Human beings, who are almost unique in having
the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable
for their apparent disinclination to do so.
--Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See
The only thing I like about rich people is their money.
-- Nancy Astor
We are here to help others, but what the others are here for I cannot
say.
-- W. H. Auden
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease
to be amused.
-- Sir Francis Bacon
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a
sense of humor to console him for what he is.
-- Sir Francis Bacon
I enjoyed my own nature to the fullest, and we all know that there lies
happiness, although, to soothe one another mutually, we occasionally
pretend to condemn such joys as selfishness.
--Albert Camus
Vast and fearsome as the human scene has become, personal contact of
the right people, in the right places, at the right time, may yet have
a potent and valuable part to play in the cause of peace which is in
our hearts.
--Winston Churchill
Everyone has his day and some days last longer than others.
--Winston Churchill
The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.
--Winston Churchill
Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that
guarantees all the others.
--Winston Churchill
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves
up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.
--Winston Churchill
A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.
--Winston Churchill
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
-- Dykstra
It is only to the individual that a soul is given.
-- Albert Einstein
In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above
all be a sheep oneself.
-- Albert Einstein
I do not believe in immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics
to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind
it.
-- Albert Einstein
The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is easier to
denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.
-- Albert Einstein
Desire for approval and recognition is a healthy motive, but the desire
to be acknowledged as better, stronger or more intelligent than a fellow
being or fellow scholar easily leads to an excessively egoistic psychological
adjustment, which may become injurious for the individual and for the
community.
-- Albert Einstein
Making allowances for human imperfections, I do feel that in America
the most valuable thing in life is possible; the development of the
individual and his creative powers.
-- Albert Einstein
I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in
the years of maturity.
-- Albert Einstein
Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its
nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants.
Instead of its filling a vacuum, it makes one. If it satisfies one want,
it doubles and trebles that want another way. That was a true proverb
of the wise man, rely upon it; Better is little with the fear of the
Lord, than great treasure, and trouble therewith.
--Benjamin Franklin
Genius without education is like silver in the mine.
-- Benjamin Franklin
Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word
itself. Mankind. Basically, it's made up of two separate words -- mank
and ind. What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so
is mankind.
-- Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher
a hog, con a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders,
cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch
manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die
gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-- Robert A. Heinlein
Great liars are also great magicians.
-- Adolf Hitler
Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
The only completely consistent people are the dead.
-- Aldous Huxley
I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one
can be sure of changing is oneself.
-- Aldous Huxley
Man [is] a rational animal, endowed by nature with rights and with an
innate sense of justice.
--Thomas Jefferson to W. Johnson, 1823.
Nothing... is unchangeable but the inherent and inalienable rights of
man.
--Thomas Jefferson to J. Cartwright, 1824.
The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely
no good.
-- Ann Landers
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge
us by what we have already done.
-- Henry W. Longfellow
Do not overestimate the decency of the human race.
-- H. L. Mencken
On one issue at least, men and women agree; they both distrust women.
-- H. L. Mencken.
An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage,
concludes that it will also make better soup.
-- H. L. Mencken.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
-- Eleanor Roosevelt
The person who is slowest in making a promise is most faithful in its
performance.
--Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific.
-- Lily Tomlin
Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no
one has asked them.
-- Leo Tolstoy
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people
always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can
become great.
-- Mark Twain
He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise.
-- Voltaire
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions,
their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.
-- Oscar Wilde
We teach people how to remember, we never teach them how to grow.
-- Oscar Wilde
I am not young enough to know everything.
-- Oscar Wilde
Only the shallow know themselves.
-- Oscar Wilde