Quote Queen

P.T. Barnum (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

P. T. Barnum – 1810 – Entertainer

“Whatever you do, do it with all your might.  Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now.”

Mandell Creighton – 1843 – Historian

“No people do so much harm as those who go about doing good.”

William Thomas Stead – 1849 – Journalist

“It is in the power of every individual to do that which the community as a whole is powerless to effect.”

Wanda Landowska – 1879 – Musician

“I never practice; I always play.”

Hazrat Inayat Khan – 1882 – Clergyman

“The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.”

Jean Cocteau – 1889 – French Poet and Novelist

“We must believe in luck.  For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like.”

Frederick Lewis Allen – 1890 – Editor

“Everything is more complicated than it looks to most people.”

Marcel Achard – 1899 – Playwright

“Women like silent men,  They think they’re listening.”

Julie Nixon Eisenhower, daughter of former President Richard Nixon, present the Nixon Center Distinguished Service Award to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates during a dinner in his honor in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Joan Welsh – 1927 – Educator

“Influence is what you think you have until you try to use it.”

Shirley Knight – 1936 – Actress

“Men are allowed to get older and women are not.”

Julie Nixon Eisenhower – 1948 – Daughter of President Richard Nixon

“All leaders share something in common.  They feel they are the only ones who can do the job.”

Bill Watterson – 1958 – Cartoonist

“Nothing helps a bad mood like spreading it around.”

Susan Wojcicki – 1968 – Businesswomen

“Work smart.  Get things done.”

Chuck Klosterman – 1972 – Critic

“Anybody who says they are a good liar obviously is not, because any legitimately savvy liar would always insist they’re honest about everything.”

Dave Haywood – 1982 – Musician

“That’s country music for you – bourbon and the Bible.”

Christian Furchtegott Gellert – 1715- Poet

“Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne – 1804 – Novelist

“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”

Calvin Coolidge – 1872 – 30th President of the United States

“I have never been hurt by what I have not said.”

Louis B. Mayer – 1882 – Film Mogul

“Be smart, but never show it.”

Rube Goldberg – 1883 – Cartoonist

Ann Landers and me (Photo credit: Alan Light)

“I, I don’t think anybody’s continually happy, uh, except idiots, you know, you know, you have to have little moments of depression.”

Gloria Stuart – 1910 – Actress

“A woman’s heart is a deep ocean of secrets.”

Mitch Miller – 1911 – Musician

“Keep it simple, keep it sexy, keep it sad.”

Abigail Van Buren – 1918 – Journalist (Dear Abby)

“There are two kinds of people in the world:  those who walk into a room and say, ‘There you are,’ and those who say, ‘Here I am.'”

Ann Landers – 1918 – Journalist

“Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and repeat to yourself, the most comforting words of all; this, too, shall pass.”

Leona Helmsley – 1920 – Businesswoman

“Only little people pay taxes.”

Gina Lollobrigida – 1927 – Actress

“A woman at 20 is like ice, at 30 she is warm and at 40 she is hot.”

Neil Simon – 1927 – Playwright

“Money bring some happiness.  But after a certain point, it just bring more money.”

Al Davis – 1929 – Businessman

“You don’t adjust.  You just dominate.”

Chuck Tanner – 1929 – Athlete

“There are three secrets to managing.  The first secret is have patience.  The second is be patient.  And the third most important secret is patience.”

George Steinbrenner – 1930 – Businessman

Geraldo Rivera (Photo credit: nick step)

“Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing.  Breathing first, winning next.”

Richard Petty – 1937 – Athlete

“No one wants to quit when he’s losing and no one wants to quit when he’s winning.”

Bill Withers – 1938 – Musician

“I feel that it is healthier to look out at the world through a window than through a mirror, otherwise, all you see is yourself and whatever is behind you.”

Geraldo Rivera – 1943 – Journalist

“Never take a job where winter winds can blow up your pants.”

Victoria Abril – 1959 – Actress

“Keep your ears open, your eyes open, grab everything you can, react, and learn!”

