  2. A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere.

    Essays: First Series (1841), Essay VI, “Friendship”.

  3. Imitation is suicide.

    Essays: First Series (1841), Essay II, “Self-Reliance”.

  4. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

    Essays: First Series (1841), Essay II, “Self-Reliance”.

  5. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

    Essays: First Series (1841), Essay X, “Circles”.

  6. The only way to have a friend is to be one.

    Essays: First Series (1841), Essay VI, “Friendship”.

  7. To be great is to be misunderstood.

    Essays: First Series (1841), Essay II, “Self-Reliance”.

  8. Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.

    Essays: First Series (1841), Essay II, “Self-Reliance”.

  9. Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.

    Essays: First Series (1841), Essay II, “Self-Reliance”.

Epictetus

  1. It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.

    Discourses (108), Book 2, chapter 17, section 1 (opening of the chapter); George Long translation, Book II, XVII, “How We Must Adapt Preconceptions to Particular Cases”.

  2. If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.

    Enchiridion (Handbook) (107), Section 13; George Long translation, chapter XIII.

  3. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

    Discourses (108), Book 3, chapter 23, section 1 (opening sentence); George Long translation, Book III, XXIII, “To Those Who Read and Discuss for the Sake of Ostentation”.

  4. Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.

    Enchiridion (Handbook) (107), Section 5 (opening clause); George Long translation, chapter V.

  5. Only the educated are free.

    Discourses (108), Book 2, chapter 1, section 22; George Long translation, Book II, I, “That Confidence (Courage) Is Not Inconsistent with Caution”.

  6. For this is your duty, to act well the part that is given to you; but to select the part, belongs to another.

    Enchiridion (Handbook) (107), Section 17 (concluding sentence); George Long translation, chapter XVII.

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  1. It is circumstances (difficulties) which show what men are.

    Discourses (108), Book 1, chapter 24, section 1 (opening sentence); George Long translation, Book I, XXIV, ‘How We Should Struggle with Circumstances’.

  2. If a man has reported to you, that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make any defence (answer) to what has been told you; but reply, The man did not know the rest of my faults, for he would not have mentioned these only.

    Enchiridion (Handbook) (107), Section 33.9; George Long translation, chapter XXXIII, paragraph beginning “If a man has reported to you”.

  3. Remember that it is not he who reviles you or strikes you, who insults you, but it is your opinion about these things as being insulting. When then a man irritates you, you must know that it is your own opinion which has irritated you.

    Enchiridion (Handbook) (107), Section 20 (first two sentences); George Long translation, chapter XX.

  4. Let death and exile and every other thing which appears dreadful be daily before your eyes; but most of all death: and you will never think of anything mean nor will you desire anything extravagantly.

    Enchiridion (Handbook) (107), Section 21; George Long translation, chapter XXI.

  5. Never say about anything, I have lost it, but say I have restored it.

    Enchiridion (Handbook) (107), Section 11 (opening sentence); George Long translation, chapter XI.

  6. No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig.

    Discourses (108), Book 1, chapter 15, section 7; George Long translation, Book I, XV, “What Philosophy Promises”.

  7. Of things some are in our power, and others are not.

    Enchiridion (Handbook) (107), Section 1.1 (opening sentence); George Long translation, chapter I.

  8. Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life.

    Enchiridion (Handbook) (107), Section 8 (complete section); George Long translation, chapter VIII.

Epicurus

  1. Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not.

    Letter to Menoeceus (270 BC), letter to Menoeceus, section 125 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.125); Hicks translation, 1925.

  2. Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

    Vatican Sayings (270 BC), Vatican Sayings 35 (Gnomologium Vaticanum, Vat. gr. 1950); Greek as in Bailey, Epicurus: The Extant Remains (1926), p. 110; English, Peter Saint-Andre (2010, CC0).

  3. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly.

    Principal Doctrines (270 BC), Principal Doctrines 5 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.140); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925, as Sovran Maxims.

  4. Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search thereof when he is grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul.

    Letter to Menoeceus (270 BC), letter to Menoeceus, opening (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.122); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925.

  5. He believes that the misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.

    Letter to Menoeceus (270 BC), letter to Menoeceus, sections 134–135 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.134–135); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925.

  6. Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.

    Principal Doctrines (270 BC), Principal Doctrines 27 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.148); Hicks translation (“Sovran Maxims”), 1925.

Show all 16 genuine Epicurus quotesShow fewer
  1. Natural justice is a symbol or expression of expediency, to prevent one man from harming or being harmed by another.

    Principal Doctrines (270 BC), Principal Doctrines 31 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.150); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925, as Sovran Maxims.

  2. Nature’s wealth at once has its bounds and is easy to procure; but the wealth of vain fancies recedes to an infinite distance.

    Principal Doctrines (270 BC), Principal Doctrines 15 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.144); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925, as Sovran Maxims.

  3. No pleasure is in itself evil, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail annoyances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.

    Principal Doctrines (270 BC), Principal Doctrines 8 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.141); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925, as Sovran Maxims.

  4. Of all this the beginning and the greatest good is prudence. Wherefore prudence is a more precious thing even than philosophy; from it spring all the other virtues …

    Letter to Menoeceus (270 BC), letter to Menoeceus, section 132 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.132); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925.

  5. Again, we regard independence of outward things as a great good, not so as in all cases to use little, but so as to be contented with little if we have not much, being honestly persuaded that they have the sweetest enjoyment of luxury who stand least in need of it …

    Letter to Menoeceus (270 BC), letter to Menoeceus, section 130 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.130); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925.

  6. We must remember that the future is neither wholly ours nor wholly not ours, so that neither must we count upon it as quite certain to come nor despair of it as quite certain not to come.

    Letter to Menoeceus (270 BC), letter to Menoeceus (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.127); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925.

  7. The just man enjoys the greatest peace of mind, while the unjust is full of the utmost disquietude.

    Principal Doctrines (270 BC), Principal Doctrines 17 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.144); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925, as Sovran Maxims.

  8. There never was an absolute justice, but only an agreement made in reciprocal intercourse in whatever localities now and again from time to time, providing against the infliction or suffering of harm.

    Principal Doctrines (270 BC), Principal Doctrines 33 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.150); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925, as Sovran Maxims.

  9. When we say that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul.

    Letter to Menoeceus (270 BC), letter to Menoeceus, section 131 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.131); Hicks translation, 1925.

  10. It would be impossible to banish fear on matters of the highest importance, if a man did not know the nature of the whole universe, but lived in dread of what the legends tell us. Hence without the study of nature there was no enjoyment of unmixed pleasures.

    Principal Doctrines (270 BC), Principal Doctrines 12 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.143); translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925, as Sovran Maxims.

Frank Zappa

  1. Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.

    Bob Marshall, interview with Frank Zappa, 21–22 October 1988, with Carolyn Dean and Gerald Fialka; transcription credited to Loren Gagnon, reproduced by AFKA, Bob Marshall interview, 21–22 October 1988; opening discussion distinguishing politics from civic obligation and policy.

  2. All the good music’s already been written by people with wigs and stuff on.

    Batya Friedman and Steve Lyons, ‘Revolt Against Mediocrity’, The Progressive, November 1986, ‘Revolt Against Mediocrity’, The Progressive, November 1986, answer about the composer’s function in society.

  3. Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom.

    Bob Marshall, Frank Zappa interview, 21–22 October 1988, Bob Marshall interview, 21–22 October 1988, opening answer; further explanation later in the interview.

  4. Music is the only religion that really delivers the goods.

    D. Housing, ‘Zappa Comes Clean’, Berkeley Barb, 27 March–2 April 1980, D. Housing, ‘Zappa Comes Clean’, Berkeley Barb, 27 March–2 April 1980; exchange about truth, fear and getting back to work.

  5. Pessimism and the natural instinct to raise hell are not mutually exclusive.

    David Sheff, ‘Playboy Interview: Frank Zappa’, Playboy, April 1993, David Sheff, ‘Playboy Interview: Frank Zappa’, Playboy, April 1993; response to the question whether raising hell is worthwhile despite his cynicism.

  6. Stupidity is like hydrogen; it’s everywhere, it’s the basic building block of the universe.

    Michael Bloom, ‘Interview with the Composer’, Trouser Press, February 1980, Michael Bloom interview, ‘Interview with the Composer’, Trouser Press, February 1980; discussion of pessimism before the questions about composition.

  7. In this context, the PMRC’s demands are the equivalent of treating dandruff by decapitation.

    Testimony to the US Senate Commerce Committee (1985), Statement to the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, record-labeling hearing, 19 September 1985; opening statement after the discussion of the least restrictive alternative.

  8. Without deviation, progress is not possible.

    Karl Dallas, ‘Enjoying the glandular arena’, Melody Maker, 26 January 1980, Karl Dallas interview, ‘Enjoying the glandular arena’, Melody Maker, 26 January 1980; opening exchange about Baby Snakes.

Mahatma Gandhi

  1. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

    Articles in Indian Opinion, Young India and Harijan (1920), ‘The Doctrine of the Sword’, Young India, 11 August 1920 (Young India 1919–1922, Madras: S. Ganesan, 1924, p. 260).

  2. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

    Articles in Indian Opinion, Young India and Harijan (1931), Interview to the press, Karachi, 26 March 1931, as reported in Mahadev Desai’s “Weekly Letter”, Young India, 2 April 1931 (Collected Works, vol. XLV, item 398, p. 345).

  3. Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err and even to sin.

    Articles in Indian Opinion, Young India and Harijan (1931), Statement to the Press, Delhi, 5 March 1931; Young India, 12 March 1931, p. 31; Collected Works, vol. XLV, item 325, p. 253.

  4. My nationalism, fierce though it is, is not exclusive, is not devised to harm any nation or individual.

    Articles in Indian Opinion, Young India and Harijan (1931), The Giant and the Dwarf, Young India, 26 March 1931; Collected Works, vol. XLV, item 397, p. 343.

André Gide

  1. It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.

    If It Die… (1926), Draft preface for Si le grain ne meurt (“Projet de préface”), first printed after the memoir in Œuvres complètes, vol. X (1936), pp. 453–454.

  2. Do not try to find the past again in the future.

    Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre II, said by the lyrical narrator.

  3. Believe those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it.

    André Gide, Ainsi soit-il ou Les Jeux sont faits (first published Paris: Gallimard, 1952), Bibliothèque numérique romande e-book, May 2022, Ainsi soit-il ou Les Jeux sont faits, passage containing « croyez ceux qui cherchent la vérité »; BNR e-book, page 172/222.

  4. Choosing seemed to me not so much selecting as rejecting what I did not select.

    Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre IV, section I, said by Ménalque.

  5. What another would have done as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it; what another would have written as well as you, do not write it.

    Fruits of the Earth (1897), Envoi (the closing address), Les Nourritures terrestres (1897).

  6. Everything has already been said; but as no one listens, one must always begin again.

    André Gide, Le Traité du Narcisse (Théorie du symbole), opening paragraphs; French transcription on Wikisource, Le Traité du Narcisse (Théorie du symbole), opening discussion of the myth of Narcissus, immediately before the retelling.

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  1. Families, I hate you! Homes shut tight; doors closed again; jealous possessions of happiness.

    Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre IV, Les Nourritures terrestres (1897).

  2. If what you eat does not make you drunk, it is because you were not hungry enough.

    Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre II, Les Nourritures terrestres (1897).

  3. Nathanaël—let the importance be in your gaze, not in the thing you look at.

    Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre I, section I, said by the lyrical narrator.

  4. Melancholy is only fervour that has subsided.

    Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre I, section I, said by the lyrical narrator.

  5. Nathanaël, now throw away my book. Free yourself from it.

    Fruits of the Earth (1897), Envoi, opening, said by the lyrical narrator.

  6. To know how to free oneself is nothing; the arduous thing is to know what to do with one’s freedom.

    The Immoralist (1902), Première partie, chapter I (Michel’s opening speech to his friends), L’Immoraliste (1902).

  7. Wisdom is not in reason, but in love.

    André Gide, Les Nouvelles Nourritures (1935), Livre premier, I; French e-text headed Les Nouvelles Nourritures terrestres, Ebooks libres et gratuits, Les Nouvelles Nourritures, Livre premier, I, paragraph immediately before « Rencontres », said by the first-person lyrical narrator.

J. K. Rowling

  1. If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.

    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Chapter 27 (“Padfoot Returns”), said by Sirius Black.

  2. Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and – oh Harry – be careful!

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), Chapter 16 (Through the Trapdoor), said by Hermione Granger.

  3. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), Chapter 17 (“The Man with Two Faces”), p. 221 (Bloomsbury, 2004 edition), said by Albus Dumbledore.

  4. To the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure.

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), Chapter 17 (“The Man with Two Faces”), p. 215 (Bloomsbury, 2004 edition), said by Albus Dumbledore.

  5. Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007), Chapter 35 (“King’s Cross”), p. 578 (Bloomsbury, 2007), said by Albus Dumbledore.

  6. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), Chapter 17 (The Man with Two Faces), said by Albus Dumbledore.

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  1. Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007), Chapter 35 (“King’s Cross”), said by Albus Dumbledore.

  2. Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.

    J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter novels (book and chapter not confirmed); sentence as republished by the official Harry Potter website in 16 pearls of wisdom from Professor Dumbledore (22 September 2015), said by Albus Dumbledore.

  3. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997), Chapter 12 (“The Mirror of Erised”), p. 157 (Bloomsbury, 2004 edition), said by Albus Dumbledore.

  4. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.

    J. K. Rowling, The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination, Harvard University commencement address, 5 June 2008; text published by the Harvard Gazette, Harvard commencement address, 5 June 2008, paragraph beginning You might never fail on the scale I did.

  5. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Chapter 18 (“Dobby’s Reward”), p. 245 (Bloomsbury, 2004 edition), said by Albus Dumbledore.

  6. It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!

    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Chapter 36 (“The Parting of the Ways”), said by Albus Dumbledore.

  7. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

    J. K. Rowling, The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination, Harvard University commencement address, 5 June 2008; text published by the Harvard Gazette, Harvard commencement address, 5 June 2008, section on the benefits of failure.

  8. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

    J. K. Rowling, The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination, Harvard University commencement address, 5 June 2008; text published by the Harvard Gazette, Harvard commencement address, 5 June 2008, conclusion of the section on imagination.

Carl Gustav Jung

  1. I don’t need to believe, I know.

    Letters (1959), BBC Face to Face interview with John Freeman, broadcast 22 October 1959; quoted in note 1 to the letter to Valentine Brooke, 16 November 1959, Letters vol. 2, pp. 520–521.

  2. No scientific statement is final: it is a likely formulation of observation and analysis.

    Letters (1959), letter to Valentine Brooke, 16 November 1959, Letters vol. 2, p. 522.

Lucretius

  1. Nothing from nothing ever yet was born.

    On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book I, lines 149–154 and 156–158 (nullam rem e nihilo gigni, I.150; nil posse creari de nihilo, I.156–157; the Perseus text prints line 155 after 158); Leonard, Book I, “Substance Is Eternal”.

  2. So great the evils to which religion could prompt!

    On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book I, lines 95–101 (the quoted line is I.101); Leonard, Book I, “Proem”.

  3. Death is nothing to us.

    On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book III, lines 830–831; Leonard, Book III, “Folly of the Fear of Death”.

  4. What is food to one, is to others bitter poison.

    On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book IV, lines 633–641 (the quoted line is IV.637); Leonard, Book IV, “The Senses and Mental Pictures”.

  5. Life is given to no one in freehold, but to all on loan.

    On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book III, line 971; Leonard, Book III, “Folly of the Fear of Death”.

  6. It is sweet, when the winds stir the sea, to watch another’s great trouble from the land.

    On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book II, lines 1–4; Leonard, Book II, opening.

  7. From the very fountain of delights rises something bitter that troubles us amid the flowers.

    On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book IV, lines 1133–1134; Leonard, Book IV, “The Passion of Love”.

  8. Human life lay crushed beneath the weight of religion, until a Greek man dared to rise against it.

    On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book I, lines 62–67; Leonard, Book I, “Praise of Epicurus”.

  9. Nothing is sweeter than to dwell in the serene temples of the wise.

    On the Nature of Things (55 BC), Book II, lines 7–10; Leonard, Book II, opening.

