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There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.

— Logan Pearsall Smith Afterthoughts (1931)

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Life

More quotes by Logan Pearsall Smith

How many of our daydreams would darken into nightmares if there seemed any danger of their coming true!

Afterthoughts (1931)

Don't laugh at a youth for his affectations; he is only trying on one face after another to find his own.

Afterthoughts (1931)

There are few sorrows, however poignant, in which a good income is of no avail.

Afterthoughts (1931)

The indefatigable pursuit of an unattainable perfection, even though it consist in nothing more than the pounding of an old piano, is what alone gives a meaning to our life on this unavailing star.

Afterthoughts (1931)

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

Afterthoughts (1931)

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To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Bertrand Russell Marriage and Morals (1929)

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

William James The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)

Reason is Life's sole arbiter, the magic Laby'rinth's single clue:
Worlds lie above, beyond its ken; what crosses it can ne'er be true.

Richard Francis Burton The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)

It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.

Cary Grant Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Logan Pearsall Smith (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.