Ann Landers Quotes

A man spends the first half of his life learning habits that shorten the other half.

At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At age 40, we don't care what they think of us. At age 60, we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all.

Children have an uncanny way of living up - or down - to what is expected of them.

Maintaining self-respect in the face of a devastating experience is of prime importance.

There are really only three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, What happened?

There could be no honor in a sure success, but much might be wrested from a sure defeat.

The real question is why are millions of people so unhappy, so bored, so unfulfilled, that they are willing to drink, snort, inject or inhale any substance that might blot out reality and give them a bit of temporary relief.

Some women have the best husbands. Others make the best of the husbands they have.

The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie.

Maturity: Be able to stick with a job until it is finished. Be able to bear an injustice without having to get even. Be able to carry money without spending it. Do your duty without being supervised.

Are you better off with him or without him?

Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.

If you want your children to listen, try talking softly - to someone else.

It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.

many people think that holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. But there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go - and then to do it.

Some things get better with age, but after a certain point, the mind isn't among them.

Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat.

More divorces start in the bedroom than in any other room in the house.

Parents do not owe their progeny an inheritance no matter how much money they have. One of the surest ways to produce loafers and freeloaders is to let children know that their future is assured.

Maturity is the ability to harness your abilities and your energies and do more than is expected. The mature person refuses to settle for mediocrity. He/she would rather aim high and miss the mark than low-and make it.

The best way to find something you have lost is to buy a replacement.

Class is considerate of others. It knows that good manners is nothing more than a series of petty sacrifices.

Blessed are they who hold lively conversations with the helplessly mute, for they shall be called dentists.

Being interested is more important than being interesting.

At every party there are two kinds of people - those who want to go home and those who don't. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.

You're all you've got.

Maturity isn't a product of growing older. It's a product of growing wiser.

You need that guy like a giraffe needs strep throat.

Love is content with the present, it hopes for the future and it doesn't brood over the past.

What we steadily, consciously, habitually think we are, that we tend to become.

People have one year after the wedding to send a gift. Thank-you notes must be written immediately. If you don't receive an acknowledgment within three months, phone and ask if it was received. If the bride and groom are embarrassed, fine. They deserve to be.

Maturity is perseverance-the ability to sweat out a project or a situation, in spite of heavy opposition and discouraging setbacks, and stick with it until it is finished.

Bragging may not bring happiness, but no man having caught a large fish goes home through an alley.

Class is real. It can't be faked.

People of integrity expect to be believed. They also know time will prove them right and are willing to wait.

Imagine you had a bank that each morning credited your account with $1,440 - with one condition: whatever part of the $1,440 you failed to use during the day would be erased from your account, and no balance would be carried over. What would you do? You'd draw out every cent every day and use it to your best advantage. Well, you do have such a bank, and its name is time. Every morning, this bank credits you with 1,440 minutes. And it writes off as forever lost whatever portion you have failed to invest to good purpose.

Never let an opportunity pass to give a well-deserved compliment.

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.

Know when to tune out, if you listen to too much advice you may wind up making other peoples mistakes.

A cigarette is a roll of paper, tobacco, and drugs, with a small fire on one end and a large fool at the other. Some of its chief benefits are cancer of the lips and stomach, softening of the brain, funeral procesions, and families shrouded in gloom and grief. Although a great many people know this, they still smoke in order to appear sophisticated.

Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared. It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It's the sure-footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life.

Find comfort in the knowledge that no imitator ever comes off as well as the original.

Some people take pleasure in regaling one and all with details of their poor health. They are happy to give an organ recital to anyone who will listen.

The poor wish to be rich, the rich wish to be happy, the single wish to be married, and the married wish to be dead.

Don't give up. Keep going. there is always a chance that you stumble onto something terrific. I have never heard of anyone stumbling over anything while he was sitting down

Nobody says you must laugh, but a sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected, and smile through the day.

When a person begins to yell during an argument, it is a tip-off that he is unsure of himself.

