"Twelve things to remember:
1. The value of time
2. The success of perseverance
3. The pleasure of working
4. The dignity of simplicity
5. The worth of character
6. The power of kindness
7. The influence of example
8. The obligation of duty
9. The wisdom of economy
10. The virtue of patience
11. The improvement of talent
12. The joy of originating"
-- Marshall Field

The truth is, laughter always sounds more perfect than weeping. Laughter flows in a violent riff and is effortlessly melodic. Weeping is often fought, choked, half strangled, or surrendered to with humiliation.
Anne Rice

I wanted revenge; I wanted to dance on the graves of a few people who made me unhappy. It's a pretty infantile way to go through life - I'll show them - but I've done it, and I've got more than I ever dreamed of.
Anthony Hopkins

Give me a lever long enough, and I shall move the world.
Archimedes

Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.
Buddha

The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.
Cicero

I criticize by creation - not by finding fault.
Cicero

They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.
Edgar Allen Poe

Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.
Epicurus

Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.
Aesop

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle


Law is mind without reason.
Aristotle

Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing.
Aristotle, 'Nicomachean Ethics'

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies.
Aristotle

We make war that we may live in peace.
Aristotle

A happy life consists in tranquillity of mind.
Cicero

Let arms give place to the robe, and the laurel of the warriors yield to the tongue of the orator.
Cicero

The name of peace is sweet, and the thing itself is beneficial, but there is a great difference between peace and servitude. Peace is freedom in tranquillity, servitude is the worst of all evils, to be resisted not only by war, but even by death.
Cicero

The welfare of the people is the ultimate law.
(Salus Populi Suprema Est Lex)
Cicero

Your very silence shows you agree.
Euripides

I have found power in the mysteries of thought.
Euripides

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
Plato

Death is not the worst than can happen to men.
Plato

Ignorance, the root and the stem of every evil.
Plato

Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once.
William Shakespeare

I wish you well and so I take my leave,
I Pray you know me when we meet again.
William Shakespeare

Thou shalt be both the plaintiff and the judge of thine own cause.
William Shakespeare

Thy words, I grant are bigger, for I wear not, my dagger in my mouth.
William Shakespeare

All sects are different, because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God.
Voltaire

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.
Voltaire

Men are equal; it is not birth but virtue that makes the difference.
Voltaire

Even God cannot change the past.
Agathon

By courage I repel adversity.
(Adversa Virtute Repello)
Anonymous

If for a tranquil mind you seek,
These things observe with care:
Of whom you speak, to whom you speak,
And how, and when and where.
Anonymous

A man may learn wisdom even from a foe.
Aristophanes

Let thy speech be short, comprehending much in a few words.
Aprocrypha

Where you find the laws most numerous, there you will find also the greatest injustice.
Arcesilaus

It is forbidden to decry other sects; the true believer gives honour to whatever in them is worthy of honour.
Asoka

Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.
Chuang-tzu

Do not condemn the judgement of another because it differs from your own. You may both be wrong.
Dandemis

Word is a shadow of a deed.
Democritus

The beauty of a statue is in its outward form; of a man in his conduct.
Demophilus

Control thy passions, lest they take vengeance on thee.
Epictetus

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
Epictetus

I have with me two gods, Persuasion and Compulsion.
Themistocles

Let them hate so long as they fear.
(Oderint Dum Metuant)
Lucius Accius

A man whose life has been dishonourable is not entitled to escape disgrace in death.
Lucius Accius

Look in the mirror. The face that pins you with its double gaze reveals a chastening secret.
Diane Ackerman

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Lord Acton

Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.
Brian Adams

A misery is not to be measure from the nature of the evil, but from the temper of the sufferer.
Joseph Addison

In war, truth is the first casualty.
Aeschylus

This only is denied to God: the power to undo the past.
Agathon

Courage is of no value unless accompanied by justice; yet if all men became just, there would be no need for courage.
Agesilaus the Second

Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats.
Howard Aiken

The angry man always thinks he can do more than he can.
Albertano of Brescia

A man can do all things if he but wills them.
Leon Battista Alberti

The voice of the people is the voice of God.
(Vox Populi, Vox Dei)
Alcuin

The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous.
Shana Alexander

There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people.
Muhammad Ali

A great flame follows a little spark.
Dante Alighieri

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ...'
Isaac Asimov

The goal of all inanimate objects is to resist man and ultimately defeat him.
Russell Baker

I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator and name it after the IRS.
Robert Bakker

Thus the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the nine-millimeter bullet.
Dave Barry

There exist only three beings worthy of respect: the priest, the soldier, the poet. To know, to kill, to create.
Charles Baudelaire

If all the world's a stage, I want to operate the trap door.
Paul Beatty

The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose.
Heda Bejar

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
John Benfield

Pick my brain