If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and when it comes, hold you head high, look it squarely in the eye and say, “I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.”
—Ask Ann Landers (1918–2002) American Advice Columnist
I am a man, and whatever concerns humanity is of interest to me.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
Do what you can to show you care about other people, and you will make our world a better place.
—Rosalynn Carter (b.1927) American Humanitarian, First Lady
To be human is to keep rattling the bars of the cage of existence hollering, What’s it for?
—Robert Fulghum (b.1937) American Unitarian Universalist Author, Essayist, Clergyman
The secret of a person’s nature lies in their religion and what they really believes about the world and their place in it.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.
—Thurgood Marshall (1908–93) American Jurist
To be nobody-but-yourself–in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else–means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.
—e. e. cummings (1894–1962) American Poet, Writer, Painter
Mutability of temper and inconsistency with ourselves is the greatest weakness of human nature.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Nothing is more repugnant to me than brotherly feelings grounded in the common baseness people see in one another.
—Milan Kundera (b.1929) Czech Novelist
It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is.
—Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) German-born Swiss Novelist, Poet
Our humanity rests upon a series of learned behaviors, woven together into patterns that are infinitely fragile and never directly inherited.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.
—Warren Buffett (b.1930) American Investor
Notice I did not say what people can do–what we can do is merely a consequence of what we can be.
—Max De Pree (1924–2017) American Businessman
Human affairs are not serious, but they have to be taken seriously.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
The human race is a zone of living things that should be defined by tracing its confines.
—Italo Calvino (1923–85) Italian Novelist, Essayist, Journalist
The ideal of brotherhood of man, the building of the Just City, is one that cannot be discarded without lifelong feelings of disappointment and loss. But, if we are to live in the real world, discard it we must. Its very nobility makes the results of its breakdown doubly horrifying, and it breaks down, as it always will, not by some external agency but because it cannot work.
—Kingsley Amis (1922–95) English Novelist, Poet
Man is not only a contributory creature, but a total creature; he does not only make one, but he is all; he is not a piece of the world, but the world itself; and next to the glory of God, the reason why there is a world.
—John Donne (1572–1631) English Poet, Cleric
How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself anything less than a god.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
I hate Spiders — I dislike all kinds of Insects. Their cold intelligence, their empty, stereotyped, unremitted industry repel me. And I am not altogether happy about the future of the Human Race; when I think of the slow refrigeration of the Earth, the Sun’s waning, and the ultimate, inevitable collapse of the Solar System, I have grave misgivings.
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946) American-British Essayist, Bibliophile
It is almost impossible to smile on the outside without feeling better on the inside.
—Unknown
I do not know what comfort other people find in considering the weakness of great men, but ’tis always a mortification to me to observe that there is no perfection in humanity.
—Samuel S. Montague (1830–1883) American Business Executive
The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: That’s the essence of inhumanity.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Man… knows only when he is satisfied and when he suffers, and only his sufferings and his satisfactions instruct him concerning himself, teach him what to seek and what to avoid. For the rest, man is a confused creature; he knows not whence he comes or whither he goes, he knows little of the world, and above all, he knows little of himself.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
We are all murderers and prostitutes –no matter to what culture, society, class, nation one belongs, no matter how normal, moral, or mature, one takes oneself to be.
—R. D. Laing (1927–89) Scottish Psychiatrist
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world—that is the myth of the atomic age—as in being able to remake ourselves.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Humanity I love you because when you’re hard up you pawn your intelligence to buy a drink.
—e. e. cummings (1894–1962) American Poet, Writer, Painter
Human nature loses its most precious quality when it is robbed of its sense of things beyond, unexplored and yet insistent.
—Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English Mathematician, Philosopher
Those are the same stars, and that is the same moon, that look down upon your brothers and sisters, and which they see as they look up to them, though they are ever so far away from us, and each other.
—Sojourner Truth (c.1797–1883) African-American Abolitionist, Women’s Rights Activist
Humanity is never so beautiful as when praying for forgiveness, or else forgiving another.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
Human nature is so constituted that is we take absolutely no notice of anger or abuse, the person indulging in it will soon weary of it and stop.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Humanity does not ask us to be happy. It merely asks us to be brilliant on its behalf.
—Orson Scott Card (b.1951) American Author, Critic, Political Activist
One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.
—May Sarton (1912–95) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Novelist
Now I believe I can hear the philosophers protesting that it can only be misery to live in folly, illusion, deception and ignorance, but it isn’t –it’s human.
—Desiderius Erasmus (c.1469–1536) Dutch Humanist, Scholar
We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
—Unknown
If we consider the superiority of the human species, the size of its brain, its powers of thinking, language and organization, we can say this: were there the slightest possibility that another rival or superior species might appear, on earth or elsewhere, man would use every means at his disposal to destroy it.
—Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007) French Sociologist, Philosopher
The history of mankind is the history of ideas.
—Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) Austrian Economist, Philosopher, Author
Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–81) Russian Novelist, Essayist, Writer
Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
I have never, in all my various travels, seen but two sorts of people I mean men and women, who always have been, and ever will be, the same. The same vices and the same follies have been the fruit of all ages, though sometimes under different names.
—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) English Aristocrat, Poet, Novelist, Writer
Man is more interesting than men. God made him and not them in his image. Each one is more precious than all.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
In every child who is born, under no matter what circumstances, and of no matter what parents, the potentiality of the human race is born again.
—James Agee (1909–55) American Journalist, Poet, Screenwriter, Film Critic
The desire for the well-being of one’s own nation can be — and must be — made compatible with the welfare of all humanity.
—Louis Leo Snyder (1907–93) American-born German Scholar, Historian
Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
Humanity needs practical men, who get the most out of their work, and, without forgetting the general good, safeguard their own interests. But humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them to devote their care to their own material profit. A well-organized society should assure to such workers the efficient means of accomplishing their task, in a life freed from material care and freely consecrated to research.
—Marie Curie (1867–1934) Polish-born French Physicist, Chemist
everyone who is human has something to express. Try not expressing yourself for twenty-four hours and see what happens. You will nearly burst. You will want to write a long letter, or draw a picture, or sing, or make a dress or a garden.
—Brenda Ueland (1891–1985) American Journalist, Editor, Writer, Teacher
The chief obstacle to the progress of the human race is the human race.
—Don Marquis (1878–1937) American Humorist, Journalist, Author
The real man is one who always finds excuses for others, but never excuses himself.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
We are a nation of communities…a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.
—George H. W. Bush (1924–2018) American Republican Statesman, 41st President
But although denying that we have a special position in the natural world might seem becomingly modest in the eye of eternity, it might also be used as an excuse for evading our responsibilities. The fact is that no species has ever had such wholesale control over everything on earth, living or dead, as we now have. That lays upon us, whether we like it or not, an awesome responsibility. In our hands now lies not only our own future, but that of all living creatures with whom we share the earth.
—David Attenborough (b.1926) English Naturalist, Broadcaster
One of the extraordinary things about human events is that the unthinkable becomes thinkable.
—Salman Rushdie (b.1947) Indian-born British Novelist
From now on it is only through a conscious choice and through a deliberate policy that humanity can survive.
—Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) Polish Catholic Religious Leader
I am a member of the rabble in good standing.
—Westbrook Pegler (1894–1969) American Journalist, Writer
However exquisitely human nature may have been described by writers, the true practical system can be learned only in the world.
—Henry Fielding (1707–54) English Novelist, Dramatist
One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
What makes you think that human beings are sentient and aware? There’s no evidence for it. Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told – and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their beliefs. The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is a self-congratulatory delusion.
—Michael Crichton (1942–2008) American Novelist, Film Producer, Film Director, Screenwriter
Humanity is a duty made known and enjoined by revelation, and ever keeping pace with the progress of Christianity.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
Like a kick in the butt, the force of events wakes slumberous talents.
—Edward Hoagland (b.1932) American Essayist, Novelist
These numbers are staggering, in fact incomprehensible. By all accounts, we are dealing with the greatest health crisis in human history.
—Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African Political leader
Those who live in a world of human beings can only retrace their steps.
—Nathalie Sarraute (1900–99) French Novelist, Essayist
Humanity is the virtue of a woman, generosity that of a man.
—George Goodman (b.1930) American Economist, Author
Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then.
—Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) American Actor, TV Personality
I am a humanist because I think humanity can, with constant moral guidance, create reasonably decent societies. I think that young people who want to understand the world can profit from the works of Plato and Socrates, the behaviour of the three Thomases, Aquinas, More and Jefferson – the austere analyses of Immanuel Kant and the political leadership of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.
—James A. Michener (1907–97) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Historian
Zeal without humanity is like a ship without a rudder, liable to be stranded at any moment.
—Owen Feltham (1602–1668) English Essayist
The man of power is ruined by power, the man of money by money, the submissive man by subservience, the pleasure seeker by pleasure.
—Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) German-born Swiss Novelist, Poet
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remains standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it.
—Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) Polish Catholic Religious Leader
Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader, Civil Rights Leader, Philosopher, Author
Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone and more fragile than a rose.
—Turkish Proverb
It is human nature to think wisely and act foolishly.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
While I do not suggest that humanity will ever be able to dispense with its martyrs, I cannot avoid the suspicion that with a little more thought and a little less belief their number may be substantially reduced.
—J. B. S. Haldane (1892–1964) British Biologist, Geneticist
Man is not on the earth solely for his own happiness. He is there to realize great things for humanity.
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
I love men, not for what unites them, but for what divides them, and I want to know most of all what gnaws at their hearts.
—Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) Italian-born French Poet, Playwright
I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand.
—Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) American Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
People throughout the world may look different or have a different religion, education, or position, but they are all the same. They are the people to be loved. They are all hungry for love.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
A society which allows an abominable event to burgeon from its dung heap and grow on its surface is like a man who lets a fly crawl unheeded across his face or saliva dribble from his mouth — either epileptic or dead.
—Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007) French Sociologist, Philosopher
Man is stark mad; he cannot make a flea, and yet he will be making gods by the dozens.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Of all the ways of defining man, the worst is the one which makes him out to be a rational animal.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
You can hold yourself back from the sufferings of the world, that is something you are free to do and it accords with your nature, but perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could avoid.
—Franz Kafka (1883–1924) Austrian Novelist, Short Story Writer
The race of mankind would perish, did they cease to aid each other. From the time that the mother binds the child’s head till the moment that some kind assistant wipes the death-damp from the brow of the dying, we cannot exist without mutual help. All, therefore, that need aid have a right to ask it from their fellow-mortals; no one who holds the power of granting can refuse it without guilt.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
In my eighty years, I prefer to call that the forty-first anniversary of my thirty ninth birthday, I’ve seen what men can do for each other and do to each other, I’ve seen war and peace, feast and famine, depression and prosperity, sickness and health. I’ve seen the depth of suffering and the peaks of triumph and I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph and that there is purpose and worth to each and every life.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
Most of the trouble in this world has been caused by folks who can’t mind their own business, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus has.
—William S. Burroughs (1914–97) American Novelist, Poet, Short Story Writer, Painter
You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.
—Marie Curie (1867–1934) Polish-born French Physicist, Chemist
There is nothing on earth divine except humanity.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
The principle of the brotherhood of man is narcissistic… for the grounds for that love have always been the assumption that we ought to realize that we are the same the whole world over.
—Germaine Greer (b.1939) Australia Academic, Journalist, Scholar, Writer
All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of all the others. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
The greatest need in the world at this moment is the transformation of human nature.
—Billy Graham (1918–91) American Baptist Religious Leader
Oppression involves a failure of the imagination: the failure to imagine the full humanity of other human beings.
—Margaret Atwood (b.1939) Canadian Writer, Poet, Critic
I am not an Athenian, nor a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Joy, happiness … we do not question. They are beyond question, maybe. A matter of being. But pain forces us to think, and to make connections … to discover what has been happening to cause it. And, curiously enough, pain draws us to other human beings in a significant way, whereas joy or happiness to some extent, isolates.
—May Sarton (1912–95) American Children’s Books Writer, Poet, Novelist
In the world we live in everything militates in favor of things that have not yet happened, of things that will never happen again.
—Andre Breton (1896–1966) French Poet, Essayist, Critic
People can be divided into two classes: those who go ahead and do something, and those who sit still and inquire, why wasn’t it done the other way?
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist