Quote Queen

Thomas Wolfe, 1937 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

George Bancroft – 1800 – Historian

“In nine times out of ten, the slanderous tongue belongs to a disappointed person.”

Elenora Duse – 1858 – Actress

“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.”

Pierre Bonnard – 1867 – Artist

“Color does not add a pleasant quality to design – it reinforces it.”

Louis Aragon – 1897 – Poet

“We know that the nature of genius is to provide idiots with ideas twenty years later.”

Thomas Wolfe – 1900 – Novelist

“You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity.”

James Herriot – 1916 – Physician and Writer

“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”

Gore Vidal – 1925 – Author

“A narcissist is someone better looking than you are.”

Erik Bruhn – 1928 – Dancer

“Dance every performance as if it were your last.”

Chubby Checker – 1941 – Singer (Ernest Evans)

“I want people to look at a checkerboard and think of me!”

Roy Horn – 1944 – Entertainer

“Imitation is the sincerest form of pain.”

John Perry Barlow – 1947 – Writer

“But groundless hope, like unconditional love, is the only kind worth having.”

Laurie Simmons – 1949 – Artist

“We don’t have real hours and we don’t have a boss, so artists create rules for themselves that they then break.  It’s transgressive in such a personal way.”

Dave Winfield – 1951 – Athlete

“I chose baseball because to me baseball is the best game of all.”

Stevie Ray Vaughn – 1954 – Musician

“What I am trying to get across to you; is please take care of yourselves and those that you love; because that is what we are here for, that’s all we got, that is all we can take with us.  Are you with me?”

Fred Couples – 1959 – Professional Golfer

“Golf is supposed to be fun, but I don’t think anything is fun is you’re not doing it reasonably well.”

Dave Winfield in New York Yankees Spring Training, 1983. Philatio (talk) 03:33, 5 May 2008 (UTC) 03:33, 5 May 2008 . . Phil5329 . . 224×356 (12 KB) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jack Wagner – 1959 – Actor

“Reality is the leading cause of stress for those in touch with it.”

Clive Owen – 1964 – Actor

“I just like to keep challenging myself, keep it varied.  It’s a craft, and I’m constantly trying to learn and get better at it.”

Sara Zarr – 1970 – Writer

“I’m not really a plot writer – I’m more interested in the characters and sort of small events that propel the story forward.”

Cordell Hull – Nobel Peace Prize, U.S. Secretary of State, Father of the U.N. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Elizabeth Montagu – 1718- Writer

“I endeavor to be wise when I cannot be merry, easy when I cannot be glad, content with what cannot be mended and patient when there be no redress.”

William Ramsay – 1852 – Scientist

“The noblest exercise of the mind within doors, and most befitting a person of quality, is study.”

Mohatma K. Gandhi – 1869 – Indian Leader

“The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”

Cordell Hull – 1871 – Public Servant

“Never insult an alligator until after you have crossed the river.”

Wallace Stevens – 1879 – Poet

“The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.”

Groucho Marx – 1895 – Comedian (Julius Henry Marx)

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”

Bud Abbott – 1897 – Actor (William Alexander Abbott)

“Well, I always have a chauffer, because I have never driven a car in my life.  I still can’t drive.”

Graham Greene – 1904 – Playwright

“There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.”

Willy Ley – 1906 – Writer

“Ideas, like large rivers, never have just one source.”

Jack Finney – 1911 – Author

“When you’ve heard one bagpipe tune, you’ve heard them both.”

Earl Wilson – 1934 – Athlete

“Gossip is when you hear something you like about someone you don’t.”

Johnnie Cochran – 1937 – Lawyer

“I’m a big believer in the fact that life is about preparation, preparation, preparation.”

Rex Reed – 1938 – Critic

“In Hollywood, if you don’t have happiness, you send out for it.”

Steve Sabol – 1942 – Director

“The autumn wind is a pirate.  Blustering in from sea with a rollicking song he sweeps along swaggering boisterously.  His face is weather beaten, he wears a hooded sash with a silver hat about his head . . .  The autumn wind is a Raider, pillaging just for fun.”

