Relationships

I am not a committee man. I am the cat that walks alone.
~ William Maxwell Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook), in Beaverbrook, Part 2 (1972)

Men make themselves unnecessarily slaves
Of those, to whom their secrets they unfold.
~ Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, Julius Caesar (1607).

The affections and sympathies of our nature, and the consciousness of the need of mutual support, are the bonds which connect mankind in society.
~ William Allen, in Life of William Allen, with Selections from His Correspondence, Volume I (1846). Chapter IV

When a man is in love or in debt, someone else has the advantage.
~ Bill Balance, The Bill Ballance Hip Handbook of Nifty Moves ... (1973).

Any one so afflicted is often subject to public remark, and though in conscience he may care little about it, I am confident no man labouring under obesity can be quite insensible to the sneers and remarks of the cruel and injudicious in public assemblies, public vehicles, or the ordinary street traffic; nor to the annoyance of finding no adequate space in a public assembly if he should seek amusement or need refreshment, and therefore he naturally keeps away as much as possible from places where he is likely to be made the object of the taunts and remarks of others.
~ William Banting, Letter On Corpulence, Addressed to the Public. Fourth Edition (1869).

Sympathy means experiencing things together with the other person, liter­ally going through what he is going through.
~ William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 1 (1956).

Our traffic with other human beings is an endless talk of the obstacles set before our seeing things as they are. We are all capable of a quiet devastating perversity of will in distorting the situations we encounter daily. A man may go through life side by side with people whom he never sees truthfully and whose real relationship to himself remains hidden. He believes he loves when he really hates, hates when he loves, and alternately makes too much or too little of either. So we go on in our blindness ...
~ William E. Barrett, The Illusion of Technique: A Search for Meaning in a Technological Civilization (1978).

You are to me what the bowstring is to the shaft,
Speeding my purpose aloft and aflame and afar.
~ William Rose Benét, Dedication

I have a passion against wasting time, and that's just what you're doing if you don't take time in a group to get to listen to others. Everybody has a quality worth finding if you only make the effort to discover it.
~ Bill Bixby, in TV Picture Life (September 1964).

The key to an actor's success is for the audience to like him as a person. People will accept a character as exotic as the Magician or the Hulk as long as you don't talk down to them.
~ Bill Bixby, The Los Angeles Times (25 March 1984).

None could break the Web, no wings of fire, ...
So twisted the cords, & so knotted
The meshes, twisted like to the human brain.
~ William Blake, The [First] Book of Urizen (1794). Chapter VIII

He who has suffer'd you to impose on him, knows you.
~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). Proverbs of Hell

I mock thee not, though I by thee am mocked;
Thou call'st me madman, but I call thee blockhead.
~ William Blake, To Flaxman

Imitation is criticism.
~ William Blake, in The Life of William Blake, Volume I (1863). Notes on Reynolds' Discourses (written c. 1798-1808; aka Annotations to The Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds).

It is not because angels are holier than men or devils that makes them angels, but because they do not expect holiness from one another, but from God alone.
~ William Blake

Joys impregnate. Sorrows bring forth.
~ William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-93). Proverbs of Hell

Then I went to my Pretty Rose-tree:
To tend her by day and by night.
But my Rose turn'd away with jealousy:
And her thorns were my only delight.
~ William Blake, from Songs of Experience (1794). My Pretty Rose Tree

Faith and works should travel side by side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again, until you can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other.
~ William Booth, in Christianity Today (5 October 1992). The Founder's Messages to Soldiers

For a long time, I operated under the Chinese proverb that there are four kinds of leaders: those who you laugh at, those who you hate, those who you love and those who you don't even know that they're leaders.
~ Bill Bradley, Salon.com magazine (January 2000).

Leaders should be collaborative, modest, and generous.
~ Bill Bradley

Respect your fellow human beings, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your common humanity, share your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it. No destructive lies. No ridiculous fears. No debilitating anger.
~ Bill Bradley, in Parade Magazine (18 October 1998). What I Learned About Respect

The business of leaders, of heroes, is tricky. Leadership is not something that is done to people, like fixing your teeth. Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.
~ Bill Bradley

And just because you're gay, I won't turn you away.
If you stick around, I'm sure we can find some common ground.
~ Billy Bragg, in Don't Try This At Home (1991 album). Sexuality

The new generations of the world need not only economic solutions, they need ideas to inspire them, hopes to encourage them, and first steps to implement them. They need a belief in man, in human dignity, in basic human rights; a belief in the values of justice, freedom, peace, mutual respect, in love and generosity, in reason rather than force.
~ Willy Brandt, North-South: A Program for Survival (Report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues; 1980).

In professional, as in commercial life, tact outstrips talent.
~ William Cowper Brann, in Brann the Iconoclast: A Collection of the Writings of W.C. Brann, Vol. II (1905). Professional Failures

To be a successful chief today, you have to be mindful of the people and mindful of the political reality of the community you're dealing with. ... You have to be politically adept to walk those minefields and still get to your destination in one piece.
~ William J. Bratton, The Miami Herald (21 December 2002). New chief of police to Miami: Be patient

There is an inverse relationship between reliance on the state and self-reliance.
~ William F. Buckley, Jr.

I was unable to penetrate the secretive life of my older brother. He marched to his own drummer and traveled a path very different from mine. Jim had his own ways I could not possibly influence.
~ William M. Bulger (on his brother, a fugitive wanted by the FBI), Testimony before the House Government Reform Committee (19 June 2003).

Speak not in high commendation of any man to his face, nor censure any man behind his back; but if thou knowest anything good of him, tell it unto others; if anything ill, tell it privately and prudently to himself.
~ William Burkitt, The Poor Man's Help And Young Man's Guide (1693 edition). Chapter II

I have a strange feeling here of being outside any social context.
~ William S. Burroughs (on Tangiers), in Letters to Allen Ginsberg, 1953-1957 (1978).

If you're doing business with a religious son of a bitch, get it in writing.
~ William S. Burroughs, in Spare Ass Annie And Other Tales (1993 album). Words of Advice for Young People

And we have agreed together that we can't never agree.
~ William McKendree ("Will") Carleton, first published in The Toledo Blade (1871). Betsy and I Are Out

Be generous in your conflicts; look very sharp to see
What points you can discover whereupon you may agree.
~ William McKendree ("Will") Carleton, from Farm Festivals (1881). The Festival Of Dis-reason; Or, The Debate

In the country, if you had a mean neighbour, you could keep off his land and make him keep off yours. But in the city, all the foulness and misery and brutality of your neighbours was part of your life.
~ Willa Sibert Cather, from Obscure Destinies (1932). Neighbour Rosicky

The idea of you is a part of my mind; you influence my likes and dislikes, all my tastes, hundreds of times when I don't realize it. You really are a part of me.
~ Willa Sibert Cather, My Ántonia (1918). Book IV. The Pioneer Woman's Story. Chapter 4

It is discouraging to try to be a good neighbor in a bad neighborhood.
~ William R. Castle, Dragon's Teeth in South America (1939).

No one can build his security upon the nobleness of another person.
~ Willa Sibert Cather, Alexander's Bridge (1912).

