For the barbarians were not only at our gates but within our skins. We were our own wooden horses, each one of us full of our own doom. ….these fanatics or those, or crazies or yours; but the explosions burst out of our very own bodies. We were both the bombers and the bombs. The explosions were our own evil – no need to look for foriegn explanations, though there was and is evil beyond our frontiers as well as within. We have chopped away our own legs, we engineered our own fall. And now we can only weep, at the last, for what we were too enfeebled, too corrupt, too little, too contemptable to defend.
—Salman Rushdie (b.1947) Indian-born British Novelist
In solitude, where we are least alone.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Change of weather is the discourse of fools.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Absence—that common cure of love.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Distance has the same effect on the mind as on the eye.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Sow a thought and reap an act.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Forbear to lay the guilt of a few on the many.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
—Unknown
One Law for the Lion and Ox is Oppression
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
Don’t postpone joy.
—Unknown
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.
—Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) American Biographer, Novelist, Socialist
Childhood is the sleep of reason.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
The eyes indicate the antiquity of the soul.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Language is fossil poetry.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
One fails forward toward success.
—Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American Inventor, Entrepreneur, Businessperson
The less government we have the better—the fewer laws and the less confided power. The antidote to this abuse of formal government is the influence of private character, the growth of the individual.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
—Vince Lombardi (1913–70) American Football Coach
He that will learn to pray, let him go to sea.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
Good wine is a necessity of life for me.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Authority poisons everybody who takes authority on himself.
—Golda Meir (1898–1978) Israeli Head of State
Argument, again, is the death of conversation, if carried on in a spirit of hostility.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
The laws of morals and the laws of music are the same.
—Zoltan Kodaly (1882–1967) Hungarian Composer
Accountability breeds response-ability.
—Stephen Covey (1932–2012) American Self-help Author
Boredom: the desire for desires.
—Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian Novelist
Idleness is many gathered miseries in one name.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
The best throw of the dice is to throw them away.
—English Proverb
Tears are the silent language of grief.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.
—Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) British-born American Film Director, Film Producer
Love is whatever you can still betray … Betrayal can only happen if you love.
—John le Carre (1931–2020) English Spy Thriller Novelist
The discipline of desire is the background of character.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician
Poetry is the achievement of the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits.
—Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) American Biographer, Novelist, Socialist
Love is like dew that falls on both nettles and lilies.
—Swedish Proverb
The play was a great success, but the audience was a disaster.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
The first of earthly blessings, independence.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Depression is rage spread thin.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.
—Leonard Nimoy (1931–2015) American Actor
No man is worth your tears, and when you find one that is, he will never make you cry.
—Anonymous
There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Your body is the church where Nature asks to be reverenced.
—Marquis de Sade (1740–1814) French Political leader, Revolutionary, Novelist, Poet, Critic
What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
Arguments derived from probabilities are idle
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
Flattery is all right so long as you don’t inhale.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
Purity of mind and idleness are incompatible.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader