I once complained to my father that I didn’t seem to be able to do things the same way other people did. Dad’s advice? ‘Margo, don’t be a sheep. People hate sheep. They eat sheep.'”
Margo Kaufman (1954-2000) American writer, humorist, screenwriter
(Attributed)
The way I see it, the world is divided into those go after what they want and those who don’t. The passionate ones, the ones who go after what they want, may not get what they want, but they remain vital, in touch with themselves, and when they lie on their deathbeds, they have few regrets. The ones who don’t go after what they want … well, who gives a shit about them anyway?
Charlie Kaufman (b. 1958) American film producer, writer
Being John Malkovitch (1999)
INDY: I can only say I’m sorry so many times.
MARION: Well, say it again anyway!
INDY: Sorry.Lawrence Kasdan (b. 1949) American screenwriter, director, producer
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) [story by George Lucas, Philip Kaufman]
SALLAH: Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.
Lawrence Kasdan (b. 1949) American screenwriter, director, producer
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) [story by George Lucas, Philip Kaufman]
Some people are always grumbling that roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses.
Alphonse Karr (1808-1890) French journalist and novelist
(Attributed)
If we are to abolish the death penalty, I should like to see the first step taken by our friends, the murderers.
Alphonse Karr (1808-1890) French journalist and novelist
Les Guêpes (31 Jan 1849)
There is, therefore, only one categorical imperative. It is: Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals [Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten], Sec. 2 (1785) [tr. Beck (1969)]
Alternate translations:
- I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law.
- Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
- Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature.
- So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world.
- May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions were to become universal law.
- Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.
- Do not feel forced to act, as you're only willing to act according to your own universal laws. And that's good. For only willful acts are universal. And that's your maxim.
(As noted in the comments, the "alternate translations" may represent other restatements by Kant of the categorical imperative.)
Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher
Critique of Pure Reason [Kritik der reinen Vernunft], A 51, B75 (1781, 1787)
Alt. trans.: "Concepts without perceptions are empty; perceptions without concepts are blind."
It is not God’s will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher
(Attributed)
You can’t sit on the lid of progress. If you do, you will be blown to pieces.
Henry J. Kaiser (1882-1967) American industrialist
(Attributed)
For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.
Alice Kahn (b. 1943) American nurse practitioner and humorist
(Attributed)
There are some things one can only achieve by a deliberate leap in the opposite direction.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer
In G. Janouch, Conversations with Kafka [tr. G. Rees (1953)]
There are two main human sins from which all the others derive: impatience and indolence. It was because of impatience that they were expelled from Paradise; it is because of indolence that they do not return. Yet perhaps there is only one major sin: impatience. Because of impatience they were expelled, because of impatience they do not return.
[Es gibt zwei menschliche Hauptsünden, aus welchen sich alle andern ableiten: Ungeduld und Lässigkeit. Wegen der Ungeduld sind sie aus dem Paradiese vertrieben worden, wegen der Lässigkeit kehren sie nicht zurück. Vielleicht aber gibt es nur eine Hauptsünde: die Ungeduld. Wegen der Ungeduld sind sie vertrieben worden, wegen der Ungeduld kehren sie nicht zurück.]
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer
Notebook, Aphorism #3 (20 Oct 1917) [tr. Kaiser and Wilkins]
In The Blue Octavo Notebooks (1954) and in Dearest Father: Stories and Other Writings (1954); variant translations use "cardinal sins" instead of "main human sins" and "laziness" instead of "indolence", e.g., "There are two cardinal sins from which all others spring: impatience and laziness."
Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.
W. H. Auden (1907-1973) Anglo-American poet [Wystan Hugh Auden]
“The I Without a Self,” The Dyer’s Hand and Other Essays (1962)
Sometimes misattributed to Franz Kafka.
A mistake in judgment isn’t fatal, but too much anxiety about judgment is.
