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

Alan Christopher Warren

There are not so many lessons in glad times. Adversity is by far the better teacher. Adversity will be a part of almost all our lives. So it is not in escaping adversity, but in answering it, that our character is defined.

Adversity | Better | Character | Will |

William H. Whyte, Jr., fully William Hollingsworth "Holly" Whyte

A sense of “belonging,” a sense of meaningful association with others, has never required that one sacrifice his individuality as part of the bargain. Why, then, do so many rush to embrace a philosophy which tells them it is necessary.

Association | Individuality | Philosophy | Sacrifice | Sense | Association |

Margaret J. Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers

We could make our lives so much more interesting, and develop so many new capacities, if we sought to work with the unknowns of emergence, rather than try and plan surprise out of our lives.

Plan | Work |

David Bohm, fully David Joseph Bohm

What is essential here is the presence of the spirit of dialogue, which is the ability to hold many points of view in suspension, along with a primary interest in the creation of common meaning.

Ability | Meaning | Spirit |

Richard Carlson

One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be. It's not and it won't. When we make this mistake we tend to spend a lot of time wallowing and/or complaining about what's wrong with life. 'It's not fair,' we complain, not realizing that, perhaps, it was never intended to be.

Life | Life | Mistake | Thinking | Time | Will | Wrong |

Xun Kuang, aka "Master Xun" or Xun Zi, Xunzi, Hsün-Tzu, Hsün-tze, Xún Zǐ, Hsün Tzu

It is traditionally said that the ruler is like a boat and the common people are the water. Water supports the boat but may also upset it.

People |

Lu Xun, or Lu Hsün, pen name of Zhou Shuren

Revolution is a bitter thing, mixed with filth and blood, not as lovely or perfect as the poets think. It is eminently down to earth, involving many humble, tiresome tasks, not so romantic as the poets think… So it is easy for all who have romantic dreams about revolution to become disillusioned on closer acquaintance, when a revolution is actually carried out.

Acquaintance | Dreams | Earth | Revolution |

Roger Birkman

The reality of life is that your perceptions -- right or wrong -- influence everything else you do. When you get a proper perspective of your perceptions, you may be surprised how many other things fall into place.

Influence | Life | Life | Reality | Right | Wrong |

Winston Churchill, fully Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

Duty | Freedom | Honor | Hope | Justice | Mercy |

Hank Dittmar

If we surrender our towns, countryside, and cities to the car, we will also be surrendering many other values that we hold dear: neighborhood life, a sense of history and place, a feeling of belonging somewhere.

History | Life | Life | Sense | Surrender | Will |

Michael Friedlander

There are many more wrong answers than right ones, and they are easier to find.

Right | Wrong |

Willa A. Foster, also attributed to William A. Foster

Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.

Accident | Choice | Effort | Intention | Wise |

Charles Dickens

Reflect upon you present blessings, of which every man has many -- not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.

Blessings | Man | Men | Past | Present |

Albert Einstein

It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.

Books | Education | Important | Learning | Mind | Need | Training | Learn | Think | Value |