C'est La Vie's quotes

(showing 1-50 of 57)

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
— Mark Twain

tags: literacy
6,123 people liked it

"Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure"
— Tacitus, c. A.D. 55-120

1 person liked it

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."
— Ray Bradbury

tags: culture, reading
1,320 people liked it

"When you show yourself to the world and display your talents, you naturally stir all kinds of resentment, envy, and other manifestations of insecurity... you cannot spend your life worrying about the petty feelings of others"
— Robert Greene (The 48 Laws of Power)

tags: success
2 people liked it

"A monkey was carrying two handfuls of peas. One little pea dropped out. He tried to pick it up, and split twenty. He tried to pick up the twenty, and split them all. Then he lost his temper, scattered the peas in all directions and ran away"
— Leo Tolstoy

1 person liked it

"When the snipe and the mussel struggle, the fisherman gets the benefit"
— Ancient Chinese Saying

1 person liked it

"It's the contradiction of life, if I were with them,I would only wish to be far away. Now that I am far away, all I do is wish for one more day surrounded by them"
— Laura Fitzgerald (Veil of Roses)

tags: irony
1 person liked it

"There is no dignity for either the sufferer or the torturer"
— James Clavell (Shogun)

2 people liked it

"The north wind and the sun were disputing which was the stronger, and agreed to acknowledge as the victor whichever of them could strip a traveler of his clothing. The wind tried first. But its violent gusts only made the man hold his clothes tightly around him, and when it blew harder still the cold made him so uncomfortable that he put on an extra wrap. Eventually the wind got tired of it and handed him over to the sun. The sun shone first with moderate warmth, which made the man take off his topcoat. Then it blazed fiercely, till, unable to stand the heat, he stripped and went off to a bathe in a nearby river. Persuasion is more effective than force. "
— Aesop

1 person liked it

"One should not be straightforward. Go and see the forest. The straight trees are cut down, the crooked ones are left standing"
— Kautilya Indian philosopher 3rd century B.C.

1 person liked it

"When the only answer a little girl ever receives is no, from her parents or her teachers or her world, at some point she stops asking for what she wants. She begins to expect nothing, so as not to be disappointed when that exactly what she gets. But, it turns out, I do have wants."
— Laura Fitzgerald (Veil of Roses)

tags: psychology
1 person liked it

"The greatest danger occurs at the moment of victory"
— Napoleon Bonaparte

1 person liked it

"Keep your friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent"
— Robert Greene (The 48 Laws of Power)

tags: success
2 people liked it

"Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived."
— Niccolò Machiavelli

1 person liked it

"Courteous people learn courtesy from the discourteous"
— Laura Fitzgerald (Veil of Roses)

tags: wisdom
1 person liked it

"If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame. But, if orders are clear and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their oficers."
— Sun Tzu

1 person liked it

"An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind."
— Mahatma Gandhi (GANDHI: An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth)

tags: conflict, fighting, peace, revenge, trial, violence
1,820 people liked it

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
— Frank Zappa

tags: music, philosophy, progress
492 people liked it

"Of all the disorders in the soul, envy is the only one no one confesses to."
— Plutarch

1 person liked it

"There are very few men-and they are the exceptions-who are able to think and feel beyond the present moment"
— Carl Von Clausewitz

1 person liked it

"MAN: Kick him-he'll forgive you. Flatter him-he may or may not see through you. But ignore him and he'll hate you"
— Idries Shah

1 person liked it

"Given enough time and distance, the heart will always heal."
— Laura Fitzgerald (Veil of Roses)

tags: healing
1 person liked it

"All warfare are based on deception"
— Sun Tzu (Sun-Tzu: The Art of War)

1 person liked it

"It takes great talent and skill to conceal one's talent and skill"
— La Rocherfoucauld

1 person liked it

"As I watch him, a sudden recognition comes over me: Tonight, I can be anyone I want… maybe being happy only means living in the moment, appreciating the exact moment you're in and not thinking about the worries of the future."
— Laura Fitzgerald (Veil of Roses)

tags: happiness
1 person liked it

"The important thing is not what we look like, but the role we play in our
best friend’s life. Friends choose certain friends because that’s the kind of company they are looking for at that specific time, not because they’re the
correct height, age, or have the right hair color"
— Cecelia Ahern (If You Could See Me Now)

3 people liked it

"Always remember, child" her first teacher had impressed on her, "that to think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral you down into ever-increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort. This is one of the things that need disipline –training- is about. So train your mind to dwell on sweet perfumes, the touch of this silk, tender raindrops against the shoji, the curve of the flower arrangement, the tranquillity of dawn. Then, at length, you won't have to make such a great effort and you will be of value to yourself,…"
— James Clavell

1 person liked it

"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth."
— Mark Twain

tags: dance, heaven, hurt, inspirational, life, love, sing
16,105 people liked it

"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."
— Eleanor Roosevelt

tags: confidence, inspirational, wisdom
10,469 people liked it

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
— Marilyn Monroe

tags: best, life, love, mistakes, out-of-control, truth, worst
10,810 people liked it

"Women are like teabags; you never know how strong they are until they're put in hot water."
— Eleanor Roosevelt

tags: women
7,025 people liked it

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

tags: accomplishment, be-yourself, conformity, individuality, world
6,913 people liked it

"If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything."
— Malcolm X

tags: belief, integrity
6,598 people liked it

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
— Mother Teresa

tags: judge, judgemental, love, time
4,237 people liked it

"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people."
— Eleanor Roosevelt

tags: dreams
3,618 people liked it

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."
— Helen Keller

tags: inspirational
2,240 people liked it

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win."
— Mahatma Gandhi

tags: conflict, fighting, inspirational, trial
1,329 people liked it

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
— Martin Luther King Jr. (I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World, Special 75th Anniversary Edition)

tags: inspirational
1,034 people liked it

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
— Albert Einstein

tags: greatness, opposition, spirit
822 people liked it

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. "
— Leo Tolstoy

783 people liked it

"Let us read and let us dance — two amusements that will never do any harm to the world."
— Voltaire

tags: dance, dancing, reading
554 people liked it

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
— Martin Luther King Jr.

tags: challanges
492 people liked it

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
— Napoleon Bonaparte

tags: enemies, mistakes, strategy
497 people liked it

"It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
— Eleanor Roosevelt

tags: inspirational
463 people liked it

"Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul."
— Joyce Carol Oates

tags: reading
460 people liked it

"You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it."
— Malcolm X (By Any Means Necessary)

tags: philosophy, politics
437 people liked it

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
— Martin Luther King Jr.

tags: ignorance
362 people liked it

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
— Abraham Lincoln

tags: adversity, character, power
359 people liked it