Quotations
Collected by Donald Gudehus
A B | C D E
| F G H | I J K
| L M N | O P Q
| R S T | U V W X Y Z
A
Hal Abelson, American Professor of Computer Science at MIT
|
-
If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders.
-
Hal Abelson
|
Lord Acton (John Edward Emerich Dalberg Acton) (Jan. 10, 1834, Naples, Italy - June 19, 1902, Tegernsee, Bavaria),
English historian
|
-
Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it
can bear discussion and publicity.
-
Lord Acton
-
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
-
Lord Acton
-
Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns
with the dogmas she professes.
-
Lord Acton
-
The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by
minorities.
-
Lord Acton
|
Ansel Adams (Feb. 20, 1902, San Francisco, CA - April 22, 1984, Carmel, CA), American photographer
|
-
No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied - it
speaks in silence to the very core of your being.
-
Ansel Adams
|
Douglas Noel Adams (DNA) (Mar. 11, 1952, Cambridge, England - May 11, 2001, Santa Barbara, CA),
English author
|
-
If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that
we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.
-
Douglas Adams, from Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
-
The beak was a major piece of armoury. It was a beak that would frighten any animal on earth, even
one that was already dead and in a tin.
-
Douglas Adams, in Life, The Universe and Everything
-
The Guide says that there is an art to flying,' said Ford, `or rather a knack.
The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
-
Douglas Adams, in Life, The Universe and Everything
-
The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong
is that when a thing that cannot possibly go
wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.
-
Douglas Adams, in Mostly Harmless
-
There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe
is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even
more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has
already happened.
-
Douglas Adams, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
|
John Adams (October 30, 1735, Braintree (now Quincy), MA - July 4, 1826, Quincy, MA),
Founding Father and Second President of the United States (1797 - 1801)
|
-
Be not intimidated, therefore, by any terrors, from publishing with the utmost freedom
whatever can be warranted by the laws of your country, nor suffer yourselves to be
wheedled out of your liberty by any pretenses of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These,
as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery, and cowardice.
-
John Adams
-
I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run, than
monarchy or aristocracy. Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as aristocracy or
monarchy; but while it lasts, it is more bloody than either [aristocracy or monarchy]. Remember,
democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy
yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud,
less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true,
in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms
of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty.
When clear prospects are opened before vanity, pride, avarice, or ambition, for their easy
gratification, it is hard for the most considerate philosophers and the most conscientious
moralists to resist the temptation. Individuals have conquered themselves. Nations and large
bodies of men, never.
-
John Adams, in a letter to John Taylor, April 15, 1814s
-
One useless man is called a disgrace. Two useless men are called
a law firm. Three or more useless men are called a congress.
-
John Adams, circa 1776
-
The doctrine of the divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for
absurdity.
-
John Adams
-
The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the
Christian religion.
-
John Adams, Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11
-
The proposition that [the people] are the best keeper fo their liberties is not true.
They are the worst conceivable, they are no keepers at all. They can neither act,
judge, think, or will.
-
John Adams
-
Thomas Jefferson survives.
-
John Adams, his last words, not knowing that Jefferson had died a few hours earlier, July 4, 1826
-
Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions,
Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find
religion encumbered with in these days?
-
John Adams
|
Samuel Adams (September 22, 1722, Quincy, MA - October 2, 1803, Boston, MA), American revolutionary
and founding father
|
Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to
mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.
-
Samuel Adams
|
Scott Adams (June 8, 1957, Windham, NY - ), American cartoonist and creator of Dilbert
|
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It's better to have the right person ask the wrong question than the wrong person
ask the right question.
-
Scott Adams, spoken by Wally in the cartoon Dilbert, November 4, 2007
-
The creator of the universe works in mysterious ways. But he uses
a base ten counting system and likes round numbers.
-
Scott Adams
|
Aeschylus (c. 525, Eleusis, Greece - 456 BC, Gela, Sicily), Greek playwright
|
Wrong must not win by technicalities.
-
Aeschylus
|
Howard Hathaway Aiken (Mar. 9, 1900, Hoboken, NJ - Mar. 14, 1973, St. Louis, MO), Physicist and computer pioneer
|
Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have
to ram them down people's throats.
-
Howard Hathaway Aiken
|
Akhenaton (?, Thebes, Egypt - 1362? BC, Amarna, Egypt), Greek king of Egypt of the 18th dynasty
|
Say not that honor is the child of boldness, nor believe thou that the
hazard of life alone can pay the price of it: it is not to the action that it is
due, but to the manner of performing it.
-
Akhenaton
-
True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth
his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own
ignorance.
-
Akhenaton
|
Tod Akin (July 5, 1947, New York City, NY - ), Missouri Republican US Representative
|
-
If it's legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.
-
Tod Akin, August 19, 2012, in an interview
|
Alcoholics Anonymous
|
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdon to know the difference.
-
The Serenity Prayer, Alcoholics Anonymous
|
Muhammed Ali (Cassius Clay) (Jan. 17, 1942, Louisville, KY - ), American boxer and philanthropist
|
-
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,
His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see.
-
Muhammed Ali
-
I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong.
-
Muhammed Ali
-
It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.
-
Muhammed Ali
|
Fred Allen (John Florence Sullivan) (May 31, 1894, Cambridge, MA - Mar. 17, 1955, Manhattan, NY),
American radio comedian
|
-
A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark
glasses to avoid being recognized.
-
Fred Allen
-
A conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide
that nothing can be done.
-
Fred Allen
-
I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
-
Fred Allen
-
Medicine men used to come to my town when I was a boy. They'd come rattling down the
street in a wagon and pull up in front of the courthouse steps. Then they'd lower the
tailboard and a funny fellow would step out and crack a few jokes. But as soon as
the crowd of gaping yokels had gathered, the wit would launch into his sales pitch for
Mother Bloater's elixir. Television is a tailboard lowered into the living room.
-
Fred Allen
-
Television is a triumph of equipment over people, and the minds that control it are so
small that you could put them in a gnat's navel with room left over for two caraway seeds
and an agent's heart.
-
Fred Allen
-
When a radio comedian's program is finally finished it slinks down Memory Lane into the limbo of
yesteryear's happy hours. All that the comedian has to show for his years of work and aggravation is
the echo of forgotten laughter.
-
Fred Allen
|
Woody Allen (Allan Stewart Konigsberg) (December 1, 1935, Brooklyn, NY - ), American
author and filmmaker
|
Eighty percent of success is showing up.
-
Woody Allen
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Eternity is very long, especially toward the end.
-
Woody Allen
-
His lack of education is more than compensated for by his keenly developed moral
bankruptcy.
-
Woody Allen
-
I believe there's something out there watching over us. Unfortunately, it's the
government.
-
Woody Allen
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I can't understand why more people aren't bisexual. It would double your chances for a date
on Saturday night.
-
Woody Allen
-
I don't believe in the after life, although I am bringing a change of underwear.
