Andy Rooney

"I find myself asking if anyone's ever happy just being themselves."

"The fact that we all like to think we're different is what makes us all the same."

"We ought to be able to trust government with our secrets, but we can't."

"Most people don't like change because they haven't thought about it enough to want it."

"The most interesting people are the ones nobody pays any attention to."

"We're not short on time, we're long on wants."

"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person."

"Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done."

"I've learned that you can't go to bed with a troubled mind; you have to make peace with your thoughts."

"Death is a distant rumor to the young."

"The most creative people know how to cultivate boredom."

"I believe that you should put the same energy into your personal life as you do your work."

"We're all born curious, but somewhere along the way we lose that gift."

"The things that matter most are often the simplest things."

"I think that's when you know you've found somebody special—when you can just shut up and comfortably enjoy the silence."

"People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first."

"One day you read about all the people who died from smoking, and the next day you want a whipping boy."

"Happiness is when you can laugh at yourself."

"The average person spends six months of their life waiting for red lights to turn green."

"We live in an age where we have more and more information but less and less understanding."

"Some people are kind, and kind people change the world."

"I don't think right and left are as important as forward and backward."

"We are all trying to do our best with what we know."

"The secret to success isn't money—it's doing something you care about."

"I think there ought to be at least one day a year where we don't have to be a certain way."

"Pain is temporary, but the memory of how you overcame it lasts forever."

"I've learned that making a living isn't the same as making a life."

"The art of conversation is listening."

"Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important."

"Nothing saddens me more than seeing people give up on their dreams."