I'm of the opinion that quotes are a good way to get to know the psyche of another person. Either that, or they can be damned funny at times. In any world menu, Canada must be considered the vichysoise of nations -- it's cold, half-French, and difficult to stir. Stuart Keate That it will never come again Is what makes life so sweet. Emily Dickenson Poem Number 1741 D'ou venons-nous? Qui sommes-nous? Ou allons-nous? Title of painting by Gauguin Mathematicians can prove only trivial theorems, because every theorem that's proved is trivial. Richard P. Feynman Twenty years for nothing, well that's nothing new, Besides, no one's interested in something you didn't do. "Wheat Kings" - The Tragically Hip If you pursue your star, You cannot fail to reach a splendid harbor. "Inferno", Canto XV, lines 55-56 - Dante Alighieri

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron. Dwight Eisenhower, April 16, 1953

When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute, and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity. Albert Einstein

All science is either physics or stamp collecting. Ernest Rutherford

"All that's beautiful drifts away Like the waters." W. B. Yeats The Old Men Admiring Themselves in the Water

The highest forms of understanding we can achieve are laughter and human compassion. Richard P. Feynman

It may not be inappropriate to mention here that the Royal Danish Academy of Science draws its main financial support from the Carlsberg Brewery, which produces the best beer in the world. "Thirty Years That Shook Physics" - George Gamow

He who rests on down or under covers cannot come to fame; and whe who spends his life without renown leaves such a vestige of himself on earth as smoke bequeaths to air or foam to water. "Inferno", Canto XXIV, lines 47-51 - Dante Alighieri

When I hear of Schrodinger's Cat, I reach for my gun. Stephen Hawking

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s commencement speech to the MIT graduates of 1997. Actually, I've heard he didn't actually say this. Hell, it's good anyhow.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. the long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. the race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance. so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Don't read beauty magazines. they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painitng over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen."