The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Life and Living, Humor, Goals, Goal, Life
Every time a child says, “I don’t believe in fairies,” there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Belief
Temper is a weapon that we hold by the blade.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Weapon, Anger
Let no one who loves be called unhappy. Even love unreturned has its rainbow.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Unhappiness
You see children know such a lot now, they soon don’t believe in fairies, and every time a child says, ‘I don’t believe in fairies,’ there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead”.
—J. M. Barrie
God gave us memories that we may have roses in December.
—J. M. Barrie
When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Beginnings, Babies
If you have it [Love], you don’t need to have anything else, and if you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter much what else you have.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Love
That is ever the way. ‘Tis all jealousy to the bride and good wishes to the corpse.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Weddings, Marriage, Wishes
Oh, God, if I were sure I were to die tonight I would repent at once. it is the commonest prayer in all languages.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Prayer
It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that is the secret of happiness.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Happiness
Every man who is high up loves to think that he has done it all himself; and the wife smiles, and lets it go at that.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Family
Failure is the path of least resistance.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Failure
The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Happiness
A safe but sometimes chilly way of recalling the past is to force open a crammed drawer. If you are searching for anything in particular you don’t find it, but something falls out at the back that is often more interesting.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Past, The Past
We never understand how little we need in this world until we know the loss of it.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Understanding
His lordship may compel us to be equal upstairs, but there will never be equality in the servants hall.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Service, Servants
We are all failures—at least, the best of us are.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Failure
The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Life, Living
God gave us memory that we might have roses in December.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: The Past, Memories, Memory
There are few more impressive sights in the world than a Scotsman on the make.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Nationality, Nation, Nationalities, Nationalism
Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Kindness
Strength instead of being the lusty child of passion, grows by grappling with and subduing them.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Strength
All you need is trust and a little bit of pixie dust.
—J. M. Barrie
The praise that comes from love does not make us vain, but more humble.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Praise
Never ascribe to an opponent motives meaner than your own.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Reason, Conflict
You see, dear, it is not true that woman was made from man’s rib; she was really made from his funny bone.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Women
Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough, You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Dreams, Desire, Desires
Every man who is high up loves to think that he has done it all himself; and the wife smiles, and lets it go at that.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Achievement, Success & Failure
Courage is the thing. All goes if courage goes.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Courage
The most useless are those who never change through the years.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Change
Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Work, Jobs
Oh the gladness of their gladness when they’re glad, And the sadness of their sadness when they’re sad; But the gladness of their gladness, and the sadness of their sadness, Are as nothing to their badness when they’re bad
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Sadness
Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Service, Encouragement, Joy, Kindness, Giving
We are all failures—at least, all the best of us are.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Failure
You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by. Yes, but some of them are golden only because we let them slip.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Dreams, Idleness
Charm: It’s a sort of bloom on a woman. If you have it, you don’t need to have anything else; and if you don’t have it, it doesn’t much matter what else you have.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Charm
For several days after my first book was published I carried it about in my pocket, and took surreptitious peeps at it to make sure the ink had not faded.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Books
The printing press is either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse of modern times, sometimes one forgets which it is.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Books, Reading
Life is a long lesson in humility.
—J. M. Barrie
Topics: Life, Humility, Living, Character
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Robert Louis Stevenson Scottish Novelist
Walter Scott Scottish Novelist
George MacDonald Scottish Poet, Novelist
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir Scottish Novelist
Tobias Smollett Scottish Poet
Arthur Conan Doyle Scottish Writer
Thomas Carlyle Scottish Historian, Essayist
Hugh Blair Scottish Minister, Scholar
Samuel Rutherford Scottish Presbyterian Theologian
Robert W. Service Scottish Poet