Quotations are the fundamental distillation of a writer’s life and thinking as recorded in words and phrases for posterity. Through them the reader is afforded the unique opportunity to share in the thoughts, the life and the experiences of the writer. In a special way, they offer the reader a window into the mind of the author and hopefully an inducement to read further and learn more about the author and the story he relates.


On a wider scale, they are, as William Feather wrote, “the wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages preserved into perpetuity“, and as such they are available for the enrichment and enhancement of humanity, regardless of age, sex, race, educational or economic status. They are indeed, as the Talmud states, “food for the famished”.

The collection of quotations presented in this blog, have been chosen by me because of their special impact upon me. They have been published so that you too, may experience the joy I have had over the years reading them and getting to know the authors.


I trust that you will come to know the feeling of deep satisfaction possible from reading them, searching out the author and meditating upon their meaning and their impact on your life.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

CHARM

Charm is a product of the unexpected. ……Jose Marti

There is a Charm about the forbidden,
that makes it unspeakably desirable. ..……Mark Twain

Charm is the quality in others,
that makes us more satisfied with ourselves. ……Henri Frederic Amiel

There is no personal Charm so great,
as the charm of a cheerful temperament. ……Henry Van Dyke

There's a difference between beauty and charm.
A Beautiful woman is one I notice.
A Charming woman is one who notices me. ……..John Erskine

Charm is a glow within a woman
that casts a most becoming light on others. ……..John Mason Brown

Thursday, November 27, 2008

TOGETHER

The family that prays Together, stays together ……Al Scalpone

Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.
That's why it's a comfort to go Together, hand in hand. ……..Emily Kimbrough

A dream you dream alone is only a dream.
A dream you dream Together is reality. ……John Lennon

Let us put our minds Together and see
what life we can make for our children. ……Sitting Bull

We must learn to live Together as brothers, or
perish together as fools. …….Martin Luther King, Jr.

Great things are not done by impulse,
but by a series of small things brought Together. ……..Vincent Van Gogh

We will not learn to live Together in peace,
by killing each other's children. ......Jimmy Carter

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other,
But looking outward Together, in the same direction. ….Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

THANKSGIVING

I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with Thanksgiving. …….Psalm 69:30

Got no check books, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my Thanks;
- I got the sun in the mornin' and the moon at night. ……Irving Berlin

A Thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue,
but the parent of all the other virtues. …….Cicero

Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men;
but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. …..E.P. Powell

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that
the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ….John F. Kennedy

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace;
The celebration of work and the simple life. ……Ray Stannard Baker

On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our interdependence. ……William Jennings Bryan

Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart. ……Seneca

Not what we say about our blessings,
but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving. ……W.T. Purkiser

Thanksgiving is a season that is very much in accord
with the themes and teachings of Jesus Christ. ……John Clayton

Saturday, November 22, 2008

GRACE

Those who cling to worthless idols,
forfeit the Grace that could be theirs. …….Jonah 2:8

There but for the Grace of God go I. ……Rev. George Whitfield

Grace has been defined as the outward expression
of the inward harmony of the soul. …….William Hazlitt

Where sin abounded, Grace shall much more abound. ……Archibald Alexander

Above all the Grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved,
is that of overcoming self. …….St. Francis of Assisi

Grace must find expression in life,
otherwise it is not grace. …….Karl Barth

The Grace of God is courtesy. …….Hilaire Belloc

It is a faculty of the reason and the will to choose;
Good with the assistance of Grace;
Evil, when Grace is absent. ……John Calvin

Friday, November 21, 2008

QUALITY

11/21/08
Quality is everyone's responsibility. ………W. Edwards Deming

Quality is never an accident;
It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction
and skillful execution; It represents the wise choice of many alternative.
…….William A. Foster

Quality is not an act, it is a habit. ……. Aristotle

Associate yourself with men of good Quality if you esteem your own reputation;
It is better be alone than in bad company. …….George Washington

It is the Quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity. …Mohandas Gandhi

Quality begins on the inside... and then works its way out. …… Bob Moawad

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking …….Henry Ford

The Quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important. ……..Martin Luther King Jr

Thursday, November 20, 2008

GOSSIP

11/20/08
Without wood a fire goes out;
Without Gossip a quarrel dies down. ……. Psalms 26:20

Whoever Gossips to you will gossip about you. ……Spanish Proverb

Gossip needn't be false to be evil;
- there's a lot of truth that shouldn't be passed around. ……Frank A. Clark

Gossip is the art of saying nothing
in a way that leaves practically nothing unsaid. ……Walter Winchell

Gossip is always a personal confession either of malice or imbecility. ……Josiah Holland

The only time people dislike Gossip is when you gossip about them. …….Will Rogers

Scandal is Gossip made tedious by morality. ……Oscar Wilde

Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everyone enjoys. ……Joseph Conrad

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

HYPOCRISY

Hypocrisy is oftenest clothed in the garb of religion ……..Hosea Ballou.

