The Individual

To love oneself is the beginning of a livelong romance.
Oscar Wilde

No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.
William Blake

Nobody is perfect.
From "Some Like It Hot"

This above all; to thine own self be true.
"Hamlet" by William Shakespeare

You come from nothing; you're going back to nothing; so what have you lost? Nothing.
From "Always Look on the Bride Side of Life" (The Life of Brian) by Monty Python

You must follow your own path. No one can choose it for you.
From Star Wars, Episode IV

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Mahatma Ghandi (1869-1948).

The only person who never makes a mistake is the person who never does anything.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).

Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.
From Star Wars, Episode V

To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.
From "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Whenever I feel like exercise, I always lie down until the feeling passes.
Oscar Wilde

Verantwortung ist unteilbar (Responsibility is indivisible).
(From 'Die Schule der Diktatoren' by Erich Kaestner)

Love & Friendship

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
Jane Austen -Pride and Prejudice-

If there is any thing disagreeable going on, men are always sure to get out of it ...
Jane Austen -Persuasion-

My idea of good company - is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation.
Jane Austen -Persuasion-

I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them.
Jane Austen (1775 - 1817)

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882).

He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man; and he that is more than a youth is not for me; and he that is less than a man I am not for him.
"Much Ado About Nothing" by William Shakespeare

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more; men were deceivers ever.
"Much Ado About Nothing" by William Shakespeare

Reading & Writing

Reading is to the mind what excercise is to the body.
Richard Steele

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.
John Steinbeck

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.
Oscar Wilde

The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.
John Steinbeck

The Good ended happily and the Bad unhappily, that is what fiction means.
Oscar Wilde

Life can't ever really defeat a writer who is in love with writing, for life itself is a writer's lover until death -- fascinating, cruel, lavish, warm, cold, treacherous, constant.
E. L. Doctorow

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John Steinbeck

General

There is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.
Oscar Wilde; The Picture of Dorian Gray

In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
Oscar Wilde

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
George Orwell, Animal Farm

Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as Gods. Cats have never forgotten this.
Anonymous

The quiet ones are the ones that change the universe, the loud ones only take the credit.
Londo Molari, "Babylon 5"

He who controls the information, controls the world.
Stephen Franklin, "Babylon 5"

We must follow the leaders.
In every good thing.
Nay, if they lead to any ill, I will leave them at the next turning.
"Much Ado About Nothing" by William Shakespeare.

Whether you think you can do it, or you can't do it: you will be right in any case.
Henry Ford (1863-1947)

The future is always in motion.
Star Wars, Episode V

The opposite of war isn't peace -- it's creation.
Jonathan Larson, "RENT"

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
Oscar Wilde

All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!
Lucy Van Pelt (from Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz)

Die Wirklichkeit hat unsere Ideen korrigiert (Reality has corrected our ideas/imagination).
(From 'Romulus der Große' by Friedrich Duerrenmatt)

No one ever got very far by working a 40-hour week. Most of the notable people I know are trying to manage a 40-hour day.
Anonymous