“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity.”

— John F. Kennedy

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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John F. Kennedy 469

35th president of the United States of America 1917–1963

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“In the Chinese language, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters, one representing danger and the other, opportunity.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Remarks at the United Negro College Fund, Indianapolis, Indiana (12 April 1959) http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations.aspx; Box 902, Senate Speech Files, Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library; also in Remarks at Valley Forge Country Club, Pennsylvania (29 October 1960), Box 914, Senate Speech Files, Pre-Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Papers, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Pre-1960

“When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

“If the stroke of the brush is so important, it is because it expresses precisely what is not there.”

Karel Appel (1921–2006) Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet

quote 1985 - from CF, 44; p. 69
Karel Appel, a gesture of colour' (1992/2009)

“My brush-strokes start in nothing and they end in nothing, and in-between you find the image.”

Karel Appel (1921–2006) Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet

Quote from 'The eye of the beholder', Carlo McCormick
Karel Appel – the complete sculptures,' (1990) not-paged

“Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; wherever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable.”

Earl Nightingale (1921–1989) American motivational speaker

“There is a widespread public misperception, particularly among the New Age sector, that the Chinese word for “crisis” is composed of elements that signify “danger” and “opportunity.” I first encountered this curious specimen of alleged oriental wisdom about ten years ago at an altitude of 35,000 feet sitting next to an American executive. … While it is true that wēijī does indeed mean “crisis” and that the wēi syllable of wēijī does convey the notion of “danger,” the jī syllable of wēijī most definitely does not signify “opportunity.” … The jī of wēijī, in fact, means something like “incipient moment; crucial point (when something begins or changes).” Thus, a wēijī is indeed a genuine crisis, a dangerous moment, a time when things start to go awry. A wēijī indicates a perilous situation when one should be especially wary.”

Victor H. Mair (1943) American sinologist and linguist

danger + opportunity ≠ crisis http://www.pinyin.info/chinese/crisis.html (2009).

“Crisis is the portal to new opportunity.”

Swami Samarpanananda Monk, Author, Teacher

Kratu-A Novel ( Page 107 )

“Everything that is painted directly and on the spot always has strength, a power, and a vivacity of touch one cannot recover in the studio... Three strokes of the brush in front of nature are worth more than two days of work at the easel”

Eugène Boudin (1824–1898) French painter

in the studio
Quote from Boudin's sketchbook; as quoted in Boudin at Trouville, by Vivien Hamilton, exh. Catalogue, London John Murray Ltd., 1992, p. 16
undated quotes

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. … This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not before.”

Rahm Emanuel (1959) politician, investment banker, White House Chief of Staff

Interview to the Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mzcbXi1Tkk About the quote: Emanuel was not the first to express this idea, as pointed out in a 2009 New York Times Magazine article https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02FOB-onlanguage-t.html. However this statement - which proposed a way the Obama administration could actually harness the chaos of the Financial Crisis of 2008 - became a frequently-repeated slogan https://www.forbes.com/2008/11/24/global-crisis-management-lead-management-cx_snj_1124joni.html#1ac549f65e5e for many economists, policy makers and business people who sought to improve the world's financial and economic systems.
/ 2000s

“.. scumbled froth.... capable of indicating a mouth, eyes, a nose with a single stroke of the brush, the rest of the face modeled by the perfect accuracy of these indications.”

Berthe Morisot (1841–1895) painter from France

Quote of her notebooks about rendering, 1885-86; as cited in Berthe Morisot, ed. Delafond and Genet-Bondeville, 1997, p. 46
1881 - 1895

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity.”

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John F. Kennedy 469

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