Don't indulge in gossip ... People who throw mudballs always manage to end up getting a little on themselves.

A happy marriage has the tranquility of a lovely sunset.

In the end, it's not what you do for your children but what you've taught them to do for themselves.

All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making love. Good battle is objective and honest - never vicious or cruel. Good battle is healthy and constructive, and brings to a marriage the principles of equal partnership.

My personal recipe for success is- Do what you love and don't look at the clock.

I made up my mind when I was 15 years old that I would never smoke or drink. I have kept that pledge to myself, and it was one of the smartest decisions I ever made.

People who care about each other enjoy doing things for one another. They don't consider it servitude.

Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.

Strong role models and unconditional love can heal even the most emotionally impoverished person, and that goes for adults as well as youngsters.

Class can 'walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch.' Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because that person is comfortable with himself.

Let this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you have always wanted to do but could not find the time. Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories. Vow not to make a promise you do not think you can keep. Walk tall, and smile more. You will look 10 years younger. Do not be afraid to say, I love you. Say it again. They are the sweetest words in the world.

No one can take advantage of you without your permission.

Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead, that is where your future lies.

Class never runs scared.
It is sure-footed and confident.
It can handle anything that comes along.
Class has a sense of humor.
It knows a good laugh is the best lubricant for oiling the machinery of human relations.

Class never makes excuses.
It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes.
Class knows that good manners are nothing more than a series of small, inconsequential sacrifices.

Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with ancestors or money.
Some wealthy "blue bloods" have no class, while individuals who are struggling to make ends meet are loaded with it.

Class is real.
It can't be faked.

Class never tried to build itself by tearing others down.
Class is already up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse.

Class can "walk with kings and keep it's virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch." Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because that person is comfortable with himself.

If you have class, you've got it made.

If you don't have class, no matter what else you have, it doesn't make any difference.

No one has the right to destroy another person's belief by demanding empirical evidence.

Life is rough for everyone ... Life isn't always fair. Whatever it is that hits the fan, its never evenly distributed - some always tend to get more of it than others.

Most of us would be willing to pay as we go if we could just finish paying for where we've been.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

One trouble with trouble is that it usually starts out like fun.

Bragging is not an attractive trait, but let's be honest. A man who catches a big fish doesn't go home through an alley.

Marriage is not a reform school.

Some men have no idea how to romance a woman. However, women who teach their husbands what they like will be well-rewarded.

It's one of the ironies of human nature that the most sensitive people are generally insensitive to the feelings of others.

One out of four people in this country is mentally unbalanced. Think of your three closes friends; if they seem OK, then you're the one.

Experience, they say, is the best teacher, but we get the grade first and the lesson later.

A person doesn't know how much he has to be thankful for until he has to pay taxes on it.

People, like water, seek their own level.

Pity the poor millionaire. He'll never know the thrill of paying that final installment.

Some people believe that holding on and hanging there are signs of strength, but there are times in life when it takes much more strength just to let go.

The adult who is constantly changing friends and changing mates is immature. He/she cannot stick it out because he/she has not grown up.

Friends with benefits? More than friends? Don't sample the goodies unless you're willing to risk addiction and withdrawal.

TV has had a stronger impact on our society than any single invention since the automobile. It has put the dead hand on conversation ...

Guilt is a pollutant and we don't need any more of it in the world.

Did is a word of achievement,
Won't is a word of retreat,
Might is a word of bereavement,
Can't is a word of defeat,
Ought is a word of duty,
Try is a word each hour,
Will is a word of beauty,
Can is a word of power.

When life's problems seem overwhelming, look around and see what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself fortunate.

If you want to catch trout, don't fish in a herring barrel.

The trouble with talking too fast is you may say something you haven't thought of yet.

Maturity is humility. It is being big enough to say, "I was wrong." And, when he/she is right, the mature person need not experience the satisfaction of saying, "I told you so."

If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough.