The scientific name for an animal that doesn’t either run from or fight its enemies is “lunch.”
(Other Authors and Sources)
Michael Friedman
What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian psychoanalyst and neurologist
Letter to Ernest Jones (Jan 1933)
(Source)
Regarding Nazi book burnings in Germany. Reprinted in Jones, Sigmund Freud: Life and Work, Vol. 3, Part 1, ch. 4 (1957).
The first human who hurled an insult instead of a stone was the founder of civilization.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian psychoanalyst and neurologist
(Attributed)
You may delay, but Time will not.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)
He that is of Opinion Money will do every Thing, may well be suspected of doing every Thing for Money.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (1753)
See also Halifax.
Who has deceived thee so oft as thyself?
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack
Contentment makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack
Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (1756)
Do good to thy friend to keep him, to thy enemy to gain him.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1734)
(Source)
The learned fool writes his nonsense in better language than the unlearned, but still ’tis nonsense.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)
We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana, as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy!
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Letter to Abbé Morallet (1779)
(Source)
Apparent origin of the misquote: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding), lies here, food for worms; but the work shall not be lost, for it will (as he believed) appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the author.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
“Epitaph on Himself” (1778)
Variant words (and format):The body of
B. Franklin
Printer
Like the cover of an old book,
its contents torn out,
and stripped of its lettering and gilding,
lies here, food for worms.
But the work shall not be wholly lost;
for it will, as he believed, appear once more,
in a new and more perfect edition
corrected and amended
by the Author.
I haven’t failed, I’ve found ten thousand ways that don’t work.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)
(also attrib. Thomas Edison)
Work as if you were to live 100 years; pray as if you were to die tomorrow.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (May 1757)
(Source)
There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)
Be at War with your Vices, at Peace with your Neighbours, and let every New-Year find you a better Man.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (1755)
More information on this quotation here.
If we take care of the minutes, the years will take care of themselves.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)
Many a little makes a mickle. Beware of small expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack
Blame-all and Praise-all are two blockheads.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1734 ed.)
(Source)
Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (1757)
Were it offered to my choice, I should have no objection to a repetition of the same life from its beginning, only asking the advantages authors have in a second edition to correct some faults in the first.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Autobiography, ch. 1
He who multiplies riches multiplies cares.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)
If Passion drives, let Reason hold the Reins.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (May 1749)
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
“Reply to the Governor,” Pennsylvania Assembly (11 Nov 1755)
Also given as, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." (cited Historical Review of Pennsylvania (1759))
Hear reason, or she’ll make you feel her.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
(Attributed)
Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it.
Irving Berlin (1888-1989) American songwriter [b. Isidore Beilin]
(Attributed)
(Source)
Attributed as a comment made by Berlin during a performance of the show This is the Army, Mr. Jones at the Palladium in London in 1943.
Also sometimes attributed to Benjamin Franklin.
It is Ill-manners to silence a fool, and Cruelty to let him go on.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack
A good example is the best sermon.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack
Necessity never made a good bargain.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1735 ed.)
(Source)
Genius without education is like silver in the mine.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard’s Almanack (Aug 1750)
Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) German-American psychologist, writer
Man’s Search for Meaning (1959)
Humor is another of the soul’s weapons in the fight for self-preservation. It is well known that humor more than anything else in the human makeup, can afford an aloofness and an ability to rise above any situation, even if only for a few seconds.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) German-American psychologist, writer
Man’s Search for Meaning (1959)
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) German-American psychologist, writer
Man’s Search for Meaning, Part 1 (1959)
(Source)
What is to give light must endure burning.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) German-American psychologist, writer
(1963)
We had to learn ourselves and furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life but rather what life expected from us! We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) German-American psychologist, writer
Man’s Search for Meaning (1959)
Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) German-American psychologist, writer
Man’s Search for Meaning (1959)
No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether in a similar situation he might not have done the same.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) German-American psychologist, writer
Man’s Search for Meaning (1959)
A clean desk is a sign of an empty mind.
Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965) US Supreme Court Justice, jurist and teacher
(Attributed)
It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged … [by] not very nice people.
Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965) US Supreme Court Justice, jurist and teacher
United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 US 56, 69 (dissenting) (1950)
One of the prerogatives of American citizenship is the right to criticize public men and measures — and that means not only informed and responsible criticism, but the freedom to speak foolishly and without moderation.
Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965) US Supreme Court Justice, jurist and teacher
Baumgartner v. United States, 322 U.S. 665 (1944)
The history of liberty is the history of the observances of procedural safeguards.
Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965) US Supreme Court Justice, jurist and teacher
McNabb v. United States (1943)
Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.
