Quotes

"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."

George Bernard Shaw— Everybody's Political What's What? (1944), Chapter 37 — via Archer's Daily Digest, Nov 9, 2026, which quoted the first clause

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated."

Maya Angelou— Interview with Claudia Tate, published in "Black Women Writers at Work" (1983) — the earliest traceable version of the line ("...but you just must never be defeated") appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Apr 16, 1970, per Quote Investigator. Archer's Daily Digest has not posted since Oct 16, so sourced independently.

"This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it's with us wherever we are."

Pema Chödrön— When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (1997), Chapter 3 — also its chapter title. Not to be confused with the differently-worded 2022 audiobook "This Moment Is the Perfect Teacher." Sourced independently; could not verify Insight Timer's in-app quote feature against any public, browsable source.

"Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."

Rainer Maria Rilke— Letters to a Young Poet, Letter Four, M. D. Herter Norton translation (1934) — Archer's Daily Digest still hasn't posted this week, so sourced independently again

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

Viktor Frankl— No new Archer's Daily Digest post this week, so sourced independently — "Man's Search for Meaning" (1946), Chapter 1, "Experience in a Concentration Camp"

"In all natural things there is somewhat of the marvellous."

Aristotle— Parts of Animals, Book I, Chapter 5 (645a16-17), A. L. Peck's translation, Loeb Classical Library (1937) — the digest used an untraceable popular paraphrase ("In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous"); corrected here to the standard scholarly translation

"The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible."

Oscar Wilde— Spoken by Lord Henry in "The Picture of Dorian Gray," Chapter 2 (1890)

"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact."

Arthur Conan Doyle— Spoken by Sherlock Holmes in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," first published in The Strand Magazine, October 1891

"I want visitors to the exhibition to remember that your difference is your power. It is a precious and beautiful thing."

Tim Walker— Press materials for "Fairyland: Love and Legends," Walker's exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London (Oct 9, 2026 – Feb 7, 2027) — the digest trimmed this to "Difference is a precious and beautiful thing"; corrected here to the full original line

"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

Mark Twain— A note to the Young People's Society, Greenpoint Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, February 16, 1901 — also appears in his personal notebooks from 1888-89 (published in "Mark Twain's Notebooks & Journals, Vol. III")

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science."

Albert Einstein— "The World As I See It" (Forum and Century, 1931) — the digest paraphrased this as "the most beautiful thing we can experience... the source of all true art and science"; corrected here to the archived original text

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence."

Albert Einstein— LIFE magazine, "Old Man's Advice to Youth: Never Lose a Holy Curiosity" (May 2, 1955) — a 1967 compilation altered the ending to "...reason for existing," the version that circulated since; corrected here to the 1955 original

"Richard, try and find a pocket full of happiness in each day."

Joan Washington— Said to her husband, actor Richard E. Grant, in her final days before her death in 2021 — became the title of his memoir "A Pocketful of Happiness" and was referenced by Grant on The Traitors UK (Celebrity series)

"The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones."

John Maynard Keynes— Preface to The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, dated Dec 13, 1935 (published Feb 1936)

"Lower your expectations of earth. This is not heaven, so don't expect it to be."

Max Lucado— Grace for the Moment: Morning and Evening Devotional Journal (Thomas Nelson, 2013), p. 202

"The most effective way to do it is to do it."

Amelia Earhart— Listed on the official Amelia Earhart licensing site; part of a longer passage ("...decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying") whose exact original publication wasn't pinned down beyond that

"It takes a long time to become young."

Pablo Picasso— Widely attributed; earliest traced appearance is a 1972 compilation (Jean Louis Ferrier's "Picasso on Art"), not a documented direct quote — a related but distinct remark ("One starts to get young at 60 — and then it's too late") is verified via Jean Cocteau's 1963 account

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

Unattributed— Earliest traced to an anonymous 2004 appearance in print; commonly but unverifiably credited to Theodore Roosevelt (per Quote Investigator)

"Never, 'for the sake of peace and quiet,' deny your own experience or convictions."

Dag Hammarskjöld— Markings (Vägmärken), entry dated 1952

"Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was."

Dag Hammarskjöld— Markings (Vägmärken), 1963

"For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love."

Carl Sagan— Contact, 1985

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

Helen Keller— Let Us Have Faith, 1940

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."

The Dalai Lama— Widely attributed; cited by Senate Leader Harry Reid at his Mar 7, 2014 Capitol Hill visit

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."

Eleanor Roosevelt— "My Day" column, Jan 8, 1936

"Even the smallest act of service, the simplest act of kindness, is a way to honor those we lost."

Barack Obama— Weekly Address, Aug 27, 2011

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

Arthur Ashe— Arthur Ashe: Portrait in Motion

"No Mud, No Lotus."

Thich Nhat Hanh— No Mud, No Lotus, 2014

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress."

Frederick Douglass— West India Emancipation speech, 1857

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Martin Luther King Jr.— "Loving Your Enemies," Strength to Love

"We are the ones we've been waiting for."

Barack Obama— Super Tuesday speech, Feb 5, 2008

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there."

Rumi— The Essential Rumi, trans. Coleman Barks

"Knowing others is wisdom; knowing yourself is enlightenment."

Lao Tzu— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 33

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."

Viktor Frankl— Man's Search for Meaning

"Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor."

Thich Nhat Hanh— Stepping into Freedom

"Be here now."

Ram Dass— Be Here Now

"It is not the thing itself that disturbs you, but your judgment about it — and it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now."

Marcus Aurelius— Meditations, 8.47 (trans. George Long)

"The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress."

Frederick Douglass— West India Emancipation speech, 1857

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

Oscar Wilde— The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

"Pressure is a privilege. It comes only to those who earn it."

Billie Jean King— Pressure Is a Privilege, 2008