Wit and Wisdom

a few favorite

Quotations

This page last updated 12/14/2003

"When you have found your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall." C S Lewis

 "Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."  Satchel Paige 
 

"the purpose of life is to give life purpose. take responsibility for the significance of your existence." Kattriez, from Coolsig Forum post in thread 9329

"...What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. ..."

quoted in many places on the net as being from a letter written by Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Indians, 1855, but most likely not really by him..... check out Urban Legends for more details. Better yet, check out the Suquamish Tribe pages and click on Chief Seattle in the navigation. Either site will be worth the visit.

Snail 1: "Have you ever thought that radical ideas threaten institutions then become institutions and in turn reject radical ideas which threaten institutions?"

Snail 2: "No"

Snail 1: "Gee. For a minute I thought I had something."

From the Video "Why Man Creates", Sam Bass (sorry - I didn't get the date etc. but will when I get a chance)

"It is worse to stay where one does not belong at all than to wander about lost for a while and looking for the psychic and soulful kinship one requires. It is never a mistake to search for what one requires. Never."...

"Three things differentiate living from the soul versus living from ego only: the ability to sense and learn new ways, the tenacity to ride a rough road, and the patience to learn deep love over time. It would be a mistake to think that it takes a muscle-bound hero to accomplish this. It does not. It takes a heart that is willing to die and be born and die and be born again and again." ...

"In our lives, even though one episode amounts to a crash and burn, there is always another episode awaiting us and then another. There are always more opportunities to get it right, to fashion our lives in the ways we deserve to have them. Don't waste your time hating a failure. Failure is a greater teacher than success. Listen, learn, go on." ...

Quotations taken from "Women Who Run With the Wolves", by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ballantine Books, New York, 1992

"Four things come not back- the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity." Arabian Proverb

"Whether you believe in God or not does not matter so much; whether you believe in Buddha or not does not matter so much; as a Buddhist, whether you believe in reincarnation or not does not matter so much. You must lead a good life."

The Dalai Lama

"Nothing is more highly to be prized than the value of each day." Goethe

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk rejection.

To place your dreams before the crowd is to risk ridicule.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure.

But risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel change, grow or love.

Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave.

Only a person who takes risks is free.

Unknown author.

"Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them." Nathaniel Hawthorne

"People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little."

Jean Jacques Rousseau

"You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle and that is because the Powers of the World always work in circles, and everything tries to be round. The Wind, in its greatest power whirls. Birds make their nests in circles ... the sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The Moon does the same, and both are round. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood and so it is in everything where power moves. Hehaka Sapa (Black Elk), Oglala (Teton), Dakota American Elder

"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails." unknown)

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

Buddha

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"All that glitters is not gold, all who wander are not lost." J.R.R. Tolkien

"Philosophy is a game with objectives and no rules.

Mathematics is a game with rules and no objectives."

unknown

"Philosophy does have rules, it's just that philosophers can't agree on them."

Dr. G. Jarrett

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it... always." Mahatma Gandhi

Real knowledge is to know the extent of ones ignorance. Confucius

"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power." Lao-Tzu

"I believe in dragons, good men, and other fantasy creatures." (unknown)

"Seduce my mind and you can have my body, find my soul and I am yours forever." (unknown)

"The optimist says the glass is half full. The pessimist says the glass is half empty. The pragmatist, being thirsty, drinks the water." (unknown)

"Needing a man is like needing a parachute. If he isn't there the first time you need him, chances are you won't be needing him again." (unknown)

"Never take life too seriously, Nobody gets out alive anyway." (unknown)

From the Cool Sig web site- from the folks at Wondermill; hundreds of quotes and humor

I know you think you understand what you thought you heard me say, but do you know that what you heard is not what I really meant. (unknown author and has many variations)

... "'What do you fear, lady?' he asked. 'A cage' she said. 'To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.'"

Eowyn to Aragorn, excerpted from "The Return of the King", by J.R.R. Tolkien.

As you may have guessed, I love quotations, bits of humor and words that make you think. I hope the words on this page and the others have given you a smile, touched your heart or soul, or given you food for thought. Do you know the author of one of the quotations listed here as unknown? Please let me know!! Do you know of one that I have attributed incorrectly to one author, that should be another? Please write  and tell me so I can correct the mistake. Do you have a favorite quotation that you think belongs here? Send it to me and I may post it here or on one of my blogs.

Stormwind 10/99.

** I apologize for the way the e-addy is written. Too much spam lately.

revised 12/14/2003

© AGT/Stormwind¹ 1999-2003