-
Woody Allen
-
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying.
-
Woody Allen
-
I want to tell you a terrific story about oral contraception. I asked this girl to sleep
with me and she said "no."
-
Woody Allen
-
I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy next to me.
-
Woody Allen
-
I will not eat oysters. I want my food dead - not sick, not wounded -
dead.
-
Woody Allen
-
If only God would give me a clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.
-
Woody Allen
-
Is knowledge knowable? If not, how do we know this?
-
Woody Allen
-
Is sex dirty? Only when it's being done right.
-
Woody Allen
-
Love is the answer, but while you are waiting for the answer, sex raises some
pretty good questions.
-
Woody Allen
-
Sex between a man and a woman can be wonderful, provided you can get between
the right man and the right woman.
-
Woody Allen
-
The difference between sex and death is that with death you can do it alone
and no one is going to make fun of you.
-
Woody Allen
-
To you I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition.
-
Woody Allen
-
What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I
definitely overpaid for my carpet.
-
Woody Allen, in Without Feathers
|
Jeremy S. Anderson
|
There are two major products to come
out of Berkeley, LSD and UNIX. We do
not believe this to be a coincidence.
This quote is possibly apocryphal
-
Jeremy S. Anderson
|
Anonymous
|
-
A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say
America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.
-
Anonymous response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.
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A hospital for the mind.
-
Anonymous inscription on the library in Alexandria, Egypt
-
A lean horse runs a long race.
-
Anonymous
-
All generalizations are false.
-
Anonymous
-
Better to measure ten times and cut once instead of measuring once and cutting
ten times.
-
Anonymous
-
Birds of a feather flock together.
-
Anonymous
-
But what ... is it good for?
-
Anonymous engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968,
commenting on the microchip.
-
Ciò che più importa e che il pòpolo, gli
uomini tutti, pèrdano gli istinti e le
abitudini pecorili che la millenaria schiavitù
ha loro ispirato ed apprendano a pensare ed
agire liberamente.
(What is most important is that the
populace, all people, lose the instincts, and
habits of the flock, which millennia of
slavery have inculcated in them, and learn
to think and act in freedom.)
-
Anonymous inscription at Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy
-
Communications is the foundation of democracy.
-
Anonymous AT&T Motto
-
Danger lurks at every corner
-
Anonymous
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Depression is anger without energy.
-
Anonymous
-
Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil?
You're crazy.
-
Anonymous drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his
project to drill for oil in 1859.
-
Experience is the worst teacher. It always gives the test first and the instruction afterward.
-
Anonymous
-
Half a truth is like half a brick,
you can throw it twice as far.
-
Anonymous
-
If a diplomat says, "yes," he means "Maybe".
If a diplomat says, "Maybe," he means "No".
If a diplomat says, "No," he's no diplomat.
But on the other hand,
If a lady says, "No," she means "Maybe".
If a lady says, "Maybe," she means "Yes".
If a lady says, "Yes," she's no lady.
-
Anonymous
-
Loose lips sink ships
-
Anonymous American security slogan from World War II
-
Manus manum lavat.
(One hand washes another.)
-
Anonymous
-
Measure twice, and cut once.
-
Anonymous
-
Medicine for the soul
-
Anonymous, inscription on the library at Thebes
-
Natura non facit saltum. (Nature does not make leaps.)
-
Anonymous ancient motto frequently cited by Carolus Linnaeus
-
Never ask the barber if you need a haircut.
-
Anonymous
-
Nosce te ipsum. (Know thyself.)
-
Anonymous motto used by Linnaeus as the description for Homo sapiens
in his Systema Naturae.
-
On the side of the software box, in the 'System Requirements' section,
it said 'Requires Windows 95 or better'. So I installed Linux
-
Anonymous; first seen in rec.humor.funny, Dec. 3, 1997
-
People are known by the company they keep.
-
Anonymous
-
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.
-
Anonymous
-
The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn
better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible.
-
Anonymous Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's
paper proposing reliable overnight
delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)
Federal Express Corp.)
-
The higher the monkey climbs the tree, the more his rear
end is exposed.
-
Anonymous
-
The man is the head of the house, but the woman is the neck that turns the head.
-
Anonymous
-
The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay
for a message sent to nobody in particular?
-
Anonymous associates of David Sarnoff's in response to his urgings for
investment in the radio in the 1920s.
-
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die
the world cries and you rejoice.
-
Anonymous
-
You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
-
Anonymous
-
You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of
your muscles? It can't be done. It's just a fact of life. You just have to
accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of
weight training.
-
Anonymous response to Arthur Jones, who solved the "unsolvable"
problem by inventing Nautilus.
|
Anonymous - American
|
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He was so broke he couldn't even pay attention.
-
Anonymous American saying
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The squeaky wheel gets oiled.
-
Anonymous American proverb
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You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.
-
Anonymous American proverb
|
Anonymous - African
|
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It takes a villiage to raise a child.
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Anonymous African proverb
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When elephants fight it is the grass that suffers.
-
Anonymous African proverb
|
Anonymous - Arabic
|
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All sunshine makes the desert.
-
Anonymous Arabic Proverb
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An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
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Anonymous Arabic Proverb
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Ask the experienced rather than the learned.
-
Anonymous Arabic Proverb
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Do not stand in a place of danger trusting in miracles.
-
Anonymous Arabic Proverb
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Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure of thy desire.
-
Anonymous Arabic Proverb
-
He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool. Shun him.
He who knows not and knows that he knows not is simple. Teach him.
He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep. Wake him.
He who knows and knows that he knows is wise. Follow him.
-
Anonymous Arabic Proverb
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My enemy's enemy is my friend.
-
Anonymous Arabic Proverb
-
Never give advice in a crowd.
-
Anonymous Arabic Proverb
|
Anonymous - Chinese
|
-
A bird does not sing because it has an answer.
It sings because it has a song.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
A little pile stinks more.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
A single conversation with a wise person is worth a month's study of books.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
As a pig fears getting big, so a person fears getting famous.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be only afraid of stnading still.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
Don't build a new ship out of old wood.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
Great souls have wills, feeble souls only wishes.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains
a fool forever.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
If a man hurts you once, blame him. If that man hurts you twice, blame
yourself.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
If you are poor, though you dwell in the busy marketplace,
no one will inquire about you; if you are rich, though you
dwell in the heart of the mountains, you will have distant
relatives.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
If you neglect your art for one day it will neglect you for two.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
Judge not the horse by his saddle.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
Make no promises when seized by joy; write no letters when seized by
anger.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
May you live in Interesting Times.
-
Anonymous Chinese curse
-
Never play leapfrog with a unicorn
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
To guess is cheap. To guess wrong is expensive.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
Water and words, easy to pour, impossible to recover.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
When walking through a melon patch, don't adjust your sandals.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
With money one may command devils;
without it one cannot even summon a man.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head,
but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
-
You must have crossed the river before you may tell the crocodile he has bad breath.
