Quotations

"The nature of the work is to prepare for a good accident."

— Sidney Lumet, American director, born 1924

"I'm mad, they say. I am temperamental and dizzy and disagreeable. Well, let them talk. I can take it. Only one person can hurt me. Her name is Ida Lupino."

— Ida Lupino, English actress, born 1918

"Sleep, baby, sleep. Your father tends the sheep. Your mother shakes the dreamland tree. And from it fall sweet dreams of thee. Sleep, baby, sleep."

— Rosamund Lupton, English author

"Strawberries were too delicate to be picked by machine. The perfectly ripe ones bruised at even too heavy a human touch. It hit her then that every strawberry she had ever eaten—every piece of fruit—had been picked by calloused human hands. Every piece of toast with jelly represented someone's knees, someone's aching back and hips, someone with a bandanna on her wrist to wipe away the sweat. Why had no one told her about this before?"

— Alison Luterman, American poet

"The fewer the words, the better the prayer."

— Martin Luther, German theologian, born 1483

"A fire broke out in the forest. All the animals were scared and fled, except for a small hummingbird. It flew to the nearest river and filled its small beak with a few drops of water, returned to the forest and dropped them on the fire. Back and forth it went. The other animals watched and mocked the hummingbird. “What are you doing?” the animals asked. “The fire is overwhelming—how can you make a difference? You are too little anyway.” The hummingbird answered, I’m doing the best I can."

— Wangari Maathai, Kenyan activist, born 1940

"You can make a lot of speeches, but the real thing is when you dig a hole, plant a tree, give it water, and make it survive. That's what makes the difference."

— Wangari Maathai, Kenyan activist, born 1940

"Advice to children crossing the street: damn the lights. Watch the cars. The lights ain't never killed nobody."

— Moms Mabley, American comedian, born 1894

"I thought my fire was out, and stirred the ashes, I burnt my fingers."

— Antonio Machado, Spanish poet, born 1875

"All our efforts must tend towards light."

— Antonio Machado, Spanish poet, born 1875

"What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?"

— Antonio Machado, Spanish poet, born 1875

"My soul is not asleep. It is awake, wide awake. It neither sleeps nor dreams, but watches, its eyes wide open far-off things, and listens at the shores of the great silence."

— Antonio Machado, Spanish poet, born 1875

"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. It's where all the fruit is."

— Shirley MacLaine, American actress, born 1934

"We are not victims of the world we see, we are victims of the way we see the world."

— Shirley MacLaine, American actress, born 1934