Quote Queen

English: Milton S. Hershey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Julius Charles Hare – 1795 – Clergyman

“Be what you are.  This is the first step toward becoming better than you are.”

Clara Schumann – 1819 – Musician

“Why hurry over beautiful things?  Why not linger and enjoy them?”

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach – 1830 – Novelist

“Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”

Walter Reed – 1851 – United States Army Physician

“If it happens, it happens . . . We can’t stop living.”

Milton Hershey – 1857 – Businessman

“Give them quality.  That’s the best kind of advertising.”

John Clapham – 1873 – Economist

“Economic advance is not the same thing as human progress.”

J. B. Priestley – 1894 – Writer (John Boynton Priestley)

“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.”

Claudette Colbert – 1903 – Actress

“Men don’t get smarter when they grow older.  They just lose their hair.”

Bill Monroe – 1911 – Musician

“Practice every time you get a chance.”

Roald Dahl – 1916 – Novelist

“A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.”

Robert Indiana – 1928 – Artist

“I think of my peace paintings as one long poem, with each painting being a single stanza.”

Claudette Colbert (Photo credit: twm1340)

Adrienne Kennedy – 1931 – Playwright

“I get excited by landscape.”

Judith Martin – 1938 – “Miss Manners” Columnist

“It’s far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.”

Bela Karolyi – 1942 – Gymnastics Coach

“Genetics is all about showcasing human beauty along with high-quality performance.”

Jacqueline Bisset – 1944 – Actress

“Character contributes to beauty.  It fortifies a woman as her youth fades.  A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude, and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful.”

Nell Carter – 1948 – Actress

“Rich means you have to stay there to maintain it.”

Jean Smart – 1951 – Actress

“Personally, I think life offers us the opportunity to take chances and make changes all the time.”

Domenico Dolce – 1958 – Designer

“The worst time can be the best if you think with positive energy.”

Jeff Ross – 1965 – Comedian

“Life is short.  You have to be able to laugh at our pain or we never move on.”

Michael Johnson – 1967 – Athlete

“The only one who can beat me is me.”

Bern Williams – 1968 – Author

“Books had instant replay long before televised sports.”

Stella McCartney – 1971 – Fashion Designer

“Sometimes I wish I were less sensible.”

Fiona Apple – 1977 – Musician

“Nothing that you do will ever feel good if you let people convince you that you have no choice.”

Ben Savage – 1980 – Actor

“If you always have a crutch, you don’t learn anything.”

Amy Winehouse – 1984 – Musician

“There’s no point in saying anything but the truth.”

H. L. Mencken (Photo credit: Union-Square)

Anselm Feuerbach – 1829 – Artist

“If someone gives you so-called good advice, do the opposite; you can be sure it will be the right thing nine out of 10 times.”

Charles Dudley Warner – 1829 – Journalist

“Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.”

H. L. Mencken – 1880 – Writer (Henry Louis Mencken)

“Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.”

Maurice Chevalier – 1888 – Actor

“If you wait for the perfect moment when all is safe and assured, it may never arrive.  Mountains will not be climbed, races won, or lasting happiness achieved.”

Arthur Hays Sulzberger – 1891 – Publisher

“I believe in an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.”

Alfred A. Knopf – 1892 – Publisher

“The writer who can’t do his job looks to his editor to do it for him, though he won’t dream of sharing his royalties with that editor.”

Lewis B. Hershey – 1893 – Soldier

“A boy becomes an adult three years before his parents think he does, and about two years after he thinks he does.”

Jesse Owens – 1913 – Olympic Athlete

“Find the good.  It’s all around you.  Find it, showcase it and you’ll start believing in it.”

Mary Stewart – 1916 – Novelist

“The best way of forgetting how you think you feel is to concentrate on what you know you know.”

Eric Butterworth – 1916 – Educator

English: Alfred A. Knopf photo taken by Carl Van Vechten (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Don’t go through life, grow through life.”

Han Suyin – 1917 – Writer

“There is nothing stronger in the world than gentleness.”

Stanislaw Lem – 1921 – Writer

“Where do consequences lead?  Depends on the escort.”

Adrian Rogers – 1931 – Clergyman

“A church is an incubator, a nursery, a grade school.  You start where people are and move them to where they need to be.”

Kristin Hunter – 1931 – Writer

“Every one of us is a wonder.  Every one of us has a story.”

Ian Holm – 1931 – Actor

“The most important thing in the face is the eyes, and if you can make the eyes talk, you’re halfway there.”

Linda Gray – 1942 – Actress

“You make a mistake, you keep going.”

Michael Ondaatje – 1943 – Author

“It’s why you create characters:  so you can argue with yourself.”

Stephen Sprouse – 1953 – Designer

“I guess you just fall into things when you’re supposed to.”

Rachel Ward – 1957 – Actress

“All anything takes, really, is confidence.”

Ruben Studdord – 1978 – Singer

“My mother always taught me, even my dad, just never let other people’s opinions of you shape your opinion of yourself.  And I never have and I never will.”

Jennifer Hudson – 1981 – Singer

“Don’t block your blessings.  Don’t let doubt stop you from getting where you want to be.”

O. Henry (real name William Sydney Porter) in his thirties. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

James Thomson – 1700 – Musician

“Ingratitude is treason to mankind.”

Eduard Hanslick – 1825 – Writer

“Music has no subject beyond the combinations of notes we hear, for music speaks not only by means of sounds, it speaks nothing but sound.”

O’Henry – 1862 – Writer (William Sydney Porter)

“The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculated to meet and greet unknown fate.”

James Jeans – 1877 – Physicist

“Put three grains of sand inside a vast cathedral, and the cathedral will be more closely packed with sand than space is with stars.”

D. H. Lawrence – 1885 – Writer (David Herbert Lawrence)

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.”

Vinoba Bhave – 1895 – Educator

“When a thing is true, there is no need to use any arguments to substantiate it.”

Jimmie Davis – 1899 – Politician

“A song is the most intangible thing in the world.”

Theodor Adorno – 1903 – Philosopher

“Love is the power to see similarity in the dissimilar.”

Paul Goodman – 1911 – Writer

“Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.”

Paul “Bear” Bryant – 1913 – American College Football Coach

“Show class, have pride, and display character.  If you do, winning takes care of itself.”

Herbert Lom – 1917 – Actor

“You know, I always do my best, no matter the quality of the film.”

Ferdinand Marcos – 1917 – Filipino Statesman

“Leadership is the other side of the coin of loneliness, and he who is a leader must always act alone.  And acting alone, accept everything alone.”

Jessica Mitford – 1917 – Journalist

“You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty.”

Charles Evers – 1922 – Activist

“I believe welfare makes you lazy and unproductive.”

Tom Landry – 1924 – Professional Football Coach

Capt. Robert Crippen, USN, STS-1 pilot, STS commander (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react.  If you’re in control, they’re in control.”

David Broder – 1929 – Journalist

“Anybody who wants the presidency so much that he’ll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office.”

Bob Packwood – 1932 – Politician

“Judgment comes from experience and great judgment comes from bad experience.”

Arvo Part – 1935 – Composer

“The human voice is the most perfect instrument of all.”

Robert Crippen – 1937 – Astronaut

“You’re going very fast when you’re on orbit, going around the world once every hour and a half.”

Tony Gilroy – 1956 – Writer

“I love the idea of spies in love.  How would it work between two people who were so programmed to lie and be suspicious, who have a whole life based on pretense?”

Brad Bird – 1957 – Cartoonist

“Animation is about creating the illusion of life.  And you can’t create it if you don’t have one.”

Maria Bartiromo – 1967 – Journalist

“I think that my biggest attribute to any success that I have had is hard work.  There really is no substitute for working hard.”

Charles Kelley – 1981 – Musician

“With anything you do in life, there are days where you’re worn out and you don’t want to do it for a second.”

