M. > M.'s Quotes

“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you.”
― Beatrix Potter

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.”
― Walt Disney

“Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again.”
― Louisa May Alcott

“Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.”
― Edith Wharton, Artemis to Actaeon and Other Verses

“Life is always either a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.”
― Edith Wharton

“Ignorance killed the cat; curiosity was framed!”
― C. J. Cherryh

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
― Benjamin Franklin

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

“You see, but you do not observe.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia

“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Boscombe Valley Mystery - a Sherlock Holmes Short Story

“The love of books is among the choicest gifts of the gods.”
― Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.”
― C.S. Lewis

“This is the fix we are in. If the universe is not governed by an absolute goodness, then all our efforts are in the long run hopeless. But if it is, then we are making ourselves enemies to that goodness every day, and are not in the least likely to do any better tomorrow, and so our case is hopeless again. We cannot do without it, and we cannot do with it. God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we most want to hide from. He is our only possible ally, and we have made ourselves His enemies. Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. They are still only playing with religion.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.”
― Julie Andrews Edwards

“She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.”
― Louisa May Alcott, Work: A Story of Experience

“It isn't the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh - I really think that requires spirit.
It's the kind of character that I am going to develop. I am going to pretend that all life is just a game which I must play as skillfully and fairly as I can. If I lose, I am going to shrug my shoulders and laugh - also if I win.”
― Jean Webster, Daddy Long Legs

“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The moment you put a deadline on your dream, it becomes a goal.”
― Harsha Bhogle, The Winning Way: Learnings from sport for managers

“We are all a little weird. And we like to think that there is always someone weirder. I mean, I am sure some of you are looking at me and thinking, “Well, at least I am not as weird as you,” and I am thinking, “Well, at least I am not as weird as the people in the loony bin,” and the people in the loony bin are thinking, “Well, at least I am an orange”.”
― Jim Gaffigan

“Right now I’m having amnesia and déjà vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.”
― Steven Wright

“If at first you don't succeed then skydiving definitely isn't for you.”
― Steven Wright

“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.”
― Steven Wright

“If a person with multiple personalities threatens suicide, is that considered a hostage situation?”
― Steven Wright

“I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done.”
― Steven Wright

“I went to a restaurant that serves "breakfast at any time" so I ordered French toast during the Renaissance.”
― Steven Wright

“I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.”
― Steven Wright

“When I was in school the teachers told me practice makes perfect; then they told me nobody’s perfect so I stopped practicing.”
― Steven Wright