Sometimes a neighbor whom we have disliked a lifetime for his arrogance and conceit lets fall a single commonplace remark that shows us another side, another man, really: a man uncertain, and puzzled, and in the dark like ourselves.
~ Willa Sibert Cather, Shadows on the Rock (1931). Epilogue

The dead might as well try to speak to the living as the old to the young.
~ Willa Sibert Cather, One of Ours (1922). Book Two: Enid. Chapter VI

The heart of another is a dark forest, always, no matter how close it has been to one's own.
~ Willa Sibert Cather, The Professor's House (1925). Book I: The Family, Chapter 8

Influence is to be measured, not by the extent of surface it covers, but by its kind.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), Address Introductory to the Franklin Lectures, Boston MA (September 1838). On Self-Culture

Is not perfect love perfect happiness?
~ William Ellery Channing, in Dr. Channing's Note-book (1887). Love

Nothing stands alone. All things are knit together, each existing for all and all for each. The humblest object has infinite connections.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), Lectures On The Elevation Of The Labouring Portion Of The Community (1840). Lecture I (delivered in Boston MA; 9 January 1840)

Others are affected by what I am, and say, and do. And these others have also their spheres of influence. So that a single act of mine may spread and spread in widening circles, through a nation or humanity.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), in The Perfect Life: In Twelve Discourses (1873). IV. The Father's Love for Persons

This natural amiableness I too often see in company with sloth, with uselessness, with the contemptible vanity and dissipation of fashionable life.
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), from The Works of William E. Channing, D.D. (1841). On Self-Denial

Good and evil coexist and are blended. Each modifies the other.
~ William Newton Clarke, The Christian Doctrine of God (1909). IV. Evidence

Scandal is the sport of its authors, the dread of fools, and the contempt of the wise.
~ William Benton (W.B.) Clulow, Horæ otiosæ; or, Thoughts, Maxims, and Opinions (1833). Part III. On Life, Men, and Manners

[A]ll men seek the society of those who think and act somewhat like themselves.
~ William Cobbett, Advice to Young Men: And (Incidentally) to Young Women in the Middle and Higher Ranks of Life (1829). Letter I: To A Youth

When we live at each other's mercy, we had better learn to be merciful.
~ Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., from Living the Truth in a World of Illusions (1985).

Be cautious with whom you associate; and never give your company or your confidence to persons of whose good principles you are not certain.
~ William Hart Coleridge (Bishop of Barbados), An Address To Young Persons After Confirmation (1829).

Wou'd she cou'd make of me a Saint,
Or I of her a Sinner.
~ William Congreve, from Poems Upon Several Occasions (1710). Song (Pious Celinda goes to Pray'rs)

The same fence that shuts others out shuts you in.
~ William John ("Bill") Copeland

A close personal relationship with the natural world is of primary importance to the development of the individual.
~ William S. Coperthwaite, Letter in Manas magazine (1963). Children ... and Ourselves

Nothing in life shall sever
The chain that is round us now.
~ William Johnson (Cory), in Eton Scrap Book (1865). Eton Boating Song (first performed on 4 June 1863)

My grandpa didn't believe in hugging and kissing, or saying "I love you." His love had to do with the way he treated you. When he said, "We're going here, we're going there," he was telling me about life. That was his love for me. My love for him was listening to what he said, keeping out of trouble, doing right, being fair.
~ Bill Cosby, Senior World Online (31 August 1998). Bill Cosby shares memories of his Grandfather

The master bedroom is just the beginning of the problems. There is no master in the bedroom. She starts to give you things, "This is your closet." You'll act like a stranger and thank her.
~ Bill Cosby, Address at CA World 2004. Las Vegas NV (24 May 2004).

And all thy threads with magic art
Have wound themselves about this heart.
~ William Cowper, in The Works Of William Cowper: His life, letters, and poems (1848). To Mary (written in 1793)

But conversation, choose what theme we may,
And chiefly when religion leads the way,
Should flow, like waters after summer show'rs,
Not as if raised by mere mechanic powers.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Conversation

If the world like it not, so much the worse for them.
~ William Cowper, in The Works Of William Cowper: His life, letters, and poems (1848). Letter to Mr. Urwin, 10 October 1784

O'erjoyed was he to find
That, though on pleasure she was bent,
She had a frugal mind.
~ William Cowper, The Diverting History of John Gilpin (1782).

Those flimsy webs, that break as soon as wrought,
Attain not to the dignity of thought.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Retirement

We should try to keep up conversation like a ball bandied to and fro from one to the other, rather than seize it all to ourselves, and drive it before us like a foot-ball.
~ William Cowper, in the Connoisseur (16 September 1756). No. 138. On Conversation

When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
~ Billy Crystal

Henry VIII had so many wives because his dynastic sense was very strong whenever he saw a maid of honor.
~ Will (William Jacob) Cuppy, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody (1950).

The more we know ourselves, the more easy we shall be in our intercourse with others, and they with us: for mutual allowances will be made, and mutual credit given.
~ William Danby, Thoughts on Various Subjects (1831).

We can only judge of things comparatively; to do this justly, we should compare them, not with what might be but with what is.
~ William Danby, Thoughts, Chiefly on Serious Subjects (1821).

Never harbour grudges; they sour your stomach and do no harm to anyone else.
~ (William) Robertson Davies, Murther and Walking Spirits (1991). VI. The Land of Lost Content

A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system must have an aim. Without the aim, there is no system.
~ W. Edwards Deming, The New Economics For Industry, Government & Education, 2nd ed. (1993).

The result of long-term relationships is better and better quality, and lower and lower costs.
~ W. Edwards Deming

Establishing the most marvelous, warm, sympathetic and informed relationships is unimportant, except in the context of making the team work better.
~ William E. DePuy, Keynote Address, TRADOC Leadership Conference. Fort Benning GA (22 May 1974).

Many of us are poor listeners. Since our mind moves forward faster than the words to which we are listening, we are frequently preparing something to say when we should be listening ...
~ William E. Diehl, The Monday Connection (1991).

He who would guide others, ought first to guide himself.
~ William Scott Downey, Proverbs, by Rev. William Scott Downey (1851 edition).

