Inspirational Quotes 73

Be yourself, be spontaneous, be sincere. Yeah.


When I saw her approaching in the hall I’d grab a friend by the elbow and throw my head back in laughter so she’d perceive me as being popular and bubbly. (Meghan Daum on her mother)

I know someone whose entire circle of friends consists of ex-flings. (Alex Andreou)

I still absolutely stand by the fact that if you have good manners, people will like you. And if people like you, they will help you, socially and professionally. ... If I’m interviewing somebody, she walks in, she looks me in the eye, she sits down, she knows how to engage me conversationally and she doesn’t bore me rigid, I’m going to be far more impressed than with somebody who walks in with some kickass CV but hasn’t bothered to wash her hair, is picking at her nails, can’t look me in the eye, and is frankly boring me rigid. It’s human nature. (Editor of the Tatler, in the Obs, Nov 2014)

According to a Mississippi pageant director: “When a girl wins the pageant, it’s because she wins in interview. It’s like anything else in life. It’s not just about showing brains. You have to have a sense of humour. You have to be charming. You have to show personality." (NYT)

As with most sex acts, no one ever gives you a “how to” on the subject. (thegloss.com on BJs)

Valuing you as a person – not just your grades, your place in society or how cool you dress. (Woman vicar on BBC Breakfast admits the importance of social position and a cool wardrobe.)

The psychology of "mate poaching" - when you form a relationship by taking someone else's partner (BPS Apparently relationships formed this way are less satisfactory, as the poachees are not great at commitment.)

Moving in together is 1 of life’s #milestonemoments. (Aviva)

Would you like your child to marry this speaker? (You Say Potato: A Book About Accents, Ben Crystal and David Crystal)

Most of us feel deep relief when we are told where to go, where to sit and whose instructions to listen to. (Dora Mortimer)


That's the negativity of the four-ale bar. (John Major on UKIP on the Marr Show)

Members of this rejectionist minority are more likely to have left school at 16 and they are less affluent. They are older as well. (Guardian on poll into attitudes re immigration)


Alcoholics make the rules. They make it impossible for you to leave, or to change anything. They normalise abnormal behaviour. Adam Mars-Jones’s father used to have to be carried home from the club many nights, but he pretended everything was fine. “The whole charade made it surprisingly easy to play along.” His apologies “seemed designed to wind up the tension rather than soothe it. They were strange cocktails of amnesia, shoulder-shrugging and indirect accusation... ‘Your mother tells me that you were upset by something I said last night... I don’t remember what it was, but all I can say is, you can be very annoying’.” He would apologise, but “he did not accept there was a pattern of behaviour attributable to drink”. (LRB, Nov 2014)

We are now in the hands of Isaac Newton. (Comet lander team, Nov 2014)

I have done my utmost for some years past, to stop the progress of “mob” and “banter”, but have been plainly born down by numbers, and betrayed by those who promised to assist me. (Jonathan Swift complains that young people talk slang and that plainly we are all going to Hell in a handcart.)

More here, and links to the rest.