My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way. Ernest Hemingway
When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. Ernest Hemingway
Never mistake motion for action. Ernest Hemingway
Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. Ernest Hemingway
A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not. Ernest Hemingway
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Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly, I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it. Theodore Roosevelt
We need the iron qualities that go with true manhood. We need the positive virtues of resolution, of courage, of indomitable will, of power to do without shrinking the rough work that must always be done. Theodore Roosevelt
The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. Theodore Roosevelt
In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Theodore Roosevelt
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A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge. Thomas Carlyle
A man cannot make a pair of shoes rightly unless he do it in a devout manner. Thomas Carlyle
A man perfects himself by work much more than by reading. Thomas Carlyle
A man willing to work, and unable to find work, is perhaps the saddest sight that fortune’s inequality exhibits under this sun. Thomas Carlyle
A man’s honest, earnest opinion is the most precious of all he possesses: let him communicate this, if he is to communicate anything. Thomas Carlyle
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All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again. Goethe
A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world’s torrent. Goethe
Nothing is as terrible to see as ignorance in action. Goethe
Impotent hatred is the most horrible of all emotions; one should hate nobody whom one cannot destroy. Goethe
It is better to do the most trifling thing in the world than to regard half an hour as a trifle. Goethe
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There are three faithful friends: an old wife, an old dog, and ready money. Benjamin Franklin
Where there is marriage without love, there will be love without marriage. Benjamin Franklin
If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect. Benjamin Franklin
The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance. Benjamin Franklin
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The Middle Eastern states aren’t nations; they’re quarrels with borders. P J O’Rourke
Very little is known of the Canadian country since it is rarely visited by anyone but the Queen and illiterate sport fishermen. P J O’Rourke
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. P J O’Rourke
Italy is not technically part of the Third World, but no one has told the Italians. P J O’Rourke
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An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Mahatma Gandhi
Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. Mahatma Gandhi
I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers. Mahatma Gandhi
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Mahatma Gandhi
Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. Mahatma Gandhi
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Reality, however utopian, is something from which people feel the need of taking pretty frequent holidays. Aldous Huxley
Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad. Aldous Huxley
Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. Aldous Huxley
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. Aldous Huxley
It is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions. Aldous Huxley
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No oppression is so heavy or lasting as that which is inflicted by the perversion and exorbitance of legal authority. Joseph Addison
Self discipline is that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another. Joseph Addison
Man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter. Joseph Addison
Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Joseph Addison
Egotist: a person more interested in himself than in me. Ambrose Bierce
Noise: a stench in the ear. The chief product and authenticating sign of civilization. Ambrose Bierce
A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it. Ambrose Bierce
All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher. Ambrose Bierce