Quotes about expression
page 6

Elizabeth Wurtzel photo
Jean Rhys photo
Christopher Isherwood photo
Cassandra Clare photo
Thich Nhat Hanh photo

“Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos — the trees, the clouds, everything.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Source: Touching Peace: Practicing the Art of Mindful Living

Sherrilyn Kenyon photo
Sarah Mlynowski photo
Albert Einstein photo

“But laws alone cannot secure freedom of expression; in order that every man may present his views without penalty there must be a spirit of tolerance in the entire population.”

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

"On Freedom" (1940), p. 13 http://books.google.com/books?id=Q1UxYzuI2oQC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA13#v=onepage&q&f=false
1950s, Out of My Later Years (1950)
Context: This freedom of communication is indispensable for the development and extension of scientific knowledge, a consideration of much practical import. In the first instance it must be guaranteed by law. But laws alone cannot secure freedom of expression; in order that every man may present his views without penalty there must be a spirit of tolerance in the entire population. Such an ideal of external liberty can never be fully attained but must be sought unremittingly if scientific thought, and philosophical and creative thinking in general, are to be advanced as far as possible.

Wilhelm Reich photo

“And the truth must finally lie in that which every oppressed individual feels within himself but hasn't the courage to express”

Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957) Austrian-American psychoanalyst

Source: Beyond Psychology: Letters and Journals, 1934-1939

Agatha Christie photo
Philip Larkin photo

“How little our careers express what lies in us, and yet how much time they take up. It's sad, really.”

Philip Larkin (1922–1985) English poet, novelist, jazz critic and librarian

Source: Philip Larkin: Letters to Monica

Rick Riordan photo
Rick Riordan photo
Shunryu Suzuki photo

“We sit to express our true nature”

Shunryu Suzuki (1904–1971) Japanese Buddhist missionary
John Ruskin photo
Martha Graham photo

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.”

Martha Graham (1894–1991) American dancer and choreographer

As quoted in The Life and Work of Martha Graham (1991) by Agnes de Mille, p. 264, <!-- de Mille precedes the Graham quotation with: "The greatest thing she ever said to me was in 1943 after the opening of Oklahoma!, when I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha. I remember the conversation well. It was in a Schrafft's restaurant over a soda. I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be. Martha said to me, very quietly, ... " -->
Context: There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

Rebecca West photo

“I myself have never been able to find out what feminism is; I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.”

Rebecca West (1892–1983) British feminist and author

"Mr. Chesterton in Hysterics," in The Clarion, (14 November 1913), re-published in The Young Rebecca: Writings of Rebecca West, 1911-17 (1982), p. 219.
Variant: I myself have never been able to find out what feminism is; I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.
Source: Young Rebecca: Writings, 1911-1917

Richard Russo photo
Dylan Thomas photo
Werner Heisenberg photo

“I think that modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato. In fact the smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense; they are forms, ideas which can be expressed unambiguously only in mathematical language.”

Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) German theoretical physicist

Das Naturgesetz und die Struktur der Materie (1967), as translated in Natural Law and the Structure of Matter (1981), p. 34

Henry David Thoreau photo
Jon Ronson photo

“Psychopaths [make] the world go around… society [is] an expression of that particular sort of madness… I've always believed society to be a fundamentally rational thing, but what if it isn't? What if it is built on insanity?”

Jon Ronson (1967) British journalist, documentary filmmaker, radio presenter and nonfiction author

Source: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

Dietrich Bonhoeffer photo

“The will of God, to which the law gives expression, is that men should defeat their enemies by loving them.”

Source: Discipleship (1937), The Enemy, the "Extraordinary", p. 147.
Source: The Cost of Discipleship

Gretchen Rubin photo

“Studies show that aggressively expressing anger doesn't relieve anger but amplifies it. On the other hand, not expressing anger often allows it to disappear without leaving ugly traces.”

Gretchen Rubin (1966) American writer

Source: The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Jeanette Winterson photo
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley photo
Anthony Trollope photo
F. Scott Fitzgerald photo
Richard Bach photo
Laurie Halse Anderson photo
Jane Austen photo
Martha Graham photo

“I feel that the essence of dance is the expression of mankind — the landscape of the human soul.”

Martha Graham (1894–1991) American dancer and choreographer

I Am A Dancer (1952)
Source: Blood Memory
Context: I feel that the essence of dance is the expression of mankind — the landscape of the human soul. I hope that every dance I do reveals something of myself or some wonderful thing a human being can be.

Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“Expressing yourself when he takes for granted doesn't work.”

Sherry Argov (1977) American writer

Source: Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dreamgirl—A Woman's Guide to Holding Her Own in a Relationship

P.G. Wodehouse photo

“I may not feel significant until someone expresses love to me.”

The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate

Barbara Marciniak photo
Elizabeth Gilbert photo
Robert Frost photo
Lauren Weisberger photo
William Morris photo
Aleister Crowley photo
Irving Berlin photo
John F. Kennedy photo

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”

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

"Proclamation 3560 — Thanksgiving Day, 1963" (5 November 1963) http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9511<!-- Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project -->
1963
Context: Today we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers —  for the decency of purpose, steadfastness of resolve and strength of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed and which we must seek every day to emulate. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.
Let us therefore proclaim our gratitude to Providence for manifold blessings — let us be humbly thankful for inherited ideals — and let us resolve to share those blessings and those ideals with our fellow human beings throughout the world.

Louisa May Alcott photo
Yves Saint Laurent photo
Roberto Bolaño photo
Thomas Hardy photo

“They spoke very little of their mutual feeling; pretty phrases and warm expressions being probably unnecessary between such tried friends.”

Variant: They spoke very little of their mutual feelings: pretty phrases and warm attentions being probably unnecessary between such tried friends.
Source: Far from the Madding Crowd

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley photo
J. Michael Straczynski photo

“The more important the emotion is, the fewer words required to express it”

J. Michael Straczynski (1954) American writer and television producer

JMSNews (31 January 2008) http://www.jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17708&topic=Spiderman.
Context: The more important the emotion is, the fewer words required to express it:
Will you go out with me?
I think I like you.
I care for you.
I love you.
Marry me.
Goodbye.

Gustave Flaubert photo
Ayn Rand photo
Michel De Montaigne photo
Andrew Solomon photo
Ralph Waldo Emerson photo

“Beauty without expression is boring.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
Joseph Addison photo
Oswald Chambers photo
Jeanette Winterson photo
Maureen Johnson photo
Marvin J. Ashton photo
Charlie Chaplin photo
Laurie Halse Anderson photo
Bill Hicks photo
Charles Baudelaire photo
Louise Penny photo
William Faulkner photo
Jack London photo
Beverley Nichols photo
Peter Lerangis photo
U.G. Krishnamurti photo

“To be yourself requires extraordinary intelligence. You are blessed with that intelligence; nobody need give it to you; nobody can take it away from you. He who lets that express itself in its own way is a "Natural Man."”

U.G. Krishnamurti (1918–2007) Indian philosopher

Part 2: The Mystique of Enlightenment
The Mystique of Enlightenment (1982)
Source: The Mystique of Enlightenment: The Radical Ideas of U.G. Krishnamurti

Mitch Albom photo
Nick Hornby photo
Mortimer J. Adler photo

“The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.”

Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) American philosopher and educator

Source: How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

Meg Cabot photo
Sherrilyn Kenyon photo

“Expressing your feelings constantly is like pleading. It comes across as needy rather than dignified.”

Sherry Argov (1977) American writer

Source: Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dreamgirl-A Woman's Guide to Holding Her Own in a Relationship

Aldous Huxley photo

“After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English writer

"The Rest is Silence"
Source: Music at Night and Other Essays (1931)

Gustave Flaubert photo
John Donne photo
Ferdinand de Saussure photo

“Psychologically our thought-apart from its expression in words-is only a shapeless and indistinct mass.”

Source: Cours de linguistique générale (1916), p. 111-112
Source: Course in General Linguistics
Context: Psychologically our thought-apart from its expression in words-is only a shapeless and indistinct mass. Philosophers and linguists have always agreed in recognizing that without the help of signs we would be unable to make a clear-cut, consistent distinction between two ideas. Without language, thought is a vague, uncharted nebula. here are no pre-existing ideas, and nothing is distinct before the appearance of language.

Guy Debord photo

“Ideas improve. The meaning of words participates in the improvement. Plagiarism is necessary. Progress implies it. It embraces an author’s phrase, makes use of his expressions, erases a false idea, and replaces it with the right idea.”

Guy Debord (1931–1994) French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker and founding member of the Situationist International (SI)

Source: Society of the Spectacle (1967), Ch. 8, sct. 207 (confer Comte de Lautréamont, Poésies II, 1870).

Thornton Wilder photo