Piet Hein

You'll probably findthat it suits your bookto be a bit clevererthan you look
Observe that the easiestmethod by faris to look a bit stupiderthan you are

I'd like to know what this whole show is all about before it's out

Philosophers must ultimately find their true perfection in knowing all the follies of mankind -by introspection

The universe may be as great as they say
But it wouldn't be missed if it didn't exist

She gave me hope she gave me love, with bounty unalloyed
But what she had of faith, alas, she gave to Freud

Naive you areif you believelife favours thosewho aren't naive

My old clock used to tell the time and subdivide diurnity; but now its lost both hands and chime and only tells eternity

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
She had so many children
She didn't know what to do
But try as she would she could never detect which was the cause and which the effect

Men, said the Devil,are good to their brothers:they don’t want to mendtheir own ways, but each others

Sun that givest all things
Shine on everything on earth
If that's too much to
Shine at least on this our land

Living isa thing you donow or never -which do you

We ought to live each day as though it were our last day here below
But if I did, alas,
I know it would have killed me long ago

People are self-centredto a nauseous degree
They will keep on about themselveswhile I'm explaining me

If virtue can't be mine alone at least my faults can be my own

Anxieties yield at a negative rate, increasing in smallness the longer they wait

If a nasty jagged stone gets into your shoe, thank the Lord it came alone- what if it were two