name of person where the quote is from, if knownthe quote itself. Douglas Adams If you try and take a cat apart to see how it works, the first thing you have on your hands is a non-working cat. Joseph Addison Man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter. Aesop (550 BC - ) He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own. The injuries we do and those we suffer are seldom weighed in the same scales.> Fred Allen (1894 - 1956) If the grass is greener in the other fellow's yard - let him worry about cutting it. Woody Allen Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television. Mark Alvarez Home-Office Computing, February 1992Self-publishing will consume all the time, concentration and energy you've got. If you don't want to commit your soul to the project, forget it. Maya Angelou It takes time and pressure to make a diamond Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well. Men regard is as their right to return evil for evil - and, if they cannot, feel they have lost their liberty. No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness. The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead. W.H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden (1907 - 1973) on The Lord of the RingsI rarely remember a book about which I have had such violent arguments. Nobody seems to have a moderate opinion: either, like myself, people find it a masterpiece of its genre or they cannot abide it. If there are any of you at the back who do not hear me, please don't raise your hands because I am also nearsighted. To ask the hard question is simple. Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180) The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing. Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another Takes its place, and this too will be swept away. How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it. Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other. Avon I have never understood why it is necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care, or why it should be necessary to prove it at all. Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) Champagne for my real friends; real pain for my sham friends. A little philosophy inclineth men's minds atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion. A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid. He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils, for time is the greatest innovator. The human understanding is like a false mirror, which, receiving rays irregularly, distorts and discolours the nature of things by mingling its own nnature with it. Young men are fitter to invent than to judge, fitter for execution than for counsel, and fitter for new projects than for settled business. John Bailey Intent on LaughterSatire requires a nimble mind, the ability to make leaps of the imagination. One must have a profound knowledge of a subject to satirize it, since it must be carried beyond its normal form and then distorted in order to show its various facets. Rudy Bakalov Good taste is always an asset. James Baldwin (1924 - 1987) Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. J.G. Ballard Fiction is a branch of neurology: the scenarios of nerve and blood vessel are the written mythologies of memory and desire. Tallulah (Brockman) Bankhead (1903 - 1968) If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner. Virginia Barber, agent quoted in Publishers Weekly, March 30, 1998Big corporations require big profits from big books, and the ones that tend to suffer are the offbeat, quirky, controversial or intellectually challenging ones. Sir James M. (Matthew) Barrie (1860 - 1937) If it's heaven for climate, it's hell for company. Dave Barry Miami HeraldIt is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. Arnold Bax One should try everything once, except incest and folk-dancing. Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887) In things pertaining to enthusiasm, no man is sane who does not know how to be insane on proper occasions. Hilaire (Joseph Pierre) Belloc (1870 - 1953) The moment a man talks to his fellows he begins to lie. Tony Benn It's not smart weapons they need, it's smart politicians.  Tim Berners-Lee The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect. Sir John Betcheman Why do we persistently import third-rate conductors from abroad, when we have so many second-rate ones of our own? Big Ears Don't worry, I'm just practising my bendy lines! It's been a long time since I drove a car, but I believe this will make us go forwards! Lord Blake Prisons are built with stones of law brothels with bricks of religion Niels Bohr There are two sorts of truth; profound truths recognised by the fact that the opposite is also a profound truth, in contrast to trivialities where the opposite is obviously absurd. Napoleon Bonaparte Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility. Dion Boucicault Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them. Ashleigh Brilliant I either want less corruption, or more chance to participate in it. Jean de La Bruyère Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think. Luis Bunuel I'm still an atheist, thank God. Luther Burbank The greatest torture in the world for most people is to think. Edmund Burke The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Robert Burns Nae man can tether time or tide. Burroughs We intend to destroy all dogmatic verbal systems. John Burroughs Joy in the universe, and keen curiosity about it all-that has been my religion. Samuel Butler He who flies at the right time can fight again. Prose ObservationsGod cannot alter the past, historians can. Thomas Buxton memoirsWith ordinary talents and extraordinary perseverance all things are attainable. Richard Bye, former president, Publishers Marketing Association PMA Newsletter, June 1993Today, anybody with a desktop personal computer can be a book publisher. Byron Death, so called, is a thing which makes men weep, And yet a third of life is passed in sleep. Albert Camus Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend. Robert Capa If it's not good enough, you're not close enough George Carlin If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten. Carlyle Time has only a relative existence. Frank M. Carrano Remember this, foolish mortals, when ye stare headlong into the mind-paralyzing void, the inky black nothingness of existence, the hellish yawning maw of the abyss - it's pretty damn dark, so give it a few minutes for your eyes to adjust. Mack Carter Adweek, February 18, 1985The annual (financial) report of New York Review of Books ... showed editorial expenses of $44,761 representing fees for contributors-and $102,000 for messengers. Cheng Chan-Pao, Chinese philosopher Cutting stalks at noon time, Perspiration drips to the earth. Know you that your bowl of rice, Each grain from hardship comes? Etienne Charlet The dog represents all that is best in man. Winston Churchill AttributedTrue genius lies in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous and conflicting information. Confucius Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Coarse rice for food, water to drink, and the bended arm for a pillow - happiness may be enjoyed even in these. The way you cut your meat reflects the way you live. To be truly happy and contented, you must let go of what it means to be happy or content. Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perserverance and application? The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. The honorable and upright man keeps well away from both the slaughterhouse and the kitchen. And he allows no knives on his table. Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in 'Gone With The Wind.'I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper. Robert X Cringely If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. Marie Curie Nothing in life is to feared. It is only to be understood." Richard Curtis How to Be Your Own Literary AgentThis may be a painful pill for would-be Faulkners and Austens to swallow, and my last desire to denigrate the miraculous processes by which raw inspiration is transmuted into literature. But I do have to declare in all candor that no one interested in being published in our time can afford to be so naïve as to believe a book will make it merely because it's good. Dante Midway this way of life we're bound upon, I woke to find myself in a dark wood, Where the right road was wholly lost and gone. Charles Darwin I agree with Agassiz that dogs possess something very like a conscience. Danielle Dax Religion is for people who are afraid to go to Hell, Spirituality if for those who've been there. Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out. W. Edwards Deming Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. William Dement Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives. Daniel C. Dennett Consciousness ExplainedThe juvenile sea squirt wanders through the sea searching for a suitable rock or hunk of coral to cling to and make its home for life. For this task it has a rudimentary nervous system. When it finds its spot and takes root, it doesn't need its brain any more so it eats it. It's rather like getting tenure. Descartes The world around you only exists because you believe in it. If you stop believing in it, it will disappear. John Dewey Education is a social process ... education is growth.... education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself. Emily Dickinson Because I would not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality. Peter Drucker Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes... but no plans. Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899 Everything that can be invented has been invented. Thomas Edison Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something The thing I lose patience with the most is the clock. Its hands move too fast. Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the one thing that he can't afford to lose... Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge. Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labour in freedom. If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, now would it? If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift. The only source of knowledge is experience The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand. The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull the tail in New York, and it meows in Los Angeles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat. We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding. There are only two truly infinite things, the universe and stupidity. And I am unsure about the universe. It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. T. S. Eliot Time present and time past And both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past. In my end is my beginning Time past and time future Allow but a little consciousness To be conscious is not to be in time But only in time can the moment in the rose garden, The moment in the arbor where the rain beat The moment in the draughty church at smoke fall Be remembered; involved with past and future Only through time time is conquered. Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. Havelock Ellis The Dance of LifeEvery man of genius sees the world at a different angle from his fellows. Harlan Ellison The two commonest elements in the universe are Hydrogen and Stupidity. Ralph Waldo Emerson A day is a miniature eternity Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. So nigh to Grandeur is our dust, so near to God is Man. When the Duty whispers, 'Thou must', the Youth replies, 'I can' If the red slayer think he slays, Or if the slain think he is slain, They know not well the subtle ways I keep, and pass, and turn again. Every man I meet is in some way my superior. I hate quotations. Tell me what you know. Nora Ephron Wallflower at the OrgyPeople who are drawn to journalism are usually people who, because of their cynicism or emotional detachment or reserve or whatever, are incapable of becoming anything but witnesses to events. Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon. Susan Ertz Millions long for immortality but do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Laura Esquivel No knowledge ever reaches the brain without first passing through the organs of the senses Euripides Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish. Susan Faludi The Nation, May 27, 1996To have integrity in the media business today means only to be 'objective,' which has become a code word for having no convictions. Charles Feidelson, Jr. Life is a series of little deaths out of which life always returns. WC Fields Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake. I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally. Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929 Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau. J. Fitzgerald So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back relentlessly to the past Gustave Flaubert, French novelist Writing is a dog's life, but the only life worth living. Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value. Malcolm S. Forbes Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. Carolyn Forche, poet The Writing Business: A Poet & Writers HandbookI've done as many as eighty drafts of one poem ... I've found students shocked to learn that it can take me three years to finish a poem. Henry Ford You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do. Anatole France The law, in its majestic equality, forbids both rich and poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. We do not know what to do with this short life, yet we want another which will be eternal. Benjamin Franklin They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. To find out a girl's faults, praise her to her girl friends.  Yuri Gagarin (first human in space on 12/04/1961) Circling the earth... I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world let us safeguard this beauty - not destroy it Jerry Garcia Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us. Bill Gates 1981640K ought to be enough for anybody. Mahatma Ghandi (1869-1948) an eye for an eye and the world will soon be blind First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win Brendan Gill Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious. P. Ginsparg The problem with the global village is all the global village idiots. Jean-Luc Godard There's no point having sharp images if you have fuzzy ideas Goethe One always has time enough, if one will apply it well. A. P. Gouthey Successful men usually snatch success from seeming failure. If they know there is such a word as defeat they will not admit it. They may be whipped, but they are not aware of it. That is why they succeed. Martin W. Gross, former president, Rutgers College The chief reason that so many of the great classics seem to speak directly to us is that the authors were consciously trying to reach or, or at least people with an astonishing resemblance to us. Doris Grumbach introduction to Writer's ChoiceOne age's oddities and curiosities are often another's masterpieces. It may be that it requires a long absorptive time for a unique style to be understood and then admired, or an original thought to be comprehended and then appreciated. The resistance to such phenomena is great. Most people prefer the easy and familiar . . . Only the future reveres the original and daring style. Adrienne Gusoff Not only is life a bitch, but it is always having puppies. Georges Guynemer If one has not given everything, one has given nothing. Buddy Hackett My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it. Jane Haddam In my day, we didn't have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned. Jack Handey For mad scientists who keep brains in jars, here's a tip: why not add a slice of lemon to each jar, for freshness? John Hardwick Don't do drugs because if you do drugs you'll go to prison, and drugs are really expensive in prison. Sir John Hawkins 1787Books that you may take to the fire... are the most useful after all. William Hazlitt Characteristics, 1821-1822To be remembered after we are dead is but poor recompense for being treated with contempt while we are living. Lafcadio Hearn Literary success of any enduring kind is made by refusing to do what publishers want, by refusing to write what the public want, by refusing to accept any popular standards, by refusing to write anything to order. Heraclitus Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. Seymond Hersh, investigative journalist and author quoted in Vanity Fair, November 1997Let me tell you about our profession. We are the meanest, nastiest bunch of jealous, petty people who ever lived ... You think I wouldn't sell my mother for My Lai? Bill Hicks Today, a young man on acid, realised that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves... here's Tom with the weather. Gilbert Highet The Anatomy of SatireWhen a satirist uses uncompromisingly clear language to describe unpleasant facts and people, he intends to do more than make as statement. He intends to shock his readers. Alfred Hitchcock Television has brought back murder into the home - where it belongs. Hobbes I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each others dreams we can be together all the time. John H. Holcomb You must get involved to have an impact. No one is impressed with the won-lost record of the referee. John Holdstock The world is run by those who turn up Elbert Hubbard To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names. Humpty Dumpty AliceWords mean what I want them to mean. James Gibbons Huneker IconoclastsA critic is a man who expects miracles. Aldous Huxley Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you. Maybe this world is another planet's Hell. Henrick Ibsen 1828-1906 One should never put on one's best trousers to go to battle for freedom and truth Steve Jobs, Apple Computer Inc. founder on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computerSo we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet. Ben Johnson True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in the worth and the choice. Franklin P. Jones Experience is that marvellous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. Thomas Jones Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate. Carl Gustav Jung (1875 - 1961) Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism. Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering. Donald Kaul Do not try to solve all life's problems at once - learn to dread each day as it comes. Helen Keller Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. William Russell Kelly founder of Russell Kelly Office ServicesHow would I like to be remembered? I just want to be remembered like my father. I want to be remembered as a pioneer. Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895 Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. John F. Kennedy Mothers may still want their favorite sons to grow up to be President, but... they do not want them to become politicians in the process Robert F. Kennedy To Seek a Newer WorldOnly those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Charles F. Kettering My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there. Kierkegaard People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid. Henry Kissinger There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full. Michel Korda, editor-in-chief, Simon & Schuster quoted in the New York Times Book Review, December 9, 1979We sell books, other people sell shoes. What's the difference? Publishing isn't the highest art. John Kremer 1,001 Ways to Market Your BookBefore you make any editorial decisions, you should always ask yourself the question: 'Who will buy the book, and why?'  Joseph Wood Krutch Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want. Diogenes Laertius Bias used to say that men ought to calculate life both as if they were fated to live a long and a short time, and that they ought to love one another as if at a future time they would come to hate one another; for that most men were bad. Time is the image of eternity Ann Landers Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other. Sidney Lanier The beasts, they hunger, and eat, and die; And so do we, and the world's a sty; Hush, fellow-swine: why nuzzle and cry? "Swinehood hath no remedy" Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it. Fran Lebowitz, humourist quoted in New Times, July 10, 1978You know, someone once said that Dorothy Parker had wasted her life wisecracking. I really can't think of a better use of a life. interview with William A. GordonCertainly America is not overrun by great literary critics. The way I feel about reviews-my career has really been made by them, because I have gotten mostly good reviews. I am always happy to get good reviews because I want people to buy my books. But by and large, with some exceptions, your good reviews are usually as stupid as your bad reviews. Bruce Lee A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at. One great cause of failure is lack of concentration. C.S. Lewis Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. Sinclair Lewis, novelist quoted in Literature 1901-67Our American professors like their literature clear and cold are pure and very dead. G. C. Lichtenberg God created man in His own image, says the Bible; philosophers reverse the process: they create God in theirs. Abraham Lincoln No matter how much the cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens. I don't know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be. Henry C. Link While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior. Lazarus Long A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, solve equations, pitch manure, program a computer, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Alice Roosevelt Longworth The secret of eternal youth is arrested development. Russell Lynes, former managing editor, Harper's Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it. Ian MacLeod The Observer, July 16, 1961History is too serious to be left to the historians. Norman Mailer attributed toYou're there to be shot at, and that's part of it. Horace Mann Lost, yesterday, somewhere between Sunrise and Sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes No reward is offered, for they are gone forever. Thomas Mann Time has no divisions to mark its passing. There is never a thunderstorm to announce the beginning of a new month or year.  