If a secret history of books could be written, and the author's private thoughts and meanings noted down alongside of his story, how many insipid volumes would become interesting, and dull tales excite the reader! ~William Makepeace Thackeray
#quotes #william-makepeace-thackeray #writing #history #books

The corporation is an out-of-control Frankenstein. ~Jerry Brown
#quotes #jerry-brown #frankenstein

Taste refers to the past, imagination to the future. ~Mason Cooley
#quotes #mason-cooley #taste #imagination #past #future

The recognition of the art that informs all pure science need not mean the abandonment for it of all present art, rather it will mean the completion of the transformation of art that has already begun. ~John Desmond Bernal
#quotes #john-desmond-bernal #art #science

I believe that before anything else I'm a human being; just as much as you are... or at any rate I shall try to become one. I know quite well that most people would agree with you, Torvald, and that you have warrant for it in books; but I can't be satisfied any longer with what most people say, and with what's in books. I must think things out for myself and try to understand them. ~Henrik Ibsen
#quotes #henrik-ibsen #human #believe #books #thinking

I keep my house tidy, because then I can think clearly. I feel the same about myself. Presenting yourself well is a working-class thing; my dad was a printer, but he wore a tie most days. The ungroomed look belongs more to the middle classes. ~Gary Kemp
#quotes #gary-kemp

Mozart eliminates the idea of haste from life. His airs could not lag as they make their journey through the listener's attention; they are not the right shape for loitering. But it is as true that they never rush, they are never headlong or helter-skelter, they splash no mud, they raise no dust. ~Rebecca West
#quotes #rebecca-west #mozart #music

I'm loath to use my personal life to promote what I do, but at the same time, I don't like a journalist going away with no more than you could get off Wikipedia, where most of it's invented anyway. ~Johnny Vegas
#quotes #johnny-vegas #journalism #wikipedia

Whenever the devil harasses you, seek the company of men or drink more, or joke and talk nonsense, or do some other merry thing. Sometimes we must drink more, sport, recreate ourselves, and even sin a little to spite the devil, so that we leave him no place for troubling our consciences with trifles. We are conquered if we try too conscientiously not to sin at all. So when the devil says to you: do not drink, answer him: I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to. ~Martin Luther
#quotes #martin-luther #evil #alcohol

My dad in particular, I tend to use; I call him "The Brain." If he's accessible, I'd rather put it through his brain. My wife, Melissa, maintains that the closer he is in proximity to me, the less I think for myself. And I think she's actually correct. So anything worth mulling over, I will mull over with my father, and that includes ratings. ~Joshua Malina
#quotes #joshua-malina #father

What bothers most critics of my work is the goofiness. One reviewer said I need to make up my mind if want to be funny or serious. My response is that I will make up my mind when God does, because life is a commingling of the sacred and the profane, good and evil. To try and separate them is fallacy. ~Tom Robbins
#quotes #tom-robbins #critic #writing

I grew up in South Africa and I would look at maps and we were at the bottom of the world. There was this whole thing up there. I was always reading encyclopedias about the world. So travel was something I was always attracted to. ~Charlize Theron
#quotes #charlize-theron #travel #world #south-africa

A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom. ~Chinese Proverb
#proverbs #chinese-proverbs #nature #flower

If you want success, be unique. ~Natalie Massenet
#quotes #natalie-massenet #success #uniqueness

Social media is not about the exploitation of technology but service to community. ~Simon Mainwaring
#quotes #simon-mainwaring #technology #social-media

We have different forms assigned to us in the school of life, different gifts imparted. All is not attractive that is good. Iron is useful, though it does not sparkle like the diamond. Gold has not the fragrance of a flower. So different persons have various modes of excellence, and we must have an eye to all. ~William Wilberforce
#quotes #william-wilberforce #personality

We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present: unemployment, inflation... but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America. ~Barbara Jordan
#quotes #barbara-jordan #united-states

Very often I'll find out at the end of a book what I put in at the beginning. A sort of process of elimination and discovery in one. ~Jonathan Carroll
#quotes #jonathan-carroll #books #process

The key to ending extreme poverty is to enable the poorest of the poor to get their foot on the ladder of development. The ladder of development hovers overhead, and the poorest of the poor are stuck beneath it. They lack the minimum amount of capital necessary to get a foothold, and therefore need a boost up to the first rung. ~Jeffrey Sachs
#quotes #jeffrey-sachs #money #economy

I think there's a side of me that's trying to compete with Lucas and Spielberg. I don't usually admit this publicly, because I tend to think that they only go so far, and their view of the world is rather simplistic. What I want to do is take whatever cinema is considered normal or successful at a particular time and play around with it, to use it as a way of luring audiences in. ~Terry Gilliam
#quotes #terry-gilliam #movies

I live for now, not for what happens after I die. ~Liam Gallagher
#quotes #liam-gallagher #life #present #death

There's a lot to be said for not displacing people. ~Barney Frank
#quotes #barney-frank #displacement

These days I seem to think about the things I forgot to do for you and all the times I had a chance to. ~Jackson Browne
#quotes #jackson-browne #wish

The best place for criticism is in front of the mirror. ~English Proverb
#proverbs #english-proverbs #criticism

Start-up success is not a consequence of good genes or being in the right place at the right time. Success can be engineered by following the right process, which means it can be learned, which means it can be taught. ~Eric Ries
#quotes #eric-ries #start-up #success