February 17

"I would like to be like my father and all the rest of my ancestors who never married."

Jean-Baptiste Moliere
(01/15/1622 – 02/17/1673)
French writer ("The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover")

"I bequeath all my property to my wife on the condition that she remarry immediately. Then there will be at least one man to regret my death."

Heinrich Heine
(12/13/1797 – 02/17/1856)
German writer ("Die Harzreise (The Harz Journey)")

"I never get ideas sitting still."

S. S. McClure
(02/17/1857 – 03/21/1949)
Irish-born US editor (founder, McClure's) ("McClure's Magazine")

"One could drive a prairie schooner through any part of his argument and never scrape against a fact." *

David F. Houston
(02/17/1866 – 09/02/1940)
US Secretary of Treasury , on William Jennings Bryan

"One of the many things nobody ever tells you about middle age is that it's such a nice change from being young."

Dorothy Canfield Fisher
(02/17/1879 – 11/09/1958)
US writer ("Understood Betsy")

"I know you've been married to the same woman for 69 years. That is marvelous. It must be very inexpensive."

C. S. Calverley
(12/22/1831 – 02/17/1884)
English writer ("Ode to Tobacco")

"A good sermon should be like a woman's skirt: short enough to arouse interest but long enough to cover the essentials."

Ronald Knox
(02/17/1888 – 08/24/1957)
English writer, theologian ("Knox Bible")

"I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures."

Geronimo
(06/16/1829 – 02/17/1909)
Native American leader

"The biggest dog has been a pup."

Joaquin Miller
(09/08/1837 – 02/17/1913)
US poet ("Songs of the Sierras")

"Of course, you start with dreams of being a star. You want recognition, public recognition. And why not? You're doing public work."

Sir Alan Bates
(02/17/1934 – 12/27/2003)
English actor ("The Fixer")

"To live in Australia permanently is rather like going to a party and dancing all night with one's mother."

Barry Humphries
(02/17/1934 – )
Australian writer, actor

"If Rosa Parks had taken a poll before she sat down in the bus in Montgomery, she'd still be standing."

Mary Frances Berry
(02/17/1938 – )
US writer

"I wanted Raging Bull. I wanted Casino. I got Rocky and Bullwinkle. But that's OK, because I still get to tell people I've worked with Robert DeNiro."

Rene Russo
(02/17/1954 – )
US actor

"The only power an actor has is the ability to say: 'No'."

Lou Diamond Phillips
(02/17/1962 – )
Filipino actor

"Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game."

Michael Jordan
(02/17/1963 – )
US basketball player

"If you do it right 51 percent of the time you will end up a hero."

Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.
(05/23/1875 – 02/17/1966)
US businessman (GM) ("Adventures of a white collar man")

"Doing love scenes is always awkward. I mean, it's just not a normal thing to go to work and lay in bed with your co-worker."

Denise Richards
(02/17/1971 – )
US actor
(was married to Charlie Sheen)

"A guy walks up to me and asks 'What's Punk?'. So I kick over a garbage can and say 'That's punk!'. So he kicks over the garbage can and says 'That's punk?', and I say 'No, that's trendy!'"

Billie Joe Armstrong
(02/17/1972 – )
US singer, guitarist, songwriter (Green Day)

"I live in a very dangerous part of Los Angeles. It's called Los Angeles."

Ralphie May
(02/17/1972 – 10/06/2017)
US comic

"I went to Wal-Mart for the first time. I always thought they sold wallpaper."

Paris Hilton
(02/17/1981 – )
US heiress
(great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton)

"Wrong is right."

Thelonious Monk
(10/10/1917 – 02/17/1982)
US pianist, composer ("'Round Midnight")

"I was the worst hitter ever. I never even broke a bat until last year when I was backing out of the garage."

Lefty Gómez
(11/26/1908 – 02/17/1989)
US baseball player

Yesterday Home Tomorrow