Quote Queen

1848 Daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe at 39, a year before his death (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Robert E. Lee – 1807 – Commander of the Confederate Army

“I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.”

Edgar Allan Poe – 1809 – Poet and Writer

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only at night.”

Henry Bessemer – 1813 – Scientist

“I had an immense advantage over many others dealing with the problem inasmuch as I had no fixed ideas derived from long-established practice to control and bias my mind.”

Paul Cezanne – 1839 – Painter

“A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.”

Charles E. Jones – 1881 – Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia

“The greatest waste of time is hate and the most expensive indulgence is pride.”

John Raitt – 1917 – Actor

“I like the work.  If I upped the price, I wouldn’t get the work.”

John Johnson – 1918 – Businessman

“Everyday I run scared.  That’s the only way I can stay ahead.”

Jean Stapleton – 1923 – Actress

“Lost of colors appear when you’re working with other people.”

Tippi Hedren – 1935 – Actress (Nathalie Hedren)

Henry Bessemer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“I didn’t think any amount of money was worth something that would take away what you believed in or what you stood for.”

Michael Crawford – 1942 – Actor

“I think one of the best words in the English language is compassion.  I think it holds everything.  It holds love; it holds care … and if everybody just did something.  We all make a difference.”

Peter Lynch – 1944 – Businessman

“Don’t bottom fish.”

Shelley Fabares – 1944 – Actress

“We need to appreciate how precious life is.”

Dolly Parton – 1946 – Musician

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”

Janis Joplin – 1943 – Singer

“Don’t compromise yourself.  You are all you’ve got.”

Robert Palmer – 1949 – Singer and Songwriter

“What happens often – although I’m not particularly a victim of this sort of thing – is that somebody will make a quote, or invent a remark and it gets printed, ends up on the ‘net and it becomes currency.  And some of them are so bizarre!”

Katey Sagal – 1954 – Actress

“I didn’t actually begin professionally acting until I was 30.”

Cindy Sherman – 1954 – Photographer

“The still must tease with the promise of a story the viewer of it itches to be told.”

Paul Rodriguez – 1955 – Comedian

“Everybody really needs to laugh …  If you don’t laugh, you’re not going to live long.”

Elanor Mondale – 1960 – Actress

“The biggest hurdle is figuring out who your friends are.  Your real friends.”

Martin Bashir – 1963 – Journalist

“If somebody’s not prepared to answer the question, you can keep asking.”

Jim Morris – 1964 – Athlete

“I’d like to fly.  Then I wouldn’t have to wait in airport security lines.”

Drea de Matteo – 1973 – Actress

“I like to make everything my friends are involved in a little better.  I should have just become a manager.”

Shawn Johnson – 1992 – Athlete

“My other life keeps me calm and grounded and normal.”

A a milne (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Daniel Webster – 1782 – Statesman

“Justice is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.”

A. A. Milne – 1882 – Author (Alan Alexander Milne)

“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.”

Seth Low – 1850 – Educator

“The great city can teach something that no university by itself can altogether impart:  a vivid sense of the largeness of human brotherhood, a vivid sense of man’s increasing obligation to man; a vivid sense of our absolute dependence on one another.”

Arthur Ransome – 1884 – Author

“Grab a chance and you won’t be sorry for a might-have-been.”

Oliver Hardy – 1892 – Actor

“We never see ourselves as others see us.”

Cary Grant (Photo credit: twm1340)

Cary Grant – 1904 – Actor (Archie Leach)

“Ah, beware of snobbery; it is the unwelcome recognition of one’s past failings.”

Danny Kaye – 1913 – Actor

“Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can on it.”

Robert Anton Wilson – 1932 – Writer

“Nothing of any importance can be taught.  It can only be learned, with blood and sweat.”

Joe Schmidt – 1932 – Athlete

“I’m just riding the wave until it hits the shore.”

Ray Dolby – 1933 – Inventor

“Inventing is a skill that some people have and some people don’t.  But you can learn how to invent.”

Takeshi Kitano – 1947 – Actor

“Sword fighting in film is not about how good the fighter is, but how good the actor receiving the blow is.”

Kevin Costner – 1955 – Actor

“Failure doesn’t kill you … it increases your desire to make something happen.”

Jonathan Davis – 1971 – Musician

“Be yourself, let you come through.”

Benjamin Franklin (Photo credit: elycefeliz)

Benjamin Franklin – 1706 – Statesman

“Well done is better than well said.”

Anne Bronte – 1820 – Author

“But he that dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose.”

David Lloyd George – 1863 – Politician

“If you want to succeed in politics, you must keep your conscience well under control.”

Al Capone – 1899 – Criminal

“Vote early and vote often.”

Robert M. Hutchins – 1899 – Educator

“It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts . . . it is to teach them to think.”

Eartha Kitt – 1927 – Actress and Singer

“I am learning all the time.  The tombstone will be my diploma.”

James Earl Jones – 1931 – Actor

“One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart than you can’t utter.”

English: US President Barack Obama and US First Lady Michelle Obama at the Quirinale Palace, in Rome (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Shari Lewis – 1933 – Entertainer

“Self esteem comes from doing something and accomplishing something.”

Muhammad Ali – 1942 – Athlete

“It’s a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself.”

Jim Carrey – 1962 – Actor

“Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.”

Michelle Obama – 1964 – Wife of President Barack Obama

“One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.”

Kid Rock – 1971 – Musician (Robert James Ritchie)

“I think what I’ve learned out of this lifetime is you should be proud of where you came from.”

English: Publicity photo of Ethel Merman from her appearance on Batman. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vittorio Alfieri – 1749 – Poet

“Often the test of courage is not to die but to live.”

Laura Riding – 1901 – Poet

“There can be no literary equivalent to truth.”

Ethel Merman – 1908 – Actress

“I can never remember being afraid of an audience.  If the audience could do better, they’d be up here on stage and I’d be out there watching them.”

Dizzy Dean – 1910 – Athlete (Jay Hana)

“It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”

Dian Fossey – 1932 – Zoologist

“The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, the more you want to avoid people.”

Susan Sontag – 1933 – Writer and Critic

“I was not looking for my dreams to interpret my life, but rather for my life to interpret my dreams.”

Ronnie Milsap – 1943 – Musician

“Work for the fun of it, and the money will arrive someday.”

Dian Fossey in November 1985; photograph by Yann Arthus-Bertrand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Laura Schlessinger – 1947 – Radio Talk Show Host

“The people and circumstances around me do not make me what I am, they reveal who I am.”

Debbie Allen – 1950 – Dancer

“Out of limitations comes creativity.”

Kate Moss – 1974 – Model

“I have met almost everyone I’ve wanted to meet.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Moliere – 1622 – Writer

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”

Goodman Ace – 1899 – Writer

“I keep reading between the lies.”

Edward Teller – 1908 – Physicist

“The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.”

Hugh Trevor Roper – 1914 – Historian

“The function of a genius is not to give new answers, but to pose new questions which time and mediocrity can resolve.”

Etty Hillesum – 1914 – Lawyer

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.”

Maria Schell – 1926 – Actress

“Peace is when time doesn’t matter as it passes by.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. – 1929 – Civil Rights Leader

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

John Naisbitt – 1929 – Businessman

“Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it.”

Ernest Gaines – 1933 – Writer

“Question everything.  Every stripe, every star, every word spoken.  Everything.”

Don Van Vliet – 1941 – Artist

“I think most people try to get others to see through their eyes.”

David Pleat – 1945 – Athlete

“A game is not won until it is lost.”

Pete Waterman – 1947 – Producer

Washington Redskins vs. New Orleans Saints at Fed Ex Field…Final Score: Redskins 29 / Saints 24 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Everybody likes a roller coaster ride.”

Adam Jones – 1965 – Musician

“If you want to be in a band and write music, then you should just be in a band and write music.”

Chad Lowe – 1968 – Actor

“I think each role has had different challenges.”

Regina King – 1971 – Actress

“I want to live a full life – period.”

Mary Pierce – 1975 – Athlete

“My life off the court has changed.  I’m feeling good inside, so I guess it shows on the outside too.”

Drew Brees – 1979- Athlete – New Orleans Saints Quarterback

“It’s my job to get us in good plays, or more importantly, out of bad plays.  That’s what I did.”

