The Only Really Effective Weapon

Humanity takes itself too seriously.  It is the world's original sin.  If the cavemen had known how to laugh, history would have been different.  ~ Oscar Wilde

I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.  ~ Audrey Hepburn

If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane.  ~ Robert Frost

There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.  ~ Charles Dickens

Life is worth living as long as there is a laugh in it.  ~ L. M. Montgomery

The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.  ~ Mark Twain

Tags: quotes about humor, laughter, life

One Rule of Practice

I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there can be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. ~ William Penn
 
Always be a little kinder than necessary. ~ James M. Barrie

Never look down on anyone unless you are helping him up.  ~ Jess Jackson
 
There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life - reciprocity. ~ Confucius
 
Tags: quotes about kindness, love, life

The Greatest of the Arts

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.  ~ Aristotle

A closed mind is a dying mind.  ~ Edna Ferber

The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one. ~ Malcolm Forbes

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. ~ John Steinbeck


Tags: quotes about the mind, tolerance, education, life

They were So Delicious

Never ruin an apology with an excuse.  ~ Benjamin Franklin

A stiff apology is a second insult... The injured party does not want to be compensated because he has been wronged; he wants to be healed because he has been hurt.  ~ Guilbert K. Chesterton

An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything.  ~Lynn Johnston

The most important trip you could take in life is meeting people halfway.  ~ Henry Boye

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.  ~ William Carlos Williams 

Tags: quotes about apology, forgiveness, life

The Main Thing in Life

The true human is infinitely deeper than the merely human.  ~Blaise Pascal

If I seem to boast more than is becoming, my excuse is that I brag for humanity rather than for myself. ~ Henry David Thoreau 

Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity. ~ Horace Mann

My first world is humanity. My second world is humanism. And, I live in the third world being merely a human.  ~ Santosh Kalwar

Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another. ~ Carl Sagan

The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.  ~ George Orwell

The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human.  ~ Elizabeth Edwards

The main thing in life is not to be afraid to be human.  ~ Aaron Carter

Tags: quotes about being human, humanity, life

The Only Sure Road Out of Darkness

Healing comes only from that which leads the patient beyond himself and beyond his entanglements with ego. ~ Carl Jung

An egotist is a person more interested in himself than in me!  ~ Ambrose Bierce

Big egos are big shields for lots of empty space.  ~ Diana Black

Egotism is the source and summary of all faults and miseries.  ~ Thomas Carlyle

Egotism is usually subversive of sagacity. (insight)  ~ Marianne Moore

Loving is the only sure road out of darkness, the only serum known that cures self-centeredness.  ~ Roger McKuen 

Make your ego porous. Will is of little importance, complaining is nothing, fame is nothing. Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything.   ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Tags: quotes about ego, life 

To Be Believed

One person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 who have only interests.  ~John Stuart Mill

Man is what he believes.  ~ Anton Chekhov

If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.  ~ Malcolm X

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.  ~ Abraham Lincoln

Some things have to be believed to be seen.  ~ Madeleine L'Engle

Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.  ~ Mitch Albom

Tags: quotes on belief

Think of the Possibilities

In motivating people, you've got to engage their minds and their hearts.  ~ Rupert Murdoch

Help people become more motivated by guiding them to the source of their own power.  ~ Paul G. Thomas

You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things -- to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.  ~ Sir Edmund Hillary

A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.  ~ Pat Riley

Stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibilities.  ~Terry Josephson

Tags: quotes on motivation, motivating others, yourself

The Happy Heart

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.  ~ Maya Angelou

The happy heart gives away the best. To know how to receive is also a most important gift, which cultivates generosity in others and keeps strong the cycle of life.  ~Dhyani Ywahoo

No one has ever become poor by giving.  ~ Anne Frank

Giving is true having.  ~ Charles Spurgeon

Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.  ~ John D. Rockefeller

Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act.  ~ Jack Welch

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.  ~ Albert Camus

For it is in giving that we receive.  ~ St. Francis of Assisi

Tags: quotes on giving

For reflective questions on each day's quotations or theme stream, journey to 365 Quote Quest.

A Quantum Leap

Do what you love, and you will find the way to get it out to the world. ~ Judy Collins

I'm back to doing everything I used to, loving life as ever. ~ Donna Mills
 
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. ~ Peter Drucker
 
Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
 
Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. ~ Oprah Winfrey
 
Doing is a quantum leap from imagining. ~ Barbara Sher
 
Art is the beautiful way of doing things. Science is the effective way of doing things. Business is the economic way of doing things. ~ Elbert Hubbard

Tags: quotes about doing, life, personal development

The Person of Worth

Why do you climb philosophical hills? Because they are worth climbing ... There are no hills to go down unless you start from the top.  ~ Margaret Thatcher

Worry not that no one knows of you; seek to be worth knowing.  ~ Confucius

Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.  ~ Booker T. Washington

Only the person of worth can recognize the worth in others.  ~ Thomas Carlyle

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.  ~ French Proverb

Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have.  ~ Thomas A. Edison 

Tags: quotes about worth, life

Let Things Flow Naturally

Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.  ~ Arthur Rubinstein
 
We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.  ~ Carl Jung  

Acceptance is such an important commodity, some have called it "the first law of personal growth."  ~ Peter McWilliams

Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.   ~ Chuang-tzu

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.   ~Lao Tzu

Tags: quotes about acceptance

Pleasure in the Pathless Woods

Never, no never does Nature say one thing and wisdom another.  ~Johann Christolph Frederick von Schuller

Vitality and beauty are gifts of Nature for those who live according to its laws.  ~ Leonard Da Vinci

The earth has music for those who listen.  ~ George Santayana

I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again."  ~ Lewis Carroll

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.  ~ Rachel Carson

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roars:
I love not man the less, but Nature more..  ~ George Gordon Byron

Tags: quotes on nature, wisdom, happiness, peace, life

With a Musical Score and Laugh Track

I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet, raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak.

I try to make everyone's day a little more surreal.

It's not denial. I'm just selective about the reality I accept.

Reality continues to ruin my life.

The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.

There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.

I find my life is a lot easier the lower I keep my expectations.

You can drag my body to school but my spirit refuses to go.

I thought my life would seem more interesting with a musical score and a laugh track.  

You mix a bunch of ingredients, and once in a great while, chemistry happens.  ~ all quotes by Bill Watterson, of Calvin and Hobbes fame (1985-1995)

Sight of the Stars

When we are not sure, we are alive.  ~ Graham Greene

When nothing is sure, everything is possible.  ~ Margaret Drabble

He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.  ~ Louisa May Alcott

Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.  ~ Benjamin Franklin

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.   ~ Bertrand Russell 

The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.  ~ Erich Fromm

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.  ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Tags: quotes on certainty, philosophy, decisions, perspective

The Greatest Wealth

To insure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.  ~William Londen

Good health and good sense are two of life's greatest blessings.  Publilius Syrus

Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished.  ~ Og Mandino

I believe that parents need to make nutrition education a priority in their home environment. It's crucial for good health and longevity to instill in your children sound eating habits from an early age.  ~ Cat Cora

The greatest wealth is health.  ~ Virgil

Those obsessed with health are not healthy; the first requisite of good health is a certain calculated carelessness about oneself.  ~ Syndney J. Harris

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.  ~ Mark Twain

To avoid sickness eat less; to prolong life worry less.  ~ Weng Chu Hui

The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results.  ~ Anthony Robbins

Tags: quotes on good health, vitality, life, happiness

The Level of Civilization

It may be the cock that crows, but it is the hen that lays the eggs.  ~ Margaret Thatcher

There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.  ~ Washington Irving

A woman's whole life is a history of the affections.  ~ Washington Irving

What one beholds of a woman is the least part of her.  ~ Ovid

By nice women...you probably mean selfish women who have no more thought for the underprivileged, overworked women than a pussycat in a sunny window for the starving kitten in the street.  Now in that sense I am not a nice woman, for I do care.  ~ Nellie McClung

Social science affirms that a woman's place in society marks the level of civilization.  ~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton 

Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it exists principally in dealing with men.  ~ Joseph Conrad

Many of our troubles in the world today arise from an over-emphasis of the masculine, and a neglect of the feminine. This modern world is an aggressive, hyperactive, competitive, masculine world, and it needs the woman's touch as never before.  ~ Eva Burrows

Tags: quotes about women

Calm and Storm

Keep calm and carry on.  ~ was a propaganda poster produced by the Government of the United Kingdom in 1939 during the beginning of the Second World War

I'm full of fears and I do my best to avoid difficulties and any kind of complications. I like everything around me to be clear as crystal and completely calm. ~ Alfred Hitchcock

I never felt settled or calm. You can't really commit to life when you feel that.  ~ Angelina Jolie

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.  ~ Willa Cather

Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.  ~ Martin Luther

After a storm comes a calm.  ~ Matthew Henry

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.  Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful joys of wisdom....Calmness is power.   ~ James Allen

He who angers you, conquers you.  ~ Elizabeth Kenny

They sicken of the calm who know the storm.  ~ Dorothy Parker

Tags: quotes on calm, composure, life, enrichment

The Intensity

One hour of life, crowded to the full with glorious action, and filled with noble risks, is worth whole years of those mean observances of paltry decorum.  ~ Walter Scott

Measurement of life should be proportioned rather to the intensity of the experience than to its actual length.  ~ Thomas Hardy

Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved.  ~ D. H. Lawrence

Tags: quotes about life, vitality, empowerment, enrichment

Pay Close Attention

The little things? The little moments? They aren't little.   ~Jon Kabat-Zinn

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.  ~ Mother Teresa

One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.  ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

If you take care of the small things,
the big things take care of themselves.
You can gain more control over your life by
paying closer attention to the little things.  ~ Emily Dickinson

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things.  ~Robert Bradt

You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.  ~ Andy Warhol

Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
and the pleasant land.

Thus the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.  ~ Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney

Tags: quotes about the little things, every day life, simple, simplicity, happiness, life