A quotation from Joseph Addison

Knowledge is, indeed, that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another. It finishes one half of the human Soul. It makes Being pleasant to us, fills the mind with entertaining views and administers to it a perpetual series of gratifications. It gives ease to fortitude, and gracefulness to retirement. It fills a publick station with suitable abilities, and adds a lustre to those who are in the possession of them.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1713-07-18), The Guardian, No. 111

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A quotation from Alexander Smith

                    To our graves we walk
In the thick footprints of departed men.

Alexander Smith (1830-1867) Scottish poet
“Horton,” ll. 570-571, City Poems (1857)

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A quotation from Shakespeare

IAGO: I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Othello, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 129ff (1.1.129-131) (1603)

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A quotation from Terry Pratchett

We who think we are about to die will laugh at anything.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 29, Night Watch (2002)

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A quotation from Samuel Johnson

There is no kind of idleness by which we are so easily seduced as that which dignifies itself by the appearance of business, and by making the loiterer imagine that he has something to do which must not be neglected, keeps in perpetual agitation and hurries him from place to place.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1759-03-17), The Idler, No. 48

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A quotation from Dave Barry

   Is there something you can do about it? You’re darned right there is! You can fight back. Mister Old Age is not going to get you, by golly! All you need is a little determination — a willingness to get out of that reclining lounge chair, climb into that sweatsuit, lace on those running shoes, stride out that front door, and hurl yourself in front of that municipal bus.
   No, wait. Sorry. For a moment there I got carried away by the bleakness of it all. Forget what I said. Really. There is absolutely no need to become suicidally depressed about the fact that every organ in your body is headed straight down the toilet.

Dave Barry (b. 1947) American humorist, author, columnist
Dave Barry Turns 40, ch. 2 “Your Disintegrating Body” (1990)

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A quotation from Twain

But banish care, it’s no time for it now — on with the dance, let joy be unconfined is my motto, whether there’s any dance to dance; or any joy to unconfine — you’ll be the healthier for it every time, — every time, Washington — it’s my experience, and I’ve seen a good deal of this world.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Story (1892), The American Claimant, ch. 2 [Col. Sellers]

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A quotation from Arthur Conan Doyle

How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) British writer and physician
Story (1890-02), “The Sign of the Four,” ch. 6 [Holmes], Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 45 (US) / 1 (UK)

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A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt

There were all kinds of things of which I was afraid at first, from grizzly bears to “mean” horses and gunfighters, but by acting as if I was not afraid, I gradually ceased to be afraid.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Autobiography, ch. 2 “The Vigor of Life” (1913)

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A quotation from Thomas Carlyle

Truly it is a sad thing for a people, as for a man, to fall into Scepticism, into dilettantism, insincerity; not to know Sincerity when they see it. For this world, and for all worlds, what curse is so fatal? The heart lying dead, the eye cannot see.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Lecture (1840-05-22), “The Hero as King,” Home House, Portman Square, London

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A quotation from Eric Hoffer

A great man’s greatest good luck is to die at the right time.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 276 (1955)

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A quotation from Chuck Palahniuk

The murderer, the victim, the witness, each of us thinks our role is the lead.

Chuck Palahniuk (b. 1962) American novelist and freelance journalist
Invisible Monsters, ch. 1 (1999)

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A quotation from Josh Billings

Lazyness iz a good deal like money, — the more a man haz ov it the more he seems tew want.
 
[Laziness is a good deal like money — the more a man has of it, the more he seems to want.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-08 (1871 ed.)

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A quotation from Ben Franklin

He that resolves to mend hereafter, resolves not to mend now.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1745 ed.)

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A quotation from Christopher Marlowe

FAUSTUS: Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et nulla est in nobis veritas;
   “If we say that we have no sin,
   We deceive ourselves, and there’s no truth in us.”
   Why, then, belike we must sin,
   And so consequently die.
   Ay, we must die an everlasting death.

