Quote Queen

Alexander Hamilton – 1755 – Statesman

“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.”

Ezra Cornell – 1807 – Businessman

“Idleness is to the human mind is like rust is to iron.”

John McDonald – 1815 – Leader

“To enjoy enduring success we should travel a little in advance of the world.”

William James – 1842 – Philosopher

“Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does.”

Dwight Morrow – 1873 – Businessman

“The world is divided into people who do things and people who get the credit.  Try, if you can, to belong to the first class.  There’s far less competition.”

Alice Paul – 1885 – Activist

“When you put your hand to the plow, you can’t put it down until you get to the end of the row.”

Aldo Leopard – 1887 – Environmentalist

“Conservation is a state of harmony between man and land.”

Edmund Hillary (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bernard DeVoto – 1897 – Writer

“Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerves give to wisdom.”

Alan Paton – 1903 – Novelist

“When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive.”

Abraham Joshua Heschel – 1907 – Educator

“Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.”

Lionel Stander – 1908 – Actor

“Anyone who lives within his means suffers from a lack of imagination.”

Sir Edmund Hillary – 1919 – Explorer

“Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons.  Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.”

Grant Tinker – 1925 – Musician

“First be best, then be first.”

Clarence Clemons – 1942 – Musician

“I wanted an electric train for Christmas but I got the saxophone instead.”

Ben Crenshaw (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Jim Hightower – 1943 – Activist

“Even the smallest dog can lift its leg on the tallest building.”

Naomi Judd – 1946 – Singer and Songwriter

“When things are bad and getting worse, keep a cookie in your purse.”

Ben Crenshaw – 1952 – Golfer

“The game embarrasses you until you feel inadequate.”

Tom Ward – 1971 – Actor

“Hockey is the original extreme sport.”

Amanda Peet – 1972 – Actress

“Beauty is only skin deep.  If you go after someone just because she’s beautiful but you don’t have anything to talk about, it’s going to get boring fast.”

Picture of George Washington Carver taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston in 1906 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John Acton – 1834 – Historian

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Frank James – 1843 – Outlaw

“I was tired of an outlaw’s life.”

George Washington Carver – 1864 – Scientist

“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.”

Rodger Ward – 1921 – Celebrity

“Retiring is getting ready to die.”

Johnnie Ray – 1927 – Musician

“I am constantly asked why I never made other films after ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business,’ the answer is I was never asked.”

Philip Levine – 1928 – Poet

“I was very lucky to have a mother who encouraged me to become a poet.”

Roy E. Disney – 1930 – Businessman

“When your values are clear to you, making decisions become easier.”

Roy E. Disney in Sweden to promote “The Little Mermaid” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Al Goldstein – 1936 – Publisher

“A self-made man is a rarity and hated by the parasites that floated to fame through parents, relatives, and contacts.”

Stephen Ambrose – 1936 – Historian

“History is everything that has ever happened.”

Donald Knuth – 1938 – Scientist

“A list is only as strong as its weakest link.”

Bill Toomey – 1939 – Athlete

“Actually, the moment of victory is wonderful, but also sad.  It means that your trip is ended.”

Walter Hill – 1942 – Director

“I always say the next one is my favorite.”

Jim Croce – 1943 – Musician

“If you dig it, do it.  If you dig it a lot, do it twice.”

Rod Stewart – 1945 – Musician

“What I do now is all my dad’s fault, because he bought me a guitar as a boy, for no apparent reason.”

George Foreman – 1949 – Boxer

“A hero is someone right who doesn’t change.”

Pat Benatar – 1953 – Musician

“With the power of conviction, there is no sacrifice.”

Michael Schenker – 1955 – Musician

“I believe that every person has uniqueness – something that nobody else has.”

Emma Bunton – 1976 – Musician

“Be sweet, be good, and honest always.”

English: Description: Photograph of Carrie Chapman Catt from 1914. Source: Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John Adair – 1757 – Politician

“The chief executive who knows his strengths and weaknesses as a leader is likely to be far more effective than the ones who remain blind to them.”

Jennie Churchill – 1854 – Celebrity

“Treat your friends as you do your best pictures, and place them in their best light.”

Carrie Chapman Catt – 1859 – Activist

“No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular  opinion.”

Giovanni Papini – 1881 – Journalist

“There are those who have a desire to love, but do not have the capacity to do so.”

Lascelles Abercrombie – 1881 – Poet

“It is more difficult to keep the attention of hearers than of readers.”

Richard M. Nixon – 1913 – President of the United States

“A man is not finished when he is defeated.  He is finished when he quits.”

Fernando Lamas – 1916 – Actor

“It is better to look good than to feel good.”

