" Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. "

Anias Nin

" If a man begins in certainty, he shall end in doubts, but if a man is content to begin with doubt, he shall end in certainty. "

Francis Bacon

Another one from good old Francis, a man from back in the day when you could be a philosopher, statesman, poet, artist, scientist, etc. all wrapped up in one. If you came from the right family and class that is. Otherwise, your life as a peasant would be a living Hell, albeit a short one. Seems like knowledge is so specialized now that you spend your whole life just mastering one tiny part of some subject and not without the help of artificial intelligence.

This would be a classic quote of a man of science back in his day. There was a true scientific and material revolution going on after hundreds of years of church dogma and rule. In a modern context, I look at it like this. Just add this to the end of the quote " He shall end in the certainty that he shall always be in doubts. " Full circle.

A. S. Weyand

" I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

Galileo

And, who should no better than Galileo, a man who remained a good Catholic despite being persecuted by the Church relentlessly for his experimentation and their implications.. Now the Vatican is open to the possibility of life on other planets! Once a simple faith gets organized into a church, watch out below.

A. S. Weyand

" Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside yourself. "

Wally " Famous " Amos

This one is from the cookie guy. I lived in LA when " Famous Amos " had just started and remember that first store.

Just the old idea of how you see the world is how you feel inside about the world. If you expect bad things, you see bad things. If you expect good things, you see good things.

A. S. Weyand

" I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I ended up where I needed to be. "

Douglas Adams

I have read two versions of this quote. The other one ends " where I intended to be. ", which is quite interesting too. Decided to stick with this one. Seems more optimistic and American to me.

I never got into Douglas Adams. Just because I never did too, only so much time in one's life. He sure was a big deal though with " The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. " That sold 15 million copies! Never read it. I know he buddied around with the " Monty Python " crew. Maybe just a little too English for my tastes. Never liked Pink Floyd or Dr. Who either.

Great quote though and he has a slew of other great ones too.

A. S. Weyand

" Young is the one that plunges into the future and never looks back. "

Milan Kundera

It's OK to learn from the past, but you had better not take up permanent residence there. The old Zen idea of living in the NOW comes up again and again from disparate cultures, writers and thinkers from all over the world. Must be something to it.

A. S. Weyand

" Everyone is part of everyone else. "

Budd Schulberg

Changed this one a little too. It was originally posed as a question. I think it works better as a statement.

Another one of those Zen type quotes. This one comes out of that bastion of spirituality, selflessness and serenity, Hollywood. Schulberg was a 2nd generation Hollywood mover and shaker. Wrote the novel " What Makes Sammy Run " about a ruthless Hollywood movie mogul and the screenplays for " On the Waterfront " and " A Face in the Crowd. " If you have never seen " A Face in the Crowd ", rent it right now! It's a great film and you will never look at Andy Griffith the same way again.