An adage is a traditional maxim,
a proverb of common experience,
a short statement based on long experience.
This is a personal collection of meaningful phrases that I have come across in the course of my life. I have first started collecting these phrases in July of 1998. My hand-written notes had been misplaced and I have recently re-discovered them among some old items. The originators of many of these phrases are unknown now. I do not claim ownership of any of these phrases, except for those which I have written myself and thus indicated accordingly. I hope to share these phrases with you on this page.
(New additions)--->
Men often hate each other
because they fear each other;
they fear each other
because they do not know each other:
they do not know each other
because they cannot communicate;
they cannot communicate
because they are separated.
(MLK, Stride Toward Freedom)
Spirit must be transformed
into material force before
the world can move forward
(Zhou Enlai)
Man is least himself
when he talks in his own person.
Give him a mask and
he'll tell you the truth.
(Oscar Wilde)
The Roots of Violence:
Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Worship without sacrifice,
Politics without principles.
(Mahatma Gandhi)
When you start thinking about the good OLD days,
Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Worship without sacrifice,
Politics without principles.
(Mahatma Gandhi)
When you start thinking about the good OLD days,
you are OLD.
(Candilin Lee)
Deny reality too much, of course, and you're crazy;
too little and you're merely miserable.
(Jonathan Rosen)
Reality is but just a figment of what we think we see,
Subject to our idiosyncrasies and prejudices.
(Candilin Lee, inspired by
'The Grand Design' by Stephen Hawking & L.Mlodinow)
Our best moments are often
the most unpredictable ones
(Eli Pariser)
Learning is by definition an encounter with
what you don't know,
what you haven't thought of,
what you couldn't conceive,
and what you never understood
or encountered as possible.
(Siva Vaidhyanathan)
Computers are useless.
They can only give you answers.
(Pablo Picasso)
The presence of others who see
what we see and hear what we hear
assures us of the reality of
the world and ourselves.
(Hannah Arendt)
To the world you may be one person,
But to one person you may be the world.
(Bill Wilson)
The future is not a gift,
It is an achievement.
(Barack Obama)
(Past records) ---> -------------------------------------------------
You could do great things
if you weren't so busy doing little things.
Nothing ventured,
nothing gained.
People will remember what you achieve,
not what you promised to achieve.
It is not enough to aim;
you must hit your target!
Most people want confirmation
not advice.
Those who need advice the most
like it the least.
Don't offer advice unless you have gained it through experience.
The supply of advice always exceeds the demand.
Those who agree in principle
have little intention of putting it into practice.
People, like pins, are useless
if they lose their heads.
Your attitude is a little thing,
but it makes a big difference.
Look backwards with gratitude,
upwards with confidence
and forwards with hope.
Happiness is not something you find,
it's something you create.
Winners think constantly of what they can and will do.
Losers think constantly of what they cannot do
and what they should have done.
We often believe most in the things we know least about.
It's better to be silent and be considered a fool
than to speak and remove all doubts.
Be kind and courteous to people on your way up,
because you might meet them on your way down.
Difficulties can be stepping stones or stumbling blocks.
It's just a matter of how you view them.
It's not so much where you stand in life but in what direction you are moving.
Knowledge is power-if applied.
I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.
To teach is to learn twice.
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary
is that little extra.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Failure isn't when you fall down;
it's only when you don't get up again.
The greatest fault is to be conscious of none.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
If fools hold their tongues they could pass for sages.
People become fools when they stop asking questions.
A friend is one who knows your faults
yet loves you in spite of your virtues.
Don't waste time worrying about future difficulties,
they may never come.
One who saves too much for the future,
never gets to spend the money.
One who plans too much for the future,
forgets that they have a life now.
One who does not thank for little
will not thank for much.
A house is not a home until you spice it up with love.
Great minds discuss ideas;
mediocre minds discuss events;
small minds discuss people.
The hardest work in life is being idle.
Happiness is not something you find,
it's something you create.
Winners think constantly of what they can and will do.
Losers think constantly of what they cannot do
and what they should have done.
We often believe most in the things we know least about.
It's better to be silent and be considered a fool
than to speak and remove all doubts.
Be kind and courteous to people on your way up,
because you might meet them on your way down.
Difficulties can be stepping stones or stumbling blocks.
It's just a matter of how you view them.
It's not so much where you stand in life but in what direction you are moving.
Knowledge is power-if applied.
I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.
To teach is to learn twice.
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary
is that little extra.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Failure isn't when you fall down;
it's only when you don't get up again.
The greatest fault is to be conscious of none.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
If fools hold their tongues they could pass for sages.
People become fools when they stop asking questions.
A friend is one who knows your faults
yet loves you in spite of your virtues.
Don't waste time worrying about future difficulties,
they may never come.
One who saves too much for the future,
never gets to spend the money.
One who plans too much for the future,
forgets that they have a life now.
One who does not thank for little
will not thank for much.
A house is not a home until you spice it up with love.
Great minds discuss ideas;
mediocre minds discuss events;
small minds discuss people.
The hardest work in life is being idle.
You cannot enjoy being idle
unless you have plenty of work to do.
Nothing is so exhausting as indecision.
The less one has to do,
the less time one finds to do it.