Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap read more

Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that if we hesitate we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.

The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages is preserved into perpetuity by a nation's proverbs, fables, read more

The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages is preserved into perpetuity by a nation's proverbs, fables, folk sayings and quotations.

Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said

Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said

The teachings of elegant sayings should be collected when one can. For the supreme gift of words of wisdom, any read more

The teachings of elegant sayings should be collected when one can. For the supreme gift of words of wisdom, any price will be paid.

Every book is a quotation; and every house is a quotation out of all forests and mines and stone quarries; read more

Every book is a quotation; and every house is a quotation out of all forests and mines and stone quarries; and every man is a quotation from all his ancestors

Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is read more

Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips

A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand read more

A fine quotation is a diamond in the hand of a man of wit and a pebble in the hand of a fool.

She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.

She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.

With all deference to Chairman Mao and other authors whose quotations derive from longer works, it seemed that I was read more

With all deference to Chairman Mao and other authors whose quotations derive from longer works, it seemed that I was becoming the world's first writer of self-contained ready-made quotations