Interesting Famous Quotes“The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may
be preserved by quotation.”
QUOTES ABOUT MOTIVATION, LEADERSHIP & POWER“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when
his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” “Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination
and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal that will
enable you to attain the success you seek.” “A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting
along with people, of getting things done.” “I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because
once I have persuaded him he will stick. If I scare him (by fear),
he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.”
“When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion,
kind unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old
and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon
of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first
convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop
of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the
great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find
but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of your cause,
if indeed that cause is really a good one.” “God prepares great men for great tasks by great trials.”
*“Time is really the only capital
that any human being has and the thing that he can least afford
to waste or lose.” *“Power consists in one's capacity
to link his will with the purpose of others, to lead by reason and
a gift of cooperation.”
QUOTES ABOUT PERSISTENCE, TENACITY & HARD WORK“It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems
longer.” “The three things that are most essential to achievement,
are common sense, hard work and stick-to-it-iv-ness.” “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” “I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work
the more I have of it.” *“Genius is 1% inspiration and
99% perspiration. Accordingly, a 'genius' is often merely
a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.”
*“If we all did the things we
are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” *“Many of life's failures are
experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to
success when they gave up.” *“Ninety-nine percent of failures
come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
QUOTES ABOUT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE CAUSES & SPEAKING OUT AGAINST WRONGS“The failure to condemn an activity is indeed, an offer of
tacit approval. All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men
to do nothing.” “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of evil
people, but because ordinary people do nothing about it.”
“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs
is to be ruled by evil men.” “In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibili
ty to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen's
responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” "I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience
tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment
in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice,
is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they
fight you, then you win.” “The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on
certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.”
“The probability that we may fail in the struggle, ought
not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.”
“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the
fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.” “The world knows of Rosa Parks because of a single, simple
act of dignity and courage that struck a lethal blow to the foundations
of legal bigotry.” “To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make
things right, is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will
eat you last--but eat you he will.” “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things
that matter.” “One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger
and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the
danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will
reduce the danger by half.” “You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself
a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating
the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle
for independence.” “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes
a revolutionary act.” “If you think you are too small to be effective, you have
never been in bed with a mosquito.” “The hope of a secure and liveable world lies with disciplined
nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are
wrong, you cannot be too conservative.” “Freedom is like birth. Till we are fully free, we are slaves.”
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it
as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting
against it is really cooperating with it.” “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but
it ain't goin' away.”
QUOTES ABOUT MAKING CHANGES & SOLVING PROBLEMS“…the current paradigm is so thoroughly established
that the only way to change is to start over again.” “No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that
created it.” “Never take a no from someone who is not empowered to give you a yes in the first place” “The person who says it cannot be done, should not interrupt
the person doing it.” “All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem
brings us face to face with another problem.” “The more extensive a man's knowledge of what has been done,
the greater will be his power of knowing what to do.” “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable
one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore,
all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” “There is only one road to human greatness, through the
schools of hard knocks.”
QUOTES ABOUT ATTITUDE & PERSPECTIVE“Nothing is impossible, unless you think it is.” “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or
sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human
spirit.” “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old
because we stop playing.” “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and
you're a thousand miles from the corn field.” “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” “When we are living our dream, the difficulties we encounter
make sense.” *“Having the fewest wants, I am
nearest to the gods.” *“Better to remain silent and
be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
*“If you love life, don't waste
time, because time is what life is made of.” *“I have no special gift. I am
only passionately curious.” *“Travel is fatal
to bigotry, prejudice, and narrow-mindedness. Broad, wholesome,
and charitable views cannot be acquired by vegetating in one tiny
corner of the globe.” “People who do not accept the new grow old very quickly.”
QUOTES ABOUT HAPPINESS, OPTIMISM & SUCCESS“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds
to be.” “We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements
of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to
be enthusiastic about.” “Success consists of going from failure to failure without
loss of enthusiasm.” “It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation
which give happiness.” “I'm going to be f___in happy no matter what.” “Fake it 'til you make it.” *“Nothing will benefit human health,
or increase the chances for survival of life on earth, as the evolution
to a vegetarian diet .” *“Never spend your money before
you have it.” 'Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy,
and wise.'
QUOTES ABOUT PRINCIPALS“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of
principle, stand like a rock.” “A people that values its privileges above its principles
soon loses both.”
QUOTES ABOUT CHARACTER“Character cannot be developed in ease and quite. Only through
experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened,
ambition inspired and success achieved.” “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test
a man's character, give him power.” “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in
moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times
of challenge and controversy.” “Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.” “The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The
test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.” “May we, in our dealings with all the peoples of the earth,
ever speak the truth and serve justice.” “Try not to become a man of success but rather to become
a man of value.” “Character is determined more by the lack of certain experiences,
than by those one has had.” “I have the consolation of having added nothing to my private
fortune during my public service, and of retiring with hands clean
as they are empty.” “The gift of Truth excels all other gifts.” “I pronounce it as certain, that there was never a truly
great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.” “A good conscience is a continual Christmas.” “Once you reach 'the age of accountability' and you make
a mistake, you don't have any excuses; but there are explanations,
& only a fool does not seek to understand why he or she makes
a mistake.” “Morality can not be legislated, but behavior can be regulated.
Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain
the heartless.”
QUOTES ABOUT FLAWED HUMAN BEINGS“With fame I become more and more stupid, which of course
is a very common phenomenon.” “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he
will not bite you, that is the principal difference between a dog
and a man.” “Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike
people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love
and hate.” “Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision
for the limits of the world.” “Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of
the time he will pick himself up and continue on.” “It has been my experience that folks who have no vices,
have very few virtues.” “If people are good only because they fear punishment, and
hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” “The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything,
except our mode of thinking.” *“He who will not economize will
have to agonize.” *“Human beings are almost unique
in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, but
they are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do
so.”
QUOTES ABOUT ACCEPTING THE DIVINE OUTCOME“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of
small things brought together.” “We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so
as to have the life that is waiting for us.” “It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain
of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.”
QUOTES ABOUT ANGER & REVENGE“Anyone can become angry—that is easy, but to be angry
with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for
the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not easy.”
“When anger rises, think of the consequences.” “Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another
as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.”
QUOTES ABOUT USING OUR MIND, THINKING FOR OURSELVES, IDEAS & DREAMS “What luck for rulers, that men do not think”. “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has
endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect, has intended us to
forego their use.” “Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let people
have guns …why should we let them have ideas?” “The right to figure things out for yourself is the only
true freedom everyone shares. Go use it.” *“I not only use all the brains
that I have, but all that I can borrow.” “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition
from mediocre minds.” “All great truths begin as blasphemies.” “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world,
and that is an idea whose time has come.” “Not to dream more boldly, may turn out to be in view of
present realities, simply irresponsible.” “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
*“You're only
given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” *“The best way
to become acquainted with a subject, is to write a book about it.”
QUOTES ABOUT SHARING & INVENTION“As we enjoy great advantages from inventions of others,
we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention
of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.” “Don't worry about what anybody else is going to do…
The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Really smart
people with reasonable funding can do just about anything that doesn't
violate too many of Newton's Laws!” “Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas
are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.”
“The seeds of great discoveries are constantly floating around
us, but they only take root in minds well prepared to receive them.”
QUOTES ABOUT KINDNESS & DOING GOOD“By developing a sense of respect for others and a concern
for their welfare, we reduce our own selfishness, which is the source
of all problems, and enhance our sense of kindness which is a natural
source of goodness.” “Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.”
“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true
happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through
fidelity to a worthy purpose.” “The ideals which have guided my way, and time after time
have given me the energy to face life, have been Kindness, Beauty
and Truth.” “I want you to be the good news to those around you. I want
you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your
next door neighbor?”
QUOTES ABOUT CHOOSING THE RIGHT PEOPLE FOR YOUR LIFE“Have no friends not equal to yourself.” “When someone shows you who they are, believe them…
the first time!” “People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a
lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you'll know exactly
what to do.” “I learned some invaluable lessons in Nashville that apply
to both farming and show business: Do not corner something you know
is meaner than you; keep skunks of all kinds at a distance; if you
forgive your enemies, it messes up their heads.” “Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem
your own reputation, for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.”
