May 18

"And that inverted Bowl we call The Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop't we live and die,
Lift not thy hands to It for help—for It
Rolls impotently on as Thou or I."

Omar Khayyam
(05/18/1048 – 12/04/1131)
Persian writer, mathematician ("Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám")

"These days, what isn't worth saying is sung."

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais
(01/24/1732 – 05/18/1799)
French polymath ("The Barber of Seville or the Useless Precaution")

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."

Lord Bertrand Russell
(05/18/1872 – 02/02/1970)
Welsh philosopher ("The Principles of Mathematics")
(was married to Dora, Countess Russell)

"Specialists are people who always repeat the same mistakes."

Walter Gropius
(05/18/1883 – 07/05/1969
German architect ("Bauhaus")
(was married to Alma Schindler)

"John is half-tyrant, half-revolutionary; half-saint, half-satan; half-possible, half-impossible; half-genius, half-Irish."

Frank Capra
(05/18/1897 – 09/03/1991)
US film director ("It Happened One Night")

"Ah, what a dusty answer gets the soul
When hot for certainties in this our life!"

George Meredith
(02/12/1828 – 05/18/1909)
English writer ("The Shaving of Shagpat: An Arabian Entertainment")

"Life's been nothing but paperwork."

Gustav Mahler
(07/07/1860 – 05/18/1911)
Austrian composer ("Symphony No. 5 (Adagietto)")
(was married to Alma Schindler)

"The audience knows I'm not going to do anything after all these years to upset them."

Perry Como
(05/18/1912 – 05/12/2001)
US singer, actor ("For the Good Times")
(died near his birthday)

"Take your work seriously, but never yourself."

Dame Margot Fonteyn
(05/18/1919 – 02/21/1991)
English dancer ("Swan Lake")

"Man always travels along precipices. His truest obligation is to keep his balance."

Pope John Paul II
(05/18/1920 – 04/02/2005)
Polish religious leader

"I'm never satisfied with my own work."

Pernell Roberts
(05/18/1928 – 01/24/2010)
US actor ("Trapper John, M.D.")

"I'd rather hit than have sex."

Reggie Jackson
(05/18/1946 – )
US baseball player

"The freedom now desired by many is not freedom to do and dare but freedom from care and worry."

James Truslow Adams
(10/18/1878 – 05/18/1949)
US historian ("The Epic of America")

"If you get rid of a lot of the poseurs by destroying record companies, maybe it's a good trade-off."

Mark Mothersbaugh
(05/18/1950 – )
US singer, songwriter, musician (Devo) ("Social Fools")

"You see I am very stupid. I don't understand or talk well. I take it easy every day. I am like an idiot. Be like this every day, and then you'll look young."

Chow Yun-Fat
(05/18/1955 – )
Hong Kong actor ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon")

"Punk is the voice that shouts the loudest from the silence of inertia."

Toyah Willcox
(05/18/1958 – )
English musician ("Victims of the Riddle")
(married to Robert Fripp)

"I am constantly amazed by Tina Fey. And I am Tina Fey."

Tina Fey
(05/18/1970 – )
US comic, writer, actor (SNL) ("30 Rock")

"We're half the people; we should be half the Congress."

Jeannette Rankin
(06/11/1880 – 05/18/1973)
first female US Representative (MT)

"The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness."

William Saroyan
(08/31/1908 – 05/18/1981)
US writer ("My Name Is Aram")
(was married to Carol Grace)

"I've had a long career and I want to continue to have a long career. The way to do that is not to go away."

Chris Cornell
(07/20/1964 – 05/18/2017)
US singer (Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog) ("Fell on Black Days")