If a secret history of books could be written, and the author's private thoughts and meanings noted down alongside of his story, how many insipid volumes would become interesting, and dull tales excite the reader! ~William Makepeace Thackeray
#quotes #william-makepeace-thackeray #writing #history #books

I think there's been a big problem between religion, or organized religion, and spirituality. ~Dave Davies
#quotes #dave-davies #religion #spiritual

Challenge America grants go to the towns and hamlets of this sprawling country, where big touring companies will rarely go, and major actors, actresses, writers and artists may never appear in person. ~Louise Slaughter
#quotes #louise-slaughter #challenge-america

Working with the likes of Joseph Fiennes was just an incredible experience. ~Alice Eve
#quotes #alice-eve #joseph-fiennes #experience

You will never enjoy the sweetness of a quiet prayer unless you shut your mind to all worldly desires and temporal affairs. ~Norbert of Xanten
#quotes #norbert-of-xanten

Truly, there are terrible primal arcana of earth which had better be left unknown and unevoked; dread secrets which have nothing to do with man, and which man may learn only in exchange for peace and sanity; cryptic truths which make the knower evermore an alien among his kind, and cause him to walk alone on earth. ~H. P. Lovecraft
#quotes #h-p-lovecraft #earth #life #pessimism

I think that what went wrong with religion is the same thing that went wrong with politics. Is that it became too money based and too controlling. It is just a weakness that we human beings have for control, we want one thing and then we want more and then we want more. ~Dave Davies
#quotes #dave-davies #politics #religion

When I was little, I had never really expected to win such a big competition. For a long time, just skating in the Olympics had been my goal because not many Koreans had done it. ~Kim Yuna
#quotes #kim-yuna #olympics #skating #korea

A good laugh and a long sleep are two best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb
#proverbs #irish-proverbs #laughing #medicine

From early childhood, I was interested in understanding how the world worked, and assumed I would be some kind of physical scientist or chemist. But the truth was, I didn't know there was another kind of world, the inner world, that was just as interesting, if not more relevant, than what was going on in the outside world. ~Stephen LaBerge
#quotes #stephen-laberge #childhood #world

Brilliant. A very funny and concise explanation of why we men are as we are. If you are male, you should read it and then make your partner read it, so they will no longer hate you but pity you instead. ~Harry Enfield
#quotes #harry-enfield #men

The First Amendment only says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." It can disrespect all it wants. ~P. J. O'Rourke
#quotes #p-j-o-rourke #religion #law #government

We understand ourselves through stories, by making stories out of our lives. Storytellers give people structure with which they can begin to look at their own lives and try to make sense of them. ~Bill Harley
#quotes #bill-harley #stories

He who is not ashamed does whatever he likes. ~Arabic Proverb
#proverbs #arabic-proverbs #shame

If Britain was to close down altogether overnight, then China would take up the slack of carbon emissions in two years. If America closed down, just the growth in China's emissions would replace America's emissions in 12 years. ~Christopher Monckton
#quotes #christopher-monckton #3rd-viscount-monckton-of-brenchley #environment #china

We live in a world of things, and our only connection with them is that we know how to manipulate or to consume them. ~Erich Fromm
#quotes #erich-fromm #world #things

No naturalist has devoted more painstaking attention to the structure of the barnacles than Mr. Darwin. ~Richard Owen
#quotes #richard-owen #nature #charles-darwin

I don't know where I come from but I am here now so deal with it. ~Gary Busey
#quotes #gary-busey #existence

If Americans knew how to deal with other people, they could bring peace to the world. Alas, they have not learned enough yet. The true American feels that he is 100 percent welcome anywhere he goes. ~Nguyen Cao Ky
#quotes #nguyen-cao-ky #peace #united-states

The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases. ~Thomas Jefferson
#quotes #thomas-jefferson #freedom #government

I don't buy trends, because the pieces don't last and I wind up never wearing them. That's why I like to shop with my children; they'll always tell me the truth. ~Danielle Steel
#quotes #danielle-steel #shopping

I want to write the sort the book that my people want to read, even if the market is small. ~Robert Dessaix
#quotes #robert-dessaix #writing #books

We criticize, copy, patronize, idolize and insult but we never doubt that the U.S. has a unique position in the history of human hopes. ~Ferdinand Mount
#quotes #ferdinand-mount #history #united-states

But the soul of touring and the heart of it is basically every day is like putting up a circus tent. ~Pat Benatar
#quotes #pat-benatar #heart #soul #travel

If you think you're too small to make a difference, you haven't spent a night with a mosquito. ~African Proverb
#proverbs #african-proverbs #change