Elie Saab – 1964 – Designer

“If I hadn’t been a determined person I wouldn’t have succeeded in life.”

Melaine Fiona – 1983 – Musician

“Surround yourself with positive people.”

Portrait recadré de Giorgio Vasari (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Giorgio Vasari – 1511 – Artist

“Men of genius sometimes accomplish most when they work the least, for they are thinking out inventions and forming in their minds the perfect idea that they subsequently express with their hands.”

Edward Young – 1683 – Poet

“Those who build beneath the stars build too low.”

George Leonard – 1729 – Lawyer

“Competition is the spice of sports; but if you make spice the whole meal you’ll be sick.”

Sidney Webb – 1859 – Scientist

“The inevitability of gradualness cannot fail to be appreciated.”

Charlotte Perkins Gilman – 1860 – Writer

“To swallow and follow, whether old doctrine or new propaganda, is a weakness still dominating the human mind.”

English: Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Franz Kafka – 1883 – Novelist

“By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it.  The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.”

Ernst Fischer – 1899 – Writer

“As machines become more and more efficient and perfect, so it will become clear that imperfection is the greatness of man.”

John Mason Brown – 1900 – Critic

“A good conversationalist is not one who remembers what was said, but says what someone wants to remember.”

M. R. K. Fisher – 1908 – Writer

“Probably one of the most private things in the world is an egg until it is broken.”

Earl Butz – 1909 – Public Servant

“The difference was you worked for Nixon, and with Ford.”

Dorothy Kilgallen – 1913 – Actress

“I think sometimes it is more important to be gracious than to win.”

Jack Schmitt – 1935 – Astronaut

“It’s like trying to describe what you feel when you’re standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon or remembering your first love or the birth of your first child.  You have to be there to really know what it’s like.”

Tom Stoppard – 1937 – Dramatist

“A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others.  Be a carrier.”

Gloria Allred – 1941 – Lawyer

“The more I know about men the more I like dogs.”

Betty Buckley – 1947 – Actress

“I was hugely relieved to discover there was a purpose for girls with loud voices.”

Dave Barry – 1947 – Journalist

“You can only be young once.  But you can always be immature.”

Elizabeth Edwards – 1949 – Lawyer

“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before.”

Julie Burchill – 1959 – Journalist

“Gluttony and idleness are two of life’s great joys, but they are not honourable.”

Tom Cruise – 1962 – Actor

“Talk is overrated as a means of settling disputes.”

Joanne Harris – 1964 – Author

“A little tantrum in real life seems so much bigger online.”

Sandra Lee – 1966 – Author

“Give yourself permission to get the most out of your life.”

Kevin Hart – 1980 – Actor

“I think if someone gets kicked in the face it is their fault – they watched the foot come towards their face.”

Olivia Munn – 1980 – Actress

“Everyone’s so timid and afraid to insult anybody, but in the end, it’s like we’re all trying to please everyone.  In the end, we please no one.”

Sebastian Vettel – 1987 – Driver

“Sometimes you need to press pause to let everything sink in.”

Polski: Thurgood Marshall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Richard H. Stoddard – 1825 – Critic

“We love in others what we lack in ourselves, and would be everything, but what we are.”

Herman Hesse – 1877 – Author

“If time is not real, then the dividing line between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between good and evil, is also an illusion.”

Thurgood Marshall – 1908 – Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court

“Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds.”

Wislawa Szymborska – 1923 – Poet

“All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses.”

Ahmad Jamal – 1930 – Musician

“The quickest way to become troubled is to be concerned with what people are gonna say about your life and your work.”

Dave Thomas – 1932 – Businessman

“I think the harder your work, the more luck you have.”

Ferdinand Mount – 1939 – Writer

“One of the unsung freedoms that go with a free press is the freedom not to read it.”

Ron Silver – 1946 – Author

“Anyone who devotes time and attention to what makes people tick, to me, is a smart person.”

Larry David – 1947 – Actor

“When you’re not concerned with succeeding – you can work with complete freedom.”

portrait astronaut Linda Godwin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Linda M. Godwin – 1952 – Astronaut

“The training comes to us with the benefits of what has gone before.”

