Quotes about personality
page 53

Claude Lévi-Strauss photo
Roger Ebert photo

“The movie stars six teenage characters who have been marketed on TV and in toy stores. They have names, but no discernible personalities. None of them ever says anything more interesting than "You guys!" As teenagers, they are skilled in-line skaters and karate fighters, but they don't get their real powers until they turn into faceless clones in Power Rangers uniforms with plastic masks and helmets. Is that the message? Faceless conformity is the way to success? Certainly the Rangers are not individuals in or out of uniform, but I wonder if they don't represent a triumph of merchandising over creativity. Children's heroes have traditionally been individualistic and eccentric. The Rangers are not, properly speaking, even characters. They are color-coded products… Paging through the movie's press kit, I came across this quote attributed to Amy Jo Johnson, who plays Kimberly, the Pink Power Ranger: " `Mighty Morphin Power Rangers™: The Movie' is a mix between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz. " I wonder if Amy Jo actually said "TM" when she was delivering that wonderfully fresh and spontaneous quote, which is so much more involved than anything she says in the movie. More to the point, I wonder if she has ever seen "Star Wars" or "The Wizard of Oz."”

Roger Ebert (1942–2013) American film critic, author, journalist, and TV presenter

Review http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mighty-morphin-power-rangers-the-movie-1995 of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie (30 June 1995)
Reviews, Half-star reviews

Temple Grandin photo
Henry Adams photo
Linus Torvalds photo

“I am a lazy person, which is why I like open source, for other people to do work for me.”

Linus Torvalds (1969) Finnish-American software engineer and hacker

Torvalds, Linus, 2015-01-15, <nowiki>Linus Torvalds on why he isn’t nice: &quot;I don’t care about you&quot;</nowiki>, 2015-01-20 http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/01/linus-torvalds-on-why-he-isnt-nice-i-dont-care-about-you/,
2010s, 2015

Yogi Berra photo
Francisco De Goya photo

“Always lines, never forms. Where do they find these lines in Nature? Personally I see only forms that are lit up and forms that are not, planes that advance and planes that recede, relief and depth. My eye never sees outlines or particular features or details… …My brush should not see better than I do.”

Francisco De Goya (1746–1828) Spanish painter and printmaker (1746–1828)

Goya, in a recall of an overheard conversation
conversation of c. 1808, in the earliest biography of Goya: Goya, by Laurent Matheron, Schulz et Thuillié, Paris 1858; as quoted by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 176
probably not accurate word for word, but according to Robert Hughes it rings true in all essentials, of the old Goya, in exile
1800s

K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera photo
Pope Benedict XVI photo
Geert Wilders photo
Ilana Mercer photo

“An American writer's intellectual energy ought to focus on American interests, first. Personal probity demands it! Otherwise, the columnist is a fifth column.”

Ilana Mercer South African writer

“American Rabbis For Israel First, http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2014/08/american-rabbis-for-israel-first.html Economic Policy Journal, August 8, 2014.
2010s, 2014

Camille Paglia photo
James K. Morrow photo
Jack LaLanne photo
Alan Shepard photo

“This is the first time that astronauts of the first group have exhibited things that are personal and sentimental to them. We hope it will encourage youngsters to follow in our footsteps.”

Alan Shepard (1923–1998) American astronaut

On dedicating the Astronaut Hall of Fame — reported in Associated Press (May 12, 1990) "Five of Mercury Seven return to the Cape, Launch Hall of Fame - Astronauts hope exhibits will inspire youths to learn", The Gazette, p. A2.

Francis Escudero photo
Chuck Palahniuk photo
Jerry Coyne photo
John Byrne photo
Chuck Klosterman photo

“We all have the potential to fall in love a thousand times in our lifetime. It's easy. The first girl I ever loved was someone I knew in sixth grade. Her name was Missy; we talked about horses. The last girl I love will be someone I haven't even met yet, probably. They all count. But there are certain people you love who do something else; they define how you classify what love is supposed to feel like. These are the most important people in your life, and you'll meet maybe four or five of these people over the span of 80 years. But there's still one more tier to all this; there is always one person who you love who becomes that definition. It usually happens retrospectively, but it always happens eventually. This is the person who unknowingly sets the template for what you will always love about other people, even if some of those lovable qualities are self-destructive and unreasonable. You will remember having conversations with this person that never actually happened. You will recall sexual trysts with this person that never technically occurred. This is because the individual who embodies your personal definition of love does not really exist. The person is real, and the feelings are real--but you create the context. And context is everything. The person who defines your understanding of love is not inherently different than anyone else, and they're often just the person you happen to meet the first time you really, really want to love someone. But that person still wins. They win, and you lose. Because for the rest of your life, they will control how you feel about everyone else.”

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story (2005)

Rex Stout photo
Jared Diamond photo

“Remember that impact is the product of two factors: population multiplied times impact per person.”

Source: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005), Chapter "The world as a polder: what does it all mean to us today?", section "Reasons for hope" (Penguin Books, 2011, page 524, ISBN 978-0-241-95868-1.

Marianne von Werefkin photo

“I am a woman, I lack every [ability for] creation. I can understand everything and cannot create... I don't have the words to express my ideal. I am looking for the person, the man, who can give this ideal form. As a woman, wanting someone who could give the internal world expression, I met Jawlensky…”

Marianne von Werefkin (1860–1938) expressionist painter

1895 - 1905
Variant: I am a woman, I lack every [ability for] creation. I can understand everything and cannot create.. .I don't have the words to express my ideal. I am looking for the person, the man, who can give this ideal form. As a woman, wanting someone who could give the internal world expression, I met Jawlensky...

Caspar David Friedrich photo
Mark Sanford photo

“I think it would be much better for the country and for (Clinton) personally (to resign). I come from the business side. If you had a chairman or president in the business world facing these allegations, he'd be gone.”

Mark Sanford (1960) 115th Governor of South Carolina

On the Clinton sex scandal; reported in Robert Behre " Sanford fallout seen as severe, with long-lasting effects http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/jun/25/publictrust87241/", The Post and Courier (Sept. 12, 1998).

Ralph Waldo Trine photo
Anton Chekhov photo
Abraham Isaac Kook photo
John Lancaster Spalding photo

“If thou wouldst be interesting, keep thy personality in the background, and be great and strong in and through thy subject.”

John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) Catholic bishop

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 156

Northrop Frye photo
Anton Chekhov photo
Robinson Jeffers photo
Fali Sam Nariman photo

“violate the human rights of others', is impractical and fraught with grave consequences as it puts an almost impossible burden on the lawyer of pre-judging guilt; and (more important) it precludes the person charged with infringing the human rights of another (such as one accused of murder) the right to be defended by a 'lawyer of his choice”

Fali Sam Nariman (1929) Indian politician

in my country, a guaranteed constitutional right.”
On his view on representing lawyers as human rights activists on accepting briefs of clients
Fali S. Nariman, ‘Before Memory Fades: An Autobiography

Ramnath Goenka photo
Daniel Dennett photo
Dana Milbank photo
Christine O'Donnell photo
Max Weber photo
Mitt Romney photo

“Efforts that promote hard work and personal responsibility over government dependency make America strong. When the economy is growing and Americans are working, everyone involved has a shared sense of achievement, not to mention the basic sense of pride that comes with the paycheck they earn.”

Mitt Romney (1947) American businessman and politician

2012-09-19
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/story/2012-09-18/Romney-47-recovery-dependency/57804214/1?fb_comment_id=fbc_417363074994653_4053230_417413701656257#f2c857185c
Column: Romney's answer to editorial
USA Today
2012

Stendhal photo

“Because one has little fear of shocking vanity in Italy, people adopt an intimate tone very quickly and discuss personal things.”

Comme on craint peu de choquer la vanité, on arrive fort vite en Italie au ton de l'intimité, et à dire des choses personnelles.
Source: La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma) (1839), Ch. 6

“There's only one person who needs a glass of water oftener than a small child tucked in for the night, and that's a writer sitting down to write.”

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist

The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Unclassified

Colin Wilson photo
Henry Adams photo
Alan Shepard photo

“His flight was a tremendous statement about tenacity, courage and brilliance. He crawled on top of that rocket that had never before flown into space with a person aboard, and he did it. That was an unbelievable act of courage.”

Alan Shepard (1923–1998) American astronaut

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin — reported in Mark Carreau (July 23, 1998) "Alan Shepard, first American in space, is dead at 74 - Space Age pioneer succumbs to lengthy illness in California", Houston Chronicle, p. A1.
About

John Ralston Saul photo
A. James Gregor photo
Yoji Shinkawa photo
Henry Adams photo
Jane Roberts photo
John F. Kennedy photo
David Lange photo

“The statement which has been made by the Leader of the Opposition was that the intelligence has stopped. I don't know whether that was a personal confession or whether it was a statement of position.”

David Lange (1942–2005) New Zealand politician and 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand

Referring to Jim McLay's comments on the effect of the nuclear ships ban on the exchange of military intelligence with New Zealand's allies.
Source: Gliding on the Lino: The Wit of David Lange, compiled by David Barber, 1987.

Oliver Wendell Holmes photo
Jane Roberts photo
Anne Brontë photo
Pat Conroy photo
Kevin Spacey photo
James Frey photo
Jerome K. Jerome photo
Tanith Lee photo

“Rewa was brave. At least, she was thick-witted enough to be able to ignore personal danger to a great extent.”

Source: East of Midnight (1977), Chapter 12, “Sorcery in the Dark” (p. 129)

Jim Gaffigan photo

“I am a guy who talks about bacon and escalators. Stand-up comedy is very much a conversation. It's very personal, stylistically.”

