Wit & Wisdom

from Benjamin Franklin, John Wayne, Hubert Humphrey, François de la Rochefoucauld, Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Samuel Butler, Doris Day

“The discontented man finds no easy chair.”

Benjamin Franklin, quoted in The New Yorker

“Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.”

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“The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.”

Hubert Humphrey, quoted in the Lebanon, Pa., Daily News

“The mind is always the dupe of the heart.”

French statesman François de la Rochefoucauld, quoted in The Washington Post

“The wise person does not allow his knowledge and abilities to be sounded to the bottom, if he desires to be honored by all. He allows you to know him but not to comprehend him.”

Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracián y Morales, quoted in The Chronicle

of Higher Education

“Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.’’

Samuel Butler, quoted in the Columbia, Mo., Daily Tribune

“The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you’ll grow out of it.’’

Doris Day, quoted in Newsday