The Seven Most Penetratingly Brilliant Quotes Of All Time
Some people love cats, other people love music, and I love quotes. I mean, I REALLY love quotes. I’ve compiled more than 100 different collections of quotes, at one time I ran an all quotes website, and I have 5 different brand new Twitter accounts that do nothing but pump out quotes each day — (@capitalismfacts, @selfhelpquote, @testifyChrist, @masculinequotes, and @rightquotations).
So, when I tell you I know quotes — I know quotes and I’ve had my life changed by them. That’s what is so extraordinary about quotations to me. You can take a book’s worth of wisdom, distill it down into a single quote, and it can endure through the ages impacting lives, perhaps even hundreds of years from now. Here are 7 such profound quotes.
1) “Nothing in life has any real meaning except the meaning you give it.” — Tony Robbins
Many people wave off Tony Robbins because they think of him as the cheesy, overly-excited, big-toothed guy they see doing infomercials on late night TV. This is a mistake because Robbins has a knack for simplifying complex ideas down into easy-to-use concepts that go beyond anything I’d have thought possible before he came onto the scene.
In this case, what he’s referring to is the fact that almost everything that happens to you has no intrinsic meaning. Is a funeral a time for celebration because the person who passed has gone on to a better place or a time to be deeply sad? Is the emotion in your stomach before you give a speech fear or your body getting you ready to perform? If you walk up to someone of the opposite sex and she brushes you off, is it because there’s something wrong with the situation, something wrong with you, or something wrong with her?
Once you recognize how arbitrary many of the things that happen to you are, you can stop merely reacting to events and start asking a better question, “Which of the possible interpretations of this event best serves me?”
The meaning of this? Obviously clowns are going to stab you when you go to sleep.
“There’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.”
I thought this was an old English proverb. Don’t know who Young Guns is but if that’s his picture he doesn’t look to be old, English or proverbial.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_many_a_slip_twixt_the_cup_and_the_lip
“The proverb supposedly comes from a Greek legend in which one of the Argonauts returns home to his winery. A local soothsayer had previously predicted the Argonaut would die before he tasted another drop of his wine, thus the Argonaut calls the soothsayer and toasts him for the Argonaut had survived his journey. The soothsayer replies to the toast with a phrase corresponding to the English proverb. As he finishes his toast, the Argonaut raises a cup filled with wine to his lips but is called away to hunt a wild boar before he could take a sip. The Argonaut is killed hunting the boar.[1]
The first occurrence of the proverb in English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is in Thackeray’s Pendennis, 1850″
I would quibble only with the last one: A reaction under control is not emotional.
“And they’d immediately change their emotional state and regain control.”
I quibble with this as well. The quote, too condensed to stand alone, seems to suggest that emotions can be turned on and off like a light switch and solves your problems. Just because his clients stopped crying doesn’t mean they’ve stopped feeling badly. What happened is that they took control of their outward reaction which is only a step in the process of ending the storm. No one can escape getting wet when a biological storm comes. The question is, are you going to just stand there getting soaked or find your way to where it is warm and dry?
I’m no fan of TR. His arrogance is a turn off. He talks about being in control of emotions but whenever I see some snippet of his seminars, he is in a state of outrage. He ridicules and manipulates people into buying into his philosophy. His bio is vague and nothing but self serving propaganda. Not one inspirational story of overcoming much of anything in his own life. No stories of his overcoming crushing poverty, painful tragedy or even the pain of his divorce. He’s like a snake oil sales man who’s never been sick a day in his life but convinces everyone his elixir saved him. Harmless I suppose, but only for those whose problems are little more than dissatisfaction with their lives. Such problems are real and are painful, but light weight compared to the lives of people who’s emotional states are rooted in much more profound problems. You can’t just yell ‘Excuse me’ at everyone with problems and expect them to just snap them out of it.
oops, biochemical storm, not biological
I feel a personal distaste for a number of people who’s insights are inspiring. The one has notheing to do with the other.
