It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others. It is from among such individuals that all human failures spring.

Alfred Adler (1870-1937) Austrian psychologist
What Life Should Mean to You (1937)
 
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It is always easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them.

Alfred Adler (1870-1937) Austrian psychologist
(Attributed)
    (Source)

Comment to friend (1927). In Phyllis Bottome, Alfred Adler: A Biography, ch. 5 (1939)
 
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No religion can long continue to maintain its purity when the church becomes the subservient vassal of the state.

Felix Adler
Felix Adler (1851-1933) German-American educator
(Attributed)
 
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The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light.

Felix Adler
Felix Adler (1851-1933) German-American educator
(Attributed)
 
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Tradition is what you resort to when you don’t have the time or the money to do it right.

Kurt Herbert Adler (1905-1988) Austrian-American conductor, opera director
(Attributed)
 
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Death is a softer thing by far than tyranny.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek dramatist (Æschylus)
Agamemnon, I. 1364

Alt trans.: "Death is better, a milder fate than tyranny." "Death is softer by far than tyranny."
 
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Not to engage in the pursuit of ideas is to live like ants instead of like men.

Mortimer J. Adler (1902-2001) American philosopher, educator, author
Saturday Review (22 Nov 1958)
 
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Everyone’s quick to blame the alien.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek dramatist (Æschylus)
The Suppliant Maidens
 
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It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek dramatist (Æschylus)
Fragment 385
 
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Any excuse will serve a tyrant.

Aesop (620?-560? BC) Legendary Greek storyteller
Fables [Aesopica], “The Wolf and the Lamb” (6th C BC) [tr. Jacobs (1894)]
    (Source)

Alternate translations:

  • "'Tis an Easie Matter to find a Staff to Beat a Dog." [tr. L'Estrange (1692)]
  • "A tyrant never wants a plea." [tr. James (1848)]
  • "The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny." [tr. Townsend (1887)]
 
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No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

Aesop (620?-560? BC) Legendary Greek storyteller
Fables [Aesopica], “The Lion and the Mouse” (6th C BC)

Alternate translation: "Kindness is seldom thrown away" [tr. James (1848)]
 
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Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.

Howard Aiken (1900-1973) American mathematician
(Attributed)

Quoted in E. Weiss, A Computer Science Reader : Selections from Abacus (1988). Alternate: "Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats." Quoted in R. Slater, Portraits in Silicon (1987)
 
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Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night.

Leo Aikman (1908-1978) American writer, newspaper editor, humorist
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 
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Say not unto thyself, Behold, truth breedeth hatred, and I will avoid it; dissimulation raiseth friends, and I will follow it. Are not the enemies made by truth, better than the friends obtained by flattery?

Akhenaten
Akhenaten (d. 1336 BC) King of Egypt (1353-36 BC), religious reformer [Akhenaton, Akhnaten, Amenhotep IV, Ikhn-aton]
(Attributed)
 
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True wisdom is less presuming than folly. The wise man doubteth often, and changeth his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubteth not; he knoweth all things but his own ignorance.

Akhenaten
Akhenaten (d. 1336 BC) King of Egypt (1353-36 BC), religious reformer [Akhenaton, Akhnaten, Amenhotep IV, Ikhn-aton]
(Attributed)

Usually attributed to Akhenaten. Sometimes attributed as a writing of Noble Drew Ali (1886-1929), ostensibly from the Koran, or as an ancient Brahmin writing.
 
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Know thyself as the pride of His creation, the link uniting divinity and matter; behold a part of God Himself within thee; remember thine own dignity nor dare descend to evil or meanness.

Akhenaten
Akhenaten (d. 1336 BC) King of Egypt (1353-36 BC), religious reformer [Akhenaton, Akhnaten, Amenhotep IV, Ikhn-aton]
(Attributed)

Unsourced, sometimes given as a Brahminic writing.
 
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The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-distrust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciple.

Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888) American transcendentalist, teacher, writer
Orphic Sayings, “The Teacher” (1840)
 
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To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.

Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888) American transcendentalist, teacher, writer
Table Talk, “Discourse” (1877)
 
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Nothing overshadows truth so much as authority.

Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) Genoan Renaissance Man [also "Leone"]
Momus, or De Principe (1520)
 
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I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.

Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American writer
Little Women, ch. 44 [Amy] (1868)
 
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Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.

Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) American writer
Work: A Story of Experience ch. 12 [Christie] (1875)
    (Source)
 
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Here’s my Golden Rule for a tarnished age: be fair with others, but then keep after them until they’re fair with you.

Alan Alda (b. 1936) American actor [b. Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo]
Commencement Speech, Connecticut College (1980)

Full text.
 
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It isn’t necessary to be rich and famous to be happy. It’s only necessary to be rich.

Alan Alda (b. 1936) American actor [b. Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo]
(Attributed)
 
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PERCHIK: Money is the world’s curse.
TEVYE: May the Lord smite me with it! And may I never recover!

Sholem Aleichem
Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916) Russian-Jewish humorist [pseud. for Sholem Rabinowitz]
Fiddler on the Roof [with Joseph Stein] (1971)
 
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Civilization is the distance man has placed between himself and his excreta.

Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss (1925-2017) English writer, editor
The Dark Light Years, ch. 5 (1964)
 
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Better to abolish serfdom from above than wait till it begins to abolish itself from below.

Alexander II (1818-1881) Russian Czar (1867-81)
Speech in Moscow (30 Mar 1856)
 
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The sad thing is that excellence makes people nervous.

Shana Alexander (1925-2005) American journalist
“Neglected Kids — the Bright Ones,” The Feminine Eye (1966)
 
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The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted thirty years of his life.

Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) American boxer, activist [b. Cassius Clay]
Interview, Playboy (Nov 1975)
 
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We give advice by the bucket, but take it by the grain.

William Rounseville Alger (1822-1905) American writer, minister, translator
(Attributed)
 
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BRIAN: Screw Maximilian!
SALLY: I do!
BRIAN: So do I!

Jay Presson Allen (1922-2006) American screenwriter, playwright
Cabaret (1972)

(screenplay with J. Masteroff, J. Van Druten, C. Isherwood)
 
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They laughed at Joan of Arc, but she went right ahead and built it.

Gracie Allen (1906-1964) American comedian
(Attributed)
 
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A conference is a gathering of important people who, singly, can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.

Fred Allen (1894-1956) American humorist [b. John Florence Sullivan]
Letter to William McChesney Martin (25 Jan 1940)
    (Source)

The letter, to the then-President of the New York Stock Exchange, was written as an apology for a joke Allen had made about Wall Street, and was re-published in TIME magazine (4 Feb 1940).

Allen apparently used the line, and variations of it, at various times in his career. A variant more commonly quoted than the original shows up, without citation, in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations:

Committee -- A group of men who individually can do nothing but as a group decide that nothing can be done.
 
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Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.

Saul Alinsky (1909-1972) American community organizer, writer.
Rules for Radicals, “The Purpose” (1971)
    (Source)
 
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Men will take almost any kind of criticism except the observation that they have no sense of humor.

Steve Allen (1922-2000) American composer, entertainer, and wit.
(Attributed)
 
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We are entitled to make almost any reasonable assumption, but should resist making conclusions until evidence requires that we do so.

Steve Allen (1922-2000) American composer, entertainer, and wit.
(Attributed)
 
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One of the nice things about problems is that a good many of them do not exist except in our imaginations.

Steve Allen (1922-2000) American composer, entertainer, and wit.
(Attributed)

Quoted in Reader's Digest (Nov 1989)
 
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Nothing is better than the unintended humor of reality.

Steve Allen (1922-2000) American composer, entertainer, and wit.
(Attributed)
 
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It is no secret that organized crime in America takes in over forty billion dollars a year. This is quite a profitable sum, especially when one considers that the Mafia spends very little for office supplies.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
New Yorker, “A Look at Organized Crime” (1970)
 
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Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Without Feathers (1976)

The Early Essays
 
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I’m astounded by people who want to ‘know’ the universe when it’s hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Getting Even (1978)
 
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There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Side Effects (1989)

New Yorker Essays, 1970s
 
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To YOU I’m an atheist; to God, I’m the Loyal Opposition.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Stardust Memories (1980)
 
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I think you should defend to the death their right to march, and then go down and meet them with baseball bats.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
On the KKK Skokie march
 
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I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
Without Feathers (1975)
 
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Sex without love is an empty experience, but as empty experiences go, it’s one of the best.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
(Attributed)
 
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I’d call him a sadistic, hippophilic necrophile, but that would be beating a dead horse.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
What’s up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
 
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The difference between sex and death is that with death you can do it alone and no one is going to make fun of you.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
New York Tribune (1975)

(quoted)
 
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Love is the answer; but while you re waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty good questions.

