Quotations

"You lose a lot of time hating people."

— Marian Anderson, African-American contralto, born 1897

"In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce. The trick is to find, and continue to find, grounds for marriage."

— Robert Anderson, American playwright, born 1917

"In the beginning when the world was young there were a great many thoughts but no such thing as a truth. Man made the truths himself and each truth was a composite of a great many vague thoughts. All about in the world were the truths and they were all beautiful.

There was the truth of virginity and the truth of passion, the truth of wealth and of poverty, of thrift and of profligacy, of carelessness and abandon. Hundreds and hundreds were the truths and they were all beautiful.

And then the people came along. Each as he appeared snatched up one of the truths and some who were quite strong snatched up a dozen of them.

It was the truths that made the people grotesques. The old man had quite an elaborate theory concerning the matter. It was his notion that the moment one of the people took one of the truths to himself, called it his truth, and tried to live his life by it, he became a grotesque and the truth he embraced became a falsehood."

— Sherwood Anderson, American writer, born 1876

"You must not try to make love definite. It is the divine accident of life. If you try to be definite and sure about it and to live beneath the trees, where soft night winds blow, the long hot day of disappointment comes swiftly and the gritty dust from passing wagons gathers upon lips inflamed and made tender by kisses."

— Sherwood Anderson, American novelist, born 1876

"I don't use my body to seduce, no. I just stand there."

— Ursula Andress, Swiss actress, born 1936

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."

— Mario Andretti, Italian-American race car driver, born 1940

"Where most men work for degrees after their names, we work for one before our names: 'St.' It's a much more difficult degree to attain. It takes a lifetime, and you don't get your diploma until you're dead."

— Mary Angelica, American Franciscan nun, born 1923

"We are all called to be great saints, don't miss the opportunity."

— Mary Angelica, American Franciscan nun, born 1923

"God is not a slot machine. We don't go to God to get something; we go to give something."

— Mother Mary Angelica, American Franciscan nun, born 1923

"If you want to be holy, if you seek meaning in your life, start looking into your own life and attacking your pride in all of its many forms. God will give you extraordinary light and the ultimate reward of holiness. For your holiness relies not on what you do, but on what you allow God to do through you. Have courage. God will perfect you."

— Mary Angelica, American Franciscan nun, born 1923

"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."

— Maya Angelou, African-American poet, born 1928

"Nothing will work unless you do."

— Maya Angelou, African-American poet, born 1928

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."

— Maya Angelou, African-American poet, born 1928

"Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less."

— Susan B. Anthony, American activist, born 1820