Buxton, Charles -- Notes of Thought (1873)
Bad temper is its own scourge. Few things are bitterer than to feel bitter. A man’s venom poisons himself more than his victim. Charles Buxton (1823-1871) English brewer, philanthropist, writer,...
View ArticleMiller, Henry -- Letter to Anaïs Nin (24 May 1933)
I don’t want to be bitter about life — about love and friendship and all the human emotional entanglements. I’ve had more than my share of human disappointments, deprivations, disillusionment. I want...
View ArticleCamus, Albert -- The Fall (1956)
Another fine quotation from WIST - Wish I'd Said That! . I never complained that my birthday was overlooked; people were even surprised, with a touch of admiration, by my discretion on this subject....
View ArticlePetit-Senn, Jean-Antoine -- (Attributed)
Another fine quotation from WIST - Wish I'd Said That! . Envy, like flame, blackens that which is above it, and which it cannot reach.
View ArticleGoldman, William -- The Princess Bride (1973)
Another fine quotation from WIST - Wish I'd Said That! . Cynics are simply thwarted romantics.
View ArticleMandela, Nelson -- (Attributed)
As I walked out the door toward my freedom, I knew that if I did not leave all the anger, hatred, and bitterness behind, that I would still be in prison. Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) South African...
View ArticleKing, Martin Luther -- “Give Us the Ballot,” Speech, Prayer Pilgrimage for...
This is no day for the rabble-rouser, whether he be Negro or white. We must realize that we are grappling with the most weighty social problem of this nation, and in grappling with such a complex...
View ArticleKing, Martin Luther -- Stride Toward Freedom, “Three Ways of Meeting...
Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves...
View ArticleHurston, Zora Neale -- Dust Tracks on a Road, ch. 16 (1942)
To me, bitterness is the under-arm odor of wishful weakness. It is the graceless acknowledgment of defeat. Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) American writer, folklorist, anthropologistDust Tracks on a...
View ArticleAngelou, Maya -- In Mary Chamberlain, ed., Writing Lives: Conversations...
Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns all clean. Maya Angelou (1928-2014) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]In Mary Chamberlain,...
View ArticleDe Botton, Alain -- The Consolations of Philosophy, ch. 3 “Consolation for...
Reason allows us to determine when our wishes are in irrevocable conflict with reality, and then bids us to submit ourselves willingly, rather than angrily or bitterly, to necessities. We may be...
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Howe, Edgar Watson -- Ventures in Common Sense, “Miscellany of Life” (1919)
The greatest humiliation in life, is to work hard on something from which you expect great appreciation, and then fail to get it. Edgar Watson "Ed" Howe (1853-1937) American journalist and author [E....
View ArticleShakespeare, William -- As You Like It, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 45ff [Orlando] (1599)
But, O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man’s eyes! William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poetAs You Like It, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 45ff [Orlando] (1599)
View ArticleZweig, Stefan -- Beware of Pity (1939)
Unhappiness makes people vulnerable, incessant suffering unjust. Just as in the relations between a creditor and a debtor there is always an element of the disagreeable that can never be overcome, for...
View ArticleAmiel, Henri-Frédéric -- Journal Intime, 27 May 1849 [tr. Ward (1885)]
To be misunderstood even by those whom one loves is the cross and bitterness of life. Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss philosopher, poet, criticJournal Intime, 27 May 1849 [tr. Ward (1885)]
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