"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." --W. Somerset Maugham

In the shelf over my kitchen desk is an impressive collection of Papers Without Which I Cannot Live.  There's my household notebook, a dictionary, my Bible, a school handbook and directory, thesaurus, our latest Blockbuster DVDs, a couple of carefully hidden books we don't want the kids to find before Just The Right Moment, and other such vitally important items. 

And there, tucked in place of great honor, is a beautiful journal covered in shiny black leather.  The papers have a perfect-sounding crinkle that makes my heart beat a little faster. 

It's my quote book.

I first began collecting quotes when I was in college.  My world was broadening exponentially, and daily, and I was astonished to learn that there were many people other than ME who had important things to say.  As I navigated those choppy waters of late adolesence/early adulthood, I scribbled others' important thoughts in a journal covered in obnoxiously cheery pink fabric.  I filled it up.

After college, and marriage, I entered my Professional Stage.  I decided my quotes should be carefully typed and neatly stashed in a three-ring binder, sorted by topic.  I spent a couple of months typing my entire collection.  It looked very nice and ridiculously organized. 

Then I had my first baby, and I had visions of my children someday coming home from my funeral and sorting through my things.  Wouldn't I rather have all my most treasured quotations passed down to them in my own handwriting?  And so I re-copied--again--my entire quote collection in its current location.   

I don't worry so much about the whole handwriting thing anymore.  In these frantic days of busy-ness I could never have imagined years ago, I don't have time to be picky anymore about how these quotations get recorded.  Some are neatly hand-printed, many are scrawled in a handwriting that would make a doctor blush, many are printed directly off a website and slapped in with a piece of Scotch tape.

But however they got there, they are all treasures. 

Many of those quotes have journeyed through all my quote books, collections from those early days when I was first discovering the delight of a well-turned phrase:

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.  --Eleanor Roosevelt

Yesterday is gone.  Tomorrow has not yet come.  We have only today.  Let us begin.  --Mother Teresa

There are quotes from favorite movies...

An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure.  --Steel Magnolias

...and favorite books.

The task, and the joy, of writing for me is that I can play with the metaphors that God has placed in the world and present them to others in a way they will accept.  --Kathleen Norris, The Quotidian Mysteries

There are quotes added in times of great sorrow...

I have learned to hold all things loosely, so God will not have to pry them out of my hands.  --Corrie ten Boom

...and quotes added in times of great joy.

A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the Hope of the Future with a frog in its pocket.  --Alan Beck

There are many quotes from people whose names appear more often than others...

He is not all we would ask for (if we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency.  It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my light. --Elisabeth Elliott

What saves a man is to take a step.  Then another step.  --C.S. Lewis

...and many quotes from people whose names have been long forgotten.

A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men. --Anonymous

A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice.  --Anonymous

I treasure all those quotes--they're all mementos to me, moments in time captured in writing, and souvenirs of lessons learned.  But as I no doubt have much, much more to learn, tell me:  what's your favorite quote ever?  I still have plenty of empty pages to fill. 

Comments

[Southern Girl]

One of my favorites, if not my very favorite is by Corrie Ten Boom's sister, Betsie -- "There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still."

[Clemntine]

There are so SO many, but here's my current favorite:

“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian." ~A.W. Tozer

[Amy]

It's so interesting to read this post tonight: I was just thinking today about how, in my pre-mommy working-girl life, I used to hunt and gather quotes regularly, and I miss the practice. Loved your quotes, and can't wait to see what others have to contribute!

Here's a quote that always brings me solace; it's from an old Guideposts book called "A Touch of Wonder," by Arthur Gordon. The quote is, "There isn't enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of one small candle."

Now, sometimes this reminds me to look for the candle. Sometimes it inspires me to be the candle. Hope it helps someone else seek or do the same!

[Carrie]

Oh I couldn't possibly pick one favorite. I love quotes. Matter of fact, I love that Alan Beck one so much that I think I'm gonna put it on my blog. Thanks for posting that one! :)

[Jenny in Ca]

I have a book I write quotes into, also. I don't think I could pick just one...but off the top of my head would be..

"I don't see that! Why should I see that? Why should that be?!" -Mrs. Bennett

"And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely."
-Revelation 22:17

I love quotes!

[Lyric]

Just gotta delurk cause I'm a quote keeper myself! But there's no way I could share just one so here are a few for starters... :)

The first duty of love is to listen.

~ Paul Tillich

Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.

~Frederick Buechner

Weakness isn't a flaw,it's a declaration to God that you need Him.

~Anon

Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.

~ Karen Kaiser Clark

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love your blog... :)

[Kahri]

ooooooh, I love quotes too! My favorite: "What are we here for if not to make life easier for one another?"

ps. did you get my email?
http://kahri.blogspot.com/2007/04/thinking-blogger-award.html

[Alice]

delurking here to add a couple of my faves from movie lore ... The Wizard of Oz
"hearts will never be made practical until they are made unbreakable."
"there's no place like home."
and one that is quoted semi-regularly around my busy household ....
"Trapped, trapped like mice. Rats!"
Those are just the three that popped into my head this morning. Not the best just the ones that jumped out of the mental file cabinet first.

[Maine Mom]

I don't have any quotes to share, but I can relate to your handwritten quotes turning into just making it into the book will be a miracle quotes. That has become the way of my scrapbooking. What were once creative, colorful pages are now basically words with pictures. I consider it a miracle that I am still scrapbooking at all!
Anyway, I enjoyed the quotes you shared, especially "A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice." --Anonymous...how true!

P.S. I noticed you have the book I am currently reading on your reading list, "A song I knew by heart"...it is worth reading :-)

[Monica Smart]

I am also a quote lover and keep this one on my sidebar.....

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing-that's why we recommend it daily. - Zig Ziglar

I love your quote notebook idea!

[Chrissy]

A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.
Roald Dahl

A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice.
Edward W. Howe

I'm just a bit obsessed with finding answers for people- even when they don't ask! LOL

Chrissy

[Elizabeth at A Biblical Home]

As an adult who still loves "kid's books", here is one of my favorites from C.S. Lewis,
"It certainly is my opinion that a book worth reading only in childhood is not worth reading even then".

[Sarah]

Hi! I love reading your blog! I am also de-lurking to share two of my faves:

"He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones at another" - Anonymous

And this one I haven't memorized yet because it is kinda long, but I love it:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." - C.S. Lewis

[kim from hiraeth]

You've got to know I LOVE this post. Can't wait to mine your comments for more quotes to add to my burgeoning collection (which is now closer to 30 years old than 25. . .sigh).

I'll have to think about what is my favorite. I'll resist going through mine to discover--my family is here for a visit, so I don't want to be woolgathering in my quotations instead of visiting with them. . .

(I keep mine on the computer now, but I have the hand written ones in their various notebooks and folders for posterity's sake)

[Dawn]

Mine will be very unconventional.........very blue collar. Hopefully you will like it.

Aunt Nanny (several times removed from me) used to say, "Every crow thinks theirs is the blackest." Meaning every parent thinks their child is the best.

Just sayin'

[kim from hiraeth]

"I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on."

Beryl Pfizer

(which is why I now keep them on the computer. . . )

[Susan G.]

The vice principal of my high school sent us into the world with this quote. I it has stayed with me for the last 20 years.

"...success is this: to laugh often and to love much, to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children, to earn the approbation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in everything, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition, to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and to have sung with exaltation...
Ralph Waldo Emerson

[lisa h.]

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
-C.S. Lewis

“I met a stranger in the night, whose lamp had ceased to shine;
I paused and let him light his lamp from mine.
A tempest sprang up later on, and shook the world about,
And when the wind was gone, my lamp was out.
But back came to me the stranger—his lamp was glowing fine;
He held the precious flame and lighted mine”
-Author unknown

“They might not need me—yet they might—
I'll let my Heart be just in sight—
A smile so small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity—“
-Emily Dickenson

“Vice is a monster of so frightful mein,
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
-Alexander Pope

[lisa h.]

okay, so maybe some of those were actually small poems, but still good!

[Beth]

One of my close friends used to quote her grandmother all the time, and one of the quotes that I find myself repeating a lot (especially when I'm unmotivated and feeling the urge to procrastinate) is:

"This isn't buying the baby any shoes."

It has even more meaning now that I have a baby!

[Jenn]

A quote book is such a genius idea. I always find myself scribbling things down on random bits of paper that wind up looking like spitballs in my purse a few weeks later.

I always liked "Don't wrestle with a pig. You'll get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." Of course, I can't remember who said it. Oscar Wilde?

[Haden]

I love quotes.

Two of my favorites are.

"When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable."

-Madeleine L'Engle

"It was as if lightning flashed into my spirit...and with that light such a profound peace and joy came into my heart; I was as if wholly revitalized by some infinite being, that I would be shattered like an earthen vessel."

-Hildavert Of Levardin

[Ang]

Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words. ~St. Francis of Assissi

I love this quote, and have clung to it, grown around it, and learned to truly appreciate what it sayes through high school, college, and today.

[peach]

Ah . . . Quotes! Love 'em. Need to write them down more often, especially now that my brain holds things like a lump of swiss cheese.

One of my favorites is from my DP,

"If you say anything with enough authority, people WILL believe you."

Another comes from an unknown source,

"There is nothing as creative as the human mind when engaged in the process of self-justification."

You know, this could be another great weekly meme . . . I'm just sayin' . . . Quoting Quotables.

[Sarah]

I love quotes and have a feature that I change each week. I love reading your blog!!

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." -Nelson Mandela-

"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances" - Martha Washington

[Merci]

Mine is from a book by Phillip Yancey, called Where's God When It Hurts?. I read it after I'd attended the 2 children's funerals in a span of six months. I'm not sure the words are exact but the sentiment is exact and it was oh, so convicting during a time I was asking God "WHY!?!"

"I don't have the right to ask 'Why me?' when something bad happens to me until I'm willing to ask 'Why NOT me?' when something bad happens to someone else." Phillip Yancey in Where's God When It Hurts?

[celina]

maybe not a quote..a saying...a question...

its someone's signature on a board and i don't know where it came from...but here goes

"If you were to be arrested today for being a christian.....would they have enough evidence to convict you?"

Celina in Canada

[Marian]

I wrote one of my essays for college admission on "your favorite quote and why." Just because it sounded so good in principle,I chose , "A man's greatest glory consists not in never failing, but in rising each time he falls." Since then I've realized that all of those pithy quotes I liked as an idealistic teen and smugly assumed were naturally a part of my character are a lot harder to live up to in real life than I thought!
As a mom, I'm starting to really like this one lately, from Mother Theresa: "We can do no great things. Only small things with great love."
Stenciled across the top of one wall in my boys' Narnia-themed room: "Safe? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he's not safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." -- Mr. Beaver.

[Becca]

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength."
Corrie Ten Boom

[amanda]

God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. -CS Lewis

[Carrie J]

Here is a very silly one we quote all the time around here. It is from the show friends and we use it when something happens and it isn't worth worrying about.

"It's a moo point. You know, like a cow's opinion. It doesn't matter."
Joey Tribbiani

[Rachel]

The Elanor Roosevelt quote literally changed my life. I used to keep a quote notebook with me all the time in high school. I need to start doing that again. Thanks for reminding me!

[Kim]

This is not really a quote - but from a book I read as a child "The Ghost of Dibble Hollow" It was written on a tombstone.

All you that read, as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I,
As I am not now, so must you be,
Therefore, prepare to follow me.

Can be considered a little morbid I guess but I have always loved and remembered it.

Kim

[Barbara H.]

I love quotes, too, and have a category for them on my blog. I've only recently started trying to categorize them so I can find one more easily when I am looking for it. Mine are all on the computer -- though I love the idea of cute notebooks and handwritten pages, sadly, my family would not be able to read mine if I wrote them about by hand.