-
Anonymous Chinese proverb
|
Anonymous - English
|
-
Attack is the best form of defence.
In the United States this is stated as "The best defence is a good offence".
-
Anonymous English Proverb (17th century)
-
Let sleeping dogs lie.
-
Anonymous English Proverb
-
What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
-
Anonymous English Proverb
|
Anonymous - French
|
-
A man without money is like a wolf without teeth.
-
Anonymous French proverb
-
It is only at the tree loaded with fruit that the people throw stones.
-
Anonymous French proverb
|
Anonymous - Haitian
|
-
If you want your eggs hatched, sit on them yourself.
-
Anonymous Haitian proverb
|
Anonymous - Hebrew
|
-
Do not confine your children to your learning, for they were born in a different
time.
-
Anonymous Hebrew proverb
-
Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest violence.
-
Anonymous Hebrew proverb
|
Anonymous - Humorous
|
-
I don't know and I don't care.
-
A student's answer to a university professor's examination question which asked
what is the difference between ignorance and apathy, and for which the professor
had to give an A+, as reported in Pacific Computer Weekly, 20 July 1990, now PC
Week Australia
|
Anonymous - Hungarian
|
-
He who dares, wins.
-
Anonymous Hungarian Proverb
|
Anonymous - Italian
|
-
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box.
-
Anonymous Old Italian Proverb
|
Anonymous - Iranian
|
-
If you see a blind man, run up and kick him.
Why should you be kinder than God?
-
Anonymous Old Iranian Proverb
|
Anonymous - Irish
|
-
Money swore an oath that nobody who did not love it should ever have it.
-
Anonymous Irish Proverb
|
Anonymous - Jamaican
|
-
Still water runs deep.
-
Anonymous Jamaican Proverb
|
Anonymous - Japanese
|
-
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
-
Anonymous Japanese proverb
-
Getting money is like digging with a needle.
Spending it is like water soaking into sand.
-
Anonymous Japanese proverb
-
The nail that sticks up gets pounded down.
-
Anonymous Japanese proverb
-
To teach is to learn
-
Anonymous Japanese proverb
|
Anonymous - Jewish
|
-
Entrances are wide, exits narrow.
-
Anonymous Jewish proverb
-
If you protest long enough that you're right, you're wrong.
-
Anonymous Jewish proverb
-
Illusions are comforting; just don't act upon them.
-
Anonymous Jewish proverb
-
No one is as deaf as the man who will not listen.
-
Anonymous Jewish proverb
-
What is truer than truth? The story.
-
Anonymous Jewish proverb
-
With money in your pocket, you are wise, and you are
handsome, and you sing well too.
-
Anonymous Jewish proverb
|
Anonymous - Malay
|
-
Don't think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm.
-
Anonymous Malay Proverb
|
Anonymous - Maori
|
-
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.
-
Anonymous Maori Proverb
|
Anonymous - Nigeran
|
-
To be ugly is to be unforgiven.
-
Anonymous Wodabe (tribe in Niger) Proverb
|
Anonymous - Nigerian
|
-
Hold a true friend with both your hands.
-
Anonymous Nigerian Proverb
|
Anonymous - Portuguese
|
-
Visits always give pleasure - if not the arrival, the departure.
-
Anonymous Portuguese Proverb
|
Anonymous - Roman
|
-
Morituri te salutamus.
(We who are about to die salute you.)
-
Anonymous Roman Proverb
-
Necessity is the mother of invention.
-
Anonymous Roman Proverb
-
Qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus surgent.
(They who lie with dogs will rise with fleas.)
or
If you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas.
|
Anonymous - Russian
|
-
A fish rots from the head down.
-
Anonymous Russian Proverb, in An Account of the Voyage to New England, 1674
|
Anonymous - Rwandan
|
-
You can outdistance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you.
-
Anonymous Rwandan Proverb
|
Anonymous - Scottish
|
-
Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead.
-
Anonymous Scottish Proverb
-
Money is flat and meant to be piled up.
-
Anonymous Scottish Proverb
-
Wine is strong, the King is stronger, Women are stronger still; But the
truth conquers all.
-
Anonymous inscription on the wall of Rosslyn Chapel in Roslin Village, Scotland.
|
Anonymous - Spanish
|
-
A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of
his tools.
-
Anonymous Spanish Proverb
-
After all, to make a beautiful omelet, you have to break an egg.
-
Anonymous Spanish Proverb
-
If you want good service, then serve yourself.
-
Anonymous Spanish Proverb
|
Anonymous - Swedish
|
-
Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I really need it.
-
Anonymous Swedish Proverb
|
Anonymous - Turkish
|
-
Coffee should be black as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.
-
Anonymous Turkish Proverb
-
If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.
-
Anonymous Turkish Proverb
-
Measure a thousand times and cut once.
-
Anonymous Turkish Proverb
-
No matter how far you've gone down the wrong road, turn back.
-
Anonymous Turkish Proverb
|
Anonymous - Ukranian
|
-
The church is near, but the way is icy,
The tavern is far, but I will walk carefully.
-
Anonymous Ukranian Proverb
|
Anonymous - Vietnamese
|
-
Ca cuong chet den dit con cay.
(The ca cuong, dead, on reaching the anus remains intense.)
-
Anonymous Vietnamese Proverb
|
Anonymous - West African
|
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Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.
-
Anonymous West African Proverb
|
Anonymous - Yiddish
|
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If the rich could hire other people to die for them, the poor could make a wonderful living.
-
Anonymous Yiddish proverb
|
Anonymous - Zen
|
-
A falling leaf does not hate the wind.
-
Anonymous Zen proverb; also in the movie Zatoichi
|
Susan Brownell Anthony (Feb. 15, 1820, Adams, MA - Mar. 13, 1906, Rochester, NY),
American leader for women's suffrage
|
I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it
always coincides with their own desires.
-
Susan B. Anthony
-
I will never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty ... "resistance to tyranny is
obedience to God."
-
Susan B. Anthony, said during her trial for the offense of
"registering to vote", 1873
|
Apocryphal
|
-
Everything that can be invented has been invented.
-
Apocryphal: attributed to Charles H.
Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.
-
If fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag, and carrying a cross.
-
Appocryphal: attributed to Sinclair Lewis in his It Can't Happedn Here
-
If the writings of the Greeks agree with the Koran they are superfluous
and need not be preserved; if they disagree they are pernicious, and ought
not to be preserved.
-
Apocryphal: attributed to the Caliph Omar of Damascus who ordered the burning of
manuscripts in the library at Alexandria in 642
-
There's a sucker born every minute.
-
Apocryphal: attributed to P. T. Barnum
|
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 or 1227, Rocca Sicca, Lombardy, Italy - Mar. 7, 1274, Fossa Nuova, Italy),
Roman Catholic philosopher
|
-
Clearly the person who accepts the Church as an infallible guide will believe whatever the Church teaches.
-
Saint Thomas Aquinas, in Summa Theologica
-
If forgers and malefactors are put to death by the secular power, there is much more reason for
excommunicating and even putting to death one convicted of heresy.
-
Saint Thomas Aquinas, in Summa Theologica
|
John Arbuthnot (Apr. 29, 1667, Inverbervie, Kincardine, Scotland - Feb. 27, 1745, London, England),
Scotch-English Mathematician
|
-
Law is a bottomless pit.
-
John Arbuthnot
|
Archimedes (287 BC, Syracuse, Sicily - 212 BC, Syracuse, Sicily), Greek mathematician
|
Give me whereon to stand and I will move the earth.
-
Archimedes
|
Aristotle (384 BCE, Stagirus, Greece - 322 BCE, Chalcis, Greece), Greek philosopher and teacher
|
All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.
-
Aristotle
-
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without
accepting it.
-
Aristotle
-
Nature abhors a vacuum.
-
Aristotle
-
Nature operates in the shortest way possible.
-
Aristotle
-
The ability to doubt is rare, emerging
only among cultivated, educated persons.
-
Aristotle
-
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
-
Aristotle
-
What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.
-
Aristotle
|
Richard Willis Armour (July 15, 1906, CA - Feb. 28, 1989, Claremont, California), American humorist and poet
|
That money talks
I'll not deny,
I heard it once:
It said, "Goodbye."
-
Richard Armour
|
Louis Daniel Armstrong (Satchmo) (July 4 or Aug. 4, 1898, 1900, or 1901, New Orlean, LS - July 6, 1971, Queens, NY),
American jazz musician and trumpet player
|
I don't let my mouth say nothin' my head can't stand
-
Louis Armstrong
|
Neil Armstrong (Aug, 5, 1930, Wapakoneta, OH -), American astronaut
|
That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.
-
Neil Armstrong, upon being the first
human to step onto the surface of the moon, July 20, 1969
|
Isaac Asimov (Jan. 2, 1920, Petrovichi, Russia - Apr. 6, 1992, New York, NY), American science fiction,
other fiction, and non-fiction author
|
-
1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict
with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the
First or Second Laws.
-
Isaac Asimov, a statement of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, Runaround, 1942
-
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.
-
Isaac Asimov
-
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
-
Isaac Asimov
-
John, when people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical,
they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the
earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together.
-
Isaac Asimov, responding to an English Literature specialist who lectured him severly on the fact that in
every century people have thought they understood the universe at last, and in every century they were
proved to be wrong, and that it follows that the one thing we can say about our modern "knowledge" is
that it is wrong. The Relativity of Wrong in The Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 14 No. 1, Fall 1989
-
Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.
-
Isaac Asimov
-
Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.
-
Isaac Asimov
-
No vision of God and heaven ever experienced by the most exalted
prophet can, in my opinion, match the vision of the universe as
seen by Newton or Einstein.
-
Isaac Asimov
-
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is
not Eureka! (I found it!) but rather, 'hmm.... that's funny...'
-
Isaac Asimov
-
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
-
Isaac Asimov, in Foundation
|
Wystan Hugh Auden (Feb., 21, 1907, York, England - Sept. 29, 1973, Vienna, Austria), English poet
|
-
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.
-
W. H. Auden
-
Thousands hae lived without love, none without water.
-
W. H. Auden
-
We are here on Earth to do good for others. What the others are here for, I
don't know.
-
W. H. Auden
|
Saint Augustine (354 AD, Tagaste (modern Souk Ahras), Algeria - 430 AD, Hippo Regius (modern Annaba),
Algeria), Christian philosopher
|
-
Are you certain of that?
-
Saint Augustine, in response to followers of the Skeptics who held
that man can know nothing with certainty.
-
The good Christian should beware the mathematican and all those who make empty
prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicans have made a covenant
with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of hell.
-
Saint Augustine
-
What, then, is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him
who asks me, I do not know. Yet I say with confidence that I know that if nothing passed
away, there would be no past time; and if nothing were still coming, there would be
no future time; and if there were nothing at all, there would be no present time.
-
Saint Augustine, in Confessions, Book 11, Chapter XIV
|
Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (Marcus Annius Verus)
(Apr. 26, 121 AD, Rome - Mar. 17, 180 AD, Vindobona=present-day Vienna or Sirmium, Pannonia),
Roman emperor (161 AD - 180 AD)
|
A wrongdoer is often a man that has left something undone, not always he that
has done something.
-
Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus
-
Execute every act of thy life as though it were thy last.
-
Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus
-
How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or
thinks.
-
Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus
-
I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest
of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions
of others.
-
Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus
|
B
Top
Richard Bach (June 23, 1936, Oak Park, IL -), American author
|
-
Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if
you're alive, it isn't.
-
Richard Bach
|
Sir Francis Bacon (Jan, 22, 1561, London, England - Apr. 9, 1626, Highgate, England),
English philosopher and Lord Chancellor
|
Antiquitas saeculi, juventus mundi (The old days were the world's
youth)
Sir Francis Bacon
Knowledge is power.
Sir Francis Bacon
Libraries are the shrines where all the relics of the ancient saints, full of true virtue,
and that without delusion or imposture, are preserved and reposed.
Sir Francis Bacon
There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the
proportion.
Sir Francis Bacon
|
Roger Bacon (1214, Ilchester, Somerset, England - 1294, Oxford, England), English cofounder of experimental science
|
There are two modes of acquiring knowledge, namely by reasoning and experience.
Reasoning draws a conclusion and makes us grant the conclusion, but does not make the conclusion certain,
nor does it remove doubt so that the mind may rest on the intuition of truth, unless the mind discovers it by
the path of experience.
Roger Bacon
|
Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918, Newport News, VA - Aug. 17, 1990, Philadelphia, PA), American singer and actress
|
You'll never find yourself until you face the truth.
Pearl Bailey
|
Russell Baker (Aug. 14, 1925, Loudoun Co., VA - ), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and television host
|
Live by publicity, you'll probably die by publicity.
Russell Baker, in reference to Ronald Regan's image
after the Iranian arms sales
Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it.
Russell Baker
People seem to enjoy things more when they know a lot of other people have been left out of the pleasure.
Russell Baker
Situation comedy on television has thrived for years on "canned" laughter grafted by gaglines
by technicians using records of guffawing audiences that have been dead for years.
Russell Baker
Some people like to eat octopus. Liberals, mostly.
Russell Baker
The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist.
Russell Baker
|
Robert T. Bakker (1945, Ridgewood, NJ - ), American paleontologist
|
I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator and name it after the IRS.
Robert Bakker
|
James Baldwin (Aug. 2, 1924, Harlem, New York City, NY - Nov. 30, 1987, St. Paul de Vence, France),
American author
|
Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex. You thought of
nothing else if you didn't have it and thought of other
things if you did.