Don McLean – 1945 – Musician

English: Julius Henry “Groucho” Marx, cropped from group photo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“I think longevity is more important than trying to make people realize you’re around every second.”

Ward Churchill – 1947 – Educator

“Truth is the best defense.”

Avery Brooks – 1948 – Actor

“Knowledge is going to make you stronger.  Knowledge is going to let you control your life.  Knowledge is going to give you the wisdom to teach their children.  Knowledge is the thing that makes you smile in the face of disaster.”

Donna Karan – 1948 – Designer

“Accent the positive and delete the negative.”

Chris LeDoux – 1948 – Musician

“Sometimes a hard day’s work is easier than a lot of things you can meet in life.”

Persis Khambatta – 1950 – Actress

“Maybe I’m being philosophical and spiritual, but I believe that if you put negative energy out there that that is what will come back.”

Mike Rutherford – 1950 – Musician

“Seventy percent of what I write, I throw out.  I can write very easily, but writing original things is the hard bit.”

Sting – 1951 – Musician (Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner)

“I don’t need to manufacture trauma in my life to be creative.  I have a big enough reservoir of sadness or emotional trauma to last me.”

Joe Sacco – 1960 – Journalist

“I’d much rather hang out in a café.  That’s where things are really happening.”

Tom Moody – 1965 – Coach

“It’s a disappointment to lose key players.  On the other hand it creates an opportunity to play other players.”

Kelly Ripa – 1970 – Entertainer

“I think children are like pancakes.  You sort of ruin the first one, and you get better at it the second time around.”

Rufus Choate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rufus Choate – 1799 – Lawyer

“A book is the only immortality.”

Annie Besant – 1847 – Philosopher

“Better remain silent, better not even think, if you are not prepared to act.”

Faith Baldwin – 1893 – Novelist

“Character builds slowly, but it can be torn down within incredible swiftness.”

Vladimir Horowitz – 1904 – Musician

“I am a general.  My soldiers are the keys and I have to command them.”

Fletcher Knebel – 1911 – Author

“It is now proved beyond doubt that smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.”

Daniel J. Boorstin – 1914 – Historian

“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.”

David Herbert Donald – 1920 – Historian

“If you think about it, the historian’s task is like that of the detective.”

Walter Matthau – 1920 – Actor

“My doctor gave me six months to live, but when I couldn’t pay the bill he gave me six months more.”

Jimmy Carter – 1924 – 39th President of the United States

“You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.”

Tom Bosley – 1927 – Actor

“Happy Days was about a family . . . although the show was shot in the 70s, it was about a family in the 50s.  I realize that kids were watching their parents grow up and the parents were watching themselves grow up.  That was the key to the success of our show.”

George Peppard – 1928 – Actor

“You have problems, you think drink helps, then you have two problems.”

Richard Harris – 1930 – Actor

“I often sit back and think, I wish I’d done that, and find out later that I already have.”

Julie Andrews – 1935 – Singer

English: Jimmy Carter on bicycle. Plains, Georgia, USA, on President’s Day 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.”

George Archer – 1939 – Athlete

“If it wasn’t for golf, I’d probably still be a caddy.”

Michael Gruber – 1940 – Author

“But, there’s the paradox of fiction – why do you cry when a fake character dies?  It’s the basis of art.  You engage with people who don’t exist and care about them as you would your friends and relatives.”

Rod Carew – 1945 – Athlete

“I get a kick out of watching a team defense me.  A player moves two steps in one direction and I hit it two steps the other way.  It goes right by his glove and I laugh.”

Tim O’Brien – 1946 – Author

“Story telling is the essential human activity.  The harder the situation, the more essential it is.”

Dave Holland – 1946 – Musician

“You have to find a way to protect yourself in a certain way from people who are constantly demanding your time.”

Stephen Collins – 1947 – Actor

“The process of doing plays will make you an actor.”

