My Thoughts and Sayings

We look for differences in one another to prove that we are not alone..
The ultimate truth is that we all live to die someday, but we all die to live a few moments more everyday.
You spend your entire existence scattering bits and pieces of yourself through loving or caring for others. With time, finding yourself thus becomes the most difficult of all challenges, as you have to start collecting and assembling those pieces until they all into place.
Your level of success is measured by the extent to which you have achieved your objectives in life. When you acknowledge your worth from within, success requires neither recognition nor an audience.
No matter how regretful you are of the past, no matter how fearful you are of the future, remember that you are exactly where you are supposed to be right now.
If it weren't for memory, we would be continuously experiencing the excitement of discovering every single thing for the first time. There would be no such thing as routine. Nothing and no-one would be taken for granted. Beauty would never fade with time. But for memory...
I would love to die, knowing that I've given enough to this world to go unmissed. This is how I would love to die..
In the battle between the mind and the heart, always listen to your heart. All else is compromise.
We all had our moments of glory. So, never forget what you have achieved in life. Cherish those wonderful memories, as they made you who you are today. Always believe that the best is yet to come.
Law has nothing to do with righteousness unless it serves Justice.
You have to be patient to become a doctor.
Mathematics and Philosophy are two sides of the same coin whose edge is Logic.
Restlessness is the distance between the Mind and the Heart.
Lips moistened with the wine of Love,
I taste the nectar of heavenly Bliss.
Whirling up the spiral of divine Ecstasy,
I lose myself in the eternity of a Kiss.
The Heart asked the Mind: "Why are you such a coward?"
The Mind replied: "It is because I spend my life protecting you from heartbreaks."
The Heart smiled and said: "How would you know about Love when you spend your life recalling the past and foreseeing the future? I live the Moment and that, is Love."
The heart whispers its secrets in a language called silence...
It is important to cry from time to time
For tears cleanse your eyes and give you a new perspective of life...
Horizon is threshold to serendipity...
Yesterday is late,
Tomorrow can wait,
Today is a blind date
With Fate...
The best things in life are intangible.
Si le Ciel me le demande, je vivrai d'amour et d'eau fraîche... celle qui s'écoule, si limpide, de mes yeux...
Happiness is found at the nadir of despair.
Make loneliness your friend
And you will never be lonely again.
Her eyes embody nature agaze,
But her ogles overwhelm love ablaze.
Strong relationships are built on understanding, not withstanding, differences.
An encounter between two people in life is just the intersection of two parallel movies in the space-time continuum.
If the soul had no gender, no-one would be gay.
Love is embellishment; friendship is accomplishment.
Ever has been the wind of blame
Strong enough to blow out the eternal flame?
When shall you fools wrapped in the veil of shame
Understand that you can never tarnish my name?

A man doesn't plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity.

Alexander Smith
Scottish poet and essayist, 1830-1867

Cease to ask what the morrow will bring forth and set down as gain each day that fortune grants.

Horace
Outstanding Latin lyric poet and satirist under the emperor Augustus, 65 BC-8 BC

In this century, as in others, our highest accomplishments still have the single aim of bringing men together.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery
'Wind, Sand, and Stars'. French aviator and writer, author of 'The Little Prince', 1900-1944

Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.

Winston Churchill
British orator, author, and prime minister during World War II, 1874-1965

Laughter is higher than all pain.

Elbert Hubbard
American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915

A man of courage is also full of faith

Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, writer and orator 106-43 BC

The first thing to do in life is to do with purpose what one purposes to do.

Pablo Casals
Spanish-born cellist and conductor, 1876-1973

One of the greatest and simplest tools for learning more and growing is doing more.

Washington Irving
EWriter called the first American man of letters, 1783-1859

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land;
It is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land.

G. K. Chesterton
English critic and author of verse, essays, novels

Choose only one master: Nature.

Rembrandt
Dutch painter and draftsman, a giant in the history of art, 1606-1669

My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope.

Ovid
Roman classical poet, author of 'Metamorphoses', 43 BC - 17

Once all struggle is grasped, miracles are possible.

Mao Tse-Tung
Chinese stateman, the key figure in China in the 20th century, 1893-1976

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

Aesop
Author of a collection of Greek fables

Books are a finer world within the world.

Alexander Smith
Scottish poet and essayist, 1830-1867

The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American lecturer, poet, and essayist, 1803-1882

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment; full effort is full victory.

Mahatma Gandhi
Indian leader, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of non-violent protest, 1869-1948

The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.

James Barrie, Sr
Scottish dramatist and novelist best known as the creator of Peter Pan, 1860-1937

The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one's opportunities and make the most of one's resources.

Marquis de Vauvenargues
French moralist and essayist, 1715-1747

The foundation of justice is good faith.

Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, writer and orator 106-43 BC

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?

Vincent van Gogh
Dutch painter, one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists, 1853-1890

Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.

Alexander Graham Bell
Scottish-born American inventor of the telephone, 1847-1922

Anyone who keeps learning stays young.

Henry Ford
American industrialist pioneer of the assembly-line production method, 1863-1947

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

Benjamin Franklin
American printer, writer, philosopher, scientist and inventor, 1706-1790

Happiness is a how, not a what; a talent, not an object.

Hermann Hesse
German novelist and poet, 1946 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1877-1962

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.

Friedrich Nietzsche
German classical scholar, philosopher and critic of culture, 1844-1900

I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life.
The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want.

Mark Twain
American humorist, writer and lecturer, 1835-1910

Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is.

Zig Ziglar
American motivational speaker and best selling author

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

Maya Angelou
African-American poet, 1928-

We think too much and feel too little.

Charlie Chaplin
British comedian regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen, 1889-1977

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

Confucius
China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC

Reconciliation should be accompanied by justice, otherwise it will not last.
While we all hope for peace, it shouldn't be peace at any cost but peace based on principle, on justice.

Corazon Aquino
Political leader and president (1986-92) of the Philippines, 1933-

The imagination imitates. It is the critical spirit that creates.

Oscar Wilde
Irish poet, dramatist, novelist and critic, 1854-1900

There is no mistake so great as the mistake of not going on.

William Blake
English poet, painter, engraver and visionary mystic, 1757-1827

Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together.

Eugene Ionesco
Romanian-born French dramatist, elected to the French Academy in 1970; 1909-1994

I will act as if what I do makes a difference.

William James
American philosopher and psychologist, leader of the philosophical movement of Pragmatism, 1842-1910

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.

Robert Louis Stevenson
'An apology for Idlers, Virginibus Puerisque'. Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, 1850-1894

The human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real.
It is by the real that we exist; it is by the ideal that we live.

Victor Hugo
French Romantic poet, novelist, and dramatist 1802-1885

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American lecturer, poet, and essayist, 1803-1882

To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.

Anatole France
French writer, member of the French Academy and 1921 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1844-1924

Difficulties increase the nearer we approach our goal.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
German poet, novelist, playwright and philospoher, 1749-1832

Genius is eternal patience.

Michelangelo
Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet, considered the creator of the Renaissance, 1475-1564

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

Charlie Chaplin
British comedian regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen, 1889-1977

Only the ideas that we really live have any value.

Hermann Hesse
German novelist and poet, 1946 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1877-1962

The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.

Coco Chanel
French fashion designer who ruled over Parisian haute couture for almost six decades, 1883-1971

I just act the way I feel.

Elvis Presley
American popular singer widely known as the King of Rock and Roll, 1935-1977

Nine tenths of education is encouragement.

Anatole France
French writer, member of the French Academy and 1921 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1844-1924

There are no secrets to success.
It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

Colin Powell
US Secretary of State, 1937-

Nature has given men one tongue and two ears, that we may hear twice as much as we speak.

Epictetus
Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135

Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit.

Wilma Rudolph
The first American woman runner to win three gold medals at a single Olympics, 1940-1994

He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.

Benjamin Franklin
American printer, writer, philosopher, scientist and inventor, 1706-1790

Happiness seems made to be shared.

Pierre Corneille
French poet and dramatist, creator of French classical tragedy, 1606-1684

If you have no confidence in yourself, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started.

Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, writer and orator 106-43 BC

A powerful idea communicates some of its strength to him who challenges it.

Marcel Proust
French novelist, author of "À la recherche du temps perdu", 1871-1922

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?

Benjamin Disraeli
British statesman and novelist who was twice prime minister, 1804-1881

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

Mark Twain
American humorist, writer and lecturer, 1835-1910

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.

