Mark Twain once said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word … [is] the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
Indeed. Words are powerful and illuminating. And on those rare moments when lightning strikes in the form of a quotation, I like to type it into a special file that I keep squirreled away in my computer.
Here are just a few of the bolts from the blue that I have collected over the years. Each springs from a lifetime of experience and offers a world of wisdom. Perhaps one or two will resonate with you and give you guidance or inspiration when you need it most:
“The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is TEST.” —David Ogilvy
“Advertising is what you do when you can't go see somebody. That's all it is.” — Fairfax Cone
“An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.” — William Bernbach
“My definition of an educated man is the fellow who knows the right thing to do at the time it needs to be done. … You can be sincere and still be stupid.” — Charles F. Kettering
“No living being is held by anything so strongly as its own needs.” — Epictetus
“No one cares how the salesman arrives, only that he has something interesting to say when he knocks on the door.” — Dean Rieck
“Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement.” — Samuel Johnson
“The letter sells; the brochure tells.” — Saying in direct marketing
“Soon after a hard decision something inevitably occurs to cast doubt.” — R.I. Fitzhenry
“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.” — Mark Twain
“Exuberance is better than taste.” — Gustave Flaubert
“Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when it is the only one you have.” — Emile Chartier
“The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts the moment you get up and doesn't stop until you get into the office.” — Robert Frost
“To see what is in front of one's nose requires a constant struggle.” — George Orwell
“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” — Peter T. McIntyre
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” — Thomas Edison
“A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved.” — Charles F. Kettering
“Facts are to the mind what food is to the body.” — Edmund Burke
“You can see a lot just by looking.” — Yogi Berra
“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg — not by smashing it.” — Ellen Glasgow
“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.” — Linus Pauling
“Some people see things and say why; I see things that never were and say why not.” — George Bernard Shaw
