The idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone,
All centuries but this, and every country but his own.W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) English playwright [William Schwenck Gilbert]
The Mikado
It is not always by plugging away at a difficulty and sticking at it that one overcomes it; but, rather, often by working on the one next to it. Certain people and certain things require to be approached on an angle.
André Gide (1869-1951) French author, Nobel laureate
Journal (26 Oct 1924) [tr. O’Brien (1951)]
Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
André Gide (1869-1951) French author, Nobel laureate
(Attributed)
The most decisive actions of our life — I mean those that are most likely to decide the whole course of our future — are, more often than not, unconsidered.
André Gide (1869-1951) French author, Nobel laureate
The Counterfeiters, pt. 3, ch. 16 (Hildebrant) (1925)
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
André Gide (1869-1951) French author, Nobel laureate
(Attributed)
Let there be spaces in your togetherness
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Llet it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone.
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Marriage” (1923)
When you see a man led to prison say in your heart, “Mayhap he is escaping from a narrower prison.”
And when you see a man drunken say in your heart, “Mayhap he sought escape from something still more unbeautiful.”Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)
Say not, ‘I have found the truth,’ but rather, ‘I have found a truth.’
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Self-Knowledge” (1923)
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Pain” (1923)
I have learned silence from the talkative; tolerance from the intolerant and kindness from the unkind. I should not be ungrateful to those teachers.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)
Keep me from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Mirrors of the Soul (1965)
Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)
Hate is a dead thing. Who of you would be a tomb?
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Prayer” (1923)
Many a doctrine is like a window pane. We see truth through it but it divides us from truth.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)
Should we all confess our sins to one another, we would all laugh at one another for our lack of originality.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)
The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master. […] Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Houses” (1923)
(Source)
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Love” (1923)
Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) English historian
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 5, ch. 50 (1788)
(Source)
[T]he laws of probability, so true in general, so fallacious in particular ….
The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious accord.
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) English historian
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. 2 (1776-88)
Augustus … [was not] deceived in his expectation that the senate and people would submit to slavery, provided they were respectfully assured that they still enjoyed their ancient freedom.
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) English historian
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. 3 (1776-88)
To listen to some devout people, one would imagine that God never laughs.
Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950) Indian philosopher, poet
(Attributed)
TURGIDSON: Gee, I wish we had one of them doomsday machines.
Peter George (1924-1996) British writer
Doctor Strangelove (1964)
with Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern
GEN. RIPPER: Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk … ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake, children’s ice cream.
CAPT. MANDRAKE: Lord, Jack.
GEN. RIPPER: You know when fluoridation first began?
CAPT. MANDRAKE: I — no, no. I don’t, Jack.
GEN. RIPPER: Nineteen hundred and forty-six. Nineteen forty-six, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It’s incredibly obvious, isn’t it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That’s the way your hard-core Commie works.Peter George (1924-1996) British writer
Doctor Strangelove (1964)
with Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern
PRES. MUFFLEY: You can’t fight in here, this is the War Room!
Peter George (1924-1996) British writer
Doctor Strangelove (1964)
with Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern
There is danger in reckless change, but greater danger in blind conservatism.
Henry George (1839-1897) American economist
Social Problems, ch. 1 (1883)
The clinching proof of my reasoning is that I will cut anyone who argues further into dog meat.
Sir Geoffrey de Tourneville (fl. 14th C) Norman knight
(c. AD 1350)
True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable.
(Other Authors and Sources)
David Tyson Gentry
Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying.
[Lebe, wie Du, wenn du stirbst, / Wunschen wirst, gelebt zu haben.]
Christian Gellert (1715-1769) German poet, moralist
Geistliche Oden und Lieder, “Vom Tode” (1757)
Those who in quarrels interpose
Must often wipe a bloody nose.John Gay (1685-1732) English poet and playwright
Fables, “The Mastiffs,” pt. 1, l. 1-2 (1727)
Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.
Bill Gates (b. 1955) American software magnate [William Henry Gates III]
The Road Ahead (1995)
Be careful of your thoughts; they may become words at any moment.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Iara Gassen
(also attributed to Lara, Sara, Ira, and Jana Gassen)
Humor is an affirmation of dignity, a declaration of man’s superiority to all that befalls him.
Romain Gary (1914-1980) French novelist
Promise at Dawn (1960)
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else.