Michael Medved – 1948 – Journalist

“Savvy observers occasionally note television’s resemblance to the weather:  Everybody loves to complain about it, but nobody can do anything to fix it.”

Andre Rieu – 1949 – Musician

“We should make decisions in life with our hearts, not our brains, not only in music but in daily life.”

Annie Leibovitz – 1949 – Photographer

“Nature is so powerful, so strong.  Capturing its essence is not easy – your work becomes a dance with light and the weather.  It takes you to a place within yourself.”

Debbie Ford – 1955 – Author

“We were birthed with one soul to take care of, and we must take care of it.”

Brian P. Cleary – 1959 – Author

“I love the semicolon; it’s unnecessary, but graceful and sophisticated.”

Esai Morales – 1962 – Actor

“I love bringing roses to a woman when she least expects it.”

Sarah Drew – 1980 – Actress

“You can’t be emotional if you’re trying to be a businesswoman.”

Eric Shanteau – 1983 – Athlete

“I think being an athlete prepares you for more things than people give us credit for.”

Truman Capote, 1959. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rumi – 1207 – Poet

“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”

Lester Maddox – 1915 – Politician

“Honest businessmen should be protected from the unscrupulous consumer.”

Deborah Kerr – 1921 – Actress

“All successful people these days seem to be neurotic.  Perhaps we should stop being sorry for them and start being sorry for me – for being so confounded normal.”

Truman Capote – 1924 – Author (Truman Persons)

“I don’t care what anybody says about me as long as it isn’t true.”

W. S. Merwin – 1927 – Poet

“Poetry is like making a joke.  If you get one word wrong at the end of a joke, you’ve lost the whole thing.”

Elie Wiesel – 1928 – Novelist

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.”

Dorothee Solle – 1929 – Theologian

“What is important is not what someone is but what he is waiting for.  Not the events of life but its possibilities.”

Angie Dickinson – 1931 – Actress

“You can’t stop the aging process.  There’s only so much oil you can put on your body.  I’ve always just tried to go with my age.  If the part requires somebody a little younger or older, I can probably get away with that.”

Cissy Houston – 1933 – Singer

“You can’t treat your voice badly and expect it to stay around.”

Johnny Mathis – 1935 – Singer

“I think there are a lot of people who really want to be famous, they really do.  I don’t.  It sorts of gets in the way of the everyday things that I do.”

Os Guinness – 1941 – Author

“Like a precious family heirloom, freedom is not just ours to enjoy, but to treasure, protect, and pass on to future generations.”

Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr (Photo credit: twm1340)

Shakti Gawain – 1948 – Author

“You create your opportunities by asking for them.”

Dale Dauten – 1950 – Businessman

“Spend enough time around success and failure, and you learn a reverence for possibility.”

Fran Drescher – 1957 – Actress

“Once you wake up and smell the coffee, it’s hard to go back to sleep.”

Trey Anastasio – 1964 – Musician

“Equality implies individuality.”

Monica Bellucci – 1964 – Actress

“I think lawyers are such incredible actors.  Can you imagine the performance they have to do every day?”

Julianna Baggott – 1969 – Novelist

“As a writer, my main objective is to tell the story urgently – as if whispering it into one ear – and to know the characters intimately.”

Jay Asher – 1975 – Writer

“I’ve always loved brainstorming with other writers, and I consider having my work critiqued a part of that brainstorming.”

Cecelia Ahern – 1981 – Novelist

“Decide where and when you want to write.  I like space, and silence is an inspiration to me.”

Kieran Culkin – 1982 – Actor

“Watching a good actor is the best way to learn.”

Lacey Chabert – 1982 – Actress

“Do what you’re passionate about.”

Michael Servetus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Michael Servetus – 1511 – Scientist

“Nothing can be found in the intellect if previously has not been found in the senses.”

Miguel de Cervantes – 1547 – Novelist

“Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn.”

Elizabeth Gaskell – 1810 – Novelist

“The cloud never comes from the quarter of the horizon from which we watch for it.”

Miguel de Unamuno – 1864 – Educator

“A lot of good arguments are spoiled by some fool who knows what he is talking about.”