Pauline Kael (1919-2001) American movie critic
I Lost It at the Movies (1965)
Do not praise yourself
Nor slander others:
There are still many days to go
And anything could happen.Kabir Jayanti (1440-1518) Indian Sufi mystic and poet
(Attributed)
Hold it the greatest wrong to prefer life to honor and for the sake of life to lose the reason for living.
Juvenal (c.55-127) Roman satirist [Decimus Junius Juvinalis]
Satires
Look around the habitable world, how few
Know their own good, or knowing it, pursue.Juvenal (c.55-127) Roman satirist [Decimus Junius Juvinalis]
Satires, no. X
(Dryden trans., 1683)
But who will guard the guardians themselves?
[Sed uis custodiet ipsos custodes?]
Juvenal (c.55-127) Roman satirist [Decimus Junius Juvinalis]
Satires, Satire 6, l. 347 [tr. Evans (1861)]
Alt. trans:
The original context in Juvenal is that while a husband might put his wife under guard to prevent her adulteries, who will guard the guards?- "But who is to guard the guards themselves?"
- "But who watches the watchmen?"
Science is the tool of the Western mind and with it more doors can be opened than with bare hands. It is part and parcel of our knowledge and obscures our insight only when it holds that the understanding given by it is the only kind there is.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist
(Attributed)
Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment, and especially on their children, than the unlived lives of the parents.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist
(Attributed)
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist
(Attributed)
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist
Memories, Dreams, Reflections [Erinnerungen, Träume, Gedanken] [ed. A. Jaffe (1962)]
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist
(Attributed)
And thus, in my folly, afore this time often I wondered why, by the great foreseeing wisdom of God, the beginning of sin was not letted; for then, methought, all should have been well…. But Jesus, who in this Vision informed me of all that is needful to me, answered by this word and said, Sin is behovable, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
Juliana of Norwich (1342-1417) English mystic
Revelations of Divine Love (c. 1393)
Original Middle English: "Sinne is behovely, but alle shalle be wele, and alle shalle be wele, and alle maner of thinge shalle be wel." "Behovely" or "behovable" means "necessary" (as in the more common "It behooves me to ...")
This word: Thou shalt not be overcome, was said full clearly and full mightily, for assuredness and comfort against all tribulations that may come. He said not: Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be afflicted; but He said: Thou shalt not be overcome.
Juliana of Norwich (1342-1417) English mystic
Revelations of Divine Love, “The Sixteenth Revelation,” ch. 68 (c. 1393)
Doubt comes in at the window, when Inquiry is denied at the door.
Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893) English classical scholar and theologian
“On the Interpretation of Scripture,” Essays and Reviews (1860)
(Source)
My dear child, you must believe in God despite what the clergy tells you.
Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893) English classical scholar and theologian
(Attributed)
To teach is to learn twice.
[Enseigner, c’est apprendre deux fois.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 19 “De l’Éducation [On Education],” ¶ 88 (1850 ed.) [tr. Collins (1928), ch. 18]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translation:
To teach is to learn twice over.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 18, ¶ 18]
It is better to debate a question without settling it, than to settle it without debate.
[Il vaut mieux remuer une question sans la décider, que la décider sans la remuer.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 8 “De la Famille et de la Société, etc. [On the Family and Society]” ¶ 71 (1850 ed.) [tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 115]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
It is better to stir a question without deciding it, than to decide it without stirring it.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 8]
It is better to turn over a question without deciding it, than to decide it without turning it over.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 7, ¶ 61]
It is better to stir up a question without deciding it, than to decide it without stirring it up.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 7]
It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.
[Variant]
All gardeners live in beautiful places because they make them so.
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], 1806 [tr. Auster (1983)]
(Source)
I have been unable to find an analog in other translations, or in the original French.
Never cut what you can untie.
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées, #1797 (1838) [tr. Collins (1928)]
Alt. trans.: "Don't cut what you can untie." [Notebooks, ed. Paul Auster (1983)]
Words, like glass, obscure when they do not aid vision.
