Quotes about import
page 60

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.”

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

Imagination, Understanding, Knowledge

“For me, the most important thing in education is to instill a sense of responsibility. Because when you are responsible for your words, it will be very easy for you to live in this life later. If you live all the time with the claim that everyone owes you, it is very stupid.”

Chulpan Khamatova (1975) Russian actress

As quoted in Чулпан Хаматова и ее 17-летняя дочь дали первое совместное интервью (18 October 2019) https://tvrain.ru/teleshow/sobchak_zhivem/chulpan_khamatova_ya_by_vybrala_severnuyu_koreyu_a_ne_revolyutsiyu-286479/

Life, Stupidity, Education, Sense

“Ultimately I think about who I want to inspire, and I think it’s important to have people who look like me to inspire other people from my community to join orchestras.”

Edward W. Hardy (1992) American composer, musician and producer

From an interview in “How Critically Acclaimed Violinist Edward W. Hardy Is Transforming Mood Into Music” https://www.forbes.com/sites/andreazarczynski/2021/02/23/how-critically-acclaimed-violinist-edward-w-hardy-is-transforming-mood-into-music/?sh=1b2d2ca64962 Forbes (2021 Feb 23)

People, Communication, Thinking

“When I was a child, love to me was what the sea is to a fish: something you swim in while you are going about the important affairs of life.”

P. L. Travers (1899–1996) Australian-British novelist, actress and journalist

From "I Never Wrote for Children," by P. L. Travers, in the New York Times Magazine, July 2, 1978.

Love, Life, Fish, Sea

“The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy – it’s all that matters.”

Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993) British actress

Life, Happiness, Happy, Life

“[It is] so important for women of color to have a voice, because we have been living in a paradigm where women of color, and men of color, and all genders in-between color — our voices have not been as quote-unquote "valuable."”

MILCK Los Angeles based singer songwriter

That is a problem because that creates a sense of not belonging, and invisibility. I felt so voiceless, and like I didn't matter. Like I was an inconvenience of space because I didn't look like the woman in the magazine or I didn't have the same upbringing as the people I was watching on television. But now that women of color are rising...a lot of women of color are bearing a lot of responsibility of healing their cultures, and there's a way that women are able to empathize deeply, and they are able to express things that can maybe help the mainstream culture understand. Because I think the more we tell different types of stories, the more tolerance there will be.
As quoted in [Alleyne, Robert, Meet MILCK, the Berkeley alum making space for herself in pop music, http://thebaybridged.com/2018/02/27/milck-interview/, 15 January 2019, The Bay Bridged, February 27, 2018]

Women, Men, Color, Quotes

“The civil rights fight was a very important fight.”

Walter Cronkite (1916–2009) American broadcast journalist

Free the Airwaves! (2002)

Fight

“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous.
It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.”

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

Wednesday 17 June 2020 interview in the Oval Office according to 19 June 2020 article https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-talks-juneteenth-john-bolton-economy-in-wsj-interview-11592493771 by Michael Bender of Wall Street Journal, highlighted 21 June 2020 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/20/donald-trump-tulsa-rally-crowd-empty-seats by Richard Wolffe of The Guardian 2020, June 2020

Time

“Instinct is always the first important signal to evaluate.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) L'istinto è sempre il primo segnale importante da valutare.
Source: prevale.net

“You are the most fascinating and important thought of my days.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

From the Quotes http://www.prevale.net/quotes.html page of the official website of Prevale Original: (it) Sei il pensiero più affascinante ed importante dei miei giorni. Source: prevale.net

“Fear gradually ebbs away, because it wasn’t given what it felt was its due importance.”

Paulo Coelho book Manuscript Found in Accra

Manuscript Found in Accra (2012), Afraid to Change

Fear

“What is important is not just what you do - "I am writing a book"”

Natalie Goldberg book Writing Down the Bones

but how you do it, how you approach it, and what you come to value.
[…] There are many realities. We should remember this when we get too caught in being concerned about the way the rest of the world lives or how we think they live.
Essay, "Every Monday". p.127
Writing Down the Bones (1986)

Books

“It's vitally important to always feel a bit like at the beginning of each show.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) È di vitale importanza sentirsi sempre un po' come all'inizio di ogni show.
Source: prevale.net

Feeling

“Sometimes important meetings happen by chance. Learn to appreciate time, excellent master of life.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) A volte incontri importanti avvengono casualmente. Impara ad apprezzare il tempo, eccellente maestro di vita.
Source: prevale.net

Life, Learning, Chance, Time

“All of this extremely important has already been given to you: it's called life. Make good use.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Tutto ciò di estremamente importante ti è stato già donato: si chiama vita. Fanne buon uso. Source: From the radio show Memories http://www.m2o.it/special/memories-reloaded/ conducted by Prevale

Life

“In life is important not to be satisfied, to meditate in order to achieve and obtain.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Nella vita è importante non accontentarsi, meditare al fine di realizzare ed ottenere.
Source: prevale.net

Life

“You are the most fascinating and important thought of my days.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Sei la mia più affascinante e rischiosa tentazione.

