John Braddy

“Writers and novelists are from the same mold as the rest of us in life. Most people are either stupid or mistaken. As a result, there are too many bad books, which become a complete waste of time, money, and attention. Bad books are not only useless, they are harmful. Nine out of every ten are published only to lure money from our pockets. Therefore, it is best not to read the books that are the most popular. First try to read and study the best writers of all times and nations, for only these authors teach and educate us.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Wise Thoughts for Every Day: On God, Love, the Human Spirit, and Living a Good Life

“One of them was Jake Eberts, a film producer whose works include Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Dances with Wolves, Driving Miss Daisy, A River Runs through It, The Killing Fields, and Chicken Run, and whose films received sixty-six Oscar nominations and seventeen Oscar wins (he passed away in 2012).”
― Daniel J. Levitin, The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload

“The purpose of a human life is to bring the irrational beginning of our life to a rational beginning. In order to succeed in this, two things are important: (1) to see all irrational, unwise things in life and direct your attention to them and study them; (2) to understand the possibility of a rational, wise life. The major purpose of all teachers of mankind was the understanding of the irrational and rational beginnings in our life.”
― Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Se

“Either be silent, or say something better than silence.”
― Publilius Syrus, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus