Wit & Wisdom

From Bertrand Russell, Dorothy Parker, H.L. Mencken, and more

“If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years.”

Bertrand Russell, quoted in the Monterey County, Calif., Herald

“A loser says that’s the way it’s always been done. A winner says there ought to be a better way.”

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“The two most beautiful words in the English language are ‘check enclosed.’”

Dorothy Parker, quoted in the Philippine Daily Inquirer

“A good half of the art of living is resilience.”

Writer Alain de Botton, quoted in The Washington Times

“A friend to all is a friend to none.”

Aristotle, quoted in The Boston Globe

“Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.”

Sylvia Plath, quoted in the Associated Press

“A good politician is quite as unthinkable as a good burglar.”

H.L. Mencken, quoted in The Miami Herald