“Instinct is always the first important signal to evaluate.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

“It's all about the balance of the team. That's the most important point, nothing else. For that reason, it's easy for me to adapt to several different styles of play. I know I have to adapt and play for the good of the team. For me, being a strong striker is not only about being a good goalscorer.”

Robert Lewandowski (1988) Polish association football player

Strong

“Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive factor; it is people, not things that are decisive. The contest of strength is not only a contest of military and economic power, but also a contest of human power and morale. People necessarily wield military and economic power.”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

1930s, On Protracted Warfare (1938)

War, People, Decision

“It is fundamentally important that people immediately feel the changes in the country, and people will feel it. We will not give empty promises, the key to our success is professionalism, experience, hard work, discipline and love for the country.”

Robert Kocharyan (1954) second President of Armenia

Excerpts from 2021 keynote speech on formation of 'Armenia' alliance

Love, People, Feeling, Change

“I've always been very happy as a priest and I expect to be very happy in just kind of getting to know people. I think one of the most important things a priest does is that he has an opportunity to spend time with people and I'm looking forward to that.”

Daniel E. Flores (1961) Catholic bishop

Youngest bishop in the U.S. ready to “propose the mystery” of the Church to Detroit https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/8177/youngest-bishop-in-the-us-ready-to-propose-the-mystery-of-the-church-to-detroit (November 29, 2006)

Happiness, People, Thinking, Time

“My motto is very personal and may not fit anyone else or any other company. It is: Don't do anything that someone else can do. Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.”

Edwin H. Land (1909–1991) American scientist and inventor

As quoted in "The Vindication of Edwin Land" in Forbes magazine, Vol. 139 (4 May 1987) p. 83; this was later humorously altered: Don't do anything that someone else can do. Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible. Edwin Ladd, Department of Astronomy, Harvard University (August, 1990), as quoted by Lincoln J. Greenhill at Harvard University http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~lincoln/

Personality

“When I have lived enough to a certain age, I will not bring a man to measure to a certain extent or to a certain standard. The most important thing right now is to find someone who understands me.”

Ngô Thanh Vân (1979) Vietnamese singer and actress

"Ngô Thanh Vân: 'Tôi không còn nghĩ đến chuyện chồng con'" in Thanh Niên (10 March 2019) https://thanhnien.vn/van-hoa/ngo-thanh-van-toi-khong-con-nghi-den-chuyen-chong-con-1058998.html

Age, Understanding

“In my perspective, development is not limited to infrastructural development. Even sociological factors need to be considered. Women empowerment and ensuring gender justice is important.”

Divya S. Iyer (1984) Indian bureaucrat

Quoted in Mathrubhumi https://english.mathrubhumi.com/mobile/news/kerala/collector-divya-s-iyer-envisions-a-women-friendly-pathanamthitta-women-empowerment-pathanamthitta-divya-s-iyer-1.5877873

Women, Justice

“I can only implement one thing at a time. I'm a one thing at a time person. So, if you give me that huge list of things, I will implement the most important thing. Which is it?”

Joe Armstrong (1950–2019) British computer scientist

The Forgotten Ideas in Computer Science

Time, Personality

“If somebody puts a big list of things up, my question is always: what is the most important thing on that list.”

Joe Armstrong (1950–2019) British computer scientist

The Forgotten Ideas in Computer Science

Question

“One of the things we’ve forgotten, is the importance of protocols and not describing them accurately.”

Joe Armstrong (1950–2019) British computer scientist

The forgotten advantage of concurrent programming

“All the big things hurt, the things you remember. If it doesn't hurt it's not important.”

Tim Winton book The Turning

Short story, 'Abbreviation' - p.26
Short stories, The Turning (2004)

Hurt

“The principle of nowness is very important to any effort to establish an enlightened society.”

Pema Chödron (1936) American philosopher

How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind (2008)

Effort

“If you know anything about Buddhism, you will know that the most important point is to be yourself and not try to become anything that you are not already. Buddhism is fundamentally about being in touch with your own deepest nature and letting it flow out of you unimpeded.”

