William Lyon Phelps Quotes (29 Quotes)

If happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care, then the happiest individual would not be either a man or a woman; it would be, I think, an American cow.

If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually anything, including those things that other people are certain are impossible.

A well-ordered life is like climbing a tower; the view halfway up is better than the view from the base, and it steadily becomes finer as the horizon expands.

A cat pours his body on the floor like water. It is restful just to see him.

If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.

Nature makes boys and girls lovely to look upon so they can be tolerated until they acquire some sense.

I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget.

There is a strange reluctance on the part of most people to admit they enjoy life.

The happiest people in this world are those who have the most interesting thoughts.

The fear of life is the favorite disease of the 20th century.

You can be deprived of your money, your job and your home by someone else, but remember that no one can ever take away your honor.

One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute.

If I were running the world I would have it rain only between 2 and 5 a.m. Anyone who was out then ought to get wet.

I thoroughly believe in a university education for both men and women, but I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible.

This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.

The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on a fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older.

I find daily life not always joyous, but always interesting. I have some sad days and nights, but none that are dull. As I advance deeper into the vale of years, I live with constantly increasing gusto and excitement. I am sure it all means something in the last analysis, I am an optimist because I believe in God. Those who have no faith are quite naturally pessimists and I do not blame them.

My religious faith remains in possession of the field only after prolonged civil war with my naturally skeptical mind.

Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good plays, good company, good conversation - what are they? They are the happiest people in the world.

Herein lies the real value of education. Advanced education may or may not make men and women more efficient but it enriches personality, increases the wealth of the mind, and hence brings happiness. It is the finest insurance against old age, against the growth of physical disability, against the lack and loss of animal delights. How essential it is, then, in youth to acquire some intellectual or artistic tastes, in order to furnish the mind, to be able to live inside a mind with attractive and interesting pictures on the walls.

God speaks to me not through the thunder and the earthquake, nor through the ocean and the stars, but through the Son of Man, and speaks in a language adapted to my imperfect sight and hearing.

If I didn't start painting, I would have raised chickens.

A bibliophile of little means is likely to suffer often. Books don't slip from his hands but fly past him through the air, high as birds, high as prices.

A student never forgets an encouraging private word, when it is given with sincere respect and admiration.

In a start-up company, you basically throw out all assumptions every three weeks.

The highest happiness on earth is marriage. Every man who is happily married is a successful man even if he has failed in everything else.

The principle of happiness should be like the principle of virtue it should not be dependent of things, but be a part of personality and character.

Whenever it is possible, a boy should choose some occupation which he should do even if he did not need the money.

You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in New York.