Oliver Wendell Holmes

Famous quotes containing the words oliver wendell holmes, wendell holmes, oliver wendell, oliver and/or wendell:

    “Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable.”
    —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)

    “Unpretending mediocrity is good, and genius is glorious; but a weak flavor of genius in an essentially common person is detestable. It spoils the grand neutrality of a commonplace character, as the rinsings of an unwashed wine-glass spoil a draught of fair water.”
    —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)

    “Life and language are alike sacred. Homicide and verbicide—that is, violent treatment of a word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning, which is its life—are alike forbidden.”
    —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)

    “Lunch? You gotta be kidding. Lunch is for wimps.”
    —Stanley Weiser, U.S. screenwriter, and Oliver Stone. Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas)

    “The parson was working his Sunday’s text,—
    Had got to fifthly, and stopped perplexed
    At what the—Moses—was coming next.”
    —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)