William Cowper

Visitors are insatiable devourers of time, and fit only for those who, if they did not visit, would do nothing.
- William Cowper

John Ciardi

Every parent is at some time the father of the unreturned prodigal, with nothing to do but keep his house open to hope.
- John Ciardi

Fran Lebowitz

"No animal should ever jump up on the dining-room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation."
- Fran Lebowitz

Paul Fussell

"I find nothing more depressing than optimism."
- Paul Fussell

Oscar Levant

"The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats allow the poor to be corrupt, too."
- Oscar Levant

George Carlin

In America, anyone can become president. That's the problem.
- George Carlin

Harry S Truman

We need not fear the expression of ideas, we do need to fear their suppression.
- Harry S Truman

Pat Riley

When you're playing against a stacked deck, compete even harder. Show the world how much you'll fight for the winners circle. If you do, someday the cellophane will crackle off a fresh pack, one that belongs to you, and the cards will be stacked in your favor.
- Pat Riley

Fred Allen

Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.
- Fred Allen

Branch Rickey

A full mind is an empty bat.
- Branch Rickey

Joey Adams

A psychiatrist asks a lot of expensive questions your wife asks for nothing.
- Joey Adams

George H Bush

If anyone tells you that America's best days are behind her, they're looking the wrong way.
- George H Bush

Niels Bohr

An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes, which can be made, in a very narrow field.
- Niels Bohr

Epicurus

Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.
- Epicurus

Tom Brokaw

TV is a fickle business. I'm only good for the length of my contract.
- Tom Brokaw

Robert Heinlein

"A motion to adjourn is always in order."
- Robert Heinlein

Donald H. Rumsfeld

"If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much."
- Donald H. Rumsfeld

Nikola Tesla

"The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
- Nikola Tesla

Victor Hugo

"He, who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through a labyrinth of the most busy life"
- Victor Hugo

Nietzche

He who fights monsters should see to it that in the process, he does not become a monster. And when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.
- Nietzche

George Bernard Shaw

There is nothing more dangerous than the conscience of a bigot.
- George Bernard Shaw

Plato

No human thing is of serious importance.
- Plato

John Maxwell

"Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential."
- John Maxwell

Buddha

A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.
- Buddha

Albert Einstein

Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.
- Albert Einstein

John F. Kennedy

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.
- John F. Kennedy

Will Rogers

I read about eight newspapers in a day. When I'm in a town with only one newspaper, I read it eight times.
- Will Rogers

Confucius

Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.
- Confucius

Winston Churchill

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
- Winston Churchill

Mark Twain

There is more real pleasure to be gotten out of a malicious act, where your heart is in it, than out of thirty acts of a nobler sort.
- Mark Twain in Eruption