“My life was not useless; I gave important truths to the world, and it was only for want of understanding that they were disregarded. I have been ahead of my time.”

— Robert Owen

Deathbed statement (November 1858), in response to a church minister who asked if he regretted wasting his life on fruitless projects; as quoted in Harold Hill : A People's History http://www.haroldhill.org/section_two/section_two_page_one.htm (2004).

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update May 9, 2023. History

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Robert Owen29

Welsh social reformer 1771–1858

Douglas Reeman (1924–2017) British author

For My Country's Freedom, Cap 13 "Loneliness"

“As I advanced in my career in librarianship, I have been a woman in a man’s world. However, this issue has not been an important factor in my thinking.”

Henriette Avram (1919–2006) American computer programmer and system analyst. She developed the MARC formatting used in libraries

Source: MARC her Words: An Interview with Henriette Avram, 1989, p.861

“Everybody wants me to show my vagina to the world. And the truth is, I don’t have to.”

Lady Gaga (1986) American singer, songwriter, and actress

Interview for Maxim Magazine.

“My life was in crisis. All my values were becoming meaningless. I was discovering that my chosen profession was empty, foolish, as useless as—as playing chess.”

Robert Silverberg (1935) American speculative fiction writer and editor

Short fiction, Schwartz Between the Galaxies (1974)

“My life is very simple. I like simplicity and for my time to be my own, so that I have the freedom to devote the majority of it to Islam. That is the foundation from which I keep everything in perspective. I also want to let people know about Islam, how Islam can be a way of life. I want them to really understand its richness and its beauty and to see that Islam is for everybody. For me, this is the most important thing. From this, everything else falls into place.”

Hakeem Olajuwon (1963) Nigerian–American basketball player

Slam dunk - interview with basketball player Hakeem Olajuwon - Interview, Feb, 1994 by Spike Lee.
Sourced Quotes

“Love has always been the most important business in my life; I should say the only one.”

Stendhal (1783–1842) French writer

L'amour a toujours été pour moi la plus grande des affaires ou plutôt la seule.
La Vie d'Henri Brulard (1890)
Variant translation: Love has always been the most important business in my life, or rather the only one.

“We’ve been here before, haven’t we? Last time you were starving, I gave you my blood. It was a little homoerotic, maybe, but I’m secure in my sexuality.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Jace Herondale and Simon Lewis, pg. 509
Source: The Mortal Instruments, City of Heavenly Fire (2014)
Context: "Why didn't you say something?"
"Because, it's not like there's animals I can feed on here."
"There's us."
"I don't want to feed on my friends' blood."
"Why not? We've been here before, haven't we? Last time you were starving, I gave you my blood. It was a little homoerotic, maybe, but I'm secure in my sexuality."

“I have descended to the depths of suffering, and it seems to me that after that one cannot help being raised up. But I have spent the last three nights weeping. Pity! Pity! Remembrance is the true imperishable life... I should like to live my life over again, to record it, to admit my weaknesses; no, this is useless; I have sinned, I have suffered, I have atoned for it. I could write only a bad novel by relating what has been related a thousand times.”

Berthe Morisot (1841–1895) painter from France

Quote from Berthe's Morisot's letter, 1887 - after the death of her husband Eugène Manet
1881 - 1895

“I think journalism was the most important thing I could have done with my life. I just can't think of anything I could have done with my life that would have been more meaningful.”

John Seigenthaler (1927–2014) American journalist, writer, and political figure

Reported in his Tennessean's obituary; quoted in "John Seigenthaler dies at 86" http://www.poynter.org/2014/john-seigenthaler-dies-at-86/258597/ by Andrew Beaujon, poynter.org (11 July 2014)

“I gave you my life, you gave me my life.
Like a gush of wind in my hair.”

Yoko Ono (1933) Japanese artist, author, and peace activist

"Walking On Thin Ice" on Season of Glass (1981).
Context: I gave you my life, you gave me my life.
Like a gush of wind in my hair.
Why do we forget what's been said
And play the game of life with our hearts?

“My life was not useless; I gave important truths to the world, and it was only for want of understanding that they were disregarded. I have been ahead of my time.”

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