Quotes

I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. -- Ayn Rand, Anthem, 1946

Live among men as if God beheld you; speak to God as if men were listening. -- Seneca, Epistles

Generosity with strings is not generosity; It is a deal. -- Marya Mannes

We only do well the things we like doing. -- Colette, Prisons and Paradise, 1932

Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be. -- Clementine Paddleford

An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness. -- Elbert Hubbard

Man is asked to make of himself what he is supposed to become to fulfill his destiny. -- Paul Tillich

Ritual is the way you carry the presence of the sacred. Ritual is the spark that must not go out. -- Christina Baldwin

Never be haughty to the humble; never be humble to the haughty. -- Jefferson Davis

Success is relative. It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. -- T. S. Eliot

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge. -- Daniel J. Boorstin

There's nothing that keeps its youth, So far as I know, but a tree and truth. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Deacon's Masterpiece, 1858

He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign. -- Victor Hugo

Open your mouth and purse cautiously, and your stock of wealth and reputation shall, at least in repute, be great. -- Johann Georg von Zimmermann

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. -- Lord Chesterfield

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. -- Eckhart Tolle

The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end. -- Harriet Beecher Stowe

Man is the artificer of his own happiness. -- Henry David Thoreau, Journal, January 21, 1838

Be contented when you have got all you want. -- Holbrook Jackson

The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel. -- Piet Mondrian

If power was an illusion, wasn't weakness necessarily one also? -- Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campain, 1999

What does it matter how one comes by the truth so long as one pounces upon it and lives by it? -- Henry Miller

My future starts when I wake up every morning... Every day I find something creative to do with my life. -- Miles Davis

See, that's all you're thinking about, is winning. You're confirming your sense of self- worth through outward reward instead of through inner appreciation. -- Barbara Hall, Northern Exposure, Gran Prix, 1994

Every human being on this earth is born with a tragedy, and it isn't original sin. He's born with the tragedy that he has to grow up. That he has to leave the nest, the security, and go out to do battle. He has to lose everything that is lovely and fight for a new loveliness of his own making, and it's a tragedy. A lot of people don't have the courage to do it. -- Helen Hayes, in Roy Newquist, Showcase, 1966

Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything. -- George Lois

Always behave like a duck - keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath. -- Jacob Braude

Painting is an attempt to come to terms with life. There are as many solutions as there are human beings. -- George Tooker

Providence has hidden a charm in difficult undertakings which is appreciated only by those who dare to grapple with them. -- Anne-Sophie Swetchine, The Writings of Madame Swetchine, 1869

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through. -- Rosalynn Carter

Mistrust the man who finds everything good, the man who finds everything evil and still more the man who is indifferent to everything. -- Johann K. Lavater

The hatred you're carrying is a live coal in your heart - far more damaging to yourself than to them. -- Lawana Blackwell, The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark, 1999

Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good. -- Alice May Brock

Take a two-mile walk every morning before breakfast. -- Harry S Truman

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. -- Colin Powell

You can forget a lot of things, but you cannot forget a woman’s name and claim to love her. -- Real Live Preacher, RealLivePreacher.com Weblog, October 20, 2003

It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into. -- Jonathan Swift

A successful marriage is an edifice that must be rebuilt every day. -- Andre Maurois

Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price. -- Amelia Earhart

Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it. -- Malcolm X, Malcolm X Speaks, 1965