James Baldwin
|
Frederick R. Barnard, American advertising executive
|
-
One picture is worth a thousand words.
-
Frederick R. Barnard, who in order to get more respect for
his slogan, gave it an oriental origin. In his first version in a 1921 ad
it was stated as "One look is worth a thousand words" and attributed to a Japanese
philosopher. In his second version in a 1927 ad for
Royal Baking Powder, it became "One picture is worth ten thousand words"
and was attributed to a Chinese proverb.
|
Dave Barry (July 3, 1947, Armonk, NY - ), American Pulitzer prize winning humor columnist
|
After you've heard two eyewitness accounts of an accident, it makes you wonder about history.
Dave Barry
I hate rap music, which to me sounds like a bunch of angry men shouting, possibly
because the person who was supposed to provide them with a melody never showed up.
Dave Barry
One swell thing about the United States is that newspapers can print whatever stories they want.
Another one is that nobody has to read them.
Dave Barry
Whoops! Hold it! We have just been informed that a Florida court has reversed a ruling
overturning an earlier court ruling that upheld a previous ruling that rejected an appeal of
a ruling that overturned an earlier reversal of an upheld rejection of the decision to count
ballots marked only by drool, which means that the year 2000 was ...
Dave Barry, in Dave Barry's Year in Review, Miami Herald, Dec. 31, 2000
|
Ethel Barrymore (Ethel Mae Blythe) (Aug. 15, 1879, Philadelphia, PA - June 18, 1959, Beverly Hills, CA), American actress |
You grow up the day you have the first real laugh...at yourself.
Ethel Barrymore
|
John Sidney Barrymore (John Sidney Blyth) (Feb. 4, 1882, Philadelphia, PA - May 29, 1942, Hollywoord, CA), American actor
|
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.
John Barrymore
|
Stephen Baskerville, American political science professor
|
Not since the overthrow of the Weimar Republic have the leaders of a major democracy used their offices and the mass media to disseminate invective against millions of their own citizens. In fact it was Adolf Hitler who urged that "the state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people" and who explained, in the words of Rabbi Daniel Lapin, that "as long as government is perceived as working for the benefit of children, the people happily will endure almost any curtailment of liberty." Using children to tug on our heartstrings may be not only a weakness of the sentimental. It also may be a ploy by those cynical and unscrupulous enough to exploit children for their own purposes. This is likely to be remembered as one of the most diabolical perversions of governmental power in our history, a time when we allowed children to be used and abused by fast-talking government officials and paid for it with our families, our social order and our constitutional rights.
Stephen Baskerville, writing on fathers' rights in Insight on the News, June 26, 2000
|
David A. Basskin, President, Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA, Ltd.)
|
The best way you can protect yourself against infringement is to become
famous and successful. Because unless you're famous and successful, it's
unlikely that anything you have will be submect to infringement, and you won't
be able to afford to do anything about it.
David Basskin
|
Charles Austin Beard (Nov. 27, 1874, Knightstown, IN - Sept. 1, 1948, New Haven, CT),
American historian and political scientist
|
-
Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad with power;
The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small;
The bee fertilizes the flower it robs;
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
-
Charles A. Beard, Upon being asked by George S. Counts how long it would take to sum
up human history. After first replying that it would take a week, he summed it
up in four great laws. These were described by Lawrence A. Cremin as
"the Hellenic idea of Providence,
the Greek concept of hubris, the Marxian principle of the dialectic, and the
Enlightenment faith in progress."
|
James Andrew Beard (May 5, 1903, Portland, OR - Jan. 21, 1985), American chef and author
|
I believe that if ever
I had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon
around.
James Beard
|
Sir Thomas Beecham (April 29, 1879, St. Helens, Lancashire, England - Mar. 8, 1961, London, England),
English composer and conductor
|
Like two skeletons copulating on a corrugated tin roof
Sir Thomas Beecham, refering to the harpsichord
Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands -
and all you can do is scratch it.
Sir Thomas Beecham, to a lady cellist
We cannot expect you to be with us all the time, but perhaps you could be good enough
to keep in touch now and again.
Sir Thomas Beecham, to a musician during a rehersal
|
Brendan Behan (Feb. 9, 1923, Dublin, Ireland - Mar. 20, 1964, Dublin, Ireland), Irish writer
|
I was court-martialled in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could
shoot me in my absence.
Brendan Behan
|
Alexander Graham Bell (Mar. 3, 1847, Edinburgh, Scotland - Aug. 2, 1922, Baddek, Nova Scotia, Canada),
Scottish-Canadian-American inventor and founder of the National Geographic Society
|
When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and
so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which
open for us.
Alexander Graham Bell
|
Cardinal Bellarmine (Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino) (1542, Montepulciano, Italy -1621),
Italian theologian
|
First, . . . to want to affirm that in reality the sun is at the center of the world and only turns on
itself without moving from east to west, and the earth . . . revolves with great speed around the sun . . .is a very dangerous thing, likely not only to irritate all scholastic philosophers and theologians,
but also to harm the Holy Faith by rendering Holy Scripture false.
Nor can one answer that this is not a matter of faith, since if it is not a matter of faith
"as regards the topic," it is a matter of faith "as regards the speaker"; and so it would be
heretical to say that Abraham did not have two children and Jacob twelve, as well as to say that
Christ was not born of a virgin, because both are said by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of
the prophets and the apostles.
Cardinal Bellarmine, in a Letter to Foscarinin, April 12, 1615
|
Robert Benchley
|
-
Drawing on my fine command of language. I said nothing.
-
Robert Benchley
|
Nicolas Clerihew Bentley (June 14, 1907, Highgate, London, England - August 14, 1978, Somerset, England), English artist and writer
|
No news is good news. No journalists is even better.
Nicolas Bentley
|
Ingmar Bergman (1918, Uppsala, Sweden - ),
Swedish movie and theater director, playwright, and screen writer
|
I hope I never get so old I get religious.
Ingmar Bergman
|
Ingrid Bergman (Aug. 29, 1915, Stockholm, Sweden - Aug. 29, 1982, London, England), Swedish-American actress
|
He's a gentleman farmer who raises gooseflesh.
Ingrid Bergman on Alfred Hitchcock
|
Milton Berle (Milton Berlinger) (July 12, 1908, Harlem, New York City, NY - Mar. 27, 2002, Los Angeles, CA),
American actor, writer, director, and comedian
|
Committee - a group of men who keep minutes and waste hours.
Milton Berle
My doctor told me that jogging could add years to myu life. I think he was right. I
feel ten years older already.
Milton Berle
|
Hector Berlioz, French composer
|
Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.
Hector Berlioz
|
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra (1925 - ), Professional baseball player
|
-
Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't go to yours.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra
-
Four, I don't think I can eat eight.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra, responding to a
waitress who asked if he wanted his pizza cut into four or eight slices
-
If the guy was poor, I would give it back.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berrar, responding to a
reporter's question of what he would do if he found a million dollars
-
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra
-
It's deja vu all over again.