The world is shrinking together; it is finding itself neighbor to itself in strange, almost magic degree.
~ William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois, in The American Journal of Sociology, Volume 13 (March 1908). Race Friction Between Black And White

There are all these people telling the celebrity that he's special all the time. That's what people want, right? You're raising a kid and you give it food and shelter and, most importantly, you give it the feeling that it's special. I think people react to celebrities like that -- I mean, they treat celebrities like children. ... For hundreds of years, that was the major form of entertainment: The grown-ups sat around and watched the kids play. Now they sit around and watch the television. The actors are the kids. On the one hand, people think they own kids; they feel that they have the right to tell the kids what to do. On the other hand, people envy kids. We'd like to be kids our whole lives. Kids get to do what they do. They live on their instincts ...
~ David William Duchovny, in Esquire Magazine (May 1999). David Duchovny isn't really a television star. He just plays one on TV

It is true that even across the Himalayan barrier India has sent to us such questionable gifts as grammar and logic, philosophy and fables, hypnotism and chess, and above all, our numerals and our decimal system. But these are not the essence of her spirit; they are trifles compared to what we may learn from her in the future. As invention, industry and trade bind the continents together, or as they fling us into conflict with Asia, we shall study its civilizations more closely, and shall absorb, even in enmity, some of its ways and thoughts. Perhaps, in return for conquest, arrogance and spoliation, India will teach us the tolerance and gentleness of the mature mind, the quiet content of the unacquisitive soul, the calm of the understanding spirit, and a unifying, pacifying love. for all living things.
~ William James "Will" Durant, The Story of Civilization, Volume I (1935). Our Oriental Heritage

Music and religion are as intimately related as poetry and love; the deepest emotions require for their civilized expression the most emotional of arts.
~ William James "Will" Durant, The Story of Civilization, Volume IV (1950). The Age of Faith

Never put a man in the wrong; he will hold it against you forever.
~ William James "Will" Durant, The Mansions of Philosophy: A Survey Of Human Life And Destiny (1929).

Listen. Don't explain or justify.
~ William G. Dyer, Insight to Impact: Strategies for Interpersonal and Organizational Change (1976).

As a river is born deep inside the earth in springs that gather into streams and join to become a river, so people's lives gather into families and communities and become part of the river of history.
~ Wilma Dykeman, The Tall Woman (1962).

I like snobs. A snob has to spend so much time being a snob that he has little time left to meddle with you.
~ William Faulkner, in Memphis Commercial Appeal. (recalled on his death, 7 July 1962)

Every time you interact with someone, you will either create love or destroy love, and whatever you give will come right back.
~ Bill Ferguson

God damn the whole friggin' world and everyone in it but you, Carlotta.
~ W.C. Fields

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house unless they have a well-stocked bar.
~ W.C. Fields, quoted in W.C. Fields & Me (1971).

Everything properly considered, is a criticism of everything else. Whenever we perceive the differences between one thing and another, and then commit ourselves to a choice in the light of some felt need for one thing as against the other, we perform an act of criticism.
~ Wilson Follett, The Modern Novel: A Study of the Purpose and the Meaning of Fiction (1918). Preface

I'm not trying to push any of my sh[*]t. I don't give a damn what kind of bike you ride or if you drink or not you're still a Bro to me.
~ "Wino Willie" Forkner

There is no shame in taking orders from those who themselves have learned to obey.
~ William Edward (W.E.) Forster

I have used the threads which others have spun, but I have done my own weaving.
~ William Henry Frost, Fairies and Folk of Ireland (1900). Should You Ask Me, Whence These Stories?

Ouija gives you entertainment you have never experienced. It draws the two people using it into close companionship and weaves about them a feeling of mysterious isolation. Unquestionably the most fascinating entertainment for modern people and modern life.
~ William Fuld (marketing campaign, c.1892).

Everyone knows that if you've got a brother, you're going to fight.
~ Liam Gallagher

If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are.
~ John William Gardner

Leaders come in many forms, with many styles and diverse qualities. There are quiet leaders and leaders one can hear in the next county. Some find strength in eloquence, some in judgment, some in courage.
~ John William Gardner

Leaders don't invent motivation in their followers; they unlock it. What they work with is generally a great tangle of motives. Leaders tap those particular motives that serve the purposes of group action in pursuit of shared goals.
~ John William Gardner

Vitality at middle and lower levels of leadership can produce greater vitality in the higher levels of leadership.
~ John William Gardner, On Leadership (1990). Introduction

I love metaphor the way some people love junk food.
~ William H. Gass, Interview in The Paris Review, Issue 70 (Summer 1977). The Art of Fiction No. 65

As we look into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.
~ Bill Gates

The opportunity to engage people who are very far away from each other and yet might have interesting information is better here than has ever been possible.
~ Bill Gates

[I]t's easier to desire and pursue the attention of tens of millions of total strangers than it is to accept the love and loyalty of the people closest to us.
~ William Gibson, Idoru (1996).

While thy wife's mother lives, expect no peace.
~ William Gifford, from The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis (1802). Satire VI

There is a principle in the heart of man, which demands the society of his like. He that has no such society, is in a state but one degree removed from insanity.
~ William Godwin, Fleetwood; Or, the New Man of Feeling (1805). Vol. II, Chapter XV

I am against you looking in
At what you think is me speaking.
Yet we know I am not against
You looking at me and hearing.
~ William Sydney (W.S.) Graham, The Secret Name

It is certain that no man loves his home less for loving his country; then why should love of country be incompatible with love to all mankind?
~ William Leighton (W.L.) Grane, The Passing of War: A Study in Things that Make for Peace (1912).

Public relations involve a flow of information and understanding not alone from the agency to the public, but from the public to the agency.
~ William Brooke (W.B.) Graves, Public Administration in a Democratic Society (1950).

If one benefits tangibly from the exploitation of others who are weak, is one morally implicated in their predicament? Or are basic rights of human existence confined to the civilized societies that are wealthy enough to afford them? Our values are defined by what we will tolerate when it is done to others.
~ William Greider, One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism (1997). Fifteen. "These Dark Satanic Mills"

We have friends but they have not been made by silence or pussyfooting. If we have enemies, we do not placate them.
~ William H. Grimes, in The Wall Street Journal (2 January 1951). A Newspaper's Philosophy

The chains of love are stronger than the chains of fear.
~ William Gurnall, The Christian In Complete Armour (1665).

The social behavior of a species evolves in such a way that, in each distinct behavior-evoking situation, the individual will seem to value his neighbors' fitness against his own according to the coefficients of relationship appropriate to that situation.
~ William D. Hamilton ("Hamilton's Rule"), Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7 (1): 152 (1964). The Genetical Evolution of Social Behaviour. Part I and II

As in our natural body, every part has a necessary sympathy with every other, and all together form, by their harmonious conspiration, a healthy whole; so, in the social body, there is always a strong disposition, in each of its members, to act and think in unison with the rest.
~ Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet, in Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic (1858-60). Volume I. Metaphysics. Lecture V: The Dispositions with Which Philosphy Ought to be Studied

Identity is a relationship between our cognitions of a thing, and not between things themselves.
~ Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet, note in Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (1850). Essay III, Of Memory. Chapter III: Of the Nature and Origin of Our Notion of Personal Identity

Diplomacy is an instrument; even the best instrument can achieve nothing if it is clumsily used, or used by a weak man in an attempt to achieve something that is beyond his strength.
~ Sir William Goodenough Hayter, The Diplomacy of the Great Powers (1960).

A perpetual succession of good things puts an end to common conversation.
~ William Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Comic Writers (1819). On Wit and Humor

Believe all the good you can of every one. Do not measure others by yourself. If they have advantages which you have not, let your liberality keep pace with their good fortune. Envy no one, and you need envy no one.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-talk; Or, Original Essays, Volume II (1825 edition). On The Conduct Of Life; or, Advice to a School-Boy (1822 essay)

Every man depends on the quantity of sense, wit, or good manners he brings into society for the reception he meets with in it.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-Talk, or Original Essays on Men and Manners, 2nd series (1824). On Coffee-House Politicians

Features alone do not run in the blood; vices and virtues, genius and folly, are transmitted through the same sure, but unseen channel.
~ William Hazlitt, from The Plain Speaker, Volume II (1826). Essay IV. On Personal Character

If we use no ceremony toward others, we shall be treated without any. People are soon tired of paying trifling attentions to those who receive them with coldness, and return them with neglect.
~ William Hazlitt, Characteristics: in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims (1837 edition).