Kahlil Gibran
Lebanese-American philosophical essayist, novelist and poet 1883-1931

The most manifest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness.

Michael de Montaigne
French writer and philosopher 1533-1592

In general, any form of exercise, if pursued continuously, will help to train us in perseverance.

Mao Tse-Tung
Chinese statesman, the key figure in China in the 20th century, 1893-1976

We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill
British orator, author, and prime minister during World War II, 1874-1965

To win without risk is to triumph without glory.

Pierre Corneille
French poet and dramatist, creator of French classical tragedy, 1606-1684

In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities.

Janos Arany
The greatest Hungarian epic poet, 1817- 1882

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

Kahlil Gibran
Lebanese-American philosophical essayist, novelist and poet 1883-1931

Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.

Richard Bach
American Writer, Author of 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull', 1936

What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Major Colombian novelist and short-story writer, 1982 Nobel Prize for literature, 1928-

The heart has reasons which reason knows nothing of.

Blaise Pascal
French mathematician, physicist, religious philosopher and master of prose, 1623-1662

Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.

George Santayana
Spanish-American philosopher, poet and humanist, 1863-1952

I will celebrate, but I know new goals and objectives will come and I am ready to take them.

Ronaldo
Brazilian soccer player declared the best player in the world, 1976-

The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?

Pablo Casals
Spanish-born cellist, conductor and composer, 1876-1973

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American lecturer, poet, and essayist, 1803-1882

As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery
French aviator and writer, author of 'The Little Prince', 1900-1944

The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons.

Aristotle
Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.

Henry Ward Beecher
Liberal US Congregational minister, 1813-1887

The harder I work, the more I live.

George Bernard Shaw
Irish comic dramatist and literary critic. 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature,1856-1950

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.

Aldous Huxley
English novelist and critic, 1894-1963

A great flame follows a little spark.

Dante Alighieri
Italian author considered one of the greatest poets in all literature, 1265-1321

Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them.

Joseph Joubert
French philosopher, 1754-1824

Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place;
But far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

Benjamin Franklin
American printer, writer, philosopher, scientist and inventor, 1706-1790

To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, 1850-1894

Little things console us, because little things affect us.

Blaise Pascal
French mathematician, physicist, philosopher and master of prose, 1623-1662

The pen is the tongue of the mind.

Miguel de Cervantes
Spanish writer, author of the masterwork 'El quijote', 1547-1616

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.

Elbert Hubbard
American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915

Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.

Francis Bacon, Sr.
English lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and master of the English tongue, 1561-1626

We can do anything we want if we stick to it long enough.

Helen Keller
American author and educator who was blind and deaf, 1880-1968

Assume a virtue if you have it not.

William Shakespeare
Dramatist and poet considered to be the greatest English playwright, 1564-1616

When we are not sure, we are alive.

Graham Greene
English novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, 1904-1991

Everything possible to be believed is an image of truth.

William Blake
English poet, painter, engraver and visionary mystic, 1757-1827

Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift.

Albert Einstein
German-American physicist, Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921, 1879-1955

Blessed are they who know how to shine on one's gloom with their cheer.

Henry Ward Beecher
Liberal US Congregational minister, 1813-1887

He who reins within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.

John Milton
One of the greatest poets of the English language, historian, scholar, pamphleteer...1608-1674

The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American lecturer, poet, and essayist, 1803-1882

I can never decide whether my dreams are the result of my thoughts, or my thoughts the result of my dreams.

D. H. Lawrence
British novelist, poet and essayist, 1885-1930

I am in the habit of looking not so much to the nature of a gift as to the spirit in which it is offered.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, 1850-1894

Don't take it on yourself. Forget now. Live.

Arthur Miller
US playwright, 1915-

To create a little flower is the labour of ages.

William Blake
English poet, painter, engraver and visionary mystic, 1757-1827

Love not what you are, but what you may become.

Miguel de Cervantes
Spanish writer, author of the masterwork 'El quijote', 1547-1616

Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.

James Matthew Barrie, Sr.
Scottish dramatist and novelist best known as the creator of Peter Pan, 1860-1937

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.

Rabindranath Tagore
Bengali poet, playwright, essayist...1913 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1861-1941

Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.