-
Falsely attributed to Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra
-
It's OK, I had to get up to answer the phone anyway.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra, responding to someone
who apologized for waking him with a late night call
-
Never answer an anonymous letter.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra
-
No one goes there anymore - it's too crowded.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra, giving his reason why he
wouldn't go to a certain restaurant
-
We're lost, but we're making good time.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra
-
You can observe a lot just by watching.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra
-
It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.
-
Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra
|
Bible - New Testament
|
-
Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt, or is there any
taste in the white of an egg?
-
Bible - New Testiment, Job 6:6
-
Four things on earth are small,
yet they are exceedingly wise:
the ants are a people without strength,
yet they provide their food in the summer;
the badgers are a people without power,
yet they make their homes in the rocks;
the locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in rank;
the lizard can be grasped in the hand,
yet it is found in kings' palaces.
-
Bible - New Testament, Proverbs 30:24-28
|
Bible - Old Testament
|
-
When men fight together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near to deliver her
husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by
the genitals; then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall have no pity.
-
Bible - Old Testament, Deuteronomy 25:11
|
Josh Billings, American humorist
|
-
The trouble with most people isn't their ignorance, it's knowing so many things
that ain't so.
-
Josh Billings
|
Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist
|
-
We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honor
and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication,
homosexuality, intoxicants, gamblings, and trading with
interest.
-
Osama bin Laden, in his "Letter to the American People", Nov., 2002
|
Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany
|
The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they'll sleep at night.
Otto von Bismarck
|
Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson (Dec. 8, 1832, Kvikne, Norway - Apr. 26, 1910, Paris, France), Norwegian
writer, editor, and theater director and Nobel Laureate in Literature, 1903
|
Den som har droemt Udfaerd og Daad senker ej Sejl uden med Sorg. (He who has dreamed
of travel and deeds, does not lower his sail without sorrow.)
Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson
|
Blackadder II
|
Never before have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever
considered a career in the church?
Blackadder II
|
William Blake
|
-
If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.
-
William Blake
|
Niels Bohr (Oct. 7, 1885, Copenhagen, Denmark - Nov. 18, 1962, Copenhagen, Denmark), Danish Nobel Laureate in Physics
|
An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow
field.
Niels Bohr
If anybody says he can think about quantum problems without getting giddy, that only show he has not
understood the first thing about them.
Niels Bohr
Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think.
Niels Bohr
No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical.
Niels Bohr
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.
Niels Bohr
The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a
profound truth may well be another profound truth.
Niels Bohr
There are some things so serious you have to laugh at them.
Niels Bohr
Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true.
Niels Bohr
|
Napoleon Bonaparte (Aug. 15, 1769, Ajaccio, Corsica - May 5, 1821, St. Helena Island), French emporer
|
A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.
Napoleon Bonaparte
An army marches on its stomach.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Napoleon Bonaparte
History is a set of lies agreed upon.
Napoleon Bonaparte
History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
Napoleon Bonaparte
I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world,
and yet they lay hands on everything they can get.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
Napoleon Bonaparte
The most dangerous moment comes with victory.
Napoleon Bonaparte
|
Daniel Boone (possibly Oct. 22, 1734, Exeter, PA - Sept. 26, 1820), American pioneer and explorer
|
-
No, I can't say as ever I was ever lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
-
Daniel Boone, in response to a question from Chester Harding, an artist painting
his portrait in 1820, if Boone had ever been lost during his travels
|
Daniel J. Boorstin (Oct. 1, 1914, Atlanta, GA - ),
American historian and and Pulitzer-prize winning author
|
Barnum's great discovery was not how easy it was to deceive the public, but rather
how much the public enjoyed being deceived.
Daniel J. Boorstin, in The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America
Celebrity-worship and hero-worship should not be
confused. Yet we confuse them every day, and by doing so
we come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of all
real models. We lose sight of the men and women who do
not simply seem great because they are famous but are
famous because they are great. We come closer and closer
to degrading all fame into notoriety.
Daniel J. Boorstin
Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.
Daniel J. Boorstin
I have observed that the world has suffered far less from ignorance
than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not skeptics or explorers
but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No
agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic,
or an unbeliever.
Daniel J. Boorstin, in Living Philosophies
|
Victor Borge (Borge Rosenbaum) (Jan. 3, 1909, Copenhagen, Denmark - Dec. 23, 2000, Greenwich, CT), Danish musical humorist
|
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
Victor Borge
|
Jorge Luis Borges (Aug. 24, 1899, Buenos Aires, Argentina - June 14, 1986, Geneva, Switzerland), Argentinian writer
|
-
Time is the substance from which I am made.
Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;
it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger;
it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
-
Jorge Luis Borges, in Otras inquisiciones: Nueva refutación del tiempo (Other Inquisitions: New Refutation of Time), 1952
-
To fall in love is to create a religion that has a fallible god.
-
Jorge Luis Borges, in Otras inquisiciones: El encuentro en un sueño (Other Inquisitions: The Meeting in a Dream), 1952
-
Whosoever would undertake some atrocious enterprise should act as if it were already accomplished, should impose
upon himself a future as irrevocable as the past.
-
Jorge Luis Borges, in El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan (The Garden of Forking Paths), 1941
|
Ray Bradbury (Aug. 22, 1920, Waukegan, IL - ), American author
|
The human race likes to give itself airs. One good volcano can produce more greenhouse
gases in a year than the human race has in its entire history.
Ray Bradbury
Through lack of education, we're
not teaching kids to read and write.
So there is the danger that you
raise up a generation of morons
Ray Bradbury, in an interview with Joshua Klein of The Onion, 1999
|
Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893, Clark, MO - April 8, 1981, New York City, NY),
American Five Star General of the Army
|
The way to win an atomic war is to make sure it never starts.
Omar Bradley
|
Louis Dembitz Brandeis (Nov. 13, 1856, Louisville, KY - Oct. 5, 1941, Washington, DC),
American Supreme Court Associate Justice, 1916 - 1939
|
We can have a democratic society or we can have great concentrated wealth in the hands of a few.
We cannot have both.
Louis Brandeis
|
Werner von Braun (Mar. 23, 1912, Wirsitz, Germany - June 16, 1977, Alexandria, VA), German-American physicist and rocket pioneer
|
Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing.
Werner von Braun
I have learned to use the word 'impossible' with greatest caution.
Werner von Braun
The best computer is a man, and it's the only one that can be mass-produced by unskilled labor.
Werner von Braun
|
Bertolt Brecht (Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht)
(Feb. 10, 1898, Augsburg, Germany - Aug. 14, 1956, East Berlin, Germany), German author and playwright
|
A new age does not begin all of a sudden.
My grandfather was already living in the new age
My grandson will probably still be living in the old one.
The new meat is eaten with the old forks.
