"Among politicians and businessmen, pragmatism is the current term for, 'To hell with our children.' "    Edward Abbey, writer and activist

"Some lives are tragic, some ridiculous. Most are both at once."    Edward Abbey, writer and activist

"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis."    Dante Alighieri, Italian poet and writer

"There's something very liberating about being told you have a terminal illness. You can do whatever the hell you want. Who's going to criticize you? And if they do, what the hell do you care?"    Stephen F. Ambrose, historian and author

"There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness.' "    Dave Barry, humorist, from '25 Things I Have Learned in 50 Years'

"Success in life is how well you deal with Plan C."    Greg Bestick, computer software and technology entrepreneur

"Listen! And understand! That Terminator is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear, and it absolutely will not stop - ever! - until you are dead."    Michael Biehn, actor, as Kyle Reese in 'The Terminator'

“If someone believes something to be true, they are more likely to search out content that supports their preexisting view, rather than any evidence to the contrary. People want to win an argument, make a point or simply seek validation that their beliefs are right.”     Jeffrey Blevins, professor of journalism, University of Cincinnati

"Amateurs talk tactics, professionals study logistics."    Omar N. Bradley, U. S. Army general

"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience come from bad judgment."    Rita Mae Brown, author

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."    Edmund Burke, English statesman

"By gnawing through a dike, even a rat may drown a nation."    Edmund Burke, English statesman

"Science is curiosity that is acted upon."     James Cameron, film director and ocean explorer

"I've got news for you pal, you ain't leadin' but two things right now: Jack and shit ... and Jack left town."      Bruce Campbell, actor, as Ash in 'Army of Darkness'

"We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty."    G. K. Chesterton, English journalist and novelist

"It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got."    Sheryl Crow, singer and songwriter, 'Soak Up The Sun'

"God is great. Beer is good. People are crazy."    Billy Currington, singer and songwriter, 'People Are Crazy'

"The way to survive here is to watch, listen and say nothing. I play safe."    Nigel Davenport, actor, as Capt. Cyril Leech in 'Play Dirty'

"There are three kinds of lies - lies, damned lies, and statistics."    Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of Great Britain

"Take these three items - some WD-40, a Vise Grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski in 'Gran Torino'

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."    Albert Einstein, scientist

"In preparing for battle, plans are useless but planning is essential."    Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. Army general and U.S. president

"Adopt the pace of Nature. Her secret is patience."    Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet

"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."    Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author and adventurer

"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."    Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author and adventurer

"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit."    Harry G. Frankfurt, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Princeton University, 'On Bullshit'

"A planned life can only be endured."    Millard Fuller, founder, Habitat for Humanity International

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."    Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda to Adolph Hitler

"The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over."    Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda to Adolph Hitler

"Growing up, I always thought that there was a certain way things should be, or were supposed to be, and I've found out that's not really true. You don't have to conform to what is considered normal, or what authorities say is right, that it's all bogus."    Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream

"Primitive life is very common and intelligent life is fairly rare. Some would say it has yet to occur on Earth."    Stephen Hawking, British astrophysicist

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."    Robert Heinlein, science fiction writer, 'Time Enough for Love'

"Every damn thing is your own fault, if you're any good."    Earnest Hemingway, author, 'Green Hills of Africa'

"The secret of life is, there ain't no secret, and you don't get your money back."    Faith Hill, singer, 'The Secret of Life'

"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions."    Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., author and physician

"He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away."    Raymond Hull, playwright, poet and writer

"I cannot live without books."     Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States of America

"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold."    Helen Keller, activist and educator

"We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes."    John F. Kennedy, U.S. president

"When you're 21, life is a roadmap. It's only when you get to be 25 or so that you begin to suspect you've been looking at the map upside down, and not until you're 40 are you entirely sure. By the time you're 60, take it from me, you're fucking lost."    Stephen King, author, in 'Joyland'

"The system is rigged, and most people are indeed getting screwed."     Naomi Klein, author, in 'Doppelganger'

"Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about mission statements."    Ron Livingston, actor,  as Peter Gibbons in 'Office Space'

"The great forces of the world we live in ... are wind, water, fire and time. They change all they touch."     John D. MacDonald, author, as character Gus Garver in 'Condominium'

