One man gets nothing but discord out of a piano; another gets harmony. No one claims the piano is at fault. Life is about the same. The discord is there, and the harmony is there. Study to play it correctly, and it will give forth the beauty; play it falsely, and it will give forth the ugliness. Life is not at fault.

In the early days of the world, the Almighty said to the first of our race In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread; and since then, if we except the light and the air of heaven, no good thing has been, or can be enjoyed by us, without having first cost labour. And inasmuch as most good things are produced by labour, it follows that all such things of right belong to those whose labour has produced them. But it has so happened in all ages of the world, that some have labored, and others have, without labour, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To secure to each labourer the whole product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government.

Abraham Lincoln

You gave me the key of your heart, my love; then why did you make me knock? Oh that was yesterday, saints above! And last night -- I changed the lock!

John Boyle O'Reilly

All the world is competent to judge my pictures except those who are of my profession.

William Hogarth

If you are bitten by a snake, what's the best thing to do? Remain calm, separate the poison from the rest of your body, suck the poison out. Worst thing to do: get upset, chase and kill snake. Same when someone strikes out at you verbally. Remain calm, don't try to strike back at the other person. Don't let the poison spread throughout your system.

Source Unknown

Architecture in general is frozen music.

Friedrich von Schelling

Nothing is accidental in the universe -- this is one of my Laws of Physics -- except the entire universe itself, which is Pure Accident, pure divinity.

Joyce Carol Oates

I'd never been in play long enough for the flowers to die in the dressing room.

Mercedes McCambridge

Those who live by the sea can hardly form a single thought of which the sea would not be part.

Hermann Broch

One measure of how creative you are is how you respond to changes in your circumstances and environment. How flexible are you? Consider how water adapts to its environment: evaporation, condensation, snowflake, melting, flowing, goes around rocks, fills containers, etc.

Source Unknown

First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits, or they'll eventually conquer you.

Dr. Rob Gilbert

Because of the self-confidence with which he had spoken, no one could tell whether what he said was very clever or very stupid.

Leo Tolstoy

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him; The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones

William Shakespeare