Jon Kabat-Zinn (1944) American academic

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (2005)

Nature

“We have a lot of heroes. We have Asian heroes, we have Asian American heroes, men, women, of all ages, and not all of them do martial arts. But that doesn't mean that they don't have their own arcs, their own stories, their own subtleties and nuances. And I think that's what's important.”

Simu Liu (1989) Chinese-born Canadian actor

Source: "Simu Liu, the Asian Marvel superhero emerging at a critical time" in NBC Asian America (2 June 2021) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/simu-liu-asian-marvel-superhero-emerging-critical-time-rcna1071

Women, Men, Age, Art

“I call on the U.S.A. to be with us. It’s very important when a regime is destroying everything in Belarus, destroying mass media, destroying all the organizations, it’s extremely important to support all those people.”

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (1982) Belarusian politician and educator

"Belarusian Opposition Leader Hopes to Spur Action During Washington Visit" in Voice of America https://www.voanews.com/a/europe_belarusian-opposition-leader-hopes-spur-action-during-washington-visit/6208416.html (19 July 2021)

People, Support

“It is a conceded fact that woman is being reared as a sex commodity, and yet she is kept in absolute ignorance of the meaning and importance of sex.”

Emma Goldman book Anarchism and Other Essays

Anarchism and Other Essays (1910), The Traffic in Women

Sex

“Preventing and fighting corruption and waste is an important, urgent and long-term task of extreme difficulty and complexity. To enhance the efficiency of the work, timely detection, investigation and handling of offences plays a decisive role.”

Trần Đại Quang (1956–2018) 8th President of Vietnam

"Re-elected President Tran Dai Quang gives media interview" in Nhân Dân https://en.nhandan.vn/politics/domestic/item/4492502-re-elected-president-tran-dai-quang-gives-media-interview.html (26 July 2016)

Decision, Time, Fight

“The most important thing about mathematics is how it resides in the human brain.”

William Thurston (1946–2012) mathematician

Foreword to Teichmüller Theory

Mathematics

“The most important thing is that we would like people to reach some kind of mutual understanding, so that these huge mixed nationalities, religions, social order, finally understand each other, if possible ... And then everything would fall into place, and there are no more desires would not be.”

Viktor Tsoi (1962–1990) Soviet rock musician (1962-1990)

"Appendix I. Viktor Tsoi: interview diary" https://ik-ptz.ru/en/istoriya/prilozhenie-i-viktor-coi-dnevnik-intervyu-fragmenty-iz-odnoimennoi.html

People, Religion, Understanding

“Despite the important gains of antiracist social movements over the last half century, racism hides from view within institutional structures, and its most reliable refuge is the prison system.”

Angela Davis Are Prisons Obsolete?

Source: Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003), Chapter Five

“Asking for advice on important matter, simply means that you don't want to do it in the first place.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

“There is no fight without losing something important. All that is great requires sacrifice.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Fight

“The time when physically nothing is happening is equally important.”

Helmut Lang (artist) (1956) Austrian artist and fashion designer

Nick Compton, Wallpaper* January 2017, p. 134

Time

“I spend a lot of time with my family. Because I think it's part of my life. I think the time...long or short is not the most important. I think the most important is the quality time...quality time with family.”

Jet Li (1963) Chinese martial artist and actor

As quoted in Jet Li Interview Transcript https://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/01/29/talkasia.li.script/ in CNN (January 29, 2003)

Life, Family, Thinking, Time

“I think the most important is when I was young, I learnt martial arts, that is my special key. I can use my unique martial arts in the film. But after a few years, I really want to do something different... like using martial arts to talk about peace.”

Jet Li (1963) Chinese martial artist and actor

As quoted in Jet Li Interview Transcript https://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/01/29/talkasia.li.script/ in CNN (January 29, 2003)

Peace, Art, Thinking

“Nothing is more important than self-respect in our life. It hurts a lot if someone hurts our self-respect. It seems as if we have no value in their eyes, we are torn apart completely and we separate ourselves from the world, but still our self-respect does not allow us to live peacefully throughout life.”

Shabdon Ka Jahan

Life, World, Hurt

“Naming is important. In many black cultures you learn the importance of giving the right name or not naming things…”

Danez Smith American poet

On the importance of naming in “INTERVIEW WITH DANEZ SMITH” http://www.thewhitereview.org/feature/interview-danez-smith/ in The White Review (June 2018)

Learning

“There is a dire need of the formation of our community. Besides academic education, practical education is also important. Human values can wash away the stigma of corruption.”