Bob Denver – You can call him Gilligan (Photo credit: nealdstewart)

Lee Van Cleef – 1925 – Actor

“Being born with a pair of beady eyes was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Judith Krantz – 1928 – Author

“I would, however, start writing fiction about 10 years before I actually did, because it’s such great fun to do, many times more creative than non-fiction.”

Bart Starr – 1934 – Athlete

“Athletic competition clearly defines the unique power of our attitude.”

Bob Denver – 1935 – Actor

“You know, I have no worst experiences.”

Joseph Epstein – 1937 – Writer

“Not to like ice cream is to show oneself uninterested in food.”

Joan Baez – 1941 – Musician

“Action is the antidote to despair.”

David Johansen – 1950 – Musician

“Playing music is the best thing in the world.  It makes show business almost bearable.”

Crystal Gayle – 1951 – Musician

“All I ever want to do is what I am:  a singer.”

Imelda Staunton – 1956 – Actress

“You can only do your best.  That’s all you can do.  And if it isn’t good enough, it isn’t good enough.”

Joely Richardson – 1965 – Actress

“You grow up by making mistakes.  I’ve made a ton of them, but as long as I keep on failing better, I don’t mind.”

Dave Matthews – 1967 – Musician

“Tomorrow is no place to place your better days.”

Elvis Presley, 1973 Aloha From Hawaii television broadcast (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Baltasar Gracian – 1601 – Philosopher

“Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.”

Robert Schumann – 1810 – Composer

“Talent works, genius creates.”

Wilkie Collins – 1824 – Novelist

“It is the nature of truth to struggle to the light.”

Henry James Byron – 1835 – Dramatist

“Life’s too short for chess.”

Storm Jameson – 1891 – Writer

“Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.”

Carl Rogers – 1902 – Psychologist

“The good life is a process, not a state of being.  It is a direction not a destination.”

Ron Moody – 1924 – Actor

“I have no regrets.  You take responsibility for your actions.”

Charles Osgood – 1933 – Journalist

“Being Politically Correct means always having to say you’re sorry.”

Elvis Presley – 1935 – Musician

“Truth is like the sun.  You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.”

Lewis H. Lapham – 1935 – Editor

“People may expect too much of journalism.  Not only do they expect it to be entertaining, they expect it to be true.”

Shirley Bassey – 1937 – Musician

Stephen Hawking (Photo credit: alvherre)

“You don’t get older, you get better.”

Graham Chapman – 1941 – Comedian

“We don’t deliberately set out to offend.  Unless we feel it’s justified.”

Stephen Hawking – 1942 – Physicist

“My goal is simple.  It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.”

Terry Brooks – 1944 – Writer

“We forget that what matters begins with the imagination.”

David Bowie – 1947 – Musician

“I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”

Millard Fillmore – 1800 – 13th President of the United States

“It is not strange . . . to mistake change for progress.”

Adolph Zukor – 1873 – Businessman

“If I’d known how old I was going to be I’d have taken better care of myself.”

Estee Lauder – 1907 – Businesswoman

“If you don’t sell, it’s not the product that’s wrong, it’s you.”

Charles Samuel Addams – 1912 – Cartoonist

“If you’ve wrecked one train, you’ve wrecked them all.”

Kenny Loggins at Phoenician Resort – Danger Zone (Photo credit: Al_HikesAZ)

Albert Meltzer – 1920 – Activist

“Optimism is inevitably the last hope of the defeated.”

Alvin Dark – 1922 – Athlete

“A manager doesn’t hear the cheers.”

Kenny Loggins – 1948 – Musician

“Courage is always rewarded.”

Erin Gray – 1950 – Actress

“I like exercise.  I like a healthy body.”

Katie Couric – 1957 – TV Journalist

“I beg.  I call.  I badger.  I cajole.  Part of the secret is everyone has fun and that’s really motivating.”

Kathy Valentine – 1959 – Musician

“If you have to do it, then you’re doing the right thing.”

Natalie Gulbis (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Nicolas Cage – 1964 – Actor

“Shock is still fun.  I won’t ever shut the door on it.”

Natalie Gulbis – 1983 – Golfer

“When you fail you learn from the mistakes you made and it motivates you to work even harder.”

Carl Sandburg, American poet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Charles Sumner – 1811 – Politician

“The age of chivalry has gone; the age of humanity has come.”

Carl Sandburg – 1878 – Poet

“Time is the coin of life.  Only you can determine how it will be spent.”

Sam Rayburn – 1882 – Politician

“No one has a finer command of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut.”

Khalil Gibran – 1883 – Poet

“All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.”

