Quote Queen

English: James K. Polk – 11th President of the United States (1845-1849) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Daniel Boone – 1734 – Explorer

“I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks.”

Marie Antoinette – 1755 – French Royalty

“There is nothing new except what has been forgotten.”

James K. Polk – 1795 – 11th President of the United States

“No president who performs his duties faithfully and conscientiously can have any leisure.”

Georges Sorel – 1847 – Philosopher

“Hate is able to provoke disorders, to ruin a social organization, to cast a country into a period of bloody revolutions; but it produces nothing.”

Warren G. Harding – 1865 – 29th President of the United States

“America’s present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration.”

Harlow Shapley – 1885 – Scientist

“Theories crumble, but good observations never fade.”

Burt Lancaster – 1913 – Actor

“Sell yourself first, if you want to sell anything.”

Paul Johnson – 1928 – Journalist

“Courage is the essential element in any great public man or woman.”

Bill Gothard –  1934 – Clergyman

“A message prepared in the mind reaches the mind; a message prepared in a life reaches a life.”

Rose Bird – 1936 – Judge

English: Warren G. Harding (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“My role isn’t to be politically smart.  My role is to do what’s right under the constitution.  And if that’s politically unpopular, so be it.”

Pat Buchanan – 1938 – Journalist

“The food that enters the mind must be watched as closely as the food that enters the body.”

Stefanie Powers – 1942 – Actress

“‘Bossy’ is someone who bosses people around without reason.”

Lois McMaster Bujold – 1949 – Writer

“What you are is a question only you can answer.”

Shahrukh Khan –  1965 – Actor

“Success is not a good teacher, failure makes you humble.”

Nelly –  1974 – Musician (Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr.)

“I don’t believe in luck.  I believe everything happens for a reason.”

Sholem Asch, Polish-born American novelist, dramatist, and essayist (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Matthew Hale – 1609 – Historian

“It is a sign that your reputation is small and sinking if your own tongue must praise you.”

Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux – 1636 – Poet

“However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him.”

John Joly – 1857 – Scientist

“All great results in our universe are founded in motions and forces the most minute.”

Stephen Crane – 1871 – Writer

“Every sin is the result of collaboration.”

Sholem Asch – 1880 – Novelist

“Writing comes more easily if you have something to say.”

Grantland Rice – 1880 – Journalist

“A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.”

Hermann Broch – 1886 – Writer

“Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought of which the sea would not be part.”

Gordon R. Dickson – 1923 – Author

“Some people like my advice so much that they frame it upon the wall instead of using it.”

Charles Koch – 1935 – Businessman

“The role of business is to provide products and services that make people’s lives better – while using fewer resources – and to act lawfully and with integrity.”

Gary Player – 1935 – Athlete

“We create success or failure on the course primarily by our thoughts.”

Marci Wallace – 1942 – Actress

“I asked for help, which is the hardest thing in the world.”

aishwarya bachchan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dennis Muren – 1946 – Artist

“And I also trust that there’s more than one way to do something.”

Jim Steinman – 1948 – Musician

“If you don’t go over the top you can’t see what’s on the other side.”

Lyle Lovett – 1956 – Musician

“Fortunately, I’ve never had a job.”

Rachel Ticotin – 1958 – Actress

“If you care about yourself and what you do, you get nervous about it.  You just don’t take the money and go home.”

Charlie Kaufman – 1958 – Writer

“Constantly talking isn’t necessarily communicating.”

Tim Cook – 1960 – Businessman

“Life is fragile.  We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow so give it everything you’ve got.”

Bob Wells – 1966 – Athlete

“Your true value depends entirely on what you are compared with.”

Toni Collette – 1971 – Actress

“The better you know yourself, the better your relationship with the rest of the world.”

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – 1973 – Actress

“I always believed that my silence on several topics will be an advantage in the long run.”

Natalie Clifford Barney (1876-1972) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John Evelyn – 1620 – Musician

“Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world.”

John Keats – 1795 – Poet

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever:  its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.”

Richard Morris Hunt – 1827 – Architect

“The first thing you’ve got to remember is that it’s your clients’ money you’re spending.”

Axel Munthe – 1857 – Writer

“The wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage.  He is in front of it.”

Juliette Gordon Low – 1860  – Founder of Girl Scouts

“Ours is a circle of friendships united by ideals.”

Natalie Clifford Barney – 1876 – Author

“The advantage of love at first sight is that it delays a second sight.”

Dale Evans – 1912 – Actress

“Happy trails to you, until we meet again.”

