This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
John D. Rockefeller, fully John Davidson Rockefeller I
I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Individual | Liberty | Right | Worth |
Does man exist for the sake of society? The ultimate worth of a person would then be determined by his usefulness to others, by the efficiency of his social work.... Such service does not claim all of one’s life and can therefore not be the ultimate answer to his quest for the meaning of life as a whole. Man has more to give than what other men are able or willing to accept. Man’s quest for a meaning of existence is essentially a quest for lasting... The way to the lasting does not lie on the other side of life; it does not begin where time breaks off. The lasting begins not beyond but within time, within the moment, within the concrete... The days of our lives are representatives of eternity rather than fugitives, and we must live as if the fate of all time would totally depend on a single moment.
Efficiency | Eternity | Existence | Fate | Life | Life | Man | Meaning | Men | Service | Time | Usefulness | Worth | Fate |
Experience alone can give a final answer. The knowledge gained in a few years by a commission of the kind suggested would be worth more than volumes of mere assertions and contradictions.
A true critic ought to dwell upon excellencies rather than imperfections, to discover the concealed beauties of a writer, and communicate to the world such things as are worth their observation.
José Bergamin, fully José Bergamín Gutiérrez
Tradition simply means that we need to end what began well and continue what is worth continuing.
John Henry Newman, aka Cardinal Newman and Blessed John Henry Newman
One secret act of self-denial, one sacrifice of inclination to duty, is worth all the mere good thoughts, warm feelings, passionate prayers in which idle people indulge themselves.
Good | Inclination | People | Sacrifice | Worth |
Perfectionism doesn't believe in practice shots. It doesn't believe in improvement. Perfectionism has never heard that anything worth doing is worth doing badly--and that if we allow ourselves to do something badly we might in time become quite good at it. Perfectionism measures our beginner's work against the finished work of masters. Perfectionism thrives on comparison and competition. It doesn't know how to say, "Good try," or "Job well done." The critic does not believe in creative glee--or any glee at all, for that matter. No, perfectionism is a serious matter.
Henri Poincaré, fully Jules Henri Poincaré
The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living. Of course I do not here speak of that beauty that strikes the senses, the beauty of qualities and appearances; not that I undervalue such beauty, far from it, but it has nothing to do with science; I mean that profounder beauty which comes from the harmonious order of the parts, and which a pure intelligence can grasp.
Beauty | Intelligence | Life | Life | Nature | Nothing | Order | Qualities | Study | Worth | Beauty |
Kofi Annan, fully Kofi Atta Annan
The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the states in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being.
Worth |
August von Kotzebue, fully August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue
A moment of joy of heart is worth two hours of sensual pleasure.
Lewis Carroll, pseudonym for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others.
A modern philosopher who has never once suspected himself of being a charlatan must be such a shallow mind that his work is probably not worth reading.
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morely of Blackburn, Lord Morley
Our opinions are less important than the spirit and temper with which they possess us, and even good opinions are worth very little unless we hold them in a broad, intelligent, and spacious way.
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morely of Blackburn, Lord Morley
Even good opinions are worth very little unless we hold them in the broad, intelligent, and spacious way.
Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.
Age | Day | Life | Life | Old age | Time | Will | Work | Worth | Youth | Youth | Old | Understand |
Lucy Maud Montgomery, aka Maud or L.M. Montgomery
Life is worth living as long as there's a laugh in it.
Worth |