Mae West

  1. It’s not the men in your life that counts, it’s the life in your men.

    I’m No Angel (1933), Tira answers reporters after the breach-of-promise suit is settled; approximately 01:23:35 in the copy indexed by Clip.Cafe, said by Tira.

  2. Peel me a grape.

    I’m No Angel (1933), Tira’s instruction to Beulah after an offer to buy her off; approximately 00:48:25 in the copy indexed by Clip.Cafe, said by Tira.

  3. When I’m good, I’m very good. But when I’m bad, I’m better.

    I’m No Angel (1933), Tira’s answer to a compliment on her evening performance; approximately 00:57:49 in the copy indexed by Clip.Cafe, said by Tira.

  4. A curved line is the loveliest distance between two points.

    LIFE, vol. 26, no. 21 (23 May 1949), Mae West feature, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore, LIFE, 23 May 1949, p. 105, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore, under ON GEOMETRY.

  5. I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.

    LIFE, vol. 26, no. 21 (23 May 1949), Mae West feature, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore, LIFE, 23 May 1949, p. 105, sidebar Mae’s Famous Sayings Are Part of Nation’s Folklore, under ON HUMAN NATURE.

  6. I’ve been things and seen places.

    I’m No Angel (1933), Tira’s early conversation with the visitor who introduces himself as Ernest Brown, following his boast about travel, said by Tira.

  7. When women go wrong, men go right after them.

    She Done Him Wrong (1933), Lady Lou reassures Sally Glynn; approximately 00:16:46 in the copy indexed by Clip.Cafe, said by Lady Lou.

  8. Yeah, but you can’t prove it.

    She Done Him Wrong (1933), Lady Lou’s introduction to Serge Stanieff, after he says he has heard much about her, said by Lady Lou.

Marcus Aurelius

  1. Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.

    Meditations (180), Book 4, section 17.

  2. If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it.

    Meditations (180), Book 12, section 17.

  3. Loss is nothing else than change.

    Meditations (180), Book 9, section 35.

  4. The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong doer.

    Meditations (180), Book 6, section 6.

  5. That which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.

    Meditations (180), Book 5, section 20, conclusion.

  6. The soul is dyed by the thoughts.

    Meditations (180), Book 5, section 16, opening.

  7. No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such.

    Meditations (180), Book 10, section 16.

Marilyn Monroe

  1. But when you’re famous you kind of run into human nature in a raw kind of way.

    Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman, LIFE (1962), authorized edited reprint in The Guardian, Great interviews of the 20th century (September 2007), Richard Meryman interview for LIFE (1962), as reprinted in September 2007.

  2. That’s the trouble, a sex symbol becomes a thing. I just hate to be a thing.

    Marilyn Monroe, interview with Richard Meryman, “Marilyn Monroe lets her hair down about being famous: ‘Fame will go by and—so long, I’ve had you’,” LIFE 53, no. 5, 3 August 1962, beginning p. 31; full interview reprinted with Meryman’s letter by The Marilyn Monroe Collection, Richard Meryman interview, LIFE, 3 August 1962, p. 36, column 3.

  3. It’s nice to be included in people’s fantasies but you also like to be accepted for your own sake.

    Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman, LIFE (1962), authorized edited reprint in The Guardian, Great interviews of the 20th century (September 2007), Richard Meryman interview for LIFE (1962), as reprinted in September 2007.

  4. An actor is not a machine.

    Marilyn Monroe, interview with Richard Meryman, Marilyn Lets Her Hair Down About Being Famous, LIFE, 3 August 1962; full interview transcription published by The Marilyn Monroe Collection, Richard Meryman interview, LIFE, 3 August 1962; opening clause of the paragraph about creativity and an actor’s humanity.

  5. But fame is not really for a daily diet, that’s not what fulfills you. It warms you a bit but the warming is temporary. It’s like caviar, you know, it’s good to have caviar but not when you have it every meal every day.

    Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman, LIFE (1962), full-interview transcription published by The Marilyn Monroe Collection, Richard Meryman interview for LIFE (1962), paragraph on fame as a temporary happiness.

  6. Fame will go by and, so long, I’ve had you fame.

    Marilyn Monroe, interview with Richard Meryman, Marilyn Lets Her Hair Down About Being Famous, LIFE, 3 August 1962; full interview transcription published by The Marilyn Monroe Collection, Richard Meryman interview, LIFE, 3 August 1962; final paragraph of the published interview.

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  1. I had the radio on.

    TIME, “Cinema: Something for the Boys,” 11 August 1952, publisher’s online archive, TIME, “Cinema: Something for the Boys,” 11 August 1952, paragraph about the 1949 calendar photograph.

  2. I’m not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.

    Pete Martin, The New Marilyn Monroe, part one, The Saturday Evening Post, 5 May 1956; republished by the magazine in April 2016, Pete Martin, The New Marilyn Monroe, part one, 5 May 1956; anecdote from a member of the Fox legal staff.

  3. I sleep in Chanel Number Five.

    Pete Martin, The New Marilyn Monroe, part two: Here She Talks About Herself, The Saturday Evening Post, 12 May 1956; republished by the magazine in April 2016, Pete Martin, The New Marilyn Monroe, part two, 12 May 1956; Monroe’s explanation of her bedtime remark.

  4. I don’t understand why people aren’t a little more generous with each other.

    Marilyn Monroe interviewed by Richard Meryman, LIFE (1962), authorized edited reprint in The Guardian, Great interviews of the 20th century (September 2007), Richard Meryman interview for LIFE (1962), as reprinted in September 2007.

Mark Twain

  1. Adam was but human—this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple’s sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden.

    The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894), Chapter II (“Driscoll Spares His Slaves”), epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.

  2. Classic: a book which people praise and don’t read.

    Following the Equator (1897), Chapter XXV, epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar.

  3. Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.

    The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894), Chapter VI (“Swimming in Glory”), epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.

  4. Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.

    Following the Equator (1897), Chapter XV, epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar.

  5. Put all your eggs in one basket—and watch that basket.

    The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894), Chapter XV (“The Robber Robbed”), epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.

  6. Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.

    The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894), Chapter XII (“The Shame of Judge Driscoll”), epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.

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  1. Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

    The Innocents Abroad (1869), Conclusion.

  2. Familiarity breeds contempt—and children.

    Mark Twain’s Notebook, prepared for publication with comments by Albert Bigelow Paine (New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1935), Notebook, about 1894.

  3. Wheresoever she was, there was Eden.

    Eve’s Diary (1906), Last line (“At Eve’s Grave”), said by Adam.

  4. cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.

    The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894), Chapter V, ‘The Twins Thrill Dawson’s Landing’, first epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson.

  5. In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made School Boards.

    Following the Equator (1897), Chapter LXI, epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson.

  6. Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.

    Following the Equator (1897), Chapter XXVII, epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar.

  7. 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.

    The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894), Chapter XVI (“Sold Down the River”), epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar.

  8. When angry, count four; when very angry, swear.

    The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894), Chapter X, ‘The Nymph Revealed’, second epigraph from Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar, said by Pudd’nhead Wilson.

Martin Luther King Jr.

  1. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

    Strength to Love (1963), Sermon “Loving Your Enemies” (chapter V).

  2. The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

    Martin Luther King, Jr., “A Look to the Future,” address delivered at Highlander Folk School’s Twenty-fifth Anniversary Meeting, Monteagle, Tennessee, 2 September 1957; King Papers, Stanford University, transcript from an audio recording, “A Look to the Future,” Highlander Folk School’s twenty-fifth anniversary meeting, Monteagle, Tennessee, 2 September 1957; concluding paragraph beginning “With all of these forces working together”.

  3. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

    I Have a Dream (1963), March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 28 August 1963; “I have a dream” sequence, after the Mississippi passage.

  4. everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.

    A Testament of Hope (1986), The Drum Major Instinct, sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, 4 February 1968; collected in A Testament of Hope, section 43.

  5. We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

    Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), letter of 16 April 1963, paragraph beginning “We know through painful experience”.

  6. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

    Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), letter of 16 April 1963, paragraph beginning “Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states”.

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  1. Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

    Strength to Love (1963), Strength to Love, chapter V, Loving Your Enemies; discussion of the third reason for loving enemies.

  2. the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice;

    Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), 16 April 1963; paragraph beginning I must make two honest confessions to you.

  3. Power without love is reckless and abusive, and that love without power is sentimental and anemic.

    A Testament of Hope (1986), Where Do We Go From Here?, address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Atlanta, 16 August 1967; collected in A Testament of Hope, section 41.

  4. Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

    Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), letter of 16 April 1963, end of the paragraph beginning “First, I must confess”.

  5. the time is always ripe to do right.

    Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), 16 April 1963; paragraph on the misconception that time itself cures injustice.

  6. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

    Strength to Love (1963), Chapter III, On Being a Good Neighbor; passage on dangerous altruism.

  7. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.”

    Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963), 16 April 1963; paragraph beginning For years now I have heard the word Wait.

  8. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.

    A Testament of Hope (1986), Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, University of Oslo, 10 December 1964; collected in A Testament of Hope, section 38.

Maya Angelou

  1. You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

    And Still I Rise (1978), ‘Still I Rise’, first stanza, lines 3–4, said by a defiant Black lyric speaker addressing those who would humiliate her.

  2. Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtues consistently.

    Maya Angelou, “America’s Renaissance Woman,” Academy of Achievement, published interview transcript, headed High Point, North Carolina, January 22, 1997, Academy of Achievement interview, opening answer about Martin Luther King Jr..

  3. History, despite its wrenching pain Cannot be unlived, but if faced With courage, need not be lived again.

    On the Pulse of Morning (1993), ‘On the Pulse of Morning’, the three lines beginning ‘History, despite its wrenching pain’, said by the poem’s personified Rock.

  4. We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.

    Marianne Schnall, “Conversation with Maya Angelou,” Feminist.com, interview dated 12/10/08, Interview with Marianne Schnall, answer about discovering who we are through setbacks.

  5. When you know better, you do better.

    Michael Limnios, “Interview with Dr. Maya Angelou, a muse who captivates audiences through the sheer beauty of her words,” Blues.Gr, 1 June 2013, Answer about changing the world and people’s minds, interview published 1 June 2013.

  6. When you learn, teach, when you get, give.

    Melissa Kansky, “Q&A: Maya Angelou on teaching and giving,” Elon News Network, 27 September 2012, Answer to the question about the best advice she had ever received, published 27 September 2012.

Naval Ravikant

  1. Not wanting something is as good as having it.

    44 Harsh Truths About The Game Of Life (Modern Wisdom) (2025), Modern Wisdom podcast with Chris Williamson, 31 March 2025, at about 0:00:30–0:00:40.

  2. Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want.

    The Almanack of Naval Ravikant (2020), “Every Desire Is a Chosen Unhappiness”, paragraph beginning “Desire is a contract” (online edition).

