Quotes about import
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“The important thing is that man is lost in time, in the moment that immediately precedes him - which only attests, by reflection, to the fact that he is lost in the moment that follows”

André Breton (1896–1966) French writer

Time

“I will compensate all your one-inch, two-inch losses because I know how important every inch is to you aged, decrepit men.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Ever After

Men, Age, Loss

“The most important thing about education is appetite.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Education

“Virtually no idea is too ridiculous to be accepted, even by very intelligent and highly educated people, if it provides a way for them to feel special and important. Some confuse that feeling with idealism.”

Thomas Sowell (1930) American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author

Random Thoughts http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell101705.asp, Oct. 17, 2005 2000s

People, Education, Way, Feeling

“And most important, listen.”

John C. Maxwell book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You

“I read somewhere… how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong… to measure yourself at least once.”

Jon Krakauer book Into the Wild

Source: Into the Wild

Life, Feeling, Strong, Reading

“Life isn't long enough to enjoy and understand all at the same time. You have to decide which is more important”

Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (1950) Cuban writer

Source: Dirty Havana Trilogy

Life, Understanding, Time

“I smile, now, thinking: we all like to think we are important enough to need psychiatrists”

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

Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Smile, Thinking

“Sometimes you dance with a partner, and sometimes you dance alone. But the important thing is to keep dancing.”

Jack Canfield (1944) American writer

Source: Chicken Soup for the Single's Soul (Chicken Soup for the Soul

Dance

“Being wrong about important things is exhausting.”

John Irving book The Cider House Rules

Source: The Cider House Rules

“Like me, he has a searing belief that books are sacred. They might not be to other people, but when you have a passion, you hold on to it. You defend it. You dont pretend it isn't important at the risk of offending others." -Carrie.”

Candace Bushnell book Summer and the City

Source: Summer and the City

People, Books, Passion

“But somethings in life are more important than being happy. Like being free to think for yourself.”

Jon Krakauer (1954) American outdoors writer and journalist

Life, Happiness, Thinking

“Chocolate is not a matter of life and death--it's more important than that.”

Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer

Source: At Last

Life, Death

“When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important.”

Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress

Source: Seriously... I'm Kidding

Learning, Time, Powerful, Graduation

“The most important things in your life are almost always impossible to predict.”

Joe Meno book The Boy Detective Fails

Source: The Boy Detective Fails

Life

“I have one major rule: Everybody is right. More specifically, everybody — including me — has some important pieces of truth, and all of those pieces need to be honored, cherished, and included in a more gracious, spacious, and compassionate embrace.”

Ken Wilber (1949) American writer and public speaker

Introduction, Collected Works of Ken Wilber, vol. VIII (2000) http://wilber.shambhala.com/html/books/cowokev8_intro.cfm/ Context: The real intent of my writing is not to say, you must think in this way. The real intent is: here are some of the many important facets of this extraordinary Kosmos; have you thought about including them in your own worldview? My work is an attempt to make room in the Kosmos for all of the dimensions, levels, domains, waves, memes, modes, individuals, cultures, and so on ad infinitum. I have one major rule: Everybody is right. More specifically, everybody — including me — has some important pieces of truth, and all of those pieces need to be honored, cherished, and included in a more gracious, spacious, and compassionate embrace. To Freudians I say, Have you looked at Buddhism? To Buddhists I say, Have you studied Freud? To liberals I say, Have you thought about how important some conservative ideas are? To conservatives I say, Can you perhaps include a more liberal perspective? And so on, and so on, and so on... At no point I have ever said: Freud is wrong, Buddha is wrong, liberals are wrong, conservatives are wrong. I have only suggested that they are true but partial. My critical writings have never attacked the central beliefs of any discipline, only the claims that the particular discipline has the only truth — and on those grounds I have often been harsh. But every approach, I honestly believe, is essentially true but partial, true but partial, true but partial. And on my own tombstone, I dearly hope that someday they will write: He was true but partial...

Truth

“These years are still the years of my prime. It is important to recognise the years of one's prime, always remember that.”

Muriel Spark book The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Source: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

“Becoming vegan is the most important and direct change we can immediately make to save the planet and its species.”

