Famous expressions

John Steinbeck

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:11:09 +0400

(1902—1968)
U.S. novelist
Father and son are natural enemies and each is happier and more secure in keeping it that way.

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John Steinbeck

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:11:09 +0400

(1902—1968)
U.S. novelist
The profession of book-writing makes horseracing seem like a solid, stable business.

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J. B. Priestley

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:09:36 +0400

(1894—1984)
British author, Observer, London, 15 May 1949.
Our trouble is that we drink too much. I see in this the slow revenge of the Orient, which has diverted the Yellow River down our throats.

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J. B. Priestley,

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:09:36 +0400

(1894—1984)
British writer
One of the delights known to age, and beyond the grasp of youth, is that of Not Going.

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H.G. Wells

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:08:30 +0400

(1866—1946), "America"
Every time Europe looks across the Atlantic to see the American eagle, it observes only the rear end of an ostrich.

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H.G. Wells

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:08:30 +0400

(1866—1946)
English author
If at the end your cheerfulness is not justified, at any rate you will have been cheerful.

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Theodore Roosevelt

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:11:35 +0400

(1858--1919) U.S. President
When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to answer 'present' or 'not guilty'.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:32:56 +0400

(1882—1945), US president
When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

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Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:32:56 +0400

(1882—1945)
U.S. President
If you treat people right they will treat you right--ninety percent of the time.

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Theodore Roosevelt

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:32:56 +0400

(1858—1919)
U.S. president
I am only an average man, but, by George, I work at it harder than the average man.

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Catherine Aird,

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:31:20 +0400

(1930--)
English novelist
If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

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Carolyn Green

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:30:38 +0400

I don't believe in divorce. I believe in widowhood.

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George Daacon

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:58:44 +0400

If absolute power corrupts absolutely, where does that leave God?

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Dennis Diderot,

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:57:08 +0400

(1713—1784), French philosopher
All children are essentially criminal.

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David Daye

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:56:11 +0400

If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.

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Craig Vetter

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:54:50 +0400

Lawyers and insurance agents deserve one another.

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Bret Harte

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:53:37 +0400

(1836—1902)
U.S. journalistauthor
Nobody shoulders a rifle in defense of a boarding house.

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David Lee Roth,

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:42:08 +0400

(1954--)
U.S. singer
Don't stick your tongue out unless you intend to use it.

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David Lloyd George,

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:42:08 +0400

(1863—1945)
English politician
Don't be afraid to take a big step. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.

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David Lodge, The British Museum is Falling Down, 1965

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:42:08 +0400

Literature is mostly about having sex and not much about having children. Life is the other way around.

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John Masters, Bugles and A Tiger

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:47:40 +0400

The kilt is an unrivalled garment for fornication and diarrhoea.

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John Mendoza

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:47:40 +0400

Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup?

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John Mortimer

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:47:40 +0400

(1923--)
English dramatistauthor
When you get to my age life seems little more than one long march to and from the lavatory.

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Hesiod,

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:42:34 +0400

(8th century B.C.), Greek poet
It will not always be summer. Build barns.

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Hesiod, Works and Ways, 8th cen. B.C. Greek poet

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:42:34 +0400

When you deal with your brother, be pleasant, but get a witness.

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John Burroughs

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:47:53 +0400

(1837—1921)
U.S. naturalist, in "Is It Going To Rain?"
I was born with a chronic anxiety about the weather.

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John Hardwick

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:50 +0400

Don't do drugs because if you do drugs you'll go to prison, and drugs are really expensive in prison.

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John Holmes

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:50 +0400

A dog is not almost human, and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such.

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John Hughes

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:50 +0400

A man's tie should never be louder than his wife.

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John Glenn

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:39 +0400

(1921--)
U.S. astronautpolitician
There is still no cure for the common birthday.

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John Glenn (American politican/astronaut)

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:39 +0400

When others kid me about being bald, I simply tell them that the way I figure it, the good Lord only gave men so many hormones, and if others want to waste theirs on growing hair, that's up to them.

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John Greier

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:39 +0400

You're only young once, but you can be immature forever.

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Oliver St. John Gogarty

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:39 +0400

The Observer, London, 1935
The Irish people do not gladly suffer common sense.

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John Benbow, Manuscript and Proof, 1943

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:07 +0400

If you take hyphens seriously you will surely go mad.

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John Burton Brimer, writer

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:07 +0400

America is a place where Jewish merchants sell Zen love beads to agnostics for Christmas.

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Holbrook Jackson

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:50:35 +0400

(1874—1948)
English writercritic
Man is a dog's ideal of what God should be.

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Holbrook Jackson

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:50:35 +0400

(1874—1948)
English writercritic
Why did Nature create Man? Was it to show that she is big enough to make mistakes, or was it pure ignorance?

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Holbrook Jackson, Ladies' Home Journal

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:50:35 +0400

(January, 1950)
No man is ever old enough to know better.

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Jeremy Taylor

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:40:34 +0400

Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit.

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Jerold Rochwald MP

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:04:22 +0400

Nuclear physics is much easier than tax law. It's rational and always works the same way.

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Harry S. Truman

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:02:24 +0400

(1884—1972)
U.S. President
Never kick a fresh cow pie on a hot day.

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Gil Stern

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:01:28 +0400

Man is a complex being; he makes deserts bloom--and lakes die.

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Gil Stern

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:01:28 +0400

Man is a complex being; he makes deserts bloom and lakes die.

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Garry Shandling

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:51:10 +0400

comedian
I once made love for an hour and fifteen minutes, but it was the night the clocks are set ahead.

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Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:49:20 +0400

(1834—1892)
Train your child in the way you now know you should have gone yourself.

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Charles H. Spurgeon

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:49:01 +0400

(1834—1892)
English Baptist preacherwriter
Of two evils, choose neither.

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Gen. Charles H. Grosvenor

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:47:16 +0400

(1833—1917), Ohio Representative, nicknamed "Old Figgers"
Figure won't lie, but liars will figure.

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Henry Ward Beecher

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:51:57 +0400

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.

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George Herbert Walker Bush

Wed, 27 May 2009 15:52:31 +0400

(1924--)
U.S. President
I have opinions of my own--strong opinions--but I don't always agree with them.

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George Hart, Reader's Digest

Wed, 27 May 2009 15:50:57 +0400

(May 1977)
If at first you don't recede--diet, diet again.

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George Clemenceau

Mon, 25 May 2009 16:53:05 +0400

(1841—1929), French politician
War is a series of catastrophes which result in victory.

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George Canning

Mon, 25 May 2009 16:51:12 +0400

(1770—1827)
British politician
I can prove anything by statistics--except the truth.

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George Clemenceau

Mon, 25 May 2009 16:51:12 +0400

(1841—1929), French politician
America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.

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F. Dostoevskiy

Mon, 25 May 2009 16:49:14 +0400

Beauty will save the world.

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Ferdinand Lundberg

Mon, 25 May 2009 16:48:57 +0400

(1902—1995)
U.S. writer
Apologists for the profession contend that lawyers are as honest as other men, but that is not very encouraging.

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Fletcher Knebel

Mon, 25 May 2009 16:48:28 +0400

(Charles Waldo Bailey, really)
(1903--)
U.S. historiannovelist
It is now proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.

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Fletcher Knebel,

Mon, 25 May 2009 16:48:28 +0400

(1903--)
U.S.historiannovelist
It is now proven, beyond a doubt, that smoking is a leading cause of statistics.

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Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)

Mon, 25 May 2009 14:20:48 +0400

English mathematicianphilosopher
If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.

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George Meredith

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:59:12 +0400

(1828—1909), The Ordeal of Richard Feverel
I expect that woman will be the last thing civilized by man.

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George Mikes

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:59:12 +0400

(1912—1987), Hungarian writer and humorist
On the Continent people have good food; in England people have good table manners.

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George Mikes,

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:59:12 +0400

(1912—1987), Hungarian humorist
Continental people have a sex life; the English have hot-water bottles.

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George Gobel(1919-1991)

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:58:19 +0400

U.S. comedian
I have never been drunk, but I've often been overserved.

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George Gobel,

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:58:19 +0400

(1919—1991)
U.S. comedian
If it weren't for electricity, we'd all be watching television by candlelight.

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George Gobel,

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:58:19 +0400

(1919—1991)
U.S. comedian
If you build a better mousetrap, you will catch better mice.

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George Gobel,(1919-1991)

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:58:19 +0400

U.S. comedian
Have you ever had the feeling life is a black tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?

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Eeyore, Winnie-the-Pooh

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:57:07 +0400

This writing business. Pencils and what not. Over rated if you ask me.

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Dan Zevin, Entry-Level Life, 1996

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:55:13 +0400

Never wear a backwards baseball cap to an interview unless applying for the job of umpire.

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David Brown

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:54:01 +0400

Old wives don't die if they're getting alimony.

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Dr. Leo Troy

Wed, 20 May 2009 17:16:44 +0400

Never say "oops" in the operating room.

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John Malkovich

Wed, 20 May 2009 17:08:59 +0400

(1953--)
U.S. actor
I only have two rules for my newly born daughter: she will dress well and never have sex.

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Don Marquis

Wed, 20 May 2009 17:04:24 +0400

(1878—1937)
U.S. poet and humorist
Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint.

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Marilyn Manson

Wed, 20 May 2009 17:00:17 +0400

I view my job as being someone who is supposed to piss people off. I don't want to be just one-of-the-guys. I don't want to be just a smiling face you see on television presenting some vapid kind of easily-digestible garbage. This is rock and roll. I want to be a rock and roll star! Rock and roll is about shaking things up, making people act and react. That's what I do.

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Dean Martin,

Wed, 20 May 2009 12:57:57 +0400

(1917—1995)
U.S. singer
If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.

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Dean McLaughlin

Wed, 20 May 2009 12:57:57 +0400

U.S. sci-fi author
Welcome thy neighbor to thy fallout shelter. He'll come in handy if you run out of food.

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Dr. Seuss,

Wed, 20 May 2009 12:56:15 +0400

(1904—1991)
U.S. author of children's books
Adults are obsolete children.

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Harrison Ford

Tue, 19 May 2009 16:12:57 +0400

(1942--)
U.S. actor (but it is also attributed to Arnold Palmer, golfer)
You know you're getting old when all the names in your black book have M. D. after them.

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George Santayana

Tue, 19 May 2009 16:04:03 +0400

(1863—1952), Articles and Essays
Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament.

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George Santayana

Tue, 19 May 2009 16:04:03 +0400

(1863—1952), Soliloquies in England
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.

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Herbert Hoover

Wed, 13 May 2009 23:10:46 +0400

(1874—1964)
U.S. President, in 1951
All men are equal before fish.

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Herbert Hoover,

Wed, 13 May 2009 23:10:46 +0400

(1874—1964)
U.S. President
Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.

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Holly Waits

Wed, 13 May 2009 23:10:08 +0400

Men are like computers. I don't understand them. I just use them for my amusement.

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Holly Waits

Wed, 13 May 2009 23:10:08 +0400

Men are like computers: I don't understand them, I just use them for my amusement.

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Homer Simpson, The Simpsons

Wed, 13 May 2009 23:09:17 +0400

Where's the 'any' key?

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Homer Simpson, The Simpsons

Wed, 13 May 2009 23:09:17 +0400

Wow! They've got the Internet on computers now!

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Howard Ogden

Wed, 13 May 2009 23:08:18 +0400

Don't take yourself too seriously. And don't be too serious about not taking yourself too seriously.

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Howard Ogden

Wed, 13 May 2009 23:08:18 +0400

Life is too short to balance a checkbook.

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Henry Brooks Adams

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:04:13 +0400

(1838—1918)
U.S. historian
It is impossible to underrate human intelligence--beginning with one's own.

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Henry Brooks Adams

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:04:13 +0400

(1838—1918)
U.S. historian
No man likes to have his intelligence or good faith questioned, especially if he has doubts about it himself.

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Henry Ford

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:03:43 +0400

(1863—1947)
U.S. industrialist
History is bunk.

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Henry Ford

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:03:43 +0400

(1863—1947), interview (February, 1929)
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few engage in it.

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Bob Thaves, "Frank & Ernest" comic strip

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:02:28 +0400

I don't know if I can live on my income or not--the government won't let me try it.

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Brander Matthew

Tue, 12 May 2009 23:01:54 +0400

(1852—1956)
A highbrow is a person educated beyond his intelligence.

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Margaret Thatcher

Wed, 06 May 2009 16:51:49 +0400

British prime minister.
In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.

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Mark Twain

Wed, 06 May 2009 16:40:59 +0400

(1835—1910), Pudd'nhead Wilson
October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, December, August, and February.

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