Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Related Quotes

Gustave Flaubert

I worship God. I believe in the Supreme Being, in a Creator, whoever he may be, I don't really care, who has put us here on earth to perform our duties as citizens and family men; but I don't need to go into a church and kiss a silver platter and reach into my pocket to fatten a pack of humbugs who eat better than we do! Because one can honor him just as well in a forest, in a field, or even gazing up at the ethereal vault, like the ancients. My own God is the God of Socrates, Franklin, Voltaire, and B‚ranger.... I cannot, therefore, accept the sort of jolly old God who strolls about his flower beds with cane in hand, lodges his friends in the bellies of whales, dies uttering a groan and comes back to life after three days: things absurd in themselves and completely opposed, what is more, to all physical laws; which simply goes to show, by the way, that the priests have always wallowed in a shameful ignorance in which they endeavor to engulf the peoples of the world along with them.

Wrong |

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

21 Suggestions for Success: Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery. Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know. Be forgiving of yourself and others. Be generous. Have a grateful heart. Persistence, persistence, persistence. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated. Commit yourself to constant improvement. Commit yourself to quality. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect. Be loyal. Be honest. Be a self-starter. Be decisive even if it means you'll sometimes be wrong. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did. Take good care of those you love. Don't do anything that wouldn't make your Mom proud.

Good |

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

We're constantly striving for success, fame and comfort when all we really need to be happy is someone or something to be enthusiastic about.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

You must take action now that will move you towards your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life.

Reputation |

Gustave Flaubert

To be simple is no small matter.

Gustave Flaubert

You ask me whether the Orient is up to what I imagined it to be. Yes, it is; and more than that, it extends far beyond the narrow idea I had of it. I have found, clearly delineated, everything that was hazy in my mind. Facts have taken the place of suppositions - so excellently so that it is often as though I were suddenly coming upon old forgotten dreams.

Hannah Arendt

The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.

Man |

Italian Proverbs

One may buy gold too dear.

Faith |

Italian Proverbs

Not being tempted is a sign that fortune has forgotten you.

Faith | Will |

Italian Proverbs

One daughter helps to marry the other.

Faith | Wit |

Italian Proverbs

That that comes of a cat will catch mice.

Day | Faith | Reality | Reason | Will | World |

Italian Proverbs

Who by himself can do anything, do not wait for others to do.

Commitment | Good | Means | Mystery | Object | Religion |

Italian Proverbs

Two cocks in one yard do not agree.

Battle | Commitment | Faith | Need | Public | Reality | Religion | Will | Guilty |

J. B. Priestly, fully John Boynton Priestly

Like its politicians and its wars, society has the teenagers it deserves.

Appreciation | Art | Faith | Heart | Life | Life | Meaning | Means | Mind | People | Religion | Appreciation | Art |

J. B. Priestly, fully John Boynton Priestly

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.

Faith | People | Purpose | Purpose | Reading | Science | Thought | Time | Thought |

Italian Proverbs

You are more likely to win if you take the initiative and make an attack rather than preparing to defend yourself.

Faith | God | Light | People | Property | Religion | Will | God |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

I pass over pangs to me of passing through Hall Green--become a huge tram-ridden meaningless suburb, where I actually lose my way--and eventually down what is left of beloved lanes of childhood, and past the very gate of our cottage, now in the midst of a sea of new red-brick. The old mill still stands, and Mrs. Hunt's still sticks out into the road as it turns uphill; but the crossing beyond the now fenced-in pool, where the bluebell lane ran down into the mill lane, is now a dangerous crossing alive with motors and red lights. The White Ogre's house (which the children were very excited to see) is become a petrol station, and most of Short Avenue and the elms between it and the crossing have gone. How I envy those whose precious early scenery has not been exposed to such violent and peculiarly hideous change. Her hair was raven, her skin clear, her eyes bright, and she could sing--and dance.