It is surely a distinct question, what you can persuade people to do by argument and fair discussion, and what you may lawfully compel them to do, when reason and remonstrance fail.
~ William Hazlitt, in Winterslow, Essays and Characters Written There (1850). Project for a New Theory of Civil and Criminal Legislation (written in 1828)

Learn never to conceive a prejudice against others, because you know nothing of them. It is bad reasoning, and makes enemies of half the world.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-talk; Or, Original Essays, Volume II (1825 edition). On The Conduct Of Life; or, Advice to a School-Boy (1822 essay)

The player envies only the player, the poet envies only the poet, because each confines his idea of excellence to his own profession and pursuit.
~ William Hazlitt, in Sketches and Essays (1839). On Envy

The soul of conversation is sympathy.
~ William Hazlitt, from The Plain Speaker, Volume I (1826). Essay III. On the Conversation of Authors (first published in the London Magazine; September 1820)

To be amiable is to be satisfied with one's self and others.
~ William Hazlitt, from The Round Table, Volume I (1817). On Manner

We are cold to others only when we are dull in ourselves, and have neither thoughts nor feelings to impart to them. Give a man a topic in his head, a throb of pleasure in his heart, and he will be glad to share it with the first person he meets.
~ William Hazlitt, in New Monthly Magazine (February 1822). The Fight

We do not command others by sympathy with them, but by power, by passion, by will.
~ William Hazlitt, from Political Essays, with Sketches of Public Characters (1819). Character of Lord Chatham (written in 1807)

We grow tired of every thing but turning others into ridicule, and congratulating ourselves on their defects.
~ William Hazlitt, from The Plain Speaker, Volume I (1826). Essay XIII. On the Pleasure of Hating

We trifle with, make sport of, and despise those who are attached to us, and follow those that fly from us.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-talk; Or, Original Essays, Volume II (1825 edition). On The Conduct Of Life; or, Advice to a School-Boy (1822 essay)

Chance and Time are ever twain.
~ William Ernest (W.E.) Henley, from Poems (1898). Bric-à-Brac. Ballade of Truisms

We cannot swing up on a rope that is attached only to our own belt.
~ William Ernest (W.E.) Hocking, Types of Philosophy (1929).

Lord, I love my man, tell the world I do,
I love my man, tell the world I do;
But when he mistreats me, makes me feel so blue.
~ Billie Holiday, Billie's Blues (1936 single).

We've got neighbors here that can stay longer in half an hour than most people can in a week.
~ William Dean Howells, in Harper's Magazine (April 1903). Though One Rose From The Dead

Wherever the citizen becomes indifferent to his fellows, so will the husband be to his wife, and the father of a family toward the members of his household.
~ Wilhelm von Humboldt, The Limits of State Action (1791). Chapter 3

Take home a bouquet tomorrow night. Remember your life's partner each day with some evidence of your gratitude and appreciation and love.
~ (Col.) William C. Hunter, PEP: Poise - Efficiency - Peace; A Book of Hows Not Whys For Physical and Mental Efficiency (1911).

But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myself.
~ Billy Idol, in Don't Stop (1981 album). Dancing With Myself

Action and contemplation must act and react upon each other; otherwise our actions will have no soul, and our thoughts no body.
~ William Ralph (Dean) Inge, Faith and Its Psychology (1910). Preface

Admiration for ourselves and our institutions is too often measured by our contempt and dislike for foreigners.
~ William Ralph (Dean) Inge, from Outspoken Essays, First Series (1919). Patriotism

People don't listen, they reload.
~ William Isaacs, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together (1999).

A social organism of any sort, large or small, is what it is because each member proceeds to his own duty with a trust that the other members will simultaneously do theirs. ... A government, an army, a commercial system, a ship, a college, an athletic team, all exist on this condition, without which not only is nothing achieved, but nothing is even attempted.
~ William James, An Address to the Philosophical Clubs of Yale and Brown Universities (published in the New World; June 1896). The Will to Believe

All the qualities of a man acquire dignity when he knows that the service of the collectivity that owns him needs him. If proud of the collectivity, his own pride rises in proportion.
~ William James, in Memories and Studies (1911). XI. The Moral Equivalent of War (Speech Delivered at Stanford University; 1906)

[A]ll things exist in kinds and not singly.
~ William James, from Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907). Lecture VI. Pragmatism's Conception of Truth

[H]uman beings are born into this little span of life of which the best thing is its friendships and intimacies, and soon their places will know them no more, and yet they leave their friendships and intimacies with no cultivation, to grow as they will by the roadside, expecting them to "keep" by force of mere inertia.
~ William James, in The Letters of William James, Vol. 2 (1920). Chapter XIII. 1899-1902. To Miss Frances R. Morse (Dec. 23, 1899)

[I]f you should individually achieve calmness and harmony in your own person, you may depend upon it that a wave of imitation will spread from you, as surely as the circles spread outward when a stone is dropped into a lake.
~ William James, Talks to Teachers on Psychology: and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (1899). Talks to Students. I. The Gospel of Relaxation

It is one of the strangest laws of our nature that many things which we are well satifisfied with in ourselves disgust us when seen in others.
~ William James, The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (1890). Chapter X. The Consciousness of Self

The first thing to learn in intercourse with others is non-interference with their own peculiar ways of being happy, provided those ways do not assume to interfere by violence with ours.
~ William James, Talks to Teachers on Psychology: and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (March 1899). Talks to Students. III. What Makes a Life Significant?

The union of the mathematician with the poet, fervor with measure, passion with correctness, this surely is the ideal.
~ William James, in Collected Essays and Reviews (1920). Chapter XI: Clifford's "Lectures and Essays" (1879)

Whatever is true of a thing is true of its like.
~ William (W.) Stanley Jevons, The Substitution of Similars, The True Principle of Reasoning, Derived from a Modification of Aristotle's Dictum (1869).

A lot of people, when they talk to me, I can't wait for them to shut up ... like, shut up, you're a moron. I have nothing to say to you, you know? I'm not trying to enhance the conversation, so shut up.
~ Billie Joe

If I'm crazy then it's true
That it's all because of you
And you wouldn't want me any other way.
~ Billy Joel, in Glass Houses (1980 album). You May Be Right

The happiest times in my life were when my relationships were going well -- when I was in love with someone, and someone was loving me. But in my whole life, I haven't met the person I can sustain a relationship with yet. So I'm discontented about that. I'm angry with myself. I have regrets.
~ Billy Joel, The New York Times Magazine (15 September 2002). The Stranger

You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for.
~ Billy Joel, in Glass Houses (1980 album). You May Be Right

I am That which shapes and shatters
Hollow shells of haunted clay.
~ William Samuel Johnson, from Prayer for Peace and Other Poems (1915). The Follower

The man who gets the most satisfactory results is not always the man with the most brilliant single mind, but rather the man who can best coordinate the brains and talents of his associates.
~ William (W.) Alton Jones, in The New Webster's Dictionary of Quotations and Famous Phrases (1991).