Here are a few of my favorites:

God does not waste suffering, nor does He discipline out of caprice. If He plough, it is because He purposes a crop. — J. Oswald Sanders

Do not have your concert first. and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.– Hudson Taylor

When I came to see that Jesus Christ had died for me, it didn’t seem hard to give up all for Him. It seemed just common, ordinary honesty.
—C. T. Studd

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” — Unknown

[M.]

My most favorite:

"She herself was a victim of that lust for books which rages in the breast like a demon, and which cannot be stilled save by the frequent and plentiful acquisition of books. This passion is more common, and more powerful, than most people suppose. Book lovers are thought by unbookish people to be gentle and unworldly, and perhaps a few of them are so. But there are others who will lie and scheme and steal to get books as wildly and unconscionably as the dope-taker in pursuit of his drug. They may not want the books to read immediately, or at all; they want them to possess, to range on their shelves, to have at command. They want books as a Turk is thought to want concubines -- not to be hastily deflowered, but to be kept at their master's call, and enjoyed more often in thought than in reality."

- Robertson Davies, Tempest-Tost

[M.]

At one of my apartments in univerisity, my roommates and I had a quote board. Two that we always kept up:

"In one generation we went from teaching Latin in grade school to teaching remedial English in college." - Anon.

"One way to sound smart is to reference Kafka, even if you've never read any of his or her work." - Bob Newhart

[Elizabeth]

Two from G.K. Chesterton:

"We do not want a religion that changes with the world. We want a religion that will change the world."

"All that is needed for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing."

And my favorite happy scripture:

Isaiah 55:12--For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

And a family silliness quote or two:

"Them sirens loved him up and turned him into... a TOAD." (O Brother, Where Art Thou)

Cub Scout Motto: Do Your Best.
Mom's Motto: Don't Be a Weiner.

[Thea]

I just got this in an e-mail the other day and kind of liked it...

It's how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it.
--Marcia Wieder

[Kara]

I love quotes too, I used to have a bunch of them on post-it notes somewhere, but I don't know what ever happened to them. Of course I can't think of any off the top of my head right now lol.

[Reese]

"Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of" the clock in front of the courthouse in Gone with the Wind

"Women can do everything men can do, just backwards and in high heels" Ginger Rogers

[Liza]

Shannon, those were beautiful and inspiring quotes. Thank you for sharing.

And to all sharing quotes on comments, thank you also. I'll have to come back here and read them all...

[Carrie]

I love quotes too! Mine are handwritten in a Winnie the Pooh notebook I've had since college! Here are a few of my favorites:

As humanity, we see only the imperfect underside of the beautiful tapestry that God is weaving of our lives. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Creator calls a butterfly.
-Elisabeth Elliot

A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how suddenly it is jarred.
- Amy Carmichael

"Don't you wish that every day was an easy day, and there was nothing that you couldn't do? But if every day was an easy day, you'd never be able to say that Jesus brought you through."
-Ayiesha Woods

[casey]

"He who hath not a dram of folly in his mixture hath pounds of much worse matter in his composition."
- Charles Lamb

[Robin]

Hi - I love your blog!
One of my favorite quotes is:
"We don't know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future."
I'm not sure who said it.

[Kirsten]

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it." ~Abraham Lincoln

[Angie @ Many Little Blessings]

I'm not sure of the author of this, but I read it before and it really impacted me --

"Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."

It really opened my eyes to what really happens with anger.

[lizzykristine]

This little gem by Oswald Chambers has gotten me back on track many a time!

"Christian workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their desire to know God."

[Sarah]

I'm a big fan of Oscar Wilde and Cicero quotes but my favorite is by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Give all to love; obey thy heart."

That was definitely an eye-opening quote for me. I also really enjoy commentary quotes. I know that sounds strange, but I have a journal similar to yours except that it's only filled with quotes from biblical, social, political, editorial, or literary commentaries. The section on religious commentary quotes is huge; I've always struggled with faith and the best way for me to stay on track is to consider better thinkers than myself.

[Jessie]

So many good quotes here. One that I like is "The grass is not always greener on the other side, it is greener where you water it." Thinking that way helps me to keep the right perspective in parenting my kids, spending time with them, and not comparing my life to others.

[Brandi]

I like:

"Solve the problem yourself or accept a fate you may not like... from this perspective, the ethic of personal responsibility gains appeal"
~Noel M. Tichy

And I wish I could live up to:

"Never miss an opportunity to shut-up"
~Anonymous

Great string Shannon!

[Susanne]

I love quotes and also have a quote journal. You can bet I'll be writing down a lot of these great quotes!

One of my fave funny ones: "The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion or ethnic bacground is that we all believe we are above-average drivers." Dave Barry

Some serious faves: "It is not how much you do but how much love you put into the doing that matters." Mother Theresa

[trina]

I love all the quotes. I need to come back here and copy some of them down and start my own quote journal.

Thanks Shannon.

[Natalie Dianne]

“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?"
Kahlil Gibran

[Chilihead]

You know I love my Jill Churchill quote: The most important thing she'd learned over the years was that there was no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.

[ali]

Two of mine are just from family, but we use them a lot:

"Well, get glad in the same pants you got mad in!"

"If people will talk about others to you, they will talk about you to others" My mom told me that when I was about 10, and I have thought about it a lot since then. It keeps me from gossiping too much!

And one that came with a mother's pendant - it's like a small prayer that I say when my kids drive me crazy! "God, thank you for tihs precious gift and help my child grow wise and well." I don't think we can ask for much more than that as a parent.

[mcewen]

Whilst I'm not the most technically minded person in a 3 foot radius from where I'm standing, did you consider taking a photo of each one, uploading into an album and then using it as a screen saver? You'd get a dollop of happy memories much more often.
There's probably a lot of techy people around who'll know a better way of doing that.
Cheers

[laughing mommy]

I started a quote book years ago too! I love and adore that thing! I filled it up completely and now I have a second one.

[Amy in Washington]

The unexamined life is not worth living. -Socrates

We read to know we are not alone. -C.S. Lewis

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. -Dr. Seuss

[Alli]

My favorite since having kids:

"Before I was married, I had 6 theories on the proper way to raise children. Now I have 6 children and no theories."

I used to know who said that, but can't recall it now.

[Haden]

actually that second quote I put earlier comes from John Thomas a welshman in the 1700's not Hildevart.

[Zuda Gay]

Unlurking to share...
"The circumstances of life, the events of life and the people around me in life, do not make me the way I am, but reveal the way I am"
Dr. Sam Peeples

"While the problem we are facing may be ours alone; our face belongs to every one else."
Father Jonas Abib

And just the other day watching the Disney Channel with my grandson Eli: "Even if I don't need you all the time, there is always a time that I need you." Handy Manny to his tools. ;)
blessings, Zuda Gay

[Dawn]

One of my favorites is:

"Not all those who wander are lost..." by J.R.R. Tolkien

[Polly]

I have so many quotes I love. I have just recently become a saver.
The one I quote most often is one that a former co-worker would use when she was self-serving ~
"It is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission."
So true. So sad.

[Laura]

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything you gave me".
- Erma Bombeck

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those that matter don't mind, and those that mind don't matter"
-Dr. Seuss

[emily]

my current favorite: "i can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." -philip.4:13

and one of your anon quotes sounded so familiar, i had to search for what i was thinking of : by roald dahl: 'a little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men.'

:)

I love quotes! That's such a good idea to write them down. I don't have a favorite, but here's some I currently like:

Why NOT go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is? - Mark Twain

"Inconceivable!" "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." - The Princess Bride

"I tried the world it wears no more the coloring of romance it wore"

[Sarah]

The wonderful CS Lewis:

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you"

and;

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will continually be wrung, and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your own selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken, it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The only place outside heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is hell".

Wish he lived next door to me with his pipe and his wisdom.

[themomhalf]

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.

Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)

[Amanda]

Delurking for this one ... enjoy your blog Shannon.

Love, love, love the Amy Carmichael quote from Carrie and the Dr. Sam Peeples one from Zuda Gay ... thank you!

I like Elisabeth Elliot's "Do the next thing" ~ I know she was quoting a poem but I don't have the reference handy.

And a couple from the movies: "I can assure you that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair." Steel Magnolias; "Nothing is so attractive to a man as a woman who is in love with him." The Sound of Music

[Deena @ Junk in the Trunk]

I'm beginning to think you're my new favorite person! I buy books if they have a lot of side bar quotes in them, because I love quotes...I love to print them in our weekly bulletins, to post them on my blog...I even have a "quote of the moment" spot on my blogs...so this is way cool!

One of my favorites: I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I shall do. --Edward Everett Hale

[Jossie]

De-lurking for these two quotes. Sorry if someone already said them.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. ~Hellen Keller

[Barb]

Whether you think you can or can't, you're right. Henry Ford

When the shoes you wear out are slippers, you live a good life. My hubby :)

[Amanda]

"Never cheat, steal, lie, or drink.
But if you must cheat, cheat death;
if you must steal, steal away from bad company;
if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love;
and if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away."
~ Will Smith in Hitch

[Lucy]

Oooh, I love quotes, too! My family was big on movie quotes when I was growing up, so I'll spare you the more arcane, but here are two of my favorites (both from The Princess Bride):

You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.

Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.

And the one that's the screensaver on my computer: God does not ask for success, only faithfulness. -Mother Teresa

[Randall]

My three favorites.... all framed in my office:

"Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life." - Omar Khayyam

(This from my mother) "Beauty is more than appearance. It is an outward expression of inner strength and confidence." -Unknown

(Good section from a great longer passage) "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God." -Marianne Williamson

[Randall]

Oh shoot... one more :o)

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more commonplace than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." Calvin Coolidge

[Jodi @ HomegrownHearts]

I'll have to jump on the bandwagon here as a big quote lover and collector. I have several computer files full of them and *someday* I'm going to compile them into a nice little scrapbook of wit and wisdom. I love the quote at the top of this post! That is me! Sometimes I don't think I have an original thought and I've just stolen and adapted the wisdom of others.

Here are a few (so hard to choose!) of my favorites:

Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another, "What, you too? I thought I was the only one." – C. S. Lewis

Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they will never cease to be amused. - Unknown

If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day...so I never have to live without you." - Winnie the Pooh

If you judge people you have no time to love them. - Mother Teresa

Okay, that's it...I've thought of doing this for a long time, but I'm really going to do it now. I'm going to start adding quotes to my blog posts or having quote posts or something! I have all these quotes and I simply must share them. :-)

Jodi

[Barbie]

I can be changed by what happens to me
I refuse to be reduced by it....
Maya Angelou

[Melanie]

The Eleanor Roosevelt quote is one of my favorites.

A weird movie favorite for me is from Forrest Gump-
"Sometimes there just aren't enough rocks."

When Jenny throws the rocks at her old house. It just says it all about trying to heal and get revenge. Sometimes it feels like nothing will make it right again.

[Connie]

Just saw this one on my husband's desk....

"Tomorrow I plan to work, work, from early until late.
In fact, I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer."
-Martin Luther

[Sharon]

This is my favorite--all I know is that it was written on the mantel of an old home. It means a lot because I used to have a huge problem with fear.
"Fear knocked--Faith Answered--No One Was There"

And this is from me--
"Those with great purpose- require greater preparation"

[Rebecca]

I really like

Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it

and

Hell is other people - Jean Paul Sartre

and

Then humans came and they wanted to cling, but there was nothing to cling to - Camus

and although I'm not a Christian I really like

In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God

and

I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser

and I really like

It takes a lot of money to look this cheap - Dolly Parton

and

Dying is an art.
Like everything else
I do it well
I do it so it feels like hell
I guess you could say I've a call
- Sylvia Plath

I really like quotes :D

[dcrmom]

Ooooooooooooh, I love this one.
I have learned to hold all things loosely, so God will not have to pry them out of my hands. --Corrie ten Boom

I also love quotes, and although I generally prefer the more profound, I'll go with this one today:

"The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize." -- Steel Magnolias

[Sarah]

I really do have some awesome quotes....well i will give you a current favorite: "Your children don't need another perfect example. They already have One, and He can't be outdone." - a speaker at my MOPS group said that

But perhaps the funniest quote I have ever heard was a few days ago....by my husband at the thought that the baby we are having might be a girl.....(for the record, I know you dont know me, but my husband is a very godly man who is absolutely wonderful, which is why the quote is even funnier.)

