"When you go to war as a boy you have a great illusion of immortality. Other people get killed; not you ... Then when you are badly wounded the first time you lose that illusion and you know it can happen to you." -- Ernest Hemingway

Does Hemingway's words remind you of anything?

Have you ever thought that you are somewhat, DIFFERENT?

Did you feel that you are the ONE chosen to accomplish a special assignment?

Have you ever DESPISE others on their timidness, directionlessness and realism?

Did you feel that all your CLOSET friends live in books but dead hundreds of years ago?

Until one day, you are severely WOUNDED.

Your body is trembling.

Your spirit is wavering.

You feel so, LOST.

You realized that you are not really that, SPECIAL.

You began to wonder, WHO else, went through the same.

You suddenly discovered that you can feel SYMPATHY now for the ones you used to despise.

You started to greatly APPRECIATE the ones who went through failures and failures and still keep smiling towards life.

You sort of HEALED, although you still lick your wounds sometime.

And life goes on.

"All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure." -- Mark Twain.

You lost your ignorance, do you still have your confidence?

"I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else." -- Winston Churchill.

Confidence is a choice, to help you do things. You have it the moment you decide to.

"Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important you do it." -- Mohandas Gandhi

But why do those things? You tell me.

More More Quotations

Aristotle (Greek, 384BC-322BC)

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A true friend is one soul in two bodies.

Homer has taught all other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.

I have gained this from philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law.

In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.

Inferiors revolt in order that they may be equal, and equals that they may be superior. Such is the state of mind which creates revolutions.

Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.

No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.

Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.

The most perfect political community is one in which the middle class is in control, and outnumbers both of the other classes.

The secret to humor is surprise.

The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.

Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope.

Niccolo Machiavelli (Italian, 1469-1527)

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A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.

A son can bear with equanimity the loss of his father, but the loss of his inheritance may drive him to despair.

Before all else, be armed.

Benefits should be conferred gradually; and in that way they will taste better.

For among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible; which is one of those disgraceful things which a prince must guard against.

If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.

Severities should be dealt out all at once, so that their suddenness may give less offense; benefits ought to be handed ought drop by drop, so that they may be relished the more.

The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow.

When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred.

Whoever conquers a free town and does not demolish it commits a great error and may expect to be ruined himself.

Voltaire (French, 1694-1778)

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Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.

If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him.

It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce.

It is said that the present is pregnant with the future.

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.

The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.

This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it.

Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy.

Friedrich Nietzsche (German, 1844-1900)

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Arrogance on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the arrogance of those without merit: for merit itself is offensive.

A woman may very well form a friendship with a man, but for this to endure, it must be assisted by a little physical antipathy.

Character is determined more by the lack of certain experiences than by those one has had.

Do whatever you will, but first be such as are able to will.

Egoism is the very essence of a noble soul.

Every church is a stone on the grave of a god-man: it does not want him to rise up again under any circumstances.

Fear is the mother of morality.

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.

In heaven, all the interesting people are missing.

It is good to express a thing twice right at the outset and so to give it a right foot and also a left one. Truth can surely stand on one leg, but with two it will be able to walk and get around.

Regarding life, the wisest men of all ages have judged alike: it is worthless.

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.

There are various eyes. Even the Sphinx has eyes: and as a result there are various truths, and as a result there is no truth.

There is in general good reason to suppose that in several respects the gods could all benefit from instruction by us human beings. We humans are - more humane.

Those who cannot understand how to put their thoughts on ice should not enter into the heat of debate.

Ernest Hemingway (American, 1899-1961)

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All things truly wicked start from innocence.

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.

Cowardice... is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend functioning of the imagination.

Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to be hurt like hell before you can write seriously. But when you get the damned hurt, use it-don't cheat with it.

More Quotations

What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also.

Julius Caesar (Roman, 100BC-44BC)

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Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.

Thomas Jefferson (American, 1743-1826)

Don't talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.

Thomas Jefferson

Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.

Thomas Jefferson

Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.

Thomas Jefferson

For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.

Thomas Jefferson

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.

Thomas Jefferson

I find that he is happiest of whom the world says least, good or bad.

Thomas Jefferson

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.

Thomas Jefferson

Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

Thomas Jefferson

Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations.

Thomas Jefferson

Never spend your money before you have earned it.

Thomas Jefferson

No man will ever carry out of the Presidency the reputation which carried him into it.

Thomas Jefferson

Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence.

Thomas Jefferson

Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none.

Thomas Jefferson

That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.

Thomas Jefferson

The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits which favor that theory.

Thomas Jefferson

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

Thomas Jefferson

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

Thomas Jefferson

There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me.

Thomas Jefferson

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.

Thomas Jefferson

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Among those who dislike oppression are many who like to oppress.

Napoleon Bonaparte (French, 1769-1821)

He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander.

Napoleon Bonaparte

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

Napoleon Bonaparte

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.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The act of policing is, in order to punish less often, to punish more severely.

Napoleon Bonaparte

There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.

Napoleon Bonaparte

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Action expresses priorities.

Mohandas Gandhi (Indian, 1869-1948)

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mohandas Gandhi

I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others.

Mohandas Gandhi

Imitation is the sincerest flattery.

Mohandas Gandhi

Morality is contraband in war.

Mohandas Gandhi

My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realising Him.

Mohandas Gandhi

Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it.

Mohandas Gandhi

The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Mohandas Gandhi

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

Mohandas Gandhi

Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.

Mohandas Gandhi

We do not need to proselytise either by our speech or by our writing. We can only do so really with our lives. Let our lives be open books for all to study.

Mohandas Gandhi

We win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party.

Mohandas Gandhi

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A joke is a very serious thing.

Winston Churchill (English, 1874-1965)

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Winston Churchill

A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.

Winston Churchill

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.

Winston Churchill

Eating words has never given me indigestion.

Winston Churchill

Great and good are seldom the same man.

Winston Churchill

He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

Winston Churchill

History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.

Winston Churchill

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

Winston Churchill

I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.

Winston Churchill

I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.

Winston Churchill

In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.

Winston Churchill

"No comment" is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again.

Winston Churchill

Play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game.

Winston Churchill

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

Winston Churchill

There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.

Winston Churchill

Those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace and those who could make a good peace would never have won the war.

Winston Churchill

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

Winston Churchill

True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.

Winston Churchill

We are all worms. But I believe that I am a glow-worm.

Winston Churchill

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Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.

Joseph Stalin (Russian, 1879-1953)

Mark Twain Quotations

A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.

All generalizations are false, including this one.

All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.

Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.

'Classic.' A book which people praise and don't read.

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.

Familiarity breeds contempt - and children.

I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell - you see, I have friends in both places.

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

It is easier to stay out than get out.

It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.

It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.

Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.

Man will do many things to get himself loved, he will do all things to get himself envied.

My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately) everybody drinks water.

Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

The lack of money is the root of all evil.

The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it, he knows too little.

There are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is cowardice.

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