Walther Rathenau – 1867 – Businessman

“Truth is inner harmony.”

Ludwig von Mises – 1881 – Economist

“Innovation is the whim of an elite before it becomes a need of the public.”

Gene Autry – 1907 – Singer

“Back in the Saddle Again.”

Greer Garson – 1908 – Actress

“Starting out to make money is the greatest mistake in life.  Do what you feel you have a flair for doing, and if you are good enough at it, the money will come.”

Michelangelo Antonioni – 1912 – Director

“Hollywood is like being nowhere and talking to nobody about nothing.”

Peter D. Mitchel – 1920 – Scientist

“Reason can be used only when looking critically back.”

Bum Phillips – 1923 – Coach

“The only discipline that lasts is self-discipline.”

Barbara Mertz – 1927 – Author

“Getting an idea for a book is not the problem, but you need 300 ideas – an idea a page.”

Anita Ekberg – 1931 – Actress

“The most important thing for a good marriage is to learn how to argue peaceably.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – 1934 – Psychologist

“Goals transform a random walk into a chase.”

Ian McShane – 1942 – Actor

“Every actor has to love and loathe the character he plays.”

Lech Walesa – 1943 – Polish Leader

English: The Good Work Team: William Damon, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Howard Gardner (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Words are plentiful; ideas are precious.”

Bryant Gumbel – 1948 – Entertainer

“It’s not that I dislike many people.  It’s just that I don’t like many people.”

Gwen Ifill – 1955 – Television News Reporter

“Journalists are accused of being lapdogs when they don’t ask the hard questions, but then accused of being rude when they do.  Good thing we have tough hides.”

Ann Bancroft – 1955 – Celebrity

“The best way to get most husbands to do something is to suggest that perhaps they’re too old to do it.”

Andrew Dice Clay – 1957 – Comedian

“I want to be able to make people laugh as hard as they possibly can, and I really think they need it.”

Kevin Durant – 1988 – Athlete

“With everything I do, I just try to be myself.”

Frances Willard was an American teacher, suffragette, feminists, reformer and co-founder of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1874 and their president from 1879 on. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Henry Fox – 1705 – British Statesman

“If Mr. Selwyn calls again, show him up; if I am alive I shall be delighted to see him; and if I am dead he would like to see me.”

Frances E. Willard – 1839 – Activist

“The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.”

Georges Clemenceau – 1841 – French Leader

“A man’s life is interesting primarily when he has failed – I well know.  For it’s a sign that he tried to surpass himself.”

Florent Schmitt – 1870 – Composer

“When I don’t like a piece of music, I make a point of listening to it more closely.”

Avery Brundage – 1887 – Athlete

“As soon as you take money for playing sport, it isn’t sport, it’s work.”

William S. Paley – 1901 – Businessman

“White lies always introduce others of a darker complexion.”

Ed Sullivan – 1901 – Television Show Host

“If you do a good job for others, you heal yourself at the same time, because a dose of joy is a spiritual cure.  It transcends all barriers.”

Stephen Spender – 1909 – Poet

“Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do.”

Al Capp – 1909 – Cartoonist

“My work is being destroyed almost as soon as it is printed.  One day it is being read; the next day someone’s wrapping fish in it.”

Ellis Peters – 1913 – Author

“Truth can be costly, but in the end it never falls short of value for the price paid.”

Marcello Mastroianni – 1924 – Actor

“Woman is the sun, an extraordinary creature, one that makes the imagination gallop.”

Georges Clemenceau (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Seymour Cray – 1925 – Businessman

“The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late.”

Madeleine M. Kunin – 1933 – Diplomat

“A skilled worker, regardless of the job description, remains a treasure.”

Brigitte Bardot – 1934 – Actress

“Only idiots refuse to change their minds.”

Ben E. King – 1938 – Musician

“I still think my whole career was accidental.  I didn’t pursue it.  I feel like I’m cheating sometimes.”

