Monday, March 31, 2008

Fun Monday - Quotable quotes and words that inspire.

This is Robin's assignment for us all - ...please share words that inspire and motivate you--brief or bloviatory, silly or serious, from great world leaders to last night's Comedy Central...from a Hallmark greeting card to your favorite book. Choose one, choose many; let the quotes stand on their own or tell where you first read or heard them and how they affected you. There's a lot of leeway with how this topic can be handled.


Now, I have a confession, I love quotes, not the Hallmark sort, more the historical type.



Here's some simple ones:



"Be always sure you are right, then go ahead."-Davy Crockett 1786-1836



"Being there (America) was like being in heaven without going to all the bother and expense of dying." - P. G. Wodehouse 1881-1975, an Englishman



"I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks." – Daniel Boone 1734-1820


And you gotta love Feynman:










"Physics is like sex ... it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it." - Richard Feynman 1918-1988



Then there's Marx:



"Marriage is a wonderful institution. That is, if you like living in an institution."





"I never forget a face, but in your case, I'll make an exception."




"I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member."




-Groucho Marx 1890-1977




The profound:






"Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven." -Rabindranath Tagore, poet, philosopher, author, songwriter, painter, educator, composer, Nobel laureate (1861-1941)




"In every child who is born under no matter what circumstances and of no matter what parents, the potentiality of the human race is born again, and in him, too, once more, and each of us, our terrific responsibility toward human life: toward the utmost idea of goodness, of the horror of terrorism, and of God." -James Agee, author 1909-1955




"The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." -C. S. Lewis 1898-1963




The literary:














"I have studied it often, but I never could discover the plot." -Mark Twain, author and humorist, on dictionary (1835-1910)



A closed mind is like a closed book: just a block of wood. -Chinese Proverb







"When I feel inclined to read poetry, I take down my dictionary. The poetry of words is quite as beautiful as the poetry of sentences. The author may arrange the gems effectively, but their shape and lustre have been given by the attrition of ages." -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., writer and physician (1809-1894)






"Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you're doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing."




and




"Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." - E. L. Doctorow writer 1931-




19 comments:

Alison said...

those are all wonderful. I love how you broke them down into groups, great idea.

Jo Beaufoix said...

These are really good. I especially like the E L Doctorow one.

Aoj and The Lurchers said...

Marx quotes always make me giggle!

Hootin Anni said...

Groucho Marx can NOT be compared to anyone....he was a great man.

kitten said...

Wonderful! I really like your choices!

Joy T. said...

LOL some days I can relate to Daniel Boone. All great quotes!

IamwhoIam said...

Physics and sex in the same sentance has to be a first, but great q's

storyteller said...

I enjoyed the variety ... but have noted down the last one to fix in memory because it's relevant to my life at the moment. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs and blessings,

Mrs. G. said...

That E.L. Doctorow is my favorite writing quote of all time!

Tiggerlane said...

Totally awesome job, with all the categories! I think Feynman is my new hero!

ChrisB said...

I love the way you have presented your quotes. They are all terrific so it's difficult to choose a favourite from these.

Peculiar said...

Jan,
The quotes you listed are absolutely wonderful!! I was going to pick out a couple that stood out, but...I CAN'T!! I like the pictures you have to go with them and the layout, the way you have them listed. I'm going to look around your blog now. I love the pictures I see already!

Rose said...

Great quotes.
"I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks."
My favorite one. It sound just like me.

my4kids said...

"I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks." – Daniel Boone 1734-1820

I've felt that way before!

Allie said...

Man! You have some good ones! I can relate to many of these. Good job!

Unknown said...

Your Marx' quotes are the first ones I've seen. We all need to laugh more, don't you think? That in itself is inspirational! Thanks for the post and the quotes.

BS said...

Daniel Boone must have known me !! Great choices.

Pamela said...

oh man... there are some great ones here. The chinese one about the block of wood spoke to me -- as we have a very very old family bible, that actually is bound in wood.

Robin ~ PENSIEVE said...

Oh, my...your list is SUPERB! Clearly, your span is quite diverse and each thought is worthy of contemplation (ok...maybe not the Marx ones exactly :) ).

Feynman's amused me and I love how he put it; Lewis' is dead.on...

Thank you so much for joining in; I'm bouncing around the list, determined to read every post. Quite a task, but so worth it!

Bravo on yours :).

Robin @ PENSIEVE

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