Woody Allen (b. 1935) American comedian, writer, director [b. Allan Steward Konigsberg]
(Attributed)
 
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People who are aware of, and ashamed of, their prejudices are well on the road to eliminating them.

Gordon Allport (1897-1967) American psychology professor
(Attributed)
 
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As the Sun colours flowers, so art colours life.

Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) Dutch-British painter
Inscription on his seal
 
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A man who has bought a theory will fight a furious rear guard action against the facts.

Joseph R. Alsop, Jr. (1910-1989) American journalist
(Attributed)
 
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To get maximum attention, it’s hard to beat a good, big mistake.

Joseph R. Alsop, Jr. (1910-1989) American journalist
(Attributed)

(also attrib. David D. Hewitt)
 
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They do greatly err who acknowledge that the flesh of man was taken on Himself by Christ, but deny that the affections of man were taken; and they contravene the purpose of the Lord Jesus Himself, since thus they take away from man what constitutes man, for man cannot be man without human affections.

St Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan (339-397) Roman theologian, statesman, Christian prelate, saint, Doctor of the Church [Aurelius Ambrosius]
“On Psalm 61”
 
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Look around the table. If you don’t see a sucker, get up, because you’re the sucker.

"Amarillo Slim" Preston (1928-2012) American gambler [Thomas Austin Preston, Jr.]
(Attributed)

Though he used the phrase, he did not take credit for it.  More information here.Variants:
  • "If after ten minutes at the poker table you do not know who the patsy is -- you are the patsy."
  • "If you sit in on a poker game and don't see a sucker, get up. You're the sucker."
  • "If you enter a poker game and you don't see a sucker, get up and leave -- you’re it."
 
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PAIGE: I tell you, Nicole, when the cafeteria has pizza for lunch, it’s like all my troubles disappear. I mean, who cares about a dumb Shakespeare quiz?! Who cares that I’ve got a lab report due?! Who cares that I left my book bag at home?! I’m going to have pizza! Well, I’d better get in line.
NICOLE: Don’t you keep your wallet in your book bag? You can have my yogurt …
PAIGE: The Irony Gods must be rolling on the floor.

Bill Amend (b. 1962) American cartoonist
Foxtrot
 
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When I am in Rome, I fast as the Romans do; when I am at Milan, I do not fast. So likewise you, whatever church you come to, observe the custom of the place.

[Cum Romanum venio, ieiuno Sabbato; cum hic sum, non ieiuno: sic etiam tu, ad quam forte ecclesiam veneris, eius morem serva, si cuiquam non vis esse scandalum nec quemquam tibi.]

St Ambrose
Ambrose of Milan (339-397) Roman theologian, statesman, Christian prelate, saint, Doctor of the Church [Aurelius Ambrosius]
In Augustine, Epistulae, Letter 36 (c. AD 400)

Alt trans.:
  • Popularly, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
  • "When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the church where you are."
  • "When I am here, I do not fast on the Sabbath; when I am in Rome, I fast on the Sabbath."
  • Alternately given as "If you are at Rome, live in the Roman style; if you are elsewhere, live as they live there. [Si fueris Romae, Romano vivito more; / Si fueris alibi, vivito sicut ibi.]" in J. Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience, I.i.5 (1660).
Various Augustine citations described:
  • Epistulae 36, 14 or 32
  • Letter 54 to Januarius
  • Epistle to Januarius, 2, sec. 18
  • Epistle to Casualanus, 36, sec. 32
 
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Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one’s liberty.

Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Journal Intime
 
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We are always making God our accomplice so that we may legalize our own inequities. Every successful massacre is consecrated by a Te Deum, and the clergy have never been wanting in benedictions for any victorious enormity.

Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Journal Intime (6 Oct. 1866)
 
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A belief is not true because it is useful.

Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, critic
Entry, Journal (15 Nov 1876)
    (Source)
 
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Written laws are like spider’s webs; they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.

Anacharsis
Anacharsis (fl. 6th C BC) Scythian traveler and philosopher
In Plutarch’s Parallel Lives “Solon” bk. 5, sec. 2.

Alt trans.: "These decrees of yours are no different from spiders' webs. They'll restrain anyone weak and insignificant who gets caught in them, but they'll be torn to shreds by people with power and wealth." [tr. by R. Waterfield, Plutarch's Greek Lives (1998)]
 
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A man’s felicity consists not in the outward and visible blessing of fortune, but in the inward and unseen perfections and riches of the mind.

Anacharsis
Anacharsis (fl. 6th C BC) Scythian traveler and philosopher
in Plutarch, “The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men”
 
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You’re just an empty cage, girl, if you kill the bird.

Tori Amos (b. 1963) American singer/songwriter [b. Myra Ellen Amos]
Little Earthquakes, “Crucify” (1991)
 
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I think NASCAR would be much more exciting if, like in a skating rink, every 15 minutes someone announced it was time to reverse direction.

(Other Authors and Sources)
Jeffrey Anbinder (Attributed)
 
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All men’s lives are fairy tales written by the fingers of God.

Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875) Danish author
(Attributed)
 
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In real love you want the other person’s good. In romantic love you want the other person.

Margaret C. Anderson (1886-1973) American editor, memoirist
The Fiery Fountains (1951)
 
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After all my time here, I’ve yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, didn’t become still more complicated.

Poul Anderson (1926-2001) American writer
Call Me Joe [Arne Viken] (1957)

Sometimes attributed to Arthur Koestler (who attributed the quote to Anderson). See here for more details (and a reference to WIST).
 
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It was a joke, okay? If we thought it would actually be used, we wouldn’t have written it!

Marc Andreessen (b. 1971) American software engineer, entrepreneur
(Attributed)

On the creation of the BLINK tag in HTML.
 
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So often we look at a calendar of days as merely a symbol of the passage of time. We forget why we are on this earth. We forget that there is a reason for all of the pain and all of the struggle. We forget that we were put on earth to learn something. If everything were perfect in this life, we would never learn anything new. We would not be able to elevate our spirits through the events that happen to us.

Lynn V. Andrews (b. 1940) American author, spiritualist, counselor
Walk in Balance (1994)
 
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If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.

Mario Andretti (b. 1940) Italian-American auto racer
(Attributed)
 
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The key to leadership is having people willing to follow you if only out of curiosity to see what’s going to happen.

Marc Andreessen (b. 1971) American software engineer, entrepreneur
Fast Company, “Marc Andreessen, Act II,” interview by George Anders (Feb. 2001)
 
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You have to decide at the end of the day if you can live with yourself.

Anne, Princess Royal
Anne (b. 1950) British Princess Royal
(Attributed)
 
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Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy.

Robert Anthony (contemp.) American psychologist, author
Think, Think On and Think Again
 
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The opposite of bravery is not cowardice, but conformity.

Robert Anthony (contemp.) American psychologist, author
The Ultimate Secrets of Total Self-Confidence, ch. 2 “Bondage or Liberty” (2007)

Full text.
 
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Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle.

Robert Anthony (contemp.) American psychologist, author
Think, Think On and Think Again
 
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Live as though it were your last day on earth. Some day you will be right.

Robert Anthony (contemp.) American psychologist, author
Think, Think On and Think Again
 
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Courage is simply the willingness to be afraid and act anyway.

Robert Anthony (contemp.) American psychologist, author
Think, Think On and Think Again
 
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Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these.

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) American reformer, aboltionist, sufferagist
(Attributed)
 
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I tell them I have worked 40 years to make the W.S. platform broad enough for Atheists and Agnostics to stand upon, and now if need be I will fight the next 40 to keep it Catholic enough to permit the straightest Orthodox religionist to speak or pray and count her beads upon.

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) American reformer, aboltionist, sufferagist
(Attributed)
 
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What you should say to outsiders is that a Christian has neither more nor less rights in our Association than an atheist. When our platform becomes too narrow for people of all creeds and of no creeds, I myself shall not stand upon it.

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) American reformer, aboltionist, sufferagist
Address to National American Woman Suffrage Association, Washington (23 Jan 1896)

Quoted in Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper, History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 16 (1902).
 
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The religious persecution of the ages has been done under what was claimed to be the command of God. I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice that it always coincides with their own desires.

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) American reformer, aboltionist, sufferagist
Address to National American Woman Suffrage Association, Washington (23-28 Jan 1896)
    (Source)
 
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The media’s power is frail. Without the people’s support, it can be shut off with the ease of turning a light switch.

Corazon Aquino (1933-2009) Filipino political leader [María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino]
Speech, Time Magazine Distinguished Speakers Series (Sep. 1986)
 
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All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.

John Arbuthnot (1667-1735) English physician
(1735)

quoted in Richard Garnett, Life of Emerson, ch. 7 (1888)
 
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The church must never become a government factory, carrying on a nationalized industry of religion with the people as the bolts and nuts; with God reduced to the role of cramped advocate of current national policy. Surely the pages of history are replete and the examples in many a foreign country convincing that this kind of church-state union — whatever the original motives, or however noble the original purposes — winds up with a state that is less than stable and a church that is less than sanctified, and with the poor still hungry.

Glenn L. Archer, Jr. (1929-2011) American jurist
Speech, Kansas City (Aug. 1956)
 
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The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Part 3, ch. 18 (1977)
    (Source)

Sometimes rendered (possibly from the original lecture): "The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil."
 
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The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
“Civil Disobedience,” The New Yorker (12 Sep 1970)
    (Source)

Reprinted in Crises of the Republic (1972).
 
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EPOPS: You’re mistaken: men of sense often learn from their enemies. Prudence is the best safeguard. This principle cannot be learned from a friend, but an enemy extorts it immediately. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war. And this lesson saves their children, their homes, and their properties.

Aristophanes (c. 450-c. 388 BC) Athenian comedic playwright
The Birds, l. 375 (414 BC) [tr. Anon. (1812)]

Full text.

Alt trans. [Hickie (1853)]: "Yet, certainly, the wise learn many things from their enemies; for caution preserves all things. From a friend you could not learn this, but your foe immediately obliges you to learn it. For example, the states have learned from enemies, and not from friends, to build lofty walls, and to possess ships of war. And this lesson preserves children, house, and possessions."

Alt trans. [O'Neill (1938)] : "The wise can often profit by the lessons of a foe, for caution is the mother of safety. It is just such a thing as one will not learn from a friend and which an enemy compels you to know. To begin with, it's the foe and not the friend that taught cities to build high walls, to equip long vessels of war; and it's this knowledge that protects our children, our slaves and our wealth."

Alt trans. [Goldstein-Jackson (1983)]: "A man may learn wisdom even from a foe."

 
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Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still live the same life.

Aristophanes (c. 450-c. 388 BC) Athenian comedic playwright
(Attributed)

Alt trans: "Wise men, though all laws were abolished, would lead the same lives."
 
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There is a foolish corner in the brain of the wisest man.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
(Attributed)

Not found anywhere except modern books of inspiring aphorisms and sites of citationless quotations. It also doesn't sound very Aristotelian.
 
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How many a debate could have been deflated into a single paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms?

William James (Will) Durant (1885-1981) American historian, teacher, philosopher
The Story of Philosophy, ch. 2 “Aristotle and Greek Science,” sec. 3 “The Foundation of Logic” (1926)
    (Source)

This quotation is frequently misattributed (without citation) to Aristotle (sometimes using "dispute" instead of "debate"), but none of the sources pre-date this passage by Durant. Durant is speaking of Aristotle's development of logic, and his focus on definitions, but the full passage in context is clearly not a quotation:

There was a hint of this new science in Socrates’ maddening insistence on definitions, and in Plato’s constant refining of every concept. Aristotle’s little treatise on Definitions shows how his logic found nourishment at this source. “If you wish to converse with me,” said Voltaire, “define your terms.” How many a debate would have been deflated into a paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms! This is the alpha and omega of logic, the heart and soul of it, that every important term in serious discourse shall be subjected to strictest scrutiny and definition. It is difficult, and ruthlessly tests the mind; but once done it is half of any task.
 