Rose Franken (1925-1966) American novelist and playwright
(Attributed)
HAWKINS: I’ve got it! I’ve got it! The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true! Right?
GRISELDA: Right. But there’s been a change: they broke the chalice from the palace!
HAWKINS: They broke the chalice from the palace?
GRISELDA: And replaced it with a flagon.
HAWKINS: A flagon…?
GRISELDA: With the figure of a dragon.
HAWKINS: Flagon with a dragon.
GRISELDA: Right.
HAWKINS: But did you put the pellet with the poison in the vessel with the pestle?
GRISELDA: No! The pellet with the poison’s in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true!
HAWKINS: The pellet with the poison’s in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true.
GRISELDA: Just remember that.Melvin Frank (1913-1988) American screenwriter, director
The Court Jester (1956)
(with Norman Panama)
Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.
Anne Frank (1929-1945) German-Dutch Jewish diarist
Diary
In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
Anne Frank (1929-1945) German-Dutch Jewish diarist
Diary (1944-07-15)
tr. B. M. Mooyart-Doubleday, 1952
I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
Anne Frank (1929-1945) German-Dutch Jewish diarist
Diary
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
Anne Frank (1929-1945) German-Dutch Jewish diarist
Diary
Fear is a greater evil than the evil itself.
François de Sales (1567-1622) French bishop, saint, writer [a.k.a. Francis de Sales, b. François de Boisy]
Letters to Persons in the World, 6,12
A brave man can easily bear with contempt, slander, and false accusations from an evil world; but to bear such injustice at the hands of good men, of friends and relations, is a great test of patience.
François de Sales (1567-1622) French bishop, saint, writer [a.k.a. Francis de Sales, b. François de Boisy]
Introduction to a Devout Life, Part III, no. 3, “On Patience” (1618)
Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself.
François de Sales (1567-1622) French bishop, saint, writer [a.k.a. Francis de Sales, b. François de Boisy]
(Attributed)
Nothing is so strong as gentleness; nothing so gentle as real strength.
François de Sales (1567-1622) French bishop, saint, writer [a.k.a. Francis de Sales, b. François de Boisy]
(Attributed)
He prays well who is so absorbed with God that he does not know he is praying.
François de Sales (1567-1622) French bishop, saint, writer [a.k.a. Francis de Sales, b. François de Boisy]
(Attributed)
The deeds you do today may be the only sermon some people will hear today.
Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) Italian Franciscan mystic, reformer, saint [b. Giovanni di Pietro di Bunardone]
(Attributed)
Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) Italian Franciscan mystic, reformer, saint [b. Giovanni di Pietro di Bunardone]
(Attributed)
Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.
Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) Italian Franciscan mystic, reformer, saint [b. Giovanni di Pietro di Bunardone]
(Attributed)
Beware, my lord! Beware lest stern Heaven hate you enough to hear your prayers!
Anatole France (1844-1924) French poet, journalist, novelist, Nobel Laureate [pseud. of Jaques-Anatole-François Thibault]
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
[Si 50 millions de personnes disent une bêtise, c’est quand même une bêtise.]
Anatole France (1844-1924) French poet, journalist, novelist, Nobel Laureate [pseud. of Jaques-Anatole-François Thibault]
(Spurious)
Sometimes also misattributed to Bertrand Russell. The closest to this specific quotation comes from W. Somerset Maugham. More information about this quotation, including the source of this misattribution and an analogous phrase France did use: If Fifty Million People Say a Foolish Thing, It Is Still a Foolish Thing – Quote Investigator.
The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
Anatole France (1844-1924) French poet, journalist, novelist, Nobel Laureate [pseud. of Jaques-Anatole-François Thibault]
The Red Lily, ch. 7 (1884)
An education isn’t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don’t.
Anatole France (1844-1924) French poet, journalist, novelist, Nobel Laureate [pseud. of Jaques-Anatole-François Thibault]
(Attributed)
I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
Riverside Sermons, “The Mystery of Life” (1958)
He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determines the end.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) American clergyman, author, teacher
(Attributed)
I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.
E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)
(Source)
Sometimes misquoted as: "If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the decency to betray my country."
The only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves.
E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
Two Cheers for Democracy, “A Book That Influenced Me” (1951)
We’re like blind men on a corner
George Foreman (b. 1949) American boxer
Sports Illustrated, interview (1983)
It is easy enough to hold an opinion, but hard work to actually know what one is talking about.
Paul F. Ford (b. c. 1957) American theologian, liturgist, literary critic
(Attributed)
Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.
Henry Ford (1863-1947) American industrialist
(Attributed)
Time and money spent in helping men do more for themselves is far better than mere giving.
Henry Ford (1863-1947) American industrialist
(Attributed)
Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.
Henry Ford (1863-1947) American industrialist
(Attributed)
What we call evil is simply ignorance bumping its head in the dark.
