Esther Pauline Friedman Lederer, professionally known as Ann Landers, was a beloved advice columnist for over four decades, dispensing counsel with humor, kindness and practicality.
Her column, translated into more than 20 languages, reached a global audience, helping those navigating adolescence, marriage, parenting and grief.
Born on July 4, 1918, to Russian Jewish immigrants, Esther and her twin sister Pauline, known as Abigail Van Buren of “Dear Abby,” experienced one of the most publicized sibling rivalries in American letters.
Lederer became the new Ann Landers after moving to Chicago, offering a unique approach to her advice column by consulting experts across various fields.
Openly opposing racism and antisemitism, she used her platform to advocate for her readers and fight injustices.
Initially advising women to focus on home life in the 1950s, she evolved to encouraging them to pursue meaningful occupations and supported liberalized abortion laws by the 1970s.
Lederer passed away in June 2002, leaving a legacy as a champion for women and children’s rights and one of the most influential advice columnists in history.
I have outlined the best quotes from Ann Landers below.
Best Ann Landers Quotes
No one has the right to destroy another person’s belief by demanding empirical evidence. ~ Ann Landers.
If at first you do succeed, try something harder. ~ Ann Landers.
Maturity is many things. It is the ability to base a judgment on the big picture, the long haul. ~ Ann Landers.
A successful marriage is not a gift; it is an achievement. ~ Ann Landers.
Problems are inevitable. Misery is a choice. ~ Ann Landers.
All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making love. ~ Ann Landers.
When life’s problems seem overwhelming, look around and see what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself fortunate. ~ Ann Landers.
If you want to catch trout, don’t fish in a herring barrel. ~ Ann Landers.
Some men have no idea how to romance a woman. However, women who teach their husbands what they like will be well-rewarded. ~ Ann Landers.
People who care about each other enjoy doing things for one another. They don’t consider it servitude. ~ Ann Landers.
Keep skid chains on your tongue. Say less than you think. Cultivate a pleasant voice. How you say it is often more important than what you say. ~ Ann Landers.
Church is not a museum for Saints, but rather a hospital for sinners. ~ Ann Landers.
Famous Ann Landers Quotes
Don’t give up. Keep going. there is always a chance that you stumble onto something terrific. I have never heard of anyone stumbling over anything while he was sitting down. ~ Ann Landers.
A person doesn’t know how much he has to be thankful for until he has to pay taxes on it. ~ Ann Landers.
If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don’t have it, no matter what else there is, it’s not enough. ~ Ann Landers.
People, like water, seek their own level. ~ Ann Landers.
Class is an aura of confidence that is being sure without being cocky. Class has nothing to do with money. Class never runs scared. It is self-discipline and self-knowledge. It’s the sure-footedness that comes with having proved you can meet life. ~ Ann Landers.
Know when to tune out, if you listen to too much advice you may wind up making other people’s mistakes. ~ Ann Landers.
Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good. ~ Ann Landers.
No one knows what a marriage is like except the two people in it – and sometimes one of them doesn’t know. ~ Ann Landers.
At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At age 40, we don’t care what they think of us. At age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all. ~ Ann Landers.
You need that guy like a giraffe needs strep throat. ~ Ann Landers.
Top Ann Landers Quotes
One out of four people in this country is mentally unbalanced. Think of your three closes friends; if they seem OK, then you’re the one. ~ Ann Landers.
Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other. ~ Ann Landers.
Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down. Class is already up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse. ~ Ann Landers.
Maturity is perseverance-the ability to sweat out a project or a situation, in spite of heavy opposition and discouraging setbacks, and stick with it until it is finished. ~ Ann Landers.
Some people believe that holding on and hanging there are signs of strength, but there are times in life when it takes much more strength just to let go. ~ Ann Landers.
If you marry a man who cheats on his wife, you’ll be married to a man who cheats on his wife. ~ Ann Landers.
Maturity is the ability to live in peace with that which we cannot change. ~ Ann Landers.
Class is considerate of others. It knows that good manners is nothing more than a series of petty sacrifices. ~ Ann Landers.
Nobody says you must laugh, but a sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected, and smile through the day. ~ Ann Landers.
Never let an opportunity pass to give a well-deserved compliment. ~ Ann Landers.
Popular Ann Landers Quotes
Sensual pleasures have the fleeting brilliance of a comet; a happy marriage has the tranquility of a lovely sunset. ~ Ann Landers.
Love is content with the present, it hopes for the future and it doesn’t brood over the past. ~ Ann Landers.
There could be no honor in a sure success, but much might be wrested from a sure defeat. ~ Ann Landers.
All marriages are happy, it’s living together afterward that’s tough. ~ Ann Landers.
The real question is why are millions of people so unhappy, so bored, so unfulfilled, that they are willing to drink, snort, inject or inhale any substance that might blot out reality and give them a bit of temporary relief. ~ Ann Landers.
Are you better off with him or without him? ~ Ann Landers.
The best way to find something you have lost is to buy a replacement. ~ Ann Landers.
Maintaining self-respect in the face of a devastating experience is of prime importance. ~ Ann Landers.
Know yourself. Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. ~ Ann Landers.
Inspiring Ann Landers Quotes
Maturity isn’t a product of growing older. It’s a product of growing wiser. ~ Ann Landers.
One trouble with trouble is that it usually starts out like fun. ~ Ann Landers.
An open marriage is nature’s way of telling you that you need a divorce. ~ Ann Landers.
It is a mark of a superior mind to be able to disagree without being disagreeable. ~ Ann Landers.
No person who can read is ever successful at cleaning out an attic. ~ Ann Landers.
No person who can read is ever successful at cleaning out an attic. ~ Ann Landers.
Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it. ~ Ann Landers.
Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and repeat to yourself, the most comforting words of all; this, too, shall pass. ~ Ann Landers.
If criticism is needed, do it tactfully. Don’t use a sledgehammer when a fly swatter will do the job. ~ Ann Landers.
Maturity is the ability to make a decision and stand by it. Immature people spend their lives exploring endless possibilities and then doing nothing. Action requires courage. Without courage, little is accomplished. ~ Ann Landers.
Great Ann Landers Quotes
What we steadily, consciously, habitually think we are, that we tend to become. ~ Ann Landers.
It means being able to resist the urge for immediate gratification and opt for the course of action that will pay off later. ~ Ann Landers.
I advise keeping four feet on the floor and all hands on deck. ~ Ann Landers.
We need not fear life, because God is the Ruler of all and we need not fear death, because He shares immortality with us. ~ Ann Landers.
There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who walk into a room and say ‘Here I am’ and those who walk into a room and say, ‘There you are’. ~ Ann Landers.
The Lord gave us two ends – one to sit on and the other to think with. Success depends on which one we use the most. ~ Ann Landers.
Bragging is not an attractive trait, but let’s be honest. A man who catches a big fish doesn’t go home through an alley. ~ Ann Landers.
One of the best ways to measure people is how they behave when something free is offered. ~ Ann Landers.
Wise Ann Landers Quotes
The trouble with talking too fast is that you may say something you haven’t thought of yet. ~ Ann Landers.
Let this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you’ve always wanted to do but couldn’t find the time. ~ Ann Landers.
Parents do not owe their progeny an inheritance no matter how much money they have. One of the surest ways to produce loafers and freeloaders is to let children know that their future is assured. ~ Ann Landers.
The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie. ~ Ann Landers.
A happy marriage has the tranquility of a lovely sunset. ~ Ann Landers.
Wake up and smell the coffee. ~ Ann Landers.
Strong role models and unconditional love can heal even the most emotionally impoverished person, and that goes for adults as well as youngsters. ~ Ann Landers.
At every party there are two kinds of people – those who want to go home and those who don’t. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other. ~ Ann Landers.
Experience, they say, is the best teacher, but we get the grade first and the lesson later. ~ Ann Landers.
Blessed are they who hold lively conversations with the helplessly mute, for they shall be called dentists. ~ Ann Landers.
Powerful Ann Landers Quotes
People of integrity expect to be believed. They also know time will prove them right and are willing to wait. ~ Ann Landers.
Friends with benefits? More than friends? Don’t sample the goodies unless you’re willing to risk addiction and withdrawal. ~ Ann Landers.
Hanging onto resentment is letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head. ~ Ann Landers.
There are really only three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say, What happened? ~ Ann Landers.
Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. ~ Ann Landers.
If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don’t have it, no matter what else there is, it’s not enough. ~ Ann Landers.
Inspirational Ann Landers Quotes
Make somebody happy today, and mind your own business. ~ Ann Landers.
My personal recipe for success is- Do what you love and don’t look at the clock. ~ Ann Landers.
The real trick is to stay alive as long as you live. ~ Ann Landers.
An encouraging attribute of the human animal is his potential for development. All of us can be better than we are and the first step in self-improvement is to recognize the need for change. ~ Ann Landers.
Class can ‘walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch.’ Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because that person is comfortable with himself. ~ Ann Landers.
The minute more than two people know a secret, it is no longer a secret. ~ Ann Landers.
Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead, that is where your future lies. ~ Ann Landers.
Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat. ~ Ann Landers.
Many people think that holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. But there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go – and then to do it. ~ Ann Landers.
Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them. ~ Ann Landers.
Maturity: Be able to stick with a job until it is finished. Be able to bear an injustice without having to get even. Be able to carry money without spending it. Do your duty without being supervised. ~ Ann Landers.
Too many people today know the price of everything and the value of nothing. ~ Ann Landers.
Rose-colored glasses are never made in bifocals. Nobody wants to read the small print in dreams. ~ Ann Landers.
Motivational Ann Landers Quotes
Trouble is the common denominator of living. It is the great equalizer. ~ Ann Landers.
It’s one of the ironies of human nature that the most sensitive people are generally insensitive to the feelings of others. ~ Ann Landers.
A good marriage is more than the absence of war. It is a positive, dynamic, growing thing. It is the mature response to obligations. It is the ability to compromise, to give and take, and to share. ~ Ann Landers.
Maturity is the art of living in peace with that which cannot be changed, the courage to change that which should be changed, no matter what it takes, and the wisdom to know the difference. ~ Ann Landers.
In the end, it’s not what you do for your children but what you’ve taught them to do for themselves. ~ Ann Landers.
Being interested is more important than being interesting. ~ Ann Landers.
Warmth, kindness, and friendship are the most yearned for commodities in the world. The person who can provide them will never be lonely. ~ Ann Landers.
Remember, it takes two to make an argument. The one who is wrong is the one who will be doing most of the talking. ~ Ann Landers.
So these were the 101 top Ann Landers quotes and sayings on Love, Life, Marriage, Parenting and Success.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on Alexander Graham Bell quotes and Alice Hoffman quotes.