Jerry Hall – 1956 – Model

“I think if I weren’t so beautiful, maybe, I’d have more character.”

Jenni Rivera – 1969 – Musician

“I can’t get caught up in the negative because that destroys you.”

Amy Weber – 1972 – Actress

“My philosophy has always been, ‘do what you love and the money will follow.'”

Ashley Tisdale – 1985 – Actress

“Don’t let anyone, or any rejection, keep you from what you want.”

Lindsay Lohan – 1986 – Actress

“My motto is:  Live every day to the fullest – in moderation.”

Gideon Welles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Joseph Hall – 1574 – Clergyman

“A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.”

Gottfried Leibniz – 1646 – Philosopher

“Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.”

Georg C. Lichtenberg – 1742 – Scientist

“Everyone is a genius at least once a year.  The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together.”

Gideon Welles – 1802 – Soldier

“It is vain to expect a well-balanced government without a well-balanced society.”

George Sand – 1804 – Novelist

“Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness.  Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.”

William Strunk, Jr. – 1869 – Writer

“Omit needless words.”

Waldemar Young – 1878 – Writer

“There’s no twilight in the tropics.  Night falls like a curtain.”

Thomas A. Dorsey – 1899 – Musician

“Money doesn’t make the man.  Some people have money and some people are rich.”

Charles Laughton – 1899 –  Actor

“They can’t censor the gleam in my eye.”

Mary Calderone – 1904 – Scientist

“I truly feel that there are as many ways of loving as there are people in the world and as there are days in the life of those people.”

Bill Stein – 1907 – Actor

“Our elections are free, it’s the results where we eventually pay.”

Willie Dixon – 1915- Musician

“Birth is the sudden opening of a window, through which you look out upon a stupendous prospect.  For what has happened?  A miracle.  You have exchanged nothing for the possibility of everything.”

Olivia De Havilland – 1916 – Actress

“Famous people feel that they must perpetually be on the crest of the wave, not realizing that it is against all the rules of life.  You can’t be on top all the time, it isn’t natural.”

Imelda Marcos – 1929 – Celebrity

Leslie Caron (Photo credit: joanna tidball)

“People say I’m extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty.  But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage?”

Leslie Caron – 1931 – Actress

“I think it’s the end of progress if you stand still and think of what you’ve done in the past.  I keep on.”

Princess Diana – 1961 – British Royalty

“They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody.”

English: Publicity photo of Lena Horne performing on The Bell Telephone Hour television show. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Georges Duhamel, (1884-1966), was a French writer and poet. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John Gay – 1685 – Poet

“Tell me and I forget.  Show me and I remember.  Involve me and I understand.”

Georges Duhamel – 1884 – Novelist

“Do not trust your memory; it is a net of holes; the most beautiful prizes slip through it.”

Emmet Fox – 1886 – Author

“You must not allow yourself to dwell for a single moment on any kind of negative thought.”

C. Northcote Parkinson – 1909 – Historian

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

Lena Horne – 1917 – Singer

“Always be smarter than the people who hire you.”

Vincent D’Onofrio – 1959 – Actor

“It’s pretty simple, pretty obvious:  that people’s first impressions of people are really a big mistake.”

Mark Waters – 1964 – Director

“Daydreaming allows you to play out scenarios where you miraculously save the day.  You play your scenarios in your head that are kind of crazy, and then you personally, heroically resolve them.”

Mike Tyson – 1966 – Boxer

“Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.”

Michael Phelps – 1985 – Athlete

“I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work even if they are uncomfortable at the time.”

English: Particular of a famous portrait of the Count Giacomo Leopardi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Giacomo Leopardi – 1798 – Poet

“People are ridiculous only when they try or seem to be that which they are not.”

William J. Mayo – 1861 – Scientist

“A specialist is a man who knows more and more about less and less.”

James Harvey Robinson – 1863 – Historian

“We find it hard to believe that other people’s thoughts are as silly as our own, but they probably are.”

