Quotes Sorted by Subject

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." John Benfield Ambition
"Show me a mouser and I'll show you a cat with bad breath." Jim Davis, Garfield Ambition *
"Art is long, life short; judgement difficult, opportunity transient." Goethe Art
"It's only words…unless they're true." David Mamet Art *
"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." Dorothy Parker Art
"Immature artists imitate, mature artists steal." Lionel Trilling Art
"Most business plans fail. Obviously, a success it not a realistic goal. But the people responsible for the most spectacular failures get promoted first because of their experience." Scott Adams, The Dibert Principle Business *
"Organized crime in America takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends very little on office supplies." Woody Allen Business *
"What is qualified? What have I been qualified for in my life? I haven't been qualified to be a mayor. I'm not qualified to be a songwriter. I'm not qualified to be a TV producer. I'm not qualified to be a successful businessman. And so, I don't know what qualified means. And I think people get too hung up on that in a way, you know?" Sonny Bono Business *
"Put all your eggs in one basket, and then pay very close attention to that basket." Warren Buffett Business *
"The public does not know what it wants, and there is no sure way of finding out until the idea is exposed under normal conditions of sale. If people could tell you in advance what they want, there would never have been a wheel, a lever, much less an automobile, airplane, or a TV set." Leo Burnett Business *
"When we ask advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice." Marquis de la Grange Business
"What has happened in the valley is that companies are suddenly being cast, like movies, for their hit potential." Will Hearst, Publisher & Venture Capitalist Business *
"I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up." Tom Lehrer Business
"All great stories have three acts. In the first act, the heroes are introduced to great fanfare. In the second, the heroes, on the verge of victory, stumble and take a fall. And in the third act, the heroes return, victorious, to win the battle." Ted Leonsis Business
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." H.L. Mencken Business
"Be nice to people on your way up because you'll need them on your way down." W. Migner Business
"There is no monument dedicated to the memory of the committee." Lester J. Pourciau Business
"Nothing can be done at once hastily and prudently." Publilus Syrus, Maxim 557 Business *
"One word sums up the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is 'to be prepared'." Former Vice President Dan Quayle Business *
"Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need." Will Rodgers Business
"Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes." Thoreau Business *
"Buy land. They've stopped making it." Mark Twain Business
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away" Tom Waits Business
"Football is a mistake. It combines the two worst elements of American life. Violence and committee meetings." George Will Business *
"What does not destroy me, makes me strong." Friedrich Nietzsche Change
"Keep changing. When you're through changing - you're through." Bruce Barton Change
"A revolution is not a dinner party." Mao Change
"For every door that shuts, a window opens." Anon Change
"The study of change…is the study of survival." Edward T. Hall Change
"Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos." "The I Ching" Change
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." Ernest Hemingway Character
"Speak the truth, but leave immediately after." Slovenian Proverb Character
"Don't tell your problems to people: eighty percent don't care; and the other twenty percent are glad you have them." Lou Holtz Character
"I don't want any yes-man around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs." Samuel Goldwyn Character *
"Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln Character
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Abraham Lincoln Character *
I think you're the opposite of a paranoid. I think you go around with the insane delusion that people like you. Woody Allen, Deconstructing Harry Character *
"Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others, it is the only means." Albert Einstein Character *
"The definition of courage is grace under fire." Ernest Hemingway Character *
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." Abbie Hoffman Character *
"Honesty is a good thing, but it is not profitable to its possessor unless it is kept under control." Don Marquis Character
"I think you're the opposite of a paranoid. I think you go around with the insane delusion that people like you." Woody Allen Character
"And always remember the last words of my grandfather, who said, "A truck!" Emo Phillips Death
"Why are our days numbered and no, say, lettered?" Woody Allen Death
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work…I want to achieve it through not dying." Woody Allen Death
"Experience is the comb that nature gives us when we are bald." Anon Experience *
"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." Niels Bohr Experience
"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again." F.P. Jones Experience
"Time is the best teacher; unfortunately, it kills all its students" Experience
"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again." F.P. Jones Experience *
"It is advantageous to an author that his book should be attacked as well as praised. Fame is a shuttlecock. If it be struck only at one end of the room, it will soon fall to the ground. To keep it up, it must be struck at both ends." Samuel Johnson Fame *
"I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it." Harry S. Truman Family *
"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished how much he had learned in seven years." Mark Twain Family *
"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." Robert Frost Family *
"When smashing monuments, save the pedestals - they always come in handy." Stanislaw Lem History
"War is a series of catastrophes that results in victory." George Clemenceau History *
"One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say." Will Durant History *
"A lie told often enough becomes the truth." Lenin History