Washington Irving
Writer called the first American man of letters, 1783-1859

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
American best selling writer, author of Life's Little Instruction Book

Love is like wild flowers. It's often found in the most unlikely places.

Anonymous

So of cheerfulness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more it remains.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American lecturer, poet, and essayist, 1803-1882

Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.

Francis Bacon, Sr.
English lawyer, statesman, philosopher and master of the English tongue, 1561-1626

An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, 1850-1894

The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.

Abraham Lincoln
16th U.S. president, who brought about the emancipation of the slaves, 1809-1865

Love is the only gold.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson
English poet often regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian age in poetry, 1809-1892

If I were to name the three most precious resources of life, I should say books, friends, and nature.

John Burroughs
American essayist and naturalist, 1837-1921

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.

Chinese Proverb

An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere.

Samuel Johnson
English critic, biographer, essayist, poet and lexicographer, 1709-1784

Most people don't recognize opportunity when it comes;
Because it's usually dressed in overalls and looks a lot like work.

Thomas Edison
US most famous inventor, best known for his invention of the incandescent electric light, 1847-1931

He who wants to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open.

Rabindranath Tagore
Bengali poet, playwright, essayist...1913 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1861-1941

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Martin Luther King Jr.
Baptist minister who led the civil-rights movement in the US, 1929-1968

The highest result of education is tolerance.

Helen Keller
American author and educator who was blind and deaf, 1880-1968

It takes a person who is wide awake to make his dream come true.

Roger Babson
American statistician, business forecaster and author, 1875-1967

I quote others only the better to express myself.

Michael de Montaigne
French writer and philosopher 1533-1592

The persons born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German poet, novelist, playwright, and philosopher, 1749-1832

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall.

Nelson Mandela
South African statesman, 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace. 1918-

Your work is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on earth.

Elizabeth, the Queen Mother
English monarch, wife of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II, 1900-2002

You have to have a dream so you can get up in the morning.

Billy Wilder
Austrian-born American motion-picture scenarist, director and producer, 1906-2002

I have come that you might have life, and have it to the fullest.

Jesus of Nazareth
John 10:10

If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

John F. Kennedy
35th president of the United States, 1917-1963

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.

Anthony J. D'Angelo
Founder of The Collegiate EmPowerment Company and creator of The Inspiration Book Series

To overcome difficulties is to experience the full delight of existence.

Arthur Schopenhauer
German philosopher, 1788-1860

A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and the one that we take the least care of all to acquire.

François de la Rochefoucauld
French classical author, leading exponent of the Maxime, 1613-1680

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

Irish Blessing

A smile happens in a flash, but its memory can last a lifetime.

Anonymous

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity
In which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.

Albert Einstein
German-American physicist, Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921, 1879-1955

We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.

Thich Nhat Hanh
Contemporary Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist and writer

I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it.

Marshall McLuhan
Canadian communications theorist and educator, 1911-1980

I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.

Pablo Casals
Spanish-born cellist and conductor, 1876-1973

No one is useless in the world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else.

Charles Dickens
British novelist, 1812-1870

Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.

Robert Louis Stevenson
Scottish essayist, poet, and author of fiction and travel books, 1850-1894

Knowledge is power.

Francis Bacon, Sr.
English lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and master of the English tongue, 1561-1626

Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks,
Breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.

Mary Lou Cook
American community activist, calligrapher and author

If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.

Maya Angelou
African-American poet, 1928-

Life is without meaning.
You bring the meaning to it.
The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be.
Being alive is the meaning.

Joseph Campbell
Prolific American author, teacher, lecturer and editor, 1904-1987

Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.

Albert Szent-Gyrgyi
Hungarian biochemist, 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1893-1986

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
Where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Baptist minister who led the civil-rights movement in the US, 1929-1968

Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom.

Rabindranath Tagore
Bengali poet, playwright, essayist...1913 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1861-1941

The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

Robert Byrne
US writer and billiards champion player, author of 'Standard Book of Pool and Billiards'

Humor is the great thing, the saving thing.
The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.

Mark Twain
American humorist, writer and lecturer, 1835-1910

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.

Abraham Lincoln
16th U.S. president, who brought about the emancipation of the slaves, 1809-1865

Whatever fortune brings, don't be afraid of doing things.