Some great choices and explanations of the quotes. Thanks
Well, anytime someone puts something out there like this it invites praise or criticism. The first Robbins quote has the same panache as The Sphinx pontificating “Until you learn to master your rage, your rage will become your master” in “Mystery Men.”
None of your quotes have much traction for me. There are a lot of quotes out there I adore; so many I can’t remember them and one is always looking for something that gives a new face to reality.
I can’t find the quote but a science fiction writer named Jack Vance once wrote something to the effect that we owe a debt of gratitude to evil since without darkness there is no such thing as light. It’s a strange way to look at it but our reliance on the dark in this manner is profound and true. What is good health without bad? What does it mean to be warm if one is never cold?
Other way around; darkness is only the absence of light.
You come across as kind of directionless; do you wander aimlessly a lot?
It’s philosophical, not a treatise on albedos or the Zone System.
No surprise you think I literally wander a lot because of words I wrote. Here’s a quote for you:
“The map is not the territory.”
All good quotes, but as a football fan and cheese-head I would include the following from Vince Lombardi:
“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle — victorious.”
Vince always had a way of distilling things down to the basic (and pure) level.
Changed my mind: really fantastic – wish I’d thought of it.
Oh look, Stoicism.
Tony Robbins? 2 quotes? Are you kidding me? Pathetic!
Your comment is not that great either.
The fact that you quote Tony Robbins twice takes away any credibility of your writing. How much did you make?
In the words of the great philosopher Leboweski, “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.”
“What doth it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his soul?”
And if there is, as many believe, no soul?
“Everything government touches turns to crap.” – Ringo Starr
“The Seven Most Penetratingly Brilliant Quotes Of All Time”
That’s a bit hyperbolic.
Another man might have thrown in some Shakespeare, like… “The quality of mercy is not strained….” and “To thine own self be true…”
Or perhaps Heraclitus, “The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts…”
Or Psalms, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,…”
Or the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self evident….”
Or John Keats, “Truth is beauty,…”
Or Homer, “There is a Goddess, the reverend daughter of Zeus, blind Folly; she has soft feet, for she walks not on the earth, but strides upon the heads of men.”
Not knocking your quotes, just the title.
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
attributed to George Orwell
Thanks for the quotes. I did get a good laugh off the story with number 7.
The first quote
“Nothing in life has any real meaning except the meaning you give it.” — Tony Robbins
is so obviously wrong that I cannot resist going directly to the obligatory Hitler reference to refute it. Suppose you decide, growing up in 1920′s Germany, that having one Jewish grandparent is a pointless fact to keep track of and so — following this quote’s advice and refusing to give it any “meaning” — you pay it no mind and happily go about your business. Then Hitler comes to power and you find out that, contrary to this quote, that one Jewish grandparent now has real meaning to you even though you long ago decided not to give it any “meaning”. Really, I shouldn’t have to be this extreme. Tony Robbins’ quote reeks of all that Hollywood “half-wisdom” that is at best only partly true, and that only if you happen to be immersed in the entertainment-celebrity complex.
I too like quotes, the older the better. Two from Patanjali: “Perfection is a goal, not a state of being” and “Enough is enough, but enough is necessary” and two from Heraclitus: “You can’t step in the same river twice” and “Harmony is the attunement of opposite tensions, like that of the bow and the lyre” have been good guides for me. Quote 4 I first heard long ago from Zig Ziglar. In the spirit of Quote 6, thanks for sharing your favorites.
I colelcted some Eric Hoffer quotations.
Here, Hoffer projects the trajectory of China and Russia.
And describes Barack Obama while he’s at it
“We clamor for equality chiefly in matters in which we ourselves cannot hope to attain excellence. To discover what a man truly craves but knows he cannot have we must find the field in which he advocates absolute equality. By this test Communists are frustrated Capitalists.”
Here, he describes what “progressives” offer occupiers…
“The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure.”
“The fanatic is not really a stickler to principle. He embraces a cause not primarily because of its justness or holiness but because of his desperate need for something to hold onto.”
