Quotes about building
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“Get out of my way as I'm building better futureǃ”

Mara Balls (1983) Finnish musician

“Let the music keep our spirits high
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by”

Jackson Browne (1948) American singer-songwriter

Before the Deluge (1974) from For Everyman (1973)

Children, Secret, Music

“People who come out of prison can build up the country.
Misfortune is a test of people's fidelity.
Those who protest at injustice are people of true merit.
When the prison doors are opened, the real dragon will fly out.”

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

"Word Play"
1950's

People, Flying, Country

“Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a heaven in hell’s despair.”

William Blake (1757–1827) English Romantic poet and artist

The Clod and the Pebble, st. 1
1790s, Songs of Experience (1794)

Love, Making love, Hell, Despair

“When we're born, our experience is half the time spent undoing these ideas that were placed onto our body since birth and then building a personal identity on top of that.”

Morgan Parker (writer) American poet

On the Black experience in “'Magical Negro' Carries The Weight Of History” https://www.npr.org/2019/02/11/693587521/magical-negro-carries-the-weight-of-history in NPR (2019 Feb 11)

Idea, Birth, Time, Personality

“Not an enforced amnesia but an unsparing memory - that is what will build a nation.”

Arun Shourie (1941) Indian journalist and politician

Source: A secular agenda, 1993

Memory

“As people surrender the power to build the institutions they want, which would enable lives that make sense to them, the system as a whole sacrifices the intelligence it needs: it loses its minds.”

David Fleming (1940–2010) British activist

Lean Logic, (2016), p. 413, entry on Scale https://leanlogic.online/scale/

People, Making love, Intelligence, Sense

“The opportunity is not to discover the perfect company for ourselves. The opportunity is to build the perfect company for each other.”

Simon Sinek (1973) British/American author and motivational speaker

Source: Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team

Perfection

“In France the height of the structures is limited to five or six storeys: in America stores frequently tower up fifteen storeys or more, and with rapid smooth-running lifts one floor is as good as another. These buildings measure their floor area by the acre, and twenty, thirty, or even forty acres of floor space—or even two million square feet—are not extraordinary, while it is quite likely that before the ink on these pages has become dry some great merchant with imagination, courage and ambition will announce his purpose of erecting a structure perhaps twice as large as any now in existence. If he does so it will not be for the sake of having the biggest thing on earth but because more space will allow him to set the word "perfection" further out in the hitherto unexplored fields of endeavour.”

Harry Gordon Selfridge (1858–1947) America born English businessman

The Romance of Commerce (1918), A Representative Business of the Twentieth Century

Imagination, Courage, Perfection

“If the design takes too long to build, it’s a bad design.”

Elon Musk (1971) South African-born American entrepreneur

Source: https://qz.com/1718402/elon-musk-says-his-starship-will-fly-to-orbit-in-six-months/
Context: If the design takes too long to build, it’s a bad design. If the schedule is long, it’s wrong; if it’s tight, it’s right.

Bad luck

“Exercise helps build the muscle of a child’s brain even more effectively than studying.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 94

Exercises, Study, Help

“In our secret depths, wherever we do our unspoken wishing, either we want life to be tidy, clear, fully understood, contained within definite limits, or we long for it to seem larger, wilder, stranger. Faced with some odd incident, either we wish to cut it down or to build it up.
On this level, below that of philosophies and rational opinions, either we reject or ignore the unknown, the apparently inexplicable, the marvellous and miraculous, or we welcome every sign of them. At one extreme is a narrow intolerant bigotry, snarling at anything outside the accepted world-picture, and at the other is an idiotic credulity, the prey of any glib charlatan. At one end the world becomes a prison, at the other a madhouse.”

J.B. Priestley (1894–1984) English writer

Source: Man and Time (1964), Ch. 8, p. 183

Life, Secret, World

“When an American thinks about the problem of government-building, he directs himself not to be creation of authority and the accumulation of power but rather to the limitation of authority and the division of power.”

Samuel P. Huntington (1927–2008) American political scientist

Political Order in Changing Societies https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/gov2126/files/huntington_political_order_changing_soc.pdf (1968), p. 7

Problem, Thinking

“Each of us can contribute, though. With our votes, our voices, our food choices, our skills and our dollars. We must overhaul both corporate practices and government policies. We must transform culture. Building community around solutions is the most important thing. I am never going to give up working to protect and restore this magnificent planet. Every bit of habitat we preserve, every tenth of a degree of warming we prevent, really does matter. Thankfully, I'm not motivated by hope, but rather a desire to be useful.”

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (1980) American marine biologist and policy expert

Source: A love story for the coral reef crisis https://www.ted.com/talks/ayana_elizabeth_johnson_a_love_story_for_the_coral_reef_crisis (April 2019)

Food, Hope, Communication, Motivation

“Radicals and Conservatives are not at all unlike, temperamentally. They want order, organization, efficiency, perfection. The Conservative or Reactionary thinks these can be best obtained by putting and keeping the power in the hands of a small class. He is afraid that an extension of democracy will destroy form and tradition, which he believes are essential to holding any society together. The Radical is so obsessed by the obvious faults of society that he wants to pull everything up by the roots and start all over again, and build a perfect society according to a blueprint. It is interesting that when the extreme Radicals triumph—in a revolution, for instance, as in Russia—they immediately become rigidly conservative, and punish all deviation rigorously. The worst fundamentalists in the world today are the Russian communists.”

Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster

Source: Dorothy Thompson’s Political Guide: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938), p. 86

World, Democracy, Thinking, Perfection

“It is better the truth should come little by little. I have learned that, being a priest. Perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast.
Nevertheless, we make a beginning. it is not for the metal alone we go to the Dead Places now — there are the books and the writings. They are hard to learn. And the magic tools are broken — but we can look at them and wonder. At least, we make a beginning. And, when I am chief priest we shall go beyond the great river. We shall go to the Place of the Gods — the place newyork — not one man but a company. We shall look for the images of the gods and find the god ASHING and the others — the gods Lincoln and Biltmore and Moses. But they were men who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men. I remember the dead man's face. They were men who were here before us. We must build again.”

Stephen Vincent Benét book By the Waters of Babylon

Source: By the Waters of Babylon (1937)

Men, God, Truth, Books

“It was like a Chihuahua threatening an office building.”

Daniel Abraham (1969) speculative fiction writer from the United States

Source: The Expanse, Tiamat's Wrath (2019), Chapter 3 (p. 41)

“We live in a country afflicted by a senile and selfish capitalist system...where families are homeless, sick people unattended, children untaught whilst building workers, nurses and teachers are unemployed”

Neil Kinnock (1942) British politician

Source: ‘Introduction’, in Why Vote Labour? (1979), p. 2, quoted in Tudor Jones, ‘Neil Kinnock's socialist journey’, Contemporary Record, Volume 8, Issue 3 (1994), p. pp. 568–569

Children, People, Family, Affliction

“Those who are willing to work, those who are willing to toil, those who are willing to sacrifice, they shall be the peaceful army that He shall lead to the conquest of the great ideal Society, which they shall build under His direction and make practicable under His inspiration; and they, perhaps more than any other proof, are the sign of the new departure, are the welcome and the heralds of the coming Teacher.”

Annie Besant (1847–1933) British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator

Source: Initiation, The Perfecting of Man 1923, p. 148

Making love, Peace, Departure, Teachers

“There is one thing that is eating the heart out of India, and that is modern materialism. There is one thing which is poisoning the mind of India, and that is the kind of science which is the teacher of materialism and works against Spirituality in the mind. How should I be able to tell you of the moral regeneration of India unless first I can strike at that which is piercing her heart and sucking out her very lifeblood. So--as I have been trained in the science of the West, trained in the knowledge of the physical Universe which is so much used to make men believe that nothing but the physical remains--I take for my first subject this undermining of materialism by science, and I attack it with the weapons that were once used to build it up.”

Annie Besant (1847–1933) British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator

Source: Essays and Addresses, Vol. III- Evolution and Occultism (1913)

Men, Making love, Knowledge, Teachers

“[W]e understand that if the child were to give in to the overpowering character of reality and experience he would not be able to act with the kind of equanimity we need in our non-instinctive world. So one of the first things a child has to do is to learn to “abandon ecstasy,” to do without awe, to leave fear and trembling behind. Only then can he act with a certain oblivious self-confidence, when he has naturalized his world. We say “naturalized” but we mean unnaturalized, falsified, with the truth obscured, the despair of the human condition hidden, a despair that the child glimpses in his night terrors and daytime phobias and neuroses. This despair he avoids by building defenses; and these defenses allow him to feel a basic sense of self-worth, of meaningfulness, of power. They allow him to feel that he controls his life and his death, that he really does live and act as a willful and free individual, that he has a unique and self-fashioned identity, that he is somebody—not just a trembling accident germinated on a hothouse planet that Carlyle for all time called a “hall of doom.””

