How true! Not only do wise words endure, but one can only be amazed at how applicable some of the insights of thinkers of the early times still are to the problems and issues of the present day.
    For instance, sometime around 95 A.D., Tacitus said “The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws”. That could have been said yesterday, and most people would have agreed.
    In this little book, I have tried to present to the reader some of my favorite quotations from over the years. I have tried to confine myself to those which, while they originated for the most part with serious thinkers, still are witty and humorous – especially the latter, I hope.
    I know that there will be readers who will disagree with some of the opinions expressed and/or the points of view put forward, but that is to be expected, and I hope they will nevertheless enjoy the quotations.
    The segment on religion will probably antagonize dyed-in-the-wool religionists, and I can only say to that, that these are not my own thoughts (though I am in general agreement), but the opinions of much greater thinkers than me, such as Bernard Shaw, H.L. Mencken, Sigmund Freud, Robert Ingersoll, Somerset Maugham et al. 
    Having said that, I have to confess that I could not resist including a few, a very few, of my own comments here and there, which I offer in all humility. The reader is free to disagree.
    After listing the quotations, I got to thinking about how much I had enjoyed poetry through the years, and how many popular quotes and phrases came from poems. The short end bit, about poetry, is the result. 
    B. G. Lewis.