Alan Alexander Milne
English humorist, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, 1882-1956

Peace goes into the making of a poem as flour goes into the making of bread.

Pablo Neruda
Chilean poet, diplomat and politician, 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1904-1973

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.

Henri Matisse
Artist regarded as the most important French painter of the 20th century, 1869-1954

The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.

Leonardo da Vinci
Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect and engineer, 1452-1519

Great floods have flown from simple sources.

William Shakespeare
Dramatist and poet considered to be the greatest English playwright, 1564-1616

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.

Henry David Thoreau
American essayist, poet and philosopher,1817-1862

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.

Henri Bergson
French philosopher, 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1859-1941

There is no failure except in no longer trying.

Elbert Hubbard
American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915

Strengthen me by sympathizing with my strength, not my weakness.

Amos Bronson Alcott
American philosopher, teacher and reformer, 1799-1888

Each man is the architect of his own fate.

Appius Claudius
Roman statesman, 300 B.C

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

Confucius
China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

Aesop
Greek writer, author of a collection of Greek fables, 620?-560 B.C.

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.

Richard Bach
American Writer, Author of 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull', 1936

The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.

Carl Sagan
American astronomer and science writer, 1934-1996

One must be frank to be relevant.

Corazon Aquino
Political leader and president (1986-92) of the Philippines, 1933-

Laughter is one of the very privileges of reason, being confined to the human species.

Thomas Carlyle
Scottish-born English historian and essayist, leading figure in the Victorian era, 1795-1881

Lessons are not given, they are taken.

Cesare Pavese
Italian poet, critic, and novelist, 1908-1950

The thousand mysteries around us would not trouble but interest us, if only we had cheerful, healthy hearts.

Friedrich Nietzsche
German classical scholar, philosopher and critic of culture, 1844-1900

What is genius, anyway, if it isn't the ability to give an adequate response to a great challenge?

Bette Greene
American writer, author of 'Summer of My German Soldier', 1934-

Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.

Samuel Butler
English novelist, essayist and critic, 1835-1902

Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.

Leonardo da Vinci
Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect and engineer, 1452-1519

The man who fears no truth has nothing to fear from lies.

Thomas Jefferson
3rd US president, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, 1743-1826

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.

Victor Borge
Danish-born American pianist and comedian, 1909-2000

At Christmas play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year.

Thomas Tusser
English farmer and writer, 1524-1580

It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.

Charles Dickens
British novelist, 1812-1870

The happiest moments of my life have a been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.

Thomas Jefferson
3rd US president, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, 1743-1826

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.

William Allen White
American journalist and author known as the Sage of Emporia", 1868-1944

New Year's Day is every man's birthday.

Charles Lamb
English essayist and critic, 1775-1834

We must seek, above all, a world of peace; a world in which peoples dwell together in mutual respect and work together in mutual regard.

John F. Kennedy
35th president of the United States, 1917-1963

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.

Carl Gustav Jung
Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytic psychology, 1875-1961

It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win.

John Paul Jones
Scottish-born American naval hero in the U.S. War of Independence, 1747-1792

When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.

Henry David Thoreau
American essayist, poet and philosopher, 1817-1862

No man ever was glorious, who was not laborious.

Benjamin Franklin
American printer, writer, philosopher, scientist and inventor, 1706-1790

In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.

Albert Camus
French novelist, essayist and playwright, 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1913-1960

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

Last Words. William James
American philosopher and psychologist, 1842-1910

The language of friendship is no words but meanings.

Henry David Thoreau
American essayist, poet and philosopher, 1817-1862

Dancing is the poetry of the foot.

John Dryden
English poet, dramatist and literary critic, 1631-1700

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.

G.K. Chesterton
English critic and author of verse, essays, novels and short stories, 1874-1936

Progress comes from the intelligent use of experience.

Elbert Hubbard
American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915

The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page.

St. Augustine
One of the most significant Christian thinkers, 354-430

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

Maya Angelou
African-American poet, b.1928

Man is the artificer of his own happiness.

Henry D. Thoreau
American essayist, poet and philosopher, 1817-1862

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Abraham Lincoln
16th U.S. president, who brought about the emancipation of the slaves, 1809-1865

Do your work with your whole heart and you will succeed; there’s so little competition.

Elbert Hubbard
American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915

The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.

