The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of. ~Blaise Pascal
We are perverse creatures and never satisfied. ~Nan Fairbrother
To crush out fanaticism and revere the infinite, such is the law. Let us not confine ourselves to falling prostrate beneath the tree of creation and contemplating its vast ramifications full of stars. We have a duty to perform, to cultivate the human soul, to defend mystery against miracle, to adore the incomprehensible and to reject the absurd; to admit nothing that is inexplicable excepting what is necessary, to purify faith and obliterate superstition from the face of religion, to remove the vermin from the garden of God. ~Victor Hugo
To really enjoy the better things in life, one must first have experienced the things they are better than. ~Oscar Holmolka
Nursing care comes in many forms. Sometimes it is the ability to make someone feel physically comfortable by various means. Other times it is the ability to improve the body's ability to achieve or maintain health. But often it is an uncanny yet well honed knack to see beyond the obvious and address, in some way, the deeper needs of the human soul. ~Donna Wilk Cardillo, A Daybook for Beginning Nurses
Faith is never identical with piety. ~Karl Barth
Pleasure is the flower that passes; remembrance, the lasting perfume. ~Jean de Boufflers
Humanity is on the march, earth itself is left behind. ~David Ehrenfeld, The Arrogance of Humanism, 1978
Whatever the American's are proud of - whatever they consider to be particularly good, useful, brilliant, or characteristic of themselves or their climate, they designate, half in jest, though scarcely half in earnest, as an "institution." Thus the memory of George Washington... is an institution; the Falls of Niagara are an institution; the Plymouth Rock, on which the Pilgrim Fathers first set foot, is an institution...; "Sweet potatoes" are an institution, and Pumpkin (or Punkin) pie is an institution; ...squash is an institution; Bunker Hill is an institution; and the firemen of New York are a great institution. ~Charles Mackay, Life and Liberty in America, 1850
Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God. ~Mary Manin Morrissey
One should be either sad or joyful. Contentment is a warm sty for eaters and sleepers. ~Eugene O'Neill
For what human ill does not dawn seem to be an alleviation? ~Thornton Wilder
Bass fishermen watch Monday night football, drink beer, drive pickup trucks and prefer noisy women with big breasts. Trout fishermen watch MacNeil-Lehrer, drink white wine, drive foreign cars with passenger-side air bags and hardly think about women at all. This last characteristic may have something to do with the fact that trout fishermen spend most of the time immersed up to the thighs in ice-cold water. ~Author Unknown
The Olympic games should be a matter between individual athletes and the gods. Noisy flag-waving dishonors gods and men alike. ~Dave Beard
Poetry should... should strike the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost a remembrance. ~John Keats
Golf is a good walk spoiled. ~Mark Twain
If anyone has conducted a Beethoven performance, and then doesn't have to go to an osteopath, then there's something wrong. ~Simon Rattle
Looking back, you realize that everything would have explained itself if you had only stopped interrupting. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com
We are becoming the servants in thought, as in action, of the machine we have created to serve us. ~John Kenneth Galbraith
In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet. ~Winston Churchill
It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory. ~W. Edwards Deming (Thank you, Michelle.)
We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls. ~Bill Bryson
It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts. ~K.T. Jong
A cat, after being scolded, goes about its business. A dog slinks off into a corner and pretends to be doing a serious self-reappraisal. ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com