Quotes about head
page 42

“My head-dress was a bugle-band like the border to my gown, and a flower of Mrs Tilson’s. I depended upon hearing something of the evening from Mr. W. K., and am very well satisfied with his notice of me — "A pleasing looking young woman"”

Jane Austen (1775–1817) English novelist

that must do; one cannot pretend to anything better now; thankful to have it continued a few years longer!
Letter (1811-04-30) [Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition]
Letters

Flowers, Dependency

“America must get to work. In the chilled climate in which we live, we must go against the prevailing winds. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred, and the mistrust. We must dissent from a nation that buried its head in the sand waiting in vain for the needs of its poor, its elderly, and its sick to disappear and just blow away. We must dissent from a government that has left its young without jobs, education, or hope. We must dissent from the poverty of vision and timeless absence of moral leadership. We must dissent, because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.”

Thurgood Marshall (1908–1993) Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court

Speech delivered on September 6, 1990, before the Annual Judicial Conference of the Second Circuit, quoted in Supreme Justice Speeches and Writings Thurgood Marshall. Edited by J. Clay Smith, Jr. (2002).

Education, Fear, Hope, Waiting

“I feel very lucky to still feel like I’m full of ideas. I think sometimes being in the beginning or the middle of things is almost the best bit. This sounds terrible, because it sounds so ungrateful, but I’m never as excited by the aftermath of things: whether or not they are successful. It’s lovely if they are, obviously, but actually the really exciting bit is when it’s an idea in your head and you’re getting working on it.”

Tracey Thorn (1962) English singer and songwriter

On whether she feels creatively satisfied in “Tracey Thorn: ‘Not everything you do is cool’” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/27/tracey-thorn-another-planet-a-teenager-in-suburbia-interview in The Guardian (2020 Jan 27)

Love, Making love, Feeling, Idea

“Holden couldn’t tell if she was melancholy or solving a complex engineering problem in her head. Those looks were confusingly similar.”

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

Source: Nemesis Games (2015), Chapter 5 (p. 56)

Problem

“Every pitifulest whipster that walks within a skin has had his head filled with the notion that he is, shall be, or by all human and divine laws ought to be, 'happy.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

His wishes, the pitifulest whipster's, are to be fulfilled for him; his days, the pitifulest whipster's, are to flow on in an ever-gentle current of enjoyment, impossible even for the gods. The prophets preach to us, Thou shalt be happy; thou shalt love pleasant things, and find them. The people clamor, Why have we not found pleasant things? ...God's Laws are become a Greatest Happiness Principle. There is no religion; there is no God; man has lost his soul.
Bk. III, ch. 4.
1840s, Past and Present (1843)

Happiness, Law

“I went away in my head, into a book. That was where I went whenever real life was too hard or too inflexible.”

Neil Gaiman book The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Source: The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013), Chapter 6 (p. 77)

Life, Books

“Weep for me, my eyes! Spill your tears
And mourn for me the vanished kings
Hujr ibn 'Amru's princely sons
Led away to slaughter at eventide;
If only they had died in combat
Not in the lands of Banu Marina!
No water was there to wash their fallen heads,
And their skulls lie spattered with blood
Pecked over by birds
Who tear out first the eyebrows, then the eyes.”

Imru' al-Qais (501–544) Arabic Poet

Diwan of Imru' al-Qays, Poem 2, quoted in Dictionary of Literary Biography, p. 213
The Poem of Imru' al-Qais

Lie, Bird, Tear, Water

“Woe to him who in passing should hurl an insult at this gentle and pensive head. He would be punished, as all vulgar souls are punished, by his very vulgarity, and by his incapacity to conceive what is divine. This man, from his granite pedestal, will point out to all men the way of blessedness which he found; and ages hence, the cultivated traveler, passing by this spot, will say in his heart, "The truest vision ever had of God came, perhaps, here."”

Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) Dutch philosopher

Ernest Renan, at the dedication of a statue to Spinoza in 1882, as quoted in The Story of Philosophy (1962) http://caute.net.ru/spinoza/aln/durant.htm by Will Durant M - R, Friedrich Nietzsche

Men, God, Age, Way

“the government did not fulfil the urge in their hearts and felt that the public wished to see me openly revealing my sympathy for our kinsmen; how could I as the head of state!”

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (1880–1962) Queen of the Netherlands 1898 - 1948

Heart

“I'm headed out to Denver
to see if I can't find that lovin' Colorado girl of mine
The promise in her smile shames the mountains tall
She can bring the sun to shining.
She can tell the rain to fall”

Townes Van Zandt (1944–1997) singer-songwriter

Colorado Girl

Smile, Girl, Mountain, Sun

“Be proud, Frenchmen! Lift high your heads, Frenchmen! You are no longer anything, and this man is everything! He holds in his hand your intelligence, as a child holds a bird. Any day he pleases, he can strangle the genius of France.”

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French poet, novelist, and dramatist

Napoleon the Little (1852), Book V, IX
Napoleon the Little (1852)

Intelligence, Bird

“Mental states such as loneliness, compulsion, anguish, attachment, pain, and faith are not just "all in the head" but in the brain as well. Brain, mind, and body are a continuum. Our thoughts—intention, fear, images, suggestion, expectation— alter the brain's chemistry. And it works both ways; thoughts can be altered by changing the brain's chemistry with drugs, nutrients, oxygen. The brain is hopelessly complex.”

Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008) American writer

The Aquarian Conspiracy (1980), Chapter Six, Liberating Knowledge: News from the Frontiers of Science

Pain, Fear, Faith, Way

“We call upon you to witness, however, in the name of the Lord, beloved sons, Catholics who in the kingdom of the Gauls are united, being mindful of your religion and the faith of your fathers, we counsel you from the innermost feelings of our heart lest you secede from it, inasmuch as it is the one and the true religion, which bestows eternal life and protects citizens, even societies, and makes them prosperous. Take special care lest you proffer ears to the insidious voices of this secular sect, whose voices furnish death, and avoid in this way all usurpers whether they are called archbishops, bishops or parish priests, so that there is nothing in common between you and them, especially in divine matters...in one word, cling to us: for no-one can be in the Church of Christ unless he is unified with the visible head of the Church itself and is strengthened in the cathedral of Peter.”

Pope Pius VI (1717–1799) pope and sovereign of the Papal States

Charitas (13 April 1791), quoted in Philip G. Dwyer and Peter McPhee (eds.), The French Revolution and Napoleon: A Sourcebook (Routledge, 2002), p. 50

Life, Death, Making love, Faith

“For some reason we have a certain chemistry — or whatever. Let's see what happens. We have a long way to go. But I'm in no rush... So, I just want to say that we are going to be heading out to the DMZ and it's something I planned long ago but had the idea yesterday to maybe say hello, just shake hands quickly and say hello.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

press conference, Blue House, Seoul, South Korea, quoted in * 2019-06-30

Trump: Kim and I "have a certain chemistry"

CNN

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-dmz-kim-live-intl-hnk/h_8b23e071903b007d8ff1934be8457d2c
2010s, 2019, June

Way, Idea

“I shall not stop,
I shall not stop
Beneath the moon clothed in white,
Drowning in the morrow
With a fast-beating heart.
You remain mine, when I am aware,
You remain mine, when I am unaware.
There, in the dome of mist,
In the wells of spacious churches,
In festivals
And the glimmering of windows,
The fields of folk-song,
The desperate hum of din,
The departure of ships and wine,
You remain mine.
The shriveled and the fresh stop short,
And the earth stretches forth its head
And pursues us from word to word,
From bird
To bird
I heard from afar,
And when I tried to approach,
You held up your hand.
I heard from afar
And saw the ancient peoples
There, beyond the woods.”

Ounsi el-Hajj (1937–2014) Lebanese poet, journalist, and translator

An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry, p. 73
Poetry, A Cup

People, Departure, Bird, Relation ships

“Search not to find what lies too deeply hid,
Nor to know things whose knowledge is forbid;
Nor climb on pyramids, which thy head turn round
Standing, and whence no safe descent is found.”

John Denham (1615–1669) English poet and courtier

Source: Of Prudence (1668), line 231

Search, Knowledge

“Do not destroy a church, synagogue, or fire temple with respect to which an agreement has been concluded with you, and do not permit the construction of a new church or fire temple. Do not drag the lamb to its place of slaughter of sharpen the knife over the head of the animal. Do not combine two prayers without an excuse.”

Umar II (681–720) Umayyad caliph

Letter to Abd al-Rahman bin Nu'aym, also quoted in History of the Prophets and Kings, Vol. 24, p. 101

Animals

“I would not mind you in my head, if you were not so clearly mad.”

Robert Jordan The Path of Daggers

Lews Therin, to Rand
The Path of Daggers (20 October 1998)

Madness

“It is never challenging when you only do one thing in life. It is difficult to do everything, but if you specialise in one thing, you can focus with your head bent over one single thing the whole day and you have less likelihood of getting things wrong.”

Brunello Cucinelli (1953) Italian entrepreneur and philanthropist

Source: CEO Talk | Brunello Cucinelli, Founder and Chief Executive https://www.businessoffashion.com/amp/articles/ceo-talk/ceo-talk-brunello-cucinelli-founder-chief-executive-brunello-cucinelli Imran Amed, Business of Fashion, 1 July 2014

Life

“Kiss a little baby
Give the world a smile
If you take an inch
Give 'em back a mile
Cause if you lie like a rug
And you don't give a damn
You're never gonna be
As happy as a clam
So I'm sitting in a hotel
Trying to write a song
My head is just as empty
As the day is long.”

John Prine (1946–2020) American country singer/songwriter

"It’s a Big Old Goofy World"
Song lyrics, The Missing Years (1991)

Happiness, Lie, World, Smile

“They struggle to cut hands and heads and we struggle to keep heads high and hands raised.”

Habib Bourguiba (1903–2000) Tunisian politician

“It is hopefully not too controversial to note that unsustainable things end. There are two possibilities from here – we dramatically change direction or we end up where we are headed. Either way, we are on the cusp of radical change.”

Shaun Chamberlin

"Humanity – not just a virus with shoes", Dark Optimism (2019) http://www.darkoptimism.org/2019/08/06/humanity-not-just-a-virus-with-shoes/#post-6037

Way, Change

“Whatever you do will change the world. If you take the most default option, you follow the most mainstream, down the line, ‘just keep your head down and get on with what they’re telling you to do’, approach, then that’s the world that you’re helping to create. There is no way that you can not change the world.”

Shaun Chamberlin

Kosmos interview on grief, Dark Optimism, aliveness and activism (2014) http://www.darkoptimism.org/2014/12/21/dark-optimism-power-of-grief/#post-4075

World, Way, Change, Help

“If any one here can find a single wrong argument and can refute it, I will let him cut off my head.”

Xuanzang (602–664) Chinese Buddhists monk, scholar, traveler, and translator

Quoted in Durant, Will (1963). Our Oriental heritage. New York: Simon & Schuster.

“One man stands head and shoulders above his contemporary scholars: head and shoulders, some hold, above the Middle Ages: John Scotus Erigena.”

