August 11

"With soap, baptism is a good thing."

Robert G. Ingersoll
(08/11/1833 – 07/21/1899)
US writer

"Innovations never happen as planned."

Gifford Pinchot
(08/11/1865 – 10/04/1946)
US environmentalist, Governor (PA)

"Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather that it shall never have a beginning."

Cardinal John Newman
(02/21/1801 – 08/11/1890)
English cardinal ("Apologia Pro Vita Sua")

"Scarlett O'Hara is going to be a thankless and difficult role. The part I'd like to play is Rhett Butler."

Norma Shearer
(08/11/1902 – 06/12/1983)
Canadian actor
(was married to Irving Thalberg)

"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."

Andrew Carnegie
(11/25/1835 – 08/11/1919)
Scottish-US industrialist, philanthropist

"Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you."

Alex Haley
(08/11/1921 – 02/10/1992)
US writer ("Roots: The Saga of an American Family")

"In the old days, I was often confused with Merv Griffin. We were the same height, the same weight and we were both Irish tenors." *

Mike Douglas
(08/11/1925 – 08/11/2006)
US singer, talk show host (died on his birthday)

"Lorenzo believes in taking a big bite out of life."

Arlene Dahl
(08/11/1925 – )
US actor (was married to Fernando Lamas) , on her son Lorenzo Lamas

"Nothing wilts faster than laurels that have been rested on."

Carl Rowan
(08/11/1925 – 09/23/2000)
US journalist

"An unalterable and unquestioned law of the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English-speaking audiences."

Edith Wharton
(01/24/1862 – 08/11/1937)
US writer ("The Age of Innocence")

"Skill is successfully walking a tightrope between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center. Intelligence is not trying."

Marilyn vos Savant
(08/11/1946 – )
US columnist

"Is 'Giants' the first one-word oxymoron?"

Bob Lacey
(08/11/1946 – 04/30/2004)
US comic , on the San Francisco baseball team

"Don't worry me—I am an eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay." *

Stephen T. Early
(08/27/1889 – 08/11/1951)
US writer, press secretary

"Basically, rock'n'roll is about looking good, living fast, and dying young."

Joe Jackson
(08/11/1954 – )
US singer, pianist

"Bums are the well-to-do of this day. They didn't have as far to fall."

Jackson Pollock
(01/28/1912 – 08/11/1956)
US painter

"I would not have gotten [to Congress] if I had not been as persistent as a hound dog worrying a bone." *

Gracie Pfost
(03/12/1906 – 08/11/1965)
US Representative (ID)

"You get the part, sign the contract and start to realize millions of people follow this guy and know more about your character than you do."

Chris Hemsworth
(08/11/1983 – )
Australian actor (brother of Liam Hemsworth)

"In all recorded history there has not been one economist who has had to worry about where the next meal would come from."

Alfred A. Knopf
(09/12/1892 – 08/11/1984)
US publisher

"Television is rather a frightening business. But I get all the relaxation I want from my collection of model soldiers."

Peter Cushing
(05/26/1913 – 08/11/1994)
English actor (Hammer Film Productions)

"In the old days, I was often confused with Merv Griffin. We were the same height, the same weight and we were both Irish tenors." *

Mike Douglas
(08/11/1925 – 08/11/2006)
US singer, talk show host (died on his birthday)

"Comedy is acting out optimism."

Robin Williams
(07/21/1951 – 08/11/2014)
US comic, actor

"I am the kind of writer that people think other people are reading."

Sir V. S. Naipaul
(08/17/1932 – 08/11/2018)
Trinidadian writer (died near his birthday)