  3. Earn with your mind, not your time.

    The Almanack of Naval Ravikant (2020), “Find a Position of Leverage”, displayed aphorism before the real-estate example (online edition).

  4. Escape competition through authenticity.

    How to Get Rich (without getting lucky) (2018), “The Internet Has Massively Broadened Career Possibilities”, nav.al/rich (Naval introducing his own tweet; Nivi reads it again under “Escape Competition Through Authenticity”).

  5. Forty hour work weeks are a relic of the Industrial Age. Knowledge workers function like athletes—train and sprint, then rest and reassess.

    The Almanack of Naval Ravikant (2020), “Find a Position of Leverage”, displayed aphorism beginning “Forty hour work weeks” (online edition).

  6. Impatience with actions, patience with results.

    How to Get Rich (without getting lucky) (2018), “Work As Hard As You Can”, subsection “Impatience with actions, patience with results”.

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  1. Learn to sell, learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.

    The Almanack of Naval Ravikant (2020), “Find a Position of Leverage”, paragraph beginning “Learn to sell” (online edition).

  2. read what you love until you love to read.

    How to Get Rich (without getting lucky) (2018), “Read What You Love Until You Love to Read”, Naval’s first answer, paragraph introducing the omitted tweet.

  3. Wealth is assets that earn while you sleep.

    How to Get Rich (without getting lucky) (2018), “Seek Wealth, Not Money or Status”, nav.al/rich.

  4. When you’re finally wealthy, you’ll realize it wasn’t what you were seeking in the first place.

    How to Get Rich (without getting lucky) (2018), “A Calm Mind, a Fit Body, a House Full of Love” (Nivi reading the last tweet), nav.al/rich, said by Nivi.

  5. You’re not going to get rich renting out your time.

    How to Get Rich (without getting lucky) (2018), “You Won’t Get Rich Renting Out Your Time” (Nivi reading the tweet), nav.al/rich.

Friedrich Nietzsche

  1. One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Prologue, section 5 (Zarathustra’s Prologue, Zarathustras Vorrede), said by Zarathustra.

  2. God is dead.

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Prologue, section 2 (Zarathustra’s Prologue, Zarathustras Vorrede), said by Zarathustra.

  3. I teach you the Superman. Man is something that is to be surpassed.

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Prologue, section 3 (Zarathustra’s Prologue, Zarathustras Vorrede), said by Zarathustra.

  4. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal.

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Prologue, section 4 (Zarathustra’s Prologue, Zarathustras Vorrede), said by Zarathustra.

  5. You are going to women? Do not forget the whip!

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Part 1, chapter 18 (“Old and Young Women”, Von alten und jungen Weiblein), said by an old woman.

  6. “We have discovered happiness,” say the last men, and blink.

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Prologue, section 5 (Zarathustra’s Prologue, Zarathustras Vorrede), said by Zarathustra.

  7. Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his blood.

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), Part 1, chapter 7 (“Reading and Writing”, Vom Lesen und Schreiben), said by Zarathustra.

Oscar Wilde

  1. Yet each man kills the thing he loves.

    The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), Part I, said by the poem’s ‘I’.

  2. Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.

    Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), Act III, said by Cecil Graham.

  3. A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

    Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), Act III, said by Lord Darlington.

  4. To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

    An Ideal Husband (1895), Act III, said by Lord Goring.

  5. Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

    De Profundis (1905), De Profundis.

  6. Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.

    Intentions (1891), The Decay of Lying, said by Vivian.

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  1. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

    The Soul of Man under Socialism (1891), The paragraph beginning “With the abolition of private property, then”, about a third of the way in.

  2. Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

    Intentions (1891), The Critic as Artist, Part II, said by Gilbert.

  3. We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

    Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), Act III, said by Lord Darlington.

  4. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.

    The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Chapter 2, said by Lord Henry Wotton.

  5. I can resist everything except temptation.

    Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), Act I, said by Lord Darlington.

  6. The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

    The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Act I, said by Algernon Moncrieff.

  7. There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

    The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Chapter 1, said by Lord Henry Wotton.

  8. All art is quite useless.

    The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), The Preface.

  9. I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.

    The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Act II, Gwendolen and Cecily comparing their engagements, said by Gwendolen Fairfax.

  10. There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

    The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Preface.

  11. Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

    Intentions (1891), The Critic as Artist, Part I (With Some Remarks upon the Importance of Doing Nothing), Gilbert and Ernest on Greek criticism, said by Gilbert.

  12. Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.

    Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories (1891), The Sphinx Without a Secret, opening conversation at the Café de la Paix, said by the unnamed first-person narrator.

Fernando Pessoa

  1. I have within me all the dreams of the world.

    Tobacco Shop (1933), Opening stanza, lines 1–4; dated 15 January 1928; first published in Presença, July 1933, said by Álvaro de Campos.

  2. Everything is worthwhile if the soul is not small.

    Message (1934), Second part, Mar Portuguez; poem X, “Mar Portuguez”, second stanza, lines 7–10 (1934 edition, p. 64).

  3. God wills, man dreams, the work is born.

    Message (1934), Second part, Mar Portuguez; poem I, “O Infante”, opening three lines (1934 edition, p. 51).

  4. I am the size of what I see, not the size of my height.

    The Keeper of Sheep (1925), O Guardador de Rebanhos, poem beginning “Da minha aldeia vejo quanto da terra”, first stanza, final two lines, said by Alberto Caeiro.