James Van Der Zee – 1886 – Photographer

“Happiness is perfume, you can’t pour it on somebody else without getting a few drops on yourself.”

William Powell – 1892 – Actor

“Cultivate solitude and quiet and a few sincere friends, rather than mob merriment, noise and thousands of nodding acquaintances.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery – 1900 – Novelist

“Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.”

Nelson Eddy – 1901 – Musician

“In society, one doesn’t tell the truth, one tells the exact opposite.”

Ed Gardner – 1901 – Actor

“Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings.”

Bernard Herrmann – 1911 – Composer

“Your views are as narrow as your tie.”

Van Der Zee in 1982 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Robert Evans – 1930 – Director

“I learned at a very early age, the easiest thing in the world is to tell the truth, and then you don’t have to remember what you said.  It has nothing to do with morality, just remembering what you said.”

Richard Lewis – 1947 – Comedian

“I quit therapy because my analyst was trying to help me behind my back.”

Andrew Bernstein – 1949 – Philosopher

“Remember that stress doesn’t come from what’s going on in your life.  It comes from your thoughts about what’s going on in your life.”

Don Dokken – 1953 – Musician

“I am not in competition with my peers; I am in competition with myself.”

Katherine Jenkins – 1980 – Musician

“Confidence is one of the sexiest things.”

Peter Paul Rubens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Peter Paul Rubens – 1577 – Artist

“My talent is such that no undertaking, however vast in size…however surpassed my courage.”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau – 1712 – Philosopher

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”

Luigi Pirandello – 1867 – Playwright

“A fact is like a sack – it won’t stand up if it’s empty.  To make it stand up, first you have to put in it all the reasons and feelings that caused it in the first place.”

Alexis Carrel – 1873 – Scientist

“In man, the things which are not measureable are more important than those which are measureable.”

Harold W. Dodds – 1889 – Educator

“A thick head can do as much damage as a hard heart.”

Richard Rogers – 1902 – Composer

“What’s wrong with sweetness and light?  It’s been around quite awhile.”

Ashley Montagu – 1905 – Scientist

“The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise.  It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.”

Eric Ambler – 1909 – Writer

“International business may conduct its operations with scraps of paper, but the ink it uses is human blood.”

William Whitelaw – 1918 – Politician

French surgeon and biologist Alexis Carrel (1873-1944) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“It is never wise to try to appear to be more clever than you are.  It is sometimes wise to appear slightly less so.”

Mel Brooks – 1926 – Comedian

“Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said.”

Harold Evans – 1928 – Journalist

“The camera cannot lie, but it can be an accessory to untruth.”

Pat Morita – 1932 – Actor

“I never was able to do karate.  That’s calling me a good actor.  I act like I can do anything.”

Leon Panetta – 1938 – Politician

“Go forward, knowing that you are greater than the challenges of your time.”

Bruce Davison – 1946 – Actor

“A good actor is somebody who can be truthful and fascinating and interesting and enlightening.”

Howard Barker – 1946 – Playwright

“A good play puts the audience through a certain ordeal.”

Gilda Radner – 1946 – Comedian

Pro Football Hall of Fame member and former Denver Broncos star John Elway now resides in Englewood. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Dreams are like paper, they tear so easily.”

Mark Helprin – 1947 – Novelist

“Well-timed silence is the most commanding expression.”

Kathy Bates – 1948 – Actress

“Every time an Oscar is given out, an agent gets his wings.”

John Elway – 1960 – Athlete.

“I always believe there’s a reason why you go through everything.”

Elon Musk – 1971 – Businessman

“I think that’s the single best piece of advice:  constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.”

Helen Keller (Photo credit: Marion Doss)

Augustus de Morgan – 1806 – Mathematician

“It is easier to square a circle than to get round a mathematician.”

Lafcadio Hearn – 1850 – Author

“The proverbial philosophy of a people helps us to understand more about them than any other kind of literature.”

John Manash – 1865 – Soldier

“Feed the troops on victory.”

Emma Goldman – 1869 – Activist

“The most violent element in society is ignorance.”

Paul Lawrence Dunbar – 1872 – Poet

“And that is life.”

Helen Keller – 1880 – Author

“Never bend your head.  Always hold it high.  Look the world straight in the eye.”

Gaston Bachelard – 1884 – Philosopher

“One must always maintain one’s connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.”

Bob Keeshan – 1927 – Entertainer

“Play is the work of children.  It’s very serious stuff.”

Ross Perot – 1930 – Businessman

“An activist is not the man who says the river is dirty – it’s the man who cleans up the river.”

Lucille Clifton – 1936 – Poet

English: Publicity photo of Bob Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“People wish to be poets more than they wish to write poetry.  One should wish to celebrate more than one wishes to be celebrated.”

Alan Coren – 1938 – Writer

“I wonder sometimes if manufacturers of foolproof items keep a fool or two on the payroll to test things.”

James P. Hogan – 1941 – Author

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people are full of doubts.”

Krzysztof Kieslowski – 1941 – Director

“Maybe it is worth investigating the unknown, if only because the very feeling of not knowing is a painful one.”

Ami Ayalon – 1945 – Author

“A captain who does not know where he wants to sail, there is no wind on Earth that will bring him there.”

Vera Wang – 1949 – Fashion Designer

“Don’t be afraid to take time to learn.  It’s good to work for other people.  I worked for others for 20 years.  They paid me to learn.”

Anita Diament – 1951 – Author

“I get nice rejections explaining that historical fiction was a difficult sell.  But I kept trying.”

Isabelle Adjani – 1955 – Actress

“You protect your being when you love yourself better.  That’s the secret.”

J. J. Abrams – 1966 – Director

“We live in an age of instant knowledge.  And there’s almost a sense of entitlement to that.”

Cecily von Ziegesar – 1970 – Author

“I tend to stare at people and memorize what they’re saying and how they say it.”

Tobey Maguire – 1975 – Actor

“I am a blank slate – therefore I can create anything I want.”

Khloe Kardashian – 1984 – Entertainer

“I’m strong and fearless and not afraid to take risks in business.”

Matthew Lewis – 1989 – Actor

“I’m very self-conscious as an actor, with performances and things, and I don’t like watching my own self.”

English: Pearl Buck, Pulitzer Prize-winning American author (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

George A. Smith – 1817 – Clergyman

“Lives are changes by a moment’s listening to conscience, by a single and quiet inclination of the mind.”

Lord Kelvin – 1824 – Irish Scientist

“The true measure of a man is what he would do it he knew he would never be caught.”

Bernard Berenson – 1865 – Historian

“Miracles happen to those who believe in them.”

Sidney Howard – 1891 – Playwright

“One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.”

Pearl S. Buck – 1892 – Author

“You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.”

Big Bill Broonzy – 1893 – Composer

“I guess all songs is folk songs.  I never heard no horse sing ’em.”

Colonel Tom Parker – 1909 – Celebrity

“Don’t try to explain it, just sell it.”

Mildred Babe Didrikson – 1911 – Golfer (Mildred Ella Zaharias)

“It’s not just enough to swing at the ball.  You’ve got to loosen your girdle and really let the ball have it.”

Virginia Satir – 1916 – Psychologist

“We need 4 hugs a day for survival.  We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance.  We need 12 hugs a day for growth.”

Colin Henry Wilson – 1931 – Writer

“A symphony is a stage play with the parts written for instruments instead of for actors.”

One of several studio portraits of Broonzy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Paul Thomas Anderson – 1970 – Director

“Acting is the hardest job in the entire world.  By far.  Harder than ditch digging.”

Gretchen Wilson – 1973 – Musician

“To me, redneck is a sense of self and a way of life.”

Derek Jeter – 1974 – Athlete

“There may be people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do – and I believe that.”

Michael Vick – 1980 – Athlete

“During my time in prison, I told myself that I wanted to be a part of the solution and not the problem.”

Ariana Grande – 1993 – Actress

“Be happy with being you.  Love your flaws.  Own your quirks.  And know that you are just as perfect as anyone else, exactly as you are.”