John Scotus Eriugena (810–877) Irish theologian

Helen Waddell The Wandering Scholars (Harmondsworth: Penguin, [1927] 1954) pp. 77-78.
Criticism

Age

“It has in all ages been allowed that the communion of saints extends to those in paradise as well as those upon earth as they are all one body united under one Head. And "Can death’s interposing tide / Spirits one in Christ divide?"”

John Wesley (1703–1791) Christian theologian

But it is difficult to say either what kind or what degree of union may be between them. It is not improbable their fellowship with us is far more sensible than ours with them. Suppose any of them are present, they are hid from our eyes, but we are not hid from their sight. They no doubt clearly discern all our words and actions, if not all our thoughts too; for it is hard to think these walls of flesh and blood can intercept the view of an angelic being. But we have in general only a faint and indistinct perception of their presence, unless in some peculiar instances, where it may answer some gracious ends of Divine Providence. Then it may please God to permit that they should be perceptible, either by some of our outward senses or by an internal sense for which human language has not any name. But I suppose this is not a common blessing. I have known but few instances of it. To keep up constant and close communion with God is the most likely means to obtain this also. Letter to Mary Bishop, an important Methodist "Class Meeting" leader, https://books.google.com/books?id=E-iMVOU6PhYC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=%22one+of+his+leading+women+class+leaders,%22&source=bl&ots=TjalEPj1rz&sig=MGwiThaIzWLfs6AWUzta-aZNBUk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiX3oyws6_TAhVHRyYKHbRvCv8Q6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&q=%22one%20of%20his%20leading%20women%20class%20leaders%2C%22&f=false (12 June 1773), in The works of the Rev. John Wesley, Seven Volumes, (1853), Carlton & Phillips, New York, vol. VII, p. 164. https://books.google.com/books?id=P4QsAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA164&dq=It+has+in+all+ages+been+allowed+that+the+communion+of+saints+extends+to+those+in+paradise&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjejuPcrq_TAhWG0iYKHefIDYwQ6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&q=It%20has%20in%20all%20ages%20been%20allowed%20that%20the%20communion%20of%20saints%20extends%20to%20those%20in%20paradise&f=false See also, Pro Ecclesia: A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology http://www.e-ccet.org/pro-ecclesia/ (Winter 2010), Joseph L. Mangina http://religion.utoronto.ca/people/cross-appointed-faculty/mangina-joseph-l/, Editor, Vol. 19, no. 1, p. 90. https://books.google.com/books?id=YmgAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA90&dq=It+has+in+all+ages+been+allowed+that+the+communion+of+saints+extends+to+those+in+paradise&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI5fP8pa_TAhUDfiYKHYyyBp44ChDoAQgmMAE#v=onepage&q=It%20has%20in%20all%20ages%20been%20allowed%20that%20the%20communion%20of%20saints%20extends%20to%20those%20in%20paradise&f=false Pro Ecclesia also states that "there is ample reason to believe that Wesley's theology and the theology presented in Lumen Gentium converge on the following points: 1. Creaturely participation. Wesley's Doctrine of Christian Perfection includes the notion that mankind participates (i.e. cooperates) in and with God's grace, contributing to its own sanctification. Furthermore, there is a corporate dimension to our participation, making social interaction vital to the process of sanctification. 2. Creaturely mediation. Wesley's sacramental theology includes the concept of subordinate, creaturely mediation of Christ's grace. He extended the Anglican teaching about the means of grace so that it included not only the two sacraments, but also such pious actions as prayer and Scripture study. In this way, perhaps even more than in Catholic doctrine, the sacramental efficaciousness of human behavior is emphasized. 3. The Holy Spirit as the bond uniting Christ's body. Wesley's theology includes doctrine concerning the bond shared by members of the body of Christ, which is the Holy Spirit—a bond transcending time and space, holding the entire body, past, present, and future in a vital, living communion. In this way, the eschatological church is present to earthly, historical reality. In addition, Wesley's later work indicates a conviction in the interaction between the saints in heaven and Christians on earth. He clearly stated his belief that those who reside in heaven continue to serve God by serving God's children on earth and that it is quite likely that they can hear our words and perhaps, even our thoughts. (pp. 90-91) 1770s

Death, Age, Christ

“What a strange world you must live in, inside your head.”

Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga

Aftermaths (p. 252)
Vorkosigan Saga, Shards of Honor (1986)

World

“Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know. So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

"Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC30/Berry.htm in Farming: A Hand Book (1970) Poems

Love, World, Making love, Hope

“Creativity is a constant process of call and response taking place inside our heads. If all is going well, the question–answer routine is like the two sides of our brain working together as if in an inner-cranial pas de deux.”

Will Gompertz (1965) British journalist

Think Like an Artist (2015)

Question

“Many women are asking: why do some women choose to cover their heads? We have to understand this and other questions. This is one of the biggest challenges for feminism today. What is worrying is that when women are divided into categories it is the status quo – the patriarchy – that benefits.…”

Elif Shafak (1971) Turkish writer

On having a female character wear a veil out of protest in “Elif Shafak: ‘When women are divided it is the male status quo that benefits’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/05/elif-shafak-turkey-three-daughters-of-eve-interview in The Guardian (2017 Feb 5)

Women, Understanding, Question

“Proud over the rest, with splendid wealth arrayed,
As crown on, Europe's head
The Lusitania reign,
Where the land ends and seas begins.”

Luís de Camões (1524–1580) Portuguese poet

Epic poetry, Os Lusíadas (1572), Canto III
Original: (pt) Eis aqui, quase cume da cabeça
De Europa toda, o Reino Lusitano,
Onde a terra se acaba e o mar começa.

Stanza 20, lines 1–3 (tr. William Julius Mickle)

Sea, Wealth

“I wanted to paint crows in a big spot of lonely black with a digger head and paws. But stronger was nature which forced me to make a beast, sparkling of blue and purple, a subdued pleasure for the eyes.”

Jan Mankes (1889–1920) Dutch painter

translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek

(original Dutch: citaat van Jan Mankes, in het Nederlands:) Ik wou kraaien schilderen in een groote plek van eenzaam zwart met doodgraverskop en pooten. Maar sterker was de natuur, die me een beest deed maken flonkerend van blauw en paars, een ingetogen oogenlust.

In a letter of Mankes to Annie van Beuningen-Eschauzier, 30 Nov. 1919; in particular collection; as cited Jan Mankes – in woord en beeld, ed. Sjoerd van Faassen; Museum Bèlvédère, Heerenveen, 2015 ISBN 1877-0983, n. 22, pp. 49-50
1915 - 1920

Pleasure, Making love, Nature, Painting

“That splendid, head, in which everything is said that can be said; color, line, tone, expression; the slightly advanced head, with the soft, almost human eyes, I never enter my studio in the morning without my eye falling upon this creature and wishing it 'Good Morning.'”

Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831–1915) painter from the Northern Netherlands

note of H.W. Mesdag, published in the exhibition catalogue of Corporation Gallery of London, the Guildhall, in 1903; as cited in the catalogue of The American Art Galleries Madison Square South, New York, 3 March 1920 https://ia601600.us.archive.org/29/items/b1470642/b1470642.pdf remark about the painting 'Ramskop' of Matthijs Maris, painted c. 1860 https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images/26605, which Mesdag bought and hanged in his house for many years after 1880

Color

“… I tried not to dwell on it: sensationalising something like that is simply unacceptable. But it happens in so many families, and it must be faced head on. I was saying, Look: even in these immigrant, hard working, well-respected communities, this happens.”

Roshi Fernando Sri Lankan writer

On writing about sexual abuse in "INTERVIEW by Gwen Davies" https://www.newwelshreview.com/article.php?id=246 in New Welsh Reader (Issue 92)

Family, Communication

“Should I say, that the river (in this place) from shore to shore, and perhaps near half a mile above and below me, appeared to be one solid bank of fish, of various kinds, pushing through this narrow pass of San Juan's into the little lake, on their return down the river, and that the alligators were in such incredible numbers, and so close from shore to shore, that it would have easy to have walked across on their heads, had the animals been harmless? What expressions can sufficiently declare the shocking scene that for some minutes continued, whilst this mighty army of fish were forcing the pass? During this attempt, thousands, I may say hundreds of thousands, of them were caught and swallowed by the devouring alligators. I have seen an alligator take up out of the water several great fish at a time, and just squeeze them betwixt his jaws, while the tails of the great trout flapped about his eyes and lips, ere he had swallowed them. The horrid noise of their closing jaws, their plunging amidst the broken banks of fish, and rising with their prey some feet upright above the water, the floods of water and blood rushing out of their mouths, and the clouds of vapor issuing from their wide nostrils, were truly frightful.”

William Bartram (1739–1823) American naturalist

[Van Doren, Mark, The travels of William Bartram, An American Bookshelf, volume 3, 118–119, 1928, New York, Macy-Masius, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b281934&view=1up&seq=124]
Travels of William Bartram (1791)

Fish, Water, Appearance, Time

“At some point, the novelist has to leap head first into the pool of imagination in order to more freely explore the truth.”

Carolina de Robertis (1975) American writer

On thw work of a novelist in “Interviews: Carolina de Robertis” https://bookpage.com/interviews/24365-carolina-de-robertis-fiction#.Xebr8_lKjcs in BookPage (2019 Sep 3)

Truth, Imagination

“Revolutionary morality consists, in whatever circumstances, in resolutely struggling against all enemies, maintaining one's vigilance, standing ready to fight, and refusing to submit, to bow one's head. Only by so doing can we defeat the enemy, and fulfill our revolutionary tasks.”

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

"On Revolutionary Morality" (1958)
1950's, On Revolutionary Morality (1958)

Fight

“Whatever work I've done,
whatever I have though,
was praise with my body
and praise hidden
inside my head.”

Lalleshwari (1320–1392) Indian writer, mystic and saint

Naked Songs, p. 18
Poetry, From Kashmiri Poetry

“There is light in the heart; there is no darkness in it. If a man's head be struck off, we cannot say who the man is by simply looking at his trunk. It is the heart which sees through the eye. A man must have the internal eye.”

Bhagawan Nityananda (1897–1961) Hindu guru and saint

95
The Chidakasha Gita (1927)

Light, Heart

“If you pride yourself with your science, then you must realize that you have no merit; science is a gift that God has granted you. Thus do not acknowledge it in a way that angers the Highest, because he could erase it from your head through an illness of some sort.”

Ibn Hazm (994–1064) Arab theologian

ibid, 83-4

God, Way, Science, Anger

“I have been impressed time and again by the schizophrenic character of many businessmen. They are capable of being extremely far‐sighted and clear‐headed in matters that are internal to their businesses. They are incredibly short sighted and muddle‐headed in mat ters [sic!] that are outside their businesses but affect the possible survival of business in general. This short sightedness is strikingly exemplified in the calls from many businessmen for wage and price guidelines or controls or incomes policies. There is nothing that could do more in a brief period to destroy a market system and replace it by a centrally controlled system than effective governmental control of prices and wages. The short‐sightedness is also exemplified in speeches by business men on social responsibility. This may gain them kudos in the short run. But it helps to strengthen the already too prevalent view that the ptirsuit [sic!] of profits is wicked and im moral [sic!] and must be curbed and controlled by external forces. Once this view is adopted, the external forces that curb the market will not be the social consciences, however highly developed, of the pontificating executives; it will be the iron fist of Government bureaucrats. Here, as with price and wage controls, business men seem to me to reveal a suicidal impulse.”

