Little Box of Quotes
Daily quotes. No noise.
A daily quote. Simple.
No nonsense, no noise, no hooks, no ads. Just one quote each day.
Want a sample of the quotes? The most-recent 20 are at the bottom of this page…
Origin of my collection
A long time ago I began collecting inspirational quotes and aphorisms.
I kept them on the first version of my web site, where they were displayed randomly. But as time went on, I realized I wanted them where I would see them. Eventually I copied the fledgeling collection onto 3×5 cards and put them in a small box. As I find new ones, I add cards.
I keep the box on my desk with one card showing — just wedged in so it stands up readable. I change the card randomly, whenever the urge strikes.
Countless times I’ve pulled another card and found it eerily appropriate to the challenges of the day.
Countless times I’ve returned to my desk and felt inspired upon rediscovering an old card’s whispered counsel.
Countless times, just as I was about to throw in the towel, I was saved by an echo from the little box on my desk.
Who am I?
Hello 👋 I’m Craig Constantine.
My mission is creating better conversations to spread understanding and compassion. I want us to go from simply having conversations, to actively creating better conversations. You can learn more about me and all my projects at, https://craigconstantine.com.
If you like what I’m doing, please support me via Ko-Fi. (I like Ko-Fi because they don’t take a slice from the money you contribute.)
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Latest 20 quotes
Here are the last 20 quotes sent via email. Yes, it updates here every day.
- At the mid-point of the path through life, I found myself lost in a wood so dark, the way ahead was blotted out. The keening sound I still make shows how hard it is to say how harsh and bitter that place felt to me — ~ Dante
- The real measure of our wealth is how much we’d be worth if we lost all our money. ~ John Henry Jowett
- To trace something unknown back to something known is alleviating, soothing, gratifying and gives moreover a feeling of power. Danger, disquiet, anxiety attend the unknown—the first instinct is to eliminate these distressing states. First principle: Any explanation is better than none […] the cause-creating drive is thus conditioned and excited by the feeling of fear. ~ Friederich Nietzsche
- The largest portion of life passes while we are doing ill, a good share while we are doing nothing, and the whole while we are doing that which is not to the purpose. What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; The major portion of death is already passed. Whatever years be behind us are in death’s hands. ~ Seneca
- Three things define you:1. Your patience when you have nothing.2. Your attitude when you have everything.3. …and who you help whenever you are able.~ unknown
- Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you’re alive and able—be good. ~ Marcus Aurelius
- What a strange world this would be if we all had the same sense of humor. ~ Bern Williams
- You can’t stop nothin’if you got no control.…You can’t stop wishin’if you don’t let go.…You keep on rollin’put the moment on hold. ~ Jack Johnson
- Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there. ~ Will Smith
- The essential power that confronting your mortality will give you—I call it the Sublime. Because it also opens up this idea of how amazing the world is that we live in, and how much we take for granted because we think that we’re going to live forever. It’s an incredibly important concept to me and it’s also very personal in the sense that I came this close to dying myself. I compare it to standing at the shore of some vast ocean. The fear of that dark ocean makes you turn away and retreat. I want you to get into […]
- […] it is not true that I am self-made. Like everyone, to get to where I am, I stood on the shoulders of giants. My life was built on a foundation of parents, coaches, and teachers; of kind souls who lent couches or gym back rooms where I could sleep; of mentors who shared wisdom and advice; of idols who motivated me from the pages of magazines (and, as my life grew, from personal interaction). ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger
- There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time. ~ David Eagleman
- In truth, there is no divorce between philosophy and life. ~ Simone de Beauvoir
- Of the many, many excuses people use to rationalize why they can’t do something, the excuse, “I am too busy,” is not only the most inauthentic, it is also the laziest. I don’t believe in, “too busy.” Busy is a decision. We do things we want to do, period. If we say we are too busy, it is shorthand for, “not important enough.” It means you would rather be doing something else that you consider more important. ~ Debbie Millman
- You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions. ~ Naguib Mahfouz
- In the morning, when you rise unwillingly, let this thought be present: I am rising to the work of a human being. ~ Marcus Aurelius
- Reading is letting someone else model the world for you. This is an act of intimacy. When the author is morose, you become morose. When he is mirthful, eventually you may share it. And after finishing a very good book one is driven a little mad, forced to return from a world that no one nearby has witnessed. ~ Simon Sarris
- Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going? ~ Tenessee Williams
- I may wish to be free from torture, but if the time comes for me to endure it, I’ll wish to bear it courageously with bravery and honor. Wouldn’t I prefer not to fall into war? But if war does befall me, I’ll wish to carry nobly the wounds, starvation, and other necessities of war. Neither am I so crazy as to desire illness, but if I must suffer illness, I’ll wish to do nothing rash or dishonorable. The point is not to wish for these adversities, but for the virtue that makes adversities bearable. ~ Seneca
- I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; Had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes. ~ Edna St. Vincent Millay