Famous Quotations by Dave Mckay (best short books to read TXT) 📕

out on the hills alone.

A man cannot be cruel or a fool

alone on a great mountain.

 

Francis Kilvert (1840-1879), from his diaries

 

 

You will find something more in a forest

than in books.

Trees and stones will teach you

that which you can never learn from masters.

 

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), French Abbott

 

 

Thanks to highways, it is now possible to travel

from one side of the country to the other

without seeing anything.

 

Charles Kuralt (1934-1997), American journalist

 

 

He that plants trees

loves others besides himself.

 

English Proverb

 

 

A fool does not see

the same tree that a wise man sees.

 

William Blake (1757-1827), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

 

 

Don’t go around saying

the world owes you a living.

The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

 

Mark Twain (1835-1910), American author and humourist

 

 

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than

a step in the work of the stars.

 

Walt Whitman (1819-1892), American poet, essayist and journalist

 

 

Where the telescope ends,

the microscope begins,

and who can say which has the wider vision?

 

Victor Hugo (1802-1885), Les Miserables

 

 

The earth is God’s,

and all that is in it.

 

The Bible, Psalm 24:1

 

 

The leaves fall, the wind blows,

and the farm slowly changes

from summer cottons into its winter wools.

 

Henry Beston (1888-1968), Northern Farm

 

 

In the cold midwinter icy wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone;

Snow was falling, snow on snow, Snow on

snow, In the cold midwinter, Long ago.

 

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), A Christmas Carol

 

 

We dig the ground

and plant the good seed on the land, but

food and water come

from God’s much stronger hand.

 

Jane Montgomery Campbell (1817-1878), 1861 hymn

translated from the German of Matthias Claudius (1740-1815)

 

 

In God we live and move

and have our being.

 

The Bible, Acts 17:28

 

 

Nature is but name for an effect,

Whose cause is God.

 

William Cowper (1731-1800), English poet and hymn writer

 

God gave Noah the rainbow sign,

no more water, the fire next time.

 

Home in that Rock (Negro Spiritual)

 

 

The wolf also shall live with the lamb, and the

leopard shall lie down with the young goat.

 

The Bible, Isaiah 11:6.

 

 

God made the country;

man made the town.

 

William Cowper (1731-1800), The Task (1785), book 1 ‘The Sofa’

 

 

Cain moved away from where God was,

and he made a city.

 

The Bible, Genesis 4:16-17

 

 

If being spiritual is being humble

in the face of forces greater than you,

and believing those forces

lean more toward being good than being bad,

then I'm a spiritual person.

 

Michael J. Fox (1961- ), Candadian actor, author, and producer,

Good Housekeeping, June, 2011

 

 

Are people monkeys or angels?

I am on the side of the angels.

 

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), former British Prime Minister,

speech at Oxford, 25 November, 1874, The Times 26 November

 

 

Man is Nature’s sole mistake!

 

Humphrey Gilbert (1539-1583), soldier, explorer and British MP

 

 

He made this world to be like the world above,

and below, and all in one.

 

The Zohar (Kabbalah), Jewish mystical writings

 

 

God is a circle of which the centre

is everywhere and the border is nowhere.

 

Empedocles (490-430 BC), Greek philosopher

 

 

Your body is the temple of God’s Spirit.

 

The Bible, I Corinthians 6:19

 

 

All we know of what they do above, is that

they are happy and that they love.

 

Edmund Waller (1606-1687), Upon the Death of My Lady Rich

(1645)

 

 

Oh God, if there be a God,

save my soul, if I have a soul.

 

prayer of a soldier before the battle of Blenheim, 1704

 

I said to the man standing at the door to the

new year, “Give me a light to help me walk

safely into the future.” He answered, “Go into

the darkness, and put your hand into the hand

of God. That will be to you better than a light

and safer than knowing the future.”

 

Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957), Desert (1908), ‘God Knows’

 

 

As I shouted,

growing more angry and wild at each word,

I believed I could hear one saying, “Child.”

And I answered, “My God!”

 

George Herbert (1593-1633), The Collar (1633)

 

 

Go to sleep in peace. God is awake.

 

Victor Hugo (1802-1885), French writer and statesman

 

His eye is on the sparrow,

and I know he watches me.

 

Civilla D. Martin (1866-1948), Canadian-American hymn writer

 

 

Be strong, and be encouraged!

Do not be afraid; and do not be worried.

For God is with you wherever you go.

 

The Bible, Joshua 1:9

 

 

God hides himself from the mind of man,

but he shows himself to a man's heart.

 

African proverb

 

 

Can you by looking find out God?

 

The Bible, Job 11:7

 

 

No man has seen God at any time.

 

The Bible, John 1:18

 

 

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him

must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

The Bible, John 4:24

 

 

In His will is our peace.

 

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italian writer and philosopher

 

 

Be quiet, and know that I am God.

 

The Bible, Psalm 46:10

 

 

God stops talking to people

who do not want to hear.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902), author

Further Extracts from Notebooks (1934), page 279

 

Will the clay tell the potter what to make of it?

 

The Bible, Isaiah 29:16

 

 

If God be for us, who can be against us?

 

The Bible, Romans 8:31

 

 

Remember now your Maker,

in the days when you are young.

 

The Bible, Ecclesiastes 12:1

 

When I was young I remembered God.

Now that I am old, he remembers me.

 

Robert Southey (1774-1843), The Old Man’s Comforts (1799)

 

 

God be in my head and in my understanding.

God be in my eyes and in my looking.

God be in my mouth and in my talking.

God be in my heart and in my thinking.

God be in my end and in my leaving.

 

Sarum Missal 11th Century

 

 

In the measure that we give to God,

He will give to us.

 

Jesus, Luke 6:38

 

 

God does not see as people see.

People look on the outside,

but God looks on the heart.

 

The Bible, I Samuel 16:17

 

My house shall be called a house of prayer

for all people.

 

The Bible, Isaiah 56:7

 

 

People should always pray, and not give up.

 

Jesus, Luke 18:1

 

 

Your words are a light for my feet.

 

The Bible, Psalm 119:105

 

 

As for me and my house,

we will serve the Lord.

 

The Bible, Joshua 24:15

 

 

 

22. Religion

 

 

I do not fear Satan half so much

as I fear those who fear him.

 

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun

 

 

Beliefs separate us.

Dreams and pain bring us together.

 

Eugene Ionesco (1909-1994), Romanian playwright

 

 

We have enough religion to make us hate,

but not enough to make us love each other.

 

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Thoughts on Various Subjects (1711)

 

 

Wise people all have the same religion.

But because they are wise,

they will not tell you what religion it is.

 

1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621-1683), Bishop Gilbert Burnet

History of My Own Time, volume 1 (1724), book 2, chapter 1

 

 

You cannot put God in a box.

 

Author unknown

 

 

Where Jesus builds his Church,

the devil builds in the same place his temple.

Richard Bancroft (1544-1610), sermon at Paul’s Cross, 1588

 

 

A cult is a religion with no political power.

 

Tom Wolfe (1931- ), American author and journalist

 

 

What’s a cult? It just means

not enough people to make a minority.

 

Robert Altman (1925-2006), American film director and screenwriter

 

 

The devil is most dangerous

when people think well of him.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), English poet,

Aurora Leigh (1857), book 7

 

When religion was strong

and science weak,

men believed magic was medicine.

Now, when science is strong

and religion weak,

men believe medicine is magic.

 

Thomas Szasz (1920- ),

Hungarian psychiatrist and academic,

The Second Sin (1973)

 

 

The price of freedom of religion

is that we must put up with a lot of rubbish.

 

Robert Jackson (1892-1954), former U.S. Attorney General

 

 

Whoever obeys the gods,

to him they especially listen.

 

Homer (c. 800 BC-700 BC), Greek epic poet, The Iliad

 

 

Toward no crime

have men shown themselves to be so cruel

as in punishing differences of belief.

 

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), American poet, critic, and diplomat

 

 

Religion is a candle inside a lantern

with different colours.

Everyone looks through a different colour,

but the candle is always the same.

 

Mohammed Neguib (1901-1984), first president of Egypt

 

 

You can preach a better sermon with your life

than with your lips.

 

Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774), Irish writer and physician

 

 

It is no use walking anywhere to preach

unless our walking is our preaching.

 

Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), Italian Catholic preacher

 

 

I will show you what I believe by what I do.

 

The Bible, James 2:18

 

 

If you pray, you will believe;

If you believe, you will love;

If you love, you will help.

 

Sister Teresa (1910-1997), Albanian Catholic nun

 

 

We need to put legs to our prayers.

 

Author unknown

 

 

This is my simple religion.

There is no need for temples;

no need for difficult philosophy.

Our own brain, our own heart is our temple;

the philosophy is kindness.

 

14th Dalai Lama (1935), Nobel laureate and spiritual leader of Tibet

 

 

Hate the sin, but love the sinner.

 

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948), pacifist & ideological leader of India

 

 

When the gods wish to punish us,

they answer our prayers.

 

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Irish writer and poet,

An Ideal Husband, 1893

 

 

Danger past, God forgotten.

 

Scottish Proverb

 

 

There are only two ways to live your life.

One as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

 

Albert Einstein (1879-1955), German physicist

 

 

Give thanks for unknown blessings

already on their way.

 

Native American Prayer

 

 

It is not happiness that makes us thankful,

but it is being thankful that makes us happy.

 

Scott Reed (1938- ), African-American author

 

 

The word enthusiasm

comes from the words “God in you”.

 

Anonymous

 

 

What hunger is to food, enthusiasm is to life.

 

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), Welsh philosopher and historian

 

 

To become enthusiastic,

act like you are enthusiastic.

 

Percy H. Whiting, American writer, salesman, and speaker

 

Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will

come for miles to watch you burn.

 

John Wesley (1703-1791), English founder of the Methodist Church

 

 

Two people were watching a church burn down.

First person: I have never seen you

at this church before.

Second person: That is because this church

has never been on fire before.

 

Anonymous

 

There's one thing I wish I could give my family

and that is the Christian religion. If they had

that and I had not given them one cent,

they would be rich.

 

Patrick Henry (1736-1799), American orator and politician

 

 

One religion is as true as another.

 

Robert Burton (1577-1640), English scholar at Oxford University

 

 

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

 

The Bible, Deuteronomy 19:21

 

 

 

23. Dreams and Hopes

 

 

The one without dreams

is the one without wings.

 

Muhammad Ali (1942- ), American boxer, philanthropist, and activist

 

 

To do great things, we must not only act, but

also dream; not only plan, but also believe.

 

Anatole France (1844-1924), French poet, journalist, and novelist

 

Nothing happens... but first a dream.

 

Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), American writer and editor

 

 

Faith is the proof of things we cannot see.

 

The Bible, Hebrews 11:1

 

 

But I am a dreamer

So you sent me away.

Sometimes we dreamers

Just get in the way.

 

Shawn Mullins (1968- ), American singer, Anchored In You

 

 

The only things that stand between a person

and what they want in life are the will to try it

and the faith to believe it is possible.

 

Rich Devos (1926- ), American billionaire and co-founder of Amway

 

 

 

24. How to be Successful

 

 

I don’t know the key to success,

but the key to failing

is trying to please everybody.

 

Bill Cosby (1937- ), American comedian, actor, author, and musician

 

 

Success won’t just come to you.

It has to be met at least halfway.

 

Frank Tyger (1929-2011), American political cartoonist

 

 

As a general rule the most successful man in

life is the man who has the best information.

 

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), former British Prime Minister

 

 

The easiest success measuring tool

is a simple question:

What did you do today to move forward?

 

Rich DiGirolamo, American seminar speaker

 

 

Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got

where he is had to begin where he was.

 

Richard L. Evans (1906-1971), American writer, Mormon leader,

and former President of Rotary International

 

 

There is always room at the top.

 

Daniel Webster (1782-1852), American statesman and senator

 

 

Do the hard jobs first.

The easy jobs will take care of themselves.

 

Dale Carnegie (1888-1955), American self-improvement lecturer

 

 

The art of being wise

is the art of knowing what to overlook.

