With all the crap I have to put up with, I’ve stockpiled enough Karma to be Queen of the World in my next life.
Adrienne E. Gusoff (contemp.) American humorist, greeting card writer
Mentioned in personal e-mail to me
Just when you realize life’s a bitch, it has puppies
Adrienne E. Gusoff (contemp.) American humorist, greeting card writer
Mentioned in personal e-mail to me
Grandma always admonished me to be a “good girl.” “Why should he buy the cow when he gets the milk for free?” she’d ask. And I’d remind her that once he owns the cow, he can turn her into hamburger.
Adrienne E. Gusoff (contemp.) American humorist, greeting card writer
Mentioned in personal e-mail to me
Girls just want to have funds.
Adrienne E. Gusoff (contemp.) American humorist, greeting card writer
Mentioned in personal e-mail to me
If a sufficient number of people who wanted to stop war really did gather together, they would first of all begin by making war upon those who disagreed with them. And it is still more certain that they would make war on people who also want to stop wars but in
another way.Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff (1873-1949) Russian teacher, writer
(Attributed)
Ours is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea.
John Gunther (1901-1970) American journalist
(Attributed)
Eighty percent of rules of thumb only apply twenty percent of the time.
Sig Lines
Silence is argument carried out by other means.
Che Guevara (1928-1967) Argentine revolutionary [b. Ernesto Guevara da la Serna]
(Attributed)
Government loses its claim to legitimacy when it fails to fulfill its obligations.
Martin L. Gross (1925-2013) American writer
The Government Racket (1992)
We live in a world in which politics has replaced philosophy.
Martin L. Gross (1925-2013) American writer
A Call for Revolution (1993)
We are commanded to love God with all our minds, as well as with all our hearts, and we commit a great sin if we forbid or prevent that cultivation of the mind in others which would enable them to perform this duty.
Angelina Grimké Weld (1805-1879) American abolitionist, women's rights activist
Anti-Slavery Examiner, “Appeal to the Christian Women of the South” (Sep. 1836)
I have not placed reading before praying because I regard it more important, but because, in order to pray aright, we must understand what we are praying for.
Angelina Grimké Weld (1805-1879) American abolitionist, women's rights activist
“Appeal to the Christian Women of the South,” Anti-Slavery Examiner (Sep 1836)
(Source)
Every time I try to define a perfectly stable person, I am appalled by the dullness of that person.
(Other Authors and Sources)
J. D. Griffin
Security is when everything is settled. When nothing can happen to you. Security is the denial of life.
Germaine Greer (b. 1939) Australian-English feminist, reformer, author, educator
“Security,” The Female Eunuch (1970)
Sometimes cited: "Security is when everything is settled, when nothing happens to you; security is the denial of life."
No statement, theological or otherwise, should be made that would not be credible in the presence of burning children.
Irving Yitzchak Greenberg (b. 1933) American rabbi, scholar, author
(Attributed)
I’ve got a simple rule: if I can do it, it’s not art.
Rick Green (b. 1953) Canadian comedian
(Attributed)
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.Thomas Gray (1716-1771) English poet
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” st. 14, l. 53ff (1751)
(Source)
The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he really is very good, in spite of all the people who say he is very good.
Robert Graves (1895-1985) English poet, novelist, critic
(Attributed)
The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.
Günter Grass (1927-2015) German author, playwright, Nobel laureate
(Attributed)
I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.
Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) American military leader, US President (1869-77)
Inaugural Address
God gave Moses the Ten Commandments: rules of behavior that were supposed to make people moral. Ten was too much to remember. Jesus knew this. He brought them down to two: Love God and Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself. Still too much to remember, if the last 2,000 years is an indicator. So let’s bring it down to a simple four words: Don’t be a bastard.
Steven Grant (b. 1953) American writer
Scars, #6 (Afterword) (Jun 2003)
The strongest human instinct is to impart information, the second is to resist it.
Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932) Scottish author
(Attributed)
Some questions don’t have answers, which is a terribly difficult lesson to learn.
Katharine Graham (1917-2001) American newspaper publisher
(Attributed)
If the Supreme Creator had meant us to be gloomy, he would, it seems to me, have clothed the earth in black, not in that lively green, which is the livery of cheerfulness and joy.
Janet Graham (1723?-1789) Scottish poet, author
This History of Emily Montague
The man who can make up his mind quick, makes up other people’s minds for them. Decision is a sharp knife that cuts clear and straight and lays bare the fat and the lean; indecision is a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind it.
George Horace Lorimer (1867-1937) American journalist, author, magazine editor
Old Gorgon Graham: More Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son, ch. 3 (1903)
(Source)
Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.
Billy Graham (1918-2018) American evangelist, revivalist, author [William Franklin Graham Jr.]
(Attributed)
The pillow is a silent Sibyl, and to sleep upon an enterprise avails more than to be sleepless under it.
[Es la almohada Sibila muda, y el dormir sobre los puntos vale más que el desvelarse debajo de ellos.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 151 (1647) [tr. Fischer (1937)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:The Pillow is a dumb Sibylle. To sleep upon a thing that is to be done, is better than to be awaked by a thing already done.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]The pillow is a silent Sibyl, and it is better to sleep on things beforehand than lie awake about them afterwards.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]The pillow is a tongueless sibyl, and it is better to sleep on something than to lie awake when things are on top of you.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
Many would be wise if they did not think themselves wise.
[Serían sabios algunos si no creyesen que lo son.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 176 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:Some would be wise, if they did not think themselves so.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]Some would be wise if they did not believe themselves wise.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]Some would be sages if they did not believe they were so already.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.
[Nunca se le ha de abrir la puerta al menor mal, que siempre vendrán tras él otros muchos, y mayores, en celada.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 31 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:We must not open the door to the least evil, for others, and those greater too, which lie in ambush come always after.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]Never open the door to a small misfortune, for many more always creep in behind it, and greater ones, under its protection.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]Never open the door to the least of evils, for many other, greater ones lurk outside.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.
[Sin valor es estéril la sabiduría.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 4 (1647) [tr. Maurer (1992)]
(Source)
(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:Knowledge is barren, if Valour do'nt accompany it.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]Knowledge without courage is sterile.
[tr. Jacobs (1892)]Without courage, the mind is dead.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]
Results rarely specify their causes unambiguously.
Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) American paleontologist, geologist, biologist
The Panda’s Thumb
The fundamentalists, by ‘knowing’ the answers before they start, and then forcing nature into the straitjacket of their discredited preconceptions, lie outside the domain of science — or of any honest intellectual inquiry.
Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) American paleontologist, geologist, biologist
Bully for Brontosaurus
History is complex. It cannot be reproduced in a flask.
Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) American paleontologist, geologist, biologist
The Panda’s Thumb
Every protective self deception is a crevice in our psyche with a little demon lurking in it, ready to become an episode of unexplained anxiety when life threatens. The self deceptions which are designed to protect us from pain actually end up delivering more pain. We fortify our deceptions to protect them from the natural corrections of daily life.
Roger L. Gould (contemp.) American author, psychoanalyst, sociologist
Transformations
Recollect how easy it is to assume that we, ourselves, are Christian people. Why? Oh, well, just the usual reasons: we say our prayers, when we are not too sleepy; and we come to church, when there is nothing much to do; and so, of course, there is no doubt of it, although our tempers may remain uncurbed, and our characters are not the least like Jesus Christ’s, nor growing any nearer it!
A.J. Gossip (1873-1954) Scottish theologian, preacher
The Galilean Accent (1926)
Of course, it all depends upon what we are praying for. If we are whimpering, and sniveling, and begging to be spared the discipline of life that is sent to knock some smatterings of manhood into us, the answer to that prayer may never come at all. Thank God!
A.J. Gossip (1873-1954) Scottish theologian, preacher
Experience Worketh Hope
If you consider the contribution of plumbing to human life, the other sciences fade into insignificance.
James Gorman (b. 1949) American science writer, journalist
Discover, “From fill to full: the search for the perfect flush-toilet technology” (May 1986)
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_v7/ai_4227446
The TOURIST huddles in the station
While slowly night gives way to dawn;
He finds a certain fascination
In knowing all the trains are gone.Edward Gorey (1925-2000) American poet and artist
“The Fatal Lozenge”
The BABY, lying meek and quiet
Upon the customary rug,
Has dreams about rampage and riot,
And will grow up to be a thug.Edward Gorey (1925-2000) American poet and artist
“The Fatal Lozenge”
Said a girl who upon her divan
Was attacked by a virile young man:
‘Such an excess of passion
Is quite out of fashion,’
And she fractured his wrist with her fan.Edward Gorey (1925-2000) American poet and artist
“The Listing Attic”
A timid young woman named Jane
Found parties a terrible strain;
With movements uncertain
She’d hide in a curtain
And make sounds like a rabbit in pain.Edward Gorey (1925-2000) American poet and artist
“The Listing Attic”
A gift was delivered to Laura
From a cousin who lived in Gomorrah;
Wrapped in tissue and crepe,
It was peeled, like a grape,
And emitted a pale, greenish aura.Edward Gorey (1925-2000) American poet and artist
“The Listing Attic”
Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use.