  5. Myth is the nothing that is everything.

    Message (1934), First part, Brasão; II, Os Castellos; poem I, “Ulysses”, opening line (1934 edition, p. 19).

  6. There is no metaphysics in the world but chocolates.

    Tobacco Shop (1933), Tabacaria, parenthetical passage beginning “Come chocolates, pequena”, lines beginning “Olha que não há mais metafísica” through “Pudesse eu comer chocolates”, said by Álvaro de Campos.

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  1. O salt sea, how much of your salt is the tears of Portugal!

    Message (1934), Mensagem, Second part, Mar Portuguez; poem X, “Mar Portuguez”, first stanza (1934 edition, p. 64).

  2. The only hidden meaning of things is that they have no hidden meaning.

    The Keeper of Sheep (1925), O Guardador de Rebanhos, poem beginning “O mistério das cousas, onde está ele?”, passage beginning “Porque o único sentido oculto”, said by Alberto Caeiro.

  3. The poet is a pretender.

    Autopsychography (1932), First stanza, lines 1–4; Presença, no. 36, November 1932.

  4. Thinking is being sick in the eyes.

    The Keeper of Sheep (1925), O Guardador de Rebanhos, poem beginning “O meu olhar é nítido como um girassol”, stanza beginning “O mundo não se fez”, said by Alberto Caeiro.

  5. To be great, be whole.

    Odes (1924), Ricardo Reis, ode beginning “Para ser grande, sê inteiro”, all six lines; dated 14 February 1933, said by Ricardo Reis.

Robert Frost

  1. In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.

    Ray Josephs, ‘Robert Frost’s Secret’, This Week Magazine (Sunday newspaper supplement), 5 September 1954, as printed in The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, Ohio, Reported by Ray Josephs, ‘Robert Frost’s Secret’, This Week Magazine, 5 September 1954.

  2. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

    New Hampshire (1923), ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’, stanza 4 (the final stanza); New Hampshire (1923), p. 87, said by the poem’s unnamed first-person traveller.

  3. Earth’s the right place for love: I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.

    Mountain Interval (1916), ‘Birches’, near the close, after the speaker’s wish to leave earth and return; collected in Mountain Interval (1916), said by the poem’s adult lyric speaker.

  4. Good fences make good neighbours.

    North of Boston (1914), ‘Mending Wall’, the neighbour’s first reply, after the comparison of apple trees and pines; North of Boston (1914), p. 12, said by the narrator’s neighbour.

  5. Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in.

    North of Boston (1914), ‘The Death of the Hired Man’, Warren and Mary’s discussion of home after Mary says Silas has returned to die, said by Warren.

  6. I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

    Mountain Interval (1916), ‘The Road Not Taken’, stanza 4 (the final stanza); Mountain Interval (1916), p. 9, said by the poem’s first-person traveller.

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  1. ‘Men work together.’ I told him from the heart, ‘Whether they work together or apart.’

    A Boy’s Will (1913), ‘The Tuft of Flowers’, final couplet, said by the first-person field worker.

  2. Nothing gold can stay.

    New Hampshire (1923), ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’, final three lines (lines 6–8); New Hampshire (1923), p. 84, said by the poem’s lyric voice.

  3. Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.

    New Hampshire (1923), ‘Fire and Ice’, opening two lines; later collected in New Hampshire (1923), said by the poem’s lyric speaker.

  4. The best way out is always through.

    North of Boston (1914), ‘A Servant to Servants’, the passage beginning with Len’s advice about one more steady pull; North of Boston (1914), pp. 69-70, said by an unnamed overworked woman.

  5. The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.

    A Boy’s Will (1913), ‘Mowing’, penultimate line (line 13), said by the poem’s first-person mower.

  6. We love the things we love for what they are.

    Mountain Interval (1916), ‘Hyla Brook’, final line (line 15), said by the poem’s lyric speaker.

Seneca the Younger

  1. one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to live, and, which may perhaps surprise you more, one’s whole life must be spent in learning how to die.

    On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 7, section 3 (De Brevitate Vitae 7.3).

  2. Nothing, therefore, is more important than that we should not, like sheep, follow the flock that has gone before us, and thus proceed not whither we ought, but whither the rest are going.

    On the Happy Life (58), Chapter 1, section 3 (De Vita Beata 1.3).

  3. Fire tries gold, misfortune tries brave men.

    On Providence (64), Chapter 5, section 9 (De Providentia 5.9).

  4. men covetously guard their property from waste, but when it comes to waste of time, they are most prodigal of that of which it would become them to be sparing.

    On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 3, section 1 (De Brevitate Vitae 3.1).

  5. He who fears death will never act as becomes a living man.

    On Tranquillity of Mind (60), Chapter 11, section 6 (De Tranquillitate Animi 11.6).

  6. We do not have a very short time assigned to us, but we lose a great deal of it

    On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 1, section 3 (De Brevitate Vitae 1.3).

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  1. Men’s minds ought to have relaxation: they rise up better and more vigorous after rest.

    On Tranquillity of Mind (60), Chapter 17, section 5 (De Tranquillitate Animi 17.5).

  2. or, if we trust Aristotle, no great genius has ever been without a touch of insanity.

    On Tranquillity of Mind (60), Chapter 17, section 10 (De Tranquillitate Animi 17.10).

  3. It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it.

    On Providence (64), Chapter 2, section 4 (De Providentia 2.4).

  4. The only persons who are really at leisure are those who devote themselves to philosophy: and they alone really live: for they do not merely enjoy their own lifetime, but they annex every century to their own: all the years which have passed before them belong to them.