Henry Ford (1863-1947) American industrialist
Observer (London), Interview (16 Mar. 1930)
He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare,
And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.'Ali ibn Abi-Talib (602-661) Fourth Caliph
One Hundred Sayings [Sad Kalimah / Mi’at Kalimah]
Quoted by (and thus frequently attributed to) Ralphg Waldo Emerson.
When you blame others, you give up your power to change.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
(Attributed)
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
Mostly Harmless (1992)
“You’d better be prepared for the jump into hyperspace. It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.”
“What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?”
“You ask a glass of water.”
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, ch. 6 (1979)
It’s no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase “As pretty as an airport” appear.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, ch. 1 (1988)
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experiences of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way.
Franklin Pierce Adams (1881-1960) American journalist and humorist
“Nods and Becks”
A good deal of so-called atheism is itself, from my point of view, theologically significant. It is the working of God in history, and judgement upon the pious. An authentic prophet can and should be a radical critic of spurious piety, of sham spirituality.
James Luther Adams (1901-1994) American theologian
Speech (Jan 1977)
The collection plate in the Sunday Service is sometimes objected to for aesthetic reasons, but it is an earnest, indeed a symbol, of the voluntary character of the association, and it should be interpreted in this fashion. It is a way of saying to the community, “This is our voluntary, independent enterprise, and under God’s mercy we who believe in it will support it. We do not for its support appeal to the coercive power of the state.”
James Luther Adams (1901-1994) American theologian
On Being Human Religiously (1976)
The Revolution was affected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people …. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter to Hezekiah Niles (13 Feb. 1818)
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of the facts and evidence.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
“Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials” (4 Dec 1770)
The fundamental article of my political creed is that despotism, or unlimited sovereignty, or absolute power, is the same in a majority of a popular assembly, an aristocratic council, an oligarchical junto, and a single emperor.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter to Thomas Jefferson (13 Nov. 1815)
May none but wise and honest
Men ever rule under this roof.John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter to wife, the day after moving into the new White House (2-Nov-1800)
The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.
John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
“A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America” (1788)
To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse.
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) US President (1825-29)
(Attributed)
The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality.
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) US President (1825-29)
(Attributed)
I cannot ask of heaven success, even for my country, in a cause where she should be in the wrong. Fiat justitia, pereat coelum. My toast would be, may our country be always successful, but whether successful or otherwise, always right.
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) US President (1825-29)
Letter to John Adams (1 Aug 1816)
In response to Stephen Decatur's quote (and subsequent popular catch phrase), "Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right, but our country, right or wrong."
The Latin translates as "Let justice be done though Heaven should fall."
Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) US President (1825-29)
(Attributed)
Capitalism and communism stand at opposite poles. Their essential difference is this: The communist, seeing the rich man and his fine home, says: “No man should have so much.” The capitalist, seeing the same thing, says: “All men should have as much.”
Phelps Adams (1902-1991) American journalist, executive
(Attributed)
One battle would do more towards a Declaration of Independence than a long chain of conclusive arguments in a provincial convention or the Continental Congress.
Samuel Adams (1722-1803) American revolutionary, statesman
Letter to Samuel Cooper (30 Apr. 1776)
It requires time to bring honest men to think & determine alike even in important matters. Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason. Events which excite those feelings will produce wonderful effects.
Samuel Adams (1722-1803) American revolutionary, statesman
Letter to Samuel Cooper (30 Apr. 1776)
WALLY: Stupidity is like nuclear power; it can be used for good or evil.
DILBERT: And you don’t want to get any on you.Scott Adams (b. 1957) American cartoonist
Dilbert (11 Dec. 1995)
I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
The Spectator, #477 (6 Sep 1712)
A man must be excessively stupid, as well as uncharitable, who believes that there is no virtue but on his own side, and that there are not men as honest as himself who may differ from him in political principles.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
The Spectator, #243 (8 Dec 1711)
PORTIUS: ‘Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we’ll do more, Sempronius; we’ll deserve it.Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Cato, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 43ff (1713)
(Source)
This passage was widely known to America's Founders; John Adams paraphrases it in a letter to his wife Abigail (1776-02-18), and George Washington in letters to Nicholas Cooke (1775-10-29) and, most famously, Benedict Arnold (1775-12-05).
Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
The Spectator, #381 (17 May 1712)
My friend Sir Roger heard them both upon a round trot; and after having paused some time, told them with an air of a man who would not give his judgment rashly, that “much might be said on both sides.”
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
The Spectator, #122 (20 Jul 1711)
(Source)
An infallible method of conciliating a tiger is to allow oneself to be devoured.
Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) German politician
(Attributed)
The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even to murder with the truth.