Joey Adams – 1911 – Comedian

“People are still willing to do an honest day’s work.  Trouble is they want a week’s pay for it.”

Loretta Young – 1913 – Actress

“A charming woman … doesn’t follow the crowd.  She is herself.”

Danny Thomas – 1914 – Actor

“Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself.  It’s what you do for others.”

John Lilly – 1915 – Scientist

Loretta Young (Photo credit: twm1340)

“Our only security is our ability to change.”

Fred L. Turner – 1933 – Businessman

“Work hard, use your common sense, and don’t be afraid to trust your instincts.”

Lou Holtz – 1937 – Coach

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

Henry Kravis – 1944 – Businessman

“You only have one thing to sell in life, and that’s yourself.”

Nancy Lopez – 1957 – Golfer

“The simplier I keep things, the better I play.

Andrea Thompson – 1960 – Actress

“It’s only a house when it’s filled with people you love.”

Philippe Perrin – 1963 – Astronaut

“It’s only when you’re flying above it that you realize how incredible the Earth really is.”

John Singleton – 1968 – Director

“The freshest moments in my films have always been with unknown actors.”

Joey Lauren Adams – 1971 – Actress

“A genius is one who can do anything except make a living.”

Zebulon Pike (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

Richard Heber – 1773 – Celebrity

“No gentleman can be without 3 copies of a book:  one for show, one for use, and one for borrowers.”

Zebulon Pike – 1779 – Explorer and Soldier

“Smoke the pipe of peace, bury the tomahawk, and become one nation.”

Olympia Brown – 1853 – Activist

“He who never sacrificed a present to a future good or a personal to a general one can speak of happiness only as the blind do of color.”

Konrad Adenauer – 1876 – Statesman

“All parts of the human body get tired eventually – except the tongue.”

Herbert Bayard Swope – 1882 – Editor

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure – which is:  Try to please everyone.”

Paramhansa Yogananda – 1893 – Leader

Paramhansa-Yogananda (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Remain calm, serene, always in command of yourself.  You will then find out how easy it is to get along.”

Dennis Gabor – 1900 – Scientist

“Poetry is plucking at the heartstrings and making music with them.

Jack Lovelock – 1910 – Athlete

“Yes, I’m afraid the life over here is very different from New Zealand but oh boy it’s a grand life.”

George Reeves – 1914 – Actor

“Knock the ‘t’ off the ‘can’t.'”

Jane Wyman – 1917 – Actress and First Wife of President Ronald Reagan

“I won this award for keeping my mouth shut, so I think I’ll do it again.”

Walter F. Mondale – 1928 – Vice President of the United States

“If you are sure you understand everything that is going on, you are hopelessly confused.”

Alvin Ailey – 1931 – Choreographer and Artist

“What we do is celebrate people.  That’s all we’re about.”

Chuck Noll – 1932 – Coach

“A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning.”

Jim Otto – 1938 – Athlete

“I think the tougher the challenge the better.”

Juan Carlos – 1938 – Leader

“Europe cannot confine itself to the cultivation of its own garden.”

Diane Keaton – 1946 – Actress

“A sense of freedom is something that, happily, comes with age and life experiences.”

Ted Lange – 1947 – Actor

“I talk to the universe all the time.”

Clancy Brown – 1959 – Actor

“I have something to say:  It’s better to burn out, than to fade away.”

Joe Flanigan – 1967 – Actor

“At one point in college I was so shy that I’d drop out of a class if asked to speak in front of other people.”

Marilyn Manson – 1969 – Musician

“Music is the strongest form of magic.”

Français : Photo de Isaac Pitman. La photo est utilisée avec la permission de la collection Pitman de l’université de Bath. (consultez description anglaise de cette photo pour les détails sur l’autorisation) Image fournie par The Pitman Collection, University of Bath (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Isaac Pitman – 1813 – Inventor

“Well-arranged time is the surest mark of a well-arranged mind.”

Carter Glass – 1858 – Politician

“A liberal is a man who is willing to spend somebody else’s money.”

“Max Eastman – 1883 – Author

“A liberal mind is a mind that is able to imagine itself believing anything.”

Everett Dirksen – 1896 – Politician

“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.”

Sterling Holloway – 1905 – Actor

“If you do not know where you are going any road will take you there.”

Gabe Paul – 1910 – Businessman

“The great thing about baseball is there’s a crisis every day.”

Don Shula – 1930 – Coach

“I don’t know any other way to lead but by example.”

Floyd Patterson – 1935 – Boxer

“Fear was absolutely necessary.  Without it, I would have been scared to death.”

Don Shula (Photo credit: MarkGregory007)

Dyan Cannon – 1937 – Actress (Samile Diane Friersen)

“Even when there are times that we’re not happy, happiness will creep in.”

Gao Xingjian – 1940 – Author

“When you use words, you’re able to keep your mind alive.  Writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.”

Maureen Reagan – 1941 – Celebrity

“There’s a special place in heaven for caregivers.”

Doris Kearns Goodwin – 1943 – Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author

“The past is not simply the past, but a prism through which the subject filters his own changing image.”

Michael Stipe – 1960 – Musician

“I went through a period when I was really tired of seeing and reading about myself.”

Julie Ormond – 1965 – Actress

“If you do anything for too long, it starts to lack edge, to become too easy.  Easy is the kiss of death.”

Deana Carter – 1966 – Musician

“Once you get away from where you’re from, you look at it in a different way.”

zeitgenössisches Portrait der 1880 verstorbenen Lucretia Mott (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lucretia Mott – 1793 – Abolitionist and Social Reformer

“We too often bind ourselves by authorities than by the truth.”

Clement Atlee – 1883 – Statesman

“I just love Chinese food.  My favorite dish is #26.”

J. R. R. Tolkien – 1892 (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien)

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

Pola Negri – 1894 – Actress

“My hard work and excellent training entitled me to be a better actress than some of my competitors.”

Ray Milland – 1905 – Actor

“The greatest drawback in making pictures is the fact that film makers have to eat.”

Victor Borge – 1909 – Comedian Musician

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”

Jack Levine – 1915 – Artist

“I’m the little dog who goes the wrong way – under the hoop.”

Pola Negri in a publicity portrait from Hi Diddle Diddle (1943). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jeanne Dixon – 1918 – Celebrity

“Our lives are programmed at conception and are endowed with purpose and meaning.”

Hank Stram – 1923 – Athlete

“My philosophy?  Simplicity plus variety.”

Gordon Moore – 1929 – Businessman

“With engineering, I view this year’s failure as next year’s opportunity to try it again.”

Dabney Coleman – 1932 – Actor

“It takes a lot of energy to teach.”

Bobby Hull – 1939 – Hockey Player

“It I was to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Stephen Sills – 1945 – Musician

“If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.”

Victoria Principal – 1946 – Actress

“Don’t strive to be perfect.  Strive for excellence.”

Mel Gibson – 1956 – Actor

“Acting is like lying.  The art of lying well.  I’m paid to tell elaborate lies.”

Michael Schumacher – 1969 – Race Car Driver

“My overriding memory of childhood is having the freedom to decide which way to go in life and having my parents’ support.”

Jason Marsden – 1975 – Actor

“Everyone loves Disney, it just has a special place in everyone’s heart.”

Danica McKellar – 1975 – Actress

“When you do a lot of acting your entire life, you see the entire set from one point of view.”

Eli Manning – 1981 – NFL Quarterback

“I never try to be something I’m not.”

Alex D. Linz – 1989 – Actor

“Every culture love scatological humour.  That’s always a favourite.”

Dr. Isaac Asimov, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing slightly right, 1965 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

William Lyons Phelps – 1895 – Educator

“If at first you don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.”

Isaac Asimov – 1920 – Author and Biochemist (Isaac Yudovich Ozimov)

“I am not a speed reader.  I am a speed understander.”

Roger Miller – 1936 – Musician

“It’s one thing to have talent.  It’s another to figure out how to use it.”

Denny Hastert – 1942 – Politician

“You can’t jam change down the American people’s throat.”

Jack Hanna – 1947 – Zookeeper

“The world is the true classroom.  The most rewarding and important type of learning is through experience, seeing something with our own eyes.”

Tia Carrere – 1967 – Actress (Athea Janaire)

“I slipped at a bus stop; I went one way and my hair went the other.  That was the end of my wig.”

Cuba Gooding, Jr. 1968 – Actor

“The hardest part was when I was in high school not having a job and always being broke.  I had to get auditions without a car.  I either took a bus or walked.”

Robby Gordon – 1969 – Race Car Driver

“If we can’t win, let’s take a fifth or 10th or 12th place finish or whatever it may be.  But let’s go to try and win every race.”

Jack Hanna By Phil Konstantin (Photo credit: Officer Phil)

Christy Turlington – 1969 – Model

“Yoga gave me the ability to calm down.”

Taye Diggs – 1972 – Actor

“On the set I never know what day of the week it is.”

Kate Bosworth – 1983 – Actress

“You promote your films; it’s part of your job.  You do the magazine covers and stuff, and then I try to live a really normal life.  I definitely don’t try to make it into any more craziness than it is.”