The quotes from Eric Hoffer are great. Wikiquotes has lots of great quotes from him. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer
Definitely some keepers there
Blacks are frustrated whites, gays are frustrated normal people, women are frustrated men, children are frustrated adults, the Third World are frustrated Americans, slaves are frustrated free people, Muslims are frustrated Christians.
So who has the most fun in the world while being attacked the most and basically ignoring it?
Hetero white Christian free men. If you’re got it don’t flaunt it, just enjoy it and subjugate the world in your spare time.
I like the quote, Harry, but… “…If you’re got it, don’t flaunt it.”? “YOU’RE got it? No one envies your typing. Not even black gay atheist Muslims from Timbuk-3.
All that for a missed “v” key?
Eric Hoffer is a great source for quotes. I immediately thought of his writing when I saw the title of this essay.
I love this one:
“Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness came of age when man asked the first question. Social stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of the impulse to ask questions.”
Ah, yes!
A good education doesn’t answer your most profound questions.
It teaches you which questions to ask.
I, too, love quotes, but was only vaguely familiar with Anthony Robbins. Thanks to your post, I have downloaded Awaken the Giant Within and look forward to reading it.
¿But where are the fortune COOKIES?
Regarding Tony Robbins and his ilk:
“Advice is to serious thought as massage is to strenuous exercise.”
Also, regarding the first quote, if should be noted that “nothing has intrinsic meaning except what you give it” is the chant of the know-nothing multi-culturalists. For the Aztecs, human sacrifice was perfectly okay. Does that mean that helping your fellow man and murdering your fellow man are equally meaningful, depending on your viewpoint? If so, Hitler’s life was as meaningful as Abraham Lincoln’s.
Here is a gem I got from my grandfather. I dont know if it was his or if he got it from someone else.
“Hell is having your dreams come true.”
Otherwise known as “beware of what you wish for because you might get it”.
Another version of this quote I particularly like I heard from George Will: “When God REALLY wants to punish you he gives you what you want.”
Sorry, typed too fast. That was supposed to be
“Hell is having all of your dreams come true.”
I don’t find any of these quotes to be particularly brilliant. Most of them are banal and obvious. Some are so stale as to be cliches. And I agree with JTKurtz on the Tony Robbins thing. I mean, seriously?
The author set a good target (the headline), but really needs to aim higher. A good deal higher.
The first word I thought about most of these was “banal”, but Blackgriffin beat me to it. But that’s what post-modernism is, and Tony Robbins is in the thick of its feel-good nonsense.
I do like the TR quotation, that is clearly out of place with the others.
Here’s one I read in context just today:
“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat …. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, What is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory–victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror; victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival. Let that be realized: no survival for the British Empire; no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, ‘Come, then, let us go forward together with our united strength.’
“Upon these simple issues the House voted unanimously, and adjourned….” –Their Finest Hour, Winston Churchill
This magnificent speech, delivered in Britain’s darkest hour of WWII, is a lion that still defends itself.
More importantly – we pick and choose the quotes by which we choose to live (another quote for you).
While I enjoyed this collection of quotes, I am more entertained by analogy. Poetry doesn’t do anything for me, while it seems to give meaning to the lives of others. At any rate, we are greatly entertained by these prosaic word strings, but I don’t think we are really enlightened by them.
Here’s a quote that applies to everyone’s life for all their lives:
“Fall seven times, get up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
The quote about falling and getting up may be inspiring, but it really is bad math. If you fall seven times you can only get up seven times. In order to get up eight times, you must fall eight times. Picky! Picky!
You had to get up before you fell the first time.
(Classic “fencepost error”)
Your logic holds if you assume you were born standing… otherwise the math is correct.
Wait: fall 7 times and get up 7 times and then get ready to fall an eighth time and get up an eighth time.
Okay: fall 7 times and get up 6 times; no.
Here it is: fall 7 times and get up 8 times because…
No, I’m not feeling it.
No, okay, wait: fall 7 times but get up every single time regardless of the actual number involved which could be 6 or even 8 or maybe 11 in extreme instances.
I was going to point out the obvious, that you’re assuming you’re starting out on your feet, but all these other posters beat me to it. Either way, I like the saying.
Great saying, bad math.
not bad math when you take into account getting up in the morning to start the day.. the night before, you did not fall, you laid down to rest..
Or another way of looking at it is to say that your first steps as a baby is the first ‘getting up’..
getting up always precedes a fall..
Proverb stands as well written..
So by your logic it should be “get up 8 times fall down 7 times.”
People don’t fall all that much and when they do they always get up. Have you ever seen anyone fall and just lay there? Some things, like turtles and slugs, can’t really fall. I like Jerome Kern’s version better.
Only if you assume you started standing in the first place. Since no one is born standing the math works just fine.
The Biblical version of this one sidesteps the math, and has a message for President Obama and his covetous class-warfare hoodlums besides:
“Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man’s house,
do not raid his dwelling place;
for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again,
but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”
(Prov 20:15-16, NIV)
Nails that stand up get pounded down.
In the UK, Pounds that stand up, get nailed down.
tony robbins for prez 2012?
A helicopter in every garage.
When looking for inspirational quotes, I turn to either Will Rogers or Sam Clemens.
“The trouble ain’t that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain’t distributed right.”
Mark Twain
“Diplomacy is the art of saying “Nice doggie” until you can find a rock. ”
Will Rogers
The Will Rogers quote I like the most: “The problem with most people isn’t what they don’t know; its what they know that isn’t so.”
#6, the Teddy Roosevelt quote, calls into question why we afford those liberal arts graduates any respect at all. Sure, a few will actually do something and their studies will inform their work, but most will chatter and write bringing nothing but their unconsidered theories and failed ideologies to the conversation. But they live the life of the mind, a life not unlike the muttering homeless if they weren’t chattering with those of their class.
Oh, they provide awards and build monuments to one another but a reasoned review will show that mankind has made little progress under their chatterings but much destruction. Whereas, those individuals who seek to create in the physical world, have transformed it, have brought all mankind, if permitted by the chatterers, from the edge of suffering. Is it any wonder that the chatterers lament the technology and innovations that so starkly reveal their deficits?
You have inspired me to coin a phrase:
To live the life of the mind, you must first have a mind.
Harris Tweed
Do you always affect such an unpleasant, supercilious tone? Or only when you spout garbage? fyi, chatterers: Thomas Jefferson, Confucius, Jesus Christ, Mohandas Gandhi, Rene Descartes, Albert Einstein, Shakespeare, Mark Twain. Suggestion: Think more deeply and cultivate a less snobby-snotty way of speaking.
There is a quote by Dorothy Parker I always considered a guiding light, “I wish, I wish, I were a poisonous bacterium”
That says it all.
I think “electrochemical” might be more accurate than “biochemical” in the final quote but the idea is pretty accurate.
See the late Christopher Hitchens’ dissection of “that which does not kill me makes me stronger”, as he fought through the final stages of chemo and radiation therapy, leading to his ultimate death of cancer. Increasingly am wondering if the barbaric practices the medical profession put us through are worth the pain and indignity they inflict in the final hours and days of one’s allotted time on earth.
I was a voluteer fireman this old guy who trained me had a hell of a quote.
“Kid, there’s only 3 kinds of people in this world.
The wise, they learn from the mistakes of others.
The smart, they learn from their own mistakes.
The others, well, they never learn. Do me a favor kid, at least be smart.”
John “Lucky” Grahm
Those quotes are OK, as far as they go. But I think drawing almost exclusively on 20th century sources really puts the lie to the claim that these are the most penetratingly brilliant quotes of all time. It would appear that the roughly 9,900 years of human civilisation which preceded the modern era were ‘chopped liver’.
AESCHYLUS
Of knowledge, God hath ruled,
Men shall learn wisdom, by affliction schooled.
AMIEL
Accept life, and you must accept regret.