Bruce Froemming – 1939 – Athlete

“Dieting is murder on the road.  Show me a man who travels and I’ll show you one who eats.”

Sylvia Kristel – 1952 – Actress

“I’m very glad to have something to be passionate about.  I can’t imagine a life without passion.”

Scott Adams – 1957 – Cartoonist

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

Naomi Watts – 1968 – Actress

“You have to make peace with yourself.  The key is to find the harmony in what you have.”

Hilary Duff – 1987 – Actress

“My mom always says, ‘If you don’t believe in something, you’ll lose yourself completely.'”

English: Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627 – 1704) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jacques Bossuet – 1627 – Clergyman

“Only great souls know the grandeur there is in charity.”

Samuel Adams – 1722 – Revolutionary

“It does not take a majority to prevail . . . but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

Henri Frederic Amiel – 1821 – Philosopher

“Destiny has two ways of crushing us – by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.”

Myrtle Reed – 1874 – Author

“Silence and reserve will give anyone a reputation for wisdom.”

Clementine Paddleford – 1898 – Journalist

“Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.”

William Empson – 1906 – Poet

“It seems unpleasantly refined to put things off till someone knows.”

Maurice Blanchot – 1907 – Writer

“A writer never reads his work.  For him, it is the unreadable, a secret, and he cannot remain face to face with it.  A secret, because he is separated from it.”

Albert Ellis – 1913 – Psychologist

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own.  You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president.  You realize that you control your own destiny.”

Louis Auchincloss – 1917 – Novelist

“Perfection irrates as well as it attracts, in fiction as in life.”

Jayne Meadows – 1920 – Actress

“There is only one secret.  To love what you are doing.”

Wilford Brimley – 1924 – Actor

“Well, we all are what we are, I guess you might say by an accident of birth.”

Josef Skvorecky – 1924 – Writer

“Lovers of literature will look for the remains of the golden treasure in that shipwreck on the bottom of the sea of criticism.”

Dick Schaap – 1934 – Journalist

“I think my mistakes were kind of common – leaning on clichés and adjectives in the place of clear, vivid writing.  But at least I knew how to spell, which seems to be a rarity these days.”

Don Cornelius – 1936 – Director

“It’s always a pleasure to find something that matters.”

English: ESA Astronaute Candidate Luca Parmitano 2009 Deutsch: ESA Astronauten Kandidat Luca Parmitano 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Arthur Blank – 1942 – Businessman

“If something happens, you have to realize that you can’t yell at people all the time.”

Mike Schmidt – 1949 – Athlete

“Any time you think you have the game conquered, the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose.”

Anne-Marie Slaughter – 1958 – Educator

“Patriotism demands the ability to feel shame as much as to feel pride.”

Shaun Cassidy – 1958 – Musician

“The propensity to do good things is a choice.”

Andy Lau – 1961 – Actor

“Don’t wait.  If it’s not right, move on.”

Irvine Welsh – 1961 – Novelist

“I enjoy the freedom of the blank page.”

Gwyneth Paltrow – 1972 – Actress

“I love being.  There’s so much wisdom in it.  You wake up in the morning and you think, Hey, isn’t it great just being?”

Luca Parmitano – 1976 – Astronaut

“So one thing that I want to do is to make people realize that astronauts in general are very normal people.  They are down to Earth, so to speak.  I know it sounds contradictive, but we are very normal people.  We are very normal people with a fantastic privilege and opportunity to do something that is extraordinary.”

Anna Camp – 1982 – Actress

“In the South, you don’t say exactly what’s going on or what’s on your mind.”

Lil Wayne – 1982 – Musician (Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.)

“I’m an addict, I’m addicted to success.  Thankfully, there’s no rehab for success.”

T. S. Eliot (Photo credit: Burns Library, Boston College)

Theodore Gericault – 1791 – Artist

“With the brush we merely tint, while the imagination alone produces color.”

Charles Bradlaugh – 1833 – Activist

“Without free speech no search for truth is possible . . . no discovery of truth is useful.”

