I believe in the total depravity of inanimate things... the elusiveness of soap, the knottiness of strings, the transitory nature of buttons, the inclination of suspenders to twist and of hooks to forsake their lawful eyes, and cleave only unto the hairs of their hapless owner's head.

Forget the past - the future will give you plenty to worry about.

George Allen, Sr.

Perseverance is the most overrated of traits, if it is unaccompanied by talent; beating your head against a wall is more likely to produce a concussion in the head than a hole in the wall.

Sydney J. Harris

Sympathy with nature is part of a good person's religion.

Francis Herbert Hedge

There's the risk of being loved...and that would keep me from being happy.

Albert Camus

Speak comfortable words!

William Shakespeare

To fight aloud is very brave, but gallanter, I know, who charge within the bosom, the Cavalry of Woe.

Emily Dickinson

Because they did not see merit where they should have seen it, people, to express their regret, will go and leave a lot of money to the very people who will be the first to throw stones at the next person who has anything to say and finds a difficulty in getting a hearing.

Samuel Butler

Lines slip easily down the accustomed grooves. The old designs are copied so glibly that we are half inclined to think them original, save for that very glibness.

Virginia Woolf

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

Dalai Lama

I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever died of ignorance.

Ruben Blades

More than fantasy or even science fiction, Ray Bradbury wrote horror, and like so many great horror writers he was himself utterly without fear, of anything. He wasn't afraid of looking uncool - he wasn't scared to openly love innocence, or to be optimistic, or to write sentimentally when he felt that way.

Lev Grossman

My favorite literature to read is fairly dry history. I like the framework, and my imagination can do the rest.

Andrew Bird