GREATEST QUOTES OF ALL TIME:

This is a short list of the best quotes of all time, mostly taken from Peggy Anderson's book, Great Quotes from Great Leaders. Several of them are popular sound-bites and cliche's today. It's interesting to know where they originated. Also, many quotes from more contemporary leaders are really paraphrasings of older quotes.

I put the best quotes, from Lazarus Long, at the end. If you find most quotes boring, skip the earlier ones and jump directly to his. They tend to be more humorous, cynical and practical than the rest. I've also included some of his suggestions for living. (Mr. Long was not in Anderson's book.)

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Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873, British novelist, poet, playwright and polititian.)

The pen is mightier than the sword.

 
Jesus Christ (The Bible, Matthew 26:52)

He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. (The exact wording varies with the translation referenced.)

 
J. P. Morgan: (1837-1913, Founder of US Steel, the first billion-dollar company in the world.)

If you have to ask how much something costs, you can't afford it.

I found three different sources for the origin of this quote.

1. When J. P. Morgan saw a yacht he wanted, he was reported to say something like, "I'll take it." When the salesman asked if he wanted to know how much it cost before making a decision, Morgan uttered the famous saying.

2. When a friend mentioned he was thinking about buying a yacht and asked Mr. Morgan how much one cost to maintain, Morgan's response was the quote.

3. During a business meeting when a prospective customer inquired about the cost of something J. P. Morgan gave the quote as an answer.

 
Karl Marx: (1843)

Religion is the opiate of the people.

 
Sun-Tzu: (400 BC; Chinese general and military strategist.)

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

 
Lord Acton: (1834-1902; British historian, politician and educator. Considered the most learned individual of his era, unmatched in the breadth and depth of his knowledge.)

Power Corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 
Ludwig Feuerbach: (1804-1872; German philosopher, theologian and author.)

Man created God in his own image.

 
Fred R. Barnard (1920s):

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Many references mistakenly attribute this quote to Confucius. In fact it was coined around 1921 by the advertising writer Fred Barnard to market a baking product. To give the saying more credence he had it translated into Chinese and presented as an ancient proverb. Over time it became attributed to Confusius.

Francois Rabelas (French monk and satirist 1494-1553):

Nature abhors a vacuum.

Alexander Pope (English poet, 1680-1744)

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

A little learning is a dangerous thing.

Roger Brinner: (Economist)

The sum of anecdotes is not data.

Horace (65 - 8 BC):

Carpe Diem (Seize the day. (Opportunity))

Julius Caesar:

Divide and Conquer. Thanks to some help from Erik (Thank's Erik!) I was able to trace the most likely origin of this quote.

Bo Diddley: The famous musician instrumental in the creation of the early Rock and Roll sound. (Nick Pence emailed me the source for this quote. Thanks, Nick!)

You can't tell a book by its cover.

Correction: I've become skeptical about attributing this quote to Bo Diddley because Cary Grant uses it in the 1947 movie, The Bachelor and the Bobby-soxer. Since the movie would have been filmed in 1946, when Bo Diddley was only 18, it's doubtful he would have already established himself with such prominence to be quoted by the great and famous. I suspect that this is one of those universally used phrases that has been around so long that it would be impossible to discover who originated it.

 
Murphy's Law: "If anything can go wrong, it will."

In popular use for over half a century, controversy abounds as to the origins of this adage. The philosophy behind the phrase, if not this exact wording, has been around since before written history. These earlier forms are used referred to as Sod's Law or Finagle's Corollary. ("Sod" refers to any poor "sod.")

Most experts attribute the modern Murphy's Law to USAF Captain Edward Murphy, a research engineer at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949. Upon learning that a rocket sled test failed because a technician wired the sensors wrong, Murphy is reported to have exclaimed, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll do it." For some reason the phrase caught on and began evolving. The press got a hold of it when during a press conference the man who eventually rode the sled commented that the reason he survived is that everyone on the project paid close attention to "Murphy's Law." When asked to explain he used the form we're familiar with today.

Napolean Bonaparte (1769 - 1821):

Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake.

Thomas Edison (1846 - 1931):

I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

Albert Signorella DDS., or Franklin P. Jones (among possible others - I couldn't find a definitive source for this one, only suggested sources):

You are what you eat.

The following is usually credited to Aesop, the Greek fabulist of around 600 B.C., but one source listed the Roman Philosopher Apuleis (124-170 A.D.) as the originator:

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Eugene McCarthy:

The only thing that saves us from bureaucracy is its inefficiency.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900):

A man can't be too careful in his choice of enemies.