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The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
On the Heavens [De Caelo, Περὶ οὐρανοῦ], Book 1, ch. 5 (1.5) / 271b.9-10 (350 BC) [tr. Stock (1922)]
    (Source)

Alternate translation:

A small deviation from the truth at the beginning multiplies itself ten thousand-fold.
[tr. Hankinson (2004)]

 
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There is no great genius without a touch of madness.

[Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
(Attributed)

Attributed to Aristotle in Seneca the Younger, "On Tranquility of Mind [De Tranquillitate Animi]" (17.10) (c. AD 60). (Source (Latin)).

Alternate translations:

  • "There is no great genius without a mixture of madness." [Example (1851)]
  • "No great genius was without a mixture of insanity." [tr. Langsdorf (1900)]
  • "No great genius has ever been without a touch of insanity." [tr. Stewart (1900), "On Peace of Mind"]
  • "No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness." [Example (1906)]
  • "No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness." [tr. Basore (1932)]
  • "No great genius has ever existed without a dash of lunacy." [tr. Davie (2007)]
  • "There was never any great genius without a tincture of insanity." [tr. @sentantiq (2018)]
  • "There was never a genius without a tincture of madness."
  • "No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness."
This quotation as such is not found in surviving Aristotle. It may either represent something from Aristotle that has been lost since Seneca, or else Seneca fabricating a quote, quoting something spurious, or paraphrasing something Aristotle did write, e.g., his comments about madness/melancholy and poets/prominent talents (here and here). See also the Pseudo-Aristotle, Problemata, Book 30, ch. 1:

Why is it that all those who have become eminent in philosophy or politics or poetry or the arts are clearly of an atrabilious temperament, and some of them to such an extent as to be affected by diseases caused by black bile, as is said to have happened to Heracles among the heroes? [tr. Forster (1927)]
 
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A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 5, ch. 11 / 1314b.39

Alt. trans.:

  • "Also he should appear to be particularly earnest in the service of the Gods; for if men think that a ruler is religious and has a reverence for the Gods, they are less afraid of suffering injustice at his hands, and they are less disposed to conspire against him, because they believe him to have the very Gods fighting on his side. At the same time his religion must not be thought foolish." [tr. Jowett (1885)]

  • "And, moreover, always to seem particularly attentive to the worship of the gods; for from persons of such a character men entertain less fears of suffering anything illegal while they suppose that he who governs them is religious and reverences the gods; and they will be less inclined to raise insinuations against such a one, as being peculiarly under their protection: but this must be so done as to give no occasion for any suspicion of hypocrisy." [tr. Ellis (1912)]

  • "And further he must be seen always to be exceptionally zealous as regards religious observances (for people are less afraid of suffering any illegal treatment from men of this sort, if they think that their ruler has religious scruples and pays regard to the gods, and also they plot against him less, thinking that he has even the gods as allies), though he should not display a foolish religiosity." [tr. Rackham (1932)]

  • "Further, he must always show himself to be seriously attentive to the things pertaining to the gods. For men are less afraid fo being treated in some respect contrary to the law by such persons, if they consider the ruler a god-fearing sort who takes thought for the gods, and they are less ready to conspire against him as one who has the gods too as allies. In showing himself of this sort, however, he must avoid silliness." [tr. Lord (1984)]
 
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It is manifestly possible to be a good citizen without possessing the goodness that constitutes a good man.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 3, ch. 4 / 1276b.34 [tr. Rackham (1932)]
    (Source)

Alternate translations:

  • "It is quite possible that a citizen, though good as such, should not possess the excellence which characterizes a the good man." [tr. Bolland (1877)]
  • "The good citizen need not of necessity possess the virtue which makes a good man." [tr. Jowett (1885)]
  • "An excellent citizen does not possess that virtue which constitutes a good man." [tr. Ellis (1912)]
  • "That it is possible for a citizen to be excellent yet not possess the virtue in accordance with which he is an excellent man, therefore, is evident." [tr. Lord (1984)]
 
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So also anybody can become angry — that is easy, and so it is to give and spend money; but to be angry with or give money to the right person, and to the right amount, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way — this is not within everybody’s power and is not easy; so that to do these things properly is rare, praiseworthy, and noble.

[οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸ μὲν ὀργισθῆναι παντὸς καὶ ῥᾴδιον, καὶ τὸ δοῦναι ἀργύριον καὶ δαπανῆσαι: τὸ δ᾽ ᾧ καὶ ὅσον καὶ ὅτε καὶ οὗ ἕνεκα καὶ ὥς, οὐκέτι παντὸς οὐδὲ ῥᾴδιον: διόπερ τὸ εὖ καὶ σπάνιον καὶ ἐπαινετὸν καὶ καλόν.]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια], Book 2, ch. 9 (2.9, 1109a.27) (c. 325 BC) [tr. Rackham (1934)]
    (Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Just so to be angry, to give money, and be expensive, is what any man can do, and easy: but to do these to the right person, in due proportion, at the right time, with a right object, and in the right manner, this is not as before what any man can do, nor is it easy; and for this cause goodness is rare, and praiseworthy, and noble.
[tr. Chase (1847)]

And so, too, to get angry is an easy matter, and in any man's power; or to give away money or to spend it: but to decide to whom to give it, and how large a sum, and when, and for what purpose, and how, is neither in every many's power, nor an easy matter. And hence it is that excellence herein is rare and praiseworthy and noble.
[tr. Williams (1869), sec. 37]

So too anybody can get angry -- that is an easy matter -- and anybody can give or spend money, but to give it to the right persons, to give the right amount of it and to give it at the right time and for the right cause and in the right way, this is not what anybody can do, nor is it easy. That is the reason why it is rare and laudable and noble to do well.
[tr. Welldon (1892)]

Thus anyone can be angry -- that is quite easy; anyone can give money away or spend it: but to do these things to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right object, and in the right manner, is not what everybody can do, and is by no means easy; and that is the reason why right doing is rare and praiseworthy and noble.
[tr. Peters (1893)]

So, too, anyone can get angry -- that is easy -- or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for everyone, nor is it easy; wherefore goodness is both rare and laudable and noble.
[tr. Ross (1908)]

In the same way, getting angry is also something everyone can do and something easy, as is giving or spending money. Determining whom to give it to, though, and how much, when, for the sake of what, and in what way -- that is no longer something everyone can do or something easy. That is why doing it well is a rare thing and a praiseworthy and noble one.
[tr. Reeve (1948)]

So, too, anyone can get angry or give money or spend it, and it is easy. But to give to the right person, the right amount, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right manner, this is not something anyone can do nor is it easy to do; and it is in view of this that excellence is rare and praiseworthy and noble.
[tr. Apostle (1975)]

So too it is easy to get angry -- anyone can do that -- or to give and spend money; but to feel or act towards the right person to the right extent at the right time for the right reason in the right way -- that is not easy, and it is not everyone that can do it. Hence to do these things well is a rare, laudable, and fine achievement.
[tr. Thomson/Tredennick (1976)]

So too anyone can get angry, or give and spend money -- these are easy, but doing them in relation to the right person, in the right amount, at the right time, with the right aim in view, and in the right way -- that is not something anyone can do, nor is it easy. This is why excellence in these things is rare, praiseworthy, and noble.
[tr. Crisp (2000)]

And so too, to become angry belongs to everyone and is an easy thing, as is also giving and spending money; but to whom [one ought to do so], how much, when for the sake fo what, and how -- these no longer belong to everyone nor are easy. Thus in fact acting well is rare, praiseworthy, and noble.
[tr. Bartlett/Collins (2011)]

Note that some translations paraphrase this only to speak of anger, e.g., Edith M. Leonard, et al., The Child: At Home and School (1944):

Anybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.
 
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Well begun is half done.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 5, ch. 4 / 1303b30 [tr. Jowett (1885)]
    (Source)

People attribute this to Aristotle largely because Jowett used a contemporary proverb in lieu of what Aristotle wrote: "As the proverb says -- 'Well begun is half done.'" The following alternative translations capture his original meaning more closely:
  • "The beginning is said to be half of the business." [tr. Ellis (1912)]
  • "The beginning as the proverb says is half of the whole." [tr. Rackham (1932)]
  • "The beginning is said to be 'half of the whole.'" [tr. Lord (1984)]
  • "The starting-point is said to be half the whole." [tr. Reeve (2007)]
 
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Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
(Attributed)

Variant: "Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them."

Citation not identified. Earliest reference found in 1854.
 
