"But then they danced down the street like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!""

Kerouac, Jack on passion
62 fans of this quote   

"All of life is a foreign country."

Kerouac, Jack on life
7 fans of this quote   

"All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together."

Kerouac, Jack on dream
7 fans of this quote   

"Suffering by nature or chance never seems so painful as suffering inflicted on us by the arbitrary will of another."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on suffering
4 fans of this quote   

"The doctor sees all the weakness of mankind; the lawyer all the wickedness, the theologian all the stupidity."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on stupidity   

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"Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on stubbornness   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on sacrifice   

"Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on relationship
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"That the outer man is a picture of the inner, and the face an expression and revelation of the whole character, is a presumption likely enough in itself, and therefore a safe one to go on; borne out as it is by the fact that people are always anxious to see anyone who has made himself famous. Photography offers the most complete satisfaction of our curiosity."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on photography   

"Without books the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are the engines of change, windows on the world, Lighthouses as the poet said erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind, Books are humanity in print."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on books - reading
5 fans of this quote   

"To buy books would be a good thing if we also could buy the time to read them."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on books - reading   

"Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else's head instead of with one's own."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on books - reading   

"Books are like a mirror. If an ass looks in, you can't expect an angel to look out."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on books - reading
3 fans of this quote   

"It is with trifles and when he is off guard that a man best reveals his character."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on character
3 fans of this quote   

"Will power is to the mind like a strong blind man who carries on his shoulders a lame man who can see."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on power
4 fans of this quote   

"Only a male intellect clouded by the sexual drive could call the stunted, narrow-shouldered, broad-hipped and short-legged sex the fair sex."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on women   

"A word too much always defeats its purpose."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on words   

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"Money is human happiness in the abstract: he, then, who is no longer capable of enjoying human happiness in the concrete devotes his heart entirely to money."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on money   

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"To live alone is the fate of all great souls."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on loneliness
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"Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such."

Miller, Henry on life
6 fans of this quote   

"Sin, guilt, neurosis --they are one and the same, the fruit of the tree of knowledge."

Miller, Henry on knowledge
4 fans of this quote   

"The real leader has no need to lead -- he is content to point the way."

Miller, Henry on leadership
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"The most mediocre of males feels himself a demigod as compared with women."

Beauvoir, Simone De on equality   

"The curse which lies upon marriage is that too often the individuals are joined in their weakness rather than in their strength --each asking from the other instead of finding pleasure in giving. It is even more deceptive to dream of gaining through the child a plenitude, a warmth, a value, which one is unable to create for oneself; the child brings joy only to the woman who is capable of disinterestedly desiring the happiness of another, to one who without being wrapped up in self seeks to transcend her own existence."

Beauvoir, Simone De on marriage
8 fans of this quote   

"One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation and compassion."

Beauvoir, Simone De on service
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"Consult your friend on all things, especially on those which respect yourself. His counsel may then be useful where your own self-love might impair your judgment."

Seneca on advice
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"Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body."

Seneca on difficulties
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"Each day is a little life; every waking and rising a little birth; every fresh morning a little youth; every going to rest and sleep a little death."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on death
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"After your death you will be what you were before your birth."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on death
6 fans of this quote   

"It is in the treatment of trifles that a person shows what they are."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on detail
4 fans of this quote   

"Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become; and the same is true of fame."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on greed
3 fans of this quote   

"We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on imitation   

"No one can transcend their own individuality."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on individuality   

"Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on intelligence and intellectuals
3 fans of this quote   

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"As the biggest library if it is in disorder is not as useful as a small but well-arranged one, so you may accumulate a vast amount of knowledge but it will be of far less value to you than a much smaller amount if you have not thought it over for yourself."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on knowledge   

"We have been educated to such a fine -- or dull -- point that we are incapable of enjoying something new, something different, until we are first told what it's all about. We don't trust our five senses; we rely on our critics and educators, all of whom are failures in the realm of creation. In short, the blind lead the blind. It's the democratic way."

Miller, Henry on criticism