Women who are either indisputably beautiful, or indisputably ugly, are best flattered upon the score of their understandings; but those who are in a state of mediocrity are best flattered upon their beauty, or at least their graces: for every woman who is not absolutely ugly, thinks herself handsome.

If you're teaching a class, you can think about the elementary things that you know very well. These things are kind of fun and delightful. It doesn't do any harm to think them over again. Is there a better way to present them? The elementary things are easy to think about; if you can't think of a new thought, no harm done; what you thought about it before is good enough for the class. If you do think of something new, you're rather pleased that you have a new way of looking at it.The questions of the students are often the source of new research. They often ask profound questions that I've thought about at times and then given up on, so to speak, for a while. It wouldn't do me any harm to think about them again and see if I can go any further now. The students may not be able to see the thing I want to answer, or the subtleties I want to think about, but they remind me of a problem by asking questions in the neighborhood of that problem. It's not so easy to remind yourself of these things.

Richard Feynman, The Dignified P

There's little of the melancholy element in her, my lord: she is never sad but when she sleeps; and not ever sad then; for I have heard my daughter say, she hath often dreamt of unhappiness, and waked herself with laughing.

William Shakespeare

We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.

Langston Hughes

If you're living in your time, you cannot help but to write about the things that are important.

Ray Bradbury

A liberal knows that the only certainty in this life is change but believes that the change can be directed toward a constructive end.

Henry A. Wallace

You realize that trying to keep your distance from me will not lessen my affection for you. All efforts to save me from you will fail.

John Green

To be able to look back upon ones life in satisfaction, is to live twice.

Khalil Gibran

I hate those e-books. They cannot be the future. They may well be.

Maurice Sendak

The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness possible in this life whenever we use our native capacities to their greatest extent.

Smiley Blanton

Mistakes are a fact of life it is the response to error that counts.

Nikki Giovanni

But such is the irresistable nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing.

Thomas Paine

The most important feature of Christ's character was... his confidence in the greatness of the human soul.

Leo Tolstoy