Quotes - famous ones / ones that inspire you

Mum always told me to Think before I opened my mouth,very wise woman my mum.

Believe it or not, when I was hopelessly lost in a remote forest after dark (my own fault) I kept saying to myself 'Keep calm and carry on'. So I did, and after nine hours I managed to get down the mountain and find a house.

silvercharm Don't believe everything in the film about the man Lincoln was; remember where it was made.

Thinking of another American President, how about "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are"?

Always struck by Dylan Thomas. "though I sang like the sea in my chains." a bit less earthy than " don't let the buggers grind you down ". {apologises for the earthy word!!!}

'All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.' Julian of Norwich

'When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist'. Dom Helda Camara

Lilygran

Miceelf

It's Shakespeare for me. Hamlet, Act 1 scene 3.

Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar:
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
Bear't that th' opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are most select and generous, chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all- to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Hard to live up to, though.

As it's from the Bible, I'm not sure if it could be classed as a quote but 'Let (s)he who is without sin cast the first stone' inspires me

St Francis
Make me a channel of your peace etc:

The Water Babies: "Do as you would be done by"

Or Oscar Wilde: "I can resist anything except temptation"

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

Mahatma Gandhi

It has to be my mantra from 'Climbing Suilven' by Norman MacCaig

^I nod and nod to my own shadow and thrust
A mountain down and down.
My lungs say No;
But down and down this treadmill hill must go.^

and repeat endlessly until whatever has to be done has been done.

I love this one by Albert Camus:
Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”

One often quoted in our family was:

To thine own self be true and then it follows as the night the day
Thou canst not be false to any man.

The Bard of course - loads more of his could be listed!

"Keep Calm and Carry On" my motto too Greatnan. So very British!

I have to agree with Moved "Do as you would be done by" , can't go far wrong if you follow that.

Although rather more philosophical, the Camus is good too.

But first of all you have to make sure that the other person wants to be done by in the same way that you do!

Greatnan , that's very naughty of you, I'm sure that you know what I meant!

Anyway, to slightly digress to mottos, mine is "Semper nen faecesbes, sole profundum variat" If you will excuse the spelling and cod latin.

This one always comes to mind when I read about yet another Taliban atrocity, or another Westboro Baptist-type idiocy.

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
Steven Weinberg, quoted in The New York Times, April 20, 1999
US physicist (1933 - )

I also love so many Oscar Wilde quotes.

For me, Churchil was the man, he has many quotes...Just one of his quotes..

Lady Astor: "If I were married to you, I'd put poison in your coffee."
Churchil's Reply: "If I were married to you, I'd drink it."

he he he love him!

My favourite quote is "We are starstuff". This reminds me of where all life came from and to whence we shall return in time, that we are all one, made of the same stuff, with the same worth. Everything else follows from that.

hochiwich THANK you. I echo your thoughts. Such beautiful words.