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Your Favorite Quotes and Sayings

vetusvates

vetusvates

Gamaliel's Principle
This is a fun thread, for congeniality and camaraderie, and for anyone and everyone.
List your favorite quotes or sayings in life. All at once or as you recall them, one by one. No winners, no losers. No wrong answers.

They can be political, apolitical, poetic, bawdy, caustic, religious, non-religious, reverent, irreverent, lofty, lowly, profound, and even a little vulgar...as the limits of propriety dictate.
Please list author of the quote if you know him/her, as it is a tribute to them.

(This will be kind of like the 'most beautiful celebrity women thread'.)

This thread could also be titled :
Words to try to live by...
Order out of chaos...or...
How to keep your wits when the rest of the world is falling apart around you...(and we all need this sometimes...)

Here we go. I have collected many and a variety of ones over the years.
(These do not 'belong' to me so may be borrowed, repeated, used, or re-used...at any time and any way as long as it respects the author of the quote.)
Here are a few of mine, and I hope to get some new fresh favorites from you all.

"Take care of the world, lest it unawares steal away your heart." ~ Susanna Wesley (This is in my sig here on the forum.)

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"The higher we soar, the smaller we look to those who cannot fly." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

"The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back." ~ Abigail Van Buren

"Small people talk about other people, average people talk about earthly things, great people talk about ideas." ~ Author Unknown

"It is not when truth is dirty, but when it is shallow, that the lover of knowledge is reluctant to step into its waters." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” ~ Franz Kafka

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." ~ Bertrand Russell

"A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that is unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push." ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein

"Cogito ergo sum." ~ René Descartes

"Un tigre ne proclame pas sa tigritude, il saute sur sa proie." ~ Wole Soyinka (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1986)
("A tiger does not go about proclaiming its tigerness; it jumps on its prey.")

"Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution." ~ Mae West
 
My two faves are "None but ourselves can free our minds" by Bob Marley in Redemption Song.

My other favorite is "It is a sin to kill a Mockingbird" by Atticus Finch in the book "To kill a Mockingbird. I just got that engraved on a necklace.
 
"Pull down your pants and slide on the ice." - Dr. Sidney Freedman from M*A*S*H

"You never realize you life changed until it has." - Me
 
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Some of my most motivational quotes were from Lance Armstrong. That whole deal makes me so sad. I was the last person to believe he doped. What a disappointment...

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

"You Cannot Shake Hands with a Clenched Fist"
-Indira Gandhi

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”
― Groucho Marx


“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.”
― Louise Erdrich

“To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather he will ask, 'How much love did you put into what you did?”
― Mother Teresa

“I think I could turn and live with the animals, they are so placid and self contained;
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition;
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins;
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;
Not one is dissatisfied-not one is demented with the mania of owning things;
Not one kneels to another, nor his kind that lived thousands of years ago;
Not one is responsible or industrious over the whole earth.”
― Walt Whitman

“People would rather believe than know.”
― Edward O. Wilson

“If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
― St. Francis of Assisi

“Hate the sin, love the sinner.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.”
― Bob Marley
 
I listen to music a lot so most of mine would be quotes from songs. +1 on the Bob Marley quote by smigon & Nanci. My favorite Bob Marley quote is "The road of life is rocky, and you may stumble too, so while you point your fingers someone else is judging you"

This Winston Churchill speech is pretty inspiring (and is used in the intro to Iron Maiden's "Aces High")
“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

I love the following Hobbit speech from Bilbo Baggins in J R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings": "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
 
is a ducks @ss watertight?
does a bear sh!# where it wants to?
that kid don't play.
you're dumber than a soup sandwich.
you're softer than a tootsie pop fruit cup.
you're about as useful as a football bat.
she's got hips out to china.
she's got hair up to jesus.
those are rarer than hens teeth.

i have a lot more sayings, but most of them are much more adult,
 
Applications programming is a race between software engineers, who strive to produce idiot-proof programs, and the universe which strives to produce bigger idiots. So far the Universe is winning. - Rick Cook
 
Nova, yours reminds me of this one :

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." ~ Albert Einstein
 
I'm the wrong person for this thread. I live by quotes and sayings.. but I won't flood.

Also, if you chose a Bob Marley quote, you and me are already good friends.. sorry.

I'd have too much trouble right now deducing the most powerful ones, but here's a couple off-the-beaten-path quotes.

"I don't listen to what art critics say. I don't know anybody who needs a critic to find out what art is" - Jean Michel Basquait

"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge" - Bertrand Russell

"If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law." - Henry David Thoreau

"I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he's wrong. Than the one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil." - Malcolm X

"Caminante, no hay camino. Se hace camino al andar" - Antonio Machado
(Wayfarer, there is no way. The way is made by walking)

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." - Dr. Martin Luther King jr.
 
BTW, just read all the quotes you guys/gals have posted. Y'all really are some deep people. I love the long quote by Bob Marley that you posted, Nanci. Deep, spiritual, inspiring stuff.

It's really a testament to the human spirit that we all share, to all come from infinite backgrounds and experiences, and yet these powerful words resonate with us all in the same exact way.
 
Another one of my favorite funny quotes is from the Smothers Brothers. Download some of their acts, they are still funny and relevant today as they were 40 years ago.

"It is better to have gifts than receipts". -Tommy Smothers
 
Michael823 said:
I'm the wrong person for this thread. I live by quotes and sayings.. but I won't flood.

Also, if you chose a Bob Marley quote, you and me are already good friends.. sorry.

I'd have too much trouble right now deducing the most powerful ones, but here's a couple off-the-beaten-path quotes.
Click to expand...
Michael, good to see you (and hear from you) my friend.

This is my thread.
Flooding is allowed and encouraged. Flood to your heart's content. :D

(You have always had a way with words, which reflects a great mind.)
 
"My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength." - Michael Jordan
 
Actually this one (quoted below), is also found in its extended (and un-softened) reverse form.
Often erroneously attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, and many and various other historical figures.

vetusvates said:
"Small people talk about other people, average people talk about earthly things, great people talk about ideas." ~ Author Unknown
Click to expand...

"Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about earthly things/events, small people talk/gossip about other people, and the lowest of men, starved for ideas, talk about themselves." ~ Author Unknown

"Lügen haben kurze Beine." ~ My german professor.

"His was a great sin who first invented consciousness. Let us lose it for a few hours." ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." ~ This is attributed to have been averred in the year 55 BCE...by...Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE).

(Last three I nicked from my fb=TheDevil page.)

"There's nowt so queer as folk." ~ Old Welsh Phrase
 
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