“You cannot trick me into applying my principles to a hypothetical situation which will only work out the way that you want it to. Not when I am certain that it will not arise.”

— Roger Zelazny

Source: Short fiction, Home is the Hangman (1975), p. 138

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update July 1, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "You cannot trick me into applying my principles to a hypothetical situation which will only work out the way that you w…" by Roger Zelazny?

Roger Zelazny photo

Roger Zelazny112

American speculative fiction writer 1937–1995

Related quotes

“I am not going to dictate to you what you write about my life and work. I only ask that you not make me out to be a 'whiner and sentimentalist.”

Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935) Polish politician and Prime Minister

(1908) Bohdan Urbankowski, Józef Piłsudski: Dreamer and Strategist, 1997, ISBN 8370019145, p. 133
Attributed

“All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good. Out of this situation only good will come. I am safe." It will work miracles in your life.”

Louise L. Hay (1926–2017) American writer

“I am what I am
I was made this way
When I want to laugh
Yes I shriek with laughter
I love those who love me
It's my fault
If they're not the same
That I love everytime
I am what I am
I was made this way
What more do you want
What do you want from me”

Jacques Prevért (1900–1977) French poet, screenwriter

Je Suis Comme Je Suis - I Am What I Am

“A doctrine is something that pins you down to a given mode of conduct and dozens of situations which you cannot foresee, which is a great mistake in principle.”

George F. Kennan (1904–2005) American advisor, diplomat, political scientist and historian

As quoted in "George Kennan Speaks Out About Iraq" at History News Network (26 September 2002)
Context: A doctrine is something that pins you down to a given mode of conduct and dozens of situations which you cannot foresee, which is a great mistake in principle. When the word ‘containment’ was used in my ‘X’ article, it was used with relation to a certain situation then prevailing, and as a response to it.

“... The fallacious use of the principle that you cannot look into a man's mind. It is said you cannot do that: therefore what follows? It is said that you are to have fixed rules to tell you that he must have meant something, one way or the other, when certain exterior phenomena arise. The answer is that there is no such thing as an absolute criterion which gives you certain index to a man's mind. There is nothing outside his mind which is an absolute indication of what is going on inside. So far from saying that you cannot look into a man's mind, you must look into it, if you are going to find fraud against him: and unless you think you see what must have been in his mind, you cannot find him guilty of fraud.”

Charles Bowen (1835–1894) English judge

Angus v. Clifford (1891), L. R. 2 C. D. [1891], p. 471.

“Never give up: There are certain times that you think, “OK, you have beaten me down to my knees. And now the challenge is, I am on my knees and you keep on beating me down. And the question is, are you going to keep beating me all the way to the ground or will I find a way to struggle my way back on to my feet.””

Randy Pausch book The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture (2008)

“Your lordship, only worldly light in this age of ours, you can never be pleased with another man's work for there is no man who resembles you, nor one to equal you … It grieves me greatly that I cannot recapture my past, so as to longer be at your service. As it is, I can only offer you my future, which is short, for I am too old … That is all I have to say. Read my heart for "the quill cannot express good will."”

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet

Letter to Tommaso dei Cavalieri (1 January 1533).

“Nothing can silence me as long as I am alive. I don’t give any kind of excuse. If I cannot come out [of China] or I cannot go in [to China] this is not going to change my belief. But when I am there, I am in this condition: I see it, I see people who need help. Then you know, I just want to offer my possibility to help them.”

Ai Weiwei (1957) Chinese concept artist

2010-, Digital Activism in China, 2010

“When I sleep, I dream of you, and when I wake, I long to hold you in my arms. If anything, our time apart has only made me more certain that I want to spend my nights by your side, and my days with your heart.”

Nicholas Sparks book Nights in Rodanthe

Paul Flanner, Chapter 16, p. 188
Source: 2000s, Nights in Rodanthe (2002)

“What makes you so certain?"
"But I am not certain," I told him. "Nothing is certain. You want certainty?"
"Yes!"
"Then you want death.”

Stephen R. Lawhead book The Silver Hand

Source: The Silver Hand

Related topics