Today's Words of Wisdom - November 24, 2015

Today is the birthday of the following people:

Laurence Sterne (1713 – 1768):

“Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners”

and

“Trust that man in nothing who has not a conscience in everything.”

Carlo Collodi (1826 – 1890):

'Bear it in mind, simpleton! Boys who refuse to study, and turn their backs upon books, schools, and masters, to pass their time in play and amusements, sooner or later come to a bad end... I know it by experience... and I can tell you. A day will come when you will weep as I am weeping now... but then it will be too late!...'

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849 – 1924):

“If nature has made you for a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that--warm things, kind things, sweet things--help and comfort and laughter--and sometimes gay, kind laughter is the best help of all.”

and

“Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment. The temptation to be unreasonable and snappish is one not easy to manage."

Dale Carnegie (1888 - 1955):

“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.”

Baruch Spinoza (1632 – 1677):

“The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak.”

and

“The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.”

and

“I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them.”

Arundhati Roy (1961 - ):

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”

Stephen Merchant (1974 - ):

“Remember that film 'Sliding Doors,' when John Hannah woos Gwyneth Paltrow by reciting Monty Python sketches? I can tell you now that doesn't work, so that film's wrong.”

and

“There's this way pop culture has been rammed down our throats that people think that if they were just in the right place at the right time, they'd be married to Heidi Klum.”

and

“I know that this sounds grand, but I don't try to compete with other people. I like to think there's enough pie for everyone. The kind of people I'm competing with are my heroes - Woody Allen, Billy Wilder - who I know I'm going to fall short of.”