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

“A Friedman doctrine‐- The Social Responsibility Of Business Is to Increase Its Profits” (Sept. 1970)

Men, Business, Suicide, Time

“But an old man of venerable look
(Standing upon the shore amongst the crowds)
His eyes fixed upon us (on ship-board), shook
His head three times, overcast with sorrow's clouds:
And (straining his voice more, than well could brook
His aged lungs: it rattled in our shrouds)
Out of a science, practice did attest,
Let fly these words from an oraculous breast:O glory of commanding! O vain thirst
Of that same empty nothing we call fame!”

Luís de Camões Os Lusíadas

Stanzas 94–95 (tr. Richard Fanshawe); the Old Man of Restelo.
Epic poetry, Os Lusíadas (1572), Canto IV
Original: (pt) Mas um velho d'aspeito venerando,
Que ficava nas praias, entre a gente,
Postos em nós os olhos, meneando
Três vezes a cabeça, descontente,
A voz pesada um pouco alevantando,
Que nós no mar ouvimos claramente,
C'um saber só de experiências feito,
Tais palavras tirou do experto peito:Ó glória de mandar! Ó vã cobiça
Desta vaidade, a quem chamamos Fama!O glory of commanding! O vain thirst
Of that same empty nothing we call fame!

Age, Relation ships, Science, Time

“A thousand departments of mental and physical activity foster and in turn are fostered by its achievement. People must be governed, and there must be those who govern. Laws must be made, and there must be those who study, and those who execute these laws. People must be taught, and there must be teachers. All these and the Church, the newspaper, the theatre, the fine arts are essential to the completeness of the State, to the happiness and safety of its people; but Commerce is the main stem, or trunk, where they are all branches, supplied with the sap of its far-reaching wealth. It is as necessary to the existence of any nation as blood to the physical man. That country in which trade flourishes is accounted happy, while that in which Commerce droops provokes shaking of heads and prophecies of downfall.”

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

The Romance of Commerce (1918), Concerning Commerce

Happiness, People, Law, Art

“We came down on them like a flood,
We went out among their cities,
We tore down the idol-temples,
We shat on the Buddha's head!”

Mahmud al-Kashgari (1029–1101) Medieval Arab scholar

Translation: English translation from the Turkic language. The Karakhanid Turkic Muslim writer Mahmud al-Kashgari recorded this short poem (in Turkic language) about the conquest of Khotan.
Attributed to Mahmud al-Kashgari in : Elverskog, Johan (2010). Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-8122-4237-9.

“By a miracle the 19th amendment has been ratified, we women now have a weapon of defense ... it will be a shame to us if we do not use it … we shall give our enemies a stick with which to break our head, Hold meetings, every time you meet a woman talk to her about going to the polls and vote!”

Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954) African Americans' rights activist

Source: p.310

Women, Time

“But here is the "ego" of the Russian revolutionary again! Pirouetting on its head, it once more proclaims itself to be the all-powerful director of history — this time with the title of His Excellency the Central Committee of the Social Democratic Party of Russia.”

Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary

Leninism or Marxism? (1904)

History, Time

“The Communists and Fascists are engaged in a sham struggle of ideas. The actual forms of government under which Fascists and Communists live are almost identical. One claims to abolish private property and attacks the other as its defender. But the property of Russia is not controlled by the people, but by the bureaucracy, operating in the name of the people, just as it is in Germany, where you get your head cut off if you try to hold your property in gold or in anything except German paper.”

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

Dorothy Thompson’s Political Guide: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938)
Source: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938)
p. 62

People, Idea

“For the man crucified on the crossed machine guns
Without name, without resurrection, without stars,
His dark head heavy with death and his flesh long sour
With the smell of his many prisons — John Smith, John Doe,
John Nobody — oh, crack your mind for his name!
Faceless as water, naked as the dust,
Dishonored as the earth the gas-shells poison
And barbarous with portent.
This is he.
This is the man they ate at the green table
Putting their gloves on ere they touched the meat.
This is the fruit of war, the fruit of peace,
The ripeness of invention, the new lamb,
The answer to the wisdom of the wise.
And still he hangs, and still he will not die
And still, on the steel city of our years
The light falls and the terrible blood streams down.”

Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943) poet, short story writer, novelist

Source: Litany for Dictatorships (1935)

Death, Wisdom, War, Peace

“When you’re a cartoonist, you sort of have to be, like, sensitive – or maybe open’s a better word – to what’s going on around you. When you’re an attorney, you’re just like a bulldog with your head down.”

Stephan Pastis (1968) American cartoonist

Source: Strip deals wry Pearls of wisdom https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/dec/24/strip_deals_wry_pearls_wisdom/?living (December 24, 2006)

“To sum up, no one should ever claim that we Americans aren’t “at home” in the world. We’re everywhere, remarkably well funded and well armed and ready to face off against the aggressors and provocateurs of this planet. Just one small suggestion: thank the troops for their service if you want, and then, as most Americans do, go about your business as if nothing were happening in those distant lands. As we head into election season 2020, however, just don’t imagine that we’re the good guys on Planet Earth. As far as I can tell, there aren’t many good guys left.”

Tom Engelhardt (1944) American writer

We’re Not the Good Guys, CounterPunch, https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/07/04/were-not-the-good-guys/ (4 July 2019)

World, Guy, Home, Imagination

“Arrogant, ungrateful and mean people are never kind to anyone else, they always become friends and do more harm than good. And you feel it after the water has passed through your head. Therefore, Paradise should recognize them as soon as possible and distance itself from them. Whether they are blood relatives or close friends.”

Umair Ahmad (1997) Businessman

Address to the Tiger Forec (7 Aguest 2020)

People, Feeling, Water

“We be informed by our judges that we at no time stand so highly in our estate royal as in the time of Parliament, wherein we as head and you as members are conjoined and knit together into one body politic, so as whatsoever offence or injury (during that time) is offered to the meanest member of the House is to be judged as done against our person and the whole Court of Parliament.”

Henry VIII of England (1491–1547) King of England from 1509 until 1547

Speech to Parliament on parliamentary privilege (March/April 1542), as quoted in Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland Volume III (1808), by Raphael Holinshed, p. 824

Time, Housing, Personality

“Live day by day and always keep your head up high, transforming your heart every day.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Vivi giorno per giorno e avanza sempre a testa alta trasformando ogni giorno come desidera il tuo cuore.
Source: prevale.net

Heart

“Work but use your head as well as your hands, trust in God and He will never let you down.”

Timothy Quill (1901–1960) Early Dáil member, cooperative organiser, agriculturalist

The Cork Examiner (1955)

God

“I'd like to get a lot done in a short period of time. ... Your head coach won’t be real patient. Trying to keep it in perspective? Yes. Real patient? No.”

Tom Crean (basketball coach) (1966) American college basketball coach

As quoted in "Crean on : rebuilding the tradition of Indiana basketball" by David Burkart in IUplanet Newsletter (7 October 2007) http://iuplanet.com/forum/indiana-basketball-news/20261-crean-rebuilding-tradition-indiana-basketball.html

Time

“Do you see? There exists a kind of knowledge that is without love. It does not purify the psyche in any way, but kills it, as it lacks the love that is the head, the body, and very root of all virtue.”

Gregory Palamas (1296–1359) Monk and archbishop

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

Love, Making love, Way, Knowledge

“Suppose we human beings were hunted with traps by a race of giants loo feet high, very ingenious, and absolutely without conscience so far as their treatment of us was concerned. Suppose that, in spite of all our vigilance, we were continually falling into these traps, which were hidden all about us, and compelled in order to escape to eat off our own arms or legs. Suppose that even then one out of every five of us was so ill-starred as to be caught a second time, and ended up, after hours or days of unspeakable agony, by having his head smashed into a jelly by a big club. Suppose we were absolutely helpless in the matter, and that our victimisers had no higher purpose in inflicting these fiendish outrages than to get a scalp or a jawbone to dangle about their demoniacal necks. Suppose, finally, in order to complete the analogy, that these people imagined themselves to be highly civilised and enlightened. What sort of an opinion do you think we would have in the course of ages as to the real character of these people and of their fitness to be the models and superintendents of a planet?”

J. Howard Moore (1862–1916)

Source: The New Ethics (1907), The Cost of a Skin, pp. 70–71

People, Age, Imagination, Star

“a lot of actors, we create a backstory of our own in our heads and we often relate it to our intimates in the film, say my husband. But it just depends on how actors want to work.”

Freda Foh Shen (1948) American actress

Freda Foh Shen for BOOKS OF BLOOD https://www.nightmarishconjurings.com/2020/10/17/interview-freda-foh-shen-for-books-of-blood/ (October 17, 2020)

Relation ships, Dependency

“And my intention is to try to form a collection of many such things, which would not be quite unworthy of the title 'heads of the people.”

Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)

By working hard, boy, I hope to succeed in making something good. It isn't there yet, but I aim at it, and struggle for it. I want something serious, - some thing fresh - something with soul in it! Forward - forward - quote in his letter to brother Theo, from The Hague, The Netherlands, 3 Jan. 1883; as quoted in Vincent van Gogh, edited by Alfred H. Barr; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1935 https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_1996_300061887.pdf, (letter 257), pp. 20-21 1880s, 1883

People

“Comrades, I've voyaged long and far on sea and soul,
my eyes have seen disease, gods, ghosts, and men, and yet
in no land have I seen a more false, murderous siren
than that wind-headed, babbling, blind bitch-hound called Hope!”

Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) Greek writer

Odysseus, Book X, line 892
The Odyssey : A Modern Sequel (1938)

Men, God, Disease, Hope

“Whether Protection is a universal poison, or whether it may be conceived to operate as food in cases where it is granted for a few years in order to shelter the first investments in a new industry, I do not now inquire. We at least have never seen or known it in that mitigated form. With us it has sheltered nothing but the most selfish instincts of class against the just demands of the public welfare. These it has supplied with strongholds, from whose portals our producers have too generally marched forth in the day of need, armed from head to foot with power and influence largely gotten at the expense of the community, to do battle with a perverted prowess, against nature, liberty, and justice.”

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) British Liberal politician and prime minister of the United Kingdom

'Free Trade, Railways, and the growth of Commerce', The Nineteenth Century, No. XXXVI (February 1880), quoted in The Nineteenth Century, Vol. VII (January–June 1880), p. 377
1880s

Justice, Food, Communication, Nature

“To those who are longing for a higher life, who deeply feel the need of religious satisfactions, we suggest that there is a way in which the demands of the head and the heart may be reconciled. Religion is not necessarily allied with dogma, a new kind of faith is possible, based not upon legend and tradition, not upon the authority of any book, but upon the moral nature of man.”