Every man has an atmosphere which is affecting every other. So silent and unconsciously is this influence working, that man may forget that it exists.
~ William George Jordan, The Majesty of Calmness (1900). III: The Power of Personal Influence

No man in the world ever attempted to wrong another without being injured in return, -- someway, somehow, sometime.
~ William George Jordan, The Majesty of Calmness (1900). I: The Majesty of Calmness

A hug is like a boomerang -- you get it back right away.
~ Bil Keane, Family Circus

Any human relationship either grows or withers. There's no leveling off, except stagnation or the hardening of the will into concrete. For friends, lovers, married people, a next step must be there and must be taken.
~ William Kinsolving, The Diplomat's Daughter (1993).

You are with a group or movement because you cannot help it.
~ Willem de Kooning, Lecture at the 'Subjects of the Artist' School, New York (18 February 1949). A Desperate View

Godliness is in league with riches.
~ William Lawrence, in The World's Work, I (January 1901). The Relation of Wealth to Morals

Policy which is not supported by commensurate power is inoperative.
~ William B. Macomber, The Angel's Game: A Handbook of Modern Diplomacy (1975).

The answer to your health, to your peace, to your happiness, to your success as a life form can be found in water. You have nothing to lose by trying to live an awakened life to water.
~ William E. Marks, The Holy Order of Water (2001).

All praise is foreign, but of true desert;
Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart.
~ William Mason, from Poems (1764). Musæus. A Monody (1747)

When things don't work well in the bedroom, they don't work well in the living room either.
~ Dr. William H. Masters, NBC TV (23 June 1986).

Friends, books, a cheerful heart, and conscience clear are the most choice companions we have here.
~ William Mather, The Young Man's Companion: Or, Arithemetick Made Easy (originally published as A Very Useful Manual, or the Young Mans Companion; 1681).

There is a wide difference between general acquaintance and companionship. You may salute a man and exchange compliments with him daily, yet know nothing of his character, his inmost tastes and feelings.
~ William Mathews, from The Great Conversers, And Other Essays (1874). II. Literary Clubs

Conversation is only possible when men's minds are free from pressing anxieties.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up (1938).

It goes hard with a woman who fails to adapt herself to the prevalent masculine conception of her.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, from A Writer's Notebook (1949).

It may be that if I lead the life I've planned for myself it may effect others; the effect may be no greater than the ripple caused by a stone thrown in a pond, but one ripple causes another, and that one a third; it's just possible that a few people will see that my way of life offers happiness and peace, and that they in turn will teach what they have learnt to others.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge (1944).

It is meet not to expect too much of others. You should be grateful when they treat you well, but unperturbed when they treat you ill.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up (1938).

Life is too short to do anything for oneself that one can pay others to do for one.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up (1938).

Make him laugh and he will think you a trivial fellow, but bore him in the right way and your reputation is assured.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Gentleman in the Parlour: A Record of a Journey From Rangoon to Haiphong (1930).

Our natural egoism leads us to judge people by their relations to ourselves. We want them to be certain things to us, and for us that is what they are; because the rest of them is no good to us, we ignore it.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up (1938).

We have such a new and young crew, and we worked together for so long, that the relationship is something you don't quite understand and you never really will understand until you get assigned to a flight. ... We've done so much together and we're all kind of in that same boat. Either we've only flown once, or we've never flown, and the whole growth process together as a crew of seven has been something.
~ William C. "Willie" McCool (on the Columbia mission prior to its launch on January 16), United Press International (2 February 2003). Columbia crew bio: William McCool

It is so much easier to tell intimate things in the dark.
~ William McFee, Casuals of the Sea: The Voyage of a Soul (1916). Book One. The Suburb. Chapter X

The worldly relations of men and women often form an equation that cancels out without warning when some insignificant factor has been added to either side.
~ William McFee, Casuals of the Sea: The Voyage of a Soul (1916). Book One. The Suburb. Chapter XIV

"Muscular bonding" is the most economical label I could find for this phenomenon, and I hope the phrase will be understood to mean the euphoric fellow feeling that prolonged and rhythmic muscular movement arouses among nearly all participants in such exercises.
~ William Hardy McNeill, Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History (October 1995). Muscular Bonding

Before exploring the types of relationships humans tend to have, here are two essential points about relationships in general. First, all relationships are with yourself--and sometimes they involve other people. Second, the most important relationship in your life -- the one you'll have, like it or not, until the day you die -- is with yourself.
~ Peter McWilliams, DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts (1994). Part Three: Discovering And Choosing Our Dreams

All attachments are suspect, since the bonds of love and community limit liberty, tying individuals to particular persons, places, ideas, and institutions without regard to their usefulness.
~ Wilson Carey McWilliams, from Technology in the Western Political Tradition (1993). Part I: The Emergence of Modern Technology, 4 Science and Freedom: America as the Technological Republic

[S]ociety gives strength to our reason, as well as polish to our manners.
~ William Melmoth (the younger), The Letters of Sir Thomas Fitzosborne, On Several Subjects (1742). Letter LXXIV. To Orontes

I am part of the networks, and the networks are part of me. I show up in the directories. I am visible to Google. I link, therefore I am.
~ William J. Mitchell, Me++: The Cyborg Self and the Networked City (2004). Chapter 3. Wireless Bipeds

It is quite possibly the most intimate relationship between two humans, barring none.
~ William Ormond (W.O.) Mitchell (on the relationship between artist and audience).

Many a live wire would be a dead one except for his connections.
~ Wilson Mizner

Popularity is exhausting. The life of the party almost always winds up in a corner with an overcoat over him.
~ Wilson Mizner

Why should I talk to you? I've just been talking to your boss.
~ Wilson Mizner

It is not the number of diverse things in a design that leads to stability, it is the number of beneficial connections between these components.
~ Bill Mollison, Permaculture: A Designer's Manual (1988).

Our very lives depend on the ethics of strangers, and most of us are always strangers to other people.
~ Bill Moyers, Commencement Address at University of Texas, Austin TX (27 July 1988).

To be a leader, you have to make people want to follow you, and nobody wants to follow someone who doesn't know where he is going.
~ Joe "Willie" Namath

I got along without you before I met you and I'll get along without you a long time after you're gone.
~ Willie Nelson

Poppa loved Mama,
Mama loved men,
Mama's in the graveyard,
Papa's in the pen.
~ Willie Nelson

But for every man there exists a bait which he cannot resist swallowing.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Fathers and sons are much more considerate of one another than mothers and daughters.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

He is wholly without envy, but there is not merit therein: for he wants to conquer a land which no one yet possessed and hardly any one has ever seen.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

How poor the human mind would be without vanity! It resembles a well stocked and ever renewed ware-emporium that attracts buyers of every class: they can find almost everything, have almost everything, provided they bring with them the right kind of money -- admiration.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human (1878).

