May 23

"Linnea: A plant of Lapland, lowly, insignificant, disregarded, flowering but for a brief space—from Linnaeus who resembles it."

Carl Linnaeus
(05/23/1707 – 01/10/1778)
Swedish botanist, zoologist ("Systema Naturae")

"Holland lies so low they're only saved by being dammed."

Thomas Hood
(05/23/1799 – 05/03/1845)
English writer ("The Bridge of Sighs")

"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it."

Margaret Fuller
(05/23/1810 – 07/19/1850)
US writer ("Woman in the Nineteenth Century")
(great-aunt of Bucky)

"Bedside manners are no substitute for the right diagnosis."

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

"Whoever said, 'It's not whether you win or lose that counts.' probably lost."

Mary Ashton Livermore
(12/19/1820 – 05/23/1905)
US social reformer ("What Shall We Do With Our Daughters? and Other Lectures")

"You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth."

Henrik Ibsen
(03/20/1828 – 05/23/1906)
Norwegian writer ("Peer Gynt")

"You have no idea of the women I didn't marry."

Artie Shaw
(05/23/1910 – 12/30/2004)
US bandleader ("Begin the Beguine")
(was married to Evelyn Keyes, Kathleen Winsor, Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, and four others)

"In the sciences, we are now uniquely privileged to sit side by side with the giants on whose shoulders we stand."

Gerald Holton
(05/23/1922 – )
US physicist ("Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought: Kepler to Einstein")

"I think acting is the most thankless profession in the world."

Rosemary Clooney
(05/23/1928 – 06/29/2002)
US singer, actor ("Come On-a My House")
(was married to Jose Ferrer twice; aunt of George Clooney)

"It's like the Roman Empire. Wasn't everybody running around just covered with syphilis? And then it was destroyed by the volcano."

Joan Collins
(05/23/1933 – )
English actor ("Dynasty")
(sister of Jackie)

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
(07/08/1839 – 05/23/1937)
US gazillionaire
(father of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., grandfather of Nelson Rockefeller)

"In our judgement of homosexuality—a symptom of degeneracy which could destroy our race—we must return to the guiding Nordic principle: extermination of the degenerates."

Heinrich Himmler
(10/07/1900 – 05/23/1945)
German Nazi, Gestapo head

"Sculpture is as free as the mind; as complex as life."

David Smith
(03/09/1906 – 05/23/1965)
US sculptor

"You can't fix it. You can't make it go away. I don't know what you're going to do about it, but I know what I'm going to do about it. I'm just going to walk away from it. Maybe a small part of it will die if I'm not around feeding it anymore."

Lew Welch
(08/16/1926 – 05/23/1971)
US writer ("Trip Trap: Haiku on the Road")
(stepfather of Huey Lewis)

"The things you fear are undefeatable, not by their nature, but by your approach."

Jewel
(05/23/1974 – )
US singer ("Pieces of You")

"Love is like playing checkers. You have to know which man to move."

Moms Mabley
(03/19/1894 – 05/23/1975)
US comedienne ("The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour")

"Jolson's funeral was widely attended by those who wanted to make sure."

George Jessel
(04/03/1898 – 05/23/1981)
US actor ("The Other Man's Wife")

"You've just got one problem. You stand too close to the ball after you've hit it."

Sam Snead
(05/27/1912 – 05/23/2002)
US golfer , advice
(died near his birthday)

"A fellow from Texas can tell the difference between grass roots and AstroTurf."

Lloyd Bentsen
(02/11/1921 – 05/23/2006)
US Representative (TX)

"Was it love at first sight? It wasn't then—but it sure is now."

Anne Meara
(09/20/1929 – 05/23/2015)
US comic actor ("The Daytrippers")
(was married to Jerry Stiller, mother with him of Ben Stiller)

"I mean, this man is supposed to be a spy, and yet everybody knows he's a spy."

Roger Moore
(10/14/1927 – 05/23/2017)
English actor ("A View to a Kill") , on James Bond