books tagged “quotations”

The Complete Life's Little Instruction Book contains the 1,560 entries found in all three volumes of the New York Times Bestselling Life's Little Instruction Book series. Bound in a deluxe, maroon, leather edition, this collectible hardcover makes a perfectly elegant gift for any occasion.

Though originally written as a gift from a father to a son, its simple message has been enjoyed by men and women of all ages.

"Most of us already know how to live a successful and purposeful life," says the author. "We know we should be understanding and thoughtful, responsible, courageous, and appreciative. It's just that we sometimes need reminding." Life's Little Instruction Book is that reminder.

The new edition of The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, drawn from the third edition of the best-selling Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, is a collection of 5800 well-known quotations by 1100 authors. Ranging in time from the eighth century BC to the 1970s and in space from Russia to South Africa, it provides excellent browsing among a varied company of authors and includes a generous index to guide the reader to a particular quote or selection of quotes. [via]

In the new edition of this convenient reference, readers can locate (and verify) classic quotes and little-known gems--the words of the famous and the notorious, the witty and the wise--in a collection of more than 9,000 quotations, including 3,500 new entries, from over 1,900 authors. [via]

This comprehensive compendium of famous and clever sayings--arranged alphabetically according to topic and author--contains a quotation for every occasion. [via]

This 16th edition of the book, first published in 1855, has been expanded to include more than 20,000 quotations and more than 340 new authors both historical and contemporary - from Russell Baker, The Doors, Elvis, Nadine Gordimer, Stephen Hawking, Primo Levi, Norman Mailer, Salman Rushdie, the Talmud, Alice Walker and Elie Wiesel. This edition has been revised and edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Justin Kaplan. [via]

Upon its publication, George Seldes's The Great Thoughts instantly took its place as a classic--a treasure house of the seminal ideas that have shaped the intellectual history of the world down through the ages.  Seldes, a pivotal figure in the history of American journalism and a tireless researcher, spent the better part of his extraordinary lifetime compiling the thoughts that rule the world, casting his net widely and wisely through the essential works of philosophy, poetry, psychology, economics, politics, memoirs, and letters from the ancient Greeks to the modern Americans.

Now Seldes's splendid and important work has been revised and updated to include the great thoughts that have changed our world in the decade since the book's first appearance.  Quotations from leaders as varied as Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa, Yitzak Rabin, Newt Gingrich, and Jesse Jackson reflect the radical shifts in the world political scene.  Toni Morrison and Cornel West speak out on the enduring vitality of African-American culture.  Alvin Toffler and Arthur C. Clarke give us a glimpse into the future.  Gloria Steinem and Monique Wittig define the motives and the goals of late twentieth-century feminism.  Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, and Wallace Stegner ponder the meaning of wilderness in an increasingly populated and industrialized world.  These and scores of other thinkers in all major disciplines have added their voices to this new edition of The Great Thoughts.

USA Today praised the first edition of The Great Thoughts as "a browser's delight."  The work of a lifetime, brought up-to-date to reflect the global upheaval of the past decade, The Great Thoughts stands alone as an enduring achievement and an invaluable resource. [via]

An anthology of more than 1500 criticisms, witticisms and vulgarities unleashed on unsuspecting victims over the years, by personalities from many different walks of life. They include Thomas Carlyle, Joan Rivers, Gore Vidal, Peter Fleming, Mel Brooks, Victor Hugo and Woody Allen. [via]

Read years ago that it was not the responsibility of parents to pave the road for their children, but to provide a road map. That's how I hoped he or she would use these mind and heart reflections. [via]

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. originally wrote Life's Little Instruction Book" as a gift for his son who was leaving home to begin his freshman year in college. Brown says, "I read years ago that it was not the responsibility of parents to pave the road for their children but to provide a road map, and I wanted to provide him with what I had learned about living a happy and rewarding life." Life's Little Instruction Book" is a guidebook that gently points the way to happiness and fulfillment. The observations are direct, simple, and as practical as an umbrella.

"But it's not just for young people," says Brown. "Most of us already know how to live a successful and purposeful life. We know we should be more understanding and thoughtful, more responsible, courageous and appreciative. It's just that we sometimes need reminding." Life's Little Instruction Book" is that reminder, as well as the perfect gift for a relative or a friend who needs encouragement at any time of the year.

• Never give up on anybody. Miracles happen every day.
• Be brave. Even if you're not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.
• Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.
• Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks softly.
• Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have.
• Be kinder than necessary.
• Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
• Commit yourself to constant self-improvement.
• Don't major in minor things.
• Never cut what can be untied.

Since its debut in 1991, Life's Little Instruction Book" has revolutionized the publishing industry. This little plaid book, which has been embraced the world over, has sold more than nine million copies, spent more than two years atop the New York Times bestseller list, and has been translated into 33 languages. Though originally written as a gift from a father to a son, its simple message has been enjoyed by men and women of all ages around the world.

A few years ago, Jack Brown jotted down a list of fatherly advice for his son as Adam left home to begin a new life as a college freshman. That list became Life's Little Instruction Book", the phenomenal book that has sold more than five million copies in less than two years and has been translated into 13 languages. "But within a few days of presenting Adam with Life's Little Instruction Book"," says Brown, "I began to think of many other entries I wished I had included. How could I have forgotten to mention, 'Rake a big pile of leaves every Fall and jump in it with someone you love,' or 'Be gentle with the earth,' or something as practical as 'Get a Flu Shot' and 'Never drive while holding a hot cup of coffee between your knees'?" Obviously, there was only one thing to do: start another list. It took Jack Brown more than two years to complete the list, and Adam says "It's more useful than the first one."

Since its debut in 1991, Life's Little Instruction Book" has revolutionized the publishing industry. This little plaid book, which has been embraced the world over, has sold more than nine million copies, spent more than two years atop the New York Times bestseller list, and has been translated into 33 languages. Though originally written as a gift from a father to a son, its simple message has been enjoyed by men and women of all ages around the world.

Now available in a deluxe hardcover edition, Brown's second volume of suggestions, observations, and reminders on how to live a happy life is the perfect gift for that special friend who can use some encouragment--any time of the year. [via]

"This collection contains some real gems!"
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
From Golda Meir to Erma Bombeck...from Aldous Huxley to Abbie Hoffman...from Oscar Wilde to W.C. Fields...from Queen Victoria to Mae West...from Aristotle to Idi Amin....here are the 637 best things anybody ever said--on God, Life, Death, Murder, Stupidity, Narcisism, Birth, Youth, Sex, Love, Marriage, Horses, Greeks, Romans, Politics, Literature, Drink, Presidents, and a great deal more. [via]

Here is a delightful and instructive compendium of the most memorable utterances of the world's most quotable writers. The Oxford Book of Literary Quotations covers all aspects of the literary life, from careful assessments of the relative value of literature ("The world must be all fucked up when men travel first class and literature goes as freight," Gabriel Garcia Marquez) to the modest wish for an attentive audience ("The demand that I make of my reader is that he should devote his whole LIFE to reading my works," James Joyce) to appreciative remarks about their fellow writers ("Gertrude Stein and me are just like brothers," Ernest Hemingway), to reflections on the thrill of publishing ("Being published by the Oxford University Press is rather like being married to a duchess: the honour is almost greater than the pleasure," G.M. Young), and much, much more.
Celebrating over 3,000 years of writing, the dictionary's 4,000 quotations are arranged thematically, allowing the reader to dip easily into a chosen topic. Within each topic, the entries are arranged chronologically by author. So, for the section of Earning a Living, we begin with Horace, writing in the first century B.C. and end with A. S. Byatt, writing in 1995. Full keyword and author indexes ensure that a favorite quotation or author can be located quickly. From Drink and Drugs to Writer's Block, from Love to Literary Theory, from Admiration and Praise to Rivalry and Rejection, The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Quotations brings us the wittiest, most profound, most surprising, and most memorable words of the world's greatest writers on all aspects of their lives and work. [via]

Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolf, Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy, Louis Armstrong and Mae West, Woody Allen and Dorothy Parker--these are but a few of the figures who have given voice to our century's most memorable quotations. Now, in The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations, A.J. Augarde gathers together 6,000 of the best known quotes from our time, drawn from novels, plays, poems, essays, speeches, films, radio and television, songs, and even advertisements.
Here readers will find the history-making quotes, from Churchill's stirring wartime speeches ("Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"), to Neville Chamberlain's infamous "Peace for our time," to Spiro T. Agnew's outrageous "If you've seen one city slum you've seen them all." On the lighter side, readers will enjoy such wits as Woody Allen ("It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens"), Fran Lebowitz ("Food is an important part of a balanced diet"), and Dorothy Parker ("This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force"). There are generous excerpts from literature, from the novels of Hemingway and Joyce, the poetry of Auden, Eliot, and Pound, the plays of Lillian Hellman and Anita Loos, and the lyrics of Irving Berlin and Cole Porter ("In olden days a glimpse of stocking / Was looked on as something shocking / Now, heaven knows, / Anything goes"). Augarde also includes famous book titles (such as Shepherd Mead's "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"), song titles (Larry Morey's "Whistle While You Work"), even cartoon captions (Bill Maudlin's wartime "I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages"). And of course, the book brims with wisdom, from Count Ciano's "Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan," to Lord Morley's "You have not converted a man because you have silenced him," to Alfred Adler's "It is always easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them." Designed both for reference and for browsing, the Dictionary arranges quotations in alphabetical order by author, with attributions after each quote so that readers can explore the original quotes in context. In addition, the index helps the reader trace quotations from their most important keywords, so that if you know the quote but not the author, you can still find it easily.
Whether you want to find out who first used the expression "a walk on the wild side" (it was Nelson Algren) or simply enjoy discovering fine turns of phrase or witty remarks (such as Beatrice Lillie's off-the-cuff comment to a waiter who spilled soup on her dress: "Never darken my Dior again"), The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations offers a unique view of the twentieth century through some of its most memorable lines. [via]

As Emerson once said, "By necessity, by proclivity--and by delight, we all quote." We quote from the Bible and from Shakespeare, from Churchill and Will Rogers, we quote to amuse our friends, to spice our conversation or our writing, to lend authority to what we say. We even quote without knowing whom we quote, saying "love conquers all" (Virgil, The Aeneid) or "damn with faint praise" (Pope, Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot).
In the Fourth Edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, you can find (and verify) classic quotes and little-known gems--the words of the famous and the notorious, the witty and the wise--in a collection of over 20,000 quotations from more than 3,000 authors. Almost forty percent of the material is new since the third edition, including thousands of twentieth-century quotations, from Virginia Woolf to John Lennon. As in earlier editions, the new Oxford Dictionary of Quotations is a literary banquet, a feast of the finest excerpts of poets and novelists, essayists and historians. From Yeats ("A terrible beauty is born") to Orwell ("At 50, everyone has the face he deserves"), from the King James Bible ("Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall") to Marx ("From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs"), this volume brims with essential quotes. Here too are the notable political figures of history, including Napoleon ("An army marches on its stomach"), Queen Elizabeth I ("I will make you shorter by a head"), and Harry Truman ("If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen"). Coming right up to the present-day world of international mass media and entertainment, the new Dictionary even includes the immortal words of the Monty Python comedy troupe: "And now for something completely different."
This new edition also features a helpful organization and indexing system. The entries are arranged alphabetically by author, with full attributions and explanatory notes, and the index offers easy access to individual quotations through thousands of keywords. In addition, the Dictionary offers thorough foreign language coverage, from Aristotle to Moliere to Schiller, with quotations provided in both the original and in English translation.
Like the acclaimed Third Edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, this volume provides an ideal reference for any home or office library--a constant source of entertainment and inspiration for public speakers, writers, and anyone else who enjoys a sparkling line or a spirited reply. [via]

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations is as impressive, erudite, enjoyable, and educational a tome as you might expect from Oxford. It's the sort of undertaking the press does very well. The first such dictionary, as compiled by Oxford, was published in 1953, and it's been tweaking, modifying, and updating it ever since. This new edition, the fifth, offers well over 20,000 quotations from more than 3,000 authors. Responding to correspondence from their readers, Oxford has restored some material from past editions, such as the proverbs and nursery-rhymes section. There's a much more inclusive attention to sacred texts of world religions, and 2,000 quotations are brand new.

The quotations are arranged alphabetically, by author, so browsing provides insight into the authors quoted, more so than do compendiums that are organize by theme. There is also, however, a full thematic index, starting with Administration, Age, and America, and running the alphabetical gamut through to War, Weather, and Youth. And that is followed by a 283-page comprehensive keyword index. If you needed to fault Oxford with something, it might be the small print, but it certainly wouldn't be the thoroughness or cross-referenceability.

There's Kingsley Amis on hangovers ("His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night, and then as its mausoleum") and the sexes ("Women are really much nicer than men. No wonder we like them"). There's Woody Allen on immortality ("I don't want to achieve immortality through my work--I want to achieve it through not dying") and Fred Allen on committees ("A group of men who individually can do nothing but as a group decide that nothing can be done"). Spiro T. Agnew is on record as saying, "If you've seen one city slum you've seen them all." And Konrad Adenauer weighs in with "A thick skin is a gift from God."

There are pages of special categories, such as one of advertising slogans ("Let your fingers do the walking," "It's finger-licking good," and "Beanz meanz Heinz") and three pages of last words ("God will pardon me, it is His trade," from Heinrich Heine; "If this is dying, then I don't think much of it," by Lytton Strachey; and "It's been so long since I've had champagne," by Anton Chekhov). And there are pages of film lines, misquotations, epitaphs, telegrams, and toasts, too. Oxford's Dictionary of Quotations is a wonderfully reliable and inclusive quotation reference, and it's a lot of fun, as well. --Stephanie Gold [via]

From Miss Piggy to Woody Allen ('Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber at weekends'), from Dorothy Parker to Mae West ('To err is human, but it feels divine'), from Morecambe and Wise to Homer Simpson ('To alcohol! The cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems'), the last hundred years offer a rich banquet of humour. Even Belgium, golf and inflation have inspired witty remarks. Here is the definitive collection, organised by theme and offering more laughs per page than any other book. 'Wittily indispensable' - Chris Patten, "Guardian". [via]

What's the funniest thing you've ever heard? Who said it? Was is Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse (The Right Hon. was a tubby little chap who looked as if he had been poured into his clothes and had forgotten to say "When"!), Groucho Marx (A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running), Nancy Mitford (She said that all the sights of Rome were called after London cinemas), Lily Tomlin (Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain), Homer Simpson (To alcohol! The cause of - and solution to - all of life's problems!) or Joan Rivers (I don't exercise. If God wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor)? May be it was Noel Coward, Jack Dee, H.L. Mencken, Woody Allen or Rowan Atkinson? They are all here: over 5,500 quotations from the funniest people of the past hundred years. The quotations are grouped thematically, covering catgories from abstinence, bosses and honeymoons (Honeymoon - the morning after the knot before) to wealth, wine and Yugoslavia, via creativity, pets (Springfield Pet Shop: All Our Pets are Flushable) and swimming (They say that swimming is great exercise. Have you ever seen a whale?). The result is a book which will give the reader a line for any kind of speech or simply provide hours of pleasurable browsing. He who laughs, lasts - Mary Pettibone Poole. [via]

From the author of the multimillion-selling "The Peter Principle," and "The Peter Prescription," here is a timeless collection of some of history's greatest and best-expressed thoughts. Organized alphabetically by subject -- from Ability to Zoos -- and completely cross-refernced by related categories, "Peter's Quotations" is a joy to use. Packed with many unusual and little-known quotations of great wit, Dr. Peter's reference book is not only fun to read -- an idea mine for writers, students, and public speakers -- but it is also relevant to the sometimes overwhelming problems of today. "Peter's Quotations" is priceless. [via]

Acclaimed collection of the world's most important, most stirring, and best-loved quotations - from Socrates to the present day. Conveniently arranged by subject and with an Index of Authors. Hundreds of subjects and themes, alphabetically listed from A - Z. [via]

The world's greatest cynics, critics, and grouches--from H. L. Mencken to Groucho Marx--use their wit to cut down every subject under the sun in a compendium of quips, barbs, profiles, and interviews. Reprint. 75,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo. [via]

The bibliophiles of the world are an erudite and witty bunch, especially the hundreds of quotable sages and wags whose bons mots are collected in this tribute to the written word. The authors of these insights, spanning centuries and continents, include Aeschylus and Lady Bird Johnson, Gustave Flaubert and Francis Bacon, Russell Baker and Isadora Duncan, Katharine Hepburn and Mark Twain, Pablo Picasso and Brad Pitt.

The quotations offer witticisms as well as philosophical insights. Woody Allen quips, "I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It's about Russia." And Franz Kafka declares, "Books must be the axe to break the frozen sea inside me." Mark Twain reflects, "I like a thin book because it will steady a table, a leather volume because it will strop a razor, and a heavy book because it can be thrown at a cat." And Fran Lebowitz notes that "Magazines all too frequently lead to books, and should be regarded by the prudent as the heavy petting of literature." Aristotle observes that "To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man." H.L. Mencken explains, "I write in order to attain that feeling of tension relieved and function achieved, which a cow enjoys on giving milk." And Thomas Mann opines that "A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people."

In all, there are more than 500 quotations that pithily consider every aspect of authors, readers, collectors, and books. Entertaining and provocative, it is the sort of book that makes you sit friends down and read them just one more entry. In one such entry, Robertson Davies observes that "There are many people--happy people, it usually appears--whose thoughts at Christmas always turn to books. The notion of a Christmas tree with no books under it is repugnant and unnatural to them." This is just the sort of book to make such people remarkably content. --Stephanie Gold [via]

Though Emerson said "Quotation confesses inferiority," and Thomas Fuller advised "Search not Authors to say what thou canst as well say thyself," E.M. Cioran warned "Beware of thinkers whose minds function only when they are fueled by a quotation," and Vauvenargues contended that "Other people's wit does not entertain us for long," there is always the viewpoint of Samuel Richardson, who said "We are wise by other people's experience," and Ovid's, who believed "It is right to learn even from one's enemies."

The Quotationary is a collection of quotations, some 20,000 of them, arranged by subject (from Ability to Zen, and each with suggestions of other headings to check for similar topics), cross-referenced by author (from Edward Abbey on truthfulness to Martin Zweig on the stock market), and then indexed by subject categories as well, making it easy to find the right bon mot to start a speech or cap an argument (or cap a speech and start an argument). And they are addictive. It may be instructive, but it is also entertaining to read the words of others. There's Napoleon's view that "All being said, I like only those people who are useful to me, and only so long as they are useful," and Fran Lebowitz opining that "There is no such thing as inner peace. There is only nervousness or death." The important thing is that whatever take on life you espouse, you can not only find elegant quotes to support you, but also fine words to the opposite. --Stephanie Gold [via]

When turning the other cheek just won't do, try fighting back with the cantankerous remarks of some of the crustiest, grouchiest, and cleverest curmudgeons of all time. Profiles of three world-class wordsmiths--Alexander Woollcott, Oscar Wilde, and Robert Benchley--plus interviews with a variety of caustic commentators make this a collection of barbed remarks second to none. [via]

Wilde on Sincerity: "A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal." Nearly a century after his death, the wit of Oscar Wilde remains as fresh and barbed as ever. This collection of his works, letters, reviews, anecdotes and repartee is ample proof of this iconoclast's enduring place in the world of arts and letters. [via]

The fifth book in this packaged and entertaining series has found its perfect subject. Here are witty one-liners, biting comments, and memorable bon mots by one of the world's great literary figures and oe of the best aphorists of all time. [via]