Quotations, Quotations, Quotations

I have returned from the deep dark depths of the internet (aka my other blog, Uncultured Critic) to share with you some of my favourite quotes!

I've been loving this website, Quotables, which is a database of quotations. It is a fantastic resource and -- finally -- a place to keep all of my quotes in one place! Full disclosure: I'm interning on the project; but most certainly not for want of a better job. You should also check out the Quotables blog for lots of fun, themed quotations.

These are all my favourite quotes about inspiration, life, and overcoming adversity.

The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job, ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no" - they might not be smart enough to say "yes".
— Keith Olbermann

Enjoy what you can, and endure what you must.
— Goethe

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.
— F. Scott Fitzgerald

What do you want a meaning for? Life is a desire, not a meaning.
— Charlie Chaplin

If it is important enough to you, you will find a way. If it is not, you will find an excuse.
— Anonymous

What are your favourite quotes?

BEDA #26: Quotations

For years, I've been a collector of quotations for years. I used to sit up late scouring quotedb.com looking for gems, and one of my favourite books is my Bartlett's. These are a few favourites that I've scribbled in my notebook. Enjoy.

Life:

"Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life."
— Mark Twain

"A day without laughter is a day wasted."
— Charlie Chaplin 

"Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is by far the best ending for one."
— Oscar Wilde

"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd."
— Voltaire

"Wisdom begins in wonder."
— Socrates

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers."
— Charles W. Eliot

"Obstacles are those frightening things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."
— Henry Ford

"The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job, ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no" -- they may not be smart enough to say "yes"."
— Keith Olbermann

Literary:

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
— Alexander Pope; Eloisa to Alebard 

Half the night I waste in sighs,
Half in dreams I sorrow after
The delight of early skies;
In a wakeful doze I sorrow

For the hand, the lips, the eyes,
For the meeting of the morrow,
The delight of happy laughter,
The delight of low replies.
— Lord Alfred Tennyson; Maud: A Monodrama (Part II) 

A pain stabbed my heart as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world.
— Jack Kerouac; On The Road

Film:
 
I was one of the insatiables. The ones you’d always find sitting closest to the screen. Why do we sit so close? Maybe it was because we wanted to receive the images first. When they were still new, still fresh. Before they cleared the hurdles of the rows behind us. Before they’d been relayed back from row to row, spectator to spectator; until worn out, second-hand, the size of a postage stamp, it returned to the projectionist’s cabin. Maybe, too, the screen was really a screen. It screened us… from the world.— The Dreamers

What are your favourite quotations?

'Til Tomorrow!
Nicola x

BEDA #1: Introductions

 

Oh, hai!

Name: Nicola

Age: 22 (oh, woe, I so liked being 21!)

Where I live: Glasgow, though I'm currently in California.

Where I call "home": Glasgow. California has become something of a home-from-home, though.

Why I blog:

• I've had blogs since I was about 13 or 14, so it feels natural to write online. I blog for fun, self-expression, and because it seems redundant to type and save files on the computer rather than getting them out there. It's also a great way to connect with people and make e-friends; I love the social aspect of blogging.

What part of BEDA I'm most excited about:

• I'm really pleased that we came up with so many themes and ideas this time around. Last year, we fed off one another for ideas and inspiration, but i feel a lot more prepared this time around. I also love that we have so many friends involved - I can't wait to read everyone's posts.

Why I'm doing BEDA again:

• Last year I didn't quite manage every day, but it did force me to think up ideas and sit down to write every day, even when I didn't feel like it. I like that, and I've been trying to blog frequently, so I know BEDA will keep me motivated!

How I first discovered Maureen Johnson & BEDA:

• I think I was following MJ on Twitter at the time and thought, what the hell! I'm always jealous when NaNoWriMo rolls around because I don't write fiction, so I must have seen BEDA as a sort of blogger's version of that. I'm so glad I did it!

Something other BEDA people might not know about me:

• Gosh, I haven't the slightest! I feel like I say a lot about myself on this blog, and I use Twitter, so I'm never sure. 

Another blog I follow:

• Sarah Von's Yes and Yes is a must-read.

A writer who inspires me:

• Not That Kind of Girl is a fairly new blog to me, but she's an absolutely incredible writing. Really sharp, witty, and endlessly fascinating.

A YouTube channel I love:

• Rocketboom! I'm addicted, it's like the Wikipedia page of the day and the wackiest news stories imaginable rolled into one. It's also associated with Know Your Meme. Enough said!

A favourite quote:

• "Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof & instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards; to absinthe and good-hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives… and to the "good life", whatever it is & wherever it happens to be."
  -- Hunter S. Thompson

Fel free to post this in your own blog & send the link in a comment!


'Til tomorrow,
Nicola x

Persevere

“Remember why the brick walls are there. They are not there to keep us out, they are there for a reason: to let us prove how badly we want something.”

-- Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture