Cosmos (1980)
Carl Sagan, American astronomer and educator (1934–1996)
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My life is spent in a perpetual alternation between two rhythms, the rhythm of attracting people for fear I may be lonely, and the rhythm of trying to get rid of them because I know that I am bored.
The Observer (1948)
CEM Joad, English philosopher (1891–1953)
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Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he’s well dressed. There ain’t much credit in that.
Martin Chuzzlewit (1844)
Charles Dickens, English writer and social critic (1812–1870)
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Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.
Mere Christianity (1952)
CS Lewis, British literary scholar and writer (1898–1963)
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Pleasure is a thief to business.
The Complete English Tradesman (1726)
Daniel Defoe, English trader, writer and spy (1660–1731)
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The heart of man is made to reconcile the most glaring contradictions.
Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects (1753)
David Hume, Scottish philosopher (1711–1776)
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Every time you open your wardrobe, you look at your clothes and you wonder what you are going to wear. What you are really saying is, “Who am I going to be today?”
The New Yorker (1995)
Fay Weldon, English feminist and playwright (1931–)
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Everyone thinks his own burden is heavy.
French proverb
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The smyler with the knyf under the cloke.
The Knight’s Tale (1387)
Geoffrey Chaucer, English poet (c. 1343–1400)
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Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.
Adam Bede (1859)
George Eliot, English writer (1819–1880)
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Our actions are like ships which we may watch set out to sea, and not know when or with what cargo they will return to port.
The Bell (1958)
Iris Murdoch, Irish writer (1919–1999)
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The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation … The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.
The Ascent of Man (1973)
Jacob Bronowski, British-Polish mathematician and science historian (1908–1974)
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Only the actions of the just,
Smell sweet and blossom on their dust.
The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses for the Armour of Achilles (1659)
James Shirley, English playwright (1596–1666)
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It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.
Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Jane Austen, English writer (1775–1817)
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I was raised to feel that doing nothing was a sin. I had to learn to do nothing.
The Observer (1998)
Jenny Joseph, English poet (1932–2018)
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It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)
Jerome K Jerome, English writer (1859–1927)
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Deeds, not words shall speak me.
The Lover’s Progress (1647)
John Fletcher, English playwright (1579–1625)
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I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)
John Locke, English philosopher (1632–1704)
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Word is but wynd; leff woord and tak the dede.
Secrets of Old Philosophers
John Lydgate, English poet (1370–1451)
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The highest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it.
John Ruskin, English art critic (1819–1900)
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Action is consolatory. It is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.
Nostromo (1904)
Joseph Conrad, Polish-British writer (1857–1924)
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Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigour of the mind.
