"We have too many sounding words and too few actions that correspond with them."
--Abigail Adams

"Fortify yourself with a flock of friends! You can select them at random, write to one, dine with one, visit one, or take your problems to one. There is always at least one who will understand, inspire, and give you the lift you may need at the time."
--George Matthew Adams

"Life happens at the level of events, not words."
--Alfred Adler

"If at first you don't succeed, you're running above average."
--M. H. Alderson

"Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted."
--Fred Allen

Eighty percent of success is showing up.
-- Woody Allen

"If you don't control your mind, someone else will."
--John Allston

Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.
-- Henri F. Amiel

You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.
-- Henri F. Amiel

"The man who insists on seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides."
--Henri Fredric Amiel

"There are a lot of people out there with good and marketable ideas, but pure entrepreneurial types never accept defeat."
--Lisa M. Amos

"Bureaucracy is nothing more than the hardening of an organization's arteries."
--William P. Anthony

For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.
-- Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

"How many a dispute could have been deflated into a single paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms."
--Aristotle

"She not only expects the worst, but makes the worst of it when it happens."
--Michael Arlen

"If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right."
--Mary Kay Ash

I used to dread getting older because I thought I would not be able to do all the things I wanted to do, but now that I am older I find that I don't want to do them.
-- Nancy Astor

"Of all afflictions, the worst is self-contempt."
--Berthold Auerbach

"Just do what you do best."
--Red Auerbach

"Simply stated, it is sagacious to eschew obfuscation."
--Norman Augustine

"What you are must always displease you, if you would attain to that which you are not."
--St Augustine

"Chance favors those in motion."
--James H. Austin

"You're going to have to learn to fake cheerfulness. Believe it or not eventually that effort will pay off: you'll actually start feeling happier."
--Jean Bach

"I have received memos so swollen with managerial babble that they struck me as the literary equivalent of assault with a deadly weapon."
--Peter Baida

"There are two kinds of talent, man-made talent and God-given talent. With man-made talent you have to work very hard. With God-given talent, you just touch it up once in a while."
--Pearl Bailey

"I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist."
--Tammy Faye Baker

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix."
--Christina Baldwin

"Love yourself first and everything falls into line."
--Lucille Ball

"Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies."
--Honore de Balzac

"Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it."
-- Tallulah Bankhead

"The healthy and strong individual is the one who asks for help when he needs it."
--Rona Barrett

"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh – at yourself."
--Ethel Barrymore

"Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away hunger."
--St. Basil

"The wages of sin are increased circulation."
--John Beavan

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.
-- Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887), Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit, 1887

"The real essence of work is concentrated energy."
--Walter Begehot

"Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile... initially scared me to death."
-- Betty Bender

"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."
--Arnold Bennett

"Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene."
--Arthur Christopher Benson

"I read the newspaper avidly. It is my one form of continuous fiction."
--Aneurin Bevan

"Silence is one of the hardest things to refute."
--Josh Billings

"In not making the decision, you've made one. Not doing something is the same as doing it."
--Ivan Bloch

"One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority."
--Napoleon Bonaparte

"Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility."
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"There is nothing final about a mistake, except its being taken as final."
--Phyllis Bottome

"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people."
-Victor Borge, on Laughter

"If you look at life one way, there is always cause for alarm."
--Elizabeth Bowen

"If you have to be in a soap opera try not to get the worst role." --Boy George

"Act as if it were impossible to fail."
--Dorothea Brande

Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.
-- Bertolt Brecht

Wherever souls are being tried and ripened, in whatever commonplace and homely way, there God is hewing out the pillars for his temple.
... Phillips Brooks Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer (1835-1893)

"Anger repressed can poison a relationship as surely as the cruelest words."
--Dr. Joyce Brothers

"Marriage is not just spiritual communion and passionate embraces; marriage is also three-meals-a-day and remembering to take out the trash."
--Dr. Joyce Brothers

For you to be successful, sacrifices must be made. It's better that they are made by others but failing that, you'll have to make them yourself.
-- Rita Mae Brown

"One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory."
--Rita Mae Brown

"Bang-whang-whang goes the drum, tootle-tetootle the fife; /
No keeping one's haunches still: it's the greatest pleasure in life."
--Robert Browning

"Once the 'what' is decided, the 'how' always follows. We must not make the 'how' an excuse for not facing and accepting the 'what.'"
--Pearl Buck

"Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied."
--Pearl S. Buck

"What we think, we become."
--Buddha

Christians are like the flowers in a garden, that have each of them the dew of Heaven, which, being shaken with the wind, they let fall at each other's roots, whereby they are jointly nourished, and become nourishers of each other.
... John Bunyan (1638-1688)

"You cannot plan the future by the past."
--Edmund Burke

Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other."
--Edmund Burke

The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is 'look under foot.' You are always nearer the divine and the true sources of your power than you think.
-- John Burroughs

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see."
--John Burrough

"From self alone expect applause."
--Marion L. Burton

"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable."
--Sir Thomas Foxwell Buxton

"Success is important only to the extent that it puts one in a position to do more things one likes to do."
--Sara Caldwell

"Without work all life goes rotten."
--Albert Camus

"The block of granite, which was an obstacle in the path of the weak, becomes a stepping stone in the path of the strong."
--Thomas Carlyle

"Give me a man who sings at his work."
--Thomas Carlyle

"Concentrate your energies, your thoughts and your capital.... The wise man puts all his eggs in one basket and watches the basket."
--Andrew Carnegie

"Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most often makes for success."
--Dale Carnegie

