Laurence J. Peter

"The noblest of all dogs is the hot-dog; it feeds the hand that bites it."

- Laurence J. Peter, teacher and hierarchiologist

Martin Luther King Jr.

"Let no man pull you low enough to hate him."

- Martin Luther King Jr., social activist and reformer

Anne Rice

"The young know how truly difficult and dreadful youth can be. Their youth is wasted on everyone else, that's the horror. The young have no authority, no respect."

- "Tale of the Body Thief" by Anne Rice

Henry David Thoreau

"As if you could kill time without injuring eternity."

- Henry David Thoreau, author, poet and developmental critic

Lao-Tzu

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

- Lao-tzu, philosopher

Corra Harris

"The bravest thing you can do when you are not brave is to profess courage and act accordingly."

- Corra Harris, author

Publilius Syrus

"Every day should be passed as if it were to be our last."

- Publilius Syrus, ancient Roman writer

Plato

"Ignorance, the root and the stem of every evil."

- Plato, ancient Greek philosopher and author

Stars

"When there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire."

- Stars, "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead"

Terence

"Nothing is said that has not been said before."

- Terence, ancient Roman playwright

Virgil

"O tyrant love, to what do you not drive the hearts of men."

- Virgil, ancient Roman epic poet

Bertrand Russell

"Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric."

- Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, historian

Benjamin Franklin

"Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight."

- Benjamin Franklin

Friedrich Nietzsche

"At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid."

- Friedrich Nietzsche, scholar, philosopher and developmental critic

J. K. Rowling

"If you're holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time."

- J. K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

Thomas Jefferson

"Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it."

- Thomas Jefferson, former president of the USA

Ovid

"To be loved, be lovable."

- Ovid, ancient Roman poet

Leo Buscaglia

"Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations."

- Leo Buscaglia, author and motivational speaker

Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Be sincere; be brief; be seated."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt, politician, former president of the USA

Francois de la Rochefoucauld

"Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example."

- Francois de La Rochefoucauld, author

Thomas Jefferson

"Determine never to be idle...It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing."

- Thomas Jefferson, former president of the USA

A. Sachs

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."

- A. Sachs

Marlo Thomas

"Never face facts; if you do, you'll never get up in the morning."

- Marlo Thomas, actor and social activist

Sara Teasdale

"I make the most of all that comes,
And the least of all that goes."

- Sara Teasdale, poet

Eddie Rickenbacker

"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared."

- Eddie Rickenbacker, US WWI aviator & businessman

Ambrose Bierce

"Acquaintance, n.: A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to."

- "The Devil's Dictionary" by Ambrose Bierce, journalist, author and satirist

Euripides

"Happiness is a thing no man possesses. Fortune
May come now to one man, now to another, as
Prosperity increases; happiness, never."

- 'Medea' by Euripides

Anne Tyler

"People always call it luck when you've acted more sensibly than they have."

- Anne Tyler, author

Patrick Kavanagh

"Homer's ghost came whispering to my mind
He said: I made the Iliad from such
A local row. Gods make their own importance."

- 'Epic' by Patrick Kavanagh

Kavanagh wrote this poem discussing a "local row" as he calls it, between two Irish farmers in a rural area, arguing over a tiny piece of land, each declaring it their own. Kavanagh compares it to the "Munich bother", i.e. the 1938 Munich conference and concludes that art is made great not by the subject matter, but by the artist, thus the somewhat arrogant reference to himself as one of the "Gods" of literature. Despite that, I like the idea of making your own importance, (even if we all might not be considered "Gods" by Kavanagh!), forging your own path. You can make your mark on the world even if what you have to say might not seem significant.

Jane Austen

"Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love."

- "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen, author