Chris Hedges (1956) American journalist

Change

“If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian writer

Source: Essays, Letters and Miscellanies

Men, God

“The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning.”

John Dewey book Experience and Education

Source: Experience and Education

Learning

“Stories are the most important thing in the world. Without stories, we wouldn't be human beings at all.”

Philip Pullman (1946) English author

World

“It is very important in life to know when your cue comes.”

Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism

Life, For Men

“It is important to have questionable friends you can trust unconditionally.”

Chuck Klosterman book Downtown Owl

Source: Downtown Owl

Question

“Dear Daddy-Long-Legs,

You never answered my question and it was very important.

ARE YOU BALD?”

Jean Webster book Daddy-Long-Legs

Source: Daddy-Long-Legs

Question

“Faith isn't knowledge, Rachel. Faith is a tool. Faith keeps us going until we get the knowledge. Faith keeps us striving until we reach the consequences of our most important decisions.”

Brandon Mull (1974) American fiction writer

Source: Chasing the Prophecy

Faith, Knowledge, Decision

“Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, "Make me feel important." Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.”

Mary Kay Ash (1918–2001) Entrepreneur

Life, Feeling, Personality, Motivational

“The father hesitated only a moment. He felt the vague pain in his chest. If I run, he thought, what will happen? Is Death important? No. Everything that happens before Death is what counts. And we've done fine tonight. Even Death can't spoil it.”

Ray Bradbury book Something Wicked This Way Comes

Source: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Death, Pain

“For a short time, I hated them. But when you think about it, what good does that do? It takes so much to hold on to hate—you lose your grip on what's important, you know?”

Harlan Coben book Caught

Source: Caught

Hate, Thinking, Time

“She was aware that in love even the most passionate idealism will not rid the body's surface of its terrible, basic importance.”

Milan Kundera book Laughable Loves

Source: Laughable Loves

Love, Passion

“The most important talent for a shinobi is not the numberof jutsu. The important thing is… HAVING THE GUTS TO NEVER GIVE UP.”

Masashi Kishimoto book Naruto

Source: Naruto, Vol. 19: Successor

“Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment, and being love is a supreme creative act.”

Ram Dass (1931–2019) American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the 1971 book Be Here Now

Love

“He held her close enough to kiss, close enough to whisper the most important secrets in the world, and he spoke to her as he would have wanted some good angel to speak to his family, to his own shivering young soul, long ago and in a land far away.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: Saving Raphael Santiago

Secret, World, Family, Angels

“Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark. That’s where the most important things come from, where you yourself came from, and where you will go.”

Rebecca Solnit (1961) Author and essayist from United States

Source: A Field Guide to Getting Lost

“Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important, in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) American novelist and short story writer (1804 – 1879)

1836
Notebooks, The American Notebooks (1835 - 1853)

World

“The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.”

Marianne Williamson (1952) American writer

World, Forgiveness

“But everybody has exactly the same smiling frightened face, with the look that says: "I'm important. If you only get to know me, you will see how important I am. Look into my eyes. Kiss me, and you will see how important I am.”

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

Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Smile, Kiss

“Knowing when to fight is just as important as knowing how.”

Terry Goodkind Faith of the Fallen

Source: Faith of the Fallen

Fight

“It doesn't matter where or how far you go - the farther commonly the worse - the important thing is how alive you are. Writing of every kind is a way to wake oneself up and keep as alive as when one has just fallen in love.”

Pico Iyer (1957) British writer

Love, Way

“The importance of our connection, what it meant to find each other again, the way it made what happened to us and between us not be a waste, not be for nothing. He would know, he had to know, that not saying good-bye would be the worst end of all.”

Sara Zarr (1970) American children's writer

Source: Sweethearts

Way

“Even in its darkest passages, the heart is unconquerable. It is important that the body survives, but it is more meaningful that the human spirit prevails.”

Dave Pelzer (1960) American author

Source: A Child Called "It"

Heart

“What if I’ve forgotten the most important thing?”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Character, I think, is the single most important thing in fiction. You might read a book once for its interesting plot—but not twice.”

Diana Gabaldon (1952) American author

Books, Thinking, Reading

“What was important wasn't the fireworks, it was that we were together this evening, together in this place, looking up into the sky at the same time.”

