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Famous Quotes
 
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The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
A classic since 1953 with over 20,000 quotes from over 3,000 authors.


Famous Last Words
Apt Observations, Pleas, Curses, Benedictions, Sour Notes, Bons Mots, and Insights from People on the Brink of Departure


Stretch Your Wings
Famous Black Quotations for the Young


American Quotations
An exhaustive collection of profound quotes from the founding fathers, presidents, statesmen, scientists, constitutions, court decisions


The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations


Last Words of Saints and Sinners
700 Final Quotes from the Famous, the Infamous, and the Inspiring Figures of History


America's God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations
Contains over 2,100 profound quotations from founding fathers, presidents, constitutions, court decisions and more


The Law
This 1850 classic is an absolute must read for anyone interested in law, justice, truth, or liberty. A most compelling and revolutionary look at The Law.


Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature (17th Edition)


The Stupidest Things Ever Said by Politicians
Rise up, America -- and laugh out loud at the greatest gaffes that no spin doctor could possibly fix!


The 776 Even Stupider Things Ever Said
Another great collection of stupidity


Quotable Quotes
Wit and Wisdom for All Occasions from America's Most Popular Magazine


The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Time
You don't have to be a genius to sound like one. Here's a collection of the most profound and provocative wit and wisdom in the English language in two lines or less.


2,715 One-Line Quotations for Speakers, Writers & Raconteurs
Invaluable sampler of witticisms, epigrams, sayings, bon mots, platitudes and insights chosen for their brevity and pithiness.


Phillips' Book of Great Thoughts Funny Sayings
A stupendous collection of quotes, quips, epigrams, witticisms, and humorous comments for personal enjoyment and ready reference.


Quick Quips and Quotes; 532 Things I Wish I Had Said
Quick Quips and Quotes is the Ultimate Collection of one liners.


Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes
The ultimate anthology of anecdotes, now revised with over 700 new entries.


Quotations for Public Speakers
A Historical, Literary, and Political Anthology


Liberty - The American Revolution
This compelling series traces the events leading up to the war and America's fight for freedom.


Founding Fathers
The story of how these disparate characters fomented rebellion in the colonies, formed the Continental Congress, fought the Revolutionary War, and wrote the Constitution


Libertarianism: A Primer
David Boaz, director of the Cato Institute, has written a simple introduction to Libertarianism inteneded to appeal to disgruntled Democrats and Republicans everywhere.


The Libertarian Reader
Classic and Contemporary Writings from Lao-Tzu to Milton Friedman


Thomas Paine: Collected Writings
All the classics: Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters

 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaFriendship is always helpful, but love sometimes even does harm 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThe best ideas are common property. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaBesides, he who follows another not only discovers nothing but is not even investigating. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaWe are mad, not only individually, but nationally. We check manslaughter and isolated murders; but what of war and the much-vaunted crime of slaughtering whole peoples? There are no limits to our greed, none to our cruelty. And as long as such crimes are committed by stealth and by individuals, they are less harmful and less portentous; but cruelties are practised in accordance with acts of senate and popular assembly, and the public is bidden to do that which is forbidden to the individual. Deeds that would be punished by loss of life when committed in secret, are praised by us because uniformed generals have carried them out. Man, naturally the gentlest class of being, is not ashamed to revel in the blood of others, to wage war, and to entrust the waging of war to his sons, when even dumb beasts and wild beasts keep the peace with one another. Against this overmastering and widespread madness philosophy has become a matter of greater effort, and has taken on strength in proportion to the strength which is gained by the opposition forces. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaA sword by itself does not slay; it is merely the weapon used by the slayer. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThat most knowing of persons – gossip. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaVirtue alone affords everlasting and peace-giving joy; even if some obstacle arise, it is but like an intervening cloud, which floats beneath the sun but never prevails against it. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaA great pilot can sail even when his canvas is rent. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaYou can tell the character of every man when you see how he gives and receives praise. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaOur feeling about every obligation depends in each case upon the spirit in which the benefit is conferred; we weigh not the bulk of the gift, but the quality of the good-will which prompted it. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaWe often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThe shortest way to wealth is through the contempt of wealth. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaRemember, however, before all else, to strip things of all that disturbs and confuses, and to see what each is at bottom; you will then comprehend that they contain nothing fearful except the actual fear. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThe wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaJust as we suffer from excess in all things, so we suffer from excess in literature; thus we learn our lessons, not for life, but for the lecture room. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThe old Romans had a custom which survived even into my lifetime. They would add to the opening words of a letter: "If you are well, it is well; I also am well." Persons like ourselves would do well to say. "If you are studying philosophy, it is well." For this is just what "being well" means. Without philosophy the mind is sickly. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaWho is everywhere is nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaKindly remember that he whom you call your slave sprang from the same stock, is smiled upon by the same skies, and on equal terms with yourself breathes, lives and dies. It is just as possible for you to see in him a free-born man as for him to see in you a slave. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaYou are doing an excellent thing, one which will be wholesome for you, if, as you write me, you are persisting in your effort to attain sound understanding; it is foolish to pray for this when you can acquire it from yourself. We do not need to uplift our hands towards heaven, or to beg the keeper of a temple to let us approach his idol's ear, as if in this way our prayers were more likely to be heard. A god is near you, with you, and in you. This is what I mean, Lucilius: there sits a holy spirit within us, one who marks our good and bad deeds, and is our a guardian. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaWhat is wisdom? Always desiring the same things, and always refusing the same things. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaIt is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaMan is a reasoning animal. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaJust as an enemy is more dangerous to a retreating army, so every trouble that fortune brings attacks us all the harder if we yield and turn our backs. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaIt is quality rather than quantity that matters. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaBefore I became old I tried to live well; now that I am old, I shall try to die well; but dying well means dying gladly. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThe much occupied man has no time for wantonness, and it is an obvious commonplace that the evils of leisure can be shaken off by hard work. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaIf one doesn't know his mistakes, he won't want to correct them. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaWhat then? Shall I not follow in the footsteps of my predecessors? I shall indeed use the old road, but if I find one that makes a shorter cut and is smoother to travel, I shall open the new road. Men who have made these discoveries before us are not our masters, but our guides. Truth lies open for all; it has not yet been monopolized. And there is plenty of it left even for posterity to discover. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaWhat man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaFor no man is free who is a slave to his body. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaBut how much more highly do I think of these men! They can do these things, but decline to do them. To whom that ever tried have these tasks proved false? To what man did they not seem easier in the doing? Our lack of confidence is not the result of difficulty. The difficulty comes from our lack of confidence. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaAnd yet life, Lucilius, is really a battle. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaMen do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man's power to live long. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaIt is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaAlthough," said he [Cato], "all the world has fallen under one man's sway, although Caesar's legions guard the land, his fleets the sea, and Caesar's troops beset the city gates, yet Cato has a way of escape; with one single hand he will open a wide path to freedom. This sword, unstained and blameless even in civil war, shall at last do good and noble service: the freedom which it could not give to his country it shall give to Cato! 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaOur minds must have relaxation: rested, they will rise up better and keener. Just as we must not force fertile fields (for uninterrupted production will quickly exhaust them), so continual labor will break the power of our minds. They will recover their strength, however, after they have had a little freedom and relaxation. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaFire tries gold, misfortune tries brave men. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaHe who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaWe are all chained to fortune: the chain of one is made of gold, and wide, while that of another is short and rusty. But what difference does it make? The same prison surrounds all of us, and even those who have bound others are bound themselves; unless perchance you think that a chain on the left side is lighter. Honors bind one man, wealth another; nobility oppresses some, humility others; some are held in subjection by an external power, while others obey the tyrant within; banishments keep some in one place, the priesthood others. All life is slavery. Therefore each one must accustom himself to his own condition and complain about it as little as possible, and lay hold of whatever good is to be found near him. Nothing is so bitter that a calm mind cannot find comfort in it. Small tablets, because of the writer's skill, have often served for many purposes, and a clever arrangement has often made a very narrow piece of land habitable. Apply reason to difficulties; harsh circumstances can be softened, narrow limits can be widened, and burdensome things can be made to press less severely on those who bear them cleverly. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThere is no great genius without some touch of madness. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaNo one is able to rule unless he is also able to be ruled. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThe cause of anger is the belief that we are injured; this belief, therefore, should not be lightly entertained. We ought not to fly into a rage even when the injury appears to be open and distinct: for some false things bear the semblance of truth. We should always allow some time to elapse, for time discloses the truth. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaVirtue runs no risk of becoming contemptible by being exposed to view, and it is better to be despised for simplicity than to be tormented by continual hypocrisy. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThat man lives badly who does not know how to die well. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaWhy does God afflict the best of men with ill-health, or sorrow, or other troubles? Because in the army the most hazardous services are assigned to the bravest soldiers: a general sends his choicest troops to attack the enemy in a midnight ambuscade, to reconnoitre his line of march, or to drive the hostile garrisons from their strong places. No one of these men says as he begins his march, "The general has dealt hardly with me," but "He has judged well of me."  
Lucius Annaeus SenecaA good judge condemns wrongful acts, but does not hate them. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaA large part of mankind is angry not with the sins, but with the sinners. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaShould I be surprised that dangers which have always surrounded me should at last attack me? A great part of mankind, when about to sail, do not think of a storm. I shall never be ashamed of a reporter of bad news in a good cause. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaWhether we believe the Greek poet, "it is sometimes even pleasant to be mad", or Plato, "he who is master of himself has knocked in vain at the doors of poetry"; or Aristotle, "no great genius was without a mixture of insanity"; the mind cannot express anything lofty and above the ordinary unless inspired. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaAll savageness is a sign of weakness. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaToward good men God has the mind of a father, he cherishes for them a manly love, and he says, "Let them be harassed by toil, by suffering, by losses, in order that they may gather true strength." Bodies grown fat through sloth are weak, and not only labour, but even movement and their very weight cause them to break down. Unimpaired prosperity cannot withstand a single blow; but he who has struggled constantly with his ills becomes hardened through suffering; and yields to no misfortune; nay, even if he falls, he still fights upon his knees. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaHe who receives a benefit with gratitude, repays the first installment of it. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaThis is the worst trait of minds rendered arrogant by prosperity, they hate those whom they have injured. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaValor withers without adversity. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaNo man expects such exact fidelity as a traitor. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaIf any one is angry with you, meet his anger by returning benefits for it: a quarrel which is only taken up on one side falls to the ground: it takes two men to fight. 
Lucius Annaeus SenecaI do not trust my eyes to tell me what a man is: I have a better and more trustworthy light by which I can distinguish what is true from what is false: let the mind find out what is good for the mind. 
Richard SennettTocqueville saw the brute repression of deviants as a necessity if men were to keep convincing themselves of their collective dignity through their collective sameness. The “poets of society,” the men who challenged the norms, would have to be silenced so that sameness could be maintained. 
Hans F. SennholzSound money and free banking are not impossible; they are merely illegal. Freedom of money and freedom of banking...are the principles that must guide our steps. 
Dr. SeussSometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple. 
Eric SevareidThe bigger the information media, the less courage and information they allow. Bigness means weakness. 
Horatio SeymourThe merit of our Constitution was, not that it promotes democracy, but checks it. 
Butler D. ShafferThe idea of creating systems designed to threaten, coerce, and kill, and to imbue such agencies with principled legitimacy, and not expect them to lead to wars, genocides, and other tyrannical practices, expresses an innocence we can no longer afford to indulge. 
Butler D. ShafferThe State…has had a vested interest in promoting attitudes that would tend to make us skeptical of our own abilities, fearful of the motives of others, and emotionally dependent upon external authorities for purpose and direction in our lives. 
Butler D. ShafferIt is collectivism that is the unrealistic expression of utopian belief systems.  In its worst form -- the state -- collectivism is the institutionalized exertion of violence to compel living beings to behave contrary to their natural self-interest inclinations.  So strong are the motivations for individual preferences that the state must resort to attacks upon the very nature of life to satisfy the ambitions of those who see others as nothing more than resources to be exploited for such ends. 
Butler D. ShafferBecause we fear the responsibility for our actions, we have allowed ourselves to develop the mentality of slaves. Contrary to the stirring sentiments of the Declaration of Independence, we now pledge "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" not to one another for our mutual protection, but to the state, whose actions continue to exploit, despoil, and destroy us. 
Butler D. ShafferOur lack of constant awareness has also permitted us to accept definitions of freedom that are not necessarily consistent with the actuality of being free. Because we have learned to confuse the word with the reality the word seeks to describe, our vocabulary has become riddled with distorted and contradictory meanings smuggled into the language. 
John F. ShafrothRepublics are formed only after revolution. The change to the empire is slow and gradual. One of the saddest lessons of history is that whenever these schools of politics have met in the republics of old, the imperial school, with its dazzling influence of wealth and power, has always won. 
Ben ShahnEvery great historic change has been based on nonconformity, has been bought either with the blood or with the reputation of nonconformists. 
William ShakespeareThe purest treasure mortal times afford Is spotless reputation. 
William ShakespeareTo thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. 
William ShakespeareYon Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. 
William ShakespeareThe fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. 
William ShakespeareYon Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous. 
William ShakespeareThe abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power. 


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