Shortest Quotes

Men are guided less by conscience than by glory; and yet the shortest way to glory is to be guided by conscience. ~ Henry Home, Lord Kames

Shortest distance possible, finally reaching the bottom, the point of perfect rest. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The shortest answer is doing. ~ George Herbert

Those that burn short burn bright. The shortest lives can cast the longest shadows. ~ Mark Lawrence, Red Sister

To explain the Use of Education, no Method can be more effectual, than to shew what dull Mistakes and silly Notions Men are apt to be led into for Want of it. These Mistakes are so numerous, that if we were to undertake to divulge all the Errors that Men of no Knowledge in the Sciences labour under, the shortest Way would be to publish a compleat System of Natural Philosophy, which Learning, as it may be acquired by reading the different Books, which have already been wrote upon that Subject, in this Aera of the Sciences, such an Undertaking would be quite needless at this Time, even supposing the Author capable of that laborious Work. If the following Sheets do but serve to divest Men of some of those unreasonable Obstinacies with which they and their Forefathers have long been prepossessed, the Time will be well laid out, both of the Writer and Reader. ~ Stephen Fovargue

Nature operates in the shortest way possible. ~ Aristotle.

Just follow that line forever," said the Mathemagician, "and when you reach the end, turn left. There you'll find the land of Infinity, where the tallest, the shortest, the biggest, the smallest, and the most and least of everything are kept."
"I don't have that much time," said Milo anxiously. "isn't there a quicker way?"
"Well, you might try this flight of stairs," he suggested, opening another door and pointing up."It goes there, too. ~ Norton Juster

Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven. There are others: innocence, but that is for little children; penance, but we are afraid of it; generous endurance of trials of life, but when they come we weep and ask to be. The surest, easiest, shortest way is the Eucharist. ~ Pope Pius X

The shortest way to get to the real answer is via the imaginary ~ Joanna Tilsley

Most likely because the majority of the receptionists have gone home, to a sick partner according to statistics, in the country with the shortest working hours in the world, the biggest health budget and the highest proportion of sick leave. ~ Jo Nesbo

Even if you're going to live three thousand more years, or ten times that, remember: you cannot lose another life than the one you're living now, or live another one than the one you're losing. The longest amounts to the same as the shortest. The present is the same for everyone; its loss is the same for everyone; and it should be clear that a brief instant is all that is lost. For you can't lose either the past or the future; how could you lose what you don't have? ~ Marcus Aurelius

What is a good performance? It lies in the hands and head of a performer ... the shortest way between two people is not a straight line. ~ Earle Brown

Never go for someone that represents something that is more of a fantasy than reality in this crazy world of lonely people, unless it is for the shortest time possible, and unless you have clearly figured out an exit strategy. ~ Janvier Chouteu-Chando

Sen. Joe Biden, on the day of announcing his candidacy for president of the United States, called Barack Obama the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, bright, and ... clean. I think we've seen the shortest presidential campaign in history. ~ Jay Leno

If we were to construct a similar map for society, it would have to include each person's professional and personal interests and chart everyone she or he knew. It would make Milgram's experiment seem clumsy and obsolete by allowing us to find, in seconds, the shortest path to any person in the world. It would be a must-use tool for everyone from politicians to salespeople and epidemiologists. Of course, such a social search engine is impossible to build, since it would take at least a lifetime to interrogate all 6 billion people on the earth to learn about their friends and acquaintances. ~ Albert Laszlo Barabasi

At this point the question of Ukraine is the most important. The situation in Ukraine is very bad. If we don't take steps now to improve the situation, we may lose Ukraine. The objective should be to transform Ukraine , in the shortest period of time, into a real fortress of the U.S.S.R. ~ Joseph Stalin

The compass of accurate knowledge directs the shortest, safest, cheapest course to any destination ~ Claude C. Hopkins

The shortest and surest way of arriving at real knowledge is to unlearn the lessons we have been taught, to mount the first principles, and take nobody's word about them. ~ Henry Bolingbroke

