Quotes about finding
page 2

“The only way I've been practicing my whole life, to live my life is to be responsible for what I do. I don't know how to be responsible for what every black male did, I don't know. And yes, I am gonna say that I'm a thug, that's because I came from the gutter and I'm still here! I'm not saying I'm a thug because I wanna rob you or rape people and things. I'm a business man, I mean, you know I'm a business man because you find me at my places of business.”

Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor

1990s, Interview outside courthouse (1994)

Life, People, Way, Business

“Pleasure limits the scope of human possiblity-the pleasure principle is a principle of homeostasis. Desire, on the other hand, finds its boundary, its strict relation, its limit, and it is in the relation to this limit that it is sustained as such, crossing the threshold imposed by the pleasure principle.”

Jacques Lacan (1901–1981) French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist

Of The Subject of Certainty p. 31
The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho Analysis (1978)

Pleasure

“It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.”

Julius Caesar (-100–-44 BC) Roman politician and general

Disputed
Original: (la) Qui se ultro morti offerant facilius reperiuntur quam qui dolorem patienter ferant.

Quoted in many works without citation

Men, Pain, Patience

“You try to find things that are challenging and interesting and hopefully it will be the same to the audience. ”

Alan Rickman (1946–2016) English film, television and stage actor

“Basketball isn't easy. All my life I've been striving to make myself better. It's a full time commitment. To be the best, you have to work the hardest. You have to chase what seems impossible over and over and over again, because giving up is not an option, and when you feel like you've reached your limit, it's only the beginning, that's when the time to dig deep, to find the courage to push some more, because if you've got the drive, the discipline, and the resolve to do what it takes to make yourself great, then the rewards are endless.”

LeBron James (1984) American basketball player

Life, Making love, Feeling, Courage

“In a socialist society, people are always motivated to achieve unity and the truest form of freedom— Organising themselves and coming to help those who are in need. You will find organisations such as social welfare, that take great care and give support to the poor, unemployed, old people, widows, etc.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

People, Motivation, Support, Freedom

“For it falls out
That what we have we prize not to the worth
Whiles we enjoy it, but being lacked and lost,
Why, then we rack the value, then we find
The virtue that possession would not show us
While it was ours.”

William Shakespeare book Much Ado About Nothing

Source: Much Ado About Nothing

“Wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Compare to the Bible, Luke 12:34 (For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.)(NIV translation).
Variant: Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.
Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 128

Heart

“If we do not believe within ourselves this deeply rooted feeling that there is something higher than ourselves, we shall never find the strength to evolve into something higher.”

Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) Austrian esotericist

Feeling

“Maybe love is just about finding the person you can be your weird self with.”

Matt Haig book Reasons to Stay Alive

Variant: So love is about finding the right person to hurt you?”
“Pretty much.
Source: Reasons to Stay Alive

Love, Personality

“Words are easy, like the wind; Faithful friends are hard to find.”

William Shakespeare book The Passionate Pilgrim

Source: The Passionate Pilgrim

Faith, Friendship, For Friend, For Bestfriend

“Look up to the sky
You'll never find rainbows
If you’re looking down.”

Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) British comic actor and filmmaker

"Swing High Little Girl", opening song written and sung by Chaplin for the 1969 re-release of The Circus (1928) - Full text online http://www.charliechaplin.com/biography/articles/84-Swing-little-girl

“The man who has many answers
is often found
in the theaters of information
where he offers, graciously,
his deep findings.

While the man who has only questions,
to comfort himself, makes music.”

Mary Oliver (1935–2019) American writer

Source: A Thousand Mornings

Music, Question

“True human capabilities will not find expression in competition. True human capabilities will find expression only in absolute relaxation. Your mind, your body will work best, will find fullest expression, only when you are joyful and peaceful, and quiet within yourself.”

Sadhguru (1957) Yogi, mystic, visionary and humanitarian

Source: Inspire Your Child Inspire the World: In the Presence of the Master

Peace

“Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations

Question

“The truth is I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves. They didn't bother to find out who and what I was.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

Source: On Being Blonde (2007), p. 52
Context: The truth is I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves. They didn't bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn't argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn't. When they found this out, they would blame me for disillusioning them and fooling them.

