Norman Cousins

“The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.”

“Just as there is no loss of basic energy in the universe, so no thought or action is without its effects, present or ultimate, seen or unseen, felt or unfelt.”

“The library is not a shrine for the worship of books. It is not a temple where literary incense must be burned or where one's devotion to the bound book is expressed in ritual. A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas - a place where history comes to life.— Cited in ALA Bulletin, Oct. 1954, p.475”

“The way a book is read - which is to say, the qualities a reader brings to a book - can have as much to do with its worth as anything the author puts into it.”

“The individual is capable of both great compassion and great indifference. He has it within his means to nourish the former and outgrow the latter.”

“A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas - a place where history comes to life.”

“Each patient carries his own doctor inside him.”

“Some people don't really know enough to make a pronouncement of doom on a human being.”

“Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions”

“History is a vast early warning system.”

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.”

“The control center of your life is your attitude.”

“Life is an adventure in forgiveness”

“Laughter is inner jogging.”