Ernest Becker book The Denial of Death

We called one’s life style a vital lie, and now we can understand better why we said it was vital: it is a necessary and basic dishonesty about oneself and one’s whole situation. This revelation is what the Freudian revolution in thought really ends up in and is the basic reason that we still strain against Freud We don’t want to admit that we arerevelation is what the Freudian revolution in thought really ends up in and is the basic reason that we still strain against Freud. We don’t want to admit that we are fundamentally dishonest about reality, that we do not really control our own lives. We don’t want to admit that we do not stand alone, that we always rely on something that transcends us, some system of ideas and powers in which we are embedded and which support us. This power is not always obvious. It need not be overtly a god or openly a stronger person, but it can be the power of an all-absorbing activity, a passion, a dedication to a game, a way of life, that like a comfortable web keeps a person buoyed up and ignorant of himself, of the fact that he does not rest on his own center. All of us are driven to be supported in a self-forgetful way, ignorant of what energies we really draw on, of the kind of lie we have fashioned in order to live securely and serenely. Augustine was a master analyst of this, as were Kierkegaard, Scheler, and Tillich in our day. They saw that man could strut and boast all he wanted, but that he really drew his “courage to be” from a god, a string of sexual conquests, a Big Brother, a flag, the proletariat, and the fetish of money and the size of a bank balance.
Human Character as a Vital Lie
The Denial of Death (1973)

Life, Death, Truth, World

“There’s no reason, with a good Republican governor that welcomes business into the state of Louisiana, that we can’t get the space command there with our present governor there, we can build the starship Enterprise into the state before he’ll let good business into the state.”

Ralph Abraham (politician) (1954) American physician and congressman

Ralph Abraham: We’ll Make Louisiana the ‘Leading Candidate’ for U.S. Space Command https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2019/03/16/ralph-abraham-well-make-louisiana-the-leading-candidate-for-u-s-space-command/ (16 March 2019)

Business

“[T]he American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us, on we the people, who seek a more perfect union. This is a great nation. We are good people. And over the centuries, through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we′ve come so far, but we still have far to go.We′ll press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities. Much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build, and much to gain. Few people in our nation′s history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we′re in now.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

2021, January, Presidential Inaugural Address (2021)

War, People, Peace, History

“For the truly creative mind in any field is no more than this — a human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create — to create — to create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of beauty and meaning his very breath is cut off from him. He must create. He must pour out creation. By some strange unknown pressing inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.”

Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American writer

"The Creative Mind at Work," William Vaughn Moody Foundation Lecture at the University of Chicago (1935), as quoted in Pearl S. Buck: A Biography, Volume 2 - Her Philosophy as Expressed in Her Letters (1971) by Theodore F. Harris, p. 217.

Death, God, Books, Beauty

“The old city of Ajoodhea is a ruin, with the exception of a few buildings along the bank of the river raised by wealthy Hindoos in honour of Ram, who once lived and reigned there, and is believed by all Hindoos to have been an incarnation of Vishnoo.”

William Henry Sleeman (1788–1856) British colonial administrator

Vol. 2, p. 27
‘A Journey Through The Kingdom Of Oudh (1849-1850)’ , 1858, quoted . in Kishore, Kunal (2016). Ayodhyā revisited.

“On my good days and bad days, when I’m shining or standing in the shadows, no matter what I face, God is my strength. My goal is to build a platform where I can spread the Gospel. Share the good news freely and to all who have ears to hear.”

Joel Courtney (1996) American actor

Exclusive Interview With “Super 8” And “The Kissing Booth” Star Joel Courtney https://daman.co.id/exclusive-interview-with-super-8-and-the-kissing-booth-star-joel-courtney/ (June 6, 2011)

God, Bad luck

“I am a cricketer but can I save a life? A doctor can. But no-one claps for the best doctor in the country. Create myths around them. They will save more lives. They are the stars. The labourers are the stars, they build the country. What have we built using cricket? Can we make even a brick using cricket? Does paddy grow on the cricket field? Those who make courtyards using bricks, make things at factories, grow crops in the fields – they are the stars.”

Mashrafe Mortaza (1983) Bangladeshi international cricketer and politician

https://zeenews.india.com/cricket/icc-champions-trophy/doctors-farmers-and-labourers-are-real-stars-of-nation-not-cricketers-philosopher-captain-mashrafe-mortaza-2016815.html

Life, Making love, Star, Country

“If we want to have a predictable life... then we have to build in these... pockets of reducibility. If we were... existing in this irreducible world, we'd never be able to... know what's going to happen.”