Frank Lloyd Wright
American architect and writer, 1867-1959

Give me the ready hand rather than the ready tongue.

Cesare Pavese
Italian poet, critic and novelist, 1908-1950

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.

Charles Darwin
English naturalist, author of the theory of evolution by natural selection, 1809-1882

The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.

Edward Teller
Hungarian-born American nuclear physicist, b.1908

A better world shall emerge based on faith and understanding.

Douglas MacArthur
U.S. general, 1880-1964

Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.

Maya Angelou
African-American poet, b.1928

With love and patience, nothing is impossible.

Daisaku Ikeda
Japanese peace activist, president of Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International, b.1928

People seldom see the halting and painful steps by which the most insignificant success is achieved.

Anne Sullivan
American teacher of Helen Keller, 1866-1936

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

Antoine De Saint-Exupery
French aviator and writer, author of 'The Little Prince', 1900-1944

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.

Blaise Pascal
French mathematician, physicist, religious philosopher, and master of prose, 1623-1662

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them.

Francis Bacon
English lawyer, statesman, philosopher, and master of the English tongue, 1561-1626

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

Mahatma Gandhi
Indian leader, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948

Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.

Seneca
Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD

As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.

George Bernard Shaw
Irish comic dramatist and literary critic. 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1856-1950

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

Lao Tzu
China taoist philosopher, BC 600

Friendship’s the wine of life.

Edward Young
English poet, dramatist, and literary critic, 1683-1765

The successful man is the one who had the chance and took it.

Roger Babson
American statistician, business forecaster and author, 1875-1967

He is the best sailor who can steer within the fewest points of the wind, and exact a motive power out of the greatest obstacles.

Henry David Thoreau
American essayist, poet and philosopher, 1817-1862

Adventure is worthwhile.

Aristotle
Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist

There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.

Josh Billings
American humorist, 1818-1885

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

Aristotle
Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

St. Francis of Assisi
Founder of the Franciscan order, 1181-1226

A person, who no matter how desperate the situation, gives others hope, is a true leader.

Daisaku Ikeda
Japanese peace activist, president of Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International, b.1928

He who depends on himself will attain the greatest happiness.

Chinese Proberb
Book of Odes.

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th president of the United States, 1890-1969

Give a man health and a course to steer; and he'll never stop to trouble about whether he's happy or not.

George Bernard Shaw
Irish comic dramatist and literary critic. 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature, 1856-1950

To describe happiness is to diminish it.

Stendhal
One of the most original French writers of the 19th century, 1783-1842

Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German poet, novelist, playwright, and philospoher, 1749-1832

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.

Arthur C. Clarke
English writer of science fiction, b. 1917

In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

Dalai Lama
Head of the Dge-lugs-pa order of Tibetan Buddhists, 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, b.1935

Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.

Samuel Johnson
English critic, biographer, essayist, poet and lexicographer, 1709-1784

A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.

William Shakespeare
Dramatist and poet considered to be the greatest English playwright, 1564-1616

Where there is great love, there are always miracles.

Willa Sibert Cather
American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, 1873-1947

The final mystery is oneself.

Oscar Wilde
Irish poet, dramatist, novelist and critic, 1854-1900

When love is deep, much can be accomplished.

Shinichi Suzuki
Japanese violinist and teacher who introduced millions of children to his Suzuki Method, 1898-1998

The most important of my discoveries have been suggested to me by my failures.

Humphrey Davy, Sir
British chemist, 1778-1829

Life is not an exact science, it is an art.

Samuel Butler
English novelist, essayist and critic, 1835-1902

If you can give your son or daughter only one gift, let it be enthusiasm.

Bruce Barton
American politician, 1886-1967

Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.

Mark Twain
American humorist, writer and lecturer, 1835-1910

He has half the deed done who has made a beginning.

Horace
Outstanding Latin lyric poet and satirist under the emperor Augustus, 65 BC-8 BC

I said to the night,
"If you are in love with the moon,
it is because you never stay for long."
The night turned to me and said,
"It is not my fault. I never see the Sun,
how can I know that love is endless?"

To place you in my heart
may turn you into thought.
I will not do that!
To hold you with my eyes
May turn you into thorn.
I will not do that!
I will set you on my breath
so you will become my life.

You are so near
that I cannot see you.
Like a fool I keep looking around.
Your hand cannot reach me,
I'm wrapped in so many veils
My heart sobs, inconsolable...

Be honest dear heart,
broken and abashed,
how can you still chase love?
Without a drop of water
how dare you enter
the raging fire of love?
Tell me foolish heart
what can I do with you?

When compassion fills my heart,
free from all desire,
I sit quietly like the earth.
My silent cry echoes like thunder
throughout the universe.

You opened the door of my heart
and filled it with the pain of love.
Shaken, I ran to seek comfort
from others, but they
did not respond to my lament.
Alone and desperate, I beg you
do not forsake me now.

The time has come to turn your heart
into a temple of fire.
Your essence is gold hidden in dust.
To reveal its splendour
you need to burn in the fire of love.

I was nothing,
you made me greater
than a mountain.
I lagged behind,
you pushed me in front.
My heart was shattered,
you healed it.
I turned into a lover
of myself.

If you have illusions about Heaven
lose them.
The soul heard of one attribute of Love
and came to earth.
A hundred attributes of Heaven
could never charm her back.
It is here the soul disovers
the reality of Love.

Imitating others,
I failed to find myself.
I looked inside and discovered
I only knew my name.
When I stepped outside
I found my real Self.

You know what love is?
It is all kindness, generosity.
Disharmony prevails when
you confuse lust with love, while
the distance between the two
is endless.

Invoking your name
does not help me to see you.
I' m blinded by the light of your face.
Longing for your lips
does not bring them any closer.
What veils you from me
is my memory of you.

Holding on to your feet
I cannot reach your hands.
Who can I turn to,
when it' s only your love I want?
You tease me, saying,
"I see no tears in your eyes."
My heart is broken, can' t you see
the drops on my eyelashes?

Be thirsty heart,
seek forever without a rest.
Let this soundless longing
hidden deep inside you
be the source
of every word you say.

Dear heart, you are so unreasonable!
First you fall in love
then worry about your life.
You rob and steal
then worry about the law.
You profess to be in love
and still worry about what people say.

The heart is like a candle
longing to be lit.
Torn from the beloved
it yearns to be whole again,
but you have to bear pain.
You cannot learn about love.
Love appears on the wings of grace.

"I want a kiss from you,"
said my heart.
"Yes, but the price
is your life."
My heart leaped with joy
and said,
"Who cares about the price?"

Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.
 
Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.
 
All that spirits desire, spirits attain.
 
Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
 
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.
 
Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.
 
He who has not looked on Sorrow will never see Joy.
 
In the depth of my soul, there is a wordless song.
 
Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.
 
In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.
 
Often times I have hated in self-defense; if I were stronger I would not have used such a weapon.
 
Once I, deemed myself a poet. But when I stood before him in Bethany I knew what is was to hold an instrument with but a single string before one who commands all instruments.
 
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
 
What is this world that is hastening me toward I know not what, viewing me with contempt?
 
Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood.
 
We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.
 
Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed.
 
Cast aside those who liken godliness to whimsy and who try to combine their greed for wealth with their desire for a happy afterlife.
 
Coming generations will learn equality from poverty, and love from woes.
 
Death most resembles a prophet who is without honor in his own land or a poet who is a stranger among his people.
 
Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do.
 
Hallow the body as a temple to comeliness and sanctify the heart as a sacrifice to love; love recompenses the adorers.
 
I existed from all eternity and, behold, I am here; and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end.
 
I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.
 
I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art.
 
If indeed you must be candid, be candid beautifully.
 
A poet is a bird of unearthly excellence, who escapes from his celestial realm arrives in this world warbling. If we do not cherish him, he spreads his wings and flies back into his homeland.
 
The reality of the other person lies not in what he reveals to you, but what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says, but rather to what he does not say.
 
Where is the justice of political power if it executes the murderer and jails the plunderer, and then itself marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills?
 
Wisdom stands at the turn in the road and calls upon us publicly, but we consider it false and despise its adherents.
 
Would that I were a dry well, and that the people tossed stones into me, for that would be easier than to be a spring of flowing water that the thirsty pass by, and from which they avoid drinking.
 
Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.
 
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
 
Zeal is a volcano, the peak of which the grass of indecisiveness does not grow.
 
Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.
 