T. S. Eliot – 1888 – Poet (Thomas Stearns Eliot)

“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.”

Martin Heidegger – 1889 – Philosopher

“The most thought-provoking thing in our thought-provoking time is that we are still not thinking.”

Robert Staughton Lynd – 1892 – Sociologist

“Knowledge is power only if man knows what facts not to bother with.”

Pope Paul VI – 1897 – Clergyman

“Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life.  The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today.”

George Gershwin – 1898 – Composer

“Life is a lot like jazz . . . it’s best when you improvise.”

Jack LaLanne – 1914 – Athlete

George Gershwin (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

“Remember this:  your body is your slave; it works for you.”

Marty Robbins – 1925 – Musician

“Every day is a good day to be alive, whether the sun’s shining or not.”

Donna Douglas – 1933 – Actress

“I really love pets.  They’re like children.  They know if you really love them or not.  You can’t fool them.”

Jerry Weintraub – 1937 – Producer

“I think if something’s good and you believe in it, and you care about it, and you give it love and nurture it, it’s going to happen.”

Kent McCord – 1942 – Actor

“A person who cares deeply about what people need in their lives is someone I’ll never forget.”

Anne Robinson – 1944 – Celebrity

“Every mother and daughter should make time for a trip together.  It’s good for the soul.”

Bryan Ferry – 1945 – Musician

“You can never get silence anywhere nowadays, have you noticed?”

Christine Todd Whitman – 1946 – Politician

“Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room.”

Andrea Dworkin – 1946 – Critic

“While gossip among women is universally ridiculed as low and trivial, gossip among men, especially if it is about women, is called theory, or idea, or fact.”

Olivia Newton-John – 1948 – Musician and Singer

“To me luxury is to be at home with my daughter, and the occasional massage doesn’t hurt.”

Jane Smiley – 1949 – Writer

“A child who is protected from all controversial ideas is as vulnerable as a child who is protected from every germ.  The infection, when it comes – and it will come – may overwhelm the system, be it the immune system or the belief system.”

Linda Hamilton – 1956 – Actress

“It’s the age of information and we need to just get as informed as we can about what other things might help us live healthy lives.”

Mark Haddon – 1962 – Novelist

“From a good book, I want to be taken to the very edge.  I want a glimpse into that outer darkness.”

Anthony Shadid – 1968 – Journalist

“Journalism is always the act of the incomplete.  You get bits and pieces.”

Serena Williams – 1981 – Tennis Player

“I’m a perfectionist.  I’m pretty much insatiable.  I feel there’s so many things I can improve on.”

Deutsch: Jean-Philippe Rameau (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jean Philippe Rameau – 1683 – Composer

“Rhythm and sounds are born with syllables.”

Lu Xun – 1881 – Author

“To be suspicious is not a fault.  To be suspicious all the time without coming to a conclusion is the defect.”

Mark Rothko – 1903 – Artist

“Silence is so accurate.”

Red Smith – 1905 – Journalist

“It was an ideal day for football – too cold for the spectators and too cold for the players.”

Dimitri Shostakovich – 1906 – Composer

“A creative artist works on his next composition because he was not satisfied with his previous one.”

Robert Bresson – 1907 – Director

“An old thing becomes new if you detach it from what usually surrounds it.”

Eric Williams – 1911 – Historian

“Some things you’ll never know, and some things you’ll wish you never knew.”

Norman O. Brown – 1913 – Philosopher

“I am what is mine.  Personality is the original personal property.”

Sam Rivers – 1923 – Musician

“The great musicians are those who can reach people, who can make people feel something.”

Ronnie Barker – 1929 – Comedian

“To get a job where the only thing you have to do in your career is make people laugh – well, it’s the best job in the world.”

Barbara Walters – 1929 – Television Journalist

“Show me someone who never gossips, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t interested in people.”

Shel Silverstein – 1930 – Poet

“Never explain what you do.  It speaks for itself.  You only muddle it by talking about it.”

Michael Douglas – 1944 – Actor

“There’s nothing like a family crisis, especially a divorce, to force a person to re-evaluate his life.”

