Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.

Edward Abbey, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness

If the people who make the decisions are the people who will also bear the consequences of
those decisions, perhaps better decisions will result.

John Abrams, The Company We Keep: Reinventing Small Business for People
Let them hate so long as they fear.
(Oderint Dum Metuant)

Lucius Accius, Fragmen

It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority. For there is

a reserve of latent power in the masses which, if it is called into play, the minority can seldom
resist. But from the absolute will of an entire people there is no appeal, no redemption, no refuge
but treason.

Lord Acton
The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who
surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority.

Lord Acton
Abigail Adams
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with
diligence.

Abigail Adams, 1780

- More quotations on: [Learning]
I begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life....Man was made for action
and for bustle too, I believe.

Abigail Adams, letter to her sister, Mary Smith Cranch, 1784

We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.

Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams, 1774

No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should
be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in
the creative spirit.

Ansel Adams
Showing quotations 1 to 1 of 1 total
Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the
outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates
confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.

Brian Adams
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of
others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

Douglas Adams, "Last Chance to See"

He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and
whether they were enjoying it.

Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which
obeys its own special laws.

Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word 'SAFE' that I wasn't previously aware of.

Douglas Adams, Arthur Dent in "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"

The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go
wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be
impossible to get at or repair.

Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to
do the job.

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Seeing ourselves as others see us would probably confirm our worst suspicions about them.

Franklin P. Adams
Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather
than for somebody.

Franklin P. Adams, Nods and Becks, 1944

In this life we get only those things for which we hunt, for which we strive, and for which we are
willing to sacrifice.

George Matthew Adams

There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through
encouragement from someone else. I don't care how great, how famous or successful a man or
woman may be, each hungers for applause.

George Matthew Adams

There is no such thing as a 'self-made' man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone
who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered
into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.

George Matthew Adams

There is no such thing as an underestimate of average intelligence.

 Henry Adams
A psychiatrist is a fellow who asks you a lot of expensive questions your wife asks for nothing.

Joey Adams
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law
firm, and three or more is a congress.

John Adams
The proposition that the people are the best keepers of their own liberties is not true. They are the
worst conceivable, they are no keepers at all; they can neither judge, act, think, or will, as a
political body.

John Adams
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of
our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

John Adams, 'Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre

Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a
democracy that did not commit suicide.

John Adams, Letter, April 15, 1814

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and
obstacles vanish into air.

John Quincy Adams

It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they
have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don't. They sit in front of the telly and
treat life as if it goes on forever.

Philip Adams
Decisions are made by people who have time, not people who have talent.

'Wrong' is one of those concepts that depends on witnesses.

Dance like it hurts,

Love like you need money,
Work when people are watching.

Scott Adams, The Way of the Weasel

He who demands mercy and shows none burns the bridges over which he himself must later
pass.

Thomas Adams
If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise
counselor, caution your elder brother and hope your guardian genius.
 Joseph Addison
True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy to pomp and noise; it arises, in the first place,
from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next from the friendship and conversation of a few
select companions.

Joseph Addison, The Spectator, March 17, 1911

Man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter.

Joseph Addison, The Spectator, September 26, 1712

- More quotations on: [Laughter]
Arguments out of a pretty mouth are unanswerable.

Joseph Addison, Women and Liberty

You have to allow a certain amount of time in which you are doing nothing in order to have
things occur to you, to let your mind think.

Mortimer Adler
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If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color,
we would find some other cause for prejudice by noon.

George Aiken
Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their
throats.

Howard Aiken
You can only perceive real beauty in a person as they get older.

Anouk Aimee, O Magazine, October 2003

My theory is that if you look confident you can pull off anything - even if you have no clue what
you're doing.

Jessica Alba
The angry man always thinks he can do more than he can.

Albertano of Brescia
Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from the inside. We think that hating is a weapon that
attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to
ourselves.

Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Life has to end, love doesn't.

Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing
it on to someone else.

Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know.

Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time.

Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet In Heaven, pg. 1 line 3-4
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it
worth the effort.

Herm Albright
Tradition is what you resort to when you don't have the time or the money to do it right.

Kurt Herbert Alder

The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous.

Shana Alexander
Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a
woman whose troubles are worse than your own.

Nelson Algren, Newsweek, July 2, 1956