Judy Garland (1922-1969) American singer, actress
(Attributed)
If there is one thing upon this earth that mankind love and admire better than another, it is a brave man — it is the man who dares to look the devil in the face and tell him he is a devil.
James A. Garfield (1831-1881) US President (1881), lawyer, lay preacher, educator
(Attributed)
(Source)
Quoted in The Phrenological Journal (Dec 1881).
I think that all human systems require continuous renewal. They rigidify. They get stiff in the joints. They forget what they cared about. The forces against it are nostalgia and the enormous appeal of having things the way they have always been, appeals to a supposedly happy past. But we’ve got to move on.
John W. Gardner (1912-2002) American writer, businessman, government official
New York Times (21 Jul. 1989)
As I said in another connection: “An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher. The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”
John W. Gardner (1912-2002) American writer, businessman, government official
Excellence, Can We Be Equal and Excellent Too? (1961)
Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and instead of bleeding, sings.
Ed Gardner (1901-1963) American comic actor, writer and director
Duffy’s Tavern (1940s American radio show)
Oxford Dict of Modern Quotes
Where facts are few, experts are many.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Donald Gannon
You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.
Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) Indian politician
Quoted in Christian Science Monitor (17 May 1982)
Rights that do not flow directly from duty well performed are not worth having.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
Harijan (6-Jul-1947)
A “no” uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a “yes” merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
The only tyrant I accept in this world is the ‘still small voice’ within me.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
My non-violence does not admit of running away from danger and leaving dear ones unprotected. Between violence and cowardly flight, I can only prefer violence to cowardice. I can no more preach non-violence to a coward than I can tempt a blind man to enjoy healthy scenes. … Nonviolence is infinitely superior to violence. But the message of nonviolence is for those who know how to die, not for those who are afraid of death. If one has not that courage, I want him to cultivate the art of killing and being killed, rather than in a cowardly manner to flee from danger.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
He who cannot protect himself or his nearest and dearest or their honor by non-violently facing death, may and ought to do so by violently dealing with the oppressor. He who can do neither of the two is a burden.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
Young India (10 Nov. 1928)
Human life is a series of compromises and it is not always easy to achieve in practice what one has found to be true in theory.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
Young India (4 Aug. 1920)
We must become the change we want to see.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
Variants:Almost always attributed to Gandhi, but not found in any of his published works. More discussion here.
- "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
- "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
It ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practice elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism, Speech to the London Vegetarian Society (20 Nov. 1931)
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
I have learnt through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmuted into a power which can move the world.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
Fear has its use but cowardice has none.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
(Attributed)
First, they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.
Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian philosopher and nationalist [Mahatma Gandhi]
Attributed
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Italian scientist and mathematician
Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany (1615)
The sun, with all the planets revolving around it and depending on it can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do. Why then should I doubt His power?
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Italian scientist and mathematician
(Attributed)
The human condition is something at once horrible and marvelous. Estamos muy mal hechos, pero no estamos terminados. We are very badly made, but we are not finished.
Eduardo Galeano (1940-2015) Uruguayan journalist and novelist
Progressive, Interview by David Barsamian, closing sentences (Jul-1999)
The causes of the Great Depression are still far from certain. A lack of certainty, it may also be observed, is not evident in the contemporary writing on the subject. Much of it tells what went wrong and why with marked firmness. However, this paradoxically can itself be an indication of uncertainty. When people are least sure they are often most dogmatic.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Great Crash, 1929, ch. 9 “Cause and Consequence,” sec. 3 (1954)
(Source)
Where humor is concerned there are no standards — no one can say what is good or bad, although you can be sure that everyone will.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Annals of an Abiding Liberal (1979)
There is something uniquely obscene about competition to promote weapons of mass destruction for the purposes of improving the stock market position of a corporation.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
“The Big Defense Firms are Really Public Firms and Should Be Nationalized,” The New York Times Magazine (16 Nov 1969)
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
A Life in Our Times, ch. 22 (1981)
Variant: "Under capitalism, man exploits man. And under Communism it is just the reverse."Galbraith refers to it as an old Polish joke.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by adequate error.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went, ch. 13 “The Self Inflicted Wounds” (1975)
Sometimes misquoted as "... by spectacular error".
In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the comfortable, and especially when they are comfortably, contentedly, even happily wrong.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
The Guardian (28 Jul 1989)
Also attributed to Clarence Darrow.
It is almost as important to know what is not serious as to know what is.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
(Attributed)
Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
Economics, Peace and Laughter (1971)
(Source)
(also called "Galbraith's Law")
Most problems are either unimportant or impossible to solve.
Victor Galaz (b. 1976) Swedish political scientist
(Attributed)
on why it's smart to be silent during meetings
You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.
Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
“Where Do You Get Your Ideas?” (1997)
(Source)
I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man, I keep his house.
Zsa Zsa Gabor (1917-2016) Hungarian-American actress, socialite [b. Sári Gábor]
How to Catch a Man, Keep a Man, and Get Rid of a Man (1970)
(Source)
When actually given a citation, this quote is attributed to this book by Gabor, though I have been unable to find a fully visible copy of the book online to confirm. Two other attributions of similar sentiments to Gabor:He taught me housekeeping; when I divorce I keep the house.
]In Ned Sherrin, Cutting Edge (1984), regarding her fifth husband, George Sanders.]I'm a wonderful housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house.
[In Sam Staggs, Finding Zsa-Zsa (2019)]
Innovation is hard to schedule.
Dan Fylstra (b. 1952) American computer scientist, libertarian
(Attributed)
When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.
Simon Fulleringer (contemp.) Canadian IT professional
(Attributed)
Give as thou wouldest receive, cheerfully and quickly, without hesitation, or bargaining.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 418 (1725)
(Source)
First get an absolute Conquest over thyself, and then thou wilt easily govern thy Wife.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 497 (1725)
(Source)
He that will not sail till all Dangers are over, must never put out to Sea.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #2353 (1732)
(Source)
He that fears you present, will hate you absent.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #2101 (1732)
(Source)
Cheat me in the Price, but not in the Goods.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #1090 (1732)
(Source)
Act nothing in furious Passion; it’s putting to Sea in a Storm.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 365 (1725)
(Source)
Serving one’s own Passions is the greatest Slavery.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #4103 (1732)
(Source)
A wise man turns Chance into good Fortune.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, # 475 (1732)
(Source)
Heaven is a cheap Purchase, whatever it cost.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #2481 (1732)
(Source)
Many would be Cowards if they had Courage enough.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #3366 (1732)
(Source)
It is the Property of Fools, to be always judging.
Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs, #3027 (1732)
(Source)
Lord, before I commit a sin, it seems to me so shallow that I may wade through it dry-shod from any guiltiness; but when I have committed it, it often seems so deep that I cannot escape without drowning.
Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) English churchman, historian
Good Thoughts in Bad Times, “Personal Meditations,” VII (1659)
Full text.
Sometimes I think we’re alone. Sometimes I think we’re not. In either case, the thought is staggering.
Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) American architect, engineer
(Attributed)
Don’t fight forces, use them.
Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) American architect, engineer
Shelter Magazine (Nov 1932)
The motto of Shelter magazine, when renamed and repurposed by Fuller in 1932 from Philadelphia's old T-Square Club Journal.
Never forget that music is much too important to be left entirely in the hands of professionals.
Robert Fulghum (b. 1937) American author, minister
Maybe (Maybe Not) (1993)
The rapprochement of peoples is only possible when differences of culture and outlook are respected and appreciated rather than feared and condemned, when the common bond of human dignity is recognized as the essential bond for a peaceful world.
J. William Fulbright (1905-1995) American politician
upon receiving the Athinai International Prize, Athens, Greece (Apr. 1989)
Families break up when people take hints you don’t intend and miss hints you do intend.
Robert Frost (1874-1963) American poet
Writers at Work: Second Series, Interview with Richard Poirier (1963)
Hell is a half-filled auditorium.
Robert Frost (1874-1963) American poet
(Attributed)
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.
Robert Frost (1874-1963) American poet
(Attributed)
Anyone with an active mind lives on tentatives rather than tenets.
Robert Frost (1874-1963) American poet
(Attributed)
The best way out is always through.
When people can’t handle God any more, they turn to religion.
Erich Fromm (1900-1980) American psychoanalyst and social philosopher
(Attributed)
Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies
Erich Fromm (1900-1980) American psychoanalyst and social philosopher
The Sane Society (1955)
The great threat to freedom is the concentration of power.
Milton Friedman (1912-2006) American economist, intellectual
Introduction to Capitalism and Freedom (1962)