Stephen Wolfram (1959) British-American computer scientist, mathematician, physicist, writer and businessman

Stephen Wolfram: Fundamental Theory of Physics, Life, and the Universe (Sep 15, 2020)

Life, World

“Wealth is not money. Wealth lies in men. This is where true power lies, the power we value. This is what has convinced us to direct all our resources to build the individual, and to use the wealth which God has provided us in the service of the nation.”

Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918–2004) Sheikh of Abu Dhabi (1918-2004)

1 https://en.vogue.me/culture/the-most-inspirational-quotes-from-the-late-sheikh-zayed/, 3 https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/9827319.Sheikh_Zayed_Al_Nahyan

Men, Money, God, Wealth

“‘The people’ have in fact done everything that is done; they built the houses and roads and railroads and telephones and planes, they organized world‐wide cooperative institutions—the oil companies, the banks—and the postal services, and the militia companies, and the schools—what didn’t ‘the people’ do? What happens is that, after they do it, The Government takes it. The Government takes the roads, the postal service, the systems of communication, the banks, the markets, the stock exchanges, the insurance companies, the schools, the militia, the building trades, the telegraph and telephones, the radios, after ‘the people’ have done all these things for themselves.”

Rose Wilder Lane (1886–1968) American journalist

Source: The Lady and The Tycoon: Letters of Rose Wilder Lane and Jasper Crane (1973), pp. 332-333 (letter July 13, 1963)

People, World, School, Communication

“We used to think that schools built brains. Now we know that it is play that builds the brains that school can then use.”

Gordon Neufeld (1947) Canadian psychologist

Source: Neurochild Community

“To focus on your legacy when you’re alive, is to detract from the time you could spend building it.”

Isaac Mashman (2000) businessman, speaker

Time

“After a long period when politicians weren't even sitting in the same building together, there actually was the churches working together, who in many ways provided the fabric that held society together.”

Donal McKeown (1950) Roman Catholic bishop

Donal McKeown says DUP views seen as 'nakedly sectarian' https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-23112107 (30 June 2013)

Way

“A few social media ideas for public servants looking to build an audience: - Endorse Single-Payer Medicare for All, - Hold Wall Street Accountable, - Make Min Wage = Living Wage, - Cancel Puerto Rican Debt, - End For-Profit Prisons & ICE Detention, - Fight for a #GreenNewDeal”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (1989) American politician

Twitter post, https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1080300714126200832 (1 January 2019) <br class="br">2019, January 2019

Making love, Idea, Fight

“Language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a stone; yet he is no more to be credited with the grand result than the acaleph which adds a cell to the coral reef which is the basis of the continent.”

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

1870s, Society and Solitude (1870), Quotation and Originality

“The summit of evil, the crime most natural to the devil, pride, was born of knowledge. But if this is so, how can it be possible that all the passions result from ignorance? Does knowledge purify the psyche? Paul says: Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up”

Gregory Palamas (1296–1359) Monk and archbishop

1 Corinthians 8:1
Source: Holy Hesychia: The Stillness that Knows God, p. 33

Love, Making love, Nature, Knowledge

“The Palace of Justice in Brussels lies like a cyclops above the city, building a court of justice above a city, that is really something special.”

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party

1940s

Justice

“Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call ‘life’ was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”

Timothy Ferriss book Tools of Titans

Life, People, Learning, Change

“Violence is a bit like antibodies. Small doses build up until you can reject and be immune to the most horrific events.”

Bernard MacLaverty book Cal

Source: Novels, Cal (1983), Ch.5 - p.127

“I love art, and I love history, but it is living art and living history that I love... It is in the interest of living art and living history that I oppose so-called restoration. What history can there be in a building bedaubed with ornament, which cannot at the best be anything but a hopeless and lifeless imitation of the hope and vigour of the earlier world?”

William Morris (1834–1896) author, designer, and craftsman

"The History of Pattern-Designing" lecture (1882) The Collected Works of William Morris (1910 - 1915) Vol. 22

Love, World, Making love, Hope

“Corporations are good things. They encourage people to take risk. They're smart vehicles for building wealth, but they also have to be controlled. ...The reason is, they are soulless entities. A corporation has no morals and its purpose is to make money.”

David Cay Johnston (1948) Investigative journalist and author

The Tyrant Next Time (November 7, 2019)

Money, People, Making love, Wealth

“Rather than building the economy for all of us, we are mining the bottom to benefit the top.”

David Cay Johnston (1948) Investigative journalist and author

David Cay Johnston: The Perils Of Our Growing Inequality (Jun 1, 2014)

“There is a romance with the people of God. To know that you're building up the Kingdom of God, you who have been called and been given that grace, Jesus Christ is working through you in a very special way. I can’t save anybody personally, but I can through the Church through that I serve.”

Daniel Patrick Reilly (1928) Roman Catholic bishop

Bishop Daniel P. Reilly https://vimeo.com/273945657 (2008)

God, People, Way, Christ

“I view my career like a rubber-band ball in that every role is a new experience building toward something bigger.”

Jamie Chung (1983) American actress

“Time, talent, and treasure. If people give their time to God’s work, that’s very important, and use the talents that God gives you, not for yourself, it’s for the greater glory of God, but you use your talents. Everybody's got different kind of talents, but you use some of your talents for the greater glory of building up the Kingdom of God on Earth.”

Michael Wiwchar (1932) Ukrainian Catholic bishop in the United States and Canada.

Honouree Announcement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjTtG_muVhM (November 1, 2020)

God, People, Time

“With the realization of ones own potential and self-confidence in ones ability, one can build a better world.”

Tenzin Gyatso (1935) spiritual leader of Tibet

World, Confidence, Self-confidence, Powerful

“Be true to yourself, help others, make each day your masterpiece, make friendship a fine art, drink deeply from good books - especially the Bible, build a shelter against a rainy day, give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day.”

John Wooden (1910–2010) American basketball coach

Friendship, Books, Art, Drink

“The artist builds a framework, and the community fills it in.”

Sepandar Kamvar (1977) Iranian computer scientist

Syntax & Sage: Reflections on Software and Nature https://books.google.com/books/about/Syntax_Sage.html?id=Pe-ajgEACAAJ (2015)

Communication

“Building a gazebo in the middle of the civil war, that'd be like doing stand-up comedy now.”

John Mulaney (1982) American actor and comedian

Kid Gorgeous (2018)

War

“We want to transform ourselves from a PC market-share leader into a PC-plus innovation leader. This will ensure we have sustained growth, profitability, and the strong foundation to build a great global company that can last for generations.”

Yang Yuanqing (1964) Chinese businessman

Thriving in a ‘PC-plus’ world: An interview with Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/thriving-in-a-pc-plus-world# in McKinsey & Company (1 June 2013)

Strong

“Don't post for the sake of likes and retweets, post to build relationships with your audience.”

Vladimer Botsvadze

“Building your presence across all social media platforms is the single greatest opportunity to stand out.”

Vladimer Botsvadze

“Building a personal brand requires curiosity, persistence, and consistency.”

Vladimer Botsvadze

Personality

“Nine times out of ten, salespeople don't succeed on social media, because they don't have a clear strategy on how to build an audience and provide value.”

Vladimer Botsvadze

Time

“Anyone in a position of leadership should be using that position to build trust in vaccines”

Michelle Wu (1985) City Councilor in Boston, Massachusetts

4 August 2021 criticism quoted in The Hill https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/566367-boston-mayor-compares-vaccine-passports-to-documentation-required-during of Kim Janey after Janey compared vaccine passports to slave papers <br class="br">2021

“What I enjoy most about being an entrepreneur is making a difference. By building a business we create jobs, pay taxes, and build families and communities.”

Nina Vaca businessperson

CEO Spotlight: Nina Vaca https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2016/june/nina-vaca-pinnacle-group-ceo/, D Magazine (June 2016)

Family, Communication, Business

“We must build strength and maintain vision. That requires inexorable efforts for reform and integration. Reform is a driving force behind growth, and integration is a stepping-stone for a take-off.”

Roh Moo-hyun (1946–2009) 9th President of the Republic of Korea

Excerpts from inaugural address (25 February 2003)

Effort

“The energy disruptions of the Long Emergency are going to remind us that the skyscraper was an experimental building form.”

James Howard Kunstler book The Long Emergency

Source: The Long Emergency (2005), Chapter 7, p. 253.

“A completely new attitude will take place in relation to work. Through the power of sound, man will build and create the artefacts of his civilization and control his environment, relating it to his real needs.”

Benjamin Creme (1922–2016) artist, author, esotericist

The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom (1980)

“I argue that the best strategy for understanding quantum gravity is to build a picture of the physical world where the notion of time plays no role at all.”

Carlo Rovelli (1956) Italian physicist

"Forget time" (Aug, 2008)

World, Understanding, Time

“We are going to build a better Internet.”

John Roth (1942) Canadian businessman

Top Tech Execs: John Roth https://www.forbes.com/2000/12/13/1213topexecsroth.html?sh=1c37ab4d1fa9 December 13, 2000

“All my journey, I help children, building school, building hospital, orphanage home. It’s about relationship. Now I’m working, not because of my duty, not because of my mission, but because of my love.”