The shot has gone under my rib, Boulard my boy, so it must have been the shortest one who fired.
Even his final sigh was a police investigation. ~ Timothee De Fombelle

What is a date? A date is when two people, who hardly know each other, go out to dinner, and push their food around their plates nervously, while trying to ask as many questions as possible in the shortest possible time. ~ Danielle Steel

You should observe, and have observed, in which direction God urges you most of all to go, for, as St. Paul says, not all people are called to follow the same path to God. If you find then that the shortest way for you does not lie in many outward works, great endurance and privation (which things are in any case of little importance unless we are particularly called to them by God or unless we have sufficient strength to perform them without disrupting our inner life), if you do not find these things right for you, then be at peace and have little to do with them.


But then you might say: if they are not important, why did our forebears, including many saints, do these things? Consider this: if our Lord gave them this particular kind of devotional practice, then he also gave them the strength to carry it through, and it was this which pleased him and which was their greatest achievement. For God has not linked our salvation with any particular kind of devotion . . . Not everyone can follow the same way, nor can all people follow only one way, nor can we follow all the different ways or everyone else's way . . . It is the same with following the severe life-style of such saints. You should love their way and find it appealing, even though you do not have to follow their example. ~ Meister Eckhart

The book of Jonah is one of the shortest books in the Bible. Yet, something beneath the surface whispers to us, hinting that there is much more beneath this little book. (page iii) ~ Michael Ben Zehabe

Indeed, laughter may be the shortest distance between two brains, an unstoppable infectious spread that builds an instant social bond. ~ Daniel Goleman

At bank, post office or supermarket, there is one universal law which you ignore at your own peril: the shortest line moves the slowest. ~ Bill Vaughan

As regards obstacles, the shortest distance between two points can be a curve. ~ Bertolt Brecht

It is in life as it is in ways, the shortest way is commonly the foulest, and surely the fairer way is not much about. ~ Francis Bacon

God is very generous and does not deny His grace to anyone. Indeed he gives more than what we ask of Him. Faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit-that is the shortest route. ~ Mary Faustina Kowalska

The cacophony in my head is completely unmanageable, and it's out of the failure to blend all those dissonant voices smoothly that whatever individuality I might have has managed to emerge. Imitation is the condition of originality. Or, to put it another way: imitation is the shortest route to and the truest test of proficiency. To mimic a master requires skill and practice, which become the sources of your own mastery. ~ A.O. Scott

Learn from professionals and experts to save you time and effort. The shortest way to learn something is by learning from those who spent long years gaining the experience and reaching professionalism. Their knowledge is what will help you make fewer mistakes and errors in what you want to learn. ~ Noora Ahmed Alsuwaidi

The proper union of gin and vermouth is a great and sudden glory; it is one of the happiest marriages on earth, and one of the shortest lived. ~ Bernard DeVoto

It was Archimedes of Syracuse who first said that the shortest distance between two points was the straight line connecting them. Far be it from me to ever cast a shadow upon the wisdom of a Golden Age Greek, but Archimedes had it wrong. The length of the straight line between two people who don't dare admit they're in love is infinite. ~ Julie Berry

The societies which have achieved the most spectacular broad-based economic progress in the shortest period of time are not the most tightly controlled, not necessarily the biggest in size, or the wealthiest in natural resources. No, what unites them all is their willingness to believe in the magic of the marketplace. ~ Ronald Reagan

Try not to pay attention to those who will try to make life miserable for you. There will be a lot of those
in the official capacity as well as the self-appointed. Suffer them if you can't escape them, but once you have steered clear of them, give them the shortest shrift possible. Above all, try to avoid telling stories about the unjust treatment you received at their hands; avoid it no matter how receptive your audience may be. Tales of this sort extend the existence of your antagonists ... ~ Joseph Brodsky

And maybe digression isn't really digression, maybe the shortest distance between two mind points is not a straight line. Chew on that. ~ David Duchovny

There's never been anyone but you, Bryn ... ever. You've been that one shining star in the night sky, shining brighter than the others, until that's all you can see in the surrounding darkness." His lips rested over mine, for the shortest moment, before they fell away. "Your light is blinding. ~ Nicole Williams

People - pardon me, journalists and politicians - have often accused me of believing that I'm above the law. And yet, who isn't? Everywhere you prod it, even with the shortest stick, the established system isn't simply corrupt, it's unequivocally putrescent. The law is created by demonstrable criminals, enforced by demonstrable, interpreted by demonstrable criminals, all for demonstrably criminal purposes. Of course I'm above the law. And so are you. ~ L. Neil Smith

Being a hero is about the shortest-lived profession on Earth. ~ Will Rogers

I always thought that the shortest distance between failure and success is luck. It so appears now that if you account for the wait time, the shortest distance between failure and success is action. ~ Majid Kazmi

Even the shortest love story reminds me of how much I love you. ~ Terry A O'Neal

The best sentence? The shortest. ~ Anatole France

Are you aiming for our make-up to be
the shortest in history or what? ~ Kristen Ashley

They say that February is the shortest month, but you know they could be wrong. ~ Tom Robbins

A priest, a politician, and a philosopher walk into a bar, and the bartender stabs one of them. Which one did he stab? (Hint: the shortest one.) ~ Jarod Kintz

The easiest and shortest way to God -realization is through the contact of a Sadguru , which means keeping the company or sahavas of such a Master, obeying him and serving him. This remedy is like a special express train which carries you straight to your destination. ~ Meher Baba

The problem with relegating black history to one really short month, the shortest month, is not only are we telling the same stories over and over again - which are amazing, George Washington Carver is incredible, there's nobody like Frederick Douglass - but there are so many. ~ Karyn Parsons

In a British University, a final exam question on Business was:
"Define what risk is".
The shortest answer ever at one word was :
"This."
The student handed the essay in and got 100%. ~ Anonymous

Thanks to our friends at the dot-ME Registry, WordPress is able to offer one of the shortest and most effective URLs available today. ~ Matt Mullenweg

The longest way round is the shortest way home.
(Quoting Alexander MacLaren, The Wearied Christ and Other Sermons) ~ C.S. Lewis

There is what is called the highway to posts and honor, and there is a cross and by way, which is much the shortest. ~ Jean De La Bruyere

In the mountains the shortest way is from peak to peak; but for that one must have long legs. Aphorisms should be peaks – and those who are addressed, tall and lofty. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The wisest man takes the shortest path to peace with himself. ~ Robin Hobb

What can I do?" Klaus asked.
"You can pray this works," Violet said, but the Baudelaire sisters were so quick with their tasks that there was no time for even the shortest of religious ceremonies. ~ Lemony Snicket

You can have computer sights of anything you like, but I think you have to go to the enemy on the shortest distance and knock him down from point-blank range. You'll get him from in close. At long distance, it's questionable. ~ Erich Hartmann

People don't care about being duped as long as they're happy, which is the shortest form of happiness; hence 'self-duprication' becomes a habit. ~ Criss Jami

Let us seek Death, or he not found, supply With our own hands his office on ourselves; Why stand we longer shivering under fears, That show no end but death, and have the power, Of many ways to die the shortest choosing, Destruction with destruction to destroy. ~ John Milton

Many years spent listening to the tribulations of man have persuaded me that the satisfaction of all desires is completely counterproductive to happiness. Instant and unrestrained gratification is the shortest and most direct route to unhappiness. ~ James E. Faust

Sometimes the shortest distance between two points is a winding path walked arm in arm. ~ Robert Breault

Recreational shopping is the shortest distance between two points: you and broke. ~ Victoria Moran

The cook in the kitchen preparing a meal from plants and animals at the end of this shortest of food chains has a great many things to worry about, but "health" is simply not one of them, because it is given. ~ Michael Pollan

If you act anxiously to hasten your results, you delay their arrival. Calm poise reveals the shortest route home. ~ Alan Cohen