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 1 (sc. 1), l. 70ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)

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A quotation from Madeleine L'Engle

Writing fiction is definitely a universe disturber, and for the writer, first of all. My books push me and prod me and make me ask questions I might otherwise avoid. I start a book, having lived with the characters for several years, during the writing of other books, and I have a pretty good idea of where the story is going and what I hope it’s going to say. And then, once I get deep into the writing, unexpected things begin to happen, things which make me question, and which sometimes really shake my universe.

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

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A quotation from Douglas Adams

   “Life,” he said, “is like a grapefruit.”
   “Er, how so?”
   “Well, it’s sort of orangey-yellow and dimpled on the outside, wet and squidgy in the middle. It’s got pips inside, too. Oh, and some people have half a one for breakfast.”

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Hitchhiker’s Guide No. 4, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, ch. 23 (1984)

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A quotation from James Thurber

The past is an old armchair in the attic, the present an ominous ticking sound, and the future is anybody’s guess.

James Thurber (1894-1961) American humorist, cartoonist, writer
Letter (1961-07-05) to Marianna Brown

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A quotation from James Howell

He that wrestleth with a turd shall be beshitt fall he over or under.

James Howell (c. 1594–1666) Welsh historian and writer
Paroimiographia [Παροιμιογραφία]: Proverbs, or, Old Sayed Sawes & Adages, “English Proverbs” (1659)
[compiler]

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A quotation from Bill Watterson

CALVIN: There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1988-08-28)

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A quotation from Ambrose Bierce

BALOGNA-SAUSAGE, n. A dead dog that is better than a living lion, but not to eat.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Bologna-sausage,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-14)

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A quotation from Hannah Arendt

Nothing we use or hear or touch can be expressed in words that equal what is given by the senses.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Introduction (1977)

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A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

I doubt that anyone does not really believe in God. People may think they don’t have any belief, but you will usually find that somewhere down in a human being’s soul there is a belief in something beyond himself. In any case, I would not judge a man’s character by his belief or unbelief. I would judge his character by his deeds; and no matter what he said about his beliefs, his behavior would soon show whether he was a man of good character or bad.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1956-08), “If You Ask Me,” McCall’s Magazine, Vol. 83

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A quotation from John Adams

As to the history of the Revolution, my Ideas may be peculiar, perhaps Singular. What do we mean by the Revolution? The War? That was no part of the Revolution; it was only an Effect and Consequence of it. The Revolution was in the Minds of the People, and this was effected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen Years, before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1815-08-24) to Thomas Jefferson

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A quotation from Henry Commager

If we establish a standard of safe thinking, we will end up with no thinking at all. That is the only “safe” way, and that is, needless to say, the most precarious, dangerous, of all ways.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1949-11-05), “What Ideas Are Safe?” Saturday Review

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A quotation from Montesquieu

When virtue is banished, ambition invades the hearts of those who are disposed to receive it, and avarice possesses the whole community.
 
[Lorsque cette vertu cesse, l’ambition entre dans les cœurs qui peuvent la recevoir, & l’avarice entre dans tous.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 3, ch. 3 (3.3) (1748) [tr. Nugent (1750)]

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A quotation from Hyman Rickover

Nature is not as forgiving as Christ.

Hyman Rickover (1900-1986) Polish-American naval engineer, admiral [b. Chaim Gdala Rykower]
(Attributed)

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A quotation from Jean Kerr

Dearer to me than the evening star
A Packard car
A Hershey bar
Or a bride in her rich adorning
Dearer than any of these by far
Is to lie in bed in the morning.

Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Essay (1957), “Introduction,” Please Don’t Eat the Daisies

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A quotation from Wendell Berry

The rule, acknowledged or not, seems to be that if we have great power we must use it. We would use a steam shovel to pick up a dime. We have experts who can prove there is no other way to do it.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (1968), “The Loss of the Future,” Religious Humanism Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 47

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A quotation from Addison

Whatever passion enters into a sentence or decision, so far will there be in it a tincture of injustice.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1713-07-04), The Guardian, No. 99

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A quotation from James Shirley

The glories of our blood and state
   Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against fate;
   Death lays his icy hand on kings:
         Scepter and crown
         Must tumble down,
And, in the dust, be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.

James Shirley (1596–1666) English poet, playwright
Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for Achilles’s Armour, sc. 3, st. 1 (1659)

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