English: One of the winners in the tie for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, Catherine Zeta-Jones (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Felicity Kendal – 1946 – Actress

“I think you have to relax about aging.  What else can you do?”

Cheryl Tiegs – 1947 – Model

“It’s very important to have the right clothing to exercise in.  If you throw on an old T-shirt or sweats, it’s not inspiring for your workout.”

Anson Williams – 1949 – Actor

“‘Happy Days’ is the type of show that represents the best we can be.  It’s something warm, something tactile when life was good and life was simple.”

Mark Hamill – 1951 – Actor

“I live in a sort of insular world.  It’s mostly my family, my house, staying home and working.”

Christopher Reeve – 1952 – Actor

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

Michael Madsen – 1958 – Actor

“Your children don’t have to fear you to respect you.”

Heather Locklear – 1961 – Actress

“You can’t keep changing men, so you settle for changing your lipstick.”

Marc Benioff – 1964 – Businessman

“Most of all, I discovered that in order to succeed with a product you must truly get to know your customers and build something for them.”

Will Smith – 1968 – Actor

“Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.”

Hal Sparks – 1969  Actor

“It’s better to waste money than it is to waste time.  You can always get more money.”

Catherine Zeta-Jones – 1969 – Actress

“Words impress me.  If a man can speak eloquently and beautifully to me, I just melt on the floor.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1937, June 4 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Horace Walpole – 1717 – Author

“The world is a comedy to those that think, and a tragedy to those that feel.”

John Marshall – 1755 – Judge

“To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well.”

Mark Hanna – 1837 – Businessman

“If we can by any method establish a relation of mutual trust between the laborer and the employer, we shall lay the foundation stone of a structure that will endure for all time.”

Florence Scovel Shinn – 1871 – Artist

“The game of life is a game of boomerangs.  Our thoughts, deeds, and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.”

Shane Leslie – 1885 – Diplomat

“It is a pledge that senility has not the last say in everything.”

Edward Bach – 1886 – Scientist

“Rest assured that whatever station of life we are placed, princely or lowly, it contains the lessons and experiences necessary at the moment for our evolution, and gives us the best advantage for the development of ourselves.”

Alan Patrick Herbert – 1890 – Novelist

“If nobody said anything unless he knew what he was talking about, a ghastly hush would descend upon the earth.”

E. Franklin Frazier – 1894 – Sociologist

“Education in the past has been too much inspiration and too little information.”

Tommy Armour – 1894 – Athlete

“Golf is an awkward set of bodily contortions designed to produce a graceful result.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald – 1896 – Author (Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald)

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

Cheryl Crawford – 1901 – Actress

“My major task was to keep us solvent.”

Cao Yu – 1910 – Playwright

“For a writer, published works are like fallen flowers, but the expected new work is like a calyx waiting to blossom.”

Jim Henson – 1936 – Entertainer

“Life’s like a movie, write your own endings.  Keep believing, keep pretending.”

Photo of puppeteer Jim Henson at the 41st Emmy Awards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Linda McCartney – 1941 – Photographer

“We think we want to do something and when it comes to it, we don’t.  We don’t like to commit.”

Joe Greene – 1946 – Athlete

“If you’re talking about nuclear physics, I have to defer to the next guy.  But if you’re talking about football, I don’t have to take a back seat to anyone.”

Phil Hartman – 1948 – Actor

“I’ve succeeded beyond my wildest dreams – financially and the amount of fun I have in my life.”

Alan Colmes – 1950 – Journalist

“Little did I know that the last words I would say on WNBC would be the last ones anyone would say.”

Nia Vardalos – 1962 – Actress

“You’re never too fat for a new purse.”

Robert Irvine – 1965 – Chef

“Every meal should end with something sweet.  Maybe it’s jelly on toast at breakfast, or a small piece of chocolate at dinner – but it always helps my brain bring a close to the meal.”

Kate Fleetwood – 1972 – Actress

“My guilty pleasure is reality TV, as I am really nosey.”