Felix Adler (1851–1933) German American professor of political and social ethics, rationalist, and lecturer

Life and Destiny (1913)

Life, Books, Faith, Religion

“You shouldn't want to be the head.”

Attila (406–453) King of the Hunnic Empire

Head=Leader
Turkish Wikipedia
https://quotestats.com/topic/attila-hun-quotes/

“The size of our hips, our style, our swag, it becomes co-opted but then we are demonised... My advice to young women is that you have to start by getting those demons out of your head. The questions I ask myself — "am I good enough?"”

Michelle Obama (1964) lawyer, writer, wife of Barack Obama and former First Lady of the United States

that haunts us, because the messages that are sent from the time we are little is: maybe you are not, don't reach too high, don't talk too loud. Interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (3 December 2018) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46434147 2010s

Women, Question

“The stories, they get misconstrued as the facts aren’t really facts and the fictions aren’t really fictions. Sometimes, the people telling the stories aren’t who they appear to be. Sometimes, the voices sound the same and you never really know where they’re coming from. And sometimes, the same person just keeps telling the same story, over and over until he’s sick in the head.”

Jason Tanamor (1975) Filipino-American Author and Writer

Source: Novels, Anonymous (2013), Chapter 19

People, Appearance, Personality

“The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.”

Robert M. Pirsig (1928–2017) American writer and philosopher

World, Heart

“In action a great heart is the chief qualification. In work, a great head.”

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher

Heart

“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”

Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism

Perfection, Deep, Peaceful, Powerful

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) President of South Africa, anti-apartheid activist

Understanding, Heart, Wise, For Men

“I don’t want revolutions. Categorically, because innocent heads will fly into the revolution and into all these wars. I think this is wrong. No revolutions. Do everything that is possible, but to prevent this from happening. At both sides. I would choose North Korea. I don't want sacrifices. It means that some tactics, some experience, some wisdom are lacking for people who are against this regime. That's all.”

Chulpan Khamatova (1975) Russian actress

On why she supports Vladimir Putin in Чулпан Хаматова: «Я очень много чего боюсь» (7 June 2012) https://tvrain.ru/teleshow/sobchak_zhivem/chulpan_khamatova_ya_by_vybrala_severnuyu_koreyu_a_ne_revolyutsiyu-286479/

Wisdom, War, People, Thinking

“I don't know what my body is for other than just taking my head from room to room.”

John Mulaney (1982) American actor and comedian

Kid Gorgeous (2018)

“I'll tell you now that's the mother-fucker whose head I split open.”

Mark Wahlberg (1971) American actor, television producer and rap musician

“Nothing in this world is useless in the eyes of God. Not a leaf from a tree falls, not a hair from your head, not even an insect dies because it was of no use. Everything has a reason to exist.”

Paulo Coelho book Manuscript Found in Accra

Manuscript Found in Accra (2012), Uselessness

God, World, Tree

“When the house is burning down around the poet's head, on grounds of what if any dispensation can the poet continue the poem?”

Carl Oglesby (1935–2011) American political activist

"The Deserters: The Contemporary Defeat of Fiction" (1972)

Housing

“Ask that merchant in human flesh what property is. He will tell you, pointing to the long bier that he calls a ship and in which he has herded and shackled men who still appear to be alive: “Those are my property; I bought them at so much a head.””

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

Question that nobleman, who has lands and ships or who thinks that the world has been turned upside down since he has had none, and he will give you a similar view of property.
Condemning the defense of Slavery, Galleys and Serfdom as property
On Property (24 April 1793)

Men, Appearance

“Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us thy humble home;
Rise, the woman's conquering Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent's head. . . .
Adam's likeness, Lord, efface;
Stamp thine image in its place.
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.”

Charles Wesley (1707–1788) English Methodist and hymn writer

"Hymn for Christmas-Day"
Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739)

Love, Home

“We reject a political philosophy asserting that economic reforms can be launched over and against society, above people's heads - one that pushes democratic change aside.”

Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927–2013) Polish politician and prime minister

"Inaugural address of Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki" https://polishfreedom.pl/en/document/statement-inaugural-address-of-the-prime-minister-tadeusz-mazowiecki-delivered-at-the-seym-session-on-12th-september-1989 (12 September 1989)

People, Change

“In a rainstorm, everyone quickly runs down the street with umbrellas, raincoats, newspapers over their heads. Writers go back outside in the rain with a notebook in front of them and a pen in hand. They look at the puddles, watch them fill, watch the rain splash in them.”

Natalie Goldberg book Writing Down the Bones

Essay, "Living twice". p.53
Writing Down the Bones (1986)

“Men are like wine. You taste them, they seem good, they arouse your senses... But after? You suddenly find yourself with your head spinning. And if you are not careful, if you don’t chose only those high quality ones, you will end up feeling also nauseated.”

Menotti Lerro (1980) Italian poet

Donna Giovanna, Act I, scene ii.
Theater Quotes

Men, Feeling, Sense, Wine

“A song in my head and it won't leave me alone,
I should have followed my friends,
by now they're probably at home
all warm and tucked up in bed
Instead I'm stumbling home on my own
with no charge on my phone
in the east end of London”

Example (musician) (1982) English rapper and singer

"Wrong in the Head" (song) ("Wrong in the Head" on YouTube (with lyrics)) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvZSPl7QYto Studio albums, Playing in the Shadows (2011)

Home

“I was using Smalltalk and I never actually go through this boundary of sort of simulating the class structure in my head so that I can program itself. It was painful, I used to chose the changelog to find things, I regret you did it.”

