Topic

People

The collection mixes the compassionate and the cynical in roughly equal measure. Lincoln on fooling people; Freud on the insult as the foundation of civilization; Rogers on other people's misfortune being the basis of all comedy. Carnegie is sharp about mediocrity requiring no motivation; Disraeli reminds us that power exists to serve the people. The warmth comes from Einstein on gravitation and falling in love, and James's quiet observation about the craving to be appreciated as the deepest principle in human nature. These quotes are for people who study those around them — who find human behavior a more interesting problem than almost anything else and who are unsurprised by most of what they observe.

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Ocean: A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills.

Source: The Devil's Dictionary (1911)

The only security of all is in a free press

Source: Letter to Lafayette (Nov. 4, 1823)

There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves.

Source: Emma (1815)

One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other

Source: Emma (1815)

A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out

The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle

A great deal of love given to a few is better than a little to many

Those that are most slow in making a promise are the most faithful in the performance of it.

A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people

Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else

The first human who hurled an insult instead of a stone was the founder of civilization

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free

Love is a dirty trick played on us to achieve the continuation of the species

The only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law

The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.

So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private citizens will occasionally kill theirs.

A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic

Man can believe the impossible, but can never believe the improbable

There are people whose watch stops at a certain hour and who remain permanently at that age.