Wit & Wisdom

“Conceit may puff a man up, but can never prop him up.”

John Ruskin, quoted in Forbes.com

“To try to be better is to be better.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Actress Charlotte Cushman, quoted in Real Simple

“Exhilaration is that feeling you get just after a great idea hits you, and just before you realize what’s wrong with it.”

Actor Rex Harrison, quoted in The Buffalo News

“It is my rule never to lose my temper till it would be detrimental to keep it.”

Playwright Sean O’Casey, quoted in the Associated Press

“Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.”

George Santayana, quoted in The Boston Globe

“Television is a medium because it is neither rare nor well done.”

Ernie Kovacs, quoted in the Greenfield, Ind., Daily Reporter

“Beauty is a short-lived tyranny.”

Socrates, quoted in NYTimes.com