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.
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)
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)
No religion can long continue to maintain its purity when the church becomes the subservient vassal of the state.
Felix Adler (1851-1933) German-American educator
(Attributed)
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 (1851-1933) German-American educator
(Attributed)
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)