August 28

"The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell."

Saint Augustine
(11/13/0354 – 08/28/0430)
Algerian religious person

"The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous, the sensible man almost nothing."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(08/28/1749 – 03/22/1832)
German philosopher

"A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator the smaller the fraction."

Count Leo Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
(08/28/1828 – 11/07/1910)
Russian writer

"If you ever have to support a flagging conversation, introduce the topic of eating."

(James Henry) Leigh Hunt
(10/19/1784 – 08/28/1859)
English writer

"A Frenchwoman, when double-crossed, will kill her rival; the Italian woman would rather kill her deceitful lover; the Englishwoman simply breaks off relations—but they all will console themselves with another man."

Charles Boyer
(08/28/1899 – 08/26/1978)
French actor (died near his birthday)

"We sat in the car park till twenty to one
and now I'm engaged to Miss Joan Hunter Dunn."

Sir John Betjeman
(08/28/1906 – 05/19/1984)
English writer

"Fanaticism is overcompensation for doubt."

Robertson Davies
(08/28/1913 – 12/02/1995)
Canadian writer

"When you've made six pictures and the mule still gets more fan mail than you do..."

Donald O'Connor
(08/28/1925 – 09/27/2003)
US entertainer , on leaving the "Francis the Talking Mule" franchise

"The difference between pornography and erotica is lighting."

Gloria Leonard
(08/28/1940 – )
US publisher

"My personal life has been completely wrecked by David Selznick's obsession for my wife. What can you do to fight such a powerful man?"

Robert Walker
(10/13/1918 – 08/28/1951)
US actor , on ex-wife Jennifer Jones

"Invent a past for the present."

Daniel Stern
(08/28/1957 – )
US actor

"I don't want my body to be a distraction from my talent or my brain."

Shania Twain
(08/28/1965 – )
US singer

"I have to forgive because I'm going to be a bitter bitch if I don't."

LeAnn Rimes
(08/28/1982 – )
US singer , on her lawsuit against her father

"Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, face the facts."

Ruth Gordon
(10/30/1896 – 08/28/1985)
US actor

"Critics have never been able to discover a unifying theme in my films. For that matter, neither have I."

John Huston
(08/05/1906 – 08/28/1987)
US movie director/producer (was married to Evelyn Keyes; father of Anjelica, son of Walter Huston)

"The plain truth is that the reporter's trade is for young men. Your feet, which do the legwork, are nine times more important than your head, which fits the facts into a coherent pattern."

Joseph W. Alsop, Jr.
(10/11/1910 – 08/28/1989)
US writer (brother of Stewart Alsop)