Howard Ruff:

It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

Stewart's Law of Retroaction from Murphy's Law, Book Two:

It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

 

(Quote first, then the author... for effect)

Children today are tyrants. They contradict thier parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.

Socrates (470-399 B.C.)

David T. Wolf:

Idealism is what precedes experience.

Ernest Hemmingway (1889-1961):

Never mistake motion for action. (This concept was pushed hard while I was an officer in the USAF, where the version used was "Being busy isn't the same as accomplishing something.")

(Can you guess who said the following and why?))

Come quickly! I am tasting stars!

Dom Perignon (1638-1715) at the moment of his discovering champagne.

 
Winston Churchill (1874-1965):

The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.

He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried.

Teddy Roosevelt:

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

No man is justified in doing evil on the grounds of expediency.

Martin Luther King, Jr.:

If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, "Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well."

Vince Lombardi:

The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.

Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

Abraham Lincoln:

No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Norman Vincent Peale:

Believe that you are defeated, believe it long enough, and it is likely to become a fact.

 
We tend to get what we expect.

Ray Kroc:

The quality of an individual is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.

Albert Schweitzer:

Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.

Thomas Jefferson:

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.

He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it easier to do it a second time.

A mind always employed is always happy.

Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.

Whenever you do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly.

Andrew Carnegie:

As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.

There is no use whatsoever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself.

Benjamin Franklin:

Love your neighbor - but don't pull down your hedge.

The best way to see Faith is to shut the eye of Reason.

Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days. (Note: this is actually a paraphrasing of an earlier quote by John Lyly (1554-1606) "After three days, fish and guests stink.")

There are no gains without pains.

Confucius:

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

When prosperity comes, do not use all of it.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.

Harry S. Truman:

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

The buck stops here.

George Washington:

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.

 
To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

Aristotle:

We should behave to our friends as we would wish our friends to behave to us.

 
Well begun is half done.

Franklin D. Roosevelt:

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

Margaret Thatcher:

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

John F. Kennedy:

The time to repair a roof is when the sun is shining.

 
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.

Charles De Gaulle:

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

John Wooden:

Failure to prepare is preparing to fail

Henry Ford:

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.

Booker T. Washington:

I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed.

You can't hold a man down without staying down with him.

George S. Patton, Jr.:

Always do more than is required of you

Dwight D. Eisenhower:

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field.

George Carlin:

Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be.

Will Rogers: (The genius of his quotes are that they need to be read twice: the first time for their humor, a second to pick out the practical advice hidden behind the joke.)

 
Don't squat with your spurs on.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back in.

If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

There's two theories to arguin' with a woman. Neither one works.

When you give a lesson in meanness to a critter or a person, don't be surprised if they learn their lesson.

The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back in your pocket.

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

Lazarus Long (From the author Robert Heinlein):

Never appeal to a man's better nature - he might not have one. Invoking his self interest gives you more leverage.

Natural laws have no pity.

Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then go do it.

Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes.

Animals can be driven crazy by placing too many in too small a pen. Homo Sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.

Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keeps her from drowning them at birth.

A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.

Formal courtesy between husband and wife is even more important than it is between strangers.

An elephant: A mouse built to government specifications.

Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.

A committee is a life form with six or more legs and no brain.

"I came, I saw, SHE conquered." (The original Latin seems to have been garbled.)

In handling a stinging insect, move slowly.

A skunk is better company than a person who prides himself on being "frank."

Anything free is worth what you pay for it.

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.

Rub her feet.

Everybody lies about sex.

Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors - and miss.

When the need arises - and it does - you must be able to shoot your own dog.

Don't try to have the last word. You might get it.

Avoid making irrevocable decisions while tired or hungry.

Do not handicap your children by making their lives too easy.

The popular, but short-lived, Maverick television series of the early sixties often had Bret Maverick (James Garner) quoting pieces of sage advice from his "Old Pappy." The best of these was: "If you don't git while the gittin's good, you're gunna get got."

Wayne M. Schmidt: (1951-?)

Humanity's behavior suggests intelligence is an evolutionary dead end.

 
A little abuse keeps the joints loose.

 
The price for having rights is the responisibility of exercising them with consideration for others. (I'm certain someone has already said this but I have yet to find it.)

 
When debating which is superior, dogs or cats, I believe their behavior suggests the following: Man domesticated dogs - cats domesticated man.

 
Desire is never tempered by practicality.

 
Fight Entropy: organize! (This is more of a bumper sticker than a quote.)

 



On a more serious note, the following story is worthy of careful consideration:

An old Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A battle is raging inside me ... it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The old man fixed the children with a firm stare. "This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee replied: "The one you feed."

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