When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.
Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) - American inventor

Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.
Erich Fromm (1900-1980)

You only have power over people so long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power - he's free again.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn

The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.
Eugene McCarthy

How small a portion of our life it is that we really enjoy! In youth we are looking forward to things that are to come; in old age we are looking backward to things that are gone past; in manhood, although we appear to be more occupied in things that are present, yet even that is too often absorbed in vague determinations to be vastly happy on some future day when we have time.
Charles Caleb Colton

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.
George Washington Carver, (1864-1943) American botanist, educator.

No society has been able to abolish human sadness; no political system can deliver us from the pain of living, from our fear of death, our thirst for the absolute. It is the human condition that directs the social condition, not vice-versa.
Eugene Ionesco

As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.
Eugene Ionesco

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.
Thomas Jefferson

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
Carl Jung

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data
Arthur Conon Doyle

We have two ears and only one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less.
Diogenes Laertius - Ancient Greek philosopher

You never really lose until you quit trying.
Mike Ditka - American professional football coach

What is a rebel? A man who says no.
Albert Camus, (1913-1960)

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.
Albert Camus, (1913-1960)

Mr. Attlee is a very modest man. Indeed he has a lot to be modest about.
Winston Churchill, (1874-1965)

When I look back on all the worries I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened.
Winston Churchill, (1874-1965)

He saw a lawyer killing a viper
On a dunghill hard, by his own stable
And the devil smiled, for it put him in mind
Of Cain and his brother, Abel.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, (1772-1834)

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
Confucius, (551-479 BC) K'ung Ch'iu - Chinese philosopher

If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.
Confucius, (551-479 BC) K'ung Ch'iu - Chinese philosopher

Things that are done, it is needless to speak about; things that are past it is needless to blame.
Confucius, (551-479 BC) K'ung Ch'iu - Chinese philosopher

He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own.
Confucius, (551-479 BC) K'ung Ch'iu - Chinese philosopher

The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance.
Confucius, (551-479 BC) K'ung Ch'iu - Chinese philosopher

All a man can betray is his conscience.
Joseph Conrad, (1857-1924) British novelist, born in Poland

During my eighty-seven years I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them has done away with the need for character in the individual or the ability to think. Bernard M. Baruch

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.
Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) - German composer

Intellectuals are people who believe that ideas are of more importance than values. That is to say, their own ideas and other people's values.
Gerald Brenan

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

 The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.
Clint Eastwood

Go placidly amongst the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly ; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant ; they, too, have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons ; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your career, however humble ; it is a real possession in the changing fortune of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is ; many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the council of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in misfortune. Do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann

He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.
Albert Einstein (1875-1955)

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the measure as I have received and am still receiving.
Albert Einstein (1875-1955)

One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community.
Albert Einstein (1875-1955)

Each man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him. But a day comes when he begins to care that he does not cheat his neighbor. Then all goes well. He has changed his market-cart into a chariot of the sun.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

You are a child of the universe no less that the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Max Erhman

One of the indictments of civilization is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person.
William Feather

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork from my lunch?
W. C. Fields

There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail.
Erich Fromm (1900-1980)

Two roads diverged in a woods, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost (1874-1963)

You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
Galileo Galilei

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
Galileo Galilei

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith

Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large.
Gandhi

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
Kahlil Gibran

That which is not, shall never be;
that which is, shall never cease to be.
To the wise, these truths are self-evident.
Bhagavad Gita