There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience.

~Hartley Shawcross, barrister, politician, and prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal (1902-2003)

You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is not an event - it is a habit.

~ Aristotle

So we are history, the shadow covers me

The sky above, a blaze that only lovers see

~Amy Winehouse

The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests, and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance.

~Thomas Jefferson, third US president, architect and author (1743-1826)

I never told my own religion nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change another's creed. I am satisfied that yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be judged.

~Thomas Jefferson

Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea about their sufferings.

~ Paulo Coelho

Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence.

~Thomas Szasz, author, professor of psychiatry (b. 1920)

Without skill, all the passion in the world will leave you eager but floundering.

~Twyla Tharp

The Groupon Guide to: Lock Picking

As easy as it is to misplace your keys, just as many people melt down the lock looseners to collect the precious aluminum they're made from or swallow them as part of an employment initiation ritual. If you've lost your keys, follow this guide to open any type of lock using just your wits:

• Car Door: Stick a wire coat hanger through a crack in the car’s window and directly into the ignition. Turn it on and the car will drive itself to a locksmith.
• Apartment Entrance: Every door made after 1970 uses a built-in "open sesame"–style magic word. If you haven't changed yours, the default is screaming any modern swear word.
• Grandma's Antique Steamer Trunk: Throw the trunk in the fireplace and swallow the ashes to gain the memories it once held.
• A Young Girl's Heart: To unlock true love, you must first learn to love yourself. You can do this by winning the lottery.
• The Terrifying News Concerning Your Own Family Hidden in This Very Lock-Picking Guide: If you can crack the simple cipher hidden here, you may be able to save them.

We want what the top 1% have but so few of us are willing to do what the top 1% do.

~Robin Sharma

If you wait for inspiration, you're not an artist, but a waiter.

~ Paulo Coelho

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is victory over self.

~Aristotle

Whether we like it or not, we're all connected, and it is unthinkable to be happy all by oneself.

~ Dalai Lama

Leonardo da Vinci said: "For once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

How far should one accept the rules of the society in which one lives? To put it another way: at what point does conformity become corruption? Only by answering such questions does the conscience truly define itself.

~Kenneth Tynan, critic and writer (1927-1980)

“What we want to focus on is advanced manufacturing that combines new technology, so research and development to figure out how are we going to create the next Twitter, how are we going to create the next Google, how are we going to create the next big thing — but make sure that production is here. So it’s great that we have an Apple that’s creating iPods, iPads and designing them and creating the software, but it would be nice if we’re also making the iPads and the iPods here in the United States, because that’s some more jobs that people can work at.”

~ President Obama, in more than 140 characters, in response to a question about why the “jobs discussion always centers on manufacturing” amid a thriving tech industry, during the Twitter town hall — a first for a U.S. president — Wednesday

When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.

~Otto von Bismarck, statesman (1815-1898)

The desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it.

~Laurence Sterne, novelist and clergyman (1713-1768)

The goal of a goal is the progress it provokes, not the goal.

~ Robin Sharma

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

~William James, psychologist and philosopher (1842-1910)