Quotes and proverbs

Since my mid 20s I have been collecting in a notebook quotes and proverbs that I find useful or meaningful. Here are some of them below. I must say that sometimes they’re not at all helpful and just make me roll my eyes…but sometimes I read them at the right moment, and they make me smile. They range from idealistic to philosophical to just silly. I am aware that the internet is full of misquotes and misattributions, so my apologies if I have the quote or source wrong – and please do tell me if that’s the case.

Firstly, ‘You’re a human, not a robot!’. This is something I say to students and to myself all the time 😊

‘Life has to be a little nuts sometimes. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of Thursdays strung together’, Beau Burroughs.

‘Changing the world doesn’t necessitate earth-shattering feats, but rather doing small things with great love’, Eugene Cho.

‘In the  way a smoke alarm can go off when there is a fire, it can also go off when someone is making toast’, Dr Julie Smith.

‘You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water’, Rabindranath Tagore.

‘Be who you are and say how you feel. Because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind’, Dr Seuss.

‘My life is not a race or competition’, Love Chock.

‘Comparison is poison’, unknown.

‘There must be more to life than having everything’, Maurice Sendak.

‘Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else’, Judy Garland.

‘There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will’, Epictetus.

‘Follow your feelings, trust your feelings’, Obi Wan Kenobi, Star Wars.

‘Better one good thing that is, rather than two good things that were, or three good things that never come to pass’, Irish proverb.

‘Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall’, Confucius.

‘Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony’, Mahatma Gandhi.

‘Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand’, Einstein.

‘The only way on earth to multiply happiness is to divide it’, Paul Scherer.

‘Peace starts with a smile’, Mother Theresa.

And finally, what is probably my favourite quote of all-time:

‘For yesterday is but a dream

And tomorrow only a vision

But today, well lived,

Makes every yesterday

A dream of happiness

And every tomorrow

A vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day.’

- Kālidāsa.

Now it’s over to you! I’m very curious to know if you find any of these quotes useful or meaningful - or not - and if there are any other quotes that you particularly appreciate and would like to share with others.