Phan Thi Kim Phuc (1963) Child depicted in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972

"Kim Phuc Phan Thi: Vietnam War Survivor" in PBS https://www.pbs.org/newshour/brief/329035/kim-phuc-phan-thi

Love, Children, School, Home

“I probably was the one out of the three of us that was like, ‘Let’s go, let’s get big, let’s get everybody.’ I wasn’t necessarily thinking about organizational structure... I was mostly thinking about building a mass movement that people can be a part of and feel an identity around.”

Opal Tometi (1984) Nigerian–American writer, strategist and community organizer

How the movement that’s changing America was built and where it goes next, By Jamil Smith, Rolling Stone, (16 June 2020)

People, Feeling, Thinking, Parting

“Brexit means drifting apart but we don't want to build a wall.”

Donald Tusk (1957) Polish politician, current President of the European Council

Brexit means drifting apart but we don't want to build a wall - Tusk https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43314976 BBC News (7 March 2018)

“I have reached your country, therefore, with no misgivings, but with my belief that the American people are building and carrying out a true pattern of the nation conceived by your forebears, strengthened and confirmed.”

Soong Mei-ling (1897–2003) Chiang Kai-shek's wife, First Lady of the Republic of China

Address to the U.S. House of Representatives (February 18, 1943)

People, Country

“Thick smoke like a herd of black horses was rising over the massive building and being blown around by the wind.”

Ismail Kadare book Chronicle in Stone

Ismail Kadare, Chronicle in Stone

Horse

“If the life of one girl changes through education, she changes three families – one, her own, second the in which she gets married into, and third the one she builds. This moves the nation on its path to progress.”

Vinod Gupta (1946) American businessman

Your Story, How this Indian-born American ensured his village in UP got the educational institutes it deserves, Shinjini, Chowdhury, September 3, 2018 https://yourstory.com/2018/09/vinod-gupta-up-education,

Life, Education, Family, Girl

“I regret entering that building with every fibre of my body.”

Jake Angeli (1988) American far-right activist

5 March 2021 report by BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-56301083

“We relate the poems and plays and novels we read and see, not to the men who wrote them, nor even directly to ourselves; we relate them to each other. Literature is a world that we try to build up and enter at the same time.”

Northrop Frye (1912–1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist

The Educated Imagination (1963), Talk 3: Giants in Time

Men, World, Literature, Time

“In world history, those who have helped to build the same culture are not necessarily of one race, and those of the same race have not all participated in one culture. In scientific language, culture is not a function of race.”

Ruth Benedict (1887–1948) American anthropologist and folklorologist

Race: Science and Politics [1940], ch. 2

World, History, Help

“The challenges being faced by an estimated one billion persons with disabilities cannot be taken lightly. It requires all stakeholders to do more to build a more inclusive society.”

Rodney Williams (1947) Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda (born 1947)

Rodney Williams (2019) cited in: " Caribbean disability conference: ‘we are an opportunity, not a burden’ https://thecommonwealth.org/media/news/caribbean-disability-conference-we-are-opportunity-not-burden" in The Commonwealth, 6 December 2019.

Personality

“Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points.”

Knute Rockne (1888–1931) American college football player and college football coach (1888-1931)

As quoted in Knute Rockne: Man Builder (1940) by Harry Augustus Stuhldreher, p. 53

Strong

“Charity should be self-sustainable. That is, it should create more wealth rather than perpetuating the cycle of poverty and dependence. In this sense, the best form of charity would be providing quality education for children and more importantly, building a good character in them.”

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (1956) spiritual leader

Interview with Forbes Magazine (2009)

Children, Education, Sense, Dependency

“Enough of dreams! No longer mock
The burdened hearts of men!
Not on the cloud, but on the rock
Build thou thy faith again;O range no more the realms of air,
Stoop to the glen-bound streams;
Thy hope was all too like despair:
Enough, enough of dreams.”

Alfred Noyes (1880–1958) English poet

"The Secret Inn : 'The Kingdom is Within You'" in Master Mind Magazine, Vol. VII, No. 3 (December 1914), p. 99

Men, Faith, Dreams, Hope

“The amazing thing about cities is that they're worth so much more than it costs to build them.”

Paul Romer (1955) American economist

TED 2011 "The world's first charter city?" https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_romer_the_world_s_first_charter_city

“We are what we are, because of the vibrations of thought which we pick up and register, through the stimuli of our daily environment.
Resolve to throw off the influences of any unfortunate environment, and to build your own life to order.”