"It just dawned on me today: if we have a girl, I am going to have to kill somebody. Maybe if I kill one guy, the rest will get the hint, so I won't have to kill them all. Gosh, I never thought I'd actually have to kill someone."

Then HOURS later, "What do you think I should use to kill the guy?"

Probably not one for your quote book. But entertaining nonetheless!

[Sherry Macy]

I loved this post. I found you via New Normal. I recently posted my newest favorite quote by Dr. Seuss: "Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened."

[AmandaB]

"Things we cannot solve, we must survive."
- Boyd K. Packer

"Seemingly little lessons of love are observed by children as they silently absorb the examples of their parents."
-Thomas S. Monson

"Adversity will surface in every life. How we meet it makes the difference."
-Marvin J. Ashton

[Suzanne]

I just added a random quote widget to my blog and I am going to shamelessly glean more quotes from what your readers shared. Thanks!

Suzanne

[Sarah's in the Midst of It]

Good grief, Shannon, that's like asking me which one of my children is my favorite! I've kept a quote journal too, since I was a senior in college, and recently I've bought Father Tim's (from Jan Karon's Mitford series). Both are on my nightstand, and I'm pretty sure I'd grab them if there were a fire.

That and my children. All three of them. Because I can't pick a favorite :)

[Suzanne]

oops, just noticed that it linked to my old abandoned blog, so if you want to see the widget, come to the newer blog. If not, sorry for the double post and thanks again for the quotes.

[Colleen]

another quote lover!
three of my favorites are :

If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is "thank you," that would suffice.
Meister Eckhart

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
Benjamin Franklin

and

Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.
Satchel Paige

[Colleen]

oooo!
how could i forget this one?!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.
Miss Piggy

[Katie (your neighbor!)]

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

AND

"Time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted."

Both from John Lennon. :0)

[hogphan]

I didn't discover this one til my children were grown, but it's one of my favorites: "Give your children two things: one is roots, the other wings." As I look back, that's what parenting is all about. Giving them roots is the fun part; giving them wings is the hard part. Both are quite necessary.

[mimi2six]

Actually, Hogphan didn't send that last one. Mrs. Hogphan (alias Mimi2six) did!

[julie]

I loved all the quotes. That is a great idea to write them all down in a journal. Must be fun to go back and read through it, discovering each one again.

Blessings,
Julie

[janet]

Terrific idea. I am a book lover and a writer. I come across so many great ones, fail to capture them in ink, and they flutter out of my mind. I need a book like this. Great blog. My friend Alisa is a big fan of yours and insisted I visit:)

[Kristy]

My favourites are...

Priorities happen! -Alan Lee
Trust requires that we have some unanswered questions. - Penny Wilcox

[Bamadawg1980]

Hi! I enjoy your blog and love quotes also. I too am now inspired to start my own journal of them. I have long had quotes at the top of my blog which I change occasionally, but I think I'll have a weekly quote area now...I just posed the Amy Carmichael one--love it!!!

Anyway, the quote I've had for a while at the top of my blog is one of my favorites by C.S. Lewis: "A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling 'darkness' on the wall of his cell..."

[Kelley]

I used to write quotes in books all the time throughout high school and college. I'm completely addicted to quotes, too. Now I have an entire blog page devoted to collecting quotes: (http://kelleyquotes.blogspot.com)

Here are a couple of my favorites, though:

"Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn't as bright as it could be." ~ Rob Bell, in Velvet Elvis

"You will never be called upon to give anyone more grace than God has already given you." ~ Max Lucado, in Give It All To Him