Jim Gaffigan (1966) comedian, actor, author

John Wenzel (October 10, 2008) "Underneath that pasty exterior beats the dark heart of a comic", The Denver Post, p. D-12.

Eli Siegel photo
Ken Ham photo
Narendra Modi photo
Donald J. Trump photo
Robert Rauschenberg photo
John Ralston Saul photo

“Never,” he said firmly, “be intimidated by a person because of the size of house in which they were born.”

Sean Russell (1952) author

Source: World Without End (1995), Chapter 38 (p. 544)

Markandey Katju photo
Marshall Goldsmith photo

“Lasting goal achievement requires lots of time, hard work, personal sacrifice, ongoing effort, and dedication to a process that is maintained over years.”

Marshall Goldsmith (1949) American author of leadership and management literature

Source: What Got You Here Won't Get You There, 2008, p. 189 (in 2010 edition}

Chinmayananda Saraswati photo
Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo

“Personal causality, refers to instances in which p causes x intentionally. That is to say, the action is purposive.”

Fritz Heider (1896–1988) German psychologist

Source: The psychology of interpersonal relations, 1958, p. 100

John F. Kennedy photo

“…there is always inequity in life. Some men are killed in a war and some men are wounded, and some men never leave the country, and some men are stationed in the Antarctic and some are stationed in San Francisco. It's very hard in the military or personal life to assure complete equality. Life is unfair.”

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

[http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations.aspx "President's News Conference (107)" (21 March 1962)
1962

Leo Buscaglia photo
Jefferson Davis photo
George Holmes Howison photo
Ai Weiwei photo
A. P. Herbert photo
Ludwig Feuerbach photo
Eugene Rotberg photo
Daniel Defoe photo
Augusto Pinochet photo

“I am going to die. The person who succeeds me also would die. But elections, you won't have.”

Augusto Pinochet (1915–2006) Former dictator of the republic of Chile

Speech (17 June 1975), quoted in "Las frases para el bronce de Pinochet."
1970s

Václav Havel photo
Mark Rathbun photo

“I had the No. 2 position from 1998 until I left. I answered to no one but David Miscavige, who was chairman of the board. I was the personal counselor for Tom Cruise, Lisa Marie Presley, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley.”

Mark Rathbun (1957) American whistleblower

Coastal town now is awash in 'Squirrel Busters', John MacCormack, July 11, 2011, San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio, Texas http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/Scientologists-behind-harassment-campaign-in-1459662.php,

W. H. Auden photo
Richard Rodríguez photo
Glenn Beck photo

“I don't think we came from monkeys. I think that's ridiculous. I haven't seen a half-monkey/half-person yet.”

Glenn Beck (1964) U.S. talk radio and television host

2010s, 2010

Joseph Massad photo
Mark Burns (televangelist) photo

“In reference to dealing with black issues and dealing with issues that plague those minority communities, Donald Trump doesn't have a racist bone in his body. I know what real racism is. And Donald Trump is so far from it. Talking to him and his wonderful wife and his children is like hanging out with some friends of mine that are black … He's just that kind of a person. He is not uneasy around you. He's very relaxed… When Donald Trump talks about 'the blacks' he's talking about the blacks, the group as a whole. He's talking about the groups… No, it doesn't bother me, because I know Donald Trump. I know who he is. I know he is not at all speaking in any derogatory sense at all. He's simply talking to that ethnic group, the blacks or the whites… Even with a sitting black President, the racial tension in this country is at an all-time high. And I believe it's led by the Democratic party and led by President Barack Obama, and obviously Secretary Clinton desires to continue that torch, which I believe will lead us more and more into economic destruction, especially for minorities in this country… I have not experienced racist tension from Donald Trump. I'm from the South. Literally right over the next county, there are active KKK groups that parade their rebel flag on a daily basis… This is in 2016. Right now, today, with a sitting black President. So I know what real racism looks like. And it is not Donald Trump… Does he want it (ex-KKK leaders endorsement)? He said, 'No, I don't want it, I don't accept it.' … He doesn't stand for any hate groups, whether it be a Christian hate group or an Islam hate group. He's already stated this. Mr. Trump has already stated that there was a technical issue in the earpiece. I'm in television; I own a TV studio. I do know how technical issues can cause you to miss out on what someone is saying.”

Mark Burns (televangelist) (1979) Christian pastor and founder of the NOW Television Network

Interview, New York Daily News, 15 May 2016 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/meet-female-muslim-mexican-american-trump-supporters-article-1.2637077

Martin Buber photo

“Through the Thou a person becomes I.”

I and Thou (1923)

“When you see the ugliness behind the tears of another person, it makes you take a closer look at your own.”

John D. MacDonald (1916–1986) writer from the United States

Travis McGee series, (1979)