Today I’d like to share some of my absolute favorite quotations from a variety of people. These all have either struck a chord with me, are particularly thought-provoking, or resonate as especially true in my life, and they’re not just cliches to me anymore; I have come to realize the personal truth in all of these through my own life experiences.
“To thine own self be true.” – Polonius, Hamlet
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” – Mark Twain
“Anyone who feels anger must also feel sadness.” – Ougi, Code Geass episode 11
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett
“We see them as we are, not as they are.” – Unknown
“We want happy paintings. Happy paintings. If you want sad things, watch the news.” – Bob Ross
“The sins of the father are the burdens of the son.” – Unknown (Heroes 6)
“A person reveals his character by nothing so clearly as the joke he resents.” – Georg C. Lichtenberg
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Countless possibilities exist at every moment. Find one new possibility right now.” – Unknown
“To live is to be slowly born.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“Who sees all beings in his own self, and his own self in all beings, loses all fear.” – Isa Upanishad, Hindu Scripture
“A year from now you will wish you had started today.” – Unknown
“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?” – Mark Twain
“The normal reaction to an abnormal situation is abnormal behavior.” – James Waller
“I was only following orders.” – Adolf Eichmann, director of Nazi deportation of Jews to concentration camps
“We are loathe to let others do unto us what we happily do to ourselves.” – Chaunsey Starr
“When a feeling was there, they felt as if it would never go; when it was gone, they felt as if it had never been; when it returned, they felt as if it had never gone.” – George MacDonald (What’s Mine’s Mine)
“Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“Sometimes in the course of conversation the sound of our own voice disconcerts us and misleads us into making assertions which in no way correspond to our opinions.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” – Epicurus
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” – Queen Gertrude, Hamlet (Act III)
“Consider, friend, as you pass by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you too shall be. Prepare, therefore, to follow me.” – Scottish tombstone epitaph
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” – Robert Frost
“Those who preach ignorance fear the truth.” – Eric Postpischil
“When there are too many policeman, there can be no liberty; when there are too many soldiers, there can be no peace; when there are too many lawyers, there can be no justice.” – Lin Yutang
“Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.” – James Bovard
“Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.” – Albert Einstein
“I can’t understand why people are frightened by new ideas. I’m frightened of old ones.” – John Cage
“New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.” – John Locke
“Anger is almost always an emotion for people who wish to control others while simultaneously failing to control themselves.” – Danoah.com
“Because one believes in oneself,
one doesn’t try to convince others.
Because one is content with oneself,
one doesn’t need others’ approval.
Because one accepts oneself,
the whole world accepts him or her.”
– Lao Tzu
“Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.
It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.” – Unknown
Other
“Generally, though, consonant phonemes carry more information than do vowel phonemes. The treth ef thes stetement shed be evedent frem thes bref demenstretien.” – David G. Myers (Psychology)
“I am but mad north-northwest: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw.” – Hamlet, Hamlet (Act III)
“Using seatbelts increases your chance of getting cancer.” – Eric Postpischil
“Me and Mike, ve vork in mine.
Holy shit, ve have good time.
Vunce a veek ve get our pay.
Holy shit, no vork next day.” – Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five pg. 198