Quotes, Naughty, Helpful, and Nice

by Thea Halo

Keep your eyes open before marriage, half shut afterwards.
— Benjamin Franklin

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
— General George Patton

Life is an adventure. Whether the ride is bumpy or smooth, it will give you something to write about.
— Thea Halo

Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.
— John Barrymore

The big difference between sex for money and sex for free is that sex for money usually costs less.
— Brendan Behan

It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt.
— Mark Twain

Democracy is a team sport, we are all in the starting lineup, & every day is game day.
— Indivisible

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.
— Walter Elliot

It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.
— Oscar Wilde

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
— Mark Twain

I have given her [Greece] my time, my means, my health. And now I give her my life! What could I do more?
— Lord Byran

The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.
— Bruce Feirstein

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.
— Margaret Mead

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.
—Robert Louis Stevenson

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
— Eleanor Roosevelt

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.
—Helen Keller

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.
— Aristotle

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

When someone is broken, don’t try to fix them. You can’t.
When someone is hurting, don’t attempt to take away their pain. You can’t.
Instead. Love them by walking beside them in hurt. You can.
Because sometimes people simply need to know they aren’t alone.
— ContemplativeMonk.com

The two things in life you are totally in control over are your attitude and your effort.
— Billy Cox

To Tell Someone They’re Wrong, First Tell Them They’re Right.
— The 17th century philosopher Blaise Pascal

Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
— C. S. Lewis

Education is preeminently a matter of quality, not amount.
— Henry Ford

If Santa gives you diamonds and pearls, it’s because you’ve been very nice. Or very naughty.
— Lauren Bacall.

++++++++++++++++++++

Thea Halo is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Not Even My Name, a former news correspondent for WBAI in NYC, and a former producer for public radio in upstate NY. Not Even My Name was instrumental in garnering the first state-level resolutions in the U.S. that recognized the genocide of the Pontian and other Asia Minor Greeks and Assyrians. She was a co-sponsor and driving force, along with Prof. Adam Jones, of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) resolution that affirmed the Ottoman Genocides of Pontian and other Asia Minor Greeks and Assyrians as comparable to the genocide of the Armenians. She has also published a collection of poetry, and a number of Thea’s historical papers on the Genocides of Greeks and Assyrians have been published in books on the Ottoman Genocides. In 2009, Thea, along with her mother, Sano Halo, who passed away in 1914 at the age of 105, were awarded honorary Greek citizenship by the Greek government. In 2002, Thea was awarded the AHEPA Homer Award and, in 2012, the Association of Greek American Professional Women honored Thea and Sano for their “Profound contribution to Literature and to Hellenic Cultural Heritage and History.” Thea has also won numerous awards for her poetry and literary essays.

4 thoughts on “Quotes, Naughty, Helpful, and Nice

  • July 18, 2021 at 7:11 am
    Permalink

    These gems are priceless!

    Reply
  • July 19, 2021 at 2:15 am
    Permalink

    Thea, the math does not add up if your mother died in 1914.

    You would have to have been born in the 19th century.

    Should your mother’s passing be “1941”?

    Reply
    • July 19, 2021 at 10:32 am
      Permalink

      Thanks Frank. I’ve made that mistake before. Hate to think I live in the past, in a whole different century at that. My sweet mother passed away in 2014. She was born in 1909 or 1910.
      Thea

      Reply
  • September 12, 2021 at 9:03 am
    Permalink

    Wise words to ponder, thanks. Here’s one of my favorites: “The ignorant are never defeated in argument” Charlie Chan Carries On (1930), Chap 12

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Thea Halo Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *