Quotations

Know thyself.-Inscription on the Temple of Apollo in Delphi (sixth century BC)

Time is a child playing at draughts, a child's kingdom.-Heraclitus, fragment LXXIX (sixth century BC)

May God grant me love for that which has splendor, but in this time of my life let me strive for attainable things.- Pindar, Pythian Odes 11 (fifth century BC)

If you do not hope, you will not win that which is not hoped for, since it is unattainable and inaccessible.-Heraclitus, fragment VII (sixth century BC)

Two travelers, worn out by the heat of the summer's sun, laid themselves down at noon under the wide-spreading branches of a plane tree. As they rested under its shade, one of the travelers said to the other, "What a singularly useless tree is the plane! It bears no fruit, and is not the least service to man." The plane tree, interrupting him, said, "You ungrateful fellow! Do you, while receiving benefits from me, and resting under my shade, dare to describe me as useless and unprofitable?" Some men despise their best blessings.-Aesop (probably sixth century BC)

Just because we’re sisters under the skin doesn’t mean we’ve got much in common.-Angela Carter (1940–1992), British author. Guardian (London, Oct. 25, 1990).

Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.-Margaret Mead (1901–1978), U.S. anthropologist. As quoted in Woman to Woman by Julia Gilden and Mark Riedman (1994).

Love is a great beautifier.-Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), U.S. author. Little Women

It takes two flints to make a fire.-Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), U.S. author. Laurie, in Little Women

Housekeeping ain’t no joke.- Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), U.S. author. The cook Hannah, in Little Women

What do girls do who haven’t any mothers to help them through their troubles?- Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), U.S. author. Jo March, in Little Women

Talent isn’t genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing. I won’t be a commonplace dauber, so I don’t intend to try any more.- Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), U.S. author. Amy March, in Little Women

Rome took all the vanity out of me; for after seeing the wonders there, I felt too insignificant to live, and gave up all my foolish hopes in despair.-Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), U.S. author. Amy March, in Little Women

Girls are so queer you never know what they mean. They say No when they mean Yes, and drive a man out of his wits for the fun of it.-Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), U.S. author. Laurie, in Little Women

People don’t have fortunes left them in that style nowadays; men have to work and women to marry for money. It’s a dreadfully unjust world.-Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), U.S. author. Meg, in Little Women

Conceit spoils the finest genius. There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long; even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.- Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), U.S. author. Mrs. March, in Little Women

You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.-Sam Levenson

The camera can photograph thought. It's better than a paragraph of sweet polemic.-Dirk Bogarde

A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there--even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity.-Robert Doisneau

Think like a man of action. Act like a man of thought.-Henri Bergson

Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary.-From The Dead Poets Society

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-Robert F. Kennedy

Up to a point a man's life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him. Then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be. Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or the quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, "This I am today; that I will be tomorrow."-Louis L'Amour

Be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.-Deuteronomy 4:9

Sometimes you can tell a large story with a tiny subject-Eliot Porter

A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts-Sir Joshua Reynolds

Light glorifies everything. It transforms and ennoble the most commonplace and ordinary subjects. The object is nothing; light is everything.-Leonard Misonne

See what will happen if you don't stop biting your fingernails?-Will Rogers to his niece on seeing Venus de Milo

Let deeds match words-Platus

Think like a man of action. Act like a man of thought.-Henri Bergson

Seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary.-From the Dead Poets Society

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-Robert F. Kennedy

It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves- in finding themselves.-André Gide

If we do not find anything very pleasant, at least we shall find something new.-Voltaire

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.-John Barrymore

I have the same goal I've had ever since I was a girl. I want to rule the world.-Madonna Louise Ciccione

Anger, if not retrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.-Seneca

When angry, count four; when very angry, swear.-Mark Twain

The best and most beautiful things in the world can not be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.-Helen Keller

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. And inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.-Groucho Marx

"The Road Not Taken"
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference-Robert Frost

Remember to always dream. More importantly to make those dreams come true and never give up.-Dr. Robert D. Ballard

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.-Eleanor Roosevelt

No man is a failure who enjoys life.-William Feather

One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again-Henry Ford

There is no failure except in no longer trying.-Elbert Hubbard