Napoleon Hill book Think and Grow Rich

Source: Think and Grow Rich (1938) p. 54

Life

“I'm the same as a key piece of machinery in a steel mill, which is needed to make steel and to make money for the mill owners. If I break down, it's their problem. My problem is to build some kind of decent life for myself in this crazy unreal world in which I make my living.”

Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011) British-American actress

Source: As quoted in "The Frail Goddess," The Real and the Unreal (1961) by Bill Davidson, p. 78

Life, Money, World, Problem

“We need a paradigm shift from a male-dominated economic mantra to an inclusive and transformational nation- building approach that can be enshrined in our people-driven constitution”

Thokozani Khuphe (1963) Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe

Source: Zimbabwe: Recognise Women's Role - Khupe http://www.peacewomen.org/content/zimbabwe-recognise-womens-role-khupe

People

“We have a long-term goal to build the foundation for continued, practical cooperation by continuously holding official and unofficial meetings based on the principle of respecting the rights and proposals of the participants.”

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (1963) Mongolian politician

Source: "Mongolian president signals intention to help resolve N.K. nuclear standoff" in Yonhap News Agency https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20160716002400315 (16 July 2016)

“I did not expect that God would act so quickly in my life. Building my relationship with God, I have never envisioned myself as a bishop. To be one is a great privilege and responsibility. From the human perspective, it is a very challenging life.”

Karol Kulczycki (1966) Polish Roman Catholic prelate, working in Australia, who was been bishop of Port Pirie since 2020

Source: Statement from Bishop-Elect Karol Kulczycki SDS https://www.pp.catholic.org.au/__files/d/9824/Statement%20from%20Bishop-Elect%20Karol%20Kulczycki.pdf (1 August 2020)

Life, God

“But who made the law that we should not hope in our daughters? We women subscribe to that law more than anyone. Until we change all this, it is still a man's world, which women will always help to build.””

Buchi Emecheta (1944–2017) author

On the female gender (as quoted in https://www.zikoko.com/life/oldies/9-thought-provoking-quotes-from-the-literary-icon-buchi-emecheta/).

Women, World, Law, Hope

“We will build up a vision of what the future could be like if humanity so chooses — for “without vision the people perish.””

Vera Stanley Alder (1898–1984) British artist

Source: Humanity Comes of Age, A study of Individual and World Fulfillment (1950), Introduction p. I - XII

People, Future

“For the Chinese national revolution to succeed, the participation of the masses of all classes and the building of a united front of all classes are necessary. But among the classes taking part in the national revolution, the working class and the peasantry constitute the main force.”

Liu Shaoqi (1898–1969) 2nd President of the People's Republic of China (1898-1969)

Source: "Mr. Liao Zhongkai and Worker and Peasant Policy" https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/liu-shaoqi/1926/09/26.htm (26 September 1926)

Parting

“We aim to develop as a nation where healthy, educated people will live without poverty ... building a democratic country that is environmentally friendly, is connected to international financial networks, has a competitive economy and respects human rights.”

Nambaryn Enkhbayar (1958) Mongolian politician, Leader of Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party

Source: "In-depth interview - Reviving Mongolia’s early globalism" in Korea JoongAng Daily https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2007/06/05/people/Indepth-interviewReviving-Mongolias-early-globalism/2876407.html (5 June 2007)

People, Education, Country

“In the quest to build a community united in Christ the Saviour, a community of God's family, a family of families, we cannot develop without the feminine intuition, without the maternal instincts, without the care of women.”

Théodore-Adrien Sarr (1936) Catholic cardinal

Source: Women have a very important role in the Christian Community http://www.archivioradiovaticana.va/storico/2014/08/08/women_have_a_very_important_role_in_the_christian_community_/en-1104194 (August 2014)

Women, God, Family, Communication

“We burn with longing to find some firm stance, some ultimate, unshakable basis, on which we may build the tower that can reach up to infinity. But all our foundations crack and earth opens to the abyss. THEREFORE LET US NOT SEEK CERTAINTY OR SECURITY.”

Lev Shestov (1866–1938) Russian theologian

Source: In Job's Balances: on the sources of the eternal truths, Gethsemane Night - Pascal's Philosophy p. 284-285

“Always take care of yourself, of your spirit, be true to yourself, build a very thick skin where you understand that your value is outside of people’s opinions about you, and you’ll be okay.”

Simisola Kosoko (1988) Nigerian singer and songwriter

Source: https://notjustok.com/article/interviews/simi-in-conversation-with-notjustok-for-womens-history-month/ Simi on an interview during Women History Month

People, Understanding

“To become successful in anything, you need to first of all love what you do and have a strong passion for it. You also need to build up your skills, read widely, study your craft, and keep on setting bigger targets for yourself.”

