Favoured Quotes

I have always enjoyed collecting and reading quotations. On this page I would like to share with you a few of my favorites.

I have placed the quotes into categories for easier navigation. Just click on the category to view the quotes.

Character

“Blessed is he who has learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate.”
~ William Arthur Ward

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“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.”
~ Confucius

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“Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials one man builds palaces, while another builds hovels.”
~ G. H. Lewis

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“Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these.”
~ Bob Goddard

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“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
~ John Wooden

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“He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.”
~ Raymond Hull

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“When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.”
~ Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC)

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“Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.”
~ St. Francis De Sales

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“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”
~ Frank Outlaw

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“A man can do only what a man can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.”
~ Albert Schweitzer

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“How a man plays the game shows something of his character, how he loses shows all of it.”
~ Author Unknown

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“Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either.”
~ Golda Meir

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“If wrinkles must be written upon our brow, let them not be written upon the heart; the spirit should not grow old.”
~ James A. Garfield

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“The great man is he that does not lose his child’s heart.”
~ Menicus

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“Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece — by thought, choice, courage and determination.”
~ John Luther

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“It is never too late to be what we might have been.”
~ George Eliot

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“Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.”
~ Elbert Hubbard

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“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.”
~ James A. Michener

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“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
~ Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Friendship

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
~ Anais Nin
The Diary of Anias Nin, vol. 2, page 4

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“Are we going to be friends forever?” asked Piglet. “Even longer,” Pooh answered.”
~A.A. Milne

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“Never Explain–your Friends do not need it and your Enemies will not believe you anyway.”
~ Elbert Hubbard

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“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

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“Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light.”
~ Jennie Jerome Churchill

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“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.”
~ Bernard Meltzer

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“A friend knows the song of my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.”
~ Author Unknown

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“A friend is someone who sees through you and still enjoys the view.”
~ Wilma Askinas

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“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”
~ Author Unknown

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Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to a new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.
~ Flavia Weedn

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“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
~ Aristotle

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“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.”
~ G. Randolf

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“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”
~ Walter Winchell

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“True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost”
~ Charles Caleb Colton

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The best mirror is an old friend.
~ George Herbert

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A friend is a gift you give yourself.
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

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“Don’t walk in front of me because I may not follow.
Don’t walk behind me because I may not lead.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
~ Albert Camus

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“Friendship is a sheltering tree.”
~ S. Taylor-Coleridge

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“Friendship makes prosperity more brilliant, and lightens adversity by dividing and sharing it.”
~ Cicero (44 B.C.)

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“The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch swing with, never saying a word, and then walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you’ve ever had.”
~ Unknown

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“Friendship is like a rainbow between two hearts.”
~ Unknown

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“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival.”
~ C.S. Lewis

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“We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is a last drop that makes it run over; so in series of kindnesses, there is a last one that makes the heart run over.”
~ James Boswell

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“What is a friend? I will tell you. It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can be naked with him. He seems to ask of you to put on nothing, only to be what you are. He does not want you to be better or worse. When you are with him, you feel as a prisoner feels who has been declared innocent. You do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, so long as it is genuinely you. He understands those contradictions in your nature that lead others to misjudge you. With him you breathe freely. You can avow your little vanities and envies and hates and vicious sparks, your meannesses and absurdities and, in opening them up to him, they are lost, dissolved on the white ocean of his loyality. He understands. You do not have to be careful. You can abuse him, neglect him, tolerate him. Best of all, you can keep still with him. It makes no matter. He likes you. He is like fire that purges to the bone. He understands. You can weep with him, sin with him, laugh with him, pray with him. Through it all – and underneath – he sees, knows and loves you.
A friend? What is a friend?
Just one, I repeat, with whom you dare to be yourself.”
~ C. Raymond Beran ~
Thank you Jerry, for your help in determining the correct source of this quote.

Humor

“Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.”

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“Life is unsure, always eat your dessert first.”

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“After all is said and done, usually more is said.”

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“Seen it all, done it all, can’t remember most of it.”

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“Duct tape is like the Force. It has a dark side, it has a light side, and it holds the Universe together.”
~ Carl Zwanig

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“Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.”

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“Sometimes I wake up grumpy; Other times I let her sleep”

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“If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.”

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“Fish and visitors smell in three days.”
~ Benjamin Franklin, 1736

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“The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.”

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“The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they’ll sleep at night.”
~ Otto von Bismarck

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“If you can smile when things go wrong then you have someone in mind to blame.”

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“Down with gravity!”

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“If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what the heck does a humanitarian eat!?”

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“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
~ Benjamin Disraeli

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“The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get to work.”

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“A bargain is something you cannot use at a price you cannot resist.”

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“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
~ Mark Twain (1835-1910)

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“Some day my ship will come in, but with my luck, I’ll be at the airport.”

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“A kid’s idea of a balanced diet is a hamburger in each hand.”

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“If a man says something, but there’s no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?”

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“You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 today and we don’t know where the hell she is.”
~ Ellen DeGeners

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“Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac.”
~ George Carlin

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“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”
~ Groucho Marx

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“I’m not into working out. My philosophy: No pain, no pain.”
~ Carol Leifer

Gratitude

“Thank God–every morning when you get up–that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you a hundred virtues which the idle never know.”
~ Charles Kingsley

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“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”
~ Unknown

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“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
~ Marcel Proust

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“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.
These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”
~ Joseph Addison

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“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
~ Melody Beattie

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“Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.”
~ Author Unknown

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“If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.”
~ Rabbi Harold Kushner

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“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
~ Epictetus

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“The sun was shining in my eyes, and I could barely see
To do the necessary task that was allotted me.
Resentment of the vivid glow, I started to complain–
When all at once upon the air I heard the blindman’s cane.”
~ Earl Musselman

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“There is a calmness to a life lived in Gratitude, a quiet joy.”
~ Ralph H. Blum ( American Author )

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“You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.”
~ Sarah Ban Breathnach Simple Abundance

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“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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“A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.”
~ Joseph Addison

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“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.”
~ Johannes A. Gaertner

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“To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.”
~ Albert Schweitzer

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“Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement – and we will make the goal.”
~ Jerome P. Fleishman

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“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
~ Cicero

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“Every time we remember to say “thank you”, we experience nothing less than heaven on earth.”
~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

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“Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much. For on the smiles, the thanks we give, our little gestures of appreciation, our neighbors build their philosophy of life.”
~ A. J. Cronin

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“Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.”
~ Seneca

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“True thanksgiving means that we need to thank God for what He has done for us, and not to tell Him what we have done for Him.”
~ George R. Hendrick

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“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”
~ Henry Ward Beecher

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“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude.
Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness.
Thankfulness may consist merely of words.
Gratitude is shown in acts.”
~ David O. McKay

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To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common–this is my symphony.
~ William Henry Channing

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“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”
~ Meister Eckhardt

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Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown

Nature

“Look deep, deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
~ Albert Einstein

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“I’ve always regarded nature as the clothing of God.”
~ Alan Havhamess

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“Weed — a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone, men would die from loneliness of spirit.
For whatever happens to the beasts happens to man.
All things are connected…”
~ Chief Seattle

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“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
~ Lao Tzu

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“Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.”
~ Lydia M. Child, Letters from New York, 1843

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“To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug.”
~ Helen Keller

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“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.
If we did not sometimes taste adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
~ Anne Bradstreet

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“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”
~ John Muir

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“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
~ Rachel Carson

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“How cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of her inconceivable antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew!”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not depend on us. We are not the only experiment.”
~ R. Buckminister Fuller

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“Nature is man’s teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence.”
~ Alfred Billings Street

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“Nature has been for me, for as long as I remember, a source of solace, inspiration, adventure, and delight; a home, a teacher, a companion.”
~ Lorraine Anderson

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“Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination.”
~ Voltaire

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“The secret powers of nature are generally undiscovered unsolicited.”
~ Hans Christian Anderson

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“Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.”
~ Wordsworth

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“Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.”
~ Al Bernstein

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“If only society and environment could work together – we would have a masterpiece.”
~ Author Unknown

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“Nature never deceives us: it is always we who deceive ourselves.”
~ Roosseau

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“We do not inherit the land, we borrow it from our children.”
~ Native American saying

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“Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own;
and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress.”
~ Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

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“Let us remember, as we chase our dreams into the stars, that our first responsibility is to our earth, to our children, to ourselves.”
~ Bush

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“Our environment is like a patchwork quilt. Each “patch” is dependent on those around it. If one part unravels, it affects the rest.”
~ Hemeon

Life

“We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life – those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength.”
~Oswald Chambers

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What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”
~ Crowfoot’s last words (1890)

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It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
~ Henry Ward Beecher

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“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”
~ Buddha

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“It is not length of life, but depth of life.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things.”
~ Unknown

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“Do what you can with what you’ve got wherever you are.”
~ Theodore Roosevelt

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“Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can.”
~ Douglas Pagels

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“To dream of the person you wish to be is to waste the person you are”
~ Author Unknown

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“To be sensitive is to feel the thoughts and hearts of others as only you would want yours felt.”
~ Author Unknown

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“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin.. but there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
~ Alfred Souza

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“The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit”
~ Nelson Henderson (1860)

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“You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.”
~ Beverly Sills

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“The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.”
~ Thomas Moore

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“The hardest thing in life, is letting go of what you thought was real.”
~ Author Unknown

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“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”
~ Carl Sandburg

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“Life is what happens, while you are busy making plans.”
~ John Lennon

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“Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.”
~ John W. Gardner

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“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
~ Thornton Wilder

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“Within your heart, keep one still, secret spot where dreams may go.”
~ Louise Driscoll

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“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.”
~ Henry Van Dyke

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“Integrity simply means a willingness not to violate one’s identity.”
~ Eric Fromm ~

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“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
~ Henry David Thoreau

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“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
~ Albert Einstein

Misc

“Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you know is fighting some kind of battle.”
~ Plato

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“To be nobody but myself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.”
~ E. E. Cummings (1894-1962)

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“To be human, is to have stories to tell. Some people tell a few stories over the course of their lives; others are a constant stream of stories, and most of us fall somewhere in between. But our stories are more than our soul’s precious cargo they are integral to how we perceive the world and how we relate to others.”
~ Victoria Miles

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“To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult.”
~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832, German Poet, Dramatist, Novelist)

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“What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.”
~ Agnes M. Pharo

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“To the world you may be just somebody, but to somebody you may just be the world.”
~ Author Unknown

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“Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn’t buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure? Remember, you must use it, as it is given only once. Once wasted you cannot get it back.”
~ Author Unknown

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“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
~ Mother Teresa

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“Be sure that it is not you that is mortal, but only your body. For that man whom your outward form reveals is not yourself; the spirit is the true self, not that physical figure which can be pointed out by your finger.”
~ Cicero

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“When anger rises, think of the consequences.”
~ Confucius

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“There is nothing harder than being given your chance.”
~ Deborah Chiel

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“Measure yourself by your best moments, not by your worst. We are too prone to judge ourselves by our moments of despondency and depression.”
~ Robert Johnson

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“A person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
~ Albert Einstein (1879-1955, German-born American Physicist)

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“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
~ Mother Theresa

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“Reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
~ Charles Dickens

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“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.”
~James Dent

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“A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip.”
~Author Unknown

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