Blathery

Quotes & anectdotes from
the wise,
the foolish,
the courageous &
the drunk

Born this week

Henry Ford

July 30, 1863April 7, 1947

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.

Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line ...

Alexis de Tocqueville

July 29, 1805April 16, 1859

Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves.

Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian best known for his works Democracy in America and ...

Don Marquis

July 29, 1878December 29, 1937

Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.

Donald Robert Perry Marquis was a humorist, journalist, and author. He was variously a novelist, poet, newspaper columnist, and playwright. ...

Douglas Horton

July 27, 1891August 21, 1968

Although it is generally known, I think it's about time to announce that I was born at a very early age.

Douglas Horton was an American Protestant clergyman and academic leader who was noted for his work in ecumenical relations among major ...

Dag Hammarskjold

July 29, 1905September 18, 1961

Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment.

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. The second Secretary-General of the United Nations, he ...

Herman Melville

August 1819September 28, 1891

Old age is always wakeful as if, the longer linked with life, the less man has to do with aught that looks like death.

Herman Melville was an American novelist, writer of short stories, and poet from the American Renaissance period. The bulk of his writings ...

Casey Stengel

July 30, 1890September 29, 1975

Sure I played, did you think I was born at the age of 70 sitting in a dugout trying to manage guys like you?

Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel, nicknamed "The Old Perfessor", was an American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He was elected ...

Benito Mussolini

July 29, 1883April 28, 1945

Inactivity is death.

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as ...

Maria Mitchell

August 1818June 28, 1889

I would as soon put a girl alone into a closet to meditate as give her only the society of her needle.

Maria Mitchell (August 1, 1818 - June 28, 1889) was an American astronomer, who in 1847, by using a telescope, discovered a comet which as ...

Hilaire Belloc

July 27, 1870July 16, 1953

Is there no Latin word for Tea? Upon my soul, if I had known that I would have let the vulgar stuff alone.

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the ...

Karl Popper

July 28, 1902September 17, 1994

No rational argument will have a rational effect on a man who does not want to adopt a rational attitude.

Sir Karl Raimund Popper CH FBA FRS was an Austrian-British philosopher and professor at the London School of Economics. He is generally ...

Emily Bronte

July 30, 1818December 19, 1848

I see heaven's glories shine and faith shines equal.

Emily Jane BrontÄ was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of ...

Irving Babbitt

August 2, 1865July 15, 1933

Act strenuously, would appear to be our faith, and right thinking will take care of itself.

Irving Babbitt was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New ...

Emmet Fox

July 30, 1886August 13, 1951

It is the food which you furnish to your mind that determines the whole character of your life.

Emmet Fox (July 30, 1886 - August 13, 1951) was a New Thought spiritual leader of the early 20th century, famous for his large Divine ...

C. Northcote Parkinson

July 30, 1909March 9, 1993

In politics people give you what they think you deserve and deny you what they think you want.

Cyril Northcote Parkinson was a British naval historian and author of some 60 books, the most famous of which was his best-seller ...

Jerry Garcia

August 1942August 9, 1995

Death comes at you no matter what you do in this life, and to equate drugs with death is a facile comparison.

Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician who was best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the ...

Meir Kahane

August 1932November 5, 1990

The Jew does not wish to be isolated. He fears being alone, without allies.

Meir David Kahane an American-Israeli rabbi, ultranationalist writer, and political figure, whose work became either the direct or indirect ...

Munshi Premchand

July 31, 1880October 8, 1936

Beauty doesn't need ornaments. Softness can't bear the weight of ornaments.

Premchand, better known as Munshi Premchand, Munshi being an honorary prefix, was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani ...

James Baldwin

August 2, 1924December 1987

The South is very beautiful but its beauty makes one sad because the lives that people live here, and have lived here, are so ugly.

James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His essays, as collected in Notes of a Native ...

Smedley Butler

July 30, 1881June 21, 1940

There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights.

Smedley Darlington Butler was a United States Marine Corps major general, the highest rank authorized at that time, and at the time of his ...

Henry Moore

July 30, 1898August 31, 1986

A sculptor is a person who is interested in the shape of things, a poet in words, a musician by sounds.

Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA RBS was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures ...

William Bennett

July 31, 1943February 20, 1886

All real education is the architecture of the soul.

William John "Bill" Bennett is an American conservative pundit, politician, and political theorist. He served as Secretary of Education ...