Quotes about life and people

„The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.“

— Leon Trotsky Marxist revolutionary from Russia 1879 - 1940

Trotzky's Diary in Exile — 1935 (1958)

„Symmetry is the aesthetics of the stupid.“

— Ludwig Mies van der Rohe German architect 1886 - 1969

An early appearance is "Symmetry is the aesthetics of the little man," which appears in the 1965 book Bauen auf dem Lande (Building in the Countryside), volumes 16-17. However, the quote has also variously been attributed to Picasso, Salvatore Dali and Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
Disputed
Source: "Symmetry is the aesthetics of the stupid." Mies van der Rohe (allegedly), 2018-01-21, 2017-11-12 http://falschzitate.blogspot.com/2017/11/symmetrie-ist-die-asthetik-der-dummen.html,

„The question "What is Life?" is… a linguistic trap. To answer according to the rules of grammar, we must supply a noun, a thing. But life on Earth is more like a verb. It repairs, maintains, re-creates, and outdoes itself.“

— Lynn Margulis American evolutionary biologist 1938 - 2011

What is Life? (1995)

„If you look at the darkness, not light, every day, your life will be filled with darkness.“

— Miyuru Amarasiri Artist 2002

Coos, "Miyuru Amarasiri," https://www.coos.com/quotes/if-you-look-at-the-darkness-not-light-every-day-your-life-will-be-filled-with-darkness-%E2%80%95-miyuru-bhashitha-amarasiri June 10, 2021,

„I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me "I love you."“

— Maya Angelou American author and poet 1928 - 2014

The Distinguished Annie Clark Tanner Lecture, 16th-annual Families Alive Conference, Weber State University, May 8, 1997 - Full text online at weber.edu http://departments.weber.edu/chfam/familiesalive/angelouspeech.html3
Context: I don't trust people who don't love themselves and tell me "I love you." … There is an African saying which is: "Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt."

„At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.“

— Maya Angelou American author and poet 1928 - 2014

This is a very close paraphrase of a quotation attributed to Carl Buehner in a book published many years earlier - “They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel.” quoted in Richard Evans' Quote Book, 1971, Publisher's Press, ASIN: B000TV5WBW, although it is widely (mis)attributed to Angelou in her book Worth Repeating: More Than 5,000 Classic and Contemporary Quotes (2003) by Bob Kelly, p. 263,
Misattributed
Variant: People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.

„I don’t think I have to prove anything to anyone. I don’t expect anyone to give me any breaks. I’m not one of those people who wants to scream, ‘Give me a chance. I will show you what I can do!’ You know, I really don’t care. “

— Robert Pattinson English actor 1986

„Life isn't about getting what you want, it is about giving what you have.“

— - Goa Kerle

„When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.“

— Jean Shinoda Bolen American psychiatrist 1936

„A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.“

— Ronald Reagan American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989) 1911 - 2004

television address (4 March 1987)
1980s, Second term of office (1985–1989)

„I am alive, he says to himself, I am alive! And life energy surges hotly through him, and delight, and appetite. How good to be in a body - even this old beat-up carcass - that still has warm blood and live semen and rich marrow and wholesome flesh!“

— Christopher Isherwood, book A Single Man

Source: A Single Man

„Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this. Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget.“

— Robert Jordan American writer 1948 - 2007

Thom Merrilin
(15 October 1991)

„You don't want to go to war with a president [...] There's a temptation that you have to fight to tell the president what you think he wants to hear. I’ve seen really good people do that.“

— Anthony Fauci American immunologist and head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 1940

Quoted in 'You don't want to go to war with a president' https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/03/anthony-fauci-trump-coronavirus-crisis-118961, 3 March 2020, Politico

„The moon and sun are travelers through eternity. Even the years wander on. Whether drifting through life on a boat or climbing toward old age leading a horse, each day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.“

— Bashō Matsuo Japanese poet 1644 - 1694

„Death is the end of life; ah, why
Should life all labour be?“

— Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Lotos-Eaters

Choric Song, st. 4
The Lotos-Eaters (1832)
Context: Death is the end of life; ah, why
Should life all labour be?
Let us alone. Time driveth onward fast,
And in a little while our lips are dumb.
Let us alone. What is it that will last?
All things are taken from us, and become
Portions and parcels of the dreadful past.
Let us alone. What pleasure can we have
To war with evil? Is there any peace
In ever climbing up the climbing wave?
All things have rest, and ripen toward the grave
In silence; ripen, fall and cease:
Give us long rest or death, dark death, or dreamful ease.