Nothing can contribute more to peace of soul than the lack of any opinion whatsoever.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
17
***
We immediately become more effective when we decide to change ourselves rather than
asking things to change for us.
—Stephen Covey, 1989
Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was
here first.
—Robert Jones Burdette, 1905
18
What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it,
change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.
—Maya Angelou, 2013
I can’t complain, but sometimes I still do.
—Joe Walsh, 1978
I will hear not those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious.
—Og Mandino, 1968
Never complain. Complaints will always discredit you.
—Baltasar Gracián, 1647
Never complain and never explain.
—Stanley Baldwin, 1943
19
***
Nobody got anywhere in the world by simply being content.
—Louis L’Amour, 1979
Discontent is the wheel that moves people forward.
—Lu Xun
20
Restlessness is discontent —and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a
thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.
—Thomas Edison, 1948
To be pleased with one’s limits is a wretched state.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1833
17
From his Notebook E (1775-1776).
18
Frequently misattributed to Mark Twain.
19
This maxim is sometimes attributed to Benjamin Disraeli (S. Baldwin’s predecessor as a UK
prime minister), but I could not find a reliable confirmation of that authorship.
20
As quoted, without a date, in many collections.
84
On Human Attitudes
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
17
***
We immediately become more effective when we decide to change ourselves rather than
asking things to change for us.
—Stephen Covey, 1989
Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was
here first.
—Robert Jones Burdette, 1905
18
What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it,
change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.
—Maya Angelou, 2013
I can’t complain, but sometimes I still do.
—Joe Walsh, 1978
I will hear not those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious.
—Og Mandino, 1968
Never complain. Complaints will always discredit you.
—Baltasar Gracián, 1647
Never complain and never explain.
—Stanley Baldwin, 1943
19
***
Nobody got anywhere in the world by simply being content.
—Louis L’Amour, 1979
Discontent is the wheel that moves people forward.
—Lu Xun
20
Restlessness is discontent —and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a
thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.
—Thomas Edison, 1948
To be pleased with one’s limits is a wretched state.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1833
17
From his Notebook E (1775-1776).
18
Frequently misattributed to Mark Twain.
19
This maxim is sometimes attributed to Benjamin Disraeli (S. Baldwin’s predecessor as a UK
prime minister), but I could not find a reliable confirmation of that authorship.
20
As quoted, without a date, in many collections.
84
On Human Attitudes