I have two all-time favorite quotations. What are yours?

I hate to get into religion, but my two favorite quotes deal with Agnostics. Darwin said: “The mystery of the origin of all things is insoluble by us, so I, for one, must be content to remain an agnostic”. Clarence Darrow said: “I am not ashamed to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know that which other men say they are sure of.”

“Ours is only the trying, the rest is not our business.” T.S. Eliot

“Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” Pliny (Elder or Younger?)

“And I walked abroad in a shower of all my days.” Dylan Thomas

That first quote reminds me of the title of the book, Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

My favorite quote, which I have mentioned a few times previously, is the well known quote from Hillel:
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, then when?

I particularly like the second line. We are most ourselves when we act in concert with others. The problem with being selfish is that we limit who we are.

From my profile:

Everyone is a genius
But if you judge a fish on it’s ability to climb a tree
It will live it’s whole life believing it is stupid
– Unknown
and

I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”
― Richard Feynman

and

“You are not lost if you don’t care where you are going” – Unknown

My runner up is from Winston Churchill in “My Early Life”. He describes having problems with math, and tells how a Headmaster was once grading his exam, on which he has only managed to place a 1). He states that the professor looked at him, scratched his head, and then, “Upon this slender indication of scholarship, he determined I was worthy to pass into Harrow. He showed that he was a man capable of looking beneath the surface of things, a man not dependent upon paper manifestations. I shall always hold him in the highest esteem.”

@NomoreY_A, can you please clarify this?

on which he has only managed to place a 1)

I don’t know what a numeral followed by a right parenthesis means. Thanks.

@ Jeruba-
In the auto biography, the numeral followed by the parentheses was all that Churchill had placed on his (otherwise blank) math exam. Sorry, should have been more descriptive.

What do you want?
Who are you?

Maybe more of an aphorism or truism. It’s been attributed to many people, including both Eleanor and Teddy Roosevelt.

“The way to begin is to begin.”

I am susceptible to decision paralysis and it’s often necessary to be prodded to stop thinking and start moving and sort out the details later.

“Most people need love and acceptance more than they need advice.” Bob Goff

I’ll add another favorite soon.

“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

Mark Twain

Faith is believing in what you know ain’t so.
Mark Twain

“Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone but, if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.”
– Malcolm X

“The very powerful and, the very stupid, have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views…which, can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.”
– Doctor Who

“The pressures of being a parent are equal to any pressure on earth. To be a conscious parent, and really look to that little being’s mental and physical health, is a responsibility which most of us, including me, avoid most of the time because it’s too hard.” John Lennon – The Beatles

“A man never stood so tall then when he reached down to help a child” -Abe Lincoln

A woman’s heart should be so lost in God that a man must seek Him in order to find her.

“I have no particular fear of death. After all, I didn’t exist for a billion years before I was born, and it never caused me the slightest inconvenience.” Mark Twain

@Aethelwine @NomoreY_A Twain is superb, from my home state, too.

Have either of you read the post-mortem collection(s)? Very impressive.

Do what you want to do while you can do it — my grandmother.

If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?—Albert Einstein

The latter helps me feel better about my own desk.

I like the golden rule too. I quote that a lot.

@JLeslie A organized desk shows an organized mind. Thus another quote: organization is the key to success! Haha

The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.

S. Johnson

My first quote was slightly wrong. It should be:

“For us there is only the trying, the rest is not our business.”

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” T.S. Eliot Yoda

I like these lines and they have some sentimental value as I found them written in a bible once owned by my grandfather.

“We shut our eyes, the flowers bloom on;
We murmur, but the corn-ears fill,
We choose the shadow, but the sun
That casts it shines behind us still.”

And I like this philosophical exchange by the Hao River in China…

“Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling along the dam of the Hao Waterfall when Zhuangzi said, “See how the minnows come out and dart around where they please! That’s what fish really enjoy!”
Huizi said, “You’re not a fish — how do you know what fish enjoy?”
Zhuangzi said, “You’re not me, so how do you know I don’t know what fish enjoy?”
Huizi said, “I’m not you, so I certainly don’t know what you know. On the other hand, you’re certainly not a fish — so that still proves you don’t know what fish enjoy!”
Zhuangzi said, “Let’s go back to your original question, please. You asked me how I know what fish enjoy — so you already knew I knew it when you asked the question. I know it by standing here beside the Hao.”

Not a favorite, but here’s a goody: “As democracy is perfected the office of the President represents more and more closely the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White house will be adorned by a downright moron. H L Mencken