Brian > Brian's Quotes

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Such a long, long time to be gone and a short time to be there”
― Robert Hunter, A Box of Rain: Lyrics, 1965-1993

“Never confuse movement with action.”
― Ernest Hemingway

“All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.”
― Joseph Campbell

“Discipline equals freedom.”
― Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

“It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.”
― Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

“human beings need three basic things in order to be content: they need to feel competent at what they do; they need to feel authentic in their lives; and they need to feel connected to others. These values are considered "intrinsic" to human happiness and far outweigh "extrinsic" values such as beauty, money and status.”
― Sebastian Junger, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

“Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking”
― Craig Johnson, The Cold Dish

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”
― William Faulkner

“Wonder. Go on and wonder.”
― William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
― Ernest Hemingway

“I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?”
― Ernest Hemingway

“The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

“Bad libraries only build collections. Good libraries build services (and a collection is only one of many). Great libraries build communities.”
― R. David Lankes, Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries For Today's Complex World

“Every day, librarians enforce copyright policies that we may disagree with and that, in some ways, run contrary to the values of our profession. Every day, librarians must decide between a desire to preserve the privacy of our community members and offering services our communities demand. Every day, librarians must make a choice between doing what’s easy, doing what’s right, and determining what’s right in the first place. No textbook or mission statement or policy document can relieve us of the necessity to make those decisions, nor remove the complexity of those decisions. That’s why we are librarians and why librarians are professionals, not clerks. That’s why we are stewards within the communities we serve, not servants to them. That’s why we must shape the missions and the work of our organizations and communities, and not simply accept them.”
― R. David Lankes, The New Librarianship Field Guide

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

“I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.”
― Jack Kerouac

“The only truth is music.”
― Jack Kerouac

“It all ends in tears anyway.”
― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

“I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen.”
― John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

“A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.”
― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America

“It takes great courage to back truth unacceptable to our times. There's a punishment for it and it's usually crucifixion.”
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

“Tell 'em to God. Don' go burdenin' other people with your sins. That ain't decent.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“No job is beneath you.

You ought to be thrilled you got a job in the mailroom And when you get there, here's what you do: Be really great at sorting mail. ”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

“Sometimes the fate of an entire nation can hinge on the integrity of one man.”
― Mark Bowden, Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw

“It's what you do right now that makes a difference.”
― Mark Bowden

“Look for the intelligence behind the mistake.”
― Mike Ritland, Team Dog: How to Train Your Dog--the Navy SEAL Way