comedy is simply a funny way of being serious
wit is the lowest form of humor
Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't.
The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.
The seed of revolution is repression.
Golf is a game in which one endeavors to control a ball with implements ill adapted for the purpose.
The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.
The fact that political ideologies are tangible realities is not a proof of their vitally necessary character. The bubonic plague was an extraordinarily powerful social reality, but no one would have regarded it as vitally necessary.
This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.
If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?
All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance.
If you can build a business up big enough, it's respectable.
I have a scheme for stopping war. It's this - no nation is allowed to enter a war till they have paid for the last one.
The 1928 Republican Convention opened with a prayer. If the Lord can see His way clear to bless the Republican Party the way it's been carrying on, then the rest of us ought to get it without even asking.
If I studied all my life, I couldn't think up half the number of funny things passed in one session of congress.
The more that learn to read the less learn how to make a living. That's one thing about a little education. It spoils you for actual work. The more you know the more you think somebody owes you a living.
I'm not a real movie star. I've still got the same wife I started out with twenty-eight years ago.
Acting is just a way of making a living, the family is life.
Any good piece of material like Shakespeare ought to be open to reinterpretation.
Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.
Men are generally more careful of the breed of their horses and dogs than of their children.
He that lives to forever, never fears dying.
Knowledge is the treasure of a wise man.
Knowledge is the treasure, but judgment is the treasurer of the one who is wise.
To be like Christ is to be a Christian.
Only trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee.
The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.
A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.
A Constitution should be short and obscure.
A leader is a dealer in hope.
A man cannot become an atheist merely by wishing it.
A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories.
A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.
A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.
A throne is only a bench covered with velvet.
A true man hates no one.
Ability is nothing without opportunity.
All religions have been made by men.
Ambition never is in a greater hurry that I; it merely keeps pace with circumstances and with my general way of thinking.
Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.
An army marches on its stomach.
Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.
Courage is like love; it must have hope to nourish it.
Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.
Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.
England is a nation of shopkeepers.
Every soldier carries a marshall's baton in his pack.
Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.
Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.
History is a set of lies agreed upon.
History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.
I can no longer obey; I have tasted command, and I cannot give it up.
I have only one counsel for you - be master.
I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.
I made all my generals out of mud.
If I always appear prepared, it is because before entering an undertaking, I have meditated long and have foreseen what might occur. It is not genius where reveals to me suddenly and secretly what I should do in circumstances unexpected by others; it is thought and preparation.
If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.
If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.
If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
Imagination rules the world.
Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.
In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.
In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.
It is the cause and not the death that makes the martyr.
It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.
It requires more courage to suffer than to die.
Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.
Let the path be open to talent.
Medicines are only fit for old people.
Men are more easily governed through their vices than through their virtues.
Men are Moved by two levers only: fear and self interest.
Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.
Music is the voice that tells us that the human race is greater than it knows.
Music of all the arts has the most influence on the passions and the legislator should give it the greatest encouragement.
Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.
One must change one's tactics every ten years if one wishes to maintain one's superiority.
One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent.
Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.
Public opinion is the thermometer a monarch should constantly consult.
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
Respect the burden.
Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.
Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.
Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.
Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.
The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.
The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.
The best cure for the body is a quiet mind.
The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.
The extent of your consciousness is limited only by your ability to love and to embrace with your love the space around you, and all it contains.
The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue.
The French complain of everything, and always.
The great proof of madness is the disproportion of one's designs to one's means.
The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.
The human race is governed by its imagination.
The infectiousness of crime is like that of the plague.
The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.
The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind.
The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man.
The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one's self to destiny.
The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.
The word impossible is not in my dictionary.
There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.
There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.
There are two levers for moving men - interest and fear.
There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.
There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.
There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night.
To do all that one is able to do, is to be a man; to do all that one would like to do, is to be a god.
Victory belongs to the most persevering.
War is the business of barbarians.
Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.
We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.
What is history but a fable agreed upon?
When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity.
With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything.
Women are nothing but machines for producing children.
You must not fear death, my lads; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks.
You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.
A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole world was not sufficient.
Heaven cannot brook two suns, nor earth two masters.
How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens.
I am dying from the treatment of too many physicians.
I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.
I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.
I had rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and dominion.
In faith and hope the world will disagree, But all mankind's concern is charity.
Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.
There is nothing impossible to him who will try.
A government must not waiver once it has chosen it's course. It must not look to the left or right but go forward.
A journalist is a person who has mistaken their calling.
A statesman... must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.
All treaties between great states cease to be binding when they come in conflict with the struggle for existence.
An appeal to fear never finds an echo in German hearts.
Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.
Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.
I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not inspiring.
Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.
Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.
No civilization other than that which is Christian, is worth seeking or possessing.
People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.
Politics is not an exact science.
Politics is the art of the next best.
Politics ruins the character.
The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.
The main thing is to make history, not to write it.
The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia.
There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.
To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making.
When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice.
When you say you agree to a thing in principle you mean that you have not the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice.
When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.
Events are not a matter of chance.
He who can not support himself, can not take his own decision.
People do not want words - they want the sound of battle - the battle of destiny.
The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make the rest of us wonder at the possibility that we might be missing something.
There is no longer a way out of our present situation except by forging a road toward our objective, violently and by force, over a sea of blood and under a horizon blazing with fire.
They defended the grains of sand in the desert to the last drop of their blood.
We're a sentimental people. We like a few kind words better than millions of dollars given in a humiliating way.
What was taken by force, can only be restored by force.
An army without culture is a dull-witted army, and a dull-witted army cannot defeat the enemy.
Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history; such is the history of civilization for thousands of years.
I have witnessed the tremendous energy of the masses. On this foundation it is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever.
If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.
Let a hundred flowers bloom.
Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting the progress of the arts and the sciences and a flourishing culture in our land.
Our attitude towards ourselves should be "to be satiable in learning" and towards others "to be tireless in teaching."
Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.
The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of world history.
There is in fact no such thing as art for art's sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics. Proletarian literature and art are part of the whole proletarian revolutionary cause.
To read too many books is harmful.
War can only be abolished through war, and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.
A good man, is a good man, whether in this church, or out of it.
Any young man who is unmarried at the age of twenty one is a menace to the community.
Don't try to tear down other people's religion about their ears, Build up your own perfect structure of truth, and invite your listeners to enter in and enjoy it's glories.
Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the worlds work, and the power to appreciate life.
Honest hearts produce honest actions.
I never cared but for one thing, and that is, simply to know that I am right before my Father in Heaven. If I am this moment, this day doing the things God requires of my hands, and precisely where my Father in Heaven wants me to be, I care no more about tomorrow than though it would never come.
I want to live perfectly above the law, and make it my servant instead of my master.
If I had a choice of educating my daughters or my sons because of opportunity constraints, I would choose to educate my daughters.
In the adversity of our best friends we often find something that does not displease us.
It is wise for us to forget our troubles, there are always new ones to replace them.
Love the giver more than the gift.
Nature is the glass reflecting God, as by the sea reflected is the sun, too glorious to be gazed on in his sphere.
Never let a day pass that you will have cause to say, I will do better tomorrow.
Remember, a chip on the shoulder is a sure sign of wood higher up.
Silence may be golden, but can you think of a better way to entertain someone than to listen to him?
The biggest labor problem is tomorrow.
There is no knowledge, no light, no wisdom that you are in possession of, but what you have received it from some source.
True independence and freedom can only exist in doing what's right.
We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do.
A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
As we intend to hold our council at the Huron village, that is near the British, we may probably make them a visit. Should they offer us any presents of goods, we will not take them; but should they offer us powder and the tomahawk, we will take the powder and refuse the tomahawk.
Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers.
Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.
When the legends die, the dreams end; there is no more greatness.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.