A biography for William Lyon Phelpshasn’t been written yet.
“Whenever it is possible, a boy should choose some occupation which he should do even if he did not need the money.”
“A bibliophile of little means is likely to suffer often. Books don't slip from his hands but fly past him through the air, high as birds, high as prices.”
“If I didn't start painting, I would have raised chickens.”
“This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.”
“Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good plays, good company, good conversation - what are they? They are the happiest people in the world.”
“I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget.”
“If happiness truly consisted in physical ease and freedom from care, then the happiest individual would not be either a man or a woman; it would be, I think, an American cow.”
“You can be deprived of your money, your job and your home by someone else, but remember that no one can ever take away your honor.”
“The final test of a gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.”
“Nature makes boys and girls lovely to look upon so they can be tolerated until they acquire some sense.”
“The happiest people in this world are those who have the most interesting thoughts.”
“One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute.”
“In a start-up company, you basically throw out all assumptions every three weeks.”
“If I were running the world I would have it rain only between 2 and 5 a.m. Anyone who was out then ought to get wet.”
“You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in New York.”
“The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on a fallacy. The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older.”
“A well-ordered life is like climbing a tower; the view halfway up is better than the view from the base, and it steadily becomes finer as the horizon expands.”
“The fear of life is the favorite disease of the 20th century.”
“There is a strange reluctance on the part of most people to admit they enjoy life.”
“A cat pours his body on the floor like water. It is restful just to see him.”