The quote library
Frankisms
Short truths, collected over a lifetime of writing and teaching. Read a few, or lose an afternoon.
- Collected
- 1,993
“Sometimes we deny being worthy of praise, hoping to generate an argument we would be pleased to lose. — Cullen Hightower”
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“Stay positive on Facebook. Nobody likes complainers. — Thomas Umstattd”
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“Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other. — Ann Landers”
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“The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain. — Colin Wilson, British author of The Outsider”
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“The best way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend. — Abraham Lincoln”
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“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted. — Mother Teresa”
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“The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudices. — Clint Eastwood”
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“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. — C. G. Jung”
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“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. — George Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutionists”
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“The simplest way to establish rapport is to smile. — Bob Burg”
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“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. — Abraham Lincoln”
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“Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love the truth. — Joseph Joubert”
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“Trying to change someone who doesn’t trust you is almost impossible. — Tim Sanders”
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“Trying to squash a rumor is like trying to unring a bell. — Shana Alexander”
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“Two people may arrive at a conversation with very different conversational patterns. But almost instantly they reach a common ground. — Malcolm Gladwell”
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“Until we want to change, nothing different is likely to happen. — Thomas Harris”
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“Very often, if they like you, they will like your Jesus too. — Rusty Wright”
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“Watch your attitude. It’s the first thing people notice about you. — H. Jackson Brown Jr”
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“Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens. — Daniel Webster (17821852), Speech at Plymouth, Massachusetts [December 22, 1820]”
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“When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive. — Alan Paton”
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“When people do not want to see something, they get mad at the one who shows them. — Julia Cameron”
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“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. — James D. Miles”
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“You can make more friends in a month by being interested in them than in ten years by trying to get them interested in you. — Charles L. Allen”
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“You don’t have to tell someone the person beside you is your best friend if your speech and body language show it. — Cheryl St.John”
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“You may give gifts without caring—but you can’t care without giving. — Frank A. Clark”
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“You’re being read every time you set foot in public. — Tonya Reiman”
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“A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use. — Washington Irving (17831859), The Sketch-Book. Rip Van Winkle”
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“Among my most prized possessions are words that I have never spoken. — Orson Rega Card”
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“An open ear is often more welcome than a talking mouth. — Thomas Harris”
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“Analogies make it possible to understand a compact message because they invoke concepts that you already know. — Chip Heath”
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“Anxiety will kill your timing, deaden your reflexes, and paralyze your movements. — Alan Weiss”
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“Attention is one of the world’s scarcest resources. — Tim Sanders”
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“Be provocative. No one is roused to action by platitude and repetition. Force your audience to think, and make them feel an urgency. — Alan Weiss”
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“Dozens of messages lurk in the pitch, tone, speed, and volume of our voices. Researchers estimate that as much as 38 percent of all communication comes through vocal cues other than speech. — Tonya Reiman”
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“Every good speaker is a motivational speaker because he or she helps people to take action. — Alan Weiss”
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“Feeling tells you what you want to say. Technique gives you tools with which to say it. — Dwight V. Swain”
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“First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. — Epictetus”
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“High-value and strong content will overwhelm technical imperfections. — Alan Weiss”
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“I don’t care how much a man talks, if he only says it in a few words. — Josh Billings (18181885), Josh Billings: His Sayings. Affurisms”
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“I have never been hurt by anything I didn’t say. — Calvin Coolidge”
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