Quote Collection


I’m a fan of the quote: Those little snippets of pithy insight into the vast complexities of the human condition. We start our presentations with them, add them to our pep rally speeches, and write them on Post-its for daily affirmations. I’ve been collecting them since I was a teenager………
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The New is here. The Old is just making a lot of noise dying. – Eckhart Tolle
Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize. – Robert Hughes
You can’t use reason to convince anyone out of an argument that they didn’t use reason to get into. – Neil deGrasse Tyson
We don’t think our way to new behavior; we behave our way to new thinking. – David Marquet
Failure happens in two ways: Gradually, and then suddenly. – Hemingway
To learn and not to do is not to learn. – a
Don’t tell people what you’re going to do, just do it. – a
Happiness is evident more by its absence than it’s presence. – Naval
Nobody has ever been fired for a bold move he didn’t make. – Reis & Trout
Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all. – Peter Drucker
Unattached desire is enjoyment without addiction, pursuit without fear, and accomplishment without ego. – Sandra Anne Taylor
Be a good person, but don’t waste time trying to prove it. – a
There is hardly any activity, any enterprise, which is started with such tremendous hopes and expectations, and yet, which fails so regularly, as love. – Erich Fromm
How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone. – Coco Chanel
Leadership is a choice, it’s not a rank – Simon Sinek
There’s nothing as disturbing to one’s well-being and judgment as to see a friend get rich. Unless it is to see a non-friend get rich. – Charles Kindleberger
Of all the masks of freedom, discipline is the hardest to understand…. -a
When the student is ready, the master appears – Buddist Proverb
Between flattery and admiration there often flows a river of contempt. – Minna Antrim
Courage is grace under pressure. – Hemingway
Everything that happens once can never happen again; but, anything that happens twice will surely happen a third time. – Paulo Coelho “The Alchemist”
Change yourself and you have done your part to change the world. – p
I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires – Susan B. Anthony.
Remember everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something. – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. – The Cutlery
Power can be enjoyed only when it is recognized and feared. Fearlessness in those without power is maddening to those who have it. – Tobias Wolff
Honesty is an expensive gift; don’t expect it from cheap people. – Warren Buffett
When a man says he can do the job, regardless of evidence, we believe him. We ask women to prove it, and then when she does, we don’t like her anymore. – Danny Wallace
Easy choices: Hard life. Hard choices: Easy life. – Jerzy Gregorek
The single relationship that is truly central and crucial in a life is the relationship to the self. Of all the people you will know in a lifetime, you are the only one you will never lose. -Jo Courdet
Discontent is the first step in progress of a man or a nation. – Oscar Wilde
When you are accustomed to privilege, equality can feel like oppression – a
If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original – Sir Ken Robinson
Power without character is a cure worse than the disease – Eric Liu
The greater thou art, the more humble thyself. – The Apocrypha
Water which is too pure has no fish. -Ts’ai Ken T’an
And, yet, she persisted…. -Mitch McConnell
Optimism is a man hitchhiking with two dogs….-Suzette Hassel
Fear leaves en masse; confidence comes in the door one at a time… -Warren Buffett
Success is not final; Failure is not fatal: It’s the courage to continue that counts. – Churchill
I want to have just enough cosmetic surgery that people think I’m vain, but no so much that people think I’m tragic. – Vickie Hearne
Maybe life’s journey isn’t to become anything, maybe it’s to un-become all the things that we’ve been told we need to be; all the things that don’t suit us so that we can truly become who we really are – a
Life is too short to spend your time avoiding failure. – Michael Bloomberg
Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested. – Paulo Coelho “The Alchemist”
You’re not really any good at your job until some ass-hole fires you. – Vickie Hearne
Things are entirely what they appear to be and behind them is nothing. -Sarte
Our world is full of men and women who do not like powerful women. We have been so conditioned to think of power as male that a powerful woman is an aberration. And so she is policed. We ask powerful women: Is she humble? Does she smile? Is she grateful enough? Does she have a domestic side? Questions we do not ask of powerful men, which shows that our discomfort is not with power itself, but with women. We judge powerful women more harshly than we judge powerful men. And Feminism Lite enables this. – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
It’s difficult to get people to understand something when their salary depends on them not understanding it. – a
Teachers open the door but you must enter by yourself. – Chinese Proverb
I’ve been poor, and I’ve been a drug dealer; we don’t take food stamps. – Bill Maher
Patience isn’t the ability to wait, it’s the ability to keep a positive attitude while waiting – a
We are more curious about the meaning of dreams than about things we see when awake. – Diogenes
Learn to discipline your emotions. If you don’t, your enemies will use them against you. – Bruce Lee
I’m never afraid, and I’m rarely surprised. – Nancy Pelosi
You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do. – Henry Ford
Failure is not weakness. – Thomas Curan