Your life is an island separated from all other islands and continents. Regardless of how many boats you send to other shores or how many ships arrive upon your shores, you yourself are an island separated by its own pains, secluded in its happiness and far away in its compassion and hidden in its secrets and mysteries.
 
They have exiled me now from their society and I am pleased, because humanity does not exile except the one whose noble spirit rebels against despotism and oppression. He who does not prefer exile to slavery is not free by any measure of freedom, truth and duty.
 
Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream.
 
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
 
Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfful to seek other than itself.
 
Oh, heart, if one should say to you that the soul perishes like the body, answer that the flower withers, but the seed remains.
 
When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?
 
It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it will not be created for years or even generations.
 
Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.
 
To be able to look back upon one' s life in satisfaction, is to live twice.
 
Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you.
 
A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand. Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?
 
Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.
 
If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.
 
Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.
 
The most pitiful among men is he who turns his dreams into silver and midnightblue.
 
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
 
To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.
 
If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.
 
I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
 
The earth is like a beautiful bride who needs no manmade jewels to heighten her loveliness...
 
If my survival caused another to perish, then death would be sweeter and more beloved.
 
He who does not see the angels and devils in the beauty and malice of life will be far removed from knowledge, and his spirit will be empty of affection.
 
Keep me from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children.
 
Love and doubt have never been on speaking terms.
 
Love is trembling happiness.
 
Love possesses not nor will it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.
 
No man can reveal to you nothing but that which already lies half-asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
 
Of life's two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart and the second in a labourer's hand.
 
One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night.
 
Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolutions.
 
During the first period of a man's life the greatest danger is not to take the risk. When once the risk has really been taken, then the greatest danger is to risk too much.
 
The chemist who can extract from his heart's elements compassion, respect, longing, patience, regret, surprise, and forgiveness and compound them into one can create that atom which is called love.
 
Desire is half of life; indifference is half of death.
 
The significance of a man is not in what he attains, but rather what he longs to attain.
 
The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness; and knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.
 
Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
 
Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life and share with the people the same happiness.
 
We live only to discover beauty. All else is a form of waiting.
 
When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
 
When you reach the heart of life you shall find beauty in all things, even in the eyes that are blind to beauty.
 
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
 
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might also pray in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance?
 
Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all.
 
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
 
The bird has an honour that man does not have. Man lives in the traps of his abdicated laws and traditions; but the birds live according to the natural law of God who causes the earth to turn around the sun.
 
The eye of a human being is a microscope, which makes the world seem bigger than it really is.
 
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
 
In battling evil, excess is good; for he who is moderate in announcing the truth is presenting half-truth. He conceals the other half out of fear of the people's wrath.
 
It is well go give when asked but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.
 
Knowledge cultivates your seeds and does not sow in you seeds.
 
Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know my self, to know it completely, to know its minutiae, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms.
 
Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.
 
Nor shall derision prove powerful against those who listen to humanity or those who follow in the footsteps of divinity, for they shall live forever. Forever.
 
Pain and foolishness lead to great bliss and complete knowledge, for Eternal Wisdom created nothing under the sun in vain.
 
Poverty is a veil that obscures the face of greatness. An appeal is a mask covering the face of tribulation.
 
Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.
 
Rebellion without truth is like spring in a bleak, arid desert.
 
Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.
 
Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'
 
If the grandfather of the grandfather of Jesus had known what was hidden within him, he would have stood humble and awe-struck before his soul.
 
The person you consider ignorant and insignificant is the one who came from God, that he might learn bliss from grief and knowledge from gloom.
 
The tears that you spill, the sorrowful, are sweeter than the laughter of snobs and the guffaws of scoffers.
 
They consider me to have sharp and penetrating vision because I see them through the mesh of a sieve.
 
Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration.
 
We were a silent, hidden thought in the folds of oblivion, and we have become a voice that causes the heavens to tremble.
 
What difference is there between us, save a restless dream that follows my soul but fears to come near you?
 
What do the nationalists say about killers punishing murderers and thieves sentencing looters?
 
A man's true wealth is the good he does in the world. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
 
And you would accept the seasons of your heart just as you have always accepted that seasons pass over your fields and you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
 
Art arises when the secret vision of the artist and the manifestation of nature agree to find new shapes.
 
By losing your goal, you have lost your way.
 
Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.