Your favorite English Quotes

[SpiralArchitect]

Here's another one that I like a lot -

Tomorrow is promised to no one.

They say all marriages are made in heaven, but so are thunder and lightning.

Can't remember where I heard them. Probably in some movie.

[sulayman]

One of my favorite quotes is this

'I am' is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that 'I do' is the longest sentence?

[jcannon]

Oh wow, nice one, @sulayman ! Hehehe. 

My favourite quote is quite recent and comes from Conan O'Brien:

"Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

While it's not the most eloquent phrase of our times, I think it summarizes what we - as humans - are meant to do with our lives. We are rewarded by our outputs.

[teamrose]

"Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention,

sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of

many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny."

Aristotle"

[Mrs17716]

"What you tell yourself every day will either lift you up or tear you down."

"And though she be but little, she is fierce." - Shakespeare

"Don't let someone dim your light simply because it's shining in their eyes."

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything." - Irish proverb

and my favorite:

"I saw that." - Karma

[justinroberts]

I have two favourite quotes. One is from Wayne Gretzky "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." I take from that quote that we should be more assertive in life. My other favourite quote is "Don't regret something that once made you smile." I have no idea where that quote is from though.

[scottman]

But if it made you frown, shouldn't that be something we regret?

[scottman]

"After all is said and done, more is said than done." - Aesop

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and

  so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which

  has opened for us." - Alexander Graham Bell

I got a lot more, bot those two are my favorites.

 

 

I really like the second one. Regret can be overwhelming at times, but looking forward is the right thing to do. What other quotes do you have?

[scottman]

 

Does this have any symbolic meaning or is it only literally about languages?

[scottman]

My favorite English phrase is probably "Speak softly and carry a big stick" from Teddy Roosevelt.

I love this phrase for various reason. Firstly, Teddy is one of my favorite presidents and I think this phrase encapsulates what he was all about. Also, I just think it is a generally good phrase to live by. Don't go around looking for trouble, but be prepared to defend yourself should trouble come after you.

I think it's more about intimidation than preparation.

[karmel]

My favorite one, which I learned way back in my grade school days, is this:

She sells seashells by the seashore. 

[rodserd]

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others" -Winston Churchill

[Circe]

"To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour."

-From "Auguries of Innocence" by William Blake

[erronousRogue]

A bit cruel perhaps, but mine's "Wealth doesn't buy happiness, but neither does poverty." I like quotes that are built upon cliché phrases in general.

[Shannonbutler18]

My favorite will always be "It's darkest just before the dawn" because it's true, and it's also usable in real-life situations. This may sound weird, but I'm planning on getting a tattoo that says that. I find it so inspirational.

[bradman1313]

"The human sacrificed himself, to save the Pokemon. I pitted them against each other, but not until they set aside their differences did I see the true power they all share deep inside. I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."

-Mewtwo, from the first Pokemon movie.

Pretty deep for a kid's show if you ask me.

[mickey4533]

My favorite quote is "Man in the Arena" by Theodore Roosevelt. It's really long so I wont post it here but basically it describes how it's not the critic that matters but instead it's the man who is actually in the arena doing things. It praises the man of action instead of the man sitting around passively judging others.

[Mr.Styx]

I have two; both of a philosophical nature.

    "There is no such thing as philosophy-free science; there is only

    science whose philosophical baggage is taken on board without

    examination."

    -- Daniel Dennett, "Darwin's dangerous Idea"

Often I see others who scoff at talking about the "philosophical implications" of some scientific theory, as though it is possible to do science without any regard to philosophical thought.  Simply put, it is not.

This next one is in German, so I also included various "popular" ways it is "translated" into English:

"Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen."

~Ludwig Wittgenstein

Popular Translations: 

"That which we cannot speak of, we must remain silent."

"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."

"About what one can not speak, one must remain silent."

People are far too often willing to tell you their opinion, while prefacing their opinion with an admission that they actually don't know what they are talking about. 

"I don't know much about X, but I know this..."

Ignorance is not a sin, as it is so often treated.  Everyone is born into ignorance, but it is how we handle that ignorance that really defines our cognitive character.

[scottman]

My favorite will always be "It's darkest just before the dawn" because it's true, and it's also usable in real-life situations. This may sound weird, but I'm planning on getting a tattoo that says that. I find it so inspirational.

Just make sure its something you'll appreciate ten years from now, and not just something you relate to know.

[MyNameIsNotDenzel]

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

-Benjamin Franklin

[NRiz]

"For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: Know more about the world than I knew yesterday, and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you."

-Neil DeGrasse Tyson

[russianrocket]

"Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today" - however something like "Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow!" suits me better!

[mccanono]

I am the optimistic kind of guy so I guess it would be "Always look on the brighter side." Or "The grass is greener on the other side."

But sometimes, you just can't help but to feel bad especially during very difficult times. But generally speaking, I enjoy being optimistic. Gives me less stress to none. haha

[ollie]

Anything by Mark Twain. His words had such sarcasm and bite and still resonate today in so many ways. Makes me wonder what's actually changed.

I love all his quotes but one of my favorites recently has been this:

Education: that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge.

[Limezero]

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