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For the name of these gods there is both a serious and a humorous explanation; the serious explanation is not to be had from me, but there is no hindrance to my offering the humorous one, for the gods too are fond of a joke.

[ἀλλὰ ἔστι γὰρ καὶ σπουδαίως εἰρημένος ὁ τρόπος τῶν ὀνομάτων τούτοις τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ παιδικῶς. τὸν μὲν οὖν σπουδαῖον ἄλλους τινὰς ἐρώτα, τὸν δὲ παιδικὸν οὐδὲν κωλύει διελθεῖν: φιλοπαίσμονες γὰρ καὶ οἱ θεοί.]

Socrates - The gods, too, are fond of a joke - wist.info quote

Socrates (c.470-399 BC) Greek philosopher
In Plato, Cratylus [Κρατύλος], ch. 23 / 406c [tr. Hyers (1969)]
    (Source)

The final phrase, "The gods, too, are fond of a joke," is broadly misattributed to Aristotle, without any citation. It is also sometimes misattributed to Edward Albee.

Cratylus is dialogue about the nature of names. Socrates, here, has been asked about the origins of the names of the gods, Dionysus and Aphrodite. Burges (below) notes that Plato had been "partly initiated into the mysteries of Demeter and Dionysus," part of which dealt seriously with the meanings of those deities' names; his avoiding the "serious explanation" is not betray his oath of secrecy to the cult.

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

But the mode of nomination, belonging to these divinities, is both serious and jocose. Ask therefore others about the serious mode; but nothing hinders us from relating the jocose; for these deities are lovers of jesting and sport.
[tr. Taylor (1804)]

But the manner of the appellations given to these divinities, has been said to be both serious and jocose. Ask therefore others about the serious manner; but nothing hinders us from relating the jocose; for these deities are lovers of jesting and sport.
[tr. Burges (1850)]

There is a serious and also a facetious explanation of both these names; the serious explanation is not to be had from me, but there is no objection to your hearing the facetious one; for the Gods too love a joke.
[tr. Jowett (1892)]

You see there is both a serious and a facetious account of the form of the name of these deities. You will have to ask others for the serious one; but there is nothing to hinder my giving you the facetious account, for the gods also have a sense of humor.
[tr. Fowler (1926)]

 
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So, whatsoever that be within us which feels, thinks, desires, and animates us, it is something celestial, divine, and, consequently, imperishable.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
(Attributed)
    (Source)

The earliest reference to this text that I can find is in Louis Alphonse Cahagnet, Magnétisme: The Celestial Telegraph (1850), who attributes it to Cicero's "Explanation of the Doctrines of Aristotle." It is unclear which of Cicero's actual works this refers to, and it doesn't come across as Aristotelian (or even Ciceronian), and, given the source, may be distorted, poorly translated, or bogus.
 
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‘Twas the saying of an ancient Sage, “That Humour was the only Test of Gravity, and Gravity of Humour. For a Subject which would not bear Raillery is suspicious; and a Jest which would not bear a serious Examination is certainly false Wit.”

Anthony Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713) English politician and philosopher
Sensus Communis: An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour, Part 1, Sec. 5 (1709)
    (Source)

Often incorrectly attributed to Aristotle. Shaftesbury, according to his footnote, is paraphrasing from Aristotle quoting Gorgias Leontinus. The Latin translation is "Seria risu, risum seriis discutere" ("In arguing one should meet serious pleading with humor, and humor with serious pleading"). Shaftesbury's second sentence is his own commentary.

In Lord Chesterfield, in a letter to his son (6 Feb 1752), rendered it, "Ridicule is the best test of truth."
 
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We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Nicomachean Ethics [Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια] (c. 325 BC) (paraphrase)
    (Source)

Variants:
  • "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
  • "We are what we repeatedly do, therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit."
Not actually Aristotle, but a summary by  Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers (1926), ch. 2 "Aristotle and Greek Science," sec. 7 "Ethics and the Nature of Happiness" (1926):

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation: we do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have these because we have acted rightly; "these virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions"; we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit: "the good of man is a working of the soul in the way of excellence in a complete life ... for as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy."

The quoted phrases are from the Nicomachean Ethics, Book 2, ch. 4; Book 1, ch. 7.
 
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