top of page
THE INNER COMMONPLACE
QUOTATIONS FROM A LIFETIME OF COLLECTION AND REFLECTION
TITLE QUOTATION AUTHOR SOURCE SUBJECT
SUCCESS IS NOT DEFI | 344 | Success is not defined by obtaining everything you want, but by appreciating everything you have. | Chinese Proverb | Unknown | Success |
MAN IS THE ONLY CRE | 345 | Man is the only creature who has the ability to blush, or the need. | Mark Twain | Unknown | Man |
DANS LA MER IL N'Y | 346 | Dans la mer il n'y a pas de cruaute, mais seulement l'angoisse de survivre.
In the sea there is no cruelty, only the terror of survival. | Jacques Cousteau | Unknown | The Sea |
IN THREE WORDS I CA | 347 | In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It Goes On. | Robert Frost | Columbia University | Life |
WHEN YOU PLANT RICE | 348 | When you plant rice you get rice. | Anon | Tibetan saying | Action |
PEOPLE WITH NO HERO | 456 | People with no heroes have disconnected their imaginations from their future. | Dick Keyes | Unknown | Heroes |
WHAT MAKES 100%? WH | 692 | What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer
these questions:
If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z
is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
and
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
And,
B-U-L-L*-*-*-*
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%
AND, look how far ass kissing
will take you.
A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%
So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty, that while
Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and
Attitude
will get you there, it's the
Bulls***
and
Ass Kissing
that will put you over the top.
'REMEMBER
SOME PEOPLE ARE
ALIVE
SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS
ILLEGAL TO SHOOT
THEM' | Unknown | Liam Leckie | The magic 100% |
IN THOSE I LIKE I C | 458 | In those I like, I can find no common denominator; in those whom I love I
can: They all make me laugh | W.H.Auden | Charlotte Taylor | Love |
A FIRST-RATE MAN IS | 459 | A first-rate man is a man that did the best he could with what talents he had to make something that wasn't here yesterday. | William Faulkner | Unknown | Man |
WELSH LYRICS
MAE H | 743 | WELSH LYRICS
Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi,
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri;
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra m�d,
Tros ryddid gollasant eu gwaed.
Chorus:
Gwlad, Gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad,
Tra m�r yn fur i'r bur hoff bau,
O bydded i'r heniaith barhau.
Hen Gymru fynyddig, paradwys y bardd;
Pob dyffryn, pob clogwyn, i'm golwg sydd hardd
Trwy deimlad gwladgarol, mor swynol yw si
Ei nentydd, afonydd, i fi.
Chorus
Os treisiodd y gelyn fy ngwlad dan ei droed,
Mae hen iaith y Cymry mor fyw ag erioed,
Ni luddiwyd yr awen gan erchyll law brad,
Na thelyn berseiniol fy ngwlad.
Chorus
PHONETICALLY
My hair-n wool-add ver n-had eye
Un ann-will ee me
Gool-ard buy-rth ah chant-or-yon
En-wog-yon oh vree
Eye goo-rol ruv-elle-weir
Gool-ard garr-weir trah-mahd
Tross ruh-thid coll-ass-ant eye gwide
Gool-ard, gool-ard
Ply-dee-ol oiv eem gool-ard
Trah more un veer eer bee-rr hore-ff buy
Oh buthed eer hen-yithe barr-high
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
This land of my fathers is dear to me
Land of poets and singers, and people of stature
Her brave warriors, fine patriots
Shed their blood for freedom
Chorus:
Land! Land! I am true to my land!
As long as the sea serves as a wall for this pure, dear land
May the language endure for ever.
Old land of the mountains, paradise of the poets,
Every valley, every cliff a beauty guards;
Through love of my country, enchanting voices will be
Her streams and rivers to me.
Chorus
Though the enemy have trampled my country underfoot,
The old language of the Welsh knows no retreat,
The spirit is not hindered by the treacherous hand
Nor silenced the sweet harp of my land.
Chorus | Unknown | Land Of My Fathers | Anthems |
THE SUM OF MAN'S PR | 359 | The sum of man's problems come from his inability to be alone in a silent room. | Pascal | Unknown | Man |
THE SADDEST MOMENT | 360 | The saddest moment in a person's life comes but once. | John Andrew Holmes | Columbia University | Life |
WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND | 361 | When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. | Shunryu Suzuki | Columbia University | Knowledge |
IT IS NOT THE SAME | 362 | It is not the same to talk of bulls as to be in the Bullring. | Anon | Spanish Proverb | Action |
A PATH IS ONLY A PA | 363 | A path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you..Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself alone, one question..Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn�t it is of no use. | Carlos Casteneda | The Teachings of Don Juan | The heart |
AND WHEN THE FUTURE | 364 | And when the future hinges on the next words that are said, Don't let logic interfere. Believe your heart instead. | Philip Robson | Columbia University | The heart |
THE EARTH HAS MUSIC | 365 | The Earth has music for those who listen. | Kahlil Gibran | Sand and Foam | Nature |
THE REALITY OF THE | 366 | The reality of the other person lies not in what he reveals to you but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather to what he does not say. | Kahlil Gibran | Sand and Foam | Reality |
THE MORE YOU SWEAT | 367 | The more you sweat in Peacetime; the less you bleed in War. | Anon | Chinese Proverb | War |
EVEN THE GREATEST O | 368 | Even the greatest of men cannot rejoice in a friend's triumph without envy. | Dr.Frank Pittman | Man Enough | Envy |
EDUCATION IS AN ADM | 369 | Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. | Oscar Wilde | Columbia University | Education |
EVERYBODY WANTS TO | 370 | Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. | Albert King | William Greider-One World Ready Or Not | Life |
YO SOY YO Y MIS CIR | 371 | Yo soy yo y mis circumstancias.