I do not love my neighbor near,
but wish he were high up and far.
How else could he become my star?
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, The Gay Science (1882). Prelude in German Rhymes (Joke, Cunning and Revenge)

There is no pre-established harmony between the furthering of truth and the well-being of humanity.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human (1878).

Wait a minute. I'm running this operation, Bill.
~ Bill O'Reilly, FoxNews Channel The O'Reilly Factor (29 November 2001). Personal Story: Bill Press

Things cannot always go your way. Learn to accept in silence the minor aggravations, cultivate the gift of taciturnity and consume your own smoke with an extra draught of hard work, so that those about you may not be annoyed with the dust and soot of your complaints.
~ William Osler, from Aequanimitas: With Other Addresses to Medical Students, Nurses and Practioners of Medicine (1904). XVIII. The Master-word in Medicine (University of Toronto; 1903)

Varicose veins are the result of an improper selection of grandparents.
~ William Osler, quoted in Sir William Osler: Aphorisms from His Bedside Teachings and Writings (1950).

In a mass society, the natural forces of community are absent. We must restore them, at least in some measure, and in a new way.
~ William G. Ouchi, The M-Form Society: How American Teamwork Can Recapture the Competitive Edge (1984).

A contract is a mutual promise.
~ William Paley, The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785). Book III. Part I. Chapter VI. Contracts

Thy neighbor? Pass no mourner by;
Perhaps thou canst redeem
A breaking heart from misery;
Go, share thy lot with him.
~ William Bourne Oliver Peabody, Who Is Thy Neighbor?

An Husband and Wife that love and value one another, shew their Children and Servants, That they should do so too. Others visibly lose their Authority in their Families by their Contempt of one another; and teach their Children to be unnatural by their own Example.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Avarice

Be no busybodies; meddle not with other folks' matters but when in conscience and duly pressed, for it procures trouble, and is ill-mannered, and very unseemly to wise men.
~ William Penn, Letter To His Wife And Children (4 August 1682)

Believe nothing against another but on good authority; and never report what may hurt another, unless it be a greater hurt to some other to conceal it.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Justice

If my brother, or kinsman, will be my friend, I ought to prefer him before a stranger; or I show little duty or nature to my parents. And as we ought to prefer our kindred in point of affection, so, too, in point of charity, if equally needing and deserving.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Qualities of a Friend

It is wise not to seek a Secret, and honest not to reveal one.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Secrecy

[L]et nobility and virtue keep company, for they are nearest of kin.
~ William Penn, No Cross, No Crown (1668-1669).

Love grows, Lust wastes by Enjoyment: and the Reason is, that one springs from an Union of Souls, and the other from an Union of Sense.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Right Marriage

I want you guys to pair up in groups of three and then line up in a circle.
~ Bill Peterson

Living together is an art.
~ William Pickens, Address (2 November 1932)

You set out in life, you don't know what's headed for you. God don't put no more on you than you can bear. I think I'm comin' back. I'm comin' back strong. I've learned a hell of lot. I still don't let nobody walk over me. If you're takin' me, I'm going to let you know that you're takin' me. If you lie to me, I'm going to let you know that your lying to me. If you try hurt me, I'm going to try and hurt you back. You see, this is human nature.
~ Wilson Pickett, The Bayfront Blues Festival, Duluth MN (Interview; 13 August 1999).

[Y]ou may prove any thing by analogy.
~ William Pitt, the Younger, quoted in Recollections of the Table-talk of Samuel Rogers (1856).

With first-rate sherry flowing into second-rate whores,
And third-rate conversation without one single pause:
Just like a young couple
Between the wars.
~ William Charles Franklyn Plomer, from The Dorking Thigh and Other Satires (1945). Father and Son: 1939

She plucked from my lapel the invisible strand of lint (the universal act of women to proclaim ownership).
~ William Sydney Porter (O. Henry), Strictly Business: More Stories of the Four Million (1910). A Ramble in Aphasia

Some may be more able than others, some more eminent, some more useful; but all in their different spheres, may prove advantageous to the community; and our necessities, as well as our consciences, bind us to love one another.
~ William Preston, Illustrations Of Masonry (1772).

There is a beautiful Indian apologue, which says: A man once said to a lump of clay, "What art thou?" The reply was, "I am but a lump of clay, but I was placed beside a rose and I caught its fragrance."
~ William Morley (W.M.) Punshon, Our Prayers.

Attempting to get others to do what is wanted without involving them in the process is a lost cause. Each individual is the highest authority on his or her personal existence. Given an optimally inviting environment, each person will find his or her own best ways of being and becoming.
~ William Watson Purkey, in the Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice (1992). An Introduction To Invitational Theory

I'm nothin' but a rough vaquero. Whyfor should you like me?
~ William MacLeod Raine, A Man Four-Square (1919). Chapter VI. Billie Asks a Question

The essence of religion is inertia; the essence of science is change. It is the function of the one to preserve, it is the function of the other to improve.
~ W. (William) Winwood Reade, The Martyrdom of Man (1872). Chapter I: War

Sensation is the sieve through which all inner and outer stimuli are perceived; sensation is the connecting link between ego and outer world.
~ Wilhelm Reich, Ether, God and Devil (1949).

There will be a peaceful resolution of the current situation through diplomacy and through dialogue.
~ Bill Richardson, CNN TV (11 January 2003). North Korea talks in New Mexico end

[D]iplomacy is always equal. It's like good bookkeeping. He don't believe you and you don't believe him, so it always balances.
~ Will Rogers, in The Autobiography of Will Rogers (1949).

Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggie" until you can find a rock.
~ Will Rogers

Most of my life has been lived alone. I never run with a pack.
~ Will Rogers, in The Autobiography of Will Rogers (1949; originally in 1993 article). Foreward

When you're throwin' your weight around, be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else.
~ Will Rogers

A Leader must possess credibility, imagination, enthusiasm, vision, foresight, a sense of timing, a passion for excellence and be willing to share.
~ William Rosenberg

Underlying the behavior of openness is the feeling of being likable or unlikable, lovable or unlovable. I find you likable if I like myself in your presence, if you create an atmosphere within which I like myself.
~ William C. ("Will") Schutz, The Human Element: Productivity, Self-Esteem and the Bottom Line (1994).

