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“Life is beautiful, and this work is even more beautiful than life.”

Kees van Dongen (1877–1968) Dutch painter

Source: Modern Dutch painting: an introduction, Netherlands Information Service, (1960), p. 26

“2916. It is better to have a Hen to Morrow, than an Egg to Day.”

Thomas Fuller (writer) (1654–1734) British physician, preacher, and intellectual

Compare Poor Richard's Almanack (1734) : An Egg to day is better than a Hen to-morrow.
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)

“[I] would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.”

Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until 1603

Statement to the envoy of Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg while discussing a proposal of marriage to the duke's son, Christoph. (26 January 1563), quoted by J. Horace Round in "A Visit to Queen Elizabeth," http://books.google.com/books?id=iP0CAAAAIAAJ&q=%22would+rather+be+a+beggar+and+single+than+a+queen+and+married%22&pg=PA629#v=onepage The Nineteenth Century magazine (October 1896)

“A deception that elevates us is dearer than a host of low truths.”

Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941) Russian poet and writer

Тьмы низких истин нам дороже нас возвышающий обман.
Pushkin and Pugachev (1937).

“I reserve the right to be smarter today than I was yesterday.”

Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967) German statesman, Federal Chancellor of Germany, politician (CDU)

As quoted in Loggers' Handbook Vol. 36 (1976), p. 72; also in North Western Reporter, Second series (1992) https://books.google.com/books?id=I1KaAAAAIAAJ; similar remarks have been attributed to others, including more recent attributions to Adlai Stevenson and Abraham Lincoln. Variant: I insist on being smarter today than I was yesterday. As quoted in How to Win the Meeting (1979) by Frank Snell, p. 3

“There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it.”

William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist

Lectures XIV and XV, "The Value of Saintliness"
1900s, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)

“I want a new mistake, lose is more than hesitate.”

Josh Homme (1973) American musician

"Go with the Flow", Songs for the Deaf (2002)
Lyrics, Queens of the Stone Age

“The valiant profit more
Their country, than the finest cleverest speakers.”

Plautus Truculentus

Truculentus, Act II, scene ii
Truculentus

“God loves an idle rainbow, Not less than labouring seas.”

Ralph Hodgson (1871–1962) British writer

"A Wood Song"
Poems (1917)

“Better to live a day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.”

Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Duce and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy. Leader of the National Fascist Party and subsequen…

Attributed in "Duce (1922-42)" in TIME magazine (2 August 1943) Also quoted by Generale Armando Diaz in "Il pensiero dei leoni" in Il Carroccio. The Italian review (1922) attributed to graffiti by an unknown soldier https://archive.org/stream/ilcarroccioitali15newyuoft#page/14/mode/2up Though not precisely a repetition of any of them, this is somewhat resembles far earlier remarks attributed to others: An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep. Attributed to Alexander the Great, in The British Battle Fleet : Its Inception and Growth Throughout the Centuries to the Present Day (1915) by Frederick Thomas Jane To live like a lion for a day is far better than to live like a jackal for a hundred years. Tipu Sultan, as quoted in Encyclopedia of Asian History (1988) Vol. 4, p. 104 It is far better to live like a tiger for a day than to live like a jackal for a hundred years. Tipu Sultan, as quoted in Tipu Sultan : A Study in Diplomacy and Confrontation (1982) by B. Sheikh Ali, p. 329 I should prefer an army of stags led by a lion, to an army of lions led by a stag. Chabrias, as quoted in A Treatise on the Defence of Fortified Places (1814) by Lazare Carnot, p. 50 He has been frequently heard to say, that in this world he would rather live two days like a tiger, than two hundred years like a sheep. Tipu Sultan, as quoted in A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War with Tippoo Sultaun; Comprising a Narrative of the Operations of the Army under the Command of Lieutenant-General George Harris, and of the Siege of Seringapatam (London, G. and W. Nicol, 1800) by Alexander Beatson, pp. 153-154. http://oudl.osmania.ac.in/bitstream/handle/OUDL/7905/212261_Origin_And_Conduct_Of_The_War_With_Tipoo_Sultaun.pdf https://indianhistorybooks3.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/99999990039373-view-of-the-origin-and-conduct-of-the-war-with-tipoo-sultan.pdf 1940s

“In times of badness, gold is being worth more than beauty.”

Tad Williams (1957) novelist

Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, To Green Angel Tower (1993), Part 2, Chapter 15, “A Meandering of Ink” (p. 357).

“There can be no safer deposit on earth than the Treasury of the United States.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Letter to Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette (1825) ME 19:281
Posthumous publications, On financial matters

“A movie is never any better than the stupidest man connected with it.”

Ben Hecht (1894–1964) American screenwriter

Books

“The art of reasoning is nothing more than a language well arranged.”

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (1714–1780) French academic

As quoted in Antoine Lavoisier, Elements of Chemistry (trans. Robert Kerr, 1790), Preface, p. xiv.

“It is easier to bustle about than to study, but it is also less effective.”

Josemaría Escrivá (1902–1975) Spanish theologian

#524
The Furrow (1986)

“It is easier to know man in general than to know one man.”

François de La Rochefoucauld book Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims

Il est plus aisé de connaître l'homme en général que de connaître un homme en particulier.
Variant translation: It is much easier to know men generally, than to know a particular man.
Maxim 436.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)

“That's the ultimate pornography… There's nothing more pornographic than glorifying war.”

Tom Clancy (1947–2013) American author

1990s, CNN interview (1999)
Variant: There's nothing more pornographic than glorifying war.

“Politics is developing more comedians than radio ever did.”

Jimmy Durante (1893–1980) American jazz singer, pianist, comedian and actor

As quoted in Informationweek issues 699-702 (1998), p. 497 http://books.google.com/books?id=cDxVAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Politics+is+developing+more+comedians+than+radio+ever+did.%22&dq=%22Politics+is+developing+more+comedians+than+radio+ever+did.%22&hl=en&ei=mre7TbTaFJCcgQfJk6noBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA

“Fate, however, is to all appearance more unavoidable than unexpected.”

Plutarch book Parallel Lives

Parallel Lives, Caesar

“Perhaps justified violence is better than peace at any price.”

Edmund Cooper (1926–1982) British writer

The Uncertain Midnight (1958)