 

William James (1842-1910), American psychologist and philosopher

 

 

The road up and the road down

are one and the same.

 

Heraclitus (c. 540 to c.480 BC), Greek philosopher,

Diels & Kranz Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (1954)

 

 

If you don’t like what you’re doing,

then don’t do it.

 

Ray Bradbury (1920- ), science fiction, fantasty, and horror writer

 

 

When God is come

to mark against your name,

He writes not if you won or lost

but how you played the game.

 

Grantland Rice (1880-1954), American sportswriter,

Alumnus Football (1941)

 

 

 

25. Planning Ahead

 

 

Be prepared.

 

Boy Scout motto

 

 

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

 

Benjamin Franklin (1705-1790), inventor, statesman, philosopher

 

 

Your choices today make your tomorrow;

you make your life through the power of choice.

 

Kathy Smith

 

 

The time to fix the roof

is when the sun is shining.

 

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th President of the United States

 

 

When the house closest to you is on fire,

it does not hurt to put water on your own.

 

Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Irish stateman and philosopher

Reflections of the Revolution in France (1790), page 29

 

 

Dig the well before you are thirsty.

 

Chinese Proverb

 

 

A stitch in time saves nine.

 

Author unknown

 

 

The future belongs

to those who prepare for it today.

 

Malcolm X (1925-1965), African-American Muslim minister and

human rights activist

 

 

In life, as in chess, planning ahead wins.

 

Charles Buxton (1823-1871), English brewer, writer, philanthropist, MP

 

 

You never miss the water

until the well has run dry.

 

Irish Proverb

 

 

For every minute you spend planning

an hour is saved.

 

Benjamin Franklin (1705-1790), inventor, statesman, philosopher

 

 

A good plan now

is better than a perfect plan next week.

 

George S. Patton (1885-1945), American army general

 

 

 

26. Time

 

 

The past is what we build on.

The present is what we build with.

The future is what we build.

 

Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950), Indian freedom fighter and writer

 

 

The present holds all that there is. It is holy

ground; for it is the past and it is the future.

 

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947), English mathematician,

 

 

I tell you the past is a bucket of ashes.

 

Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), Cornhuskers (1918), “Prairie”

 

 

My interest is in the future because I am going

to spend the rest of my life there.

 

Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958), American inventor and engineer

 

 

The farther backward you can look,

the farther forward you are likely to see.

 

Winston Churchill (1874-1965), former British Prime Minister

 

 

Buy back the badly used time of the past,

and live this day as if it were your last.

 

Thomas Ken (1637-1711), English cleric, bishop, and hymn-writer,

Morning Hymn (1709)

 

 

We live life forward,

but we understand it backwards.

 

Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Danish philosopher, Life

 

 

Tomorrow comes to us at midnight.

It's perfect when it arrives

and it puts itself in our hands.

It hopes we've learned something

from yesterday.

 

John Wayne (1907-1979), actor, film director, and producer

 

 

Today is the tomorrow

that we worried about yesterday.

 

Author unknown

 

 

How did it get so late so soon?

It’s night before it’s afternoon.

 

Dr. Seuss (1904-1991). American writer, poet, and cartoonist

 

 

Life is the little shadow which runs across the

grass and loses itself in the setting of the sun.

 

Crowfoot, last words (1890), Blackfoot warrior and orator

 

 

It is never too late

to be what you might have been.

 

George Eliot/Marian Evans (1819-1880), English writer

 

 

This is your life

and it’s ending one minute at a time.

 

David Fincher (1962- ), American film director

 

 

The more sand that leaves the hourglass

of our lives, the clearer we should see.

 

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), French writer, philosopher and activist

 

 

We have only this minute,

melting like a snow flake.

Let us use it before it is too late.

 

Marie Beyon Ray, 20th Century American writer, and editor of Vogue

 

 

Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.

 

Napoleon Hill (1883-1970), American author

 

 

In times like these it helps to remember that

there have always been times like these.

 

Paul Harvey (1918-2009), American radio broadcaster

 

 

What a difference a day makes!

 

Maria Grever (1894-1951), Mexican composer

 

 

Time is the great healer.

 

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), Henrietta