Quotes about forgetting
page 24

Ron Paul photo

“What is most dangerous is that although this virus will eventually disappear, the assault on our civil liberties is not likely to be reversed. From this point on, whenever local officials, county officials, state governors, or federal bureaucrats decide there is sufficient reason to suspend the Constitution they will not hesitate to do so. Anyone who challenges the suspension of the Constitution “for our own good” will be labeled “unpatriotic” and perhaps even reported to the authorities. We have already seen hotlines springing up across the country for Americans to report other Americans who dare venture outside to enjoy the sun and build up their vitamin D protection against the coronavirus. The government is justified in cancelling the Constitution, we are told, because we are in an emergency situation caused by the Covid-19 virus. But do people forget that the Constitution itself was written and adopted while we were in an “emergency situation”? Did the framers of the Constitution fail to add an 11th Amendment to the Bill of Rights saying, “oh by the way, none of this counts if we get sick?””

Ron Paul (1935) American politician and physician

Of course not! Those who wrote our Constitution understood that these rights are not granted by the government, but rather by our Creator. Thus it was never a question as to when or under what conditions they could be suspended: the government had no authority to suspend them at all because it did not grant them in the first place.
2020, End the Shutdown; It’s Time for Resurrection!

Billy Hughes photo

“The Dominions could not exist if it were not for the British Navy. We must not forget this. We are a united Empire or we are nothing.”

Billy Hughes (1862–1952) Australian politician, seventh prime minister of Australia

Speech to the Imperial Conference of 1921, quoted in Correlli Barnett, The Collapse of British Power (Eyre Methuen, 1972), p. 177

Priti Patel photo

“Capital punishment [could] serve as a deterrent. I do not think we have enough deterrents in this country for criminals – let’s not forget that murders, rapists and criminals of that nature choose to commit the crimes that they commit.”

Priti Patel (1972) British politician

Said during a Question Time debate. Quoted by the Independent. Priti Patel MP: Who is the new Treasury minister who supports death penalty and rejects plain packaging for cigarettes? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/priti-patel-mp-who-is-the-new-treasury-minister-who-supports-death-penalty-and-rejects-plain-9608096.html (15 July 2014)
2014

William Cobbett photo

“It has long been a fashion amongst you, which you have had the complaisance to adopt at the instigation of a corrupt press, to call every friend of reform, every friend of freedom, a Jacobin, and to accuse him of French principles. ... What are these principles?—That governments were made for the people, and not the people for governments.—That sovereigns reign legally only by virtue of the people's choice.—That birth without merit ought not to command merit without birth.--That all men ought to be equal in the eye of the law.—That no man ought to be taxed or punished by any law to which he has not given his assent by himself or by his representative.—That taxation and representation ought to go hand in hand.—That every man ought to be judged by his peers, or equals.—That the press ought to be free. ... Ten thousand times as much has been written on the subject in England as in all the rest of the world put together. Our books are full of these principles. ... There is not a single political principle which you denominate French, which has not been sanctioned by the struggles of ten generations of Englishmen, the names of many of whom you repeat with veneration, because, apparently, you forget the grounds of their fame. To Tooke, Burdett, Cartwright, and a whole host of patriots of England, Scotland and Ireland, imprisoned or banished, during the administration of Pitt, you can give the name of Jacobins, and accuse them of French principles. Yet, not one principle have they ever attempted to maintain that Hampden and Sydney did not seal with their blood.”

William Cobbett (1763–1835) English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist

‘To the Merchants of England’, Political Register (29 April 1815), pp. 518–19
1810s

Dusty Springfield photo

“People resent change, I think in some ways, but they forget that they've changed too. I think most of us changed for the better rather than the worst.”

Dusty Springfield (1939–1999) English singer and record producer

As quoted in a 14 April 1981 interview on The Mike Walsh Show http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;page=0;query=Dusty%20Springfield%20Mike%20walsh;rec=0;resCount=10.

E.M. Forster photo
Waleed Al-Husseini photo
Jan van Riebeeck photo

“[T]hat our prosperity may never forget God's mercies shown to us, but always keep them in grateful memory.”

Jan van Riebeeck (1619–1677) Dutch colonial governor

Precis of the Archives of the Cape of Good Hope, December 1651 - December 1653, Riebeeck's Journal, H. C. V. Leibrandt, Cape Town 1897, p. 184

After two tough years since their arrival Jan van Riebeeck set apart the 6th of April and resolved to make it a day of thanksgiving and prayer.

John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn photo
Ho Chi Minh photo

“My people hunger for independence and will have it. And are you forgetting some recent examples of what ragged bands can do against modern troops? Have you already forgotten the heroism of the Yugoslav partisans against the Germans? The spirit of man is more powerful than his own machines.”

Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969) Vietnamese communist leader and first president of Vietnam

1950's, On Revolutionary Morality (1958)
Source: David Schoenbrun, As France Goes (page 234), Harper, 1957.

Karl Kraus photo

“The extraordinary ability of a woman to forget is not the same as the talent of a lady not to be able to remember.”

Karl Kraus (1874–1936) Czech playwright and publicist

Half-Truths and One-And-A-Half Truths (1976)

Bulleh Shah photo
Robert Graves photo
Lupe Ontiveros photo

“It's upsetting to any culture when that is the only projection you have of that culture…You're pigeon-holed, stereotyped. That means we don't like you. We forget that this country was founded by immigrants.”

Lupe Ontiveros (1942–2012) Mexican-American actress

On being repeatedly cast as a housekeeper (as quoted in “'Selena' co-star Lupe Ontiveros dies at 69” http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/27/selena-co-star-lupe-ontiveros-dies-at-69/ in CNN; 2012 Jul 27)

William Faulkner photo
Alessandro Cagliostro photo

“Heaven forgets, or tolerates—waiting for you to reform.”

Alessandro Cagliostro (1743–1795) Italian occultist

Balsamo the Magician (or The Memoirs of a Physician) by Alex. Dumas (1891)

Maria Weston Chapman photo

“Grudge no expense — yield to no opposition — forget fatigue — till, by the strength of prayer and sacrifice, the spirit of love have overcome.”

Maria Weston Chapman (1806–1885) American abolitionist

In Liberator, August 13, 1836, as quoted in [Thomsett, Michael C., Thomsett, Linda Rose, A Speaker's Treasury of Quotations: Maxims, Witticisms and Quips for Speeches and Presentations, https://books.google.com/books?id=igYyBgAAQBAJ, 17 March 2009, McFarland, 978-0-7864-2945-5, 75]

Walter Reuther photo

“Let us never forget that he who would serve God must prove that he is worthy by serving man.”

Walter Reuther (1907–1970) Labor union leader

1950s, Closing address at the final convention of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (1955)
I have been saying for a long time that I believe the more young Americans who are trained to join with other young people in the world to be sent abroad with slide rule, textbook, and medical kit to help people help themselves with the tools of peace, the fewer young people will need to be sent with guns and weapons of war.
Source: Closing Address at the final convention of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, New York, New York, December 2, 1955, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. 102

Bhagawan Nityananda photo
Ibn Hazm photo

“May God make us amongst those he allows to do good, and to practice it, and those who see the right path as none of us is without weakness; whosoever sees his weakness will forget those of others. May God make us die in the faith of Muhammad. Amen, Oh Master of the Universes.”

Ibn Hazm (994–1064) Arab theologian

ibn Hazm's style of ending a work, in Salim al-Hassani, Ibn Hazm’s Philosophy and Thoughts on Science https://muslimheritage.com/ibn-hazm-philosophy-and-science/#_ftnref23

Rosa Luxemburg photo
Stephen Vincent Benét photo
Edi Rama photo

“Turkey is a big and powerful country. We are a small and weak country. But whenever Turkey needs, we will be there. Albanian people will never forget Turkey's help,”

Edi Rama (1964) Albanian politician

Source: Turkey's aid will never be forgotten: Albanian PM (November 28, 2019) https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkeys-aid-will-never-be-forgotten-albanian-pm/1657618

Niccolo Machiavelli photo
Ted Kennedy photo
Théodore Guérin photo

“What does one do when faced with an unknown? Turn away and forget about it? In this case, two factors negated that possibility.”

Robert Monroe (1915–1995) American founder of The Monroe Institute

Journeys Out of the Body (1971), Chapter 2. Search and Research

John Albert Broadus photo

“Our fathers, in New England, in the Middle Colonies, and in the South, brought African slaves to America for reasons of their own, which it is impossible to justify, and useless now to censure. The God of our fathers has set them free by overruling a vast amount of human selfishness and passion in long-continued political and military conflict. Let the dead past bury its dead. Forgetting the things which are behind, let us reach forth to those things which are before.”

John Albert Broadus (1827–1895) American pastor and theologian

"As to the Colored People" (1 February 1883), as quoted in Report on Slavery and Racism in the History of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary https://sbts-wordpress-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/sbts/uploads/2018/12/Racism-and-the-Legacy-of-Slavery-Report-v4.pdf#page=6 (December 2018), by R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, pp. 38–39

“Addicted to war? Not us. Still, all in all, it’s quite a record and let’s not forget that looming on the horizon is another possible war, this time with Iran, a country that the men overseeing the invasion of Iraq in 2003 (including present National Security Advisor John Bolton) were eager to go after even then. “Everyone wants to go to Baghdad,” so the saying reputedly went in Washington at the time. “Real men want to go to Tehran.””

Tom Engelhardt (1944) American writer

And it’s just possible that, in 2019, Bolton and crew will be able to act on that much delayed urge. Considering the history of American wars in these years, what could possibly go wrong?
We’re Not the Good Guys, CounterPunch https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/07/04/were-not-the-good-guys/ (4 July 2019)

Helen Keller photo

“Let pessimism once take hold of the mind, and life is all topsy-turvy, all vanity and vexation of spirit. There is no cure for individual or social disorder, except in forgetfulness and annihilation. "Let us eat, drink and be merry," says the pessimist, "for to-morrow we die."”

If I regarded my life from the point of view of the pessimist, I should be undone. I should seek in vain for the light that does not visit my eyes and the music that does not ring in my ears. I should beg night and day and never be satisfied. I should sit apart in awful solitude, a prey to fear and despair. But since I consider it a duty to myself and to others to be happy, I escape a misery worse than any physical deprivation.
Optimism (1903)

Domenico Mogavero photo

“Pretending to be God and parroting his power of creation is an enormous risk that can plunge men into a barbarity. Never forget that there is only one creator: God. In the wrong hands, today's development can lead tomorrow to a devastating leap in the dark.”

Domenico Mogavero (1947) Catholic bishop

Catholic Church: synthetic cell potentially a good development but life originates from God https://www.foxnews.com/world/catholic-church-synthetic-cell-potentially-a-good-development-but-life-originates-from-god (May 21, 2010)

William Ernest Henley photo
Massin Akandouch photo
Torrie Wilson photo
Will Durant photo
Michael A. Blume photo

“We should not believe so much in cultures and forget about God’s role in our lives. We should always keep in mind that all good relationships and families are built on principles of love and trustworthiness.”

Michael A. Blume (1946) American nuncio

Want strong and happy marriage? This bishop gave BEST marriage advice ever! https://www.tuko.co.ke/230842-want-strong-happy-marriage-this-bishop-gave-best-marriage-advice-photo.html ()

William Ewart Gladstone photo
William Ewart Gladstone photo
Pierre Bouvier photo
Richard Price photo
Youn Yuh-jung photo

“If somebody did something bad to me or was rude to me, I will never forget. But if somebody's nice to me, I will also never forget. This means people think I'm a very dangerous woman who never forgets.”

Youn Yuh-jung (1947) South Korean actress

Lauren, Ro, Living Like a Legend with Minari’s Yuh-Jung Youn, A24 Films, 2021-04-13, 2021-06-08 https://a24films.com/notes/2021/04/how-to-live-well-according-to-yuh-jung-youn-1,

Epictetus photo
Donald J. Trump photo
Natalie Wynn photo
Honoré de Balzac photo

“Also, they had to forget both their misery and their thought which doubled the misery.”

Part II: Un grand Homme de province à Paris (A Great Man of the Provinces in Paris).
Lost Illusions (1837-1843)
Original: (fr) Aussi tous avaient-ils besoin d'oublier et leur malheur et leur pensée qui doublait le malheur.

Isaac Asimov photo

“It is all too easy to forget that there are emotional motivations in history, as well as economic ones.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

The Shaping of England (1969), p. 15
General sources

John Steinbeck photo
Allison Robertson photo

“I feel it is really different to be there at a show. It is such a great feeling and I hope that doesn’t die with the Internet as so many other things have. Go out, support those bands, have a beer, listen to some live music and don’t forget about it!”

Allison Robertson (1979) American musician

Round and Round with The Donnas: An Interview with Allison Robertson https://www.iconvsicon.com/2008/03/07/round-and-round-with-the-donnas-an-interview-with-allison-robertson/ (7 March 2008)

Phil Collins photo
Carlo Rovelli photo
Chigozie Obioma photo
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya photo

“I think that people have put too much responsibility on me. People are forgetting that a year ago I was just a mother, not at all involved in politics. I have had to study a lot and I’m trying to do what I can, where I am … But the responsibility isn’t just on me, it’s on all Belarusians.”