Jokes are better than war. Even the most aggressive jokes are better than the least aggressive wars. Even the longest jokes are better than the shortest wars. ~ George Mikes

No one could work harder to be happy," Tocqueville observes of Americans, marveling at the ceaseless, restless energy they expand in search of a better life. Rushing from one thing tho the next, an American will travel hundreds of miles in a day. He will build a house in which to pass his old age and then sell it before the roof is on. He will continually change paths "for fear of missing the shortest cut leading to happiness. ~ Darrin M. McMahon

Clearly the most unfortunate people are those who must do the same thing over and over again, every minute, or perhaps twenty to the minute. They deserve the shortest hours and the highest pay. ~ John Kenneth Galbraith

Weight is caused by one element being situated in another; and it moves by the shortest line towards its centre, not by its own choice, not because the centre draws it to itself, but because the other intervening element cannot withstand it. ~ Leonardo Da Vinci

There are many paths to victory; choose the shortest one! There are many paths to defeat; choose the longest one! ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

The highest knowledge can be nothing more than the shortest and clearest road to truth; all the rest is pretension, not performance, mere verbiage and grandiloquence, from which we can learn nothing. ~ Charles Caleb Colton

Harrison's 8,400-word inaugural speech was the longest ever, while his 30-day Presidency was the shortest. ~ George Washington

I wish we may learn from all our changes, to be sober and watchful, not to rest in grace received, in experience or comforts, but still to be pressing forward, and never think ourselves either safe or happy, but when we are beholding the glory of Christ by the light of faith in the glass of the Gospel. To view him as God manifest in the flesh, as all in all in himself, and all in all for us; this is cheering, this is strengthening, this makes hard things easy, and bitter things sweet. This includes all I can wish for my dear friends, that you may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus. To know him, is the shortest description of true grace; to know him better, is the surest mark of growth in grace; to know him perfectly, is eternal life. This is the prize of our high calling; the sum and substance of all we can desire or hope for is, to see him as he is, and to be like him: and to this honor and happiness he will surely bring all that love his name.81 ~ Tony Reinke

Sometimes, we supposedly grown-up people are as blind as newborn kittens. Our vision is inevitably obscured by someone else's negative experience – an unwanted opinion, the moralising of both those close to us and indifferent strangers – and we are prevented from seeing the shortest and straightest road to the unlimited happiness put aside for us by a higher power. ~ Victoria Sobolev

My father said being an artist is the shortest road to the poor house , claiming "real" work is something you don't like. I ignored him through oppositional behavior, later reasoning that only an idiot sets out to find the poor house , not to mention devote himself to something he does not love. Instead, I discovered an interesting back road to the unknown , and deliberately without a safety net. ~ Russell Chatham

Philosophy's work is finding the shortest path between two points. ~ Khalil Gibran

But the shortest works are always the best. ~ Jean De La Fontaine

On Sundays, Presbyterians were not allowed to eat hot food or read the funny papers or travel the shortest journey; parents believed in Hell and believed tiny babies could go there. Baptists were not supposed to know, up until their dying day, how to play cards or dance. And so on. ~ Eudora Welty

Sometimes, the shortest path between two points is serpentine, ~ Christopher Benfey

What is it about Iowa? I'm the shortest guy in the state. ~ Jason Alexander

The shortest road to wealth lies in the contempt of wealth. ~ Seneca The Younger

It is of course the nature of historical contraction that the shortest distance to a historical destination is never a straight line. ~ Ibrahim Babangida

The shortest and the hardest journey to make is the inner one. ~ Omisona Fasina

This is tantamount to saying, "My hand is weak. I cannot draw a straight line, - that is, a line which will be the shortest line between two given points, - and so, in order to make it more easy for myself, I, intending to draw a straight, will choose for my model a crooked line." The weaker my hand, the greater the need that my model should be perfect. ~ Leo Tolstoy

The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian. ~ Aiden Wilson Tozer

Gratitude incorporates both the heart and mind, and instantly paves the shortest road to happiness. ~ Alan Cohen

Spring is the shortest season. ~ Linda Pastan

The shortest path to exceeding expectations doesn't generally pass through meeting expectations. ~ Ward Cunningham

My advice to defensive players: Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in a bad humor. ~ Bowden Wyatt

Perhaps the shortest and most powerful prayer in human language is help. ~ Thomas Keating

A million years is a short time - the shortest worth messing with for most problems. You begin tuning your mind to a time scale that is the planet's time scale. For me, it is almost unconscious now and is a kind of companionship with the earth. ~ John McPhee

Pain dies quickly, and lets her weary prisoners go; the fiercest agonies have shortest reign. ~ William C. Bryant

Good interviewers share three features. They . . . obtain the greatest amount of accurate information relevant to diagnosis and management, in the shortest period of time, consistent with creating and maintaining a good working relationship (rapport) with the patient. ~ James Morrison

The shortest route to deeper and richer worship is a clearer theology. ~ Paul David Manson

The straight line is regarded as the shortest distance between two people, as if they were points. ~ Theodor Adorno

The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory ~ Mark Batterson

Do not several sorts of Rays make Vibrations of several bignesses, which according to their bigness excite Sensations of several Colours, much after the manner that the Vibrations of the Air, according to their several bignesses excite Sensations of several Sounds? And particularly do not the most refrangible Rays excite the shortest Vibrations for making a Sensation of deep violet, the least refrangible the largest form making a Sensation of deep red, and several intermediate sorts of Rays, Vibrations of several intermediate bignesses to make Sensations of several intemediate Colours? ~ Isaac Newton

It's all right when you are calling on a girl or talking with friends after dinner to run a conversation like a Sunday-school excursion, with stops to pick flowers; but in the office your sentences should be the shortest distance possible between periods. ~ George Horace Lorimer

The shortest pleasures are the sweetest. ~ George Farquhar

To Komarr, my lord? Or Sergyar?" "No. Calculate the shortest possible jump route directly to Rho Ceta." Vorpatril's head jerked back in startlement. "If the orders I received from Sector Five HQ mean what we think, you'll hardly get passage there. Reception by plasma fire and fusion shells the moment you pop out of the wormhole would be what I'd expect." "Unpack, Miles," Ekaterin's voice drifted in. He grinned briefly at the familiar exasperation in her voice. "By the time we arrive there, I will have arranged our clearances with the Cetagandan Empire." I hope. Or else they were all going to be in more trouble than Miles ever wanted to imagine. "Barrayar is bringing their kidnapped haut babies back to them. On the end of a long stick. I get to be the stick. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold

Let's go see who can eat the most dumplings in the shortest amount of time. And duck! You really ought to try pressed duck! It's a great delicacy." Jem looked at Will, suppressing a smile. His friend glared back, but at last neither of them could hold back their laughter. Will said, "There is nothing so sweet as feasting upon the bones of my enemies. Especially with you at my side. ~ Cassandra Clare

Math is like water. It has a lot of difficult theories, of course, but its basic logic is very simple. Just as water flows from high to low over the shortest possible distance, figures can only flow in one direction. You just have to keep your eye on them for the route to reveal itself. That's all it takes. You don't have to do a thing. Just concentrate your attention and keep your eyes open, and the figures make everything clear to you. In this whole, wide world, the only thing that treats me so kindly is math. ~ Haruki Murakami

So the shortest day came, and the year died. ~ Susan Cooper

Of the four billion life forms which have existed on this planet, three billion, nine hundred and sixty million are now extinct. We don't know why. Some by wanton extinction, some through natural catastrophe, some destroyed by meteorites and asteroids. In the light of these mass extinctions it really does seem unreasonable to suppose that Homo sapiens should be exempt. Our species will have been one of the shortest-lived of all, a mere blink, you may say, in the eye of time. ~ P.D. James

Take the shortest route. The one that nature planned - to speak and act in the healthiest way. Do that, and be free of pain and stress, free of all calculations and pretension. ~ Marcus Aurelius