"You must accept that you might fail; then, if you do your best and still don't win, at least you can be satisfied that you tried. If you don't accept failure as a possibility, you don't set high goals, you don't branch out, you don't try – you don't take the risk."
--Rosalynn Carter

"The key to change . . . is to let go of fear."
--Rosanne Cash

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.
-- Willa Cather (1873 - 1947), The Song of the Lark, 1915

"One man is no more than another if he does no more than another."
--Miguel de Cervantes

In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.
-- Coco Chanel

"Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury."
--E. H. Chapin

Never make a defense or an apology until you are accused.
-- King Charles I, of England

"To remain young one must change."
--Alexander Chase

"A woman obsessed with her body is also obsessed with the limitations of her emotional life."
--Kim Chernin

The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.
-- Lord Chesterfield (1694 - 1773), Letters to His Son, 1746, published 1774

"Circumstances break men's bones; it has never been shown that they break men's optimism."
--G. K. Chesterton

"Every politician is emphatically a promising politician."
--G. K. Chesterton

". . . just to be alive is a grand thing."
--Agatha Christie

"It is necessary to try to surpass oneself always; this occupation ought to last as long as life."
--Queen Christina, of Sweden

"I wanted to be scared again . . . I wanted to feel unsure again. That's the only way I learn, the only way I feel challenged."
--Connie Chung

"The price of greatness is responsibility."
-- Sir Winston Churchill

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
-- Sir Winston Churchill

If you're going through hell, keep going.
~ Sir Winston Churchill

Be sure that it is not you that is mortal, but only your body. For that man whom your outward form reveals is not yourself; the spirit is the true self, not that physical figure which can be pointed out by your finger.
-- Cicero

"Turbulence is a life force. It is opportunity. Let's love turbulence and use it for change."
--Ramsay Clark

Total absence of humor renders life impossible.
-- Colette

It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship.
-- Colette, The Pure and the Impure, 1932

"Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I'll show you someone who has never achieved much."
--Joan Collins

Praise the bridge that carried you over.
-- George Colman

"Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones."
--Charles Caleb Colton

Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.
-- Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933), speech, June 11, 1928

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
--Bill Cosby

"Talent is what you possess; genius is what possesses you."
--Malcolm Cowley

"No man knows his true character until he has run out of gas, purchased something on the installment plan and raised an adolescent."
--Mercelene Cox

"I think women see me on the cover of magazines and think I never have a pimple or bags under my eyes. You have to realize that's after two hours of hair and makeup, plus retouching. Even I don't wake up looking like Cindy Crawford."
--Cindy Crawford

"No one person can possibly combine all the elements supposed to make up what everyone means by friendship."
--Francis Marion Crawford

I love you, not for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.
--Roy Croft

"There is nothing mysterious about originality, nothing fantastic. Originality is merely the step beyond."
--Louis Danz

"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper."
--Adelle Davis

"The first and great commandment is, Don't let them scare you."
--Elmer Davis

"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
--Charles Dickens

"Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things."
--Denis Diderot

Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting thing in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control.
-- Denis Diderot (1713 - 1784), Supplement to Bougainville's 'Voyage,' 1796

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island . . . and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life."
--Walt Disney

"The secret of success is constancy of purpose."
--Benjamin Disraeli

"How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct."
-- Benjamin Disraeli, speech, January 24, 1860

Instructions for Life in the new millennium from the Dalai Lama:

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three Rs:
Respect for self
Respect for others and
Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for yourlife.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your lovefor each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to getit.

19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Chase after truth like hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat-tails.
-- Clarence Darrow (1857 - 1938)

Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt.
-- Clarence Darrow

"Success generally depends upon knowing how long it takes to succeed."
--Charles de Montesquieu

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.
-- Charles Dickens

"Money, says the proverb, makes money. When you have got a little, it is often easy to get more."
--Charles Dickens (Our Mutual Friend)

Success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed.
-- Emily Dickinson

"A schedule defends from chaos and whim."
--Annie Dillard

"Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm."
--Benjamin Disraeli

"Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without."
--Dr. James C. Dobson

"If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect yourself."
--Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"If a man harbors any sort of fear, it . . . makes him landlord to a ghost." -- Lloyd Douglas

"It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own." ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions."
--Peter Drucker

"I'm better about things than about people. I'm more interested in people, but I'm better at ideas."
--Peter Drucker

"Production is not the application of tools to materials, but logic to work."
--Peter Drucker

"The past always looks better than it was. It's only pleasant because it isn't here."
--Finley Peter Dunne (as "Mr. Dooley," a character in Dunne's newspaper column)

"I want to do it because I want to do it."
--Amelia Earhart

"Adventure is worthwhile in itself."
--Amelia Earhart

"I don't believe in pessimism."
--Clint Eastwood

"The farther behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character."
--Isabelle Eberhardt

Give not over thy soul to sorrow; and afflict not thyself in thy own counsel. Gladness of heart is the life of man and the joyfulness of man is length of days.
-- Ecclesiastes

"There is no substitute for hard work."
--Thomas Edison

"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."
-- Albert Einstein

"Truth is what stands the test of experience."
--Albert Einstein

"Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value."
--Albert Einstein

"When you appeal to force, there's one thing you must never do - lose."
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969), Inaugural Address, January 20, 1953

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower, September 11, 1956

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.
-- George Elliot

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Men are what their mothers made them."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters and Social Aims: The Comic, 1876

"Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Patience and fortitude conquer all things."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson


"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
-- Mary Engelbreit

The man least dependent upon the morrow goes to meet the morrow most cheerfully.
-- Epicurus, 300 B.C.

The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.
-- Euripides