Showing posts tagged wisdom
“
Stubborn and ardent clinging to one’s opinion is the best proof of stupidity.
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
“
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don’t have it.
George Bernard Shaw
“
What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939
“
Do you think the porter and the cook have no anecdotes, no experiences, no wonders for you? Every body knows as much as the savant. The walls of rude minds are scrawled all over with facts, with thoughts. They shall one day bring a lantern and read the inscriptions.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“
If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
George Carlin
“
Behind every great fortune there is a crime.
Honore de Balzac
“
Even a dog knows the difference between being kicked and being stumbled over.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Kneller’s Sermon on a Tree

Once upon a time there was a crooked tree and a straight tree. And they grew next to each other. And every day the straight tree would look at the crooked tree and he would say, “You’re crooked. You’ve always been crooked and you’ll continue to be crooked. But look at me! Look at me!” said the straight tree. He said, “I’m tall and I’m straight.”

And then one day the lumberjacks came into the forest and looked around, and the manager in charge said, “Cut all the straight trees.”

And that crooked tree is still there to this day, growing strong and growing strange.

Kneller (Tom Waits) in Wristcutters: A Love Story

“
You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.
Fred Rogers
“
Few things are harder to put up with than a good example.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
“
We would worry less about what others think of us if we realized how seldom they do.
Ethel Barrett
“
Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.
Dennis Wholey
“
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.
Yogi Berra
“
One day I said, I prefer to have an oven for my bread, than to own a swimming pool.
Chef Olivier Roellinger, who gave his three Michelin stars back and moved on.