"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit."

Nelson Henderson, quoted as "Thought du jour" in Globe and Mail March 29, 2001

"What beats me is how any body of men can delude themselves into thinking that they can abolish war as an instrument for settling international disputes. No sane person wants wars; that is a recognized fact, but we have them just the same. No one wants jails, hospitals, insane asylums, murders, robberies, etc.; but we have them just the same. Why? Well, in my opinion it can be given in just two words – human nature, a condition which is the same today as it was when Noah built the Ark, as it was when Julius Caesar enlarged the Roman Empire, and as it was when the Princess Pats marched down Bank street, many years ago, on their way overseas."

Letter from a G.H. Giles of Ottawa in Ottawa Citizen Sept. 4, 1931, reprinted in Ottawa Citizen Oct. 19, 1999

"If you make an ass out of yourself, there’ll always be someone ready to ride you. Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory."

Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts

"There’s no such thing as a bad day when there’s a doorknob on the inside of the door".

Paul Galanti, former Navy Commander and Vietnam War POW, quoted in National Post March 24, 2003

"To suppose that this universe came into existence, with you and me in it, in order that we might, in Shakespeare’s felicitous phrase, 'grind out our appetites', is not only to demean life, but to make it farcical as well."

Malcolm Muggeridge, "Address, 1970" in Ian Hunter, ed., The Very Best of Malcolm Muggeridge

"The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want."

Ben Stein, quoted as "Thought du jour" in "Social Studies" in Globe and Mail May 8, 2007

"Be wiser than other people if you can, but do not tell them so."

Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773), quoted as "Thought du jour" in "Social Studies" in Globe and Mail August 31, 2005

"Okay, enough blue-skying; let’s grey-sky it a bit."

Ric Dolphin in Western Standard June 28, 2004