Arthur Smith Quotes

Powerful Arthur Smith for Daily Growth

About Arthur Smith

Arthur Smith (1815-1845), an influential figure in American literature, was born on April 30, 1815, in Washington County, Pennsylvania. His father, also named Arthur Smith, was a doctor and a farmer. Smith's early life was marked by intellectual curiosity and a love for reading, which he nurtured through his extensive personal library. Smith attended Jefferson College (now Washington & Jefferson College) but left before graduating to pursue a career in law. In 1837, he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, his true passion lay in writing, and he soon turned his attention to literature. Smith's first major work, "The Botanic Garden," was published anonymously in 1839. The collection of poems drew on Smith's deep interest in natural history and earned him recognition as a promising young poet. In 1840, he published another collection titled "Vision of Geraldine." In 1842, Smith moved to New York City with the intention of establishing himself as a writer. Unfortunately, his health began to decline due to tuberculosis, which would eventually take his life at the age of 30. Despite his short lifespan, Smith left an indelible mark on American literature. Smith's works were characterized by their romanticism and deeply spiritual themes. He was heavily influenced by European Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Smith's poetry continues to be admired for its beauty, depth, and poetic mastery. His life and work serve as a testament to the power of art and the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Age is no barrier. It's a limit you put on your mind."

This quote by Arthur Smith underscores the idea that age should not define one's abilities, potential, or limitations. It encourages us to break free from the perceived boundaries imposed by our age, implying that our minds can remain open, curious, and adaptive regardless of the number of years we have lived. Instead, it is up to us to decide how we will use our mental faculties, and this choice determines how we engage with the world around us as we grow older. Essentially, the quote invites us to embrace a mindset that values growth, learning, and personal development at any age.

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it."

This quote emphasizes that while our circumstances in life, which can be collectively referred to as "what happens," make up only a small portion (10%) of our lives, how we choose to respond or react to those circumstances (90%) significantly shapes our experiences and outcomes. It suggests that personal resilience, perspective, and the power of choice play crucial roles in determining the quality of one's life.

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

This quote by Arthur Smith emphasizes the joy that comes from overcoming limitations and proving naysayers wrong. It encourages individuals to pursue their dreams fearlessly, even when faced with doubt or adversity. The pleasure derived is not only in achieving the impossible but also in the personal growth and confidence gained during the process. This quote inspires us to push boundaries, embrace challenges, and prove that we are capable of more than others may think.

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream; not only plan but also believe."

This quote suggests that both action and imagination are crucial to achieving significant goals. One needs not only to devise a plan of action but also hold a strong belief in their ability to accomplish it, fueled by their dreams and aspirations. In essence, the combination of practical planning, unwavering belief, and inspirational dreaming is essential for greatness.

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." - This quote is often misattributed to Arthur Smith, but it was actually created by George Bernard Shaw. However, it is a powerful quote that resonates with many and has been associated with Arthur Smith in popular culture.

This quote signifies the active role individuals play in shaping their lives. It implies that life doesn't come with predefined purposes or identities; rather, we are responsible for defining who we are and what we make of our existence. In essence, it encourages self-determination and personal growth, urging people to create their own destinies through conscious decisions and actions.

The moon puts on an elegant show, different every time in shape, colour and nuance.

- Arthur Smith

Moon, Shape, Puts, Colour

I read 'Crime and Punishment' years ago and don't recall the details of it, but I do retain a strong sense of the creeping paranoia and panic.

- Arthur Smith

Strong, Read, Retain, Creeping

Don Quixote's 'Delusions' is an excellent read - far better than my own forthcoming travel book, 'Walking Backwards Across Tuscany.'

- Arthur Smith

My Own, Excellent, Read, Quixote

A savage review is much more entertaining for the reader than an admiring one; the little misanthrope in each of us relishes the rubbishing of someone else.

- Arthur Smith

More, Entertaining, Reader, Admiring

I'm an armchair kind of guy, especially when it's raining, which it always is and always will be.

- Arthur Smith

Will, Always, Which, Armchair

The real change that paintings undergo is in the perceptions of the viewer.

- Arthur Smith

Change, Perceptions, Viewer, Undergo

It is more interesting to be compared to someone famous, because it lets you gauge what perceptions people have about your appearance.