Georgia Douglas Johnson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thomas Sydenham – 1624 – Scientist

“The arrival of a good clown exercises a more beneficial influence upon the health of a town than of twenty asses laden with drugs.”

Chauncey Wright – 1830 – Philosopher

“The accidental causes of science are only accidents relatively to the intelligence of a man.”

Philip Gilbert Hamerton – 1834 – Artist

“Have you ever observed that we pay much more attention to a wise passage when it is quoted than when we read it in the original author?”

Charles Sanders Peirce – 1839 – Philosopher

“Every new concept first comes to the mind in a judgment.”

Georgia Douglas Johnson – 1880 – Poet

“Your world is as big as you make it.”

Carl Van Doren – 1885 – Author

“Yes, it’s hard to write.  But it’s harder not to.”

Hilda Doolittle – 1886 – Poet

“Consider the birds.  Be wise as serpents.”

Elsa Schiaparelli – 1890 – Fashion Designer

“In difficult times fashion is always outrageous.”

Arthur Holly Compton – 1892 – Scientist

“If co-operation, is thus the life blood of science and technology, it is similarly vital to society as a whole.”

Cyril Connolly – 1903 – Journalist

“The secret to success is to be in harmony with existence, to be always calm to let each wave of life wash us a little farther up the shore.”

Robert Wise – 1914- Producer

“You can’t tell any kind of a story without having some kind of a theme, something to say between the lines.”

Jean Vanier – 1928 – Philosopher

“Growth begins when we begin to accept our own weakness.”

Arnold Palmer – 1929 – Golfer

“The road to success is always under construction.”

Roger Maris – 1934 – Journalist

“You hit home runs not by chance but by preparation.”

Charles Kuralt – 1934 – Journalist

English: Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones official headshot from biography and press kit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.”

Mary Oliver – 1935 – Poet

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Karl Lagerfeld – 1938 – Designer

“I’m a working-class person, working with class.”

Roy Ayers – 1940 – Musician

“The true beauty of music is that it connects people.  It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers.”

Stephen Jay Gould – 1941 – Scientist

“We pass through this world but once.”

Neale Donald Walsch – 1943 – Author

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

Charles Simonyi – 1948 – Businessman

“Yachts are the closest a commoner can get to sovereignty.”

Bill O’Reilly – 1949 – Commentator and Author

“Public misbehavior by the famous is a powerful teaching tool.”

Stephanie Tubbs Jones – 1949 – Congresswoman

“My reputation is too important to put it aside for purposes of some friendship.  We have a job to do.”

Amy Irving – 1953 – Actress

“One of my problems is that I’m very honest and direct.  You pay a price for that.”

Chris Columbus – 1958 – Director

“My reason for getting into the film business was a Spider-Man comic called ‘The Night Gwen Stacy Died’ when I was a kid; it changed my life.”

Peter Nelson – 1959 – Actor

“One of the problems the Internet has introduced is that in this electronic village, all the village idiots have Internet access.”

Alison Bechdel – 1960 – Cartoonist

“Even drawing gray hair at all is difficult to render in black and white.”

Colin Firth – 1960 – Actor

“As much as the next person, I want to be approved of, but I’m not greedy for that stuff.”

Dick Costolo – 1963 – Businessman

“Not only can you not plan the impact you’re going to have, you often won’t recognize it even while you’re having it.”

Marian Keyes – 1963 – Writer

“Every day I wake up afraid that I won’t be able to write, that today is the day it has left me.”

Randy Johnson – 1963 – Athlete

“Work hard.  And have patience.  Because no matter who you are, you’re going to get hurt in your career and you have to be patient to get through the injuries.”

Jack Ma – 1964 – Businessman

“You should learn from your competitor, but never copy.  Copy and you die.”

John Sununu – 1964 – Politician

“As a boy, when I was bad, my mother would chew me out in Spanish.  And since I was bad a lot, I learned a lot of Spanish.”

Guy Ritchie – 1968 – Director

“The best thing to do is find one person in your life and try to love them unconditionally.  If you’ve accomplished that, you’ve accomplished a lot.”

Jacob Young – 1979 – Actor

“I hate to sound cliché, but I understand why people love to cook.  It’s fun!”

English: Cardinal de Richelieu (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cardinal de Richelieu – 1585 – Clergyman

“Carry on any enterprise as if all future success depended on it.”

Richard Chenevix Trench – 1807 – Clergyman

“Grammar is the logic of speech, even as logic is the grammar of reason.”

Leo Tolstoy – 1828 – Novelist

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

Mary  Austin – 1868 – Writer

“People would be surprised to know how much I learned about prayer from playing poker.”

Ralph Hodgson – 1871 – Poet

“The handwriting on the wall may be a forgery.”

James Agate – 1877 – Critic

“My mind is not a bed to be made and re-made.”

John Hall Wheelock – 1886 – Poet

“The job of an editor in a publishing house is the dullest, hardest, most exciting, exasperating and rewarding of perhaps any job in the world.”

Kurt Lewin – 1890 – Psychologist

“A successful individual typically sets his next goal somewhat but not too much above his last achievement.  In this way he steadily raises his level of aspiration.”

Colonel Sanders – 1890 – Businessman (Harlan Sanders)

“There’s no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery.  You can’t do any business from there.”

Arthur Freed – 1894 – Producer

“Don’t try to be different.  Just be good.  To be good is different enough.”

Beverley Nichols – 1898 – Writer

“Marriage – a book of which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters in prose.”

James Hilton – 1900 – Novelist

“If you forgive people enough you belong to them, and they to you, whether either person likes it or not, squatter’s rights of the heart.”

Joseph E. Levine – 1905 – Producer

Leo Tolstoy 1848 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough.”

Cesare Pavese – 1908 – Poet

“We do not remember days, we remember moments.”

Cliff Robertson – 1923 – Actor

“Show business is like a bumpy bus ride.  Sometimes you find yourself temporarily juggled out of your seat and holding onto a strap.  But the main idea is to hang in there and not be shoved out the door.”

Russell M. Nelson – 1924 – Clergyman

“Your life will be a blessed and balanced experience if you first honor your identity and priority.”

Sol Le Witt – 1928 – Artist

“You shouldn’t be a prisoner of your own ideas.”

Michael Novak – 1933 – Philosopher

“Love is not a feeling of happiness.  Love is a willingness to sacrifice.”

Joe Theismann – 1949 – Athlete

“No matter how great you are, the next great one is already sitting there waiting to take your place.”

Tom  Wopat – 1951 – Actor

“When you’re doing the traditional musicals, singing songs that are 40 and 50 years old, you realize there’s a reason why those musicals are hits.  These are amazing songs.”

Michael Keaton – 1951 – Actor

“There comes a point in your life when you realize how quickly time goes by, and how quickly it has gone.  Then it really speeds up exponentially.  With that, I think you start to put a lot of things into context; you start to see how huge the world is, and really, the universe.”

Angela Cartwright – 1952 – Actress

“My shadow in my art is one way I trace who I was and where I have been.  My shadow and I have been on a journey for quite a while now.”

Alisher Usmanov – 1953 – Businessman

“I have been very fortunate to be successful in business, and I believe that it is right that people who have this type of wealth should give something back into society.”

John Kricfalusi – 1955 – Artist

“All artists get better with age.  The more you draw, the better you’re going to get.”

Mario Batali – 1960 – Chef

“If you want your kids to listen to you, don’t yell at them.  Whisper.  Make them lean in.  My kids taught me that.  And I do it with adults now.”

Hugh Grant – 1960 – Actor

“But I just know from experience that accent wise, even if you’re an accent genius, crossing the Atlantic is the hardest thing in the world either way.”

Aleksander Hemon – 1964 – Writer

“I resist when someone calls me a novelist:  it implies some kind of inherent superiority of the novel.  I’m not a novelist, I’m a writer.”