“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those
few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship
is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks
of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.” “If someone betrays you once, it’s their fault; if
they betray you twice, it’s your fault.” “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
“Mistrust those in whom the urge to punish is strong.”
“If they will do it with you, they will do it to you.”. *“Do not bite
at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.”
QUOTES ABOUT GOVERNMENT“The best minds are not in government. If any were, business
would hire them away.” “No man is good enough to govern another man without that
other's consent.” “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government
has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”
“If voting could really change things, it would be illegal.”
'In framing a government which is to be administered by men over
men, you must first enable the government to control the governed;
and in the next place oblige it to control itself.' 'The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must
be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.'
QUOTES ABOUT THE LAW"Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always
to remain unaltered." "A law is something which must have a moral basis, so that
there is an inner compelling force for every citizen to obey."
"The strictest law often causes the most serious wrong."
"It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice
alive." "What power has law where only money rules." "No one can earn a million dollars honestly."
QUOTES ABOUT FEAR & WORRY“Never let us negotiate out of fear but never let us fear
to negotiate.” “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have
to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified
terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
“As a cure for worrying, work is far better than whiskey.
I always found that, if I began to worry, the best thing I could
do was focus upon doing something useful and then work very hard
at it. Soon, I would forget what was troubling me.”
QUOTES ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY, BULLYING, & ABUSE OF POWER“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
“An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power
over his fellow citizens.” 'All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.' 'I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom
of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power
than by violent and sudden usurpations.' 'If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the
guise of fighting a foreign enemy." 'Wherever there is interest and power to do wrong, wrong will generally
be done.' “Threats are the absolute measure of last resort, only to
be used when nothing else works & only if appropriate &
legal, not the first thing you start out with. A Bully starts out
with a threat.”
QUOTES ABOUT SELF-WORTH“It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy
of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.”
“Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without
it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.” “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
“If you do not believe you are worthy of being loved, you will not believe others can love you even if they say they love you. Ultimately, you will sabotage your relationships to make your belief come true.”
QUOTES ABOUT IRONIC HUMOUR“I sent the club a wire stating, please accept my resignation.
I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.”
(Known as ”Groucho Marx syndrome”.) “If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith.”
(After his ideas lead to development of the atomic bomb) “To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me
an authority myself.” “I'd rather argue against a hundred idiots, than have one
agree with me.” “This year will go down in history. For the first time, a
civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be
safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our
lead into the future!”
QUOTES ABOUT RELIGION & GOD“I believe that the science of chemistry alone almost proves
the existence of an intelligent creator.” “Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself
alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life:
if it has been honest and dutiful to society, the religion which
has regulated it cannot be a bad one.” *“When I do good, I feel good;
when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.”
QUOTES ABOUT INTERESTING PREDICTIONS“Someday, man will harness the rise and fall of the tides,
imprison the power of the sun, and release atomic power.”
“When china wakes, it will shake the world.”
QUOTES ABOUT WAR & PEACE“A brilliant man would find a way not to fight a war.” “Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's
the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always
a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy,
a fascist dictatorship, a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.
Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding
of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they
are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism,
and exposing the country to greater danger. It works the
same way in any country.” “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket
fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger
and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed…”
“Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness,
consideration and co-operation can finally lead men to the dawn
of eternal peace.” “I like to believe that people in the long run are going
to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think
that people want peace so much that one of these days, governments
had better get out of the way and let them have it.” “People don't start wars, governments do.” “History teaches that wars begin when governments believe
the price of aggression is cheap.” “Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon
in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral
courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in
today's world do not have.” “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how
necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn
how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.”
“Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy,
or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the
tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields
to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no
longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable
events.” “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” “What luck for rulers, that men do not think.” “Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism
of the rich.” 'No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual
warfare." 'The means of defense against foreign danger historically have
become the instruments of tyranny at home."
Some other good quotes on thinking http://www.quotegarden.com/thinking.html More good quotes: |
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