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (1982) Belarusian politician and educator

"Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: ‘Belarusians weren’t ready for this level of cruelty’" in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/09/sviatlana-tsikhanouskaya-belarusians-not-ready-cruelty-lukashenko-belarus (9 August 2021)

Example (musician) photo

“This was a strictly a one-nighter
to delight us
we both knew this must stay quiet
It was vital
we couldn't forget though
We never let go we just held on tighter
See I'm a lover not a fighter
so I didn't fight the fact that I more than liked you”

Example (musician) (1982) English rapper and singer

"One Night" (song). Based on "Heartbeats" by José González (originally "The Knife")
("One Night" on YouTube (with lyrics) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4V0oIquNZQ, feat. José González)
Remix albums, We Didn't Invent the Remix (2007)

Example (musician) photo

“If we're meant to be together,
change the way you see the weather
Live for now, forget forever”

Example (musician) (1982) English rapper and singer

"Midnight Run" (song)
("Midnight Run", Official video on YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwYGi7YG4Js
(+ "Midnight Run", a lyrics version on YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPthxsXgSl4
(+ "Midnight Run" (Wilkinson Remix on YouTube)) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt_38kriBBg
(+ "Midnight Run" (Wideboys Remix on YouTube)) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qwxq4qxEqQ
Studio albums, Playing in the Shadows (2011)

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Marcelo H. del Pilar photo
Douglas Coupland photo
Kelly Marie Tran photo

“I never want to forget that I'm doing an impossible thing. How rare is it that you get to be part of something people love? It's really special. It's a very out-of-body experience to be a part of something so huge.”

Kelly Marie Tran (1989) American actress

As quoted in "Star Wars Breakout Kelly Marie Tran on The Last Jedi and Kylo Ren’s Shirtless Scene" in Vulture (20 December 2017) https://www.vulture.com/2017/12/kelly-marie-tran-on-the-last-jedi-and-shirtless-kylo-ren.html

Ernest Becker photo
Alfred Noyes photo
J.B. Priestley photo
Zhu Fenglian photo

“Those who forget their ancestors, betray the motherland or split the country will never come to a good end and will surely be spurned by the people and judged by history.”

Zhu Fenglian (1977)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-says-it-will-hold-supporters-taiwans-independence-criminally-responsible-2021-11-05/ "China spurs Taiwan anger with criminal liability threat for independence supporters" in Reuters] (5 November 2021)

Xiomara Castro photo

“For 12 years the people resisted, and those 12 years were not in vain. God takes time but doesn't forget. Today the people have made justice.”

Xiomara Castro (1959) First Lady of Honduras

Xiomara Castro (2021) cited in: " Xiomara Castro poised to become first female president of Honduras https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/xiomara-castro-declares-victory-in-honduras-presidential-election" in The Guardian, 29 November 2021.

Ambrose Bierce photo
Elton John photo
Oscar Niemeyer photo

“It's funny, the power of beauty, to make us forget such injustice.”

Oscar Niemeyer (1907–2012) Brazilian architect

Original: (pt) É estranho o poder da beleza, que nos faz esquecer tanta injustiça.
Source: Quoted in Alberto Xavier, Depoimento de uma geração: arquitetura moderna brasileira

Wojciech Polak photo

“One cannot expect the believers to deny one of the foundations of their faith, which is respect for every form of life, from conception to natural death. However, we cannot forget the commandment to love thy neighbour. It is the moral duty of a Christian to de-escalate conflicts, not fuel them.”

Wojciech Polak (1964) Polish priest

Source: Primate of Poland calls for de-escalation of abortion protests https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/primate-of-poland-calls-for-de-escalation-of-abortion-protests-17105 (27 October 2020)

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor photo
Wu Chun photo

“Life is short, be grateful, be kind, be happy. Forgive and forget ... Love and peace.”

Wu Chun (1979) Bruneian actor and singer

Source: Wu Chun (2021) cited in " Singer-actor Wu Chun apologises after old photo of him and his wife sparks criticism, allegations https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/singer-actor-wu-chun-apologises-after-old-photo-of-him-and-his-wife-sparks" on The Straits Times, 9 March 2020.

