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Archives - December 2005

December 1, 2005

A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.

– Salman Rushdie

December 2, 2005

Strong reasons make strong actions.

– William Shakespeare

December 3, 2005

There's really no fun in being sensible all the time....

– L. M. Montgomery, from ANNE OF INGLESIDE

December 4, 2005

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

– Mark Twain

December 5, 2005

Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.

– Charlie Chaplin

December 6, 2005

Bad temper is its own scourge. Few things are more bitter than to feel bitter. A man's venom poisons himself more than his victim.

– Charles Buxton

December 7, 2005

The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past.

– William Faulkner

December 8, 2005

I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor. What I have in my heart must come out; that is the reason why I compose.

– Ludwig van Beethoven

December 9, 2005

Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them.

– Adlai E. Stevenson JrAdlai E. Stevenson Jr.

December 10, 2005

Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious.

– William Feather

December 11, 2005

There is nothing worse then a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.

– Ansel Adams

December 12, 2005

I have plenty of common sense! I just choose to ignore it.

– Bill Watterson, in "Calvin and Hobbes"

December 13, 2005

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.

– William Blake

December 14, 2005

Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.

– Michel de Montaigne

December 15, 2005

Always be a little kinder than necessary.

– James M. Barrie

December 16, 2005

I base my fashion taste on what doesn't itch.

– Gilda Radner

December 17, 2005

Life is not what one lived, but rather what one remembers, and how it is remembered to tell the tale.

– Gabriel Garcia Marquez

December 18, 2005

Tact is, after all, a kind of mind reading.

– Sarah Orne Jewett

December 19, 2005

There's no fool like an old fool --- you can't beat experience.

– Jacob Braude

December 20, 2005

To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.

– Yann Martel, in LIFE OF PI

December 21, 2005

Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.

– John Boswell

December 22, 2005

I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colours. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns.

– Sir Winston Churchill

December 23, 2005

The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous.

– Shana Alexander

December 24, 2005

The cold was our pride, the snow was our beauty. It fell and fell, lacing day and night together in a milky haze, making everything quieter as it fell, so that winter seemed to partake of religion in a way no other season did, hushed, solemn.

– Patricia Hampl

December 25, 2005

Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.

– Oren Arnold

December 26, 2005

All change is a miracle to contemplate;
But it is a miracle which is taking place every second.

– Henry David Thoreau

December 27, 2005

A pleasure is not full grown until it is remembered.

– C. S. Lewis

December 28, 2005

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

– Ernest Hemingway

December 29, 2005

You must not think me necessarily foolish because I am facetious, nor will I consider you necessarily wise because you are grave.

– Sydney Smith

December 30, 2005

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots.

– Frank A. Clark

December 31, 2005

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.

– Hal Borland