GEORGE SANTAYANA
Wisdom comes by disillusionment.
HIPPOCRATES
Life is so short, the craft so long to learn.
JOHN BARRYMORE
A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams.
LEONARDO DA VINCI
While I thought I had been learning how to live, I had been learning how to die.
LIN YUTANG
Life, after all, is made up of eating and sleeping, of meeting and saying goodby to friends, of reunion and farewell parties, of tears and laughter, of having a haircut once in two weeks, of watering a potted plant and watching one’s neighbor fall off his roof.
REINHOLD NIEBUHR
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
I’ve long disliked the Niebuhr quote, also known to 12-steppers as the ‘Serenity Prayer’. This would be much better:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I must not change, the courage to change the things I should, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Liked the first one, quality kind of went down from there.
I agree with Larmeau on the “Serenity Prayer” – his version is better. That’s not the original version, anyway, and some note that it was not even original with Niebuhr either, but his own derivation.
You do realize that the first quote from Robbins is atheistic, and asserts that there is no God? It is in addition nihilistic. Still inspired?
“The trouble with quotes on the internet is that it’s difficult to discern whether or not they are genuine.”
― Abraham Lincoln
As I approach the age of 60: “Move or die.”
And what liberals/progressives/democrats can’t seem to learn: “You can’t win if you can’t lose.”
If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed.
-Mark Twain
Tony Robbins in the same list as Viktor Frankl? And that photo with Frankl’s quotation? I hate to render insults online but what a true and complete jackwagon you are, Prof. Hawkins.
Go educate yourself about Viktor Frankl and Dachau.
I’ve heard quote #4 repeated by a gecko on the radio who wants to sell me an automobile insurance policy.
We should not leave out this inspirational comment on economics:
Obama: I Want An Economy “Where We’re Making Stuff And Selling Stuff And Moving It Around”
hahahahahahahaha……so much for the years of government-paid-for schooling!
“The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the amount of uncertainty you are willing to tolerate”
“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you realize why you were born”
The problem with epiphanies, is that they are epiphanies only to those who have had them. To everyone else, they are just another catch-phrase.
Tony Robbins was having an affair while promoting one of his programs about strengthening relationships. Ayn Rand claimed to oppose hedonism while having an open marriage, but only for herself. No one else allowed to follow. Catch phrases have their uses, but negative ones are more effective, and lasting. Words can save a life, but they can often derail one.
Live free or die. (State motto of New Hampshire, in spite of efforts to change it.)
It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I might learn your [God’s} decrees. (Psalm 119)
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. (Proverbs)
I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea)
Use every man after his desert, and who should escape whipping? (Hamlet, Shakespeare)
My personal favorites:
“I’m as independent as a hog on ice. If I can’t get up, I can lie down and squeal.” — Grandma (my choice for an epitaph)
“There’s nothing worse than having to lick your calf twice.” — Grandma (also expressed by Dad as “Measure twice, cut once.”) Amazing how much of life this covers.
Yeah, truly, this is a sad article.
Obviously Mr. Hawkins doesn’t realize that hucksters like Tony Robbins haven’t created any original thoughts but simply rephrased and repackaged old aphorisms. To see two quotes from this guru of gobbledygook presented as “penetratingly brilliant” shows that the author has little depth in philosophical thought or history.
I would have been more impressed if he had chosen some quotes from Chuck Norris’ or Steven Segal’s movies. Some of those are at least funny.
“I’ll be back!” is more penetrating and insightful.
I too am a collector of quotes. Usually like your stuff. Never been more disappointed in my life.
Robbins? Really?
I will let despair.com say it for me to explain Robbins and the simpletons who believe his malarkey:
Just remember that half the people are not as smart as the other half.
My favorite “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.” Yogi Berra
Undoubtedly the greatest single quote of all time, and the most relevant in today”s world.
“What? Me worry!”
Alfred E. Newman
Sorry. Make that Alfred E. Neuman.