Banana Yoshimoto book Asleep

Source: Asleep

Time

“Where lipstick is concerned, the important thing is not color, but to accept God's final word on where your lips end.”

Jerry Seinfeld (1954) American comedian and actor

"Confessions of an unromantic man," Redbook magazine, Vol. 176, Iss. 4, (Feb 1991): 62.

God, Color, Funny

“Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.”

Cal Newport (1982) American computer scientist

Source: So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

Passion

“they thought I had guts
they were wrong
I was only frightened of
more important things”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

“Never be ruled by possessions, and never, ever make wealth more important to you than your self-respect and your dignity." - Lady Taylor”

Julie Garwood (1946) American writer

Wealth

“Reading is more important to me than eating.”

John Piper (1946) American writer

Reading

“In times of crisis, it is of the utmost importance that one does not lose her head.
Marie Antoinette”

Robert Lynn Asprin (1946–2008) American science fiction and fantasy author

Time

“She woke up and realized she had forgotten the definition of the word ‘impossible.’ She decided it must not have been that important.”

Monique Duval (1924–2014) Canadian journalist

Source: The Persistence of Yellow: A Book of Recipes for Life

“Every new & successful example therefore of, is of importance. And I have no doubt that every new example, will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that.

[]”

James Madison (1751–1836) 4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817)

Source: James Madison: Writings

Success, Past

“Relational skills are the most important abilities in leadership.”

John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor

Book Sometimes you win Sometimes you Learn
Variant: Responsibility is the most important ability that a person can possess.
Source: Developing the Leaders Around You: How to Help Others Reach Their Full Potential

“When faced with the scariest of things, all you want to do is turn away, hide in your own invisible place. But you can't. That's why it's not only important for us to be seen, but to have someone to look for us, as well.”

Sarah Dessen (1970) American writer

Source: Saint Anything

“There is no time to leave important words unsaid.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Time, Sad

“It's not a man's working hours that is important, it is how he spends his leisure time.”

Marilynne Robinson Gilead

Source: Gilead

Time

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

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

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

“It's the choosing that's important, isn't it?”

Lois Lowry book The Giver

Source: The Giver

“You know how I know she's your most important person? You pick her every time.”

Jenny Han book P.S. I Still Love You

Source: P.S. I Still Love You

Time, Personality

“It is not half so important to know as to feel.”

Rachel Carson (1907–1964) American marine biologist and conservationist

Feeling

“Above all things physical, it is more important to be beautiful on the inside - to have a big hear and an open mind and a spectacular spleen.”

Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress

Source: Seriously... I'm Kidding

Beauty

“Any fact becomes important when it's connected to another.”

Umberto Eco book Foucault's Pendulum

Source: Foucault's Pendulum

“There are so many more important things to worry about than how you're perceived by strangers.”

Dennis Lehane (1965) Novelist

“Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. Once you make this all-important discovery, you must embrace joy as a moral obligation.”

André Gide (1869–1951) French novelist and essayist

Sadness, Beauty, Joy

“I should be doing my homework now. But the way I look at it, playing in the snow is a lot more important. Out here I'm learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life.

- Such as?

- Procrastination and rationalization.”

Bill Watterson Calvin and Hobbes

Source: Calvin and Hobbes

Life, Way, Learning

“The news just came in from the County of Keck
That a very small bug by the name of Van Vleck
Is yawning so wide you can look down his neck.
This may not seem very important, I know, but it
Is, so I'm bothering telling you so.”

Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books

“Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear; The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all.”

Meg Cabot The Princess Diaries

Source: The Princess Diaries

Fear, Courage

“The important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love.”

Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) Roman Catholic saint

Variant: The important thing is not to think much, but to love much.

Love, Thinking

“If it looks like a hallway, feels like a hallway, and acts like a hallway—is it important to figure out that it isn’t a hallway?”

Patricia Briggs book Silver Borne

Source: Silver Borne

Feeling

“People will tell you most of the story… and I’ve learned that the part they neglect to tell you is often the most important part. People hide the truth because they’re afraid.”

