B.C. Forbes Quotes

The man who is too busy to read is never likely to lead.

If a pig could pray, it would pray for swill. What do you pray for?

Whimpering never kept a leaking vessel from foundering. Vigorously manning the pumps has. Get busy with your head and hands, not your chin.

Honesty pays dividends both in dollars and in peace of mind.

Success consists of being and doing, not simply accumulating.

Any business arrangement that is not profitable to the other fellow will in the end prove unprofitable for you. The bargain that yields mutual satisfaction is the only one that is apt to be repeated.

If the deal isn't good for the other party, it isn't good for you.

Anything that inspires unselfishness makes for our ennoblement. Christmas does that. I am all for Christmas.

Time mends all, ends all things earthly.

It is when things go hardest, when life becomes most trying, that there is greatest need for having a fixed goal.

When it comes to betting on yourself... you're a chicken-livered coward if you hesitate.

Some people are so methodical that that is all they are or ever will be.

Next to the dog, the wastebasket is your best friend.

Lady Luck generally woos those who earnestly, enthusiastically, unremittingly woo her.

The fellow who isn't fired with enthusiasm is apt to be fired.

It is the hard-boiled employer, not the soft-hearted species, that incites most of our strikes and does most ot endanger the harmonious progress of democracy.

The man without religion is as a ship without a rudder.

The things that are most worthwhile in life are really those within the reach of almost every normal human being who cares to seek them out.

Censorship defeats the right to self determination.

Music in general and lately opera in particular fills my soul with hope and inspiration.

I never know what will happen. I have fallen on my face - not literally, thank goodness! - many times. But I always survive. And I don't let it stop me.

Nothing matters as long as you are kind and authentic. If you are, then you did your best, and that is all you can do.

Love is all that matters.

I try to be mindful in my daily life, trying to stay more present and have more intention. It keeps me calm, and I feel less whipped about by my emotions.

It is important to me to keep trying to push myself to try lots of new musical styles and approaches. To keep growing. It is my version of jumping out of planes.

People without independence have no business to meddle with science. It should never be linked with lucre.

I have in hands, now, specimens of bottom from t he Gulf Stream, obtained by Lieutenant Craven, and I can say that they are among the most interesting that I have ever seen.

[Geology] may be looked upon as the history of the earth's changes during preparation for the reception of organized beings, a history, which has all the character of a great epic.

In old age the secret springs of human nature are apt to come out.

We give all we have, lives, property, safety, skill...we fight, we die, for a simple thing. Only that a man can stand up.

Most American heroes of the Revolutionary period are by now two men, the actual man and the romantic image. Some are even three men - the actual man, the image, and the debunked remains.

they reminded me of the biggest liar I ever knew personally. Was a farmer, too. Reputation of pretty good farmer at that, but he lied so he had to hire another man to call his pigs.

How to fail: Try too hard.

Re raising kids: Love, without discipline, isn't.

Looking the part helps get the chance to fill it. But if you fill the part, it matters not if you look it.

Working at what you enjoy is far more important than what you're working at.

Elected leaders who forget how they got there won't the next time.

When young, you're shocked by the number of people who turn out to have feet of clay. Older, you're surprised by the number of people who don't.

You can't fool the mirror-what you see is what you are.

Once in a while there's wisdom in recognizing that the Boss is.

. . . the most difficult thing asked by our young is not our earnings but our ears.

Compliment others on the virtues they have; and they're not half as pleased as being complimented for the ones they don't have.

The hardest time to tell: when to stop.

When you catch what you're after, it's gone.

What advertising dum-dum signed up Ilie Nastase to sell a resort?! Who'd want to go where he's at?

When you don't understand, it's sometimes easier to look like you do.

Enlightening editorial writers is even more difficult than educating educators.

Security isn't securities. It's knowing that someone cares whether you are or cease to be.

Food may be essential as fuel for the body, but good food is fuel for the soul.

If you don't know, it's not always necessary to admit it.