"If you ever see me getting beaten by the police, put down the video camera and come help me." Bobcat Goldthwait Humor
"Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you've got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn't your biggest problem. Maybe you should get rid of the body before you do the wash." Jerry Seinfeld Humor
"Brevity is the soul of wit." Shakespeare, Hamlet Humor
"If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank." Woody Allen Humor
"More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly." Woody Allen Humor
"In the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." Anon Humor
"When someone tells you something defies description, you can be pretty sure he's going to have a go at it anyway." Clyde B. Aster Humor
"These days it's hard to look at a poodle without thinking what a good meal he would make." Steve Martin Humor *
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." Graucho Marx Humor *
"Whenever I'm caught between two evils, I take the one I never tried." Mae West Humor *
"Give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to accept the things I cannot, and great big bag of money." Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey Inspiration *
"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence -- and then success is sure." Mark Twain Inspiration
"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Martin Luther King, Jr. Inspirational *
"Your playing small does not serve the world…as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to so the same…" Nelson Mandela Inspirational *
"It is not the horse that draws the cart, but the oats." Russian Proverb Leadership
"If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done." Anon Leadership
"If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there." from "Don't Squat with Your Spurs On: A Cowboy's Guide to Life" Leadership *
"A decision will be made before it's too late or soon thereafter." Michael Eisner Leadership *
"If you don't understand that you work for your mislabeled "subordinates", then you know nothing of leadership. You know only tyranny." Dee Hock in Fast Company Leadership *
"When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents the danger and the other represents opportunity." John F. Kennedy Leadership *
"You know how I'm smart? I got people around me who know more than I do." Louis B. Mayer Leadership *
"Where there is not vision, the people perish." Proverbs 29:18 Leadership *
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." George C. Scott, as Gen. Geo. S. Patton, Jr. (from the movie, Patton) Leadership *
"The culture of a company starts at the top. It reflects the style of the leader. You have to use humility, create a motivating environment, mentor as well as manage." Mike Seashols, who left Oracle after 15 years to start his own company Leadership *
"All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it." Samuel Butler Life
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." Will Rogers Life
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principle difference between a dog and a man." Mark Twain Life
"If you board the wrong train, it's no use running along the corridor in the other direction." Dietrich Bonhoeffer Life
"When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice." Marquis de la Grange Life *
"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." Wm. James Life *
"The reverse side also has a reverse side." Japanese proverb Life
"Speed costs money - how fast can you afford to go…?" David Lenkowski Life
"What's past is prologue." William Shakespeare Life *
"All the world's a stage And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7 Life *
"I liked you 'cause I thought you had some feeling, but when you didn't, I liked you even more." Go West, Young Man Love *
"It's no trick to make a lot of money…if all you want to do is make a lot of money." Everett Sloane, as Mr. Bernstein, from Citizen Kane Money *
"Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." Woody Allen Money
"Someday I want to be rich. Some people get so rich they lose all respect for humanity. That's how rich I want to be." Rita Rudner Money
"Entire new continent can emerge from the ocean in the time it takes for a Web page to show up on your screen. Contrary to what you may have heard, the Internet does not operate at the speed of light; it operates at the speed of the Department of Motor Vehicles." Dave Barry, "Dave Barry in Cyberspace" New Media
"The world is changing…Networks without a specific branding strategy will be killed…I envision a world of highly niched services and tightly run companies without room for all the overhead the established networks carry." Barry Diller New Media
"The largest unanswered questions about this revolution are in and around a business mode. How important are subsidies from advertising, as we've had in broadest media? How do you attract enough subscribers? I don't think many web sites, many presences, many networks are going to make it on advertising. I think transactions are key. Remember the advice Deep Throat gave Woodward and Bernstien in "All the President's Men": follow the money. The money is in transactions. the competion is just a mouse click away in cyberspace, so it's hard to command a premium price. You get a premium for your brand and service... John Doerr New Media
"Traditional media companies underestimate how easy it is to build a brand in this world. I think the new brands are gong to do at least as well as the existing brands… John Doerr New Media
"There will be a lot more winners than there will be losers, because the internet is a great cost reducer in distribution and transactions. Bill Gates refers to it as a friction-free kind of economy. I don't think it's a panacea. You have to be an exceptionally smart marketer to succeed in this new world. Assemble together all of the notions that make marketing part art, part science". John Doerr New Media
The lesson of the past five years is: the more you give away the more you sell. You have to groom eyeballs to your presence to bring them back in again and again. Cross-marketing is exceptionally important. And you'd better have your marketing efforts led by some folks who are under 30, certainly; sort of Generation X, of this internet culture, who understand the demographic of this group." John Doerr New Media
"The killer app will not be a shrink-wrapped program that sells millions. The killer app will be a Web site that touches millions of people and helps them to do what they want to do." Lou Gerstner, Chairman, IBM, in his keynote address at Internet World New Media *
"What's my ROI on e-commerce? Are you crazy? This is Columbus in the New World. What was his ROI?" Andy Grove New Media
"Girls don't think boys' games are too hard, they think they are stupid." Intel CEO Andy Grove, during his E3 keynote speech New Media
"We could be profitable today…the trick is to be profitable on the right scale." Brian Hecht New Media
"It's not the content. It's the people, stupid. Content may be why people visit a site. But community is why they stay." Tom Rielly, CEO of "Planet Out" New Media *
"Trust in Allah, but tie your camel." Old Muslim Proverb Philosophy
"Sacred cows make the best hamburger." Mark Twain Philosophy
"I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me." Woody Allen Philosophy
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Reinhold Niebuhr Philosophy
The Six Stages of Production 1. Wild Enthusiasm 2. Total Confusion 3. Utter Despair 4. The Search for the Guilty 5. The persecution of the Innocent 6. The Promotion of the Incompetent Anon Showbiz *
Reporter: In the circus of life, we're the guys who clean up after the elephants. Agent: At least you're not the one kissing its ass. Industry Quote of the Year, as reported by Anita Busch in Daily Variety 11/27/97 Showbiz *
"Never trust a man in a hurry." show business aphorism Showbiz *
"Restore the element of trust and respect to those who have earned it and whose passion should inspire you. The most successful network will always be the one with the best collective creative vision - not just that of the chief programmer." Brandon Tartikoff Showbiz *
"Sometimes if you're willing to give people of vision and passion the room to maneuver, you get incredibly lucky. I know I did, Not because I believed in the shows, but because I believed in the producers." Brandon Tartikoff Showbiz *
"You don't cook a frog by throwing it into boiling water -- it will jump right out…You cook a frog by throwing it into warm water and slowly turning up the heat." Anon Strategy *
"The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities…It is best to win without fighting." Sun-tzu Strategy *
"Hey, I don't have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I've failed as much as I've succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life, and I wish you my kind of success." Dick Fox, Jerry Maguire's mentor Success *
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistringuisable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke, "Technology and the Future" Technology
"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside." Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld Technology
"In the world today, there's plenty of technology, plenty of entrepreneurs, plenty of money, plenty of venture capital. What's in short supply is great teams. Your biggest challenge will be building a great team. There's enormous change under way in every facet of the world. Some is technology driven, some is market driven. All that change creates unprecedented opportunity. But to take full advantage of those opportunities, focus on the team. Teams win." John Doerr in Fast Company Technology *
"I believe that the challenge we all face is not in learning how to use this technology, but learning to use it in a positive way. I have recently begun producing a cartoon series for children called Thor, God of Thunder which will premier next year…" Fabio Technology *
"I think their should be something in science called the "reindeer effect." I don't know what it would be, but I think it would be good to hear someone say, "Gentlemen, what we have here is a terrifying example of the reindeer effect." Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handey Technology *
"I don't describe the future. I try to prevent it." Ray Bradbury The Future
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Alan Kay The Future
"Things are happening that could affect the course of history, and I have to interfere before it's too late." John Corbett, as "The Visitor" The Future
"Some men get the world, some get an ex hooker and a trip to Arizona." Kim Bassinger, LA Confidential The Movies
"Cinema is life with the dull bits cut out." Alfred Hitchcock The Movies
"All television is children's television." Richard P. Adler TV *
"The human race is faced with a cruel choice: work or daytime television. Anon TV *
"If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners." Johnny Carson TV *
"Television - a medium. So called because it is neither rare nor well-done." Ernie Kovacs TV *
"Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other." Ann Landers TV *
"It was never a problem. The odds are ninety nine to one that these Christmas stories are gonna have a happy ending." "The Online Adventures of Ozzie the Elf", teleplay by Jenny Tripp TV
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don’t' do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit" Vince Lombardi Winning
"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" Vince Lombardi Winning *
"The difference between insanity and genius is success." Jonathan Price, Tomorrow Never Dies Winning
"There are five ways of knowing who will win. Those who know when to fight and when not to fight are victorious. Those who discern when to use many or few troops are victorious. Those who upper and lower ranks have the same desire are victorious. Those who face the unprepared with preparation are victorious. Those whose generals are able and not constrained by their governments are victorious. These five are the ways to know who will win." Sun-Tzu, The Art of War Winning *
"When you have good, workable ideas, and when you know what to do with them, you succeed." Brandon Tartikoff Winning
"If you don't show up for work on Saturday, don't bother coming in on Sunday." Jeffrey Katzenberg Work
"The world is filled with willing people; some willing to work, the rest willing to let them." Robert Frost Work *
"Only in bed you can be slow, everywhere else you work hard and fast." Jamusz Kaminski, ASC Work
* = indicates a past Quote of The Week


Last Updated on 2/19/98
By Mike Moore