Groucho Marx Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. And inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. Karl Marx The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis BonaparteHistorical events occur twice - the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. W. Somerset Mauhgam Great Novelists and Their NovelsThe world in general doesn't know what to make of originality; it is startled out of its comfortable habits of thought, and its first reaction is one of anger. Marshall McLuhan The present cannot be revealed to people until it becomes yesterday. Mignon McLaughlin The Neurotic's NotebookEverybody can write; writers can't do anything else. H.L. Mencken Evil is that which one believes of others. It is a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake. Johnny Mercer Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative Edna St. Vincent Millay It is not true that life is one damn thing after another - it's one damn thing over and over Montaigne Time is the sovereign physician of our passions. Edward Moore Time still, as he flies, brings increase to her truth. George Moore The Bending of the Bough, (1900), act IVThe difficulty in life is the choice. Christopher Morley Where the Blues BeginThere is only one success-to be able to spend your life in your own way. Toni Morrison, novelist and editor attributedI cannot think of anybody who doesn't need an editor, even though some people claim they don't. Martin Mull Show business is just like high school, except you get paid. Paul Nathan The Golden Age of Opportunity', Small Press, September/October 1997In some companies editors have been told not to sign up anything that can't be counted on to hit at least 50,000 or some other arbitrary figure. Another command from on high is 'buy only bestsellers.' National Lampoon headline, January 1984Painstaking research proves that one of America's greatest authors may in fact have been readable. Isaac Newton If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. New York Times 1921 editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket workProfessor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools. 11/26/91DOS Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq, Tandy, and millions of others are by far the most popular, with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans, on the other hand, may note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans, and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form. Friedrich Nietzsche There cannot be a God because if there were one, I could not believe that I was not He. That which does not kill me makes me stronger. Anaïs Nin We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. Ralph Nobel, RPI A college professor is someone smart enough to get a Ph.D., but too crazy to make a living. Conan O'Brien A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: Duh. Kathleen O'Brien, English writer quoted in Author! Author!There is probably no other trade in which there is so little relationship between profits and actual value, or into which sheer chance so largely enters. Tim O'Brien, novelist New York Times Book Review, June 8, 1980I don't want to be studied in English classes. I want to be read. David Ogilvy Disarm with candour John O'Hara novelist, on critics, quoted in The New York Times Book Review, January 6, 1985Little old ladies of both sexes. Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. 1977There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home. Paul O'Neill, US Treasury Secretary on the collapse of EnronCompanies come and go. It's part of the genius of capitalism. Cynthia Ozick speaking an Authors Guild symposiumWriters are cannibals ... It's a terrible thing to be the friend, the acquaintance, the relative of a writer. Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse 1872Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction Alex Page LJMy studies into spirituality and religion tell me that a catchy name is 90% of the work done... Anna Pavlova To follow, without halt, one's aim: That's the secret of success. William Payne You cannot have freedom unless you have responsibility also. Emo Phillips Some mornings it just doesn't seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps. My girlfriend always laughs during sex-no matter what she's reading. Picasso Everything you can imagine is real. Pliny the Younger We put off from time to time going and seeing what we know we have an opportunity of seeing when we please. John Plomp You know children are growing up when they start asking questions that have answers. Ernst Jan Plugge The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck is probably the day they start making vacuum cleaners. Plutarch Pythagoras, when he was asked what time was, answered that it was the soul of this world. The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it, therefore, while it lasts, and not spend it to no purpose. Be ruled by time, the wisest counsellor of all. Popular Mechanics forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons. Dan Poynter, author The Self-Publishing ManualThe self-publisher really has control of his or her destiny to a much larger degree than does a writer merely submitting a manuscript (to a publisher) The Self-Publishing ManualPublishing is not difficult. In fact, it may be easier than dealing with a publisher. The job of the publishing manager is not to perform every task, but to see that everything gets done. Marcel Proust What we call our future is the shadow which our past throws in front of us Garry Provost Writer's Digest, March 1986Writers rarely become rich and famous because of the quality of their work. They become rich and famous because of the nature of their work. Publilius Syrus Maxim 786No one knows what he can do till he tries.  Wolfgang Puck - Restaurateur I learned more from the one restaurant that didn't work than from all the ones that were successes Mitch Ratliffe A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila. Chuck Reaves The Theory of 21For every person who will say yes, there are twenty who will say no. For a positive response you must find the twenty-first person. Cardinal Richelieu War is one of the scourges with which it has pleased God to afflict men. President Theodore Roosevelt quoted by President Richard Nixon in his resignation speech, August 8, 1974It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena. Wells Root Writing the ScriptSuccessful men and women ... don't consider the odds. They just sneak up at night and cut their own holes in the fence. Tom and Marilyn Ross The Complete Guide to Self-PublishingAre you the type of person who wants to be behind the wheel rather than go along for the ride? Sir Henry Royce The quality remains long after the price is forgotten R E Rubenstien Terrorism in the modern worldThere is no force more terroristic than a national state at war Rita Rudner I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought jewellery. Bertrand Russell Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important. The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. John Sales Assumptions allow the best in life to pass you by. Elias Schwartz Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well. Think about it.  Albert Schweitzer There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats. Sir Walter Scott Time rolls his ceaseless course. Robert W. Service Ah! the clock is always slow, It is later than you think Valdemar W. Setzer Ethics is not definable, is not implementable, because it is not conscious; it involves not only our thinking, but also our feeling. William Shakespeare How noiseless falls the foot of time! And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe, And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot, And thereby hangs a tale Time will explain it all. He is a talker, and needs no questioning before he speaks. George Bernard Shaw The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. Literature is like any other trade; you will never sell anything unless you go to the right shop. There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it. Shelley Day after day a weary waste of hours Su Shih, Chinese poet Beneath these green mountains where spring rules the year, the irbarbutus and loquat in season appear, And feasting on lychee - 300 a day, I shouldn't mind staying eternally here. Isaac Bashevis Singer, short story writer quoted in The Atlantic Monthly, July 1970The country is crawling with angry young men-in sociology, in politics, in biology. But I am looking for the angry men in literature. I am waiting for a strong spiritual man who would bang his fist on the table and say, 'Enough of this nonsense!' Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M 'Post-It' NotepadsIf I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this. MG Siriam Looking at the proliferation of personal web pages on the net, it looks like very soon everyone on earth will have 15 Megabytes of fame. Sivananda The wheels of time are mysterious. Time is a concept of mind. Without mind, there is no concept of time. Annihilate the mind. You will go beyond time. You will enter the realm of Timeless. You will live in the Eternal. skaery LJIf its possible, i may have reached a deeper state of boredom than i have experienced for some time. I am boredom personified. I am bored, therefore i am. I am bored, hear me yawn....> Kenneth Slessor All through the night time clock talked to clock In the captain's cabin, tock tock tock One ticked fast and one ticked slow, And Time went over them a hundred years ago. Adam Smith No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable. People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. Page Smith Killing the Spirit: Higher Education in AmericaThe vast majority of the so-called research turned out in the modern university is essentially worthless. It does not result in any measurable benefit to anything or anybody ... It is busywork on a vast, incomprehensible scale. Socrates The only true wisdom is the knowledge that you know nothing. Mark Sommer 'Too Many Books, Too Few Serious Readers', Christian Science Monitor, March 21, 1994Driven by dollar signs, many major publishers now reject most manuscripts that don't instantly emit the sweet smell of success. Baruch Spinoza The EthicsHe who has a true idea knows at the same time that he has a true idea, and cannot doubt its truth. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American feminist (1815-1902) Nothing strengthens the judgment and quickens the conscience like individual responsibility. Ralph Vaull Starr Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal. Tom Stoppard Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end? Lawrence Summers, chief economist of the World Bank explaining why we should export toxic wastes to Third World countriesI've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly underpolluted. Jonathan Swift Thoughts on Various SubjectsWhen a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. Karin Taylor, executive director, The Small Press Center quoted in The Writer, April 1994The literary giants of tomorrow are probably being published by small presses today. Mother Teresa We can do no great things; only small things with great love. John Tessitore Desktop Publishing Wave Brings Tide of New Authors to Bookstore Shelves', Christian Science Monitor, July 11, 1996Ultimately, self-publishing is a high-stakes game. Books often fail, but successful writers can actually make more money from a self-published book than they could through a big publishing company. William Makepeace Thakeray If a man's character is to be abused there's nobody like a relative to do the business. Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good night, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Hunter S. Thompson We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order until we teach respect to those we have entrusted to enforce those laws. Thoreau Time is but the stream I go a -fishin in As if you could kill time without injuring eternity Ashley Thorndike The Outlook for LiteratureHow daring and how dangerous the innovators often seem in their own day! ... Wait fifty years, and they do not seem so daring or dangerous, so godlike or so devilish. J.R.R. Tolkein on fantasy literaturenot a lower, but a higher form of Art, indeed the most nearly pure form, and so (when achieved) the most potent. All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by frost. Lily Tomlin I always wanted to be someone, but I should have been more specific. Ted Turner If I had any humility I would be perfect. Mark Twain I'm opposed to millionares, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position. Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest. Good judgement comes from experience. And where does experience come from? Experience comes from bad judgement. Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. Chuang Tzu The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to. The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing. It receives but does not keep. Sun Tzu The Art of WarAll warfare is based on deception. Upanishads There is a bridge between Time and Eternity; and this bridge is the Spirit of man. Neither day nor night cross that bridge, nor old age, nor death nor sorrow. Leon Uris essay in The Quest for TruthThere has been a swing away from the great literature of the twenties and thirties when writers were driven by social injustices of their times. Edward Vielmetti Those who cannot remember history are doomed to repost it every month, with diffs marked with change bars. Alberto Vitale, chairman and CEO of Random House quoted in The New Yorker, October 6, 1997Every time we have to publish a public affairs book, we cringe. People forget about the event it deals with. The attention span of the American public is fleeting. Voltaire letter to Mlle. Quinault, 1763The only reward to be expected from the cultivation of literature is contempt if one fails and hatred if one succeeds. Kurt Vonnegut We are what we pretend to be, but we better be very careful what we pretend. Peter De Vries, novelist quoted in CounterpointI'd say roughly the difference between a satirist and a humorist is that the satirist shoots to kill while the humorist brings his prey back alive. Andy Warhol In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes I want to be a machine. H.M. Warner Warner Brothers, 1927Who the hell wants to hear actors talk? Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM 1943I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. Geri Weitzman Sometimes you gotta create what you want to be a part of. Mae West When you get the personality, you don't need the nudity. Western Union internal memo, 1876This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. Oscar Wilde It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious. A cynic is someone who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. The Importance of Being Earnestwe should treat all the trivial things of life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality. One can live for years sometimes without living at all, and then all life comes crowding into one single hour The Picture of Dorian GrayThe books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its shame. on absintheAfter the first glass you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world. Tennessee Williams, playwright AttributedThe best thing you can do about critics is never say a word. In the end you have the last say, and they know it. Colin Wilson The mind has exactly the same power as the hands: not merely to grasp the world, but to change it. Dave Wilson Chronicle of Higher Education speaking about COASTYou're only using your twisted geniuses for the forces of good, so we have nothing to fear? Robert Anton Wilson Few of our ancestors were perfect ladies and gentlemen; the majority, in fact, weren't even mammals. Ludwig Wittgenstein Where the genius wears thin, the talent may show through Admiral Yamamoto after Pearl HarborI fear that all we have done is to awaken a giant, who arises with great resolve Yeats A line will take us hours maybe; Yet if it does not seem a moment's thought our stitching and unstitching has been naught Edward Young We see time's furrows on another's brow. We take no note of Time But from its loss Procrastination is the thief of time. Henny Youngman When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading. Lu Yu, Ancient Chinese Philosopher The Classic Art of TeaTea tempers the spirit, harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens the thought and prevents drowsiness. Born to the earth are three kinds of creatures. Some are winged and fly. Some are furred and run. Still others stretch their mouths and talk. All must eat and drink to survive. Qu Yuan, ancient Chinese poet Many a heavy sigh I heaved in my despair, Grieving that I was born in such an unlucky time...I yoked a team of jade dragons to a phoenix-figured car, And waited for the wind to come, to soar up on my journey. Howard Zinn The Politics of HistoryIs it not time that we scholars began to earn our keep in the world? Thanks to a gullible public, we have been honored, flattered, even paid for producing the largest number of inconsequential studies in the history of civilization. iR
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