Wit & Wisdom

From Cynthia Ozick, Joe Frazier, Herbert Spencer, Jonathan Swift, Shirley Chisholm, Mignon McLaughlin, Kevin Costner

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”

Novelist Cynthia Ozick, quoted in the Selma, Ala., Times‑Journal

“Life doesn’t run away from nobody. Life runs at people.”

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“The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.”

Herbert Spencer, quoted in The Economist

“It is a miserable thing to live in suspense; it is the life of a spider.”

Jonathan Swift, quoted in The Boston Globe

“When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.”

Shirley Chisholm, quoted in the Memphis Commercial Appeal

“The past is strapped to our backs. We do not have to see it; we can always feel it.”

Journalist Mignon McLaughlin, quoted in the Chillicothe, Ohio, Gazette

“Being a celebrity is probably the closest to being a beautiful woman as you can get.”

Kevin Costner, quoted in The Denver Post