The quote library
Frankisms
Short truths, collected over a lifetime of writing and teaching. Read a few, or lose an afternoon.
- Collected
- 1,993
“An ideal wife is any woman who has an ideal husband. — Booth Tarkington”
humor
“An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out? — Michel de Saint-Pierre”
humor
“Be bold and don’t worry about what people think. They don’t do it that often anyway. — Timothy Ferriss”
humor
“Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact. — George Eliot”
humor
“Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious. — Peter Ustinov”
humor
“Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation by thinking once or twice a week — George Bernard Shaw”
humor
“Getting older is like water skiing. When you slow down, you go down — George Sweeting”
humor
“God writes a lot of comedy the trouble is, he’s stuck with so many bad actors who don’t know how to play funny. — Garrison Keillor”
humor
“How can I die? I’m booked. — George Burns”
humor
“Humor breaks down walls. — Goldie Hawn”
humor
“I married an archeologist because the older I grow, the more he appreciates me. — Agatha Christie”
humor
“If you laugh a lot, when you get older your wrinkles will be in the right places. — Andrew Mason”
humor
“Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects. — Arnold Glasgow”
humor
“Newspaper editors are men who separate the wheat from the chaff, and then print the chaff. — Adlai Stevenson”
humor
“Once you get people laughing, they’re listening and you can tell them almost anything. — Herbert Gardner”
humor
“The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed. — Sébastien Roch Nicolas Chamfort (17411799), Maxims and Thoughts, 1”
humor
“Too many church services start at eleven sharp and end at twelve dull. — Vance Havner”
humor
“What I want to do is to make people laugh so that they’ll take things seriously. — William K. Zinsser”
humor
“I am a writer. Over time, the image in your mind and the reality will become one, if you continue to practice. — Natalie Goldberg”
inspiration
“A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind. — Albert Szent-Gyorgyi”
inspiration
“A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent — John Calvin”
inspiration
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. — Lao-tzu (604-531 BC), The Way of Lao-Tzu, 64”
inspiration
“A man of courage is also full of faith. — Cicero”
inspiration
“A pat on the back, though only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, is miles ahead in results. — Bennett Cerf”
inspiration
“A ship in harbor is safe—but that is not what ships are for. — John A. Shedd”
inspiration
“A survey taken of 600 university students in psychology asked, What is your most difficult personal problem? Seventy-five percent said, Lack of confidence. — Ray Considine”
inspiration
“A woman is like a teabag; you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. — Nancy Reagan”
inspiration
“After years of repetitive work, you will often need to dig hard to find your passions, redefine your dreams, and revive hobbies that you let atrophy to near extinction. — Timothy Ferriss”
inspiration
“All things are difficult before they are easy. — Thomas Fuller”
inspiration
“Always do well, never do poorly. In this mode, you can do only what you are already good at doing. — Robert Fritz”
inspiration
“And many strokes, though with a little axe, hew down and fell the hardest-timbered oak. — Shakespeare”
inspiration
“And what is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not been discovered. — Ralph Waldo Emerson”
inspiration
“Anyone honest will tell you that possibility is far more frightening than impossibility. — Julia Cameron”
inspiration
“As long as a man imagines that he cannot do a certain thing, it is impossible for him to do it. — Benedict Spinoza”
inspiration
“Be quick to take advantage of an advantage. — H. Jackson Brown Jr”
inspiration
“Before you even break ground, decide what you want to harvest. — Esther M. Friesner”
inspiration
“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. — Marilyn vos Savant”
inspiration
“Check for toilet paper before sitting down. — H. Jackson Brown Jr”
inspiration
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. — Confucius”
inspiration
“Comparison—regardless of the result—can be deadly. You can’t win. You either become smug and complacent, or you go the other way and feel depressed and despairing. — Cecil Murphey”
inspiration