People, Truth, Fools

“No man is worth your tears, but once you find one that is, he won't make you cry.”

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

Tear, Cry

“Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.”

Carl von Clausewitz book On War

On War (1832), Book 1

Nature

“If you care about something you have to protect it – If you’re lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.”

John Irving book A Prayer for Owen Meany

Source: A Prayer for Owen Meany

Love, Life, Way, Courage

“I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.”

George Carlin (1937–2008) American stand-up comedian

Thinking

“What wisdom can you find greater than kindness.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) Genevan philosopher

Wisdom

“Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Alternate (also Twain's): Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Source: Mark Twain's Notebook (1935), p. 393

Time, Wise

“That becomes the revolution, to be idealistic enough that you think you can change the world, and what you find is you can't change anything but yourself.”

Marilyn Manson (1969) American rock musician and actor

World, Thinking, Change

“To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.”

Plutarch (46–127) ancient Greek historian and philosopher

“‎"A humble and prayerful person will find a thousand things in the Bible, which the proud student will utterly fail to discern." ~ J. C. Ryle”

J.C. Ryle (1816–1900) Anglican bishop

Personality

“The problem is not to find the answer, it's to face the answer”

Terence McKenna (1946–2000) American ethnobotanist

Problem, Deep

“Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.”

Rainer Maria Rilke book Letters to a Young Poet

Letter One (17 February 1903)
Letters to a Young Poet (1934)
Context: No one can advise or help you — no one. There is only one thing you should do. Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.

Heart

“But knowing what I don’t want to do doesn’t help me figure out what I do want to do. I could do just about anything if somebody made me. But I don’t have an image of the one thing I really want to do. That’s my problem now. I can’t find the image.”

Haruki Murakami book The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Source: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Problem, Help

“Get yourself out of whatever cage you find yourself in.”

John Cage (1912–1992) American avant-garde composer

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.”

Robert Fulghum (1937) American writer

Variant: You want my opinion? We're all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness — and call it love — true love.
Source: True Love (1998)

Love, Life, Wise, Funny

“Find what you are afraid of, face it, and then you won't be afraid of it anymore.”

Marilyn Manson (1969) American rock musician and actor

“Fame does not define me. If you are looking for fame to define you, then you will never be happy and you’ll always be searching for happiness, and you will never find it in fame. Fulfillment comes from within you, by being authentic to yourself — not chasing fame.”

Cameron Diaz (1972) American actress

Human the movie: Cameron's interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-HvL3TSf-8 ( New York Post http://nypost.com/2015/12/17/cameron-diaz-fame-will-never-make-you-happy/)

Happiness, Search

“I gotta big mouth, I can't help it, I talk from my heart, I'm real you know what I'm sayin whatever comes comes. But my controverse problems, It's not my fault, I try to find my way in the world you know, I try to be somebody instead of just, make money off of everybody. You know what im saying, so I go down paths that haven't been traveled before and I usually mess up, but I learn, you know what I'm saying, I come back stronger, I'm not talking ignorant, you know what I'm saying. So obviously put thought into what I do. So I think my mouth, my controverse, I have not been out of the paper since I joined Digital Underground, I've been in all, you know what I'm saying, my name has not been not uttered, you know what I'm saying, and that's good for me because I don't wanna be forgotten. If I'm forgotten then that means I'm comfortable and that means I think everything is okay.”

Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor

1990s, MTV interview (1994)

Money, World, Way, Travel

“Sometimes I have visions of myself driving through hell, selling sulphur and brimstone, or through heaven peddling refreshments to the roaming souls. If me and the children I've got left could find a place where there's no shooting, I wouldn't mind a few years of peace and quiet.”

Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German poet, playwright, theatre director

Mother Courage
Mother Courage and Her Children (1939)

Children, Peace, Soul, Hell

“Can't even find the perfect brush to paint what is going through my mind.”

