How long should a man's legs be?

«How long should a man's legs be? Long enough to touch the ground» 

J. D. Salinger

You can easily judge the character of a man by

«You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him»

Goethe 

In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than

«In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn, than to contemplate»

René Descartes

What man does not understand, he fears; and what he fears

«What man does not understand, he fears; and what he fears, he tends to destroy» 

William Butler Yeats

There is some good in this world

«There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for» 

J. R. R. Tolkien 

You never know what is enough unless

«You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough»

William Blake  

As long as nothing happens

«As long as nothing happens anything is possible...»

Graham Greene

All generalizations are false

«All generalizations are false, including this one»

Mark Twain

Our heads are round so

«Our heads are round so though can change direction»

Allen Ginsberg

Unadaptability is often

«Unadaptability is often a virtue»

Flannery O'Connor

There are forms of oppression and domination which become

«There are forms of oppression and domination which become invisible - the new normal» 

Michel Foucault

We are all hunting for rational reasons for

«We are all hunting for rational reasons for believing in the absurd» 

Lawrence Durrell

You've got to work with your mistakes until

«You've got to work with your mistakes until they look intended. Understand ?» 

Raymond Carver

Laugh a lot

«Laugh a lot. It clears the lungs» 

David Hockney

Refusing to have an opinion

«Refusing to have an opinion is a way of having one, isn't it?»

Luigi Pirandello

What has no shadow

«What has no shadow has no strength to live» 

Czeslaw Milosz

Having precise ideas often leads

«Having precise ideas often leads to a man doing nothing»

Paul Valéry

For the more a man limits himsef

«For the more a man limits himself, the nearer he is on the other hand to what is limitless» 

Stefan Zweig

Cannibals prefer those

«Cannibals prefer those who have no spines..» 

Stanislaw Lem

We must cultivate all of us

«We must cultivate, all of us, a certain ignorance, a certain blindness, or society will not be tolerable» 

J. M. Coetzee

Cruelty signifies rigor

«Cruelty signifies rigor, implacable intention and decision, irreversible and absolute determination»

Antonin Artaud 

Everyday objects

«Everyday objects shriek aloud» 

René Magritte

The more unknowable the mystery

«The more unknowable the mystery, the more beautiful it is» 

David Lynch

La vieillesse n'est autre chose que la privation

«La vieillesse n'est autre chose que la privation de folie, l'absence d'illusions et de passion»

Stendhal

Whatever advice you give

 

«Whatever advice you give, be short» 

Horace

Life's too short to deal

«Life's too short to deal with other people's insecurities» 

Anthony Hopkins

Translation is that which transforms

«Translation is that which transforms everything so that nothing changes» 

Gunter Grass

Clever people master life; the wise

«Clever people master life; the wise illuminate it and create fresh difficulties»

Emil Nolde

The breaking of a wave

«The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea» 

Vladimir Nabokov

When there are no consequences

«When there are no consequences, being wrong is simply a diversion»

Ian Mcewan

What is straight?

«What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains» 

Tennessee Williams

If you could say it in words

«If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint»

Edward Hopper

Our lifelong certainties

«Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second» 

Paul Auster

It is not the answer

«It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question»

Eugene Ionesco

There are person who, when they cease to shock us

«There are persons who, when they cease to shock us, cease to interest us»

F. H. Bradley

Communication is mutual feeling ..., not...

«Communication is mutual feeling with someone, not a didactic process of information»

Robert Creeley

A harmful truth

«A harmful truth is better than a useful lie»

Thomas Mann

Silence hides nothing

«Silence hides nothing. Words conceal» 

August Strindberg

Between too early and too late

Franz Werfel

«Between too early and too late, there is never more than a moment»

There are two days in the year

«There are two days in the year that we can’t do anything, yesterday and tomorrow» 

Mahatma Gandhi

If you're too open-minded

«If you're too open-minded your brains will fall out»

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

All great truths begin

«All great truths begin as blasphemies»

G. Bernard Shaw

Perfection has one grave defect

«Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull»

W. Somerset Maugham

It's easy to write one's memoirs

«It's easy to write one's memoirs when one has a terrible memory»

Arthur Schnitzler

A secret is powerful

«A secret is powerful when it is empty»

Umberto Eco

It is better to be hated

«It is better to be hated for what you are 

than to be loved for something you are not »

Don't limit a child

«Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time» 

Rabindranath Tagore

Pratice the precept

«Practice the precept: find without seeking» 

Robert Bresson

The two most powerful warriors

«The two most powerful warriors are patience and time» 

Leo Tolstoy