Quotes to inspire and reflect

Bring in the bottled lightning, a clean tumbler, and a corkscrew.

Too much and too little wine. Give him none, he cannot find truth; give him too much, the same.

There are two possible situations — one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it — you will regret both.

Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.

Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue — to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.

There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.

Praising all alike is praising none.

This is the precept by which I have lived: prepare for the worst; expect the best; and take what comes.

Out of clutter, find simplicity.

Anything that is worth doing has been done frequently. Things hitherto undone should be given, I suspect, a wide berth.

Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle, perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less.

Perfection is terrible, it cannot have children.

Everyone is more or less mad on one point.

The ordinary acts we practise every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.

I was raised to feel that doing nothing was a sin. I had to learn to do nothing.

Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.

It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.

Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he’s well dressed. There ain’t much credit in that.

A man’s mind will very generally refuse to make itself up until it be driven and compelled by emergency.

Official dignity tends to increase in inverse ratio to the importance of the country in which the office is held.

If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.

The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost.

In the United States there’s a Puritan ethic and a mythology of success. He who is successful is good. In Latin countries, in Catholic countries, a successful person is a sinner.

I felt as if I was walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and this trial.

The love of life is necessary to the vigorous prosecution of any undertaking.

I had done all that I could; and no man is well pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little.

Whether our efforts are, or not, favoured by life, let us be able to say when we come near the great goal, “I have done what I could”.

All the world’s great have been little boys who wanted the moon.

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

Not in the clamour of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.

He who does something at the head of one regiment, will eclipse him who does nothing at the head of a hundred.

Those who believe that they are exclusively in the right are generally those who achieve something.

“Those whom true love has held, it will go on holding.”

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”

“Philosophy is an act of living.”

Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.”

“Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.”

“If I followed the multitude, I should not have studied philosophy.”

“From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself, separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do—now.”

“What then is that which is able to conduct a man? One thing and only one, philosophy.”

“To be even-minded is the greatest virtue.”

“Hang on to your youthful enthusiasms you’ll be able to use them better when you’re older.”

“Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do. Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you.”

“Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?”

“Mastery of reading and writing requires a master. Still more so life.”

“So it is with men too: even if they don’t want to, they will be compelled to follow what is destined.”

“As it is with a play, so it is with life - what matters is not how long the acting lasts, but how good it is.”

“A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.”