The only vice that cannot be forgiven is Hypocrisy.
The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy. ………William Hazlitt

A Hypocrite is a person who - but who isn't? ……..Don Marquis

Politeness; -The most acceptable Hypocrisy. ………Ambrose Bierce

The true Hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception,
the one who lies with sincerity. ………André Gide

Hypocrisy is an homage that vice renders to virtue. …….François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld,

A Hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree,
then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation. …….Adlai E. Stevenson

Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises,
for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing. ……Edmund Burke

Monday, November 17, 2008

FAME

11/17/08
Fame is the inheritance not of the dead, but of the living.
It is we who look back with lofty pride to the great names of antiquity. ……..William Hazlitt

The highest form of vanity is love of Fame. …….George Santayana

Indeed, wretched the man whose Fame makes his misfortunes famous. ……. Lucius Accius

For children preserve the Fame of a man after his death. …….Aeschylus

The Fame you earn has a different taste,
from the fame that is Forced upon you. …….Gloria Vanderbilt

Fame is like a river, that bears up things light and swollen,
and drowns things weighty and solid. …….Francis Bacon

Don't confuse Fame with success.
Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other. …….. Erma Bombeck

It is strange to be so Famous, and yet to be so lonely. ……..Albert Einstein

Friday, November 14, 2008

MIRACLE

Miracles are not contrary to nature;
But only contrary to what we know of nature. …..St. Augustine

For the truly faithful, no Miracle is necessary.
For those who doubt, no Miracle is sufficient. …….Nancy Gibbs

To be alive, to be able to see, to walk; Its all a Miracle. …..Arthur Rubinstein

There are only two ways to live your life;
One is as though nothing is a Miracle.
The other is as though everything is a Miracle. ……Albert Einstein

Miracles happen every day.
Not just in remote country villages or at holy sites halfway across the globe,
but here, in our own lives. ……Deepak Chopra.

Miracles happen to those who believe in them. ……….Bernard Berenson

Nobody sees the obvious, nobody observes the ordinary.
There are more Miracles in a square yard of earth
than in all the fables of the Church. ………Robert Anton Wilson

Once all struggle is grasped, Miracles are possible. …….Mao Tse-Tung

LIBERTY

The basis of a democratic state is Liberty. ……Aristotle

Give me Liberty or give me death. ……John Henry

Liberty means responsibility;
That is why most men dread it. …..George Bernard Shaw

Liberty is not a means to a higher political end;
It is the highest political end. …….Lord Acton

The love of Liberty is the love of others;
The love of power is the love of ourselves. ……William Hazlitt

Liberty: One of Imagination's most precious possessions. …….Ambrose Bierce

They that can give up essential Liberty to obtain a little temporary safety;
deserve neither liberty nor safety. ……..Benjamin Franklin,

It is easy to take liberty for granted,
when you have never had it taken from you. …..Dick Cheney

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

VETERAN

We few, we Band of Brothers.
For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother. ……. William Shakespeare

When our perils are past, should our gratitude sleep? …….George Canning

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can,
only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. ……..Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

That's what it means to be a veteran;
To be scared all the time. …….Gil Doud

The most persistent sound which reverberates through men's history
is the beating of war drums. …….Arthur Koestler

The only war is the war you fought in; Every Veteran knows that! ……..Allan Keller

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. …….José Narosky

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more,
for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. …… Zell Miller

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

CHARACTER

Do not be misled; Bad company corrupts good Character. ……. 1Corinthians 15:33

Wealth stays with us a little moment if at all: Only our Characters are steadfast, not our gold. ..…..Euripides

If you want to test a man's Character, give him power. ……Abraham Lincoln

Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist;
They are wrong, it is Character. ……..Albert Einstein

A man can’t ride your back unless it’s bent. …..Martin Luther King, Jr.

Character is doing the right thing, even when nobody is looking. …….J.C. Watts

Character is much easier kept, than recovered. ……Thomas Paine

Laws control the lesser man.
Character controls the greater one. ……Chinese Proverb

You can tell the Character of every man;
When you see how he receives praise. ……Seneca

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost;
when health is lost, something is lost;
when Character is lost, all is lost. …..Billy Graham

Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation;
because your Character is what you really are,
while your reputation is merely what others think you are. ……John Wooden.

---Mohandas Gandhi

Your Character must be above suspicion,
and you must be truthful and self-controlled. ……..Mohandas Gandhi

The truest test of civilization, culture, and dignity is
Character,-not clothing. …….Mohandas Gandhi

A language is an exact reflection of the Character and growth of its speakers.
…….Mohandas Gandhi
Men of stainless Character will easily inspire confidence
and automatically purify the atmosphere around them. ……Mohandas Gandhi

The real property that a parent can transmit to all equally,
is his or her Character and educational facilities. ……Mohandas Gandhi

All your scholarship would be in vain if at the same time you do not
build your Character and attain mastery over your thoughts and your actions.
………Mohandas Gandhi

Monday, November 3, 2008

MEDITATION

)11/03/08
We practice meditation in order to see ourselves
as we truly are and life as it truly is. ……Buddha

Meditation is the soul's perspective glass. ……… Owen Feltham

Meditation is the life of the soul …….Francis Quaries

The more intense the nature of a man,
the more readily will he find Meditation,
and the more successfully will he practice it. ……… James Allen

Meditation is such a more substantial reality,
than what we normally take to be reality. ……… Richard Gere

Sleep is the best form of Meditation. …….Dalai Lama

Meditation is painful in the beginning,
but it bestows immortal Bliss and supreme joy in the end. …….. Swami Sivananda

Meditation is the tongue of the soul;
and the language of our spirit. ………Jeremy Taylor