"Life is difficult."

--M. Scott Peck, 1936-2005, author of The Road Less Traveled

"Sorry about that, Chief."

-- Don Adams (Donald James Yarmy), 1923-2005, as Maxwell Smart.


Image from USA Today.

"The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all of your time".

-- Willem de Kooning

"Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on".

-- Samuel Butler

"I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it".

-- Edith Sitwell

"Not winning does not mean you are a bad person. It just means you're not a good actor."
-- Ellen Degeneres, at the 2005 Emmy Awards.

"Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life. Laughing at someone else's can shorten it".

-- Cullen Hightower

"You come to New York with a dream. But luck doesn't smile on everyone, and sometimes, life here is more horror film than romantic comedy."

-- Elizabeth Gold, Goodbye to All That, The New York Times, yesterday.

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."

-- Erica Jong

"Most men are within a finger's breadth of being mad".
-- Diogenes the Cynic

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative".
-- Oscar Wilde

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars".

-- Charles A. Beard, as quoted by Higher Powered.

"Quit saying that word! It's the only decade that scared the hell out of me. It's just the sound of it. Eight, holy shit! No, I don't like the sound of that. But it's here and I'll deal with it. You'd better believe it. Because not to deal with it is exit city."

-- Elaine Stritch, Elaine Stritch: Still Here, New York Magazine, this week.

"Among the few certain truths of September 11, 2001, is one that applies to every day that dawns. That there is no guarantee of tomorrow, or the next five minutes. This is the central provision of all contracts between people and their lives. No plans, large or small, are exempt."

-- Paul Vitello, The Eleventh of Never, in The New York Times, today.

"With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in man, than any other association of men".

-- Clarence Darrow

"I feel challenged without feeling overwhelmed. The first month should be pretty hectic, but like the room, things will get sorted."

-- Glenn, at Glennalicious

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."

-- William Butler Yeats

"Gilligan's Island is wherever you want it to be in your mind".

-- Bob Denver, (1935-2005) as quoted by Brainy Quote.


Image from Affirmation.org

"During this time of year, when students are going back to school. I allow myself to be open and receptive to learning new ideas. I monitor my self-talk, making sure that it is uplifting and supportive of myself and others."

-- Louise Hay

"I work for enjoyment and satisfaction - and not just to earn a living. I use my mind and thoughts to enhance my life."

-- Louise Hay

"There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening."

-- Marshall McLuhan

"The ghosts of the past
which follow us into the present
also belong to the present moment.
To observe them deeply,
recognize their nature
and transform them,
is to transform the past."

-- Thich Nhat Hanh


Image from Harvard University.

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

"Things you have no control over, you can't be beat up with. You wouldn't be a happy person."

-- Jimmy McHale, owner of McHale's Tavern at West 46th and 8th Avenue, on news that the building that houses his family business for more than 50 years has been sold. As quoted in today's The New York Times.