Adam Sandler – 1966- Actor

“My name is Adam Sandler.  I’m not particularly talented,  I’m not particularly good-looking.  And yet I’m a multi-millionaire.”

Akshay Kumar – 1967 – Actor

“It takes two hands to clap!  I cannot be solely blamed for what happened in my relationships!  If things soured, it happened because of both parties.  Not just me!”

Rachel Hunter – 1969 – Model

“All you need is a bad angle and suddenly you’re 30 pounds overweight.”

Swami Sivananda Saraswati – The Divine Life Society – Rishikesh (Photo credit: wieland7)

August Wilhelm von Schlegel – 1767 – Poet

“In actual life, every great enterprise begins with and takes its first forward step in faith.”

Francis Bowen – 1811 – Philosopher

“To become a thoroughly good man is the best prescription for keeping a sound mind and a sound body.”

Antonin Dvorak – 1841 – Composer

“Mozart is sweet sunshine.”

David O. McKay – 1873 – Clergyman

“Let us realize that:  the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, the love of work is success.”

Swami Sivananda – 1887 – Philosopher

“Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts.  This is the secret of success.”

Howard Dietz – 1896 – Musician

“Composers shouldn’t think too much – it interferes with their plagiarism.”

Claude Pepper – 1900 – Politician

“Life is like riding a bicycle:  you don’t fall off unless you stop pedaling.”

Frank Cady – 1915 – Actor

“If you hang around enough to show these people what you can do, you have a chance in this acting business.”

Sid Caesar – 1922 – Actor

“The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot.  The guy who invented the other three, he was a genius.”

Peter Sellers – 1925 – Actor

“Women are more difficult to handle than men.  It’s their minds.”

Harlan Howard – 1927 – Musician

“I’m always collecting emotions for future reference.”

Patsy Cline – 1932 – Singer

“In childhood I developed a serious throat infection, and my heart stopped beating.  I recovered from that illness with a voice that boomed forth like Kate Smith’s.”

Peter Maxwell Davies – 1934 – Composer

Publicity photo of Sid Caesar from his television program Caesar’s Hour. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“You don’t underestimate either players or audiences in any circumstances.”

Alan Dundes – 1935 – Educator

“Light travels faster than sound.  This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.”

Les Wexner – 1937 – Businessman

“Entrepreneurs, guys that start businesses, grow with them.  It’s more painful than it would appear.”

Sam Nunn – 1938 – Politician

“Leadership must be established from the top down.”

Jack Prelutsky – 1940 – Poet

“Children seem naturally drawn to poetry – it’s some combination of the rhyme, rhythm, and the words themselves.”

Willie Tyler – 1940 – Comedian

“The reason lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn’t there the second time.”

Bernie Sanders – 1941 – Politician

“People don’t trust private health insurance companies for all the right reasons.”

Marianne Wiggins – 1947 – Author

“I’m fascinated by the narrative of geology, and I’m a veritable pack rat of a collector on the road.  I keep a rock hammer in my car.”

Mike Simpson – 1950 – Politician

“A fresh pair of eyes can often find problems.”

Jon Scieszka – 1954 – Author

“For a lot of kids, reading is not magical.  It’s really hard work.”

Terry Tempest Williams – 1955 – Author

“When I write, I put one foot in front of the other.  It’s an act of faith.  I just follow my heart.”

Aimee Mann – 1960 – Musician

“The knock-out punch is always the one you never see coming.”

Thomas Kretschmann – 1962 – Actor

“Acting is all about truth and honesty, and the sensitivity that’s capable of transporting you.”

Martin Freeman – 1971 – Actor

“Disappointment is an endless wellspring of comedy inspiration.”

David Arquette – 1971 – Actor

“I’m trying to figure out how to be the best person I can be.  But it’s been a process of trail and error.”

Pink – 1979 – Musician (Alecia Beth Moore)

“You can’t move mountains by whispering at them.”

Jonathan Taylor Thomas – 1981 – Actor

“Success is not in never failing, but rising everytime you fall.”

Rob Delaney – 1984 – Athlete

“I’m crazy about Shakespeare, who was a notorious word inventor.  And my wife is an English teacher, and she’s hilarious.”

English: John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., 1867-1943 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Queen Elizabeth I – 1523 – British Royalty

“A clear and innocent conscience fears nothing.”

George-Louis Leclerc de Baffon – 1707 – Naturalist

“Writing well is at one and the same time good thinking, good feeling, and good expression; it is having wit, soul, taste, all together.”

Grandma Moses – 1860 – American Folk Artist (Anna Mary Robertson Moses)

“Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.”

Tristan Bernard – 1866 – Playwright

“To live happily with other people, ask them only what they can give.”

John Pierpont Morgan, Jr. – 1867 – Industrialist and Philanthropist

“When you expect things to happen – strangely enough – they do happen.”

Edith Sitwell – 1887 – Poet

“I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it.”

Taylor Caldwell – 1900 – Novelist

“It is a waste of money to help those who show no desire to help themselves.”

Paul Brown – 1908 – Coach

“When you win, say nothing.  When you lose, say less.”

Elia Kazan – 1909 – Director

“What’s called a difficult decision is a difficult decision because either way you go there are penalties.”

Todor Zhivkov – 1911 – Politician

“A good journalist is not the one that writes what people say, but the one that writes what he is supposed to write.”

David Packard – 1912 – Businessman

“Take risks.  Ask big questions.  Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; if you don’t make mistakes, you’re not reaching far enough.”

Anthony Quayle – 1913 – Actor

“To understand a man, you must know his memories.  The same is true of a nation.”

Jacob Lawrence – 1917 – Artist

“When the subject is strong, simplicity is the only way to treat it.”

Laura Ashley – 1925 – Fashion Designer

“We don’t want to push our ideas on to customers, we simply want to make what they want.”

Al McGuire – 1928 – Coach

“I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver.  Then they would really be educated.”

Paul Getty – 1932 – Businessman

“My formula for success is rise early, work late, and strike oil.”

Malcolm Bradbury – 1932 – Novelist

“Culture is a way of coping with the world by defining it in detail.”

Buddy Holly – 1936 – Singer and Songwriter (Charles Hardin Holley)

Michael Feinstein and Marvin Hamlisch By Phil Konstantin (Photo credit: Officer Phil)

“If anyone asks you what kind of music you play, tell him ‘pop’.  Don’t tell him ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ or they won’t even let you in the hotel.”

Peter Storey – 1945 – Athlete

“Once a place becomes special, it’s no longer special.”

Joe Klein – 1946 – Journalist

“I think if you make a strong statement of principle, even if the folks disagree with you, people will respect you for it.”

Gloria Gaynor – 1949 – Musician

“Well, we all know that self-esteem comes from what you think of you, not what other people think of you.”

Peggy Noonan – 1950 – Columnist and Political Writer

“Candor is a compliment; it implies equality.  It’s how true friends talk.”

Michael Feinstein – 1956 – Musician

“The Gershwin legacy is extraordinary because George Gershwin died in 1937, but his music is as fresh and vital today as when he originally created it.”

Jennifer Egan – 1962 – Novelist

“If you don’t have people that the reader cares about and stories that are gripping, you’ve got nothing.”

Oliver Hudson – 1976 – Actor

“Blood relatives often have nothing to do with family, and similarly, family is about who you choose to make your life with.”

J. D. Pardo – 1980 – Actor (Jorge Daniel Pardo)

“It’s hard for the majority of people to accept what they don’t understand.”

English: Catharine Beecher Category:Beecher family (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Marquis de Lafayette – 1757 – Revolutionary

“Humanity has won its battle.  Liberty now has a country.”

John Dalton – 1766 – Scientist

“It’s the right idea, but not the right time.”

Francis Wright – 1795 – Activist

“The simplest principles become difficult of practice, when habits, formed in error, have been fixed by time, and the simplest truths hard to receive when prejudice has warped the mind.”

