Robert Fritz

"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise."

- Robert Fritz, author, composer, filmmaker

Ben Stein

"The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want."

- Ben Stein, actor, writer, lawyer

Oscar Wilde

"Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes, they forgive them."

- Oscar Wilde, poet, novelist, dramatist and critic

Tryon Edwards

"He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today."

- Tryon Edwards, theologian

Benjamin Disraeli

"How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct."

- Benjamin Disraeli, British politician

Ovid

"When I was from Cupid's passions free, my Muse was mute and wrote no elegy."

- Ovid, ancient Roman poet

C. P. Snow

"When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion."

- C. P. Snow, author and scientist

Socrates

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."

- Socrates, ancient Greek philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche

"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything."

- Friedrich Nietzsche, scholar, philosopher and developmental critic

H. G. Wells

"Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo."

- H. G. Wells, "The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman", author, historian, teacher, journalist

J. K. Rowling

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

- J. K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets"

Albert Camus

"He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hope for the human condition is a fool."

- Albert Camus, "The Rebel", author, philosopher, journalist

William Shakespeare

"How use doth breed a habit in a man!"

- William Shakespeare, "The Two Gentlemen of Verona", playwright and poet

Woody Allen

"If it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever. "

- Woody Allen, filmmaker, actor, comedian

Casey Stengel

"The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided."

- Casey Stengel, baseball manager

Ausonius

"Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself."

- Ausonius, ancient Roman poet

Fritz Künkel

"To be mature means to face, and not evade, every fresh crisis that comes."

- Fritz Künkel, psychiatrist and psychologist

Aeschylus

"I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope."

- Aeschylus, ancient Greek playwright

Alan Dean Foster

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting."

- Alan Dean Foster, author

Anatole France

"The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever."

- Anatole France, poet, journalist, novelist

Dr. David M. Burns

"Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person."

- Dr. David M. Burns

Henry S. Haskins

"Treat the other man's faith gently; it is all he has to believe with. His mind was created for his own thoughts, not yours or mine."

- Henry S. Haskins, American author, teacher

Carl Jung

"Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent."

- Carl Jung, psychiatrist and psychologist

Abigail Van Buren

"Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place."

- Abigail Van Buren, advice columnist

Abraham Lincoln

"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice."

- Abraham Lincoln, former president of the USA

George Moore

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."

- George Moore, author

René Descartes

"The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues."

- René Descartes, philosopher, mathematician, writer

Euripides

"To be rich and powerful brings no blessing;
Only more utterly
Is the prosperous house destroyed, when the gods are angry."

- 'Medea' by Euripides

Patrick Kavanagh

"I have what every poet hates in spite
Of all the solemn talk of contemplation."

- 'Iniskeen Road: July Evening' by Patrick Kavanagh

In this poem, Kavanagh speaks about his solitude as a poet. He discusses watching the townspeople passing in twos and threes, their intimacy and friendship is evident to him. Kavanagh however is on the edge, and this is as a result, he believes, of his being a poet. I think it's quite an interesting observation - quite shrewd really. Because when it comes down to it, who wants to be alone?

George Bernard Shaw

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."

- George Bernard Shaw, playwright and critic

Carol Burnett

"Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me."

- Carol Burnett, actor and comedian