The superpowers often behave like two heavily armed blind men feeling their way around a room, each believing himself in mortal peril from the other, whom he assumes to have perfect vision.
—Henry Kissinger (b.1923) American Diplomat, Academician
The problem with beauty is that it’s like being born rich and getting poorer.
—Joan Collins (b.1933) English Actor, Author, Columnist
I felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.
—Hebrew Proverb
You have no idea how big the other fellow’s troubles are.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
Reality is something you rise above.
—Liza Minnelli (b.1946) American Singer, Actress
If one only wished to be happy, this could be easily accomplished; but we wish to be happier than other people, and this is always difficult, for we believe others to be happier than they are.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
In all climates, under all skies, man’s happiness is always somewhere else.
—Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837) Italian Poet, Essayist, Philosopher
Perhaps a man’s character was like a tree, and his reputation like its shadow; the shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover these precious values: that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
True realism consists in revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Novelist, Dramatist, Playwright, Artist
Great leadership does not mean running away from reality. Sometimes the hard truths might just demoralize the company, but at other times sharing difficulties can inspire people to take action that will make the situation better.
—John Kotter (b.1947) American Academic, Management Consultant
He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to change reality, and will never, therefore, make any progress.
—Anwar el-Sadat (1918–81) Egyptian Head of State, Political leader
When every blessed thing you have is made of silver, or of gold, you long for simple pewter.
—W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) English Dramatist, Librettist, Poet, Illustrator
But if men would give heed to the nature of substance they would doubt less concerning the Proposition that Existence appertains to the nature of substance: rather they would reckon it an axiom above all others, and hold it among common opinions. For then by substance they would understand that which is in itself, and through itself is conceived, or rather that whose knowledge does not depend on the knowledge of any other thing.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher
Try as we may, none of us can be free of conflict and woe. Even the greatest men have had to accept disappointments as their daily bread…. The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them. Man and society must grow together. Each individual’s efforts to discipline himself must be matched by society’s struggle to enforce the rules of law and of justice under the law.
—Bernard M. Baruch (1870–1965) American Financier, Economic Consultant
For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearance, as though they were realities and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
On the outside one is a star. But in reality, one is completely alone, doubting everything. To experience this loneliness of soul is the hardest thing in the world.
—Brigitte Bardot (b.1934) French Film Star
The unreal is natural, so natural that it makes of unreality the most natural of anything natural. That is what America does, and that is what America is.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
If every man’s internal care Were written on his brow, How many would our pity share Who raise our envy now?
—Metastasio (1698–1782) Italian Poet, Librettist
We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found; and each believes it possessed by others, to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
People are crying up the rich and variegated plumage of the peacock, and he is himself blushing at the sight of his ugly feet.
—Sa’Di (Musharrif Od-Din Muslih Od-Din) (1184–1283) Persian Poet
The paradox of reality is that no image is as compelling as the one which exists only in the mind’s eye.
—Shana Alexander (1925–2005) American Journalist, Editor, Author
There are three wants which can never be satisfied: that of the rich, who want something more; that of the sick, who want something different; and that of the traveler, who says, “Anywhere but here”.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I believe that sometimes you have to look reality in the eye and deny it.
—Garrison Keillor (b.1942) American Author, Humorist, Radio Personality
The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.
—Alfred Adler (1870–1937) Austrian Psychiatrist
I hate myself on the screen. I want to die… my voice is either too high or too gravelly. I want to dive under the carpet… I’ll love to be tall and willowy… I’m short.
—Elizabeth Taylor (b.1932) English Actor, Activist
What our eyes behold may well be the text of life but one’s meditations on the text and the disclosures of these meditations are no less a part of the structure of reality.
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) American Poet
The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather what he does not say.
—Khalil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Every stage of life has its troubles, and no man is content with his own age.
—Ausonius (c.309–392 CE) Latin Poet, Rhetorician
It must be hard to be a model, because you’d want to be like the photograph of you, and you can’t ever look that way.
—Andy Warhol (1928–87) American Painter, Printmaker, Film Personality
Reality is not always probable, or likely.
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine Writer, Essayist, Poet
There is an objective reality out there, but we view it through the spectacles of our beliefs, attitudes, and values.
—David G. Myers
I look at what I have not and think myself unhappy; others look at what I have and think me happy.
—Philibert Joseph Roux (1780–1854) French Surgeon
I thought I had reached a point in life where everything would be smooth. But it is not. It just gets more jagged and pitted and filled with turns that take you into the dark recesses of your mind. It never seems to get easy.
—Sylvester Stallone (b.1946) American Actor, Film Director, Screenwriter
None of us is ever satisfied with what we are.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.
—Philip K. Dick (1928–82) American Novelist, Essayist, Short Story Writer
It is not irritating to be where one is. It is only irritating to think one would like to be somewhere else.
—John Cage (1912–92) American Composer, Philosopher, Poet, Artist
Life is a hospital in which every patient is possessed by the desire of changing his bed. One would prefer to suffer near the fire, and another is certain he would get well if he were by the window.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.
—Philip K. Dick (1928–82) American Novelist, Essayist, Short Story Writer
Whatever is a reality today, whatever you touch and believe in and that seems real for you today, is going to be — like the reality of yesterday — an illusion tomorrow.
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Italian Dramatist, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Author
I don’t like my voice. I don’t like the way I look. I don’t like the way I move. I don’t like the way I act. I mean, period. So you know, I don’t like myself.
—Elizabeth Taylor (b.1932) English Actor, Activist
The man with toothache thinks everyone happy whose teeth are sound. The poverty stricken man makes the same mistake about the rich man.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The interpretation of our reality through patterns not our own, serves only to make us ever more unknown, ever less free, ever more solitary.
—Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927–2014) Colombian Novelist, Short-Story Writer
There’s something beautifully soothing about a fact – even (or perhaps especially) if we’re not sure what it means.
—Daniel J. Boorstin (1914–2004) American Historian, Academic, Attorney, Writer
Rastafari not a culture, it’s a reality.
—Bob Marley (1945–81) Jamaican Musician, Singer, Songwriter
If I were given a change of life, I’d like to see how it would be to live as a mere six-footer.
—Wilt Chamberlain (1936–99) American Sportsperson
Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible.
—Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) Spanish Essayist, Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Philosopher
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
You too must not count too much on your reality as you feel it today, since like yesterday, it may prove an illusion for you tomorrow.
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Italian Dramatist, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Author
Comparisons of one’s lot with others’ teaches us nothing and enfeebles the will.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
Every time I close the door on reality, it comes in through the windows.
—Jennifer Yane
There is no man in any rank who is always at liberty to act as he would incline. In some quarter or other he is limited by circumstances.
—Hugh Blair (1718–1800) Scottish Preacher, Scholar, Critic
Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Reality does not conform to the ideal, but confirms it.
—Gustave Flaubert (1821–80) French Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
Realism is a bad word. In a sense everything is realistic. I see no line between the imaginary and the real.
—Federico Fellini (1920–93) Italian Filmmaker
I’m not crazy about reality, but it’s still the only place to get a decent meal.
—Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American Actor, Comedian, Singer
Men simply copied the realities of their hearts when they built prisons.
—Richard Wright (1908–1960) American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
I want to be able to live without a crowded calendar. I want to be able to read a book without feeling guilty, or go to a concert when I like.
—Golda Meir (1898–1978) Israeli Head of State
It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods.
—Margaret Fuller (1810–50) American Feminist, Writer, Revolutionary
Read carefully anything that requires your signature. Remember the big print giveth and the small print taketh away.
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. American Author
The successful people of this world take life as it comes. They just go out and deal with the world as it is.
—Ben Stein (b.1944) American Lawyer, Writer, Economist, Humorist
Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British Buddhist Philosopher, Writer, Speaker
Reality only reveals itself when it is illuminated by a ray of poetry.
—Georges Braque (1882–1963) French Painter, Artist, Sculptor
The only incurable troubles of the rich are the troubles that money can’t cure.
—Ogden Nash (1902–71) American Writer of Sophisticated Light Verse
You know you’re in love when you don’t want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.
—Theodor Seuss Geisel (‘Dr. Seuss’) (1904–91) American Children’s Books Writer, Writer, Cartoonist, Animator
Across the gulfs and barriers that now divide us, we must remember that there are no permanent enemies. Hostility today is a fact, but it is not a ruling law. The supreme reality of our time is our indivisibility as children of God and our common vulnerability on this planet.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
—Tupac Shakur (1971–96) American Rapper, Actor
There are. intangible realities which float near us, formless and without words; realities which no one has thought out, and which are excluded for lack of interpreters.
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972) American Playwright, Poet, Novelist
The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.
—Philip K. Dick (1928–82) American Novelist, Essayist, Short Story Writer
Reality in our century is not something to be faced.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
I have lived long enough to be battered by the realities of life, and not too long to be downed by them.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Columnist, Journalist, Author
Money is another pressure. I’m not complaining, I’m just Saying that there’s a certain luxury in having no money. I spent 10 years in New York not having it, not worrying about it. Suddenly you have it, then you worry, where is it going? Am I doing the right thing with it?
—Dustin Hoffman (b.1937) American Actor, TV Personality, Theater Personality
Given that external reality is a fiction, the writer’s role is almost superfluous. He does not need to invent the fiction because it is already there.
—J. G. Ballard (1930–2009) English Novelist, Short Story Writer
The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless. — Not being able to enlarge the one, let us contract the other; for it is from their difference that all the evils arise which render us unhappy.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
Time and memory are true artists; they remould reality nearer to the heart’s desire.
—John Dewey (1859–1952) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Educator
My crown is in my heart, not on my head, Nor decked with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen: My crown is called content: A crown it is, that seldom kings enjoy.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) Hong-Kong-born American Sportsperson, Actor, Philosopher, Film Director, Screenwriter