Quotes about problems
page 9

“The problem ain't what people know. It's what people know that ain't so that's the problem.”

Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer

“The problem is, hope is the thing that can’t be reined in by rules or pinned down by bitter experience. It’s a blessing and curse.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Source: Flamecaster

Hope

“It's like male geeks don't know how to deal with real live women, so they just assume it's a user interface problem. Not their fault. They'll just wait for the next version to come out- something more "user friendly.”

Douglas Coupland Microserfs

Source: Microserfs

Women, Waiting

“Your problem, Werner,” says Frederick, “is that you still believe you own your life.”

Anthony Doerr book All the Light We Cannot See

Source: All the Light We Cannot See

Life

“She looks honestly upset, but then, I’ve learned that I can’t read her. The problem with a really excellent liar is that you have to just assume they’re always lying.”

Holly Black book Black Heart

Source: Black Heart

Lying, Learning, Reading

“Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem.”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

Confidence, Understanding

“The only problem with seeing people you know is that they know you.”

Brent Runyon (1957) American writer

Source: The Burn Journals

People

“Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That's the problem.”

A.A. Milne book Winnie-the-Pooh

Source: Winnie-the-Pooh

People, Animals

“We have a name," said Jace. "Magnes B-"
"Shut up." Alec hissed, thwacking Jace with his closed menu. Jace looked injured.
"Jesus," he rubbed his arm. "What's your problem?”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

“There is no question that there is an unseen world. The problem is, how far is it from midtown and how late is it open?”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

World, Question

“I can't stand just sitting here not doing anything. You can't solve a problem by remote control.”

Lisa Scottoline (1955) American writer

Source: Every Fifteen Minutes

“Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process — a way of solving problems”

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

Kennedy's "focus on a more practical, more attainable peace, based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution of human institutions." was quoted by Barack Obama in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.
1963, American University speech
Context: I am not referring to the absolute, infinite concept of peace and good will of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I do not deny the value of hopes and dreams but we merely invite discouragement and incredulity by making that our only and immediate goal. Let us focus instead on a more practical, more attainable peace — based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions — on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interest of all concerned. There is no single, simple key to this peace — no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process — a way of solving problems.

Peace, Way, Change

“Nicholas this is one of those 'yes' or 'no' questions again. You seem to have a problem with those. Did you or did you not kill a woman - Jo”

Lynsay Sands Canadian writer

Source: The Renegade Hunter

Question

“The eternal problem of the human being is how to structure his waking hours”

Eric Berne book Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships

Source: Games People Play

“Every victory is only the price of admission to a more difficult problem”

Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) United States Secretary of State

Victory

“Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems.”

Scott Adams (1957) cartoonist, writer

“Most people's problems would be solved if they would only give more things a chance.”

Gabrielle Zevin (1977) American writer

Source: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

People, Chance

“The problem with every story is you tell it after the fact. Every play-by-play description on the radio, the home runs and strikeouts, even that's delayed a few minutes. Even live television is postponed a couple seconds. Even Sound and light can only go so fast.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Lullaby

Source: Lullaby (2002), Chapter 1

Home, Light

“But, like anyone in love, Madeleine believed that her own relationship was different from every other relationship, immune from typical problems.”

Jeffrey Eugenides book The Marriage Plot

Source: The Marriage Plot

Love

“The problem with growing up is that once you're grown up, the people who aren't grown up aren't fun anymore.”

Lev Grossman The Magicians

Source: The Magicians

People

“The problem with having so many people call me by nicknames was that when someone called me by my actual name, it usually meant something serious was happening.”

Richelle Mead book The Indigo Spell

Source: The Indigo Spell

People

“Nothing is hidden, nothing is ever lost, nothing is ever forgotten. That's always been part of my problem.”

Simon R. Green (1955) British writer

Source: Drinking Midnight Wine

Parting

“To every problem, there is a most simple solution.”

Agatha Christie book The Clocks

Source: The Clocks

“You'll never get ahead by blaming your problems on other people.”

Willie Nelson (1933) American country music singer-songwriter.

Source: The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart

People

“A problem isn't finished just because you've found the right answer.”

Yōko Ogawa book The Housekeeper and the Professor

Source: The Housekeeper and the Professor

“It's not a problem. There are people out there with much worse problems than mine."-Cynthia
"Doesn't make yours any more fun to bear."-Liza
"No. But it does help with the self-pity."- Cynthia”

Jennifer Crusie book Bet Me

Source: Bet Me

People, Help

“Felix believed that the answer to every problem involved penguins; but it wasn't fair to birds, and I was getting tired of teleporting them back home. Somewhere in Antarctica, a whole flock of Magellanic penguins were undergoing psychotherapy.”

Rick Riordan book The Throne of Fire

Source: The Throne of Fire

Home, Bird

“The problem with people is that they're only human.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

People

“Keep me preoccupied
Keep me busy, busy, busy
So I won't have to think
I don't want to think
Because it only brings me pain
I just keep running away from
My problems
Keep me busy
Give me a million things to do
So I can keep running away from myself.”

Henry Rollins (1961) American singer-songwriter

Pain, Business, Thinking

“The problem is not that it's too difficult for children, but that it's too difficult for grown ups. Much of the world view of Einstein's thinking wasn't being taught when the grown ups were in school, but the children were comfortably familiar with it.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

Acceptance Speech for the Margaret Edwards Award (1998)
Context: I've always believed that there is no subject that is taboo for the writer. It is how it is written that makes a book acceptable, as a work of art, or unacceptable and pornographic. There are many books circulating today, for the teen-ager as well as the grown up, which would not have been printed in the fifties. It is still amazing to me that A Wrinkle In Time was considered too difficult for children. My children were seven, ten, and twelve while I was writing it, and they understood it. The problem is not that it's too difficult for children, but that it's too difficult for grown ups. Much of the world view of Einstein's thinking wasn't being taught when the grown ups were in school, but the children were comfortably familiar with it.

Children, World, School, Thinking

“The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think”

Gregory Bateson (1904–1980) English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist

People, World, Way, Nature

“The only permanent solution to your problems is to go inside and let go of the part of you that seems to have so many problems with reality. Once you do that, you'll be clear enough to deal with what's left.”

Michael Singer (1945) American landscape architect

Source: The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

Reality, Parting

“To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.”

Douglas Adams book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Source: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

People

“A stupid ruler is much more of a problem than an insane one.”

Patricia Briggs (1965) American writer

Source: Dragon Blood

Stupidity

“A good boss asks what part she could have played in the problem. And then she asks herself what she can do better next time.”

Lisi Harrison (1970) Canadian writer

Source: Boys "R" Us

Time, Parting

“The whole problem with people is they don't know what matters and what doesn't.”

Sue Monk Kidd book The Secret Life of Bees

Source: The Secret Life of Bees

People

“The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)

“You seek problems because you need their gifts.”

Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer

Source: Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

Happy

“Solutions to problems often come from knowing when to ask for help.”

Buck Brannaman (1962) Horse trainer

Help

“Every problem has a solution, although it may not be the outcome that was originally hoped for or expected.”

Alice Hoffman book Practical Magic

Source: Practical Magic

Hope

“We cannot solve the problems using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

"Einstein's famous saying in Copenhagen", as quoted in a FBIS Daily Report https://books.google.de/books?id=DfQTAQAAMAAJ&q=%22We+cannot+solve%22: East Europe (4 April 1995), p. 45 <br class="br">Disputed

Thinking

“That's the problem with best friends. Sometimes they know you better than you know yourself.”

Cecily von Ziegesar (1970) American writer

Source: Nobody Does it Better

“Make small commitments and keep them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

Stephen R. Covey book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

Light, Parting

“What brings you onto my property?" Rhev said, cradling his mug with both hands trying to absorb its warmth.
Got a problem"
I can't fix your personality, sorry”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Enshrined

Personality

“The problem, as I see it, is that you've been told and not told. You've been told, but none of you really understand, and I dare say, some people are quite happy to leave it that way.”

Kazuo Ishiguro book Never Let Me Go

Source: Never Let Me Go

Happiness, People, Way, Understanding

“Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Dreams, Motivational, Wise, Life

“You can't eat [literature], that's the problem," he said. "I've tried, it's very dry, and not at all nutritious.”

Kenneth Oppel (1967) Canadian children's writer

Literature

“The problem was you had to keep choosing between one evil or another, and no matter what you chose, they sliced a little bit more off you, until there was nothing left.”

Charles Bukowski book Ham on Rye

Source: Ham on Rye

Evil

“It doesn’t take time to change once you understand the problem… Somebody hands you a rattlesnake, it doesn’t take long to drop it, does it?”

Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer

Source: One

Understanding, Change, Time

“The real problem with being around James was that he was always the hero. And what did that make you? Either the sidekick or the villain.”

Lev Grossman The Magicians

Source: The Magicians

“If people don't think they have the power to solve their problems, they won't even think about how to solve them.”

Saul D. Alinsky (1909–1972) American community organizer and writer

Source: Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals

People, Thinking

“The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking… the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker. (1945)”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

Way, Thinking, Change, Heart

“It takes a huge effort to free yourself from memory, but when you succeed, you start to realize that you’re capable of far more than you imagined. You live in this vast body called the Universe, which contains all the solutions and all the problems. Visit your soul; don’t visit your past. The Universe goes through many mutations and carries the past with it. We call each of those mutations a ‘life,’ but just as the cells in your body change and yet you remain the same, so time does not pass, it merely changes.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

Life, Soul, Imagination, Effort

“If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations

“She had to face the fact that she couldn't protect everyone she loved. She couldn't solve every problem.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

Love

“When insane things start to arrange themselves in sane patterns around you, you know you got problems.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

“As long as you think the problem is out there, that very thought is the problem”

Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker

Thinking

“The young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.”

William Faulkner (1897–1962) American writer

Variant: the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat

Heart

“The pain was so deep and so raw. There were days I would have died just to forget. The problem was, I couldn't figure out how to get her out of my mind. How do you kill that kind of pain?”

