Blathery

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

Born this week

Vincent Van Gogh

March 30, 1853July 29, 1890

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Post-Impressionist painter of Dutch origin whose work—notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty, and ...

Bette Davis

April 5, 1908October 6, 1989

Old age is no place for sissies.

Ruth Elizabeth Davis, known as Bette Davis, was an American actress of film, television and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actors ...

Washington Irving

April 3, 1783November 28, 1859

A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.

Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his ...

Leo Buscaglia

March 31, 1924June 12, 1998

Change is the end result of all true learning.

Felice Leonardo "Leo" Buscaglia PhD, also known as "Dr. Love," was an American author and motivational speaker, and a professor in the ...

John Burroughs

April 3, 1837March 29, 1921

If we take science as our sole guide, if we accept and hold fast that alone which is verifiable, the old theology must go.

John Burroughs was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the U.S. conservation movement. The first of his essay collections ...

Otto von Bismarck

April 1815July 30, 1898

An appeal to fear never finds an echo in German hearts.

Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg, known as Otto von Bismarck, was a conservative Prussian statesman who dominated ...

George Herbert

April 3, 1593March 1633

Living well is the best revenge.

George Herbert was a Welsh-born English poet, orator and Anglican priest. Herbert's poetry is associated with the writings of the ...

Rene Descartes

March 31, 1596February 11, 1650

The two operations of our understanding, intuition and deduction, on which alone we have said we must rely in the acquisition of knowledge.

René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician and writer who spent most of his life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the ...

Booker T. Washington

April 5, 1856November 14, 1915

Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

Booker Taliaferro Washington was an African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. Between 1890 ...

Thomas Hobbes

April 5, 1588December 4, 1679

I put for the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.

Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on ...

Alan Perlis

April 1922February 7, 1990

You can measure a programmer's perspective by noting his attitude on the continuing vitality of FORTRAN.

Alan Jay Perlis (April 1, 1922 - February 7, 1990) was an American computer scientist known for his pioneering work in programming ...

Abraham Maslow

April 1908June 8, 1970

What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.

Abraham Harold Maslow was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological ...

Emile Zola

April 2, 1840September 29, 1902

The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.

Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was a French writer, the most well-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism and an ...

Octavio Paz

March 31, 1914April 19, 1998

Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone.

Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican poet-diplomat and writer. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the ...

Agnes Repplier

April 1855November 15, 1950

It is as impossible to withhold education from the receptive mind, as it is impossible to force it upon the unreasoning.

Agnes Repplier (April 1, 1855 - November 15, 1950) was an American essayist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her essays are esteemed for ...

George Allen, Sr.

March 31, 1885July 21, 1972

Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. It's the best part of the day.

George Edward Allen, Sr. was a Virginia state senator from 1916 to 1920 and a trial attorney who, with his three sons, founded the law firm ...

Nicholas M. Butler

April 2, 1862December 7, 1947

America is the best half-educated country in the world.

Nicholas Murray Butler was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the ...

Giacomo Casanova

April 2, 1725June 4, 1798

It is only necessary to have courage, for strength without self-confidence is useless.

Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, Histoire de ma vie, is ...

Marvin Gaye

April 2, 1939April 1984

Most fear stems from sin to limit one's sins, one must assuredly limit one's fear, thereby bringing more peace to one's spirit.

Marvin Gaye, born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr., was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Gaye helped to shape the sound of Motown Records ...

James Freeman Clarke

April 4, 1810June 8, 1888

Conscience is the root of all true courage if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.

James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 - June 8, 1888), an American theologian and author. Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, James Freeman ...

Marguerite Duras

April 4, 1914March 3, 1996

It's afterwards you realize that the feeling of happiness you had with a man didn't necessarily prove that you loved him.

Marguerite Donnadieu, known as Marguerite Duras (pronounced: [maʁ.ɡə.ʁit dy.ʁas]) (4 April 1914 - 3 March 1996) was a ...

Maimonides

March 30, 1135December 12, 1204

No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated with any other means.

Mosheh ben Maimon, or Mūsā ibn Maymūn, acronymed RaMBaM, and Latinized Moses Maimonides, was a preeminent medieval Spanish, ...

Cesar Chavez

March 31, 1927April 23, 1993

If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart.

Cesar Chavez was an American farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist, who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm ...

Hans Christian Andersen

April 2, 1805August 4, 1875

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

Hans Christian Andersen was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best ...

Edward Everett Hale

April 3, 1822June 10, 1909

Wise anger is like fire from a flint: there is great ado to get it out and when it does come, it is out again immediately.

Edward Everett Hale (April 3, 1822 - June 10, 1909) was an American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman. He was a child prodigy who ...

Marc Davis

March 30, 1913January 12, 2000

Later, my father died up in Marysville. So, my mother and I got in the car and came down to Hollywood.

Marc Fraser Davis was a prominent American artist and animator for Walt Disney Studios. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men for his ...

Johann Sebastian Bach

March 31, 1685July 28, 1750

The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He enriched established German styles through his skill in ...

Nikolai Gogol

April 1809March 4, 1852

Always think of what is useful and not what is beautiful. Beauty will come of its own accord.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian Russian-language dramatist, novelist and short story writer. Considered by his contemporaries ...

George Jessel

April 3, 1898May 23, 1981

Marriage is a mistake every man should make.

George Albert Jessel, sometimes called "Georgie" Jessel, was an American illustrated song "model," actor, singer, songwriter, and Academy ...

Dora Russell

April 3, 1894May 31, 1986

Marriage, laws, the police, armies and navies are the mark of human incompetence.

Dora Black, Lady Russell (3 April 1894 - 31 May 1986) was a British author, a feminist and socialist campaigner, and the second wife of the ...

Herb Caen

April 3, 1916February 1997

Cockroaches and socialites are the only things that can stay up all night and eat anything.

Herbert Eugene "Herb" Caen was a San Francisco journalist whose daily column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political ...

Remy de Gourmont

April 4, 1858September 27, 1915

Man has made use of his intelligence, he invented stupidity.

Remy de Gourmont was a French Symbolist poet, novelist, and influential critic. He was widely read in his era, and an important influence ...

A. Bartlett Giamatti

April 4, 1938September 1989

A liberal education is at the heart of a civil society, and at the heart of a liberal education is the act of teaching.

Angelo Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti was the president of Yale University and later the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Giamatti ...