Andy Rooney, photographed by Stephenson Brown. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dr. Albert Schweitzer – 1875 – Physician and Philosopher

“Do something wonderful.  People my imitate it.”

Cecil Beaton – 1904 – Photographer

“Perhaps the world’s second-worse crime is boredom; the first is being a bore.”

Tillie Olsen – 1913 – Novelist

“There are worse words than cuss words, there are words that hurt.”

Andy Rooney – 1920 – Journalist

“Don’t take a butcher’s advice on how to cook meat.  If he knew, he’d be a chef.”

George Herman – 1920 – Journalist

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”

Joseph Chilton Pearce – 1926 – Author

“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.”

Faye Dunaway – 1941 – Actress

“Years are not important, my dear.”

Nina Totenberg – 1944 – Journalist

“I actually think with age comes some level of wisdom.”

Maureen Dowd – 1952 – Journalist

“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.”

English: Faye Dunaway at the Cannes film festival (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Steven Soderbergh – 1963 – Director

“Lying is like alcoholism.  You are always recovering.”

Shepard Smith – 1964 – Journalist

“We have a product for sale called news, and I’m a salesman.”

Emily Watson – 1967 – Actress

“I always think I am going to do my best.”

L. L. Cool – 1968 – Musician (James Todd Smith)

“I think when you move past your fear and you go after your dreams wholeheartedly, you become free.”

English: Photograph of Sophie Tucker (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sophie Tucker – 1884 – Actress

“The secret to longevity is to keep breathing.”

Elmer Davis – 1890 – Journalist

“This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”

Robert Stack – 1919 – Actor

“If you don’t love it, you can’t suffer thru all the despair that comes with it.  Keep doing it because you love it.”

Carolyn Gold Heilbrun – 1926 – Author

“The point of quotations is that one can use another’s words to be insulting.”

Sydney Brenner – 1927 – Scientist

“Living most of the time in a world created mostly in one’s head, does not make for an easy passage in the real world.”

Joe Pass – 1929 – Musician

“If you hit a wrong note, then make it right by what you play afterwards.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus – 1961 – Actress

“If you feel rooted in your home and family, if you’re active in your community, there’s nothing more empowering.  The best way to make a difference in the world is to start by making a difference in your own life.”

Wayne Coyne – 1961 – Musician

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“We love it when we make mistakes that are better than something you could think up.”

Penelope Ann Miller – 1964 – Actress

“The whole point is to hook people and keep them interested.”

Orlando Bloom – 1977 – Actor

“Failure is simply the non-presence of success.  But a fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions.”

Statue of John Winthrop on the Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford, Connecticut (Photo credit: Photo Phiend)

John Winthrop – 1587 – Pilgrim

“Love is the bond of perfection.”

Jack London – 1876 – Author (John Griffith Chaney)

“You can’t wait for inspiration.  You have to go after it with a club.”

Modecai Wyatt Johnson – 1890 – Educator

“Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative.”

Joe E. Lewis – 1902 – Comedian (Joseph Klewan)

“You only live once – but if you work it right, once is enough.”

Joe Frazier – 1944 – Athlete

“Life doesn’t run away from nobody.  Life runs at people.”

Edward Zander – 1947 – Businessman

“It’s never as good as it feels, and it’s never as bad as it seems.”

Tom Dempsey – 1947 – Athlete

“The hurricane flooded me out of a lot of memorabilia, but it can’t flood out the memories.”

Rush Limbaugh – 1951 – Entertainer

“Compassion is no substitute for justice.”

Christiane Amanpour – CNN Anchor (Photo credit: FDR Presidential Library & Museum)

Kirstie Allen – 1951 – Actress

“You’ll never be disappointed if you always keep an eye on uncharted territory; where you’ll be challenged and growing and having fun.”

Christiane Amanpour – 1958 – TV News Correspondent

“Our industry has invested so much money in technology that perhaps it’s time to invest in talent, in people.”

Jeff Bezos – 1964 – Businessman

“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person.  You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.”

Melanie Chisholm – 1974 – Musician

“Everybody in life is a chameleon.”

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.”