 "Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave."    Tom McGrath, actor, as the voice of Skipper the Penguin in 'Madagascar'

"Mama always told me not to look into the eyes on the sun; But mama, that's where the fun is."    Manfred Mann's Earth Band, 'Blinded By the Light'

"Life goes on, long after the thrill of livin' is gone."    John Mellencamp, singer and songwriter, 'Jack and Diane'

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting new discoveries."    A. A. Milne, author and creator of Winnie the Pooh

"A career is not a substitute for a life plan."    Jake Morrissey, senior editor at a U.S. publishing syndicate

"Life's like an hourglass glued to the table."    Anna Nalick, singer, 'Breathe (2 a.m.)'

"At the point of crisis, at the point of annihilation, survival is victory."     Christopher Nolen, director, 'Dunkirk' movie trailer

“Part of what makes conspiracy theories so compelling is their flexibility and malleability. Those who understand the world through conspiratorial lenses tend to interpret events, especially dramatic ones, as being driven by intentional, often evil, forces.     Yotam Ophir, University at Buffalo

"I woke up. I found her. That's all I know."     Aaron Paul, actor, as Jesse Pinkman in 'Breaking Bad'

"What could they have here that you could possibly want to buy?"    Robert Redford, actor, as the Sundance Kid in 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'

"Sometimes you have to lose yourself before you can find anything."    Burt Reynolds, actor, as Lewis Medlock in 'Deliverance'

"It comes down to a simple choice, really: Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'."    Tim Robbins, actor, as Andy Dufresne in 'The Shawshank Redemption'

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."    Tim Robbins, actor, as Andy Dufresne in 'The Shawshank Redemption'

"One should always be cognizant of how bad things can go."    Chris Rock, comedian and actor.

"Love is not love until love is vulnerable."    Theodore Roethke, poet and writer

"The system is rigged. They want us to think it'll protect us, but that's a lie. We protect us. We do - nobody else."    Mark Ruffalo, actor, as Rob Billot in 'Dark Waters'

"Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler."    Stephen Root, actor, as Milton Waddams in 'Office Space' 

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know, that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken.' And then they would actually change their minds and you would never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion."     Carl Sagan, scientist

"You go talk to kindergarteners or first grade kids, you find a class full of science enthusiasts. They ask deep questions. They ask, 'What is a dream, Why do we have toes, Why is the moon round, What is the birthday of the world, Why is grass green?' These are profound, important questions! They just bubble right out of them.

"You go talk to 12th graders and there's none of that. They've become incurious. Something terrible has happened between kindergarten and 12th grade."     Carl Sagan, scientist

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."    Carl Sandburg, author and writer

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; and third, it is accepted as self-evident."    Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

"Never get out of the boat. Absolutely god damn right. Unless you were going all the way."    Martin Sheen, actor, as Capt. Willard in 'Apocalypse Now'

"You never expected justice from a company, did you? They have neither a soul to lose, nor a body to kick."    Sydney Smith, English writer and clergyman

"Good logistics alone can't win a war. Bad logistics alone can lose it."    Brehon B. Somervell, U.S. Army general

"Bought a ticket for a runaway train, like a madman laughin' at the rain, a little out of touch, a little insane, just easier than dealing with the pain."    Soul Asylum, rock band, 'Runaway Train'

“There's a conflict in every human heart, between the rational and the irrational, between good and evil ... and good does not always triumph.”    G.D. Spradlin, actor, as Lt. Gen. R. Corman in 'Apocalypse Now'

"Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse - is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse?"    Bruce Springsteen, musician, 'The River'

"War is capitalism with the gloves off."    Tom Stoppard, British playwright and screenwriter

"I wasn't in the least bit terrified, and let me tell you why: I was too young and too stupid to realize that I was in a lot of danger."    Kenneth M. Taylor, US fighter pilot who shot down four Japanese planes during their attack on Pearl Harbor 

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."    Hunter S. Thompson, author and gonzo journalist

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."    Mike Tyson, champion boxer

"Success flourishes only in perseverance - ceaseless, relentless perseverance."    Manfred von Richthofen, World War I German flying ace

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."    Mae West, actress