Nicholas Sparks book Safe Haven

Source: Safe Haven

People, Truth, Learning, Parting

“We’re on this planet for too short a time. And at the end of the day, what’s more important? Knowing that a few meaningless figures balanced—or knowing that you were the person you wanted to be?”

Sophie Kinsella (1969) British writer

Time, Personality

“We're constantly being told what other people think we are, and that's why it is so important to know yourself.”

Sarah McLachlan (1968) Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter

People, Thinking

“The most important tactic in an argument next to being right is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without an embarrassing loss of face.”

Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) American evolutionary biologist

Loss

“But the most important thing is, even if we're apart, I'll always be with you.”

A.A. Milne (1882–1956) British author

Friendship, Relationship, Graduation, For Friend

“Morality is of the highest importance -- but for us, not for God.”

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

God

“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

Source: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Feeling, Soul

“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”

Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451

Source: Fahrenheit 451

“Age is not important unless you're a cheese.”

Helen Hayes (1900–1993) actress

Age, Birthday

“The most important part of education — to teach the meaning of to know”

Simone Weil (1909–1943) French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist

in the scientific sense
The last statement in her notebook
Waiting on God (1950)

Education, Parting

“I smiled back, the importance of manners, my mother always said, is inversely related to how inclined one is to use them, or, in other words, sometimes politeness is all that stands between oneself and madness.”

Nicole Krauss book Great House

Source: Great House

Smile, Madness

“My father told me once that the most important thing every man should know is what he would die for.”

Tana French book Faithful Place

Source: Faithful Place

“When you are young, there are many things which appear dull and lifeless. But as you get older, you will find these are the very things that are most important to you.”

Kazuo Ishiguro book An Artist of the Floating World

Source: An Artist of the Floating World

Appearance

“A person's last moments are an important thing. You can't choose how you're born but you can choose how you die.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

Personality

“It's far less important to me to be liked these days than to be understood.”

Lionel Shriver book We Need to Talk About Kevin

Source: We Need to Talk About Kevin

“Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.”

W.C. Fields (1880–1946) actor

Money, People, Education, Appearance

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

Original from Zig Ziglar https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zig_Ziglar Misattributed

Motivational, Wise, Deep, Inspirational

“I began to realize that I had tended to avoid some people because of my instant conclusions about who they were and what they would have to say. I discovered that everyone, speaking honestly and openly, had important things to tell me.”

Roger Ebert (1942–2013) American film critic, author, journalist, and TV presenter

People

“Where happiness was not a possibility, the illusion of it was always more important.”

Colum McCann Zoli

Source: Zoli

Happiness

“What is important is not what you hear said, it's what you observe.”

Michael Connelly book Trunk Music

Source: Trunk Music

“It's important to know the past, but your survival depends on knowing the present.”

Jonathan Maberry book Dust & Decay

Source: Dust & Decay

Past, Dependency

“I had found my religion: nothing seemed more important to me than a book. I saw the library as a temple.”

Jean Paul Sartre book The Words

Source: The Words

Books, Religion

“It's important to tell your story. It's important to listen.”

Francesca Lia Block (1962) American children's writer

Source: Baby Be-Bop

“My mother said I broke her heart… but it was my integrity that was important. Is that so selfish? It sells for so little, but it's all we have left in this place. It is the very last inch of us… but within that inch we are free.”

Alan Moore V for Vendetta

Source: V for Vendetta

Heart, Selfishness

“He meant the Kingdom was over, the Kingdom of Heaven, it was all finished. We shouldn’t live as if it mattered more than this life in this world, because where we are is always the most important place.”

Philip Pullman book The Amber Spyglass

Lyra to Pan in Ch. 38 : The Botanic Garden
Source: His Dark Materials, The Amber Spyglass (2000)
Context: "I remember. He meant the Kingdom was over, the Kingdom of Heaven, it was all finished. We shouldn’t live as if it mattered more than this life in this world, because where we are is always the most important place."
"He said we had to build something…"
"That’s why we needed our full life, Pan... we wouldn’t have been able to build it. No one could if they put themselves first. We have to be all those difficult things like cheerful and kind and curious and patient, and we’ve got to study and think and work hard, all of us, in all our different worlds, and then we’ll build…"

Life, World