Drake (1986) Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor

"Brand New," So Far Gone (2009)

Painting, Perfection

“What men and women need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened…. Instead of always harping on a man's faults, tell him of his virtues. Try to pull him out of his rut of bad habits. Hold up to him his better self, his REAL self that can dare and do and win out!… The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town…. People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts. If a man feels kindly and obliging, his neighbors will feel that way, too, before long. But if he scolds and scowls and criticizes — his neighbors will return scowl for scowl, and add interest!… When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it. When you know you will find the good — you will get that…. Tell your son Tom you KNOW he'll be glad to fill that woodbox — then watch him start, alert and interested!”

Eleanor H. Porter (1868–1920) American novelist

Works, Pollyanna (1913)

Women, Men, People, Beauty

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) African American boxer, philanthropist and activist

Written by copywriter Aimee Lehto for a series of Adidas ads in which this was superimposed over stills of various figures, including Muhammad Ali. Documented by Quote Investigator https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/11/28/impossible-is/. Misattributed

Men, World, Change

“Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help.”

Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) Christian preacher, philosopher, and theologian

No. 68.
Seventy Resolutions (1722-1723)

God, Religion, Help

“You find me offensive? I find you offensive, for finding me offensive.”

Eminem (1972) American rapper and actor

"Rain Man"
2000s, Encore (2004)

“On second thought, maybe the atheist cannot find God, for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman.”

Laurence J. Peter (1919–1990) Canadian eductor

p. 44 http://books.google.com/books?id=W6bPGIL-_-8C&pg=PA44&dq=%22On+second+thought,+maybe+the+atheist%22: Sometimes misattributed to Francis Thompson, whose quote "An atheist is a man who believes himself an accident" Peter was commenting on. Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)

God

“Endurance is composed of four attributes: eagerness, fear, piety and anticipation (of death). so whoever is eager for Paradise will ignore temptations; whoever fears the fire of Hell will abstain from sins; whoever practices piety will easily bear the difficulties of life and whoever anticipates death will hasten towards good deeds.
Conviction has also four aspects to guard oneself against infatuations of sin; to search for explanation of truth through knowledge; to gain lessons from instructive things and to follow the precedent of the past people, because whoever wants to guard himself against vices and sins will have to search for the true causes of infatuation and the true ways of combating them out and to find those true ways one has to search them with the help of knowledge, whoever gets fully acquainted with various branches of knowledge will take lessons from life and whoever tries to take lessons from life is actually engaged in the study of the causes of rise and fall of previous civilizations.
Justice also has four aspects depth of understanding, profoundness of knowledge, fairness of judgment and dearness of mind; because whoever tries his best to understand a problem will have to study it, whoever has the practice of studying the subject he is to deal with, will develop a clear mind and will always come to correct decisions, whoever tries to achieve all this will have to develop ample patience and forbearance and whoever does this has done justice to the cause of religion and has led a life of good repute and fame.
Jihad is divided into four branches: to persuade people to be obedient to Allah; to prohibit them from sin and vice; to struggle (in the cause of Allah) sincerely and firmly on all occasions and to detest the vicious. Whoever persuades people to obey the orders of Allah provides strength to the believers; whoever dissuades them from vices and sins humiliates the unbelievers; whoever struggles on all occasions discharges all his obligations and whoever detests the vicious only for the sake of Allah, then Allah will take revenge on his enemies and will be pleased with Him on the Day of Judgment.”

Ali book Nahj al-Balagha

Nahj al-Balagha

Life, Death, People, Truth

“A lot of people, they think, ‘Oh, I’m only going to be happy when I find a special person who is going to make me happy.’ No. In life, you have to be happy with yourself first, number one. When you’re happy with yourself, you have to find another person who is happy with herself so you can share your happiness.”

Fabio Lanzoni (1961) Italian model, actor and author

Fifteen hours with Fabio http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2015/12/23/fabio/?utm_term=.55d4ac289b9c (December 23, 2015)

Life, Happiness, People, Thinking

“When Life does not find a singer to sing her heart she produces a philosopher to speak her mind.”

Khalil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese artist, poet, and writer

Sand and Foam (1926)

Life, Singing, Heart

“Enquire: 'Who am I?' and you will find the answer. Look at a tree: from one seed arises a huge tree; from it comes numerous seeds, each one of which in its turn grows into a tree. No two fruits are alike. Yet it is one life that throbs in every particle of the tree. So, it is the same Atman everywhere. All creation is That: There is beauty in the birds and in the animals. They too eat and drink like us, mate and multiply; but there is this difference: we can realize our true nature, the Atman. Having been born as human beings, we must not waste this opportunity. At least for a few seconds every day, we must enquire as to who we are. It is no use taking a return ticket over and over again. From birth to death, and death to birth is samsara. But really we have no birth and death. We must realize that.”

Sri Anandamoyi Ma (1896–1982) Hindu saint

Anandamayi Ma, Ananda Varta Quarterly
By herself

Life, Death, Beauty, Birth

“Human beings will be happier — not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie — but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That’s my utopia.”

Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007) American writer

Playboy interview (1973)
Context: I couldn't survive my own pessimism if I didn't have some kind of sunny little dream. … Human beings will be happier — not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie — but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That’s my utopia. That's what I want for me.

Way, Communication

“Look, I'm going to find a way to be happy, and I'd really love to be happy with you, but if I can't be happy with you, then I'll find a way to be happy without you.”

Randy Pausch book The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture (2008)

Love, Happiness, Way

“Any concepts or words which have been formed in the past through the interplay between the world and ourselves are not really sharply defined with respect to their meaning: that is to say, we do not know exactly how far they will help us in finding our way in the world.”

Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) German theoretical physicist

Physics and Philosophy (1958)
Context: Any concepts or words which have been formed in the past through the interplay between the world and ourselves are not really sharply defined with respect to their meaning: that is to say, we do not know exactly how far they will help us in finding our way in the world. We often know that they can be applied to a wide range of inner or outer experience, but we practically never know precisely the limits of their applicability. This is true even of the simplest and most general concepts like "existence" and "space and time". Therefore, it will never be possible by pure reason to arrive at some absolute truth.
The concepts may, however, be sharply defined with regard to their connections. This is actually the fact when the concepts become part of a system of axioms and definitions which can be expressed consistently by a mathematical scheme. Such a group of connected concepts may be applicable to a wide field of experience and will help us to find our way in this field. But the limits of the applicability will in general not be known, at least not completely.

World, Way, Past, Help

“Art is about trying to find the good in people and making the world a more compassionate place.”

Keanu Reeves (1964) Canadian actor, director, producer and musician

People, World, Making love, Art

“Religion is like a blind man looking in a black room for a black cat that isn't there, and finding it.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

This quote was instead first mentioned in a 1931 book titled “Since Calvary: An Interpretation of Christian History” by the comparative religion specialist Lewis Browne.
Disputed

Religion, Cats

“If you are constantly in pain; seek out love; you will find the pain has been cut in half.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1990

Love, Pain, Making love

“When you’re an introvert like me and you’ve been lonely for a while, and then you find someone who understands you, you become really attached to them. It’s a real release.”

Lana Del Rey (1985) American singer-songwriter

— Lana Del Rey, “Interview by Ernest Baker,” Complex

Understanding

“Some friends are more significant and important than other friends. A special friend can often change your life for the better. You will know when this special person enters your life because of the respect you have for them. They will never lie or set you aside for someone or something else. You will have undying trust in this person that any words spoken will never find another ear. They always returned calls at the earliest possible time. They will check in often to see what is going on in your life and just talk. Your accomplishments will be applauded with praise and losses will never be repeated. This friend has you melted within their heart as you do theirs. When you find such a person be sure to return the love and understand they have gifted you and your life.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1983

Love, Life, Lie, Making love

“Spiritual awakening is not a special feeling, state, or experience. It is not a goal or destination, somewhere to reach in the future. As the Buddha was trying to tell us (though few actually listened), it is not a superhuman achievement or attainment. You don’t have to travel to India to find it. It is not a special state of perfection reserved for the lucky or the privileged few. It is not an exclusive club. It is not an out-of-body experience, and it does not involve living in a cave, shutting off all your beautiful senses, detaching yourself from the realities of this modern world. It cannot be transmitted to you by a fancy bearded (or non-bearded) guru, nor can it be taken away or lost. You do not have to become anyone’s disciple or follower, or give away all your possessions. You do not have to join a cult. You do not have to follow anyone.

