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There is nothing which we receive with so much reluctance as advice.
-Joseph Addison
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…a man should say to his soul every morning, "God has given thee twenty-four treasures; take heed lest thou lose anyone of them, for thou wilt not be able to endure the regret that will follow such loss."
-Abu Hamid Al-Ghazzali, The Alchemy of Happiness, Ch. 6: Concerning Self-Examination and the Recollection of God
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Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people's actions, and see what they would be at, as often as it is practicable; and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself.
-Marcus Aurelius
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He that gives good advice builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example builds with both.
-Francis Bacon
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There is a misleading, unwritten rule that states if a quote giving advice comes from someone famous, very old, or Greek, then it must be good advice.
-Bo Bennett
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Older and wiser voices can always help you find the right path, if you are only willing to listen.
-Jimmy Buffett, A Pirate Looks At 50
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"All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to receive help from other people."
-Alexis Carrel, Reflections on Life
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Advice is judged by results, not by intention.
-Marcus Tullius Cicero
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"A word to the wise ain't necessary -- it's the stupid ones that need the advice."
-Bill Cosby
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Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.
-Anne Frank
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"I agree with every word you write, and I can prove this in no better way than by taking your advice from beginning to end."
-Ellen Glasgow, Letters of Ellen Glasgow
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"The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause... A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding; when it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business."
-Eric Hoffer, Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
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"The moral authority of our most cherished institutions comes from their voluntary nature: the value of advice from a priest, a teacher or a loved one depends in large part on the fact that we are free to ignore it. But judges' pieces of 'advice' are court orders, enforceable ultimately by the raw physical power of imprisonment. It is precisely because of the awesomely enforceable nature of our powers that we must be so circumspect in exercising them. It is one thing for a co-worker, family member, doctor, or clergyman to confront someone about a perceived drug problem; it is quite another thing for a judge to compel drug treatment. Drug courts not only fail to recognize this important institutional distinction, but their very purpose is to obliterate it."
-Judge Morris Hoffman
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Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.
-Erica Jong
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This is a great country, and it wasn't made so by angry people. We have a sacred duty to bequeath it to our grandchildren in better shape than however we found it. We have a long way to go and we're not getting any younger.
Dante said that the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral, so I have spoken my piece, and thank you, dear reader. It's a beautiful world, rain or shine, and there is more to life than winning.
-Garrison Keillor, Homegrown Democrat, 2004
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Until thy feet have trod the Road
Advise not wayside folk,
Nor till thy back has borne the Load
Break in upon the broke.
Chase not with undesired largesse
Of sympathy the heart
Which, knowing her own bitterness,
Presumes to dwell apart.
Employ not that glad hand to raise
The God-forgotten head
To Heaven and all the neighbours' gaze --
Cover thy mouth instead.
The quivering chin, the bitten lip,
The cold and sweating brow,
Later may yearn for fellowship --
Not now, you ass, not now!
Time, not thy ne'er so timely speech,
Life, not thy views thereon,
Shall furnish or deny to each
His consolation.
Or, if impelled to interfere,
Exhort, uplift, advise,
Lend not a base, betraying ear
To all the victim's cries.
Only the Lord can understand,
When those first pangs begin,
How much is reflex action and
How much is really sin.
E'en from good words thyself refrain,
And tremblingly admit
There is no anodyne for pain
Except the shock of it.
So, when thine own dark hour shall fall,
Unchallenged canst thou say:
"I never worried you at all,
For God's sake go away!"
-Rudyard Kipling, The Comforters
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" Live. And Live Well. BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun. If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time. If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well. Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done-a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn't catch it all… because soon he'll be wiping his own. If you've recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well. At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift."
-Kyle Lake, Sermon
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I realize that advice is worth what it costs--that is, nothing.
-General Douglas MacArthur
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I sometimes give myself admirable advice, but I am incapable of taking it.
-Mary Wortley Montagu
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"Vos vestros servate, meos mihi linquite mores"
"You keep to your own ways, and leave mine to me"
Editor's note: seems to be a predecessor to "Live and Let Live"
-Plutarch
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Michael:
This used to be my father's old study -- it's changed. I remember there used to be a big desk, right here. I remember when I was a kid, Frankie, we had to be very quiet when we played near here. I was very happy that this house never went to strangers -- first Clemenza took it over, now you. My father taught me many things here -- he taught me in this room...
(then, as Michael sits beside Pentangeli)
He taught me -- keep your friends close but your enemies closer.
-Mario Puzo, Al Pacino as Michael Corleone to Frank Pentangeli, from "The Godfather, Part II"
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Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example.
-François de La Rochefoucauld
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Virtue depends partly upon training and partly upon practice; you must learn first, and then strengthen your learning by action. If this be true, not only do the doctrines of wisdom help us but the precepts also, which check and banish our emotions by a sort of official decree.
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger), Letters to Lucilius - On the value of advice (Epistle XCIV)
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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who matter don't mind, and those that mind, don't matter."
-Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel)
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The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
-Hannah Whitall Smith
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No enemy is worse than bad advice.
-Sophocles
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“The answer is in thy heart. Thee can always hear it, if thee listens for it.”
-Elizabeth George Speare, The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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"No one wants advice -- only corroboration."
-John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent
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Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.
-Teresa of Avila
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"Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill. But what would you? You have not told me all concerning yourself; and how then shall I choose better than you?"
[Gildor says this in response to Frodo saying ""Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes."]
-J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
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"The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and in a thousand things well."
-Horace Walpole
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LORD GORING:
I am glad you have called. I am going to give you some good advice.
MRS. CHEVELEY:
Oh! pray don't. One should never give a woman anything that she can't wear in the evening.
-Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband: Act 3
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LORD GORING:
My father told me to go to bed an hour ago. I don't see why I shouldn't give you the same advice. I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.
-Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband, Act 1
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I always advise people never to give advice.
-P. G. [Sir Pelham Grenville] Wodehouse
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Books about Advice
