Poems List

Thought: why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only for food: frequently there must be a beverage.

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

My favorite part of the game is the opportunity to play.

My main hope for myself is to be where I am.

This is our purpose: to make as meaningful as possible this life that has been bestowed upon us; to live in such a way that we may be proud of ourselves; to act in such a way that some part of us lives on.

To be conservative at 20 is heartless and to be a liberal at 60 is plain idiocy.

And now the sequence of events in no particular order.

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Be sincere; be brief; be seated.

Why is my existence so perfect with dark places? And why do I no longer care?

The secret of success is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.

All Bibles are man-made.

Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence.

To keep the body in good health is a duty otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.

It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary.

Drink nothing without seeing it; sign nothing without reading it.

Ignorance is king, many would not prosper by its abdication.

If you are not big enough to lose, you are not big enough to win.

An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.

Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity.

A mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone.

If one has made a mistake, and fails to correct it, one has made a greater mistake.

When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people. It is excessively boring.