Dick Francis – 1920 – Author

“Crime to many is not crime but simply a way of life.  If laws are inconvenient, ignore them, they don’t apply to you.”

Helmut Newton – 1920 – Photographer

“My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse, and entertain.”

Lee Grant – 1927 – Actress

“This is our lives.  The way to give it dignity is to tell the truth.”

Dan Rather – 1931 – TV Journalist

“Don’t taunt the alligator until after you’ve crossed the creek.”

Katherine Paterson – 1932 – Author

“I guess real maturity, which most of us never achieve, is when you realize that you’re not the center of the universe.”

Michael Landon – 1936 – Actor

“Dreaming is one thing, and working towards the dream is one thing, but working with expectations in mind is very self-defeating.”

John Candy – 1950 – Actor

“You can escape into a character.”

Dan Rather at the Kalb Report (Photo credit: Political Surfer)

Jane Pauley – 1950 – TV Journalist

“You can’t look at a sleeping cat and be tense.”

Peter Jackson – 1961 – Director

“Rivalry doesn’t help anybody.”

John Adams (Photo credit: cliff1066™)

John Adams – 1735 – 2nd President of the United States

“Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.”

Richard Sheridan – 1751 – Playwright

“Our memories are independent of our wills.  It is not so easy to forget.”

Adelaide Anne Procter – 1825 – Poet

“No star is ever lost we once have seen, we always may be what we might have been.”

Alfred Sisley – 1839 – Artist

“Every picture shows a spot with which the artist has fallen in love.”

Antonie Bourdelle – 1861 – Sculptor

“The secret of art is love.”

Paul Valery – 1871 – Poet

“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”

Ezra Pound – 1885 – Poet

“Literature is news that stays news.”

Charles Atlas – 1892 – Athlete and Personal Trainer

“My system uses no apparatus.  The resistance of your own body is the best and safest apparatus.”

Jean Rostand – 1894 – Scientist

“A few great minds are enough to endow humanity with monstrous power, but a few great hearts are not enough to make us worthy of using it.”

Ruth Gordon – 1896 – Actress

“Never give up.  And never, under any circumstances, face the facts.”

Bill Terry – 1898 – Athlete

“No business in the world has ever made more money with poorer management.”

Bobby Bragan – 1917 – Athlete

“Say you were standing with one foot in the oven and one foot in an ice bucket.  According to the percentage people, you would be perfectly comfortable.”

Lois Wyse – 1926 – Businesswoman

“Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation.”

Joe Adcock – 1927 – Athlete

“Trying to sneak a fastball past Hank Aaron is like trying to sneak the sunrise past a rooster.”

Henry Winkler – 1945 – Actor

“Assumptions are the termites of relationships.”

Andrea Mitchell – 1946 – Journalist

“Someday perhaps I’ll have to get a grownup job . . . but for now I’m having too much fun being a reporter.”

English: Nastia Liukin, American artistic gymnast. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Diego Maradona – 1960 – Athlete

“My mother thinks I am the best.  And I was raised to always believe what my mother tells me.”

Ivanka Trump – 1981 – Businesswoman

“Real estate is my life.  It is my day job, if you will.  But it consumes my nights and weekends, too.”

Kathryn Minshew – 1985 – Businesswoman

“Thinking big is only one part of being a successful entrepreneur.”

Nastia Liukin – 1989 – Olympic Gymnast

“Gymnastics, especially in my family, is more than a sport.  It’s our life, it’s our careers, it’s our family business.”

Queen Mary of Romania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

James Boswell – 1740 – Lawyer

“A page of my journal is like a cake of portable soap.  A little may be diffused into a considerable portion.”

Queen Marie of Romania – 1875 – Royalty

“Fashion exists for women with no taste, etiquette for people with no breeding.”

Jean Giraudoux – 1882 – Dramatist

“The secret of success is sincerity.”

Fanny Brice – 1981 – Comedian

“Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?”

Bill Mauldin – 1921 – Cartoonist

“I was a born troublemaker and might as well earn a living at it.”

Peter Green – 1946 – Musician

“I thought I had too much money to be happy and normal.  Thousands of pounds is just too much for a working person to handle all of a sudden, and I felt I didn’t deserve it.”

Richard Dreyfuss – 1942 – Actor

“There is one solution to all our problems:  Teaching our kids clarity of thought and political representation in democracy.  That’s it.”

Kate Jackson – 1948 – Actress

“As someone who has had cancer, I learned that you don’t have to die.  Look at me.  Because of early detection, I’m fine.  I’m cured.  I’m well.”

Ann-Marie MacDonald – 1958 – Playwright

“You can tell a lot about a person by the people who work for them.”

David Remnick – 1958 – Journalist

“98% of the people who get the magazine say they read the cartoons first – and the other 2% are lying.”

Joely Fisher – 1967 – Actress

“It’s challenging, but you have to at least try to eat right and exercise.”

Fanny Brice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Daniel J. Bernstein – 1971 – Mathematician

“I’m an academic.  It’s either publish or perish.”

Winona Rider – 1971 – Actress

“When you finally accept that it’s OK not to have answers and it’s OK not to be perfect, you realize that feeling confused is a normal part of what it is to be a human being.”

Ben Foster – 1980 – Actor

“It’s okay to fail ’cause there’s no failure, you’re just informing the richness of your experience and that’s – that’s the greatest gift you can possibly give yourself.”

Русский: Эльза Ланчестер в фильме «Капризная Мариэтта» (1935). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ivan Turgenev – 1818 – Novelist

“People without firmness of character love to make up a fate for themselves; that relieves them of the necessity of having their own will and of taking responsibility for themselves.”

Elsa Lanchester – 1902 – Actress

“There is no such thing as a person that nothing has happened to, and each person’s story is as different as his fingertips.”

Evelyn Waugh – 1903 – Writer

“Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.”

Edith Head – 1907 – Designer

“Your dresses should be tight enough to show you’re a woman and loose enough to show you’re a lady.”

Jonas Salk – 1914 – Immunologist

“The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.”

Charlie Daniels – 1936 – Musician

“I just thank God I can make a living doing something I enjoy as much as I do playing music.”

Lenny Wilkens – 1937 – Athlete

“The American dream, to me, means having the opportunity to achieve, because I don’t think you should be guaranteed anything other than opportunity.”

Bruce Jenner – 1949 – Athlete

“Start early and begin raising the bar throughout the day.”

Bill Gates – 1955 – Computer Software Engineer and Entrepreneur

“Success is a lousy teacher.  It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”

Indra Nooyi – 1955 – Businesswoman

English: Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh where he developed the first polio vaccine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Leadership is hard to define and good leadership even harder.  But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader.”

John Romero – 1967 – Inventor

“You might not think that programmers are artists, but programming is an extremely creative profession.  It’s logic-based creativity.”

Julia Roberts – 1967 – Actress

“True love doesn’t come to you, it has to be inside you.”

Brad Paisley – 1972 – Musician

“Anytime you do something from the heart, people just know it.”

Joaquin Phoenix – 1974 – Actor

“I don’t know a single person in life that doesn’t have conflict.”

English: John Cleese in May 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

James Cook – 1728 – Explorer

“Do just once what others say you can’t do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again.”

Isaac Bashevis Singer – 1811 – Inventor of the Sewing Machine

“We must believe in free will.  We have no choice.”

Theodore Roosevelt – 1858 – 26th President of the United States

“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”

Roscoe Pound – 1870 – Lawyer

“The law must be stable, but it must not stand still.”

Emily Post – 1872 – Author and Authority on Etiquette

“Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others.  If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.”

Owen D. Young – 1874 – Businessman

“When boasting ends, there dignity begins.”

Alfred Whitney Griswold – 1906 – Educator

“The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.”

Dylan Thomas – 1914 – Poet

“He who seeks rest finds boredom.  He who seeks work finds rest.”

Ruby Dee – 1924 – Actress

“The greatest gift is not being afraid to question.”

H. R. “Bob” Haldeman – 1926 – Politician (Harry Robbins Haldeman)

“You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.”

Nawal El Saadawi – 1931 – Writer

“If you do not love yourself, well, you cannot do anything well, that’s my philosophy.”

Maxine Hong Kingston in New York City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sylvia Plath – 1932 – Poet

“And by the way, everything about life is writable if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

John Cleese – 1939 – Actor

“If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.”

John Gotti – 1940 – Mobster

“I never lie because I don’t fear anyone.  You only lie when you’re afraid.”

Maxine Hong Kingston – 1940 – Writer

“I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for contradictions.”

Fran Lebowitz – 1950 – Author

“Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he’s buying.”

Matt Drudge – 1966 – Journalist

“You would be amazed what the ordinary guy knows.”

Kelly Osbourne – 1984 – Actress

“I say find one true friend to help you get through the tough times.”

Mahalia Jackson, 16 April. 1962 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Desiderius Erasmus – 1466 – Philosopher

“Prevention is better than cure.”

John C. Geikie – 1824 – Minister

“Our character is but the stamp on our souls of the free choices of good and evil we have made through life.”