Rather, is a constant and ancient invitation – throughout every moment of your life – to trust and embrace yourself exactly as you are, in all your glorious imperfection. It is about being fully present and awake to each precious moment, coming out of the epic movie of past and future (“The Story of Me”) and showing up for life, knowing that even your feelings of non-acceptance are accepted here. It is about radically opening up to this extraordinary gift of existence, embracing both the pain and the joy of it, the bliss and the sorrow, the ecstasy and the overwhelm, the certainty and the doubt. Knowing that you are never separate from the Whole, never broken, never truly lost.”

Jeff Foster (1980) Spiritual teacher

Source: https://www.lifewithoutacentre.com/writings/shockingly-simple-principles-of-spiritual-awakening/

“You who use the eyes to find love are truly blind.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1981

Love, Making love

“You can only find out
what you are from what you are not
which is everything and nothing.
Your home is everywhere and nowhere.
Your true identity is no identity.
You aren't an owner but
a messenger of the infinity,
The no-thing is open to everything,
timeless and Free”

Alexis Karpouzos (1967)

Source: https://hellopoetry.com/alexis-karpouzos/

Home

“When we are uncomfortable or anything unpleasant happens, we look to take refuge in something. Usually, we turn to food, alcohol, sex, drugs, money, power, or relationships. But none of these things give us the lasting protection or satisfaction you're looking for. When you understand you can't find lasting happiness in Samsara, then the desire to find true refuge becomes strong. In Buddhism, we take refuge in the three jewels — the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The Buddha is like the doctor who understands your disease and knows how to treat it; the Dharma, his teachings, is the medicine he prescribes; and the Sangha is the spiritual community that helps you to take the medicine. To take refuge is to finally seek protection from suffering in a way that can really help you. When we think about the ultimate nature of reality and what causes us to suffer — this is the true meaning of refuge.”

Keanu Reeves (1964) Canadian actor, director, producer and musician

Source: Discovering Buddhism, 2004 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=226w04QMPzQ

Money, Happiness, Alcohol, Disease

“I love to see a happy child.
They find magic in everything.
This gives me pleasure and hope for the future.
A well-adjusted individual is a prodigious asset to the world!”

Stephie Pahlavi Zan

Love, Happiness, Pleasure, World

“Libraries are places where the damaged go to find friends”

Tamora Pierce (1954) American writer of fantasy novels for children

“Children don't read to find their identity, to free themselves from guilt, to quench the thirst for rebellion or to get rid of alienation. They have no use for psychology… They still believe in God, the family, angels, devils, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other such obsolete stuff… When a book is boring, they yawn openly. They don't expect their writer to redeem humanity, but leave to adults such childish illusions.”

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–1991) Polish-born Jewish-American author

Nobel lecture as quoted in The Observer (17 December 1978) Variant: "They still believe in God, the family, angels, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other obsolete stuff."

God, Children, Books, Family

“You never find yourself until you face the truth.”

Pearl Bailey (1918–1990) American singer

Quoted in Criminal Minds Season 8, November 2012

Truth

“Theoretically there is no absolute proof that one's awakening in the morning (the finding oneself again in the saddle of one's personality) is not really a quite unprecedented event, a perfectly original birth.”

Vladimir Nabokov book Bend Sinister

Source: Bend Sinister

Birth, Personality

“Maybe it’s time to just scrap the word “racist.” Find something new. Like Racial Disorder Syndrome. And we could have different categories for sufferers of this syndrome: mild, medium, and acute.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie book Americanah

Source: Americanah

Suffering, Time

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer

Life, Motivational, Success, Graduation

“Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.”

Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church

Wisdom, God, Faith, Hope

“I love being married, I do. It's so great to find that one special person that you want to annoy for the rest of your life.”

Rita Rudner (1953) American comedian

Best of the Improv, Vol. 3 (2003)

Love, Life, Personality, Funny

“Once in a while you find yourself in an odd situation. You get into it by degrees and in the most natural way but, when you are right in the midst of it, you are suddenly astonished and ask yourself how in the world it all came about.”

Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002) Norwegian anthropologist and adventurer

World, Way, Nature

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”

Thomas Merton book No Man Is an Island

Variant: Art enables us to find ourselves and loose ourselves at the same time.
Source: No Man Is an Island

Art, Time

“If a society permits one portion of its citizenry to be menaced or destroyed, then, very soon, no one in that society is safe. The forces thus released in the people can never be held in check, but run their devouring course, destroying the very foundations which it was imagined they would save.

But we are unbelievably ignorant concerning what goes on in our country--to say nothing of what goes on in the rest of the world--and appear to have become too timid to question what we are told. Our failure to trust one another deeply enough to be able to talk to one another has become so great that people with these questions in their hearts do not speak them; our opulence is so pervasive that people who are afraid to lose whatever they think they have persuade themselves of the truth of a lie, and help disseminate it; and God help the innocent here, that man or womn who simply wants to love, and be loved. Unless this would-be lover is able to replace his or her backbone with a steel rod, he or she is doomed. This is no place for love. I know that I am now expected to make a bow in the direction of those millions of unremarked, happy marriages all over America, but I am unable honestly to do so because I find nothing whatever in our moral and social climate--and I am now thinking particularly of the state of our children--to bear witness to their existence. I suspect that when we refer to these happy and so marvelously invisible people, we are simply being nostalgic concerning the happy, simple, God-fearing life which we imagine ourselves once to have lived. In any case, wherever love is found, it unfailingly makes itself felt in the individual, the personal authority of the individual. Judged by this standard, we are a loveless nation. The best that can be said is that some of us are struggling. And what we are struggling against is that death in the heart which leads not only to the shedding of blood, but which reduces human beings to corpses while they live.”

James Baldwin (1924–1987) (1924-1987) writer from the United States

Source: nothing personal

Love, Life, Death, God

“You'll never find your limits until you've gone too far”

Aron Ralston Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Variant: You'll never find your limits until you've gone too far.

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.”

Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American comedian

Apparently attributed to Marx in Bennett Cerf's Try and Stop Me, first published in 1944. A citation of this can been seen in the Kentucky New Era on November 9, 1964 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=X-orAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZWcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4581,3323702&dq=art-of-looking-for-trouble&hl=en. Also attributed to Marx by Rand Paul in "The Long Stand," ch. 1 of Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America (New York, N. Y.: Center Street, 26 May 2015), p. 5. The original quotation belongs to Sir Ernest Benn (Henry Powell Spring, What is Truth?, Orange Press, 1944, p. 31 https://books.google.com/books?id=snxbAAAAMAAJ&q=Ernest+benn+%22Politics+is+the+art+of%22&dq=Ernest+benn+%22Politics+is+the+art+of%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAjgUahUKEwiK3Zm-qojIAhWGVZIKHdFYBqY); a first known citation reportedly appears in the Springfield (MA) Republican on July 27, 1930. Misattributed Variant: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. Source: Gyles Brandreth, Word Play: A cornucopia of puns, anagrams and other contortions and curiosities of the English language, Coronet, 2015.

Art, Funny

“Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it.”

Nikki Sixx (1958) American musician

Source: The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star

Soul

“The fact that a thesis is flawed does not mean that we should not invest in it as long as other people believe in it and there is a large group of people left to be convinced. The point was made by John Maynard Keynes when he compared the stock market to a beauty contest where the winner is not the most beautiful contestant but the one whom the greatest number of people consider beautiful. Where I have something significant to add is in pointing out that it pays to look for the flaws; if we find them, we are ahead of the game because we can limit our losses when the market also discovers what we already know. It is when we are unaware of what could go wrong that we have to worry.”

George Soros (1930) Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

Source: The Alchemy of Finance

People, Beauty, Game, Loss

“People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live.”

Andrzej Sapkowski book The Last Wish

Source: The Last Wish (1993)

People, Feeling, Thinking, Cheating

“The trouble is not in dying for a friend, but in finding a friend worth dying for.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

“Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously near to wanting nothing.”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer

Draft of letter to Richard Sassoon (December 1955), quoted in Joyce Carol Oates, "Raising Lady Lazarus," The New York Times (2000-11-05) http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/05/reviews/001105.05oatest.html The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath (2000) Variant: Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

Variant: A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
Source: The Critic as Artist (1891), Part II

World, Way

“In some cases we learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.”