Stephanie Okereke Linus (1982) Nigerian Actress and singer

Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/exclusive-interview-with-_37_b_11591236 During an interview (December 6 2017)

Love, Study, Strong, Passion

“The pitchforks and torches can tear down and burn up but they can't build up the institutions and communities so necessary to a stable and prosperous country”

Bob Inglis (1959) Former U.S. congressman

Source: "Bob Inglis: How I changed my mind about climate change" https://www.npr.org/2021/12/03/1061214253/bob-inglis-how-i-changed-my-mind-about-climate-change, NPR (December 3, 2021)

Communication, Tear, Country

“I know Colorado to be a beautiful land of beautiful people and I look forward to serving the faithful of Pueblo as their shepherd in Christ. I eagerly anticipate our future together as we grow and build our local church.”

Stephen Jay Berg (1951) Fifth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo

Source: Newly appointed Pueblo, Colo. bishop promises to give his all https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/newly-appointed-pueblo-colo-bishop-promises-to-give-his-all (January 15, 2014)

People, Faith, Beauty, Future

“As property prices started rising, developers snatched up bomb sites and derelict buildings and erected the shapeless concrete lumps that have made the ’70s the shining beacon of architectural splendor that it is.”

Ben Aaronovitch book Moon Over Soho

Source: Moon Over Soho (2011), Chapter 9, “The Forcing House” (p. 194)

“As we pass on the memories of disasters and pandemics to our posterity, we can improve our preparedness for forthcoming catastrophes. In this way, we can help to build a society in which everyone, with no one left behind, will be able to enjoy daily lives filled with health and happiness.”

Naruhito (1960) Emperor of Japan since 2019

Source: "Emperor Naruhito delivers address at U.N. meeting on water and disasters" in The Japan Times https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/06/26/national/emperor-naruhito-delivers-address-at-u-n-meeting-on-water-and-disasters/ (26 June 2021)

Happiness, Health, Way, Memory

“Patriotism, or our love for our country, obliges us to mutual good will, solidarity, honesty and concern in building our common home.”

Wojciech Polak (1964) Polish priest

Source: Polish independence centenary commemorated worldwide https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/polish-independence-centenary-commemorated-worldwide-3228 (11 November 2018)

Love, Home, Country

“There really is that role for all of us in the building of the culture of life.”

Obianuju Ekeocha (1979) Nigerian biomedical scientist

Source: https://thecatholicspirit.com/uncategorized/raised-in-a-culture-of-life-in-africa-ekeocha-brings-pro-life-message-to-the-world/ speaking on her faith

Life

“How I hate you. If hate were stone I could build a tower into the clouds.”

Jack Vance book The Gray Prince

Source: The Gray Prince (1975 [serialized 1974]), Chapter 15 (p. 152)

Hate

“Technology is nature without the human being. It is abstract nature, reduced to itself, delivered over to itself, exalting and expressing itself on its own. It develops in such a way that all the virtualities and potentialities within it must be actualized, for them and for what they are, for their own sake, so that everything is done that can be done, that is to say, everything that nature can become. It is a matter of making gold, going to the moon, building self-guiding and self-monitoring missiles that can decide on the moment to self-destruction – and destroy us. Technology is alchemy; it is the self-fulfillment of nature in place of the self-fulfillment of the life that we are. It is barbarism, the new barbarism of our time, in place of culture. Inasmuch as it puts the prescriptions and regulations of life out of play, it is not simply barbarism in its most extreme and inhumane form that has ever been known – it is sheer madness.”

Michel Henry (1922–2002) French writer

Michel Henry, Barbarism, Continuum, 2012, p. 52
Books on Culture and Barbarism, Barbarism (1987)

Life, Way, Nature, Time

“Do not confuse dreams with wishes. There is a difference. Dreams are where you visualize yourself being successful at what's important to you to accomplish. Now, dreams build convictions because you work hard to pay the price to make sure that they come true. Wishes are are hoping good things will happen to you, but there's no fire in your gut that causes you to put everything forth to overcome all the obstacles. So you have to dream more and never, ever, ever blame somebody else if it doesn't happen. That is in your department.”

Dolly Parton (1946) American singer-songwriter and actress

Source: " Dolly Parton Delivers Commencement Address at the University of Tennessee 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuOm2lLIOoU&t=6m35s" (at 6m35s), University of Tennessee, Knoxville on YouTube.

Dreams, Hope, Success