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The Times Great Quotations: Famous quotes to inform, motivate and inspire
The New Yorker (1995)
Fay Weldon, English feminist and playwright (1931–)
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Everyone thinks his own burden is heavy.
French proverb
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The smyler with the knyf under the cloke.
The Knight’s Tale (1387)
Geoffrey Chaucer, English poet (c. 1343–1400)
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Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.
Adam Bede (1859)
George Eliot, English writer (1819–1880)
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Our actions are like ships which we may watch set out to sea, and not know when or with what cargo they will return to port.
The Bell (1958)
Iris Murdoch, Irish writer (1919–1999)
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The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation … The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.
The Ascent of Man (1973)
Jacob Bronowski, British-Polish mathematician and science historian (1908–1974)
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Only the actions of the just,
Smell sweet and blossom on their dust.
The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for the Armour of Achilles (1659)
James Shirley, English playwright (1596–1666)
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It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.
Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Jane Austen, English writer (1775–1817)
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I was raised to feel that doing nothing was a sin. I had to learn to do nothing.
The Observer (1998)
Jenny Joseph, English poet (1932–2018)
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It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
Jerome K Jerome, English writer (1859–1927)
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Deeds, not words shall speak me.
The Lover’s Progress (1647)
John Fletcher, English playwright (1579–1625)
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I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)
John Locke, English philosopher (1632–1704)
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Word is but wynd; leff woord and tak the dede.
Secrets of Old Philosophers
John Lydgate, English poet (1370–1451)
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The highest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it.
John Ruskin, English art critic (1819–1900)
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Action is consolatory. It is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.
Nostromo (1904)
Joseph Conrad, Polish-British writer (1857–1924)
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Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigour of the mind.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
Leonardo da Vinci, Italian polymath (1452–1519)
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Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.
Old Mortality (1884)
Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer (1850–1894)
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The only infallible rule we know is, that the man who is always talking about being a gentleman never is one.
Ask Mamma (1858)
RS Surtees, English editor and sporting writer (1805–1864)
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Everyone is more or less mad on one point.
Plain Tales from the Hills (1888)
Rudyard Kipling, English journalist and writer (1865–1936)
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The ordinary acts we practise every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.
Sir Thomas More, English saint and lawyer (1478–1535)
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Terror … often arises from a pervasive sense of disestablishment; that things are in the unmaking.
Danse Macabre (1981)
Stephen King, American writer (1947–)
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Perfection is terrible, it cannot have children.
The Munich Mannequins (1965)
Sylvia Plath, American poet and writer (1932–1963)
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It is part of human nature to hate the man you have hurt.
Agricola (c. 98)
Tacitus, Roman senator and historian (c. 56–120)
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Considering how foolishly people act and how pleasantly they prattle, perhaps it would be better for the world if they talked more and did less.
A Writer’s Notebook (1946)
W Somerset Maugham, British playwright (1874–1965)
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It is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in. One yawns, one procrastinates, one can do it when one will, and therefore one seldom does it at all.
Lord Chesterfield, British statesman (1694–1773)
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Anything that is worth doing has been done frequently. Things hitherto undone should be given, I suspect, a wide berth.
Mainly on the Air (1946)
Sir Max Beerbohm, English essayist and parodist (1872–1956)
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Truly, when the day of judgment comes, it will not be a question of what we have read, but what we have done.
De Imitatione Christi (c. 1418–1427)
Thomas á Kempis, Dutch-German canon regular and writer (1380–1471)
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Men are rewarded and punished not for what they do, but rather for how their acts are defined. This is why men are more interested in better justifying themselves than in better behaving themselves.
The Second Sin (1973)
Thomas Szasz, American-Hungarian psychiatrist (1920–2012)
ADVICE AND PRINCIPLES
Out of clutter, find simplicity.
Albert Einstein, German theoretical physicist (1879–1955)
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There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.
Time Must Have a Stop (1944)
Aldous Huxley, English writer and philosopher (1894–1963)
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Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and Aids activist (1943–1993)
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If you would be known, and not know, vegetate in a village; if you would know, and not be known, live in a city.
Lacon (1820)
Charles Caleb Colton, English cleric (1780–1832)
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Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some.
Charles Dickens, English writer and social critic (1812–1870)
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Never make a defence or apology before you be accused.
Charles I, King of England (1600–1649)
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When environment changes, there must be a corresponding change in life.
The Wartime Journals (1970)
Charles Lindbergh, American aviator (1902–1974)
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Get the advice of everybody whose advice is worth having — they are very few — and then do what you think best yourself.
Charles Stewart Parnell, Irish nationalist leader (1846–1891)
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A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.
Charlotte Brontë, English writer (1816–1855)
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If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.
Ad Familiares IX, 4
Cicero, Roman statesman (106–43 BC)
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Stand a little less between me and the sun.
[On being asked by Alexander the Great what he could do for him]
Diogenes, Greek philosopher (412–323 BC)
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Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper.
Francis Bacon, English philosopher, statesman and essayist (1561–1626)
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Be wisely worldly, but not worldly wise.
Francis Quarles, English poet (1592–1644)
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Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!
Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (1882)
Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher and writer (1844–1900)
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Simplicity is light, carefree, neat and loving — not a self-punishing ascetic trip.
A Place in Space (1995)
Gary Snyder, American poet (1930–)
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Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get.
Man and Superman (1903)
George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright (1856–1950)
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We must consult our means rather than our wishes.
George Washington, 1st president of the US (1732–1799)
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One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.
GK Chesterton, English writer (1874–1936)
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Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work.
Gustave Flaubert, French writer (1821–1880)
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This is the precept by which I have lived: prepare for the worst; expect the best; and take what comes.
Hannah Arendt, American-German philosopher (1906–1975)
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Up with your damned nonsense will I put twice, or perhaps once, but sometimes always, by God, never.
Hans Richter, Hungarian-born conductor and painter (1888–1976)
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Live all you can: it’s a mistake not to. It doesn’t matter what you do in particular, so long as you have had your life. If you haven’t had that, what have you had?
Henry James, American writer (1843–1916)
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Never trust the man who tells you all his troubles but keeps from you all his joys.
Jewish proverb
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Meetings are a great trap … However, they are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.
Ambassador’s Journal (1969)
JK Galbraith, Canadian economist (1908–2006)
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Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and statesman (1749–1832)
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Praising all alike is praising none.
A Letter To A Lady
John Gay, English poet (1685–1732)
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Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou liv’st live well, how long or short permit to heaven.
Paradise Lost (1667)
John Milton, English poet (1608–1674)
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Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry.
John Wesley, English cleric (1703–1791)
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Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.
Jonathan Swift, Irish poet and satirist (1667–1745)
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A thick skin is a gift from God.
Konrad Adenauer, chancellor of Germany (1876–1967)
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Civility costs nothing and buys everything.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (1689–1762)
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The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.
Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (1828–1910)
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If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.
Lewis Carroll, English writer (1832–1898)
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A proverb is one man’s wit and all men’s wisdom.
Lord John Russell, prime minister of the UK (1792–1878)
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Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.
Maori proverb
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The heart that gives, gathers.
Marianne Moore, American poet (1887–1972)
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You will find it a very good practice always to verify your references, sir!
Martin Joseph Routh, English classical scholar (1755–1854)
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The sense of being well-dressed gives a feeling of inward tranquillity which religion is powerless to bestow.
Emerson, Social Aims (1876)
Miss CF Forbes, English writer (1817–1911)
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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
Oscar Wilde, Irish dramatist and poet (1854–1900)
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I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.
An Ideal Husband (1895)
Oscar Wilde, Irish dramatist and poet (1854–1900)
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Education is what you get when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don’t.
Pete Seeger, American folk singer (1919–2014)
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When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee’s house some day.
Proverb from the Republic of Congo
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There was no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn’t get any worse.
The Naked Civil Servant (1968)
Quentin Crisp, English writer, raconteur and actor (1908–1999)
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There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.
Robert Burns, Scottish poet (1759–1796)
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If you live among wolves you have to howl like a wolf.
Russian proverb
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He who is blind, dumb and deaf will live a peaceful life of a hundred years.
Sicilian proverb
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You’ve got to have two out of death, sex and jewels.
[In The Sunday Times, 1994, on his principles for a successful museum show]
Sir Roy Strong, English art historian (1935–)
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Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue — to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.
Socrates, Greek philosopher (470–399 BC)
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There are two possible situations — one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it — you will regret both.
Either/Or (1843)
Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (1813–1855)
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Don’t speak unless you can improve on the silence.
Spanish proverb
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The shrimp that falls asleep is carried away by the current.
Spanish proverb
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Straightforwardness without civility is like a surgeon’s knife, effective but unpleasant. Candour with courtesy is helpful and admirable.
Sri Yukteswar Giri, Indian guru (1855–1936)
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Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow.
Swedish proverb
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Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death and sweet as love.
Turkish proverb
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Your head is not only for putting a hat on.
Ukrainian proverb
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Think like a wise man but express yourself like the common people.
WB Yeats, Irish poet (1865–1939)
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Be nice to people on your way up because you’ll meet ’em on your way down.
Wilson Mizner, American playwright (1876–1933)
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Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.
Sir Winston Churchill, prime minister of the UK, historian and Nobel Prize winner (1874–1965)
APPETITES
Time for a little something.
Winnie the Pooh (1926)
AA Milne, English writer (1882–1956)
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In the spring a livelier iris changes on the burnished dove; In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
Locksley Hall (1842)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet (1809–1892)
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My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.
Errol Flynn, Australian-born actor (1909–1959)
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There is no love sincerer than the love of food.
Man and Superman (1903)
George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright (1856–1950)
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People say I wasted my money. I say 90 per cent went on women, fast cars and booze. The rest I wasted.
George Best, Northern Irish professional footballer (1946–2005)
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Three glasses of wine drive away the evil spirits, but with the fourth they return.
German proverb
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If all be true that I do think,
There are five reasons we should drink:
Good wine — a friend — or being dry —
Or lest we should be by and by —
Or any other reason why.
Five Reasons for Drinking (1689)
Henry Aldrich, English philosopher and composer (1647–1710)
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We drink one another’s healths, and spoil our own.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
Jerome K Jerome, English writer (1859–1927)
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No pleasure is worth giving up for the sake of two more years in a geriatric home in Weston-super-Mare.
The Times (1994)
[Attr.]
Kingsley Amis, English writer and critic (1922–1995)
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Wine may well be considered the most healthful and most hygienic of beverages.
Études sur le vin (1866)
Louis Pasteur, French biologist and chemist (1822–1895)
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One reason why I don’t drink is because I wish to know when I am having a good time.
Christian Herald (1960)
Nancy Astor, American-born politician and socialite (1879–1964)
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Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody.
Diary (1660)
Samuel Pepys, English diarist, naval administrator and politician (1633–1703)
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Hath wine an oblivious power? Can it pluck out the sting from the brain? The draught might beguile for an hour, But still leaves behind it the pain.
Anonymous
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A well-balanced person has a drink in each hand.
Gullible’s Travels (1982)
Sir Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian (1942–)
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Too much and too little wine. Give him none, he cannot find truth; give him too much, the same.
Pensées (1670)
Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and physicist (1623–1662)
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There are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink.
Penrod (1914)
Booth Tarkington, American writer and dramatist (1869–1946)
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I only take a drink on two occasions – when I’m thirsty and when I’m not.
Brendan Behan, Irish writer (1923–1964)
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Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.
Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1962)
Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist (1875–1961)
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Then trust me, there’s nothing like drinking
So pleasant on this side the grave;
It keeps the unhappy from thinking,
And makes e’en the valiant more brave.
Nothing like Grog (1841)
Charles Dibdin, British composer (1745–1814)
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Bring in the bottled lightning, a clean tumbler, and a corkscrew.
Nicholas Nickleby (1838)
Charles Dickens, English writer and social critic (1812–1870)
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We are fighting Germany, Austria and drink, and so far as I can see the greatest of these deadly foes is drink.
[Speech at Bangor, 1915]
David Lloyd George, prime minister of the UK (1863–1945)
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I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s the best they are going to feel all day.
Dean Martin, American singer and actor (1917–1995)
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One whisky is all right; two is too much; three is too few.
A Taste of Scotch (1989)
Derek Cooper, British journalist and broadcaster (1925–2014)
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Come quickly, I am tasting stars!
[On discovering he had created champagne]
Dom Perignon, French Benedictine monk (1638–1715)
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An alcoholic is someone you don’t like who drinks as much as you do.
Dylan Thomas, Welsh writer (1914–1953)
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To eat figs off the tree in the very early morning, when they have been barely touched by the sun, is one of the exquisite pleasures of the Mediterranean.
Italian Food (1954)
Elizabeth David, British cookery writer (1913–1992)
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Great eaters of meat are in general more cruel and ferocious than other men. The English are known for their cruelty.
Émile (1762)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Genevan philosopher (1712–1778)
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Food is an important part of a balanced diet.
Metropolitan Life (1978)
Fran Lebowitz, American writer and public speaker (1950–)
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A cheerful look makes a dish a feast.
Jacula Prudentum (1640)
George Herbert, Welsh-born poet and priest (1593–1633)
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Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter.
[Inaugural address, 1881]
James A Garfield, 20th president of the US (1831–1881)
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I saw him even now going the way of all flesh, that is to say towards the kitchen.
Westward Hoe (1607)
John Webster, English dramatist (c. 1580–1634)
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Coffee is a cold dry food, suited to the ascetic life and sedative of lust.
Katib Chelebi, Ottoman scholar (1609–1657)
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All my life I have been a very thirsty person.
The Sunday Times (2001)
Keith Floyd, British cook, restaurateur and television personality (1943–2009)
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The noblest of all dogs is the hot-dog; it feeds the hand that bites it.
Quotations for Our Time (1977)
Laurence J Peter, Canadian educator (1919–1990)
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Good mashed potato is one of the great luxuries of life and I don’t blame Elvis for eating it every night for the last year of his life.
In Praise of the Potato (1989)
Lindsey Bareham, British cookery writer
ASPIRATION AND OPPORTUNITY