No.7: really? Can I take a nap while falling to my death off a cliff? How about panicking as if I’m falling off a cliff while taking a nap? That actually happens sometimes twixt the waking world and Nemo land but I can’t control it. That would be really great if I could; get 8 restful hours of sleep while panicking as if I’m falling off a cliff.
Maybe with hungry dinosaurs waiting with their giant mouths open like in Star Spangled War Stories.
OK, here are mine:
“They laughed at Galileo. They laughed at Newton. They laughed at Einstein. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” – unknown
“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” – Freud (arguably a variation on Hawkins’ #1)
“I like dealing with rightists. They tell you what they really think, unlike the leftists who say one thing and mean another” – Mao Tse-Tung (!!!)
“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
There’s a Magrittable joke somewhere in there.
I was hoping for Chesterton or Lewis, and I get Tony Robbins. Yccch. For one thing, it’s about as unChristian a philosophy as there is. Not to mention, self-contradictory. Take…
> “Your emotions are nothing but biochemical storms in your brain and you are in control of them at any point in time.”
If it is true that emotions are nothing but biochemistry, why isn’t this also true of thinking? And if that’s true, then we are in control of nothing. All it would mean is that LaPlace was correct that our words and deeds are predictable, using pretty much the same kinds of theorems one would use to predict the tides or relative humidity.
And how about this one?
> “Nothing in life has any real meaning except the meaning you give it.”
So nothing in life has any objective meaning. I’m sure Ted Bundy would have liked to have heard that. Bundy decided that the meaning of life was to provide an end to other lives. In the context of Robbins’ philosophy, who is to say otherwise? And if it made Bundy’s conscience feel bad, please refer to the first quote — no need to feel bad, Ted, it’s just a chemical brainstorm.
Why Robbins’ quotes are taken by anyone as “penetratingly brilliant” is beyond me.
Sowell, on the other hand, rocks.
“We are the generation We have been waiting for…” ~ Barack Obama
Wee-wee!
When you say two of the most penetratingly brilliant quotes of all time come from Tony Robbins, you are hurting for penetratingly brilliant quotes. You could at lest work in one from Billy Mays or that Ronco guy?
Yes indeed, love quotes. My 2 favorites:
“Humans as well as animals can be herded. The trick, is to make them think they choose their own destination.” Author unknown.
“We have enough youth, what we need, is a fountain of smart.” Author unknown.
Tony Robbins!? Why not the “I am my own god” nutcakes, like Shirley Mc Lain and Oprah Winfrey? Or trail back to the founder of the unscientific, unchristian “Christian Science” cult, Mary Baker, Quimby, Glover, Patterson, Moore, Eddy? (She experienced some relationship problems).
Regarding quote #4, I’ve been thinking about the idea for the last 4 years.
The idea is that if you earn money doing what you love you’ll turn drudgery into enjoyment. But I have observed that people who do that end up turning what they love into drudgery.
I have become highly suspicious of that quote ten years into my career.
Yep, happened to my dad in the 60′s. Loved to build and fly model airplanes. So he bought a hobby shop. All his friends that he flew with and enjoyed being with turned into customers who wanted special deals and didn’t understand why he couldn’t lower the price any further. Ended up hating it and them. Tried twice. Loved building custom cars and dune buggies. Went into business. Friends cheated him till he quit. Went back to work in a regular job and made his money and paid his bills and now he’s waiting to die. Here’s a quote for you:
“Life sucks then you die!”
Ayuh. I used to believe that one myself. That’s why I studied music (hence the handle, Reformed Trombonist). I learned since that symphony orchestras are often populated by some extremely unhappy people. A lot of it is managing expectations. Aesthetic experiences can feel very close to spiritual ones, so close that it can fool you. As such, aesthetics often promises more than it can deliver, which brings the sense of disappointment and betrayal. That’s how what you love can turn in to what you hate.
The Danish composer Carl Nielsen once said something to this effect: “All things considered, I think I should have been happier as a plumber.”