Ted Dekker book Kiss

Source: Kiss

Pain, Forgetting

“Codependents are reactionaries. They overreact. They under-react. But rarely do they act. They react to the problems, pains, lives, and behaviors of others. They react to their own problems, pains, and behaviors.”

Melody Beattie (1948) American writer

Source: Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself

Pain, Behavior

“If you can't solve a problem, it's because you're playing by the rules”

Paul Arden (1940–2008) writer

Source: It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be

“The problem I have with all this religion stuff is that I can't relate to it. I think most people got into 'cos it gave them something to do on a Sunday, but since all the shops are now open it isn't required as much.”

Karl Pilkington (1972) English television personality, social commentator, actor, author and former radio producer

Source: An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington

People, Religion, Thinking

“You can't talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into!”

Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker

Way

“Being scared isn't the problem. It's not running away that's the hard part.”

John Connolly (1968) author

Source: Nocturnes

Parting

“The problem about the future is that it keeps turning into the present.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

Future

“When a problem is disturbing you, don't ask, "What should I do about it?" Ask, "What part of me is being disturbed by this?”

Michael Singer (1945) American landscape architect

Source: The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

Parting

“Words," he said, "is oh such a twitch-tickling problem to me all my life.”

Roald Dahl The BFG

Source: The BFG

Life

“Getting old we can deal with. Being old is the problem”

Mitch Albom (1958) American author

Source: Have a Little Faith: a True Story

“Life is problems. Living is solving problems.”

Raymond E. Feist book Silverthorn

Source: Silverthorn

Life

“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.”

Maya Angelou book Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now

Source: Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now

Search, Personality, Back To Work

“Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government.”

Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer

Source: An Economist's Protest: Columns in Political Economy (1966), p. 107

People

“Never accept the proposition that just because a solution satisfies a problem, that it must be the only solution.”

Raymond E. Feist (1945) Novelist

“I forced myself to take another bite of bread, chewing casually. But inside I felt stricken, filled with unexpected yearning. And I realized the problem: no one I knew would have come up with that day for me., I thought,.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Smooth Talking Stranger

“The problem with not having anybody to tell you what to do, I understood, is that there was nobody to tell you what not to do.”

Augusten Burroughs book Running with Scissors

Source: Running with Scissors

“Oliver… well. Who knew if Oliver’s problem was the disease or just a bad attitude?”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Carpe Corpus

Disease

“The mature response to the problem of existence is love.”

Erich Fromm book The Art of Loving

Source: The Art of Loving

Love

“And so the problem remained; lots of people were mean, and most were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.”

Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy pentalogy

Source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

People

“So that is the design process or the creative process. Start with a problem, forget the problem, the problem reveals itself or the solution reveals itself and then you reevaulate it. This is what you are doing all the time.”

Paul Rand (1914–1996) American graphic designer

Time, Forgetting

“She gave me the jabs and said I was covered for every worst-case scenario, including being bitten by a dirty chimp. I told her this is why we have over-population problems. Why are idiots who annoy dirty chimps being protected?”

Karl Pilkington (1972) English television personality, social commentator, actor, author and former radio producer

Source: An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington

“But it isn’t a rough draft either. The one I turned in several months ago was rough. There were some bad plot holes, some logical inconsistencies, pacing problems, and not nearly enough lesbian unicorns.”

Patrick Rothfuss (1973) American fantasy writer

“I would have, had someone not detonated their charges prematurely. (Nykyrian)
Yeah, Cruel. You have to watch that premature detonation problem of yours. (Hauk)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Born of the Night

“What are you doing in Nicky's room, Rachel? Oooh! He summoned you to the west coast, didn't he? Did you kill him? Good for you taking care of that little problem? I should give you a bunny!" - Algaliarept”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Black Magic Sanction

“True happiness comes not when we get rid of all of our problems, but when we change our relationship to them, when we see our problems as a potential source of awakening, opportunities to practice, and to learn.”

Richard Carlson (1961–2006) Author, psychotherapist and motivational speaker

Source: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life

Happiness, Learning, Change

“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.”

Robert Fulghum (1937) American writer

Housing

“It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.”

Douglas Adams Life, the Universe and Everything

Source: Life, the Universe and Everything

Thinking

“I've always protected myself when it comes to love. And maybe that's the problem. By not letting myself get hurt now, it ripples into much bigger pain later.”

Carolyn Mackler book The Future of Us

Source: The Future of Us

Love, Pain, Hurt

“Money problems can always be solved by a man not frightened by them.”

Robert A. Heinlein book Have Space Suit—Will Travel

Source: Have Space Suit—Will Travel

Money

“The easiest way to solve a problem is to deny it exists.”

Isaac Asimov book The Gods Themselves

Section 3, Chapter 10, p. 236
The Gods Themselves (1972)

Way

“To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

The Miracle of Mindfulness (1999)
Source: The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
Context: To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is. A pessimistic attitude can never create the calm and serene smile which blossoms on the lips of Bodhisattvas and all those who obtain the way.

Truth, Optimism, Thinking, Reality