What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness. - Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910)

He acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE)

When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)

It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good. -Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)

Shall I tell you the secret of the true scholar? It is this: every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Sometimes to remain silent is to lie. -Miguel de Unamuno, philosopher and writer (1864-1936)

Do not praise yourself / not slander others: / There are still many days to go / and any thing could happen. -Kabir

To appreciate nonsense requires a serious interest in life. -Gelett Burgess (1866-1951)

The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new. -Samuel Johnson, lexicographer (1709-1784)

There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking. -Theodore Rubin

Many a man fails to become a thinker for the sole reason that his memory is too good. -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, German philosopher (1844-1900)

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. -Saul Belloe

Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both. - Oscar Wilde

A person without a sense of humour is like a wagon without springs--jolted by every pebble in the road. -Henry Ward Beecher, preacher and writer (1813-1887)

A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanging. It is the skin of living thought. -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894)

If you put a chain around the neck of a slave, the other end fastens itself around your own. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression. -Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer, Nobel laureate, (1904-1991)

As freely as the firmament embraces the world, / or the sun pours forth impartially his beams, / so mercy must encircle both friend and foe. -Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, poet and dramatist (1759-1805)

The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved. -Victor Hugo, poet, novelist, and dramatist (1802-1885)

Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled, ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort. -Charles Dickens, novelist (1812-1870)

The highest purpose is to have no purpose at all. This puts one in accord with nature in her manner of operation. -John Cage, composer (1912-1992)

In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences. -Robert Green Ingersoll, lawyer and orator (1833-1899)

Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones. -Charles Caleb Colton, author and clergyman (1780-1832)

A pedestal is as much a prison as any small space. -Gloria Steinem, women's rights activist, editor (1934-)

If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe. -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BC)

Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe. -Robert Service, writer (1874-1958)

I was court-martialled in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence. -Brendan Francis Behan, playwright (1923-1964)

We are all born originals - why is it so many of us die copies? -Edward Young, poet (1683-1765)

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. -Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate (1928- )

""In the midst of great joy, do not promise anyone anything. In the midst of great anger do not answer anyone's letter". (Chinese Proverb)

When I play with my cat, who knows whether I do not make her more sport than she makes me? -Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)

I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. -Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect and author (1743-1826)

It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than "try to be a little kinder." -Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963)

He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise. -Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)

As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty, and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life - so I became a scientist.  This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls. - Matt Cartmill, anthropology professor and author (1943- )

Shut your mouth and people will think you are a fool. Open your mouth and remove all doubt. Dennis Thatcher. 23/11/01

Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -Susan Ertz, author (1894-1985)

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself. -Henry Miller, novelist (1891-1980)

Simplicity doesn't mean to live in misery and poverty. You have what you need, and you don't want to have what you don't need. -Charan Singh, mystic (1916-1990)

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? -Jean Jacques Rousseau, philosopher and author (1712-1778)

Conversation, n. A fair to the display of the minor mental commodities, each exhibitor being too intent upon the arrangement of his own wares to observe those of his neighbor. -Ambrose Bierce, writer (1842-1914) [The Devil's Dictionary]

The soul has wings, and music can help it to fly… Latvian week BBC 3 18.2.02

There is a great blessing in mixing our minds with the great philosophers and sages.

What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness.  - Leo Tolstoy, novelist and philosopher (1828-1910)

I shut my eyes in order to see. -Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

To teach is to learn twice. -Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)

Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression. -Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer, Nobel laureate, (1904-1991)

Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -Susan Ertz, author (1894-1985)

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself. -Henry Miller, novelist (1891-1980)

Simplicity doesn't mean to live in misery and poverty. You have what you need, and you don't want to have what you don't need. -Charan Singh, mystic (1916-1990)

Do not negotiate in fear but do not fear to negotiate.

'Since desire always goes towards that which is our direct opposite, it forces us to love that which will make us suffer.' Proust

"If you can make her laugh, you have it made" anon

"Too many people are afraid to fail" David Templeman Adams, after his third and successful attempt to cross the Atlantic in a Wicker Basket.

"We decide who we are"

Disease ' change the host so that the disease can no longer recognize it' Russell Targ

"There are no unnatural or super natural phenomenon, only very large gaps in our knowledge of what is natural … we should strive to fill those gaps of ignorance" Edgar Mitchell

" I play a violin (at schools to children who have never seen a violin) and see what they do" Famous female violinist in USA

"Bach is the touchstone that keeps me honest" a composer and performer

 "Fear makes the aggression seem worse than it is"

"Don't believe the best or the worst that is written about you, and get on with the job"  William Hague.

"Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain (stands alone); but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life"

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."-- Ralph Waldo Emerson