Joe Armstrong (1950–2019) British computer scientist

Pain

“Good and evil are one. Just like a coin, the head and the tail.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Evil

“I remember the days I used to be intimidated by the little voice inside my head. Now, I have overcome it.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

“Since you can't expect the Kingdom of God to be on your feet or your arms, it would make sense to find it in your head. It's all in your mind.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

God, Sense

“Whatever you think or feel in your head, the body will follow. It is ready to take orders from the brain or the central nervous system.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Feeling, Thinking

“You must be ready to take all your responsibilities upon your head, instead of relying upon someone else to do all the dirty work for you.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

“Remember not to let your head get too far from your heart.”

William Leonard Pickard (1945) American writer and researcher

Source: The Rose of Paracelsus (2015), p. 64

Heart

“I don’t outline anything in advance. That can be really scary. I liken it to walking blindfolded. I’m trying to head towards somewhere, but I have no idea how to get there. I don’t write in order, either. I’m taking things as they come, following my fancy.”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

As quoted in "Why Jenny Han Thinks We Should Judge To All The Boys I Loved Before By Its Cover" in Refinery 29 (9 August 2018) https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/08/206826/jenny-han-to-all-the-boys-i-loved-before-author-interview

Idea

“He bowed his head. He stood so still,
They bowed their heads as well.
And softly from the organ-loft
The song began to swell.

Come up with blood-red streamers,
The reeds began the strain.
The vox humana pealed on high,
The Spring is risen again!”

Alfred Noyes (1880–1958) English poet

The Lord of Misrule
The Lord of Misrule and Other Poems (1915)

Spring

“The autumn sun shone brightly. It was still the same sun and the same clouds. The sun didn’t care about the landscape inside people’s heads.”

Bruce Sterling book Islands in the Net

Source: Islands in the Net (1988), Chapter 1 (p. 16)

People, Autumn, Sun

“Warriors do not win victories by beating their heads against walls, but by overtaking the walls. Warriors jump over walls; they don't demolish them.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "Tales of Power" (Chapter 10)

Victory

“There isn’t just one true opinion. I’m a free speech guy. Now, I’m Team Dave Chappelle, but that doesn’t mean I’m anti-trans. We can have two thoughts in our head at the same time.”

Bill Maher (1956) American stand-up comedian

Source: New Rule: Andrew Yang & John McWhorter on Dave Chappelle and 'Transphobia' (2021)

Guy, Time

“Remember, we need global help right now to get the vaccines. The person who needs the help cannot have ego. Ego never served anyone anyway, but if we keep ego or fake pride now, when we need help, we won't succeed. Heads down, get to work, source and administer the vaccines.”

Chetan Bhagat (1974) Indian author, born 1974

Source: — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) April 28, 2021 https://twitter.com/chetan_bhagat/status/1387325380164558848 also quoted in https://tfipost.com/2021/05/while-liberals-promote-pfizer-vaccine-the-company-bullied-latin-american-nations-to-put-sovereign-assets-as-collateral/

Help, Personality

“There is definitely no fear. When I first went abroad as a model, I felt like I was heading to the ground, but now I think I can make a clearer plan and approach it flexibly.”

HoYeon Jung (1994) South Korean model, actress

Source: "다시 만난 세계 [정호연" https://www.wkorea.com/2021/09/23/%eb%8b%a4%ec%8b%9c-%eb%a7%8c%eb%82%9c-%ec%84%b8%ea%b3%84-%ec%a0%95%ed%98%b8%ec%97%b0/ (23 September 2021)

Fear, Thinking

“He who fights for unity, for me is great. He who fights for division, for me... (shakes his head disapprovingly)”

José Hermano Saraiva (1919–2012) Historian, Jurist, Politician

"A Alma e a Gente - D. Maria II, A Rainha da Regeneração"
Original: (pt) Quem luta pela unidade para mim é grande. Quem se bate pela divisão para mim...
Original: (pt) abana a cabeça reprovadoramente

Fight

“Those are the lights on the head of death. Death puts them on like a hat and then shoots off on a gallop, gaining on us, getting closer and closer. Sometimes it turns off its lights. But death never stops.”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from A Separate Reality (Chapter 6)

Death, Light

“Life is a journey; we board an express train at birth and head for the unavoidable destination of death. The scenery drifts by, and the only meaningful thing we can do is to be good and kind to our fellow passengers.”

Cheng Yen (1937) Taiwanese Buddhist nun

Source: Master of Love and Mercy: Cheng Yen, p. 13

Life, Death, Birth, Training

“See, what I would do right here now is throw him out and I'd piledrive him on the steps. That way you crack his head open and you break both shoulders at the same time. Good amateur move.”

Bobby Heenan (1944–2017) American professional wrestler, professional wrestling commentator and manager

Misc.

Way, Time

“If one political party believes "heads we win, tails you cheated," if one political party believes that when you lose an election, the answer isn't to win more votes, but rather to try to prevent the other side from voting, then we have serious and existential threats to our democracy on our hands.”

Chuck Schumer (1950) U.S. Senator from the State of New York

interview reported on March 20, 2021 Source: GOP warns HR 1 could be 'absolutely devastating for Republicans', Karson, Kendall and Meg Cunningham, 20 March 2021, abcnews.go.com, ABC News, 20 March 2021 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/gop-warns-hr-absolutely-devastating-republicans/story?id=76555647,

Democracy, Cheating

“There were security angles, political angles, personal angles—how many angles could dance on the head of a pin?”

Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga

Source: Vorkosigan Saga, Diplomatic Immunity (2002), Chapter 4 (p. 52)

Dance, Personality

Quotes about head page 42

Quotes about head
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