Catharine Beecher – 1800 – Educator

“The great want of our race is perfect educators to train new-born minds, who are infallible teachers of what is right and true.”

Jane Addams – 1860 – Social Reformer

“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.”

Henry Seidel Canby – 1878 – Critic

“Arrogance, pedantry, and dogmatism; the occupational diseases of those who spend their lives directing the intellects of the young.”

Joseph P. Kennedy – 1888 – Diplomat

“When you’re sitting across from some important person, always picture him sitting there in a suit of long red underwear.  That’s the way I always operated in business.”

Edward Appleton – 1892 – Scientist

“I don’t mind what language an opera is sung in so long as it is a language I don’t understand.”

Billy Rose – 1899 – Entertainer

“It’s hard for a fellow to keep a chip on his shoulder if you allow him to take a bow.”

Julien Green – 1900 – Novelist

“The secret is to write just anything, to dare to write just anything, because when you write just anything, you begin to say what is important.”

Lawrence Clark Powell – 1906 – Critic

“Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow.”

Carmen Laforet – 1921 – Author

Jane Addams (LOC) (Photo credit: The Library of Congress)

“I write short, my words tight to the thread of the narrative.”

Jimmy Reed – 1925 – Musician

“What you sees, is what you gets.”

Robert M. Pirsig – 1928 – Philosopher

“The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.”

David Allan Coe – 1939 – Musician

“One thing is certain, you can’t shake hands with a fist.”

Swoosie Kurtz – 1944 – Actress

“It’s so funny whenever things come full circle.”

Carly Fiorina – 1954 – Businesswoman

“You have to master not only the art of listening to your head, you must also master listening to your heart and listening to your gut.”

Jeff Foxworthy – 1958 – Comedian

“Find something in life that you love doing.  If you make a lot of money, that’s a bonus, and if you don’t, you still won’t hate going to work.”

Michael Winslow – 1958 – Actor

“Keeping busy:  This is a problem that you’re glad to have.”

Naveen Jain – 1959 – Businessman

“Stay focused on the mission.”

Chris Christie – 1962 – Governor of New Jersey

“And the greatest lesson that Mom ever taught me though was this one.  She told me there would be times in your life when you have to choose between being loved and being respected.  Now she said to always pick being respected.”

Alice Sebold – 1963 – Writer

“I like gardening – it’s a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself.”

Rosie Perez – 1964 – Actress

“I am a positive person.  I never think of the glass as half empty.   I just keep pushing forward.”

Dave Sitek – 1972 – Musician

“I believe in the power of song.  Under the spell of the right song, passion is within reach, love is close by, and you are not alone.”

China Mieville – 1972 – Writer

“Ever since I was two, I’ve loved octopuses, monsters, and abandoned buildings.”

Greg Rusedski – 1973 – Athlete

“It’s about you.  If you win, it’s you; if you lose, it’s you.  Black and white.  Nowhere to hide.”

Naomie Harris – 1976 – Actress

“At Cambridge, it was the weirdest culture.  Everyone pretended they didn’t do any work, yet it was so competitive.”

Pippa Middleton – 1983 – Celebrity

“When hosting a party, move any clutter from the space where you’re entertaining.”

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was a Russian rocket scientist and pioneer of cosmonautics. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

King Louis XIV – 1638 – French Royalty

“Everytime I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy and one ungrateful.”

Casper David Friedrich – 1774 – Artist

“The painter should paint not only what he has in front of him, but also what he sees inside himself.”

John Griffin Carlisle – 1834 – Politician

“After we have calmly stood by and allowed monopolies to grow fat, we should not be asked to make them bloated.”

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky – 1857 – Scientist

“The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.”

Arthur C. Nielsen – 1897 – Businessman

“Leave no stone unturned to help your clients realize maximum profits from their investment.”

Darryl F. Zanuck – 1902 – Director

“Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months.  People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”

Arthur Koestler – 1905 – Novelist

“Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.”

John Cage – 1912 – Composer

“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas.  I’m frightened of the old ones.”

Jack Valenti – 1921 – Businessman

“There isn’t anything in the world that can’t be made better.”

Justin Kaplan – 1925 – Writer

“Television, despite its enormous presence, turns out to have added pitifully few lines to the communal memory.”

Bob Newhart – 1929 – Comedian

“Laughter gives us distance.  It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.”

Werner Erhard – 1935 – Celebrity

“Create your future from your future not your past.”

Jonathan Kozol – 1936 – Writer

“Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.”

George Lazenby – 1939 – Actor

“Fame is short-lived, and you’re the last to know when you are no longer hot.”

Photo of Cathy Guisewite at the Emmy Awards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

William Devane – 1940 – Actor

“The business is built on slowing or even stopping the aging process.”

Raquel Welch – 1940 – Actress

“You can’t fake listening.  It shows.”

Werner Herzog – 1942 – Director

“Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness.”

Al Stewart – 1945 – Musician

“Nothing that’s forced can ever be right, if it doesn’t come naturally, leave it.”

Cathy Guisewite – 1950 – Cartoonist

“Food, love, career, and mothers, the four major guilt groups.”

Herman Koch – 1953 – Writer

“In one way or another, every parent is curious what their children … what they are doing when we don’t see? … What double lives are they leading?  Is there something else?”

Graham Yost – 1959 – Writer

“If you put people in a corner, you see what their character really is.”

Ric Keller – 1964 – Politician

“Common sense and history tell you that rewarding illegal behavior will only encourage more of it.”

Chris Morris – 1965 – Critic

“The pursuit of approval usually ends in disaster.”

Sondre Lerche – 1982 – Musician

“History shows us that the songs – the myth, the experience and the emotion – live longer the less you explain.”

Daniel Burnham on the terrace of his Evanston, IL home. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Daniel Burnham – 1846 – Architect

“Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.”

Mary Renault – 1905 – Novelist

“You can make an audience see nearly anything, if you yourself believe in it.”

Max Delbruck – 1906 – Scientist

“Any living cell carries with it the experience of a billion years of experimentation by its ancestors.”

Richard Wright – 1908 – Novelist

“Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread.”

Paul Harvey – 1918 – Journalist

“In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these.”

Craig Claiborne – 1920 – Editor

“Man is born to eat.”

Ivan Illich – 1926 – Sociologist

“We must rediscover the distinction between hope and expectation.”

Dick York – 1928 – Actor

“Radio allowed people to act with their hearts and minds.”

Anthony de Mello – 1934 – Clergyman

“These things will destroy the human race:  politics without principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning without silence, religion without fearlessness and worship without awareness.”

Dawn Fraser – 1937 – Philosopher

“It’s a beautiful thing, diving into the cool crisp water and then just sort of being able to pull your body through the water and the water opening up for you.”

Ken Harrelson – 1941 – Athlete

“In baseball you hit your home run over the right-field fence, the left-field fence, the center-field fence.  Nobody cares.  In golf everything has got to be right over second base.”

Bob Filner – 1942 – Politician

“Rosa Parks’ courage, determination, and tenacity continue to be an inspiration to all those committed to non-violent protest and change nearly half a century later.”

English: US Rep. Bob Filner (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ray Floyd – 1942 – Athlete

“They call it golf because all the other four-letter words were taken.”

Tom Watson – 1949 – Athlete

“No other game combines the wonder of nature with the discipline of sport in such carefully planned ways.  A great golf course both frees and challenges a golfer’s mind.”

Brian Schweitzer – 1955 – Politician

“I challenge you to be dreamers; I challenge you to be doers and let us make the greatest place in the world even better.”

Damon Wayans – 1960 – Comedian

“Nobody can stop you but you.  And shame on you if you’re the one who stops yourself.”

Beyoncé Knowles – 1981 – Musician

“I like to walk around with bare feet and I don’t like to comb my hair.”