V

Love is not an emotion, love is a behavior. Children know the truth.

Andrew Vachss

Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.
Jeff Valdez

The best index to a person's character is (a) how he treats people who can't do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can't fight back.

Abigail Van Buren (b. 1918) American columnist [a.k.a. "Dear Abby"]

The canal system of this country is being threatened by the spread of a new form of transportation known as 'railroads.' ... As you may well know, railroad carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by engines, which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) US President, 1837-41 Letter to the President (while Governor of New York) (1829)

We must not judge God from this world. It's just a study that didn't come off. It's only a master who could make such a blunder.
Vincent Van Gogh

I would feel more attraction for, and would rather come into contact with, one who was ugly or poor or in some way unhappy, but who, through experience and sorrow, had gained a mind and a soul.
Vincent Van Gogh

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your own way.

Danielle Vare (1880-1956) Italian diplomat and author

It is impossible to keep a straight face in the presence of one or more kittens.
Cynthia E. Varnado

A three-year-old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a $300 set of swings as it does out of finding a small green caterpillar.

Bill Vaughan (1915-1977) American journalist, author

One trouble with growing older is that it gets progressively tougher to find a famous historical figure who didn't amount to much when he was your age.
Bill Vaughan (1915-1977) American journalist, author

If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity.

Bill Vaughan (1915-1977) American journalist, author

When we feel that we lack whatever is needed to secure someone else's esteem, we are very close to hating him.

Luc, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715-1747) French soldier and moralist Réflexions et maximes (c. 1747)

Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) British monarch

Superstition is foolish, childish, primitive and irrational -- but how much does it cost you to knock on wood?

Judith Viorst (b. 1931) American writer

Infatuation is when you think that he’s as sexy as Robert Redford, as smart as Henry Kissinger, as noble as Ralph Nader, as funny as Woody Allen, and as athletic as Jimmy Conners. Love is when you realize that he’s as sexy as Woody Allen, as smart as Jimmy Conners, as funny as Ralph Nader, as athletic as Henry Kissinger, and nothing like Robert Redford--but you’ll take him anyway.

Judith Viorst (b. 1931) American writer

Death twitches my ear. "Live," he says. "I am coming."

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [Vergil] Minor Poems, "Copa," l. 38

Many risks fail because they were not taken in time. Too many risks are postponed until unnecessarily elaborate preparations are made. This does not mean that one should say, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" That is foolish and self-destructive. ... But don't sit back waiting for the perfect moment. It almost never comes.

David S. Viscott (b. 1928) American psychologist, writer, radio personality

If I had all the money I've spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink.

Stanshall Vivian (1943-1995) British comic Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (1978)

We rarely know who our ancestors were. Who can even remember the names of their great-grandparents? They have vanished into the dim and distant past.

Dmitri Volkogonov Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy

Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.