I am me and my circumstances. | Jose Ortega y Gasset | Unknown | Circumstances |
SOME MOMENTS WITHOU | 372 | Some moments without thought leave shadows. | Christina Pettigrew | CMAP | Thoughtlessness |
WORK LIKE YOU DON'T | 373 | Work like you don't need money; love like you've never been hurt; dance like no one is watching. | Alfred D. Souza | Jay Ellis | Life |
AFTER THE RAIN THE | 374 | After the rain, the blue
After the flood, the drought
After the moment, the eternal
After the silence, the symphony. | Eric Pettigrew | DEP | Afterwards |
THE MARK OF GENIUS | 375 | The mark of genius is to make the complicated seem simple. | Eric Pettigrew | DEP | Genius |
CHANGE COMES SLOWLY | 376 | Change comes slowly, but happens very fast. | Dave Siles | International Herald Tribune | Change |
TELL ME WHO YOU LOV | 377 | Tell me who you love, and I will tell you who you are. | Houssaye | Email | Love |
I HAVE LEARNED THAT | 896 | I have learned that making a living is not the same as making a life. | Unknown | Jim Lader | Life |
WE BEGIN OUR LIFE I | 379 | We begin our life in a clear field; we end it in a dark wood. | Russian proverb | Unknown | Life |
DEPRESSION IS MEREL | 380 | Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. | Steven Wright | Email | Depression |
TO STEAL IDEAS FROM | 381 | To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research. | Steven Wright | Email | Plagiarism |
EVERYBODY'S HUSTLIN | 382 | Everybody's hustlin' a nickel or dime
I'll scratch your back and you stab mine. | John Lennon | The TIMES | Money |
LUCK COMES OUT FAIR | 383 | Luck comes out fairly even for everyone; rich or poor, for instance, everyone gets about the same amount of ice. But the rich take theirs in summer, and the poor get it in winter. | Bat Masterson | Chuck Yerkes | Social Justice |
C'EST MAGNIFIQUE MA | 384 | C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre.
A French general commenting on the Charge of the Light Brigade | Anon | Unknown | War |
THE DEFINITION OF A | 385 | The definition of adventure is to accept the uncertainty, accept the anxiety, accept the doubts, prepare as well as you can, and jump. | Bertrand Piccard | International Herald Tribune | Adventure |
A KINDERGARTEN TEAC | 558 | A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while
they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each
child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently,
she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The
teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without
missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They
will in a minute." | Unknown | Jamie Fee | God |
IT'S WHAT YOU LEARN | 387 | It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. | Colin Gee | Bloomberg | Knowledge |
A MAN IS NOTHING BU | 388 | A man is nothing but his mind; if that be out of order, all's amiss, and if that be well, the rest is at ease. | Girolamo Cardano | Peter Bernstein Against The Gods | The Mind |
THE VALUE OF AN ITE | 389 | The value of an item should not be equal to its price, but rather to the utility it yields. | Daniel Bernoulli | Peter Bernstein Against The Gods | Value |
THE MOVING FINGER W | 390 | The Moving Finger writes, and having writ
Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. | Omar Khayyam | Peter Bernstein Against The Gods | Fate |
ONCE ON SHORE WE PR | 720 | Once on shore, we pray no more. | Unknown | Italian saying | God |
A WOMAN HAS THE LAS | 902 | A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the start of a new argument. | Unknown | Internet | Women |
I HAVE NEITHER THE | 924 | I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain this to you. | Unknown | Internet | Insults |
BUILD A MAN A FIRE | 680 | Build a man a fire and he will keep warm;
Set a man on fire, and he will be hot for the rest of his life. | Unknown | halfbaked.com | Humour |
DIRE CE QUE L'ON FA | 386 | Dire ce que l'on fait; faire ce que l'on dit. | Unknown | French Saying | Truth |
ANYONE CAN GET MONE | 438 | Anyone can get money; not everyone can make it. | Unknown | Forbes Magazine | Money |
RETAIL CHARGES GO U | 770 | Retail charges go up like rockets but fall like feathers. | Unknown | Financial Times | Inflation |
IT'S SO SIMPLE TO B | 398 | It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say, and then don't say it. | Sam Levenson | Chuck Yerkes | Wisdom |
bottom of page