Great art is contempt of a great man for small art. – F. Scott Fitzgerald
He who looks without, dreams. He who looks within, awakens. – Carl Jung
If you go home with someone and they don’t have books, don’t fuck them. – John Waters
Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. – St. Francis of Assisi
Lovers look into each other’s eyes, not at other parts of their bodies… -Aristotle
The meaning of life is to give life meaning. – Viktor Frankl
Behind every great man is a woman who thinks he’s an idiot. – Danny Thomas
Ambition has no color, no language, no border, or country. Ambition is pure ambition. Women should not be afraid to have it – Priyanka Chopra
The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. – Albert Einstein
The last of the human freedoms is to choose your attitude. It is something that you, alone, control…. – Joshua Prager
The world is filled with good people. If you can’t find one, be one. – a
It’s not about winning; it’s about not giving up. – Lady Gaga
Change is inevitable; growth is optional…. -a
If you are constantly succeeding, you’re not innovating. – Doug Stephens
You’re never too young to lead or too old to learn – Kofi Annan
Complaining is not a strategy. – Jeff Bezos
If you don’t listen, eventually you’ll be surrounded by people with nothing to say. – a
Everyone is on a journey only they can fully recognize. Don’t make the mistake of filling in their gaps with your story. – Margot Sylvester
Do not overburden your argument with ostentatious erudition… -Abigail Adams
Jobs are owned by the company; you own your career. -Earl Nightingail
Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Leap and the net will appear. – John Burrows
If you’re worrying about yourself – if you’re thinking, “Am I succeeding? Am I in the right position? Am I being appreciated?” – then you’re going to end up feeling frustrated and stuck. But if you can keep it about the work, you’ll always have a path. There’s always something to be done. -Barack Obama
I can’t teach motivation, I can only inspire it. – Anon.
Wishes change nothing; a decision changes everything. – a
No one washes a rented car. – a
Life only rewards action. – a
Heredity is nothing more than stored environments. – Luther Burbank
If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you’ll be fired with enthusiasm. – a
Respect is like air: If there’s enough of it in the room, no one notices. If there’s not, it’s all anyone can think about… – a
Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous. – a
Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind. – William Shakespeare
Know which dreams to follow and which to leave behind. – a
Intuition is the sudden immersion into the universal current of life. ~in this current~ the histories of all are connected, and we are able to know everything…- Paulo Coelho “The Alchemist”
Trust the man you love; but, know the man you trust. – a
Hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue. – a
If government gives money to children, it’s an investment. If they give it to you, it’s consumption. – Michael Hearne
I’m not a box; I don’t have ‘sides’… – Carrie Fisher
I’ll make you feel like a man: Take out the garbage. – Darlene Conner
Promiscuity is not attractive. – a
The person who gives the ultimatum is the one most likely to lose. – a
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. – Eleanor Roosevelt
If your self-discipline were equal to your dreams, there would be nothing that you could not achieve. – a
It cost a lot of money to look this cheap. – Dolly Parton
You don’t have to be a genius to make money in this business. What you gotta do is get your ass outta bed every day… – Jeffrey Kravitz
Cocaine is God’s way of telling you that you’re making too much money. – Richard Prior
We’re not here obtain, but to attain. – Frederick Price
Right effort is moving toward the heart, not the head. – Gregory Penn
Patience: The only virtue that becomes weaker when practiced. – Vickie Hearne
Men are only as loyal as their options. – Bill Mahar
The business of America is business. – Calvin Coolidge
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. – a
Failure to plan is planning to fail. -a
The problem with this county is that people want to get what they can, can what they get, and then sit on the can. – Pat Schroeder
Truth is not kind – Toad the Wet Sprocket
Lots of people confuse bad management with destiny – Kim Hubbard
No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. – Samuel Johnson
All real growth comes through pain. – Budda
Laziness is sweet, but its consequences are cruel. – Voltaire
A women needs to remember that she’s the special one. It is the man’s pleasure to have the opportunity to be with her. – John Gray
Spirituality is not about perfection, it’s about acceptance. – Gregory Penn
Tradition is the illusion of permanence. – a
Mentor’s don’t teach you how to live; they live and let you watch them. – a
We make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The work is the same. – Carlos Castanades
Experience: The name men give to their mistakes – Oscar Wilde
Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives. – John Steward Mill
I’d rather that a bigot mistake me for a lesbian than a lesbian mistake me for a bigot. – Tovah Hollander
He who posses art and science has religion. He who does not possess them needs religion. – Goeth
What we do not understand we do not possess. – a
I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me. – Hunter S. Thompson
The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they’re going to be when you kill them. – William Clayton
Opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work. – Thomas Edison
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist. – Dom Helder Camara
