July 29

"People compose for many reasons: to become immortal; because the pianoforte happens to be open; because they want to become a millionaire; because of the praise of friends; because they have looked into a pair of beautiful eyes; for no reason whatsoever."

Robert Schumann
(06/08/1810 – 07/29/1856)
German composer

"There are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink."

Booth Tarkington
(07/29/1869 – 05/19/1946)
US writer

"Ours is a world where people don't know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it."

Don Marquis
(07/29/1878 – 12/29/1937)
US writer, cartoonist (Thanks, Jim, for the pic!)

"The history of saints is mainly the history of insane people."

Benito Mussolini
(07/29/1883 – 04/28/1945)
Italian dictator

"One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul and yet no one ever come to sit by it. Passersby see only a wisp of smoke from the chimney and continue on the way."

Vincent van Gogh
(03/30/1853 – 07/29/1890)
Dutch artist

"If even dying is to be made a social function, then, grant me the favor of sneaking out on tiptoe without disturbing the party."

Dag Hammarskjold
(07/29/1905 – 09/18/1961)
Swedish diplomat

"I'm not an ambulance chaser. I'm usually there before the ambulance."

Melvin Belli
(07/29/1907 – 07/09/1996)
US attorney

"In bygone days, commanders were taught that when in doubt, they should march their troops towards the sound of gunfire. I intend to march my troops towards the sound of gunfire."

Baron Jo(seph) Grimond
(07/29/1913 – 10/24/1993)
Scottish military

"All in all, it's just another flick to appall."

Paul Taylor
(07/29/1930 – )
US dancer? , on Pink Floyd's "The Wall"

"I've always been very zealous about not invading other people's private spaces."

Peter Jennings
(07/29/1938 – 08/07/2005)
US telejournalist

"There ain't no answer. There ain't going to be any answer. There never has been an answer. That's the answer."

Gertrude Stein
(02/03/1874 – 07/29/1946)
US writer (the image is from the wonderful and generous Bridgeman Art Library)

"I would say the world's in terrible shape, but I'm afraid the world would say, 'Look who's talking!'"

Cass Elliot
(09/19/1943 – 07/29/1974)
US singer (Mamas and Papas)

"Frank Lloyd Wright's inverted oatmeal dish and silo with their awkward cantilevering, their jaundiced skin and the ingenious spiral ramp leading down past the abstractions which mirror the tortured maladjustments of our time."

Robert Moses
(12/18/1888 – 07/29/1981)
US administrator (NYC) , on the Guggenheim museum?

"Frankly, despite my horror of the press, I'd love to rise from the grave every ten years or so and go buy a few newspapers."

Luis Bunuel
(02/22/1900 – 07/29/1983)
Mexican filmmaker

"I have a face that is a cross between two pounds of halibut and an explosion in an old clothes cupboard."

David Niven
(03/01/1910 – 07/29/1983)
English actor/writer

"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."

Tom Snyder
(05/12/1936 – 07/29/2007)
US TV talk show host