Karen > Karen's Quotes

“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”
― G.K. Chesterton

“Be the flame, not the moth.”
― Giacomo Casanova

“Neither the mouse nor the boy was the least bit surprised that each could understand the other. Two creatures who shared a love for motorcycles naturally spoke the same language.”
― Beverly Cleary, The Mouse and the Motorcycle

“Many are the strange chances of the world,' said Mithrandir, 'and help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion

“to him that is pitiless the deeds of pity are ever strange and beyond comprehension.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion

“But of bliss and glad life there is little to be said, before it ends; as works fair and wonderful, while they still endure for eyes to see, are ever their own record, and only when they are in peril or broken for ever do they pass into song.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion

“Logic!" said the Professor half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is
telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

“Lucy looked and saw that Aslan had just breathed on the feet of the stone giant.

It's all right!" shouted Aslan joyously. "Once The feet are put right, all the rest of him will follow.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

“If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most, or else just silly.”
― C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

“The purpose of a good education is to show you that there are three sides to a two-sided story.”
― Stanley Fish

“The world will throw lies at you, aimed at your heart, aimed to kill.”
― Lacey Sturm, The Reason: How I Discovered a Life Worth Living

“Only in a world where faith is difficult can faith exist.”
― Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity

“What a strange thing that which men call pleasure seems to be, and how astonishing the relation it has with what is thought to be its opposite, namely pain! A man cannot have both at the same time. Yet if he pursues and catches the one, he is almost always bound to catch the other also, like two creatures with one head.”
― Plato, Plato: Complete Works

“We become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled by exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of courage.”
― Aristotle, The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation, Vol. 1

“for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows; I neither know nor think that I know.”
― Plato, Plato Dialogues Collection

“The mountains are calling and I must go.”
― John Muir

“Be who you are. / Give what you have.”
― Rose Ausländer

“Socrates: “The corruption of the best things are the worst things.” Or, “The best, when corrupted, become the worst.” As one of your English poets has said, “Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.”
― Peter Kreeft, The Best Things in Life: A Contemporary Socrates Looks at Power, Pleasure, Truth the Good Life

“The word 'human' refers to something more than the bodily form or even the rational mind. It refers also to that community of blood and experience which unites all men and women on the Earth.”
― C.S. Lewis, Perelandra

“Where Maleldil is, there is the centre. He is in every place. Not some of Him in one place and some in another, but in each place the whole Maleldil, even in the smallness beyond though. There is no way out of the centre save into the Bent Will which casts itself into the Nowhere. Blessed be He! Each thing was made for Him. He is the centre. Because we are with Him, each of us is at the centre...In His city all things are made for each. When He died in the Wonded World He died not for men, but for each man. If each mad had been the only man made, He would have done no less. Each thing, from the single grain of Dust to the strongest eldil, is the end and the final cause of all creation and the mirror in which the beam of His brightness comes to rest and so returns to Him. Blessed be He!”
― C.S. Lewis, Perelandra

“The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.”
― Franciscan friar William of Ockham

“With all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one.”
― William of Ockham

“Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.”
― William of Ockham, Ockham's theory of terms, part I of the Summa logicae

“The problem, Paulinus, is not that we have a short life, but that we waste time. Life is long and there is enough of it for satisfying personal accomplishments if we use our hours well. But when time is squandered in the pursuit of pleasure or in vain idleness, when it is spent with no real purpose, the finality of death fast approaches and it is only then, when we are forced to, that we, at last, take a good hard look at how we have spent our life- just as we become aware that it is ending. Thus the time we are given is not brief, but we make it so. We do not lack time; on the contrary, there is so much of it that we waste an awful lot”
― Seneca the elder

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

“People travel to wonder
at the height of the mountains,
at the huge waves of the seas,
at the long course of the rivers,
at the vast compass of the ocean,
at the circular motion of the stars,
and yet they pass by themselves
without wondering. ”
― Saint Augustine

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
― St. Augustine

“Never depend on the admiration of others. There is no strength in it. Personal merit cannot be derived from an external source. It is not to be found in your personal associations, nor can it be found in the regard of other people. It is a fact of life that other people, even people who love you, will not necessarily agree with your ideas, understand you, or share your enthusiasms. Grow up! Who cares what other people think about you!”
― Epictetus, The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness

“Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people's weaknesses. Avoid being one of the mob who indulges in such pastimes. Your life is too short and you have important things to do. Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest. It is the easiest thing in the world to slide imperceptibly into vulgarity. But there's no need for that to happen if you determine not to waste your time and attention on mindless pap.”
― Epictetus, The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness and Effectiveness