I got out of the field almost thirty years ago. Computer programming never presented itself to me as my lord and saviour, so we get along just fine. In the meantime, I re-acquired my love of trombone playing. You just have to remember that it doesn’t love you back.
Those are the types of examples that have me questioning the wisdom of that quote.
I wonder how many professionally athletes grow to hate their sport. Your average physician probably loves golf more than someone on the PGA tour.
Mr. Trombone, I’m happy you got out of the music business to save your love for music.
“Find something you love to do so much that you’d do it for free and find a way to make it into a career.” — Anonymous
I like the similar quote by Confucius: “Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
In the current political climate, you cannot beat:
“All animals are equal… But some animals are more equal than others.”
– George Orwell
or for Utopians, generally:
“Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.”
– G.K. Chesterton
My favorite quotes come from slightly different sources, some of you will know one, some the other, few will know both, or maybe not.
“Be wary of strong drink, it can make you shoot at tax collectors, and miss.”
“I’ve had all I can stands cause I cant stands no more!”
Clowns stabbing us while we’re asleep? Jeez, anybody can see it’s a couple of mace-wielding knights trying to kill one ol’ giant crustacean
Re: #3 (Paris, not Mr Sowell)
VD will go away with penicillin, but the shame will be with you forever!
Sorry, this was a pile of mush that PJ is unworthy of. This belongs over on the site with funny captions on cat pictures. Or aptly, its sister site, “FAILBlog.”
And yes, quoting Tony Robbins right out of the box immediately destroyed any chance at credibility whatsoever.
Now here’s a quote: “Every man has to believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink.”
Re #6: I like the definition of a critic as “a legless person teaching running”
Chris Brown
Dude, the bridge failed from old age!
I have a couple—
I saw you in body what I only had in mind.
Flimsy passion wanders in the company of thighs.
By Da Free John
How about some REALLY essential ones?
Eating is shitting.
Seeing is fucking.
Thanks Da!
The award for utter banality goes to … “Who Knows?”
Thanks for the comment.
I’ve got an eighth “Most Penetratingly Brilliant Quotes Of All Time”: “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach
“Achieving happiness consists not so much of getting what you want, but in wanting what you have” Lin Yutang, 200BC
“Before enlightenment, carry water, chop wood. After enlightenment, carry water, chop wood.”
“Information wants to be free” Stewert Brand
”The budget should be balanced,
public debt should be reduced,
the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled,
and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt.
People must again learn to work,
instead of living on public assistance.”
Cicero – 55BC
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” Winston Churchill
“If you want more of something, subsidize it. If you want less of something, tax it.” – Ronald Reagan
How about
“Capitalism is a fundamental human right.” – Matt Johnson, January 2012
“My dear brothers, never forget, when you hear the progress of enlightenment vaunted, that the Devil’s greatest trick is to persuade you that he doesn’t exist.”
“Freedom is just another word for Nothing left to lose.”
From the song about Bobby McGee.
My favorite quote is my own: no matter what people say I say “compared to what?” It is applicable 67.905% of the time.
My favorite quote in the article is your quote “there’s an opportunity cost to EVERYTHING.”. This explanation of the concept of Opportunity Cost was an eye opener… Thank you!
There are at least seven perils of wisdom that are worth their weight in gold, and they all come from the same man; The Great Yogi Berra.
1. If you come to a fork in the road, take it.
2. If the world was perfect, it wouldn’t be.
3. Even Napoleon had his Watergate.
4. Little league baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.
5. Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t go to yours.
6. I just want thank everyone who made this day necessary.
And last, because it has meant the most to me personally, number 7: The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.
And of course, since it is baseball related, who could forget this one from The Great Tom Hanks; There’s no crying in baseball.
And my 9th unofficial favorite quote of all time, from my childhood’s best friend’s little brother; I just found a training bra, and I don’t know what to feed it.
Those are perils indeed!
Here’s another one from John Wooden: “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”
One of my favorites:
The world we have created today has problems that cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them. Albert Einstein
If you want to make g-d laugh tell him your plans.-Woody Allen