Lloyd Alexander book The Book of Three

Source: The Chronicles of Prydain (1964–1968), Book I: The Book of Three (1964), Chapter 1
Context: "Why?" Dallben interrupted. "In some cases," he said, "we learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself."

Question, Learning

“I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always — take any form — drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss where I can not find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I can not live without my life! I can not live without my soul!”

Emily Brontë book Wuthering Heights

Heathcliff (Ch. XVI).
Source: Wuthering Heights (1847)
Context: Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you — haunt me then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe; I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always — take any form — drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss where I can not find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I can not live without my life! I can not live without my soul!

Life, God, Soul, Madness

“There is a rumour going around that I have found God. I think this is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author

"I create gods all the time - now I think one might exist" (2008)
Context: There is a rumour going around that I have found God. I think this is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
But it is true that in an interview I gave recently I did describe a sudden, distinct feeling I had one hectic day that everything I was doing was right and things were happening as they should.
It seemed like the memory of a voice and it came wrapped in its own brief little bubble of tranquillity. I'm not used to this.
As a fantasy writer I create fresh gods and philosophies almost with every new book … But since contracting Alzheimer's disease I have spent my long winter walks trying to work out what it is that I really, if anything, believe.

God, Thinking

“George looked at her for a long moment. Finally he replied, "And why do you find it so hard to think someone might like you and want to do things for you?”

Tamora Pierce book Alanna: The First Adventure

Source: Alanna: The First Adventure

Thinking

“I find television very educational. Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book.”

Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American comedian

As quoted in Halliwell’s Filmgoer’s Companion (1984) by Leslie Halliwell
Variant: I find TV very educational. Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book.

Books, Education, Time, Reading

“There's a humorous side to every situation. The challenge is to find it.”

George Carlin (1937–2008) American stand-up comedian

“Let those find fault whose wit's so very small,
They've need to show that they can think at all;
Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls, must dive below.”

John Dryden All for Love

Prologue
Source: All for Love (1678)
Context: Let those find fault whose wit's so very small,
They've need to show that they can think at all;
Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls, must dive below.
Fops may have leave to level all they can;
As pigmies would be glad to lop a man.
Half-wits are fleas; so little and so light,
We scarce could know they live, but that they bite.

Error, Search, Thinking

“Books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life."

The most importnant truth in my life, if you ask me, and he got it all right”

Christopher Paolini book Eragon

Source: Eragon

Life, Truth, Books, Cry

“People are people. We'll always find a way to mess up, doesn't matter who's in charge.”

Malorie Blackman Noughts & Crosses

Source: Noughts & Crosses

People, Way

“Some people find fault like there is a reward for it”

Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American motivational speaker

Source: Zig Ziglar's Little Book of Quotes

People

“It's a wonderful life if you can find it.”

Nick Cave (1957) Australian musician

Source: Complete Lyrics

Life, Motivational, Depressing, Anniversary

“Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete. If you’re alive, it isn’t.”

Lauren Bacall (1924–2014) American actress, model

Life

“Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.”

Frank Herbert book Chapterhouse: Dune

Source: Chapterhouse: Dune

Freedom

“Art finds her own perfection within, and not outside of herself. She is not to be judged by any external standard of resemblance. She is a veil, rather than a mirror.”

Oscar Wilde book Intentions

Intentions (1891)

Art, Perfection

“To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist

Suffering

“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again.”

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer

“We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.”

Denis Diderot book Rameau's Nephew

Rameau's Nephew (1762)

Truth, Lie

“Tell me anyway--Maybe I can find the truth by comparing the lies.”

Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) Marxist revolutionary from Russia

Truth

“The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Misattributed Source: The first citation appears in a translation of Leo Tolstoy's Bethink Yourselves! http://www.nonresistance.org/docs_htm/Tolstoy/~Bethink_Yourselves/BY_chapter08.html by NONRESISTANCE.ORG. The claim made that it is from Marcus Aurelius. Nothing closely resembling it appears in Meditations, nor does it appear in a 1904 translation of Bethink Yourselves http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/bethink-yourselves/8/. The 1904 translation may be abridged, whereas the NONRESISTANCE.ORG translation claims to be unabridged.

Life