Andrea Meza photo

“Everyone with different beliefs, with different backgrounds, with different cultures, they all come together and when you are in there (at the Miss Universe pageant), you forget about politics, about your religion. It's just about embracing other women.”

Andrea Meza (1994) Miss Universe 2020

Source: Andrea Meza (2021) cited in: " In Israel, Miss Universe says pageant no place for politics https://www.arabnews.com/node/1970011/offbeat" in Arab News, 17 November 2021.

Gilbert O'Sullivan photo

“So where did you go to, who did you see?
How did you know I’d be there?
Oh, and did you remember not to forget?
Tell me cos I don’t...
Tell me cos I don’t care
Don’t care.”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"Where Did You Go To?" (song)
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Where Did You Go To?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhJOUQXBOCw (song on YouTube. As audio.)
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Where Did You Go To?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj2FCeCwhcM (Official video, on YouTube)
Song lyrics

Gilbert O'Sullivan photo

“Somebody told me once money does not grow on trees.
Well, if that's true, then how do you explain
apples oranges and lemons,
not forgetting melons?”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"The Golden Rule" (song)
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "The Golden Rule" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u70QuKjUm64 (song on YouTube)
Song lyrics

Gilbert O'Sullivan photo
Rumi photo
Samuel R. Delany photo
Paul Nitze photo

“Lots of people memorize my poems but they forget about myself.”

https://genius.com/Rymin-napeyda-lyrics
https://soundcloud.com/rymiin/napeyda
Source: "Napeyda" by "Rymin"

“Overexcited Russian experts should forget their hate fantasies.”

Mikhail Khodaryonok (1954) Colonel of the Russian Armed Forces

"3 Wochen vor dem Angriff: Russischer Ex-Oberst machte 6 Vorhersagen zum Ukraine-Krieg - alle trafen ein" https://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/ukraine-krise/3-wochen-vor-dem-angriff-alle-trafen-ein-russischer-ex-oberst-machte-sechs-vorhersagen-zum-ukraine-krieg_id_86370800.html (In German; "3 weeks before the attack: Russian former colonel made 6 predictions about the war against Ukraine - all came true"), Focus.de, 22 April 2022

Arianna Huffington photo

“Don't forget: our media culture failed to serve the public interest by missing (with a few honourable exceptions) the two biggest stories of our time: the run-up to the Iraq war and the financial melt­down. We've had far too many autopsies and not enough biopsies.”

Arianna Huffington (1950) Greek-American author and syndicated columnist

"The paywall is history" The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/may/11/newspapers-web-media-pay-wall 11 May, 2009

Dan Ariely photo
Walt Disney photo

“That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be twelve years old. They patronize; they treat children as inferiors. I won't do that. I'll temper a story, yes. But I won't play down, and I won't patronize.”

Walt Disney (1901–1966) American film producer and businessman

From Walt Disney World: Then, Now, & Forever: Too many people grow up. That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well, I won't do that. I won't do that. I'll temper a story, yes. But I won't play down, and I won't patronize.
Year unknown, published in 2001, The Quotable Walt Disney (2001)

Josh Duffy photo

“Forget normal, I need better!”

Josh Duffy (1978) Subject of the documentary THE MAYOR

Film Quotes

Bob Dylan photo

“Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you...”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Song lyrics, Bringing It All Back Home (1965), It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Nguyễn Tấn Dũng photo

“As a state, a nation and a citizen, no one will forget our nation’s painful suffering.”

Nguyễn Tấn Dũng (1949) Prime Minister of Vietnam

"PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng’s online talk to Vietnamese people at home and abroad" https://en.baochinhphu.vn/print/pm-nguyen-tan-dungs-online-talk-to-vietnamese-people-at-home-and-abroad-1114491.htm (9 February 2007)

John Prine photo
Francisco Franco photo
Prevale photo

“Steal the moments from time, get excited, write the story leaving a footprint of your existence, have fun, forget the bad moments thinking about the future with optimism, have sex with the person who can give you pleasure at the mere thought and remember to live by daring, dreaming and loving. Life is one, take note!”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Ruba gli attimi al tempo, emozionati, scrivi la storia lasciando una traccia della tua esistenza, divertiti, dimentica i brutti momenti pensando al futuro con ottimismo, fai sesso con la persona che può darti piacere al solo pensiero e ricordati di vivere osando, sognando ed amando. La vita è una, prendi nota!
Source: prevale.net