William Lyon Phelps (January 2, 1865 – August 21, 1943) was an American author, critic and scholar. He taught the first American university course on the modern novel. He was a well-known speaker who drew large crowds. He had a radio show, wrote a daily syndicated newspaper column, lectured frequently, and published numerous popular books and articles. (Click here for full Wikipedia article)
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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 cat pours his body on the floor like water. It is restful just to see him.
A student never forgets an encouraging private word, when it is given with sincere respect and admiration.
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.
At a certain age, people's minds close up and they live off their intellectual fat.
Every household should contain a cat, not only for decorative and domestic values, but because the cat in quiescence is medicinal to irritable, tense, tortured men and women.
Honesty is not necessarily the best policy. The best policy would be to acquire a reputation for honesty and then to cheat at the psychological moment.
I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget.
If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.
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 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.
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.
Nature makes boys and girls lovely to look upon so they can be tolerated until they acquire some sense.
Never try to outsmart a woman, unless you are another woman.
One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute.
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.
The expression 'as right as rain' must have been invented by an Englishman.
The fear of life is the favorite disease of the 20th century.
The final test of a gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.
The greatest of all the arts is the art of living together!
The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good company, good conversation, are the happiest people in the world. And they are not only happy in themselves, they are the cause of happiness in others.
The kind of happiness that stays with you is the happiness that springs from inward thoughts and emotions.
There is a strange reluctance on the part of most people to admit they enjoy life.
There is never much trouble in any family where the children hope someday to resemble their parents.
This is the first test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible value to him.
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.
Whenever it is possible, a boy should choose some occupation which he should do even if he did not need the money.
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.
You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in New York.
Categories: Quotes of the day, William Lyon Phelps
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