[Les mots, comme les verres, obscurcissent tout ce qu’ils n’aident pas à mieux voir.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 22 “Du Style [On Style],” ¶ 25 (1850 ed.) [tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 21, ¶ 15]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
Words, like glass, darken whatever they do not help us to see.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 304]
Words, like eyeglasses, obscure everything they do not make clear.
[Source]
Children have more need of models than of critics.
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées, # 261 (1838) [tr. Attwell (1877)]
(also attrib. Carolyn Coats)
Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love truth.
[Ceux qui ne se rétractent jamais s’aiment phis que la vérité.]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 11 “De la Vérité, de l’Illusion et de l’Erreur [Of Truth, Illusion, and Error],” ¶ 57 (1850 ed.) [tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 161]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:
They who never retract, love themselves more than truth.
[tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 10]
Those who never retract love themselves better than truth.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 10, ¶ 29]
Men who never take back their words love themselves more than truth.
[tr. Collins (1928), ch. 10]
Those who never back down love themselves more than they love the truth.
[tr. Auster (1983)], 1806]
I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.
Michael Jordan (b. 1963) American basketball pro
I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence (1994)
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.
David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) American biologist and educator
The Philosophy of Hope, 2d Ed. (1907)
Ethical behavior means being honest, telling the truth, and doing what you said you were going to do.
Barbara Jordan (1936-1996) American politician, activist, legislator
(Attributed)
In an interview shortly before her death.
Art hath an enemy called Ignorance.
Ben Jonson (1572-1637) English playwright and poet
Every Man in His Humour, Act 1, sc. 1 (1598)
Ill fortune never crushed that man whom good fortune deceived not.
Ben Jonson (1572-1637) English playwright and poet
The Works of Ben Jonson, Second Folio, ‘Timber, or Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter”, “Fortuna” (1640)
(Source)
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.
Erica Jong (b. 1942) American writer, poet
“A day in the life …”, epigraph How to Save Your Own Life (1977)
How can I know what I think unless I see what I write?
Erica Jong (b. 1942) American writer, poet
Fear of Flying (1973)
Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.
Erica Jong (b. 1942) American writer, poet
“Intuition, extuition …”, How to Save Your Own Life (1977)
The soul is awakened through service.
Erica Jong (b. 1942) American writer, poet
Fear of Fifty: A Midlife Memoir, ch. 10 (1994)
Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica Jong (b. 1942) American writer, poet
“The Artist as Housewife,” The First Ms. Reader, ed. Francine Kragbrun (1972)
Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day. Give him a religion, and he’ll starve to death while praying for a fish.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Timothy Jones
Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.
Thomas F. Jones, Jr. (1916-1981) American educator
(Attributed)
There was nothing funny about what Christ said and what’s funny really is the fact that Christ said all these really good things about Love Thy Neighbor and everything, and then for the next two thousand years people are killing each other and torturing each other because they can’t quite decide how he said it.
Terry Jones (1942-2020) Welsh comedian, screenwriter, director, author
Aspen Comedy Festival (1998)
SARAH: That’s not fair!
JARETH: You keep saying that. I wonder what your basis for comparison is?Terry Jones (1942-2020) Welsh comedian, screenwriter, director, author
Labyrinth (1986)
(with Dennis Lee and Jim Henson)
Your organization is not a praying institution. It’s a fighting institution. It’s an educational institution along industrial lines. Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living!
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1860-1930) American labor leader [a.k.a. Mother Jones]
Autobiography of Mother Jones (1925)
To the Fairmont, WV, district miners, telling them to leave the church where they were meeting and gather in the fields.
What makes resisting temptation difficult, for many people, is that they don’t want to discourage it completely.
Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
The most efficient labor-saving device is still money.
Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
The difference between news and gossip lies in whether you raise your voice or lower it.
Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
An atheist is one who hopes the Lord will do nothing to disturb his disbelief.
Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)
One thing about experience is that when you don’t have very much you’re apt to get a lot.
Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980) American journalist, humorist, public relations executive
(Attributed)