Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best. Genius must always have lapses proportionate to its triumphs. 

~ Max Beerbohm, essayist, parodist, and caricaturist (1872-1956)

One of the things I like about the computer that I use is that I can write a program on it or I can download a program on to it and run it. That’s kind of important to me, and that’s also kind of important to the whole future of the Internet… obviously a closed platform is a serious brake on innovation.

~ Tim Berners-Lee

We’re going from a species that used to use only resources within a day’s walk, to a species that has access [to resources] on our planet to a species now that has access to the resources in our solar system.

~  Peter Diamandis

A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. 

~ Walt Whitman, poet (1819-1892)

I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs. 

~ Joseph Addison, essayist and poet (1672-1719)

Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on "I am not too sure." 

~ H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956) 

The world, we are told, was made especially for man - a presumption not supported by all the facts... Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? 

~ John Muir, naturalist and explorer (1838-1914)

What is the purpose of the giant sequoia tree? The purpose of the giant sequoia tree is to provide shade for the tiny titmouse. 

~ Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989)

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

~  William James

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. 
~ Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (1875-1965)

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best -- and therefore never scrutinize or question. 
~ Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist, biologist, author (1941-2002) 

It is better to prevent crimes than to punish them. 
~ Cesare Beccaria, philosopher and politician (1738-1794) 

Everyone, in some small sacred sanctuary of the self, is nuts. 
~ Leo Rosten, author (1908-1997) 

If words are to enter men's minds and bear fruit, they must be the right words shaped cunningly to pass men's defenses and explode silently and effectually within their minds.
~ J.B. Phillips, writer and clergyman (1906-1982) 

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. 

~ William Arthur Ward, college administrator, writer (1921-1994) 

Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely. 
~ Erma Bombeck, author (1927-1996)

Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over which they themselves must pass.
~ Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE) 

Ambition is like hunger; it obeys no law but its appetite. 

 ~ Josh Billings, columnist and humorist (1818-1885)

Although men flatter themselves with their great actions, they are not so often the result of a great design as of chance. 

~ Francois, duc de La Rochefoucauld, moralist (1613-1680)

It has been said that a pretty face is a passport. But it's not, it's a visa, and it runs out fast. 

~ Julie Burchill, writer and journalist (b. 1959)