It was not the first cars
Nor the tanks
It was not the airplanes over our roofs
Nor the bombers.
From new transmitters came the old stupidities.
Wisdom was passed on from mouth to mouth.
Bertolt Brecht, "New Age" in
Poems: 1913 - 1956 (New York: Methuen, Inc. 1976)
Do not fear death so much but rather the inadequate life.
Bertolt Brecht
Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear -
And he shows them pearly white -
Just a jackknife has Macheath, dear -
And he keeps it out of sight.
Bertolt Brecht, The Threepenny Opera, 1928
|
Alan Brinkley (1949 - ), American historian and Provost of Columbia University
|
-
Would we agree to an organization on campus that allowed African Americans to join this organization only if they pass for white?
-
Alan Brinkley, May 6, 2005, Columbia University Senate, commenting on the US military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, in a debate on whether ROTC should be allowed on compus
|
David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920, Wilmington, NC - ), American broadcast journalist
|
The one function that TV news performs very well is that when there is no news,
we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.
David Brinkley
|
Roger Brinner
|
The plural of anecdote is not data.
Roger Brinner
|
Jacob Bronowski (Jan. 18, 1908, Poland - Aug. 22, 1974, East Hampton, NY), English mathematician
and scientist
|
Every animal leaves traces of what it was; man alone leaves traces of what he created.
Jacob Bronowski
It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin barefoot irreverence to their
studies; they are not here to worship what is known but to question it.
Jacob Bronowski
Man masters nature not by force but by understanding. This is why science has succeeded
where magic failed: because it has looked for no spell to cast over nature.
Jacob Bronowski
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Stopford Augustus Brooke
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If a thousand old beliefs were ruined in our march to truth, we must still march on.
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Stopford Augustus Brooke
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Mel Brooks (Melvyn Kaminsky) (June 28, 1926, Brooklyn, NY - ), American comedian and filmaker
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Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall down an open manhole and die.
Mel Brooks
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Dr. Joyce Brothers (Joyce Diane Baue) (Sept. or Oct. 20, 1928, New York City, NY - ), American psychologist and author
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If Shakespeare had had to go on an author tour to promote Romeo and Juliet, he never would have
written Macbeth.
Dr. Joyce Brothers
Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.
Dr. Joyce Brothers
Trust your hunches. . . . Hunches are usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.
Warning! Do not confuse your hunches with wishful thinking. This is the road to disaster.
Dr. Joyce Brothers
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David Ross Brower (July 1, 1912, Berkeley, CA - Nov. 5, 2000, Berkeley, CA), American conservationist
and environmentalist
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There is but one ocean though its coves have many names; a single sea of
atmosphere with no coves at all; the miracle of soil, alive and giving
life, lying thin on the only earth, for which there is no spare.
David Brower
We do not inherit the earth from our fathers, we are borrowing it
from our children.
David Brower, chisled in stone at the
National Aquarium in Washington, DC. Later, he said:
I decided the words were too conservative for me. We're not borrowing
from our children, we're stealing from them - and it's not even considered a
crime. Let that be my epitaph, when I need it.
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H. Jackson Brown Jr., American author
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Happiness is not an absence of problems; but the ability to deal with them.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Hear both sides before judging.
H. Jackson Brown Jr., Life's Little Instruction Book
I've found that anger and pie crusts soften after two days.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
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Robert Browne, Anglican minister
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We must all watch one another.
Robert Browne, in Guiding Principle, 1582
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Robert Browning (May 7, 1812, Camberwell, England - December 12, 1889, Ca' Rezzonico in Venice, Italy),
English poet and playwright
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Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?
Robert Browning, in "Andrea del Sarto"
Well less is more Lucrezia; I am judged.
Robert Browning, in "Andrea del Sarto"
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William Jennings Bryan (Mar. 19, 1860, Salem, IL - July 26, 1925, Dayton, TN), American political and religious leader
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Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a
thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
William Jennings Bryan
You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not
crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.
William Jennings Bryan
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Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (Pearl Walsh) (June 26, 1892, Hillsboro, WV - Mar. 6, 1973, Danby, VT),
American author and Nobel Laureate in Literature, 1938
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The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: a human creature born
abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him, a touch is a blow, a sound is
a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover,
a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the
overpowering necessity to create, create, create - so that without the creating
of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his
very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By
some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is
creating.
Pearl Buck
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Timothy A. Budd, Associate Professor, Computer Science Department, Oregon State University
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Whenever I teach a course there always comes
a moment as I'm reading the textbook
where I say ``you know, I think
I could write a better textbook than this''.
The unfortunate thing is that this is true
even when I am using my own book!
Timothy A. Budd
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Buddha (Awakened One) (Siddhartha (He who achieves his aim) Gotoma)
(568 B.C., Northern India - 488 B.C., Kusinara, India), Indian philosopher and religous leader
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Now I say to you: all conditioned things are impermanent, strive on with heedfulness.
Buddha (Siddhartha Gotoma), his last words
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: one, not going all the
way; and two, not starting.
Buddha (Siddhartha Gotoma)
Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be
shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha (Siddhartha Gotoma)
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Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (Edward Bulwer, 1st Baron Lytton, Lord Lytton)
(May 25, 1803, London, England - January 18, 1873, Torquay, Devonshire, England), English author
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It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals,
when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in
London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the
scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, opening line of Paul Clifford, 1830
The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man's observation, not
overturning it.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
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Michelangelo Buonarroti (Mar. 6, 1475, Caprese, Italy - Feb. 18, 1564, Rome, Italy), Italian artist
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If people knew how hard I have had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
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Edmond Burke (Jan. 12, 1729, Dublin, Ireland - July 9, 1797), Irish statesman and orator
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In order that evil should triumph it is sufficient that good men do nothing.
Edmond Burke
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George Burns (Nathan Birnbaum)
(Jan. 20, 1896, New York City, NY - Mar. 9, 1996, Beverly Hills, CA), American actor
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I want nothing to do with natural foods. At my age I need all the
preservatives I can get
George Burns
I was brought up to respect my elders and now I don't have to respect anybody.
George Burns
If you live to be one hundred you've got it made. Very few people die past that age.
George Burns
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as
close together as possible.
George Burns
Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs
and cutting hair.
George Burns
You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoes and wonder what else you can do while you're
down there.
George Burns
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Aaron Burr (Feb. 6, 1756, Newark, NJ - Sept. 14, 1836, Staten Is., NY),
Vice President of the United States, 1801 - 1805
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Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow. Delay may give clearer light as to what is best to be done.
Aaron Burr
The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure, and pleasure my business.
Aaron Burr
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Sir Richard Francis Burton (Mar. 19, 1812, Torquay, England - Oct. 19, 1890, Trieste, Italy),
English explorer, linguist, and writer
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I was never more flattered in my life than to think that it would take three hundred men to kill me.
Sir Richard F. Burton, upon escaping an ambush in the Syrian desert, 1870
The dearest ambition of a slave is not liberty, but to have a slave of his own.
Sir Richard F. Burton
The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything
but himself.
Sir Richard F. Burton
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Richard Burton (Richard Walter Jenkins, Jr.) (Nov. 10, 1925, Pontrhydfen, Wales - Aug. 5, 1984, Celigny, Switzerland ),
Welsh actor
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The more I read about man and his maniacal ruthlessness and his murderous envious scatological soul,
the more I realize that he will never change. Our stupidity is immortal, nothing will change it. The same
mistakes, the same prejudices, the same injustice, the same lusts wheel endlessly around the parade
ground of the centuries. Immutable and ineluctable. I wish I could believe in a god of some kind but I simply
cannot.
Richard Burton, diary entry, 1969
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George Herbert Walker Bush (June 12, 1924, Milton, MA - ), Forty-first President of the United States
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No, I don't know that atheists should be considered
citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.
George Herbert Walker Bush,
in Free Inquiry magazine, Fall, 1988
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George Walker Bush (July 6, 1946, New Haven, CT - ), Forty-third President of the United States
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Anyway, after we go out and work our hearts out, after you go out and help us turn out the vote, after we've convinced the good Americans to vote, and while they're at it, pull that old George W. lever, if I'm the one, when I put my hand on the Bible, when I put my hand on the Bible, that day when they swear us in, when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not-to uphold the laws of the land.
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George. W. Bush, Toledo, OH, Oct. 27, 2000
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Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.
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George. W. Bush, LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
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For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great
and enduring alliances of modern times.
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George. W. Bush, Tokyo, Feb. 18, 2002
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Had we to do it over again, we would look at the consequences of catastrophic success - being
so successful, so fast, that an enemy that should have surrendered or been done in, escaped
and lived to fight another day.
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George. W. Bush, in an interview with Time Magazine, August 29, 2004
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He can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road.
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George W. Bush, to reporters in Florence, SC, Feb. 17, 2000, in reference to John McCain
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I don't want nations feeling like that they can bully ourselves and our allies. I want to have a ballistic defense system so that we can make the world more peaceful, and at the same time I want to reduce our own nuclear capacities to the level commiserate with keeping the peace.
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George. W. Bush, Des Moines, IA, Oct. 23, 2000
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I know how hard it is to put food on your family.
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George W. Bush, Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000
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I think that for example on the issue of evolution, the verdict
is still out on how God created the earth.
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George W. Bush, in an interview with Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times, Jan. 23, 2000 (and Oct. 23, 2000)
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I understand small business growth. I was one.
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George W. Bush, New York Daily News, Feb. 19, 2000
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If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this
campaign.
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George. W. Bush, Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000
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It was just inebriating what Midland was all about then.
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George W. Bush, From a 1994 interview, as quoted in First Son by Bill
Minutaglio
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It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.
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George. W. Bush, Reuters, May 5, 2000
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It's important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet.
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George. W. Bush, Arlington Heights, IL, Oct. 24, 2000
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It's your money. You paid for it.
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George. W. Bush, LaCrosse, WI., Oct. 18, 2000
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Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking
about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.
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George W. Bush, Washington, DC, Aug. 5, 2004, at the signing ceremony for a $417 billion
defence spending bill
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Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?
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George W. Bush, Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
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See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over
again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.
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George W. Bush, Greece, NY, May 24, 2005, talking about his social security plans
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That's a chapter, the last chapter of the 20th, 20th, the 21st century that most of us
would rather forget. The last chapter of the 20th century. This is the first chapter
of the 21st century.
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George. W. Bush, speaking in reference to Monica Lewinsky, Arlington Heights, IL, Oct. 24, 2000
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The administration I'll bring is a group of men and women who are focused
on what's best for America, honest men and women, decent men and women,
women who will not stain the House.
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George W. Bush, Des Moines Register debate, Iowa, Jan. 15, 2000
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The important question is, How many hands have I shaked?
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George W. Bush, Answering a question about why he hasn't spent more time in
New Hampshire, in The New York Times, Oct. 23, 1999
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The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case.
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George W. Bush, in Pella, IA, as quoted by the San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 30, 2000
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There needs to be debates, like we're going through. There needs to be
town-hall meetings. There needs to be travel. This is a huge country.
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George W. Bush, Larry King Live, Dec. 16, 1999
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They misunderestimated me.
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George. W. Bush, Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
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They said, `You know, this issue doesn't seem to resignate with the people.' And I said,
you know something? Whether it resignates or not doesn't matter to me, because I stand
for doing what's the right thing, and what the right thing is hearing the voices of
people who work.
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George. W. Bush, Portland, OR, Oct. 31, 2000
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They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program.
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George. W. Bush, St. Charles, MO, Nov. 2, 2000
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This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do
when you run for president. You gotta preserve.
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George W. Bush, Speaking during "Perseverance Month" at Fairgrounds
Elementary in Nashua, N.H. as quoted in the
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28, 2000
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This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.
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George W. Bush, At a South Carolina oyster roast, as quoted in the Financial
Times, Jan. 14, 2000
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What I am against is quotas. I am against hard quotas, quotas they
basically delineate based upon whatever. However they delineate. Quotas, I
think, vulcanize society. So, I don't know how that fits into what everybody
else is saying, their relative positions, but
that's my position.
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George W. Bush, Quoted by Molly Ivins, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 21,
2000
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When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and you knew exactly who
they were. It was us vs. them, and it was clear who them was. Today, we are
not so sure who the they are, but we know they're there.
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George W. Bush, Iowa Western Community College, Jan. 21, 2000.
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Will the highways on the Internet become more few?
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George W. Bush, Concord, N.H., Jan. 29, 2000
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Samuel Butler (Dec. 4, 1835, Langar Rectory, Nottinghamshire, England - June 18, 1902, Clifford's Inn, London, England), British novelist, essayist, painter and composer
|
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A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg.
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Samuel Butler
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An honest god's the noblest work of man.
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Samuel Butler
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It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
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Samuel Butler
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Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
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Samuel Butler
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Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to
eat until he eats them.
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Samuel Butler
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The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not
only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.
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Samuel Butler
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Lord Byron (George Gordon) (Jan. 22, 1788, London, England - April 19, 1824, Missolonghi, Greece), English poet
|
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And when we think we lead, we are most led.
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Lord Byron
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But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think;
'Tis strange, the shortest letter which man uses
Instead of speech, may form a lasting link
Of ages; to what straits old Time reduces
Frail man, when paper - even a rag like this - ,
Survives himself, his tomb, and all that's his.
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Lord Byron, from Don Juan
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I had no thought, no feeling - none -
Among the stones I stood a stone,
And was, scarce conscious what I wist,
As shrubless crags within the mist;
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Lord Byron, in The Prisoner of Chillon, lines 235 - 238
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She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
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Lord Byron, She walks in beauty, June 12, 1814
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