André Maurois (1885–1967) French writer
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Happiness
Source: The Prime Minister (1876), Ch. 6
André Maurois (1885–1967) French writer
Un Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) (1939), The Art of Happiness
“Life would be very pleasant if it were not for its enjoyments.”
Robert Smith Surtees (1805–1864) English writer
Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds ch. 39
Richard David Precht (1964) German philosopher and author
Quote translated from his German book: Wer bin ich – und wenn ja, wie viele? Eine philosophische Reise, Goldmann, München 2007, ISBN 3-442-31143-8
Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) Confederate general in the Civil War
Letter to General P.G.T. Beauregard (3 October 1865)
1860s
Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer
The Manly Wisdom of Will Rogers (2001)
Variant: There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
Letter to Thurlow Weed (15 March 1865), reproduced in Lord Charnwood (1916), Abraham Lincoln: A Biography
1860s
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
If you cannot tolerate the planet that it is on? Grade the ground first. If a man believes and expects great things of himself, it makes no odds where you put him, or what you show him ... he will be surrounded by grandeur. He is in the condition of a healthy and hungry man, who says to himself, — How sweet this crust is!
Letter to Harrison Blake (20 May 1860); published in Familiar Letters (1865)
Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–1747) French writer, a moralist
Source: Reflections and Maxims (1746), p. 179.