I like reading famous quotations from some of the great minds in human history. I love the wisdom and intelligence found in the famed quotes of renowned writers and philosophers who shared their wise and intelligent views with the world. Their words and thoughts always inspire me. They help me to accept my frailties and shortcomings as an imperfect member of the human race. None of us are perfect, but we can all strive to become better human beings. The world and our children need us now more than ever before. Together, we can change the world.
Here are 13 of my top famous quotes of all time, along with explanations on why I like them.
The pen is mightier than the sword. – Bulwer-Lytton
The great writers of the world have always had the real power, the power to inspire greatness in others by telling the truth about life.
The act of writing is the act of discovering what you believe. – David Hare
This one reminds me to keep writing no matter what other people think. I may not have much talent but at least I’m discovering something about myself. What am I discovering? It’s okay to feel angry and ashamed about the current state of affairs in this topsy-turvy world if it helps me to find my inner voice as a writer.
To thine own self be true. – Shakespeare
The Bard said it all with this one. The problem is that so many human beings become so good at lying to themselves they don’t remember how to tell the truth.
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
The world is filled with programmable robots voicing the same old verbiage of outdated beliefs and superstitions. These are the same robotic replicas brainwashed into believing that kissing the ring of a silly old man in an Orange Hogwarts hat who pontificates about being the sole messenger of god is more important than clamoring to the aid of Katrina victims or providing adequate health care for the poor.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere – Martin Luther King
I don’t get human beings who think even the smallest injustices are cool or okay as long as it helps them get ahead in life. It’s not my intention to hurt or belittle people with my writing. It is my intention, however, to shove my writing down the throats of the people on our planet who are so ignorant they refuse to see and accept the truth. What is the truth? Honesty is one of them. Having the ability to think and act for ourselves is another.
Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom. – Thomas Jefferson
I’m an American who feels his country is going in the wrong direction and letting the world down in the process. Some of the greatest men in the history of America were liberals and free-thinkers who wanted to break free of tyranny and start a new country based in freedom and democracy. It almost worked. Corporate greed is killing America and average Americans need to wake up and smell the dirty money.
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. – George Bernard Shaw
If people were honest and open-minded (I realize some imbeciles and simpletons don’t have the mental faculties to be honest and open-minded), they would see the big picture and admit the world is headed in the wrong direction. What’s the big picture? Far too many humans have far too little tolerance for the truth. And what is the truth? Having an open mind is one. Understanding the difference between right and wrong, and the shades of gray in between, is another.
The life which is unexamined is not worth living. – Socrates
So many people never take the time to examine their lives and really take a look at themselves as human beings. I admit my anger is over the top and I come across as superior, but that’s not what I’m really all about. What am I about? I’m about expressing my anger and angst and dismay and dissatisfaction with the status quo by writing about the people I consider to be the worst offenders rather than belittling or attacking individuals for the sole purpose of pumping up my own ego. I’m trying to change the world. The world, and it’s people, need changing now more than ever before.
We must become the change we want to see. – Gandhi
I’m not sure what the world is going to become, but I know it needs to become something better, a free and peaceful place for humans to live in the future. If we don’t change it we’re all going to perish. It might take a thousand years, but the world as we know it must change.
We must all work to make the world worthy of its children. – Pablo Casals
We’re not doing a very good job of teaching our children the real differences between right and wrong. We’re teaching them the same old crap, the same old song and dance that got us into our predicament in the first place. What’s our predicament? How about the inability to adapt and change as a human species? Religion, war, and the petty differences between countries are destroying the world, and life, as we know it.
Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be. – Kahlil Gibran
The planet and its political leaders are taking us in the wrong direction. What’s the right direction? For starters, how about the end of organized religion, the end of wars, and the end of countries divided by religious and political hatred.
Imagination is more important than knowledge. – Albert Einstein
I’m trying to have a sense of humor in my quest for an imaginative slant on the current state of the world in the 21st century. It’s not an easy thing to do. Without imagination (along with a good sense of humor) the human species is doomed to distinction. Electing, following, and believing in two-faced, money-grubbing, world-raping political cowboys as our so-called eminent leaders takes very little imagination.
Imagine. – John Lennon
Five thousand years from now, if human beings are still the dominant species on the planet, John Lennon’s lyrics will be the new creed for all of mankind. Here are his words that were so very far ahead of their time:
Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
These are 13 of my top all-time favorite famous quotes, words and ideas I try to live by. These writers and philosophers are my friends when I need them. I’ve brought them along to shoulder the burden of convincing others that my ideas and words as a writer may not be in vain. I’m trying to change the world. This is not an easy thing to do, even for the men I’ve quoted here. What would John Lennon say about the world we live in today? He’d probably just write another song. Maybe its time for me to write another opinion piece at AC.