She loved that show and she loved the cast. She keyed on people. She didn't have favorite shows or parts so much.
~ Bill Sellen (on his mother's favorite job, a 1982 sitcom called "It Takes Two"), reported in The Associated Press (2 December 2002). Vaudeville comedienne and actress Billie Bird dies at 94

A promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.
~ Robert William Service, Songs of a Sourdough (1907). The Cremation of Sam McGee

So fellows, please listen to me:
Don't look at a wallflower askance;
If a girl sitting lonely you see,
Just bow, smile and beg for a dance.
~ Robert William Service, Songs of a Sun-Lover (1949). Wallflower

A little more than kin, and less than kind.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act I, scene ii

[A]n envious fever
Of pale and bloodless emulation.
~ William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida. Act I, scene iii

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act I, scene iii

Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but, being in, bear 't that th' opposed may beware of thee.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act I, scene iii

Comparisons are odorous.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act III, scene v

Do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act III, scene ii

He is the half part of a blessed man,
Left to be finished by such as she;
And she a fair divided excellence,
Whose fulness of perfection lies in him.
~ William Shakespeare, King John. Act II, scene i

I follow him to serve my turn upon him.
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act I, scene i

I never tempted her with word too large,
But, as a brother to his sister, show'd
Bashful sincerity and comely love.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act IV, scene i

I will be correspondent to command,
And do my spiriting gently.
~ William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Act I, scene ii

[If] two men ride of a horse, one must ride behind.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act III, scene v

Is whispering nothing?
Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses?
~ William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale. Act I, scene ii

Jack shall have Jill;
Naught shall go ill;
The man shall have his mare again,
And all shall be well.
~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act III, scene ii

[L]et him look to his bond.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act III, scene i

Love all, trust a few,
Do wrong to none.
~ William Shakespeare, All's Well that Ends Well. Act I, scene ii

Master, go on, and I will follow thee,
To the last gasp, with truth and loyalty.
~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It. Act II, scene iii

Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry VI, Part III. Act IV, scene vi

O! beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act III, scene iii

Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well.
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act V, scene ii

That it shall hold companionship in peace
With honour, as in war.
~ William Shakespeare, Coriolanus. Act III, scene ii

That one for all,
or all for one we gage.
~ William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece

The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part III. Act II, scene ii

[T]here have been many great men that have flattered the people, who ne'er loved them; and there be many that they have loved, they know not wherefore: so that if they love they know not why, they hate upon no better a ground.
~ William Shakespeare, Coriolanus. Act II, scene ii

They fool me to the top of my bent.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act III, scene ii

'Tis true, there's magic in the web of it.
~ William Shakespeare, Othello. Act III, scene iv

Too nice, and yet too true!
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth. Act IV, scene iii

We came into the world like brother and brother;
And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.
~ William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors. Act V, scene i

Weeds among weeds, or flow'rs with flowers gathered.
~ William Shakespeare, Sonnet 124

Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious,
Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?
Shall will in others seem right gracious,
And in my will no fair acceptance shine?
~ William Shakespeare, Sonnet 135

All things figure by comparison.
~ William Shenstone, in Works in Verse and Prose, Vol. II (1764). Essays on Men, Manners, and Things. Egotisms, from my own Sensations

Taste and good-nature are universally connected.
~ William Shenstone, in Works in Verse and Prose, Vol. II (1764). Essays on Men, Manners, and Things. On Writing and Books

'Tis by comparison we know
On every object to bestow
Its proper share of praise.
~ William Shenstone, Comparison

Grant is a great general, he stood by me when they said I was crazy, and I stood by him when they said he was drunk, and now, by thunder, sir, we stand by each other.
~ William Tecumseh Sherman, in Life of Wm. Tecumseh Sherman (1891).

End is in beginning;
And in beginning end:
Death is not loss, nor life winning;
But each and to each is friend.
~ William Soutar, Song

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give -- yes or no, or maybe --
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.
~ William Stafford, from West of Your City (1960). A Ritual to Read to Each Other

Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into
my thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt: ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.
~ William Stafford, The Darkness Around Us is Deep (1993). Ask Me

You happy beings, watch every face for those
you pass caught in the midst of life
by some horror, their souls gone dim, cursed
or unlucky, exiled under a stone.
~ William Stafford, from Stories That Could Be True: New and Collected Poems (1977). Some Evening

Diplomacy is not one of the easiest professions. What it calls for above all things is patience.
~ William Strang, 1st Baron Strang (Lord Strang), (January 1951)

Every group stigmatizes any one who fails in zeal, labor, and sacrifices for group interests.
~ William Graham Sumner, Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals (1906). Chapter I. Fundamental Notions Of The Folkways And Of The Mores

What is the real relation between happiness and goodness? It is only within a few generations that men have found courage to say that there is none.
~ William Graham Sumner, Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals (1906). Chapter I. Fundamental Notions Of The Folkways And Of The Mores

Company to be avoided, that are good for nothing; to be sought and frequented, that excel in some quality or other.
~ Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, in The Works of Sir William Temple, Bart., Vol. I (1720). Miscellanea, Part III. Heads, Designed for an Essay on Conversation

In conversation, humour is more than wit, easiness more than knowledge; few desire to learn, or think they need it; all desire to be pleased, or if not, to be easy.
~ Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, in The Works of Sir William Temple, Bart., Vol. I (1720). Miscellanea, Part III. Heads, Designed for an Essay on Conversation

The first ingredient in conversation is truth; the next, good sense; the third, good humor; and the fourth, wit.
~ Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, in The Works of Sir William Temple, Bart., Vol. I (1720). Miscellanea, Part III. Heads, Designed for an Essay on Conversation

[I] set it down as a maxim that it is good for a man to live where he can meet his betters, intellectual and social.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, from Sketches and Travels in London (1856). Mr. Brown's Letters to his Nephew: On Friendship

I think every man would like to come of an ancient and honorable race. ... As you like your father to be an honorable man, why not your grandfather, and his ancestors before him!
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, The Newcomes (1853-55). Chapter VII

[I]f a man's character is to be abused, say what you will, there's nobody like a relation to do the business.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero (1848). Chapter XIX

She looks so haughty that I should have thought her a princess at the very least, with a pedigree reaching as far back as the Deluge. But this lady was no better born than many other ladies who give themselves airs; and all sensible people laughed at her absurd pretensions.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring; or, The History of Prince Giglio and Prince Bulbo (1855). Chapter 2: How King Valoroso Got The Crown, And Prince Giglio Went Without

If you love somebody let them know every day.
~ Billy Bob Thornton

If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist it's another nonconformist who does not conform to the prevailing standards of non-conformity.
~ William E. "Bill" Vaughan

This is a high-level group, which is probably why I know so few of you.
~ William E. "Bill" Vaughan, Statement at a community luncheon for "Bill Vaughan Day" (10 October 1967).

A confident dependence ill grounded creates such a negligence, as will certainly ruin us in the end.
~ William Wake (Archbishop of Canterbury)

Nothing is more effective than sincere, accurate praise, and nothing is more lame than a cookie-cutter compliment.
~ Bill Walsh, in Forbes ASAP magazine (10 October 1954). The Case for Kudos

A pinch of praise is worth a pound of scorn. A dash of encouragement is more helpful than a dipper of pessimism. A cup of kindness is better than a cupboard of criticism.
~ William Arthur Ward

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.
~ William Arthur Ward

Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation.
~ William Arthur Ward

When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.
~ William Arthur Ward

I knew that he cared about me and he was very good to me, and I would not have done anything to hurt him.
~ Essie Mae Washington-Williams (of her father), CBS TV "60 Minutes II" (17 December 2003). Essie Mae On Strom Thurmond

Too long, that some may rest,
Tired millions toil unblest.
~ William Watson, from Odes and Other Poems (1894). A New National Anthem

Whom shall I trust if not my kin? And whom
Account so near in natural bonds as these ...
~ William Watson, in the National Review (June 1885). Ver Tenebrosum. Sonnet X. Home-Rootedness

A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.
~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes (8 August 1992).