Joseph Indrias Rehmat (1966)

Bishop Indrias Rehmat is the new bishop of Faisalabad: We must rienforce education http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Bishop-Indrias-Rehmat-is-the-new-bishop-of-Faisalabad:-We-must-rienforce-education--47433.html (2019)

Education, Communication

“Nothing ... nothing in the universe, is of any importance, or is authentic to any serious sense, except the illusions of romance. For man alone of animals plays the ape to his dreams. These axioms — poor, deaf and blinded spendthrift!”

James Branch Cabell (1879–1958) American author

are none the less valuable for being quoted.
The Gander, in Book Seven : What Saraïde Wanted, Ch. XLV : The Gander Also Generalizes
The Silver Stallion (1926)

Dreams, Sense, Universe, Animals

“We are all a beautiful jumble of layers, parts, and mixtures of experiences, but my most important part, and in my opinion everyone's most valuable part, is the one that chooses self-love instead of self-harm in the grand sweeping ways but also the little ways every single day.”

Jonathan Van Ness (1987) American hairstylist and television personality

page 262
Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love (2019)

Love, Beauty, Way, Parting

“Initially what is important is to be able to successfully make a useful object over which the maker can exclaim, with pleasure and amazement, 'I made this myself!”

William Coperthwaite (1930–2013) American yurt builder

Page 99
A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

Pleasure

“The truth is respectful opposition is not the enemy, it’s an important part of a health a democracy.”

Peadar Tóibín (1974) Irish politician

Peadar Tóibín to host Waterford meeting about new party https://www.wlrfm.com/2019/01/21/peadar-toibin-to-host-waterford-meeting-about-new-party/ (January 21, 2019)

Health, Truth, Democracy, Parting

“Families don’t follow tradition as much as they used to. Family is still important, but many of the customs have fallen to the wayside. Some families, though, still hold onto tradition. Good, bad, or ugly.”

Jason Tanamor (1975) Filipino-American Author and Writer

Source: Novels, Vampires of Portlandia (2020), Chapter 5

Family

“Ultimately there's one judgement that’s supremely important and that's before the good God when you die. Now if I had thought that death was the end of everything, that the ultimately important thing was my earthly reputation, well obviously my approach would have been different.”

George Pell (1941–2023) Australian Catholic cardinal and convicted sex offender

In EWTN interview, Cardinal Pell discusses acquittal, Vatican finances https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/46976/in-ewtn-interview-cardinal-pell-discusses-acquittal-vatican-finances (December 21, 2020)

Death, God

“I love educating myself on different cultures' dishes and foods that are important and celebrated within that culture. I also think food brings people together. It's unifying!”

Lana Condor (1997) Vietnamese-American actress

"How Lana Condor Unwinds at Home After a Long Day" (4 February 2019) https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/how-lana-condor-unwinds-at-home-after-long-day

Love, People, Education, Food

“What if we stopped celebrating being busy as a measurement of importance? What if instead we celebrated how much time we had spent listening, pondering, meditating, and enjoying time with the most important people in our lives?”

Greg McKeown (author) book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Popular Quotes, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

People, Business, Time

“Many capable people are kept from getting to the next level of contribution because they can’t let go of the belief that everything is important.”

Greg McKeown (author) book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Popular Quotes, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

People

“It is more important that we should remember God than that we should breathe.”

Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389) Christian saint, bishop, and theologian

On God and Christ: The Five Theological Orations and Two Letters to Cledonius (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press: 2002), Oration 27

God

“[W]hat is most important to us, most of the time, is not the objective results of a decision, but the subjective results.”

Barry Schwartz book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

Source: The Paradox of Choice (2004)

Decision, Time

“Having too many choices produces psychological distress, especially when combined with regret, concern about status, adaptation, social comparison, and perhaps most important, the desire to have the best of everything—to maximize.”

Barry Schwartz book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

The Paradox of Choice (2004)

“What is important to me as it is for the Ethiopian people, is the unity of the country, the sovereignty of the country and I'm not ready to compromise on that.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam (1937) Former dictator of Ethiopia

1990 interview to news maker

People, Country

“Unlike women, who always think of themselves as unimportant, men always think of themselves as the center of the universe. Every single sentence from men carries utmost importance, and points out the right direction in which the world should advance.”

Yang Li (1992) Chinese stand-up comedian

Source: "“Average-yet-confident”: A comedian coined a Chinese equivalent to “mansplaining”" in Quartz https://qz.com/1956642/female-comedian-yang-li-coins-chinas-version-of-mansplaining/ (23 January 2021)

Women, Men, World, Thinking

“To be politically motivate and politically sensitive to what is happening around us is part of our responsibility as Church. We must educate people on this – this is an important area but since it is delicate area, we must be prudent in going about it.”

Antony Selvanayagam (1935) Catholic bishop

Source: Bishop Selvanayagam tells his story https://cj.my/74779/bishop-selvanayagam-tells-his-story/ (14 August 2012)

People, Education, Motivation, Parting

“The unprecedented circumstances we live in represent a unique opportunity for us to rethink the global role of multilateralism and strengthen the importance of orderly globalization and a rules-based international order.”

Andrej Plenković (1970) Prime Minister of Croatia

Source: "Speech at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly" https://undocs.org/en/A/75/PV.10 (25 September 2020)

“There are several different meanings of the words "religion" and "spirituality", all of which are important. The whole point about an integral or comprehensive approach is that it must find a way to believably include all of those important meanings in a coherent whole.”

Ken Wilber (1949) American writer and public speaker

Source: Which Level of God Do You Believe In? (2004)

Religion, Way

“A warrior doesn't know remorse for anything he has done, because to isolate one's acts as being mean, or ugly, or evil is to place an unwarranted importance on the self.”

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 "Journey to Ixtlan" (Chapter 8)

Evil

“As long as man feels that he is the most important thing in the world, he cannot really appreciate the world around him. He is like a horse with blinders; all he sees is himself, apart from everything else.”

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 "Journey to Ixtlan" (Chapter 8)

World, Feeling, Horse

“A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he "sees" that his life will be over altogether too soon. He "sees" that nothing is more important that anything else.”

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)

Life, Heart

“A warrior knows that he is only a man. His only regret is that his life is so short that he can't grab onto all the things that he would like to. But for him, this is not an issue; it's only a pity. Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light and fluid.”

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)

Life, Feeling, Light

“To be angry at people means that one considers their acts to be important. It is imperative to cease to feel that way. The acts of men cannot be important enough to offset our only viable alternative: our unchangeable encounter with infinity.”

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 The Teachings of Don Juan (Chapter 4)

Men, People, Way, Feeling

“It is highly important to encourage and help people inearning their living and supporting themselves with adequatemeans, because those who are gainfully employed andself-supporting are capable of contributing definitelytowards higher levels of development.”

Bhumibol Adulyadej (1927–2016) King of Thailand

Source: "Speech given at the ceremony of conferring degrees at Kasetsart University" http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:usILNxurwOMJ:www.rdpb.go.th/UploadNew/Documents/f55969e3-1f51-4d73-90cf-d201f4f69a67_2.%2520Royal%2520Dev%2520Principles_Booklet.pdf+&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us (18 July 1974)

People, Support, Help

“The most important thing is that we show determination to continue the dialogue and that we will always try to solve everything by talking. I want to believe that it is possible.”

Aleksandar Vučić (1970) President of Serbia

Source: "Excerpts of Address" https://www.predsednik.rs/en/press-center/news/address-by-the-president-of-the-republic-of-serbia-on-16th-june-2021 (16 June 2021)

“The values connection is very important. We have to strengthen that connection.”

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (1963) Mongolian politician

Source: "In Mongolia, lessons for Obama from Genghis Khan" in The Washington Post https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:EvpE54wq368J:https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/in-mongolia-lessons-for-obama-from-genghis-khan/2011/06/15/AG7JrOWH_story.html+&cd=38&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us (15 June 2011) Context: If America invests in that, America will have many friends who live on their own, not with bombs or American troops.

“This year I learned the most important lesson in my life, which is to never make fun of men; and if you have to make fun of them, just joke about their success.”

Yang Li (1992) Chinese stand-up comedian

Source: "‘Sexist’ female stand-up comedian Yang Li’s return sweeps Chinese social media again by gender issues" https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1231854.shtml?id=11 in Global Times (18 August 2021)

Life, Men, Learning, Success

“The things that people do cannot under any conditions be more important than the world. And thus a warrior treats the world as an endless mystery and what people do as an endless folly.”

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)

People, World

“What should be important is the fact that you are the best man or woman for the job and if you are you should be appointed.”

Beatrice Mtetwa (1957) Zimbabwean human rights lawyer

Source: Beatrice Mtetwa: In Conversation with Trevor https://kubatana.net/2019/11/05/beatrice-mtetwