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

Men can bear all things except good days. ~Dutch Proverbs
#proverbs #dutch-proverbs

All men naturally desire knowledge. An indication of this is our esteem for the senses; for apart from their use we esteem them for their own sake, and most of all the sense of sight. Not only with a view to action, but even when no action is contemplated, we prefer sight, generally speaking, to all the other senses. The reason of this is that of all the senses sight best helps us to know things, and reveals many distinctions. ~Aristotle
#quotes #aristotle #knowledge

There was something frantic in their blooming, as if they knew that frost was near and then the bitter cold. They'd lived through all the heat and noise and stench of summertime, and now each widely opened flower was like a triumphant cry, "We will, we will make seed before we die." ~Harriette Simpson Arnow
#quotes #harriette-simpson-arnow

Was awakened in the night to a strain of music dying away, passing travellers singing. My being was so expanded and infinitely and divinely related for a brief season that I saw how unexhausted, how almost wholly unimproved, was man's capacity for a divine life. When I remembered what a narrow and finite life I should anon awake to! ~Henry David Thoreau
#quotes #henry-david-thoreau #night #music

If Darwin could see what we now see, what we now know about the ocean, about the atmosphere, about the nature of life, as we now understand it, about the importance of microbes. I think he would just beam with joy that many of the thoughts and the glimpses of the majesty of life on Earth that he had during his life, now magnified many times over. ~Sylvia Earle
#quotes #sylvia-earle #darwin

The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill. ~English Proverb
#proverbs #english-proverbs

I really hate airport queues. I almost feel they should have cattle prods to hurry us up down the aisles. You can't even complain because they might stop you getting on to the flight. ~Len Goodman
#quotes #len-goodman #airports

I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment; that is not the Islamic way. ~Naguib Mahfouz
#quotes #naguib-mahfouz #knomeini #power

There will be many times in your lives; at school, and more particularly when you are a grown up; when people will distract or divert you from what needs to be done. You may even welcome the distraction. But if you use it as an excuse for not doing what you suppose to do, you can blame no one but yourself. If you truly wish to accomplish something, you should allow nothing to stop you, and chances are you'll succeed. ~Julie Andrews
#quotes #julie-andrews #action #distraction

Every new day is another chance to change your life. ~Native American Proverb
#proverbs #native-american-proverbs #chance #change #progress

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs #adversity

I was a star in Italy, Austrailia, Germany and Japan before the American stations ever paid attention at all. ~Nancy Sinatra
#quotes #nancy-sinatra #australia #germany #japan #united-states

Friends are like fiddle strings, they must not be screwed too tight. ~English Proverb
#proverbs #english-proverbs #friendship

hiii

Life is an onion and one cries while peeling it. ~French Proverb
#proverbs #french-proverbs #life #weeping

He who has nothing to die for has nothing to live for. ~Moroccan Proverb
#proverbs #moroccan-proverbs #life

"Hey Pudge," the Colonel said. "What do you think of a truce?" "It reminds me of when the Germans demanded that the U.S. surrender at the Battle of the Bulge," I said. "I guess I'd say to this truce offer what General McAuliffe said to that one: Nuts." ~John Green
#quotes #john-green

I think one of the successes of Gladiator is how we manage to turn on a dime the character from one thing to another where you believe he is one thing and he is something very different. ~Ridley Scott
#quotes #ridley-scott #believe #movies

There is no meaning to a flower unless it blooms. ~Zen Proverb
#proverbs #zen-proverbs #buddhism #flower #progress

Before thirty, men seek disease; after thirty, diseases seek men. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs #age #disease

That is a valiant flea that dares eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion. ~William Shakespeare
#quotes #william-shakespeare #eating

I don't know why women want any of the things men have when one the things that women have is men. ~Coco Chanel
#quotes #coco-chanel #men #women

Life without a friend, is death without a witness. ~Spanish Proverb
#proverbs #spanish-proverbs #friendship #death

The man who would choose security over freedom deserves neither. ~Thomas Jefferson
#quotes #thomas-jefferson #freedom