The country that draws a broad line between its fighting men and its thinking men will find its fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards. – Sr. William F. Butler
The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshiped anything but himself. – Sir Richard F. Burton
As far as I can remember, there is not one word in the gospels in praise of intelligence. – Bertrand Russell
God has no religion. – Gandhi
Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is. – Francis Bacon
The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. – Nietzsche
Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind. – Emerson
Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be – Thomas A. Kempis
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which has had overcome while trying to succeed. – Booker T. Washington
All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond it’s income. – Samuel Butler
I may have my faults, but being wrong ain’t one of them. – Jimmy Hoffa
If money stopped buying things, I’d lose interest in it. – a
Sex discriminates against the shy and the ugly. – a
Every advance in civilization has been denounced while it was still recent. – Bertrand Russell
Homosexuality is God’s way of assuring that the truly gifted aren’t burdened with children. – Sam Austin
Men always want to be a woman’s first love; women like to be a man’s last romance. – Oscar Wilde
People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute. – Rebecca West
The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. – Harriet Beecher Stowe
Relationships are managed, they’re not cured. – Dr. Phil
I’ve never met a woman I wanted to be.. – a
Sexy isn’t what you look like; sexy is who you are.. – a
In life, one must choose between suffering and boredom. – Madame de Stael
Your time is limited; don’t waste it living someone else’s life – Steve Jobs
Successful people fail more; they are more persistent. – a
Losers quit when they fail. Legends fail until they succeed. – a
What you are afraid to do is a clear indication of the next thing you need to do. – Emerson
It takes more than money to make men rich. – A.P. Goothey
Being deeply loved give you strength. Loving deeply gives you courage. – Lao Tzu
Pain is temporary; Quitting is forever. – Lance Armstrong
Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your inner voice. – Steve Jobs
When someone shows you who they are, believe them. – Maya Angelou
Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And, in between my life flows. – Nisargadatta Maharaj
You must decide to be true to yourself or true to the world. – a
Don’t let a temporary event become a permanent label. – Joel Olsteen
Bad news doesn’t get better with age. – Greg Frakenfeld
We’re all broken; that’s how the light gets in. – a
Storms make people stronger, and they never last forever. – Roy T. Bennett
Your first 10,000 photos are your worst. – Henri Cartier-Bresson
Your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing. -Abraham Lincoln
Be relentlessly you. – Lady Gaga
Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into a sewer and die. – Mel Brooks
I’ve fallen in love many times….always with you. – a
Addiction is an adaptation. It’s not you: It’s the cage. – a
Great work and great folly may be indistinguishable at the outset. – a
If you’re nor careful, you’ll turn out ordinary. – a
Cowards achieve nothing. – a
I’m not for everyone, and I’m not trying to be. – a
And, she gave no fucks. Not even one. And, she lived happily ever after. The end. – a
First they ignore you. Then, they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win. – Misattributed to Gandhi
I failed my way to success. – Thomas Edison
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself. – Kierkegaard
Be humble: In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities. But, in the experts mind, there are few. – Shunryn Suzuki
Cleverness may not be wisdom, but I have yet to discover a clever moron. – a
Good clothes open all doors. – a
If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide. –
I am part of all that I have met – a
Many a true word is spoken in jest. -a
I am tired of love; I am still more tired of rhyme, but money gives me pleasure all of the time. – a
Money is like a sixth sense. You can’t make use of the other five without it.
A men like women to be just smart enough to appreciate their cleverness, but just stupid enough to admire it. –
You may turn into an archangel, a fool, or a criminal. No one will see it. But when a button is missing, everyone sees that…. -a
Frank and explicit. That is the right line to take when you wish to conceal your own mind and confuse the minds of others. – a
There are none more abusive to others than they who lie most often to themselves. But the humor goes around, and he that laughs at me today will have someone to laugh at him tomorrow. – a
Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be… -a
Fear isn’t an excuse; fear is your excuse. -me
You can’t go through life with catcher’s mitts on both hands; sometimes you need to throw shit back…. – Maya Angelou
When you do the work of the devil, you have a million friends. They’ll be there in the beginning, but they’ll take it in the end. – Bob Dylan
If you have more than three priorities, then you don’t have any. – Jim Collins
Love many. Trust few. Always paddle your own canoe. – Judy Wald
Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else. – Sara Blakely
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. – Steve Jobs
Simply put: we don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services. – Mark Zuckerberg
Inexperience is an asset. Embrace it. – Wendy Kopp
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. – Thomas A. Edison
We must look for the truth in our opponents error, and the error in our own truth. -a