- Arthur Smith

Famous, More, Gauge, Perceptions

Sometimes it's good to do something that you've never done before, so yesterday, I went out to buy Elton John's new album.

- Arthur Smith

New, Album, Before, Elton

My sister-in-law believes that few narratives are so tightly constructed that you can't skip boring bits and still keep abreast of what's going on.

- Arthur Smith

Still, Narratives, Abreast, Tightly

A female friend who caught me watching Fashion TV reckons its audience is largely made up of slobbering men who are just taking a break from the appalling Men & Motors channel. I don't agree.

- Arthur Smith

Caught, TV, Channel, Taking A Break

I've been trekking the hills and lanes of the British countryside for nearly four decades now and I've come to associate my passion with overexcited poets rather than pampered painters.

- Arthur Smith

Countryside, Been, Rather, Hills

When I was eight or nine, I wrote a new version of 'Peter Pan' for the school play. They didn't use it - I imagine it was unperformable - but as recompense for not doing my script, I was offered any role, and instinctively went for Captain Hook. I came on trying to be terrifying, but everyone laughed at me.

- Arthur Smith

Play, Nine, Terrifying, Pan

Theatricals can be irritating, but will provide a better night out than mobile phone salespeople.

- Arthur Smith

Better, Will, Provide, Salespeople

After you've read a novel, you only retain a vague memory of its contents. You remember the atmosphere, the odd image or phrase or vivid cameo.

- Arthur Smith

Vague, Image, Atmosphere, Cameo

Only the pun remains. The pun, beloved of Shakespeare, children and tabloid headline-writers, is normally eschewed in the modern, sophisticated circles in which I move.

- Arthur Smith

Sophisticated, Move, Which, Normally

I've noticed that my resolutions involve me not doing stuff that I wasn't going to do anyway so here's something more positive. I'm going to retrain as a Latin teacher in a provincial public school.

- Arthur Smith

Doing, Here, Public School, Provincial

I myself am pathetically impressed when I meet writers of very long novels. How can they spend so many hundreds of hours at the miserable, lonely pastime of creating fiction?

- Arthur Smith

Pastime, Hours, Very, Novels

Comedy ages quicker than tragedy, to the extent that we can't know if the 10 commandments may originally have been 10 hilarious one-liners.

- Arthur Smith

Been, May, Extent, One-Liners

The Romantic poets were the prototype ramblers, and I've often found myself following in their footsteps - although perhaps not all of their footsteps since a typical walk for Samuel T. Coleridge might last two days and cover 145km.

- Arthur Smith

Two, Footsteps, Cover, Prototype

Ninety-eight per cent of laughter is nothing to do with jokes, which do not deserve to bear the weight of all the funny stuff in the world.

- Arthur Smith

Deserve, Which, Cent, Jokes

Occasionally I find a travel book that is both illuminating and entertaining, where vivid writing and research replace self-indulgence and sloppy prose.

- Arthur Smith

Sloppy, Prose, Illuminating, Vivid

I have a suspicion that a lot of artists are trying to get a laugh but, unlike stand-ups, they don't get an immediate response from their audience; a laugh is a rare thing in a gallery.

- Arthur Smith

Audience, Suspicion, Lot, Laugh

Give me the new thing and give it to me now. I don't want that old thing - I've seen it, heard it, bought it, slept with it, loved it, but now I'm bored with the old thing and I'm gagging for the new stuff.

- Arthur Smith

New, Give, Old, Bored

Global warming, the ongoing destruction of the planet, Third World debt, the uselessness of the railways, the takeover by the corporations, the scary George Bush person: all these things are important and should be animating me into outrage. Yet somehow they do not.

- Arthur Smith

Outrage, Takeover, Bush, Corporations

When a writer dies you get a higher standard of obituary.

- Arthur Smith

Standard, Higher Standard, Obituary

The best way to prepare for a night out with a Shakespearean tragedy is to do a bit of reading up in the afternoon, eat a light supper - perhaps Welsh rarebit - and then arrive early to do some stretching exercises in the foyer before curtain-up.

- Arthur Smith

Prepare, Some, Best Way, Welsh

My eyebrows could do with a trim.

- Arthur Smith

Could, Trim, Eyebrows

Obviously I am not bothered about men's fashion - is anyone, apart from Jonathan Ross?

- Arthur Smith

About, Obviously, Jonathan, Apart

Acting in a stage play is like working the evening shift in an office.

- Arthur Smith

Play, Stage, Like, Evening

I find it hilarious that there are academics who try to analyse chemical changes in the brains of students while exposing them to gags.

- Arthur Smith

Changes, Hilarious, Analyse

I abhor nothing more than bumping into someone I know on the Tube.

- Arthur Smith

More, Someone, Tube, Abhor

When synchronised swimming first appeared on TV, we laughed very heartily, and I, for one, applauded the decision to introduce humour into the Olympics.

- Arthur Smith

Very, TV, Applauded, Heartily

An uninspiring canvas becomes a glamorous masterpiece when it is reattributed to a better-known artist.

- Arthur Smith

Artist, Canvas, Glamorous, Uninspiring

It's the time of year when the literati give advice on what we should be reading on our summer holidays. These terrifying lists often leave me appalled at my own ignorance, but also suspicious about the pretension of their advocates.

- Arthur Smith

Advice, Year, Terrifying, Lists

Listening to Chris Moyles on Radio 1 is the most miserable thing any human being can do, but attending awards ceremonies isn't far behind.

- Arthur Smith

Listening, Behind, Miserable, Chris

I am 54 and age is slowly writing itself on my face.

- Arthur Smith

I Am, Face, Itself, Slowly

The book may be garbage, but if it weighs in at a kilo or more, I stand before its author in awe.

- Arthur Smith

May, Before, Weighs, Awe

Reading the play at home, however fulfilling, can never be the vivacious experience that Shakespeare intended.

- Arthur Smith

Play, Never, However, Shakespeare

Acting is the most demanding, painful job in the world.

- Arthur Smith

World, Most, Demanding, Painful

The outfits come and go but there is a constant that I like about the catwalk model: the snotty expression.

- Arthur Smith

Expression, Like, Constant, Outfits

The pun exists in a social and political void, caring nothing for the issues of its day, content merely to display itself in its small cleverness.

- Arthur Smith

Small, Social, Void, Pun

When they meet a stand-up comic, people sometimes remark: 'That must be the hardest job in the world.' Among comedians, only Freddie Starr is not embarrassed and slightly appalled by this remark.

- Arthur Smith

Embarrassed, Slightly, Stand-Up Comic

Because comedy is cheap to put on: if you've got a play or an opera, there's a whole load of people and a set, but comedy is just one man or woman. And because TV has learned to love comics - there's so many more around now than when I started out.

- Arthur Smith

Love, Play, TV, To Love

It's worth turning up to an awards gig if you know you've won one but, since you never do know, it's not worth it.

- Arthur Smith

Worth It, Worth, Gig, Not Worth It

Travel books are, by and large, boring. They lodge uncomfortably between fact, fiction and autobiography.

- Arthur Smith

Fact, Boring, Books, Autobiography

It was Julie Burchill who decreed that, beyond a certain age, a man should not be seen in a leather jacket.

- Arthur Smith

Beyond, Jacket, Seen, Julie

Sky and clouds and trees and little figures relaxing in the perfect rural rhythm of their surroundings: these are the staples of a Gainsborough landscape.

- Arthur Smith

Sky, Perfect, Figures, Relaxing

It is London fashion week, and once again I haven't been invited to any shows. This is upsetting given my well-known love of fashion, or, as I think of it, playing with the dressing-up box.

- Arthur Smith

Love, Well-Known, Given, Upsetting

The history of the relationship between comedy and swimming is short indeed. Of course it is always funny when someone falls into water, but that's about it.

- Arthur Smith

Comedy, Always, About, Indeed

If you want to write something of length, however modern and radical, you must live the life of an elderly gentleman of the 1950s.

- Arthur Smith

Want, Radical, However, Elderly

I see my large nose, like half an avocado. I broke it falling downstairs when I was six, and it now resembles a large blob of play-dough.

- Arthur Smith

Falling, Nose, Half, Resembles

The Bible has no doubt had much influence in its time, but it provides very few laughs. None, in fact.

- Arthur Smith

Bible, Fact, Very, No Doubt

About every four years, someone says to me, 'I've got a friend who looks exactly like you.' What can you say to this?

- Arthur Smith

Say, Like, About, Exactly

Every generation of children has its private hero.

- Arthur Smith

Children, Hero, Generation, Private

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