Ruth Gordon (1896-1985) American actress, screenwriter, playwright
(Attributed)
Either I’ve been missing something or nothing has been going on.
Karen Elizabeth Gordon (contemp.) American writer
(Attributed)
Few great men could pass Personnel.
Paul Goodman (1911-1972) American author, poet, critic
Growing Up Absurd, 7.6 (1956)
I don’t want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs.
Samuel Goldwyn (1882-1974) American film producer
(Attributed)
Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternative.
Barry Goldwater (1909-1998) American politician
Speech (1981)
You don’t need to be “straight” to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Barry Goldwater (1909-1998) American politician
Speech, accepting the GOP Presidential Nomination, San Francisco (16 Jul 1964)
(Source)
Goldwater believed the phrase originated in Cicero, though the source he used is questionable. Karl Hess was Goldwater's speech writer, and he said he derived the turn of phrase from Lincoln's "House Divided" speech. A closer match is this Thomas Paine passage.
More discussion of this quotation and its origins: On the Saying that "Extremism in Defense of Liberty is No Vice" - Niskanen Center
If I’m going to lose, it will be on my terms.
Barry Goldwater (1909-1998) American politician
(Attributed)
I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.
Barry Goldwater (1909-1998) American politician
(Attributed)
When asked what he thought of Jerry Falwell's suggestion that every good Christian should be against Sandra Day O'Connor's nomination to the Supreme Court. John Dean later claimed he was there and that the news media "changed the anatomical reference" from "nuts."
The first blow is half the battle.
Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774) Irish poet, playwright, novelist
She Stoops to Conquer, Act II (1773)
As for disappointing them I should not so much mind; but I can’t abide to disappoint myself.
Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774) Irish poet, playwright, novelist
(Attributed)
You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.
Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774) Irish poet, playwright, novelist
(Attributed)
BATGIRL: Chicks like you give women a bad name.
Akiva Goldsman (b. 1962) American screenwriter, producer
Batman & Robin (1997)
WESTLEY: Hear this now: I will always come for you.
BUTTERCUP: But how can you be sure?
WESTLEY: This is true love — you think this happens every day?William Goldman (1931-2018) American screenwriter, novelist
The Princess Bride (movie) (1987)
BUTTERCUP: We’ll never survive!
WESTLEY: Nonsense! You’re only saying that because no one ever hasWilliam Goldman (1931-2018) American screenwriter, novelist
The Princess Bride (movie) (1987)
VIZZINI: Ha-ha, you fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is “Never get involved in a land war in Asia,” but only slightly less famous is this: “Never go in against a Sicilian, when death is on the line!” Hahahahahah! [Dies.]
William Goldman (1931-2018) American screenwriter, novelist
The Princess Bride (movie) (1987)
VIZZINI: He didn’t fall? Inconceivable!
INIGO: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.William Goldman (1931-2018) American screenwriter, novelist
The Princess Bride (movie) (1987)
When there’s more sick ones than well ones, by golly the sick ones will lock the well ones up.
Eric F. Goldman (1915-1989) American historian, writer
Crucial Decade (1956)
We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.
Whoopi Goldberg (b. 1955) American actress, comedian, activist, writer [b. Caryn Elaine Johnson]
Parade Magazine
The moment avoiding failure becomes your motivator, you’re down the path of inactivity. You stumble only if you’re moving.
Roberto Goizueta (1931-1997) Cuban-American CEO of Coca-Cola
(Attributed)
We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.
[Eigentlich weiss man nur wenn man wenig weiss; mit dem Wissen wachst des Zweifel.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Spruche in Prosa [Proverbs in Prose] (1819)
Life is the childhood of our immortality.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
We each have only enough strength to complete those assignments that we are fully convinced are important.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
Music, in the best sense, does not require novelty; nay, the older it is, and the more we are accustomed to it, the greater its effect.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
One man’s word is no man’s word; we should quietly hear both sides.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
If you assign people duties without granting them any rights, you must pay them well.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
Rest not! Life is sweeping by;
Go and dare before you die.
Something mighty and sublime
Leave behind to conquer time.Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
It is better to be deceived by one’s friends than to deceive them.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
Human beings reveal their character most clearly by what they find ridiculous.
[Durch nichts bezeichnen die Menschen mehr ihren Charakter als durch das, was sie lächerlich finden.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Elective Affinities [Die Wahlverwandtschaften], Part 2, ch. 4, “From Ottilie’s Journal [Aus Ottiliens Tagebuche]” (1809) [tr. Hollingdale (1971)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translation:There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they find to laugh at.
[Niles ed. (1872)]Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable.
[Source]
For an opposite perspective, see Lichtenberg.
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
Used by Bruce Lee, and sometimes attributed to him.
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
[Niemand ist mehr Sklave als der sich für frei hält ohne es zu sein.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Elective Affinities [Die Wahlverwandtschaften], Part 2, ch. 5, “From Ottilie’s Journal [Aus Ottiliens Tagebuche]” (1809) [tr. Wenckstern (1853)]
(Source)
(Source (German)). Alternate translation:No one is more a slave than the man who thinks himself free while he is not.
[Niles ed. (1872)]No one is more a slave than he who thinks he is free without being so.
[tr. Hollingdale (1971)]
Certain flaws are necessary for the whole. It would seem strange if old friends lacked certain quirks.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man hardly anything.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship [Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre] (1796)
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.
[Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine tätige Unwissenheit.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Spruche in Prosa [Proverbs in Prose] (1819)
Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete a character.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
If any man wishes to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
What government is the best? That which teaches us to govern ourselves.
[Welche Regierung die beste sei? Diejenige, die uns lehrt, uns selbst zu regieren.]
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Spruche in Prosa [Proverbs in Prose], 3.225 (1819)
Everything is simpler than you think and at the same time more complex than you imagine.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
(Attributed)
When others kid me about being bald, I simply tell them that the way I figure it, the good Lord only gave men so many hormones, and if others want to waste theirs on growing hair, that’s up to them.
John Glenn (1921-2016) American politician and astronaut
(Attributed)
You can’t waste time and you can’t save time; you can only choose what you do at any given moment.
James Gleick (b. 1954) American writer, journalist, biographer
Wired (7.08), interview (Aug. 1999)
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.08/gleick.html?pg=2
The alternative to uncertainty is authority, against which science has fought for centuries.
James Gleick (b. 1954) American writer, journalist, biographer
Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman (1992)
The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.
Ellen Glasgow (1874-1945) American author
(Attributed)
All change is not growth; all movement is not forward.
Ellen Glasgow (1874-1945) American author
In Clifton Fadiman, I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Certain Eminent Men and Women of Our Time (1939 ed.)
(Source)
For I believe that an inability to accept God
Chris Glaser (contemp.) American writer, activist, minister
Come Home! (1990)
Reading theology is like reading pornography: instructive, provocative, but always pale in comparison to the real encounter.
Chris Glaser (contemp.) American writer, activist, minister
Come Home!, ch. 17 (1990)
Men are apt to mistake the strength of their feeling for the strength of their argument. The heated mind resents the chill touch and relentless scrutiny of logic.
William Gladstone (1809-1898) English Liberal politician, Prime Minister (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-94)
(Attributed)
Justice delayed is justice denied.
William Gladstone (1809-1898) English Liberal politician, Prime Minister (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, 1892-94)
(Attributed)
Everything will change. The only question is growing up or decaying.
Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943) American poet, commentator, activist, educator [b. Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr.]
(Attributed)
If Thomas Edison’s invention of the electric bulb were reported on tonight’s evening news, it would be reported as a threat to the candle industry.
Newt Gingrich (b. 1943) American politician [Newton Leroy Gingrich]
Speech at the Internet Commerce Expo (1999)
The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument.
Newt Gingrich (b. 1943) American politician [Newton Leroy Gingrich]
(1989)
Interview when asked about lobbyist contributions to his campaign
SALLY: I’ve always dreamed of being a big hit singer.
DORIAN: Oh, can you sing?
SALLY: No, that’s why they call them dreams.Vince Gilligan (b. 1967) American screenwriter, producer
Home Fries (1998)
Sir, Sunday morning, although recurring at regular and well-foreseen intervals, always seems to take this railway by surprise.
W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) English playwright [William Schwenck Gilbert]
(Attributed)
Letter of complaint to the station manager