Robert Frost said that betrayal is the saddest word in the English language and that's particularly true in an organization as close-knit and loyal and dedicated as the men and women in the FBI.
~ Judge William H. Webster (on the Security Review Commission investigation of the FBI), PBS TV (5 April 2002). The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

It is hard to be pushed around by those of higher status, it is doubly hard to be pushed around by one's equals or inferiors.
~ William Foote Whyte, Human Relations in the Restaurant Industry (1948).

We all have weaknesses. But I have figured that others have put up with mine so tolerantly that I would be less than fair not to make a reasonable discount for theirs.
~ William Allen White

A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Life's Scars

I'd worship the ground you walked on if only you walked in a better neighborhood.
~ Billy Wilder

I think that you have to communicate with people, and I think that respect is a two-way street.
~ Lenny Wilkens

Greed is envy with its sleeves rolled up.
~ George F. Will

Alliances to be sure are good: but a force of one's own on which one can rely, better.
~ Frederick William (the Elector of Brandenburg), Political Testament (1667)

I remember her as being a huge inspiration to me, someone to really look up to and admire.
~ Prince William, Reuters (7 April 2002). Young princes pay tribute to "amazing" Queen Mum

Only the mad girls chase me, I think.
~ Prince William, 21st birthday interview with the Press Association (PA), St James's Palace (21 June 2003).

The maxim for any love affair is "Play and pray, but on the whole do not pray when you are playing and do not play when you are praying." We cannot yet manage such simultaneities.
~ Charles (Walter Stansby) Williams

We always fought for our own individuality, and this has actually been a kind of blessing. I think had we both been gay or both been straight, there might have been some competition and tension where our romantic partners were concerned.
~ David Williams, The Advocate (26 July 1994). Twins Peak Andy William's Musical Nephews Are All Grown Up -- And One Is Gay

And how do you think I like it
when you tell me what to do
and your mouth opens
and you look straight through me?
~ Hugo Williams, Billy's Rain (1999). Rhetorical Questions

I phone from time to time, to see if she's
Changed the music on her answerphone.
'Tell me in two words,' goes the recording,
'what you were going to tell in a thousand.'
~ Hugo Williams, Billy's Rain (1999). Siren Song

If you're in a relationship and you want to make it work, you have to be a little selfless at times.
~ Montel Williams

My God. We've had cloning in the South for years. It's called cousins.
~ Robin Williams, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7 March 2002).

By concord little things grow great, by discord the greatest come to nothing.
~ Roger Williams, A Key into the Language of America (1643).

For the younger sisters, we always look up to the older sisters because they're always ahead of us and they always win.
~ Serena Williams, reported in The Associated Press (8 September 2001).

We are contemporary citizens living in a technological world. Swimming in cross-cultural waters can be dangerous, and if you are honest you can't stay there very long. Sooner or later you have to look at your own reflection and decide what to do with yourself.
~ Terry Tempest Williams, Pieces of White Shell: A Journey to Navajoland (1984).

We have all been nurtured on stories. Story is the umbilical cord that connects us to the past, present, and future. Family. Story is the relationship between the teller and the listener, a responsibility. After the listening you become accountable for the sacred knowledge that has been shared. Shared knowledge equals power.
~ Terry Tempest Williams, Pieces of White Shell: A Journey to Navajoland (1984). Chapter 12. The Storyteller

I'm not living with you. We occupy the same cage.
~ Thomas Lanier ("Tennessee") Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955). Act One

It's a strange courage
you give me ancient star:
Shine alone in the sunrise
toward which you lend no part!
~ William Carlos Williams, from Al Que Quiere! A Book of Poems (1917). El Hombre

We are one. Whenever I say "I" I mean also "you." And so, together, as one, we shall begin.
~ William Carlos Williams, from Spring and All (1923).

Association is the delight of the heart.
~ Robert Eldridge Aris (R.A.) Willmott, Pleasures, Objects, And Advantages Of Literature (1851). IV. Classical Studies: Their Associations and Interests

Envy is impotent, numbed with fear, never ceasing in its appetite, and it knows no gratification, but endless self-torment. It has the ugliness of a trapped rat, which gnaws its own foot in an effort to escape.
~ Angus Wilson, in Sunday Times.

I need a woman that fits in my hand.
~ August Wilson, The Piano Lesson (1987).

Because of our kinship in suffering, our channels of contact have always been charged with the language of the heart.
~ Bill Wilson

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
~ Bill Wilson

The complex develops out of the simple.
~ Colin Henry Wilson, New Pathways In Psychology (1972). Part One. I. The Age of Machinery

Human relations ... how they defeat us.
~ Ethel Davis Wilson, Swamp Angel (1954).

I have not always in my dealings with General de Gaulle found quotations from Trafalgar and Waterloo necessarily productive, and he has been very tactful about the Battle of Hastings.
~ Harold Wilson, (1967).

[B]irds of a feather will fly together.
~ Robert Wilson, The Three Lords and Three Ladies of London (c. 1590).

It costs more to revenge than to bear with injuries.
~ (Bishop) Thomas Wilson, in Maxims of Piety and of Christianity (first published in 1781).

Uh-aye, and I wanna spread the news
That if it feels this good getting used
Oh, you just keep on using me, until you use me up
Until you use me up.
~ Bill Withers, in Still Bill (1972 album). Use Me

[H]ow men lived
Even next-door neighbors, as we say, yet still
Strangers, not knowing each the other's name.
~ William Wordsworth, The Prelude (1850 edition). Book VIII: Residence in London

[W]e are praised, only as men in us
Do recognise some image of themselves,
An abject counterpart of what they are,
Or the empty thing that they would wish to be.
~ William Wordsworth, The Borderers, Act IV (1795-96)

And with faint praises one another damn.
~ William Wycherley, The Plain Dealer (1674). Prologue

Beauty and art can no more be asunder, than love and honour.
~ William Wycherley, Love in a wood; or St. James's Park (1672). Act III, scene ii

[M]istresses are like books. If you pore upon them too much, they doze you and make you unfit for company; but if used discreetly, you are the fitter for conversation by 'em.
~ William Wycherley, The Country Wife (1673). Act I, scene i

When I left [the Rolling Stones] there was a bit of aggravation from Mick and Keith, particularly because they lost control of me. Charlie, I was still great friends with. I still saw Woody a lot. Now I see Mick a lot as well. We all get on very well, visit each other's houses and get together for dinners and holidays. Our children mix. It's social now, like family. But I don't ever want to go back and they know that.
~ Bill Wyman (William George Perks), in The Toronto Sun (8 September 2001). Bill Wyman touring with new band

I suppose that since most of our hurts come through relationships so will our healing, and I know that grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside.
~ William P. Young, The Shack (2007).

It is true that relationships are a whole lot messier than rules, but rules will never give you answers to the deep questions of the heart and they will never love you.
~ William P. Young, The Shack (2007).