I remember reading somewhere about an organization called Procrastinators Anonymous. I think they had been in existence for some years but had never gotten around to having a meeting.
—Unknown
The higher a man stands, the more the word “vulgar” becomes unintelligible to him.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself are much condemned to have an itching palm.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The secret of ugliness consists not in irregularity, but in being uninteresting.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry, all things easy.—He that rises late must trot all day, and hall scarce overtake his business at night, while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
When a man is wrapped up in himself he makes a pretty small package.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
To jealousy, nothing is more frightful than laughter.
—Francoise Sagan (1935–2004) French Novelist, Playwright, Short-Story Writer
When rich villains have need of poor ones, poor ones may make what price they will.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
He who does not think much of himself is much more esteemed than he imagines.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The sun also shines on the wicked.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Cowards die a thousand deaths. The valiant taste of death but once.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
There is no darkness, but ignorance.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
Faint heart never won fair lady.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
I never admired another’s fortune so much that I became dissatisfied with my own.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The greatest of all sins is stupidity.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it’s set a rolling it must increase.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
An inflated consciousness is always egocentric and conscious of nothing but its own existence. It is incapable of learning from the past, incapable of understanding contemporary events, and incapable of drawing right conclusions about the future. It is hypnotized by itself and therefore cannot be argued with. It inevitably dooms itself to calamities that must strike it dead.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
There is no sweeter sound than the crumbling of ones fellow man.
—Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American Actor, Comedian, Singer
Most people would succeed in small things, if they were not troubled with great ambitions.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
How bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes!
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Avarice has ruined more souls than extravagance.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Ignorance is like a delicate fruit; touch it, and the bloom is gone.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Love may be blind but jealousy has 20-20 vision.
—Unknown
You cannot run away from a weakness. You must sometimes fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Absurdity: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
It is not I who become addicted, it is my body.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
He who takes but never gives, may last for years but never lives.
—Unknown
We all sorely complain of the shortness of time, and yet have much more than we know what to do with. Our lives are either spent in doing nothing at all, or in doing nothing to the purpose, or in doing nothing that we ought to do. We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Envy is more irreconcilable than hatred.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
Man gives every reason for his conduct save one, every excuse for his crimes save one, every plea for his safety save one; and that one is his cowardice.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
To be happy at home is the ultimate aim of all ambition; the end to which every enterprise and labor tends, and of which every desire prompts the prosecution.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Only the mediocre are always at their best.
—Jean Giraudoux (1882–1944) French Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
Much Madness is divinest Sense—to a discerning Eye—much Sense—the starkest Madness—
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
I have often noticed that a bribe has that effect—it changes a relation. The man who offers a bribe gives away a little of his own importance; the bribe once accepted, he becomes the inferior, like a man who has paid for a woman.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
There are many who talk on from ignorance rather than from knowledge, and who find the former an inexhaustible fund of conversation.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven! Keep me in temper. I would not be mad.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
That terrible mood of depression of whether it’s any good or not is what is known as The Artist’s Reward.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
You are all fundamentalists with a top dressing of science. That is why you are the stupidest of conservatives and reactionists in politics and the most bigoted of obstructionists in science itself. When it comes to getting a move on you are all of the same opinion: stop it, flog it, hang it, dynamite it, stamp it out.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
If all mankind were suddenly to practice honesty, many thousands of people would be sure to starve.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
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