C. P. Scott – 1846 – Journalist

“Television?  The word is half Greek, half Latin.  No good can come of it.”

Napoleon Hill – 1883 – Author

“Until you have formed the habit of looking for the good instead of the bad there is in others, you will be neither successful nor happy.”

Mahalia Jackson – 1911 – Musician

“Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them.”

Francois Mitterrand – 1916 – French Statesman

“A man loses contact with reality if he is not surrounded by his books.”

Pat Conroy – 1945 – Writer

“Without music, life is a journey through a desert.”

Pat Sajak – 1946 – Entertainer

“Sometimes you just stumble into something that works, and here I am a quarter of a century later.”

Hillary Clinton – 1947 – Senator and Secretary of State

“You show people what you’re willing to fight for when you fight for your friends.”

Jaclyn Smith – 1947 – Actress

“Angels are like diamonds.  They can’t be made, you have to find them.  Each one is unique.”

Julian Schnabel – 1951 – Artist

“My compulsion is to create things.”

Andrew Motion – 1952 – Poet

“I’m also a great believer in the dream life; that while we’re asleep, a deep subconscious connection is made about our profoundest fears, hopes, loves, losses, dreads, and desires.”

Stephen Carter – 1954 – Lawyer

“Teaching civility is an obligation of the family.”

Julie Dawn Cole – 1957 – Actress

“You can’t be a grown-up woman and not like chocolate.”

Rita Wilson – 1958 – Actress

“Awareness is empowering.”

Dylan McDermott – 1961 – Actor

“As an actor, you always have to reinvent yourself or you end up in the gutter somewhere.  It’s my job to always change people’s minds.  I’ve known that for a long time and I’ve had to do it.”

Natalie Merchant – 1963 – Musician

Keith Urban (Photo credit: Frank Roche)

“I can’t remove the autobiographical slant from the things I write.  You always bring yourself into what you’re writing.”

Kelly Rowan – 1965 – Actress

“Who really cares what a celebrity thinks on a given issue?”

Keith Urban – 1967 – Musician

“Getting on the bus and touring was my life.  And when that was not around, I felt myself a bit lost at times, because that was all I had.”

Seth MacFarlane – 1973 – Cartoonist

“The only problem is time.”

Rosemarie DeWitt – 1974 – Actress

“I don’t want to put a pause on the rest of my life; I’m really enjoying getting older and the wisdom that comes from that.”

James Beattie – 1735 – Poet

“In every age and every man there is something to praise as well as to blame.”

Publicity photo of comedienne Minnie Pearl for appearances made at Chicago’s Civic Opera House. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Max Stirner – 1806 – Philosopher

“The men of the future will yet fight their way to many a liberty that we do not even miss.”

John Heisman – 1869 – Coach

“When you find your opponent’s weak spot, hammer it.”

Henry Norris Russell – 1877 – Scientist

“Conflict between science and religion is a dangerous foe.”

Pablo Picasso – 1881 – Artist

“As a child I could draw like Leonardo; as an adult I want to paint as a child.”

Richard E. Byrd – 1888 – Explorer

“A static hero is a public liability.  Progress grows out of motion.”

Smokey Joe Wood – 1889 – Athlete

“I threw so hard I thought my arm would fly right off my body.”

Henry Steele Commager – 1902 – Historian

“Censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.”

Minnie Pearl – 1912 – Singer and Musician (Sarah Ophelia Colley)

“God has a plan for all of us, but He expects us to do our share of the work.”

Jack Kent Cooke – 1912 – Businessman

“Nobody’s going to write a book about me, because nobody’s going to find anything worth writing a book about.”

John Berryman – 1914 – Poet

“Bats have no bankers and they do not drink and cannot be arrested and pay no tax and, in general, bats have it made.”

Billy Barty – 1924 – Actor

“The general public thinks all little people are in circuses or sideshows.  We have doctors, nurses, just about every field covered.”

Marion Ross – 1928 – Actress

“The thing about hearing loss is that no one can see it.  Most people are so impatient; they just assume that the person with hearing loss is being rude, or slow-witted.”

Harold Brodkey – 1930 – Author

“I have thousands of opinions still – but that is down from millions – and, as always, I know nothing.”

Jay Chiat – 1931 – Businessman

“Taking risks gives me energy.”

Michael Gartner – 1938 – Journalist

“There isn’t as much passion and outrage in today’s newspapers.  That may be because of a corporate decision, but they’ve lost their personality.”

Bobby Knight – 1940 – Coach

“The will to succeed is important, but what’s more important is the will to prepare.”

Helen Reddy – 1941 – Singer and Actress

“Hindsight is wonderful.  It’s always easy to second guess after the fact.”

Anne Tyler – 1941 – Novelist

“My family can always tell when I’m well into a novel because the meals get very crummy.”

James Carville – 1944 – Lawyer

“Ideologies aren’t all that important.  What’s important is psychology.”

Suheir Hammad (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jon Anderson – 1944 – Musician

“I think one of the greatest moments of my life was when I could write musician on my passport.”

Dan Gable – 1948 – Athlete

“Gold medals aren’t really made of gold.  They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.”

Nancy Cartwright – 1957 – Actress

“The fundamental laws of physics do not describe true facts about reality.  Rendered as descriptions of facts, they are false; amended to be true, they lose their explanatory force.”

Melinda McGraw – 1963 – Actress

“I do believe that one way to have a destiny is to choose one.”

Bruce Feiler – 1964 – Writer

“The most successful families embrace and elevate their family history, particularly their failures, setbacks, and missteps.”

Adam Pascal – 1970 – Actor

“Ignorance is bliss.  I wish I still had some.”

Esther Duflo – 1972 – Economist

“I don’t go to the beach.  There is no value in going to the beach.  If I did go I would probably read economic books.”

Suheir Hammad – 1973 – Poet

“Do not fear what has blown up.  If you must, fear the unexploded.”

Anthony Starr – 1975 – Actor

“Collaboration is the best way to work.  It’s the only way to work, really.  Everyone’s there because they have a set of skills to offer across the board.”

Keith Barry – 1976 – Entertainer

“Magic is all about directing attention.  If I didn’t want you to look at my right hand then I don’t look at it.”

Katy Perry – 1984 – Musician

“I don’t need the Prince Charming to have my own happy ending.”

Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

James Mackintosh – 1765 – Judge

“It is right to be contented with what we have, never with what we are.”

Sarah Josepha Hale – 1788 – Writer

“There is something in the decay of nature that awakens thought, even in the most trifling mind.”

Brenda Ueland – 1891 – Writer

“This is what I learned:  that everybody is talented, original, and has something important to say.”

Marjorie Joyner – 1896 – Businesswoman

“There is nothing a woman can’t do.  Men might think they do things all by themselves but a woman is always there guiding them or helping them.”

Willis Goldbeck – 1898 – Dramatist

“Shame, shame, shame.  How many times have I told you not to be frightened?  Have I not told you God looks after all his children?”

Moss Hart – 1904 – Playwright

“All the mistakes I ever made were when I wanted to say ‘No’ and said ‘Yes’.”

Luciano Berio – 1925 – Composer

“In music, as I find myself forever saying, things don’t get better or worse:  they evolve and transform themselves.”

George Crumb – 1929 – Composer

“The future will be the child of the past and the present, even if a rebellious child.”

Adrian Mitchell – 1932 – Poet

“Most people ignore most poetry because most poetry ignores most people.”

Stephen Covey – 1932 – Businessman

“There are three constants in life . . . change, choice, and principles.”

Portrait of Brenda Ueland, circa 1930 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

F. Murray Abraham – 1939 – Actor

“I think creativity is spiritual.  I absolutely believe that.”

Frank Delaney – 1942 – Novelist

“Writers have opinions – that, in part, is why they write.  Therefore they have strong likes and dislikes.”

Kevin Kline – 1947 – Actor

“Nothing makes an actor feel freer and more inventive and more creative than being trusted.”

Ted Dekker – 1962 – Author

“Writing wasn’t about making money.  I wanted to find fulfillment in writing and telling stories, and that’s what’s driven me.”

Emma Donoghue – 1969 – Playwright

“The great thing about a short story is that is doesn’t have to trawl through someone’s whole life; it can come in glancingly from the side.”

Pat Williams – 1972 – Athlete

“Great leaders have a heart for people.  They take time for people.  They view people as the bottom line, not as a tool to get to the bottom line.”

Gabrielle Zevin – 1977 – Author

“I don’t believe in writer’s block.”

Monica Denise Brown – 1980 – Musician

“Multitasking is a part of my everyday life.”

Zac Posen – 1980 – Designer

“Fashion is killing women’s body images of themselves.”

Adrienne Bailon – 1983 – Musician

“Don’t ever give up.  Believe in yourself or no one else will.  My personal saying is:  ‘I’d rather die knowing that I tried to do what I love.'”

Wayne Rooney – 1985 – Musician

“I just hate losing and that gives you an extra determination to work harder.”