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What is your favorite quotation?

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"To thy own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou cans't not then be false to any man."

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"When I was young, I said to God, God, tell me the mystery of the universe. But God answered, that knowledge is for me alone. So I said, God, tell me the mystery of the peanut. Then God said, well, George, that's more nearly your size."
- George Washington Carver

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"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

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"One short sleep past and we wake eternally."
- John Donne

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"What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner."
- Colette

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"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal vigilance against any form of tyranny over the mind of man."
- Thomas Jefferson

"I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
- Voltaire

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This may not be exact, but Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once said something very much like this: "Brilliance instantly recognizes genius. Mediocrity sees only itself."

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One of my favorites is "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

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"The morning was clear, a good road led on. So there was nothing to do but cross the water and bring her home. "
- Louise Erdrich

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My favorite quotations are from the Lemony Snicket "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books. The author writes of dead (imaginary???) love Beatrice and they are hilarious!! An example from his latest:

"For Beatrice --
Dead women tell no tales.
Sad men write them down."

You should check out all the rest in the other 10 books for a good laugh.

The other quotations I always read are those by Dean Koontz and his fictional The Book of Counted Sorrows (which I wish really existed).

Erin from Tampa
"A man can stand anything except a succession of ordinary days."
- Goethe

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"What is past is prologue."
- William Shakespeare

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A quotation from Philip K. Dick's story, Time Out of Joint, keeps running around in my mind and I often see it published elsewhere. It is, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

Also, as a Liberal and a Christian (not an oxymoron), I use the next two quotations often:

"Preach the Gospel all the time. If necessary, use words."
- St. Francis of Assisi

"God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails."
- St. Augustine.

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"Making the decision to have a child --- it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."
- Elizabeth Stone

Anonymous
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
- Annie Dillard

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My favorite quotation is from Ecclesiastes, 9/11:
"I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither yet bread to the wise; nor yet riches to men of understanding; nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

The wise, old man who wrote this passage understood with great clarity that we live in a random universe and we are all subject to time and chance no matter what our station in life.

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"The road forward is always under construction."
- Anonymous

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"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
- Samuel Johnson

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The following quotation has stayed with me since college days in American Literature class. It is from Robert Frost's "Masque of Reason." It is: "There's no connection man can reason out between his just desserts and what he gets." It is so appropriate to many people --- myself included at times --- that it often pops to mind.

The other one that pops into my mind often comes from my mother. It is very old --- no author known. "A stitch in time saves nine." That quotation often causes me to literally get out the sewing supplies and mend something that has just begun to tear.

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"When in a Search of any Nature the Understanding stands suspended, then Instances of the Fingerpost shew the true and inviolable Way in which the Question is to be decided. These Instances afford great Light, so that the Course of the Investigation will sometimes be terminated by them. Sometimes, indeed, these Instances are found amongst that Evidence already set down."
- Francis Bacon, Novum Organum Scientarum, Section XXXVI, Aphorism XXI

This quotation introduced the last section of An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears.

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"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"
- William Shakespeare

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My favorite quotation comes from Joseph Addison, although I have no idea who he is: "The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for."

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"I can do all things through Christ, Who strengthens me."

"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer."

Sharon in OH
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."
- Art Linkletter

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"All women become their mothers; that's their tragedy. No man does; that's his."
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

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My favorite quotation is from H. Jackson Browne and is painted on a wall in my computer room: "People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road, doesn't mean they've gotten lost."

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"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes."
- Erasmus

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"A woman hath nine lives like a cat."
- John Heywood

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"There's nothing more interesting than a pessimist who's having a string of exceptionally good luck."
- Dr. Mardy Grothe

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This is just one of my favorite quotes. I have many but this one I live by: "Faith is not believing that God can; it is knowing that God will!"

Dianne Francis
"There must be more to life than having everything."
- Maurice Sendak

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My favorite quotation is from The Stolen Child by Paul Cody: "And I want to stop them and hold them. I want to say. This is the best thing in the world right now. Look at the sun and the moon and the trees and the birds. And remember what they look like because they will never quite look like that again."

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"There is no such thing as too many books."

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My favorite quotation is "A book is the axe that breaks the frozen ice within us." I have no idea where this comes from. I first read or heard it said when I was a little kid in elementary school, just learning to read. The quotation stuck with me for many years, and when I was a teacher I remember using this saying when I was motivating my students to write their book reports.

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Several of my favorite quotations, all handwritten on 3x5 cards on my bulletin board, come from folks who range from writers Pat Murphy and Anne Lamott to professor John Kenneth Galbraith, but most recently, it comes down to these two: one by playwright Tom Stoppard:

"Happiness is equilibrium. Shift your weight."

And this one by the late Abbie Hoffman at Vanderbilt University, not long before he died in April 1989:

"We were young. We were reckless, arrogant, silly, headstrong --- and we were right. I regret nothing."

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"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." If this was not said by anyone you know, it was often said by my father. It is a very good test of how far you can go to help someone before they have to make a move. It they can't help themselves to "drink," then you can't do any more for them.

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For some inexplicable reason I have always been intrigued by the quotes about Kamakura at the beginning of the first three chapters of Kim by Kipling.

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This one probably reveals too much about my lifestyle but of all the billions of great quotations, mine is: "Dost think because thou art virtuous there shall be no more cakes and ale?"
- Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

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"I only wish I could speed read. There are way too many books out there that I want to read!" An old buddy of mine put that in an email to me. So true!!

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"It is not enough that I win. All my enemies must die!"
- Atilla the Hun

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"A bored person is a boring person."

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"I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.
- Chang Tzu

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"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift."
- Steve Prefontaine, "Pre"

Although I love quotes from great literature, this quote from a distance runner has had the most impact on my life. For "Pre," his gift was his phenomenal talent as one of America's best distance runners. For others, our gift can be any aspect of our lives. Sadly, Steve Perfontaine died at a very young age and was never able to fully realize his talents. This quote reminds me to always try to give my best in whatever I attempt and to be truly grateful for the gifts I have been given.

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"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how slow and overpriced you make the other guy look!"

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"It is only that which has brought you sorrow that can bring you joy."
- Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

This quotation has gotten me through some very difficult times. It's a steady reminder that in order to experience the highs of life it is sometimes necessary to suffer the lows.

Barbara from TX
I love quotes, especially ones to do with books, and I have collected many...here are a few of my favorites:

"I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little further down our particular path than we have gone ourselves."
- E.M Forster

"Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier."
- Kathleen Norias, Hands Full of Living, 1931

Reading is a means of thinking with another person's mind; it forces you to stretch your own."
- Charles Scribner Jr.

"One's prime is elusive. You little girls, when you grow up, must be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur."
- Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1962)

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I'm a quote collector so narrowing the field down to one is all but impossible. But if I were forced to do so, I think it would be this one by Red Skelton: "I don't hate my enemies. After all, I made 'em."

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"The cure for anything is salt water --- sweat, tears, or the sea."
- Isak Dinesen

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"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx

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Mine dates back to high school when we read what has become my favorite novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: "Don't roust your faith bird-high and you won't do no crawlin' with the worms."

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"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." This closing statement from the classic novel The Great Gatsby speaks to the timeless quality of F. Scott Fitzgerald's works of literature; while there may be more inspiring quotes that I have read and enjoyed, this one seems to keep coming to mind over the years.

From a more general, non-literature source, I've always enjoyed the following: "Heal the Past, Live the Present, Dream the Future." I only wish I knew the source of this, presumedly anonymous, quote.

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My favorite is "God I am praying for patience, and I want it, right now!!!

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"Coincidences are simply little miracles in which God remains anonymous."

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"Look into the past, but don't stare." I don't know who said it, but it has so much value.

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"Sometimes, I wish I were a little kid again, skinned knees are easier to fix than broken hearts."
- Anonymous

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Come my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world...
Though we are not what in old times we were,
Yet what we are, we are -- one equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will,
To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield."
- Tennyson

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My favorite quotes are numerous, but this is one I'm using in my signature line right now:

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
- Plato

Barbara from Harrisburg, IL
Robert Frost said, "Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." (May not be exact. I used this quote over and over while training prospective foster and adoptive families, "home" being their homes, once they reared them and loved them.)

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"When people show you who they are, believe them"

I have heard Oprah Winfrey quote this many times but I believe it is actually credited to Maya Angelou. It's advice to live by.

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I've always loved great opening lines:

"She didn't stop screaming until she was dead."
Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

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"I have sworn, upon the altar of God, eternal vigilance against any form of tyranny over the mind of man."
- Thomas Jefferson

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Although I have many "favorites" when it comes to quotations, this will probably always rank #1:

"Life is too important to be taken seriously."
- Oscar Wilde

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"Life is what happens while you're making other plans"

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"You know that place between asleep and awake? Where you still remember dreaming? That's where I'll always think of you."
- Peter Pan

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"Walk by faith, not by sight."

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My favorite quotation is "Winners never quit and quitters never win."

A close second is "I miss 100% of the shot I don't take."
- Wayne Gretzky

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"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breathe away."

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"That which does not destroy you makes you stronger."