Nancy Constable > Nancy's Quotes

“Take someone who doesn't keep score,
who's not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing,
who has not the slightest interest even
in his own personality: he's free.”
― Rumi Jalalu'l-Din

“Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.”
― Nicolas de Chamfort

“A man should swallow a toad every morning to be sure of not meeting with anything more revolting in the day ahead.”
― Sebastien-Roch-Nicolas Chamfort

“In order not to find life unbearable, you must accept two things: the ravages of time and the injustices of man.”
― Nicolas Chamfort

“There are more people who wish to be loved than there are who are willing to love.”
― Nicolas Chamfort

“Never explain―your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires a great deal of strength to decide what to do.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“The love we give away is the only love we keep.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“I believe in the hands that work, in the brains that think, and in the hearts that love...I believe in sunshine, fresh air, friendship, calm sleep, beautiful thoughts.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“I do not read a book; I hold a conversation with the author.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“The sculptor produces the beautiful statue by chipping away such parts of the marble block as are not needed - it is a process of elimination.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“Men are only as great as they are kind.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“The stronger a man is, the more gentle he can afford to be”
― Elbert Hubbard

“A PRAYER   The supreme prayer of my heart is not to be learned, rich, famous, powerful, or “good,” but simply to be radiant. I desire to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and good will. I wish to live without hate, whim, jealousy, envy, fear. I wish to be simple, honest, frank, natural, clean in mind and clean in body, unaffected—ready to say “I do not know,” if it be so, and to meet all men on an absolute equality—to face any obstacle and meet every difficulty unabashed and unafraid. I wish others to live their lives, too—up to their highest, fullest and best. To that end I pray that I may never meddle, interfere, dictate, give advice that is not wanted, or assist when my services are not needed. If I can help people, I’ll do it by giving them a chance to help themselves; and if I can uplift or inspire, let it be by example, inference, and suggestion, rather than by injunction and dictation.”
― Elbert Hubbard, A Message to Garcia: And Other Essential Writings on Success

“The happiness of this life depends less on what befalls you than the way in which you take it.”
― Elbert Hubbard

“Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.”
― Samuel Johnson, The Rambler

“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.”
― Voltaire

“Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.”
― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

“But the expression of a well-made man appears not only in his face; It is in his limbs and joints also, it is curiously in the joints of his hips and wrists; It is in his walk, the carraige of his next, the flex of his waist and knees--dress does not hide him; The strong, sweet supple quality he has, strikes through the cotton and flannel; To see him pass conveys as much as the best poem, perhaps more; You linger to see his back, and the back of his neck and shoulder-side.”
― Diana Gabaldon, Written in My Own Heart's Blood

“The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order.”
― Jean Cocteau, Le Potomak

“A little too much is just enough for me.”
― Jean Cocteau