    On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 14, section 1 (De Brevitate Vitae 14.1).

  5. Riches are slaves in the house of a wise man, but masters in that of a fool.

    On the Happy Life (58), Chapter 26, section 1 (De Vita Beata 26.1).

  6. there is no such obstacle to true living as waiting, which loses today while it is depending on the morrow.

    On the Shortness of Life (49), Chapter 9, section 1 (De Brevitate Vitae 9.1).

  7. We are troubled more often by opinion than by fact.

    Moral Letters to Lucilius (64), letter XIII (‘On Groundless Fears’), section 4 (Ep. 13.4).

  8. While it is put off, life runs past.

    Moral Letters to Lucilius (64), letter I (‘On Saving Time’), sections 2–3 (Ep. 1.3).

Stephen Chbosky

  1. So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.

    The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), Part One, letter of August 25, 1991, said by Charlie.

  2. I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn’t try to sleep with people even if they could have. I need to know that these people exist.

    The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), Part One, letter of August 25, 1991, said by Charlie.

  3. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.

    The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), A letter of October 1991 (the party at Bob’s and the drive through the tunnel; date line not read), the last line, p. 42, said by Charlie.

  4. We accept the love we think we deserve.

    The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), Part 1, letter of October 6, 1991, said by Bill.

  5. You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand.

    The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), letter of October 1991 (the party at Bob’s), Patrick to Charlie, about p. 39, said by Patrick.

  6. Sometimes people use thought to not participate in life.

    The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), letter of October 6, 1991, in Bill’s talk with Charlie, just before ‘we accept the love we think we deserve’ (about p. 26–27; letter and page inferred, the page itself not read), said by Bill.

Steve Jobs

  1. Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

    Rob Walker, “The Guts of a New Machine”, The New York Times Magazine, 30 November 2003 (“Consumed” column), Paragraph beginning “Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like”.

  2. People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.

    “Steve Jobs: ‘There’s Sanity Returning’”, Q&A with Andy Reinhardt, Business Week, 25 May 1998 (extended online version, Bloomberg Businessweek), Answer to “Did you do consumer research on the iMac when you were developing it?”.

  3. Creativity is just connecting things.

    Gary Wolf, “Steve Jobs: The Next Insanely Great Thing”, Wired, February 1996 (issue 4.02), GrokKing design section; answer to the question about why more products lack great design.

  4. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.

    Commencement address at Stanford University (2005), Third story, about death, paragraph beginning “No one wants to die”.

  5. Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you.

    Steve Jobs, 1994 interview with the Silicon Valley Historical Association, excerpted in Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in His Own Words, edited by Leslie Berlin (Steve Jobs Archive, 2023), “One More Thing …”, “One More Thing …”, the closing selection in Make Something Wonderful (2023), credited to Steve, 1994.

  6. Simple can be harder than complex.

    “Steve Jobs: ‘There’s Sanity Returning’”, Q&A with Andy Reinhardt, Business Week, 25 May 1998 (extended online version, preserved on Bloomberg), Answer to the follow-up “I’m talking about the symbolic value”, in the discussion of stock ownership.

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  1. Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

    Commencement address at Stanford University (2005), Closing wish to the graduates, immediately before the final thanks.

  2. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

    Commencement address at Stanford University (2005), Second story, “love and loss”, final paragraph.

  3. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.

    Commencement address at Stanford University (2005), First story, “connecting the dots”, concluding paragraph.

  4. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

    Commencement address at Stanford University (2005), Third story, about death, paragraph beginning “Your time is limited”.

Henry David Thoreau

  1. The language of friendship is not words but meanings.

    A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849), “Wednesday”, the essay on Friendship (p. 286 in the first edition, 1849).

  2. The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

    Walden (1854), Chapter 1, “Economy”.

  3. Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.

    Walden (1854), Reading.

  4. Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.

    Walden (1854), The Pond in Winter.

  5. I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

    Walden (1854), Chapter 2, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”.

  6. If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.

    Walden (1854), Chapter 18, “Conclusion”.

  7. Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.

    Walden (1854), Chapter 18, “Conclusion”.

  8. Simplify, simplify.

    Walden (1854), Where I Lived, and What I Lived For.

  9. Things do not change; we change.

    Walden (1854), Conclusion.

William W. Purkey

  1. A student is the most important person ever in this school.

    Robert M. Markham and Paul Shelly, Coming from Behind: A “Catch-up” Philosophy in Education. The Story of Carver Middle School (Meridian Public School District, October 1996), opening poster What is a Student?; ERIC ED402071, What is a Student? poster, reproduced in Coming from Behind (October 1996), PDF page 3.

  2. No one can choose a beneficial direction in life without hope that change for the better is possible.

    William Watson Purkey and John Michael Novak, An Introduction to Invitational Theory, September 2015, An Introduction to Invitational Theory (September 2015), p. 3, Optimism.

  3. While everything in life adds to, or detracts from, human success or failure, nothing is more important in life than people. It is the people who create a respectful, optimistic, trusting and intentional society.

    William Watson Purkey, What Is Invitational Education and How Does It Work?, conference paper; ERIC ED334488, What Is Invitational Education and How Does It Work?, People subsection, printed p. 7 (PDF page 8).

  4. People possess untapped potential in all areas of human endeavor. The uniqueness of human beings is that no clear limits to potential have been discovered.

    William Watson Purkey, What Is Invitational Education and How Does It Work?, conference paper; ERIC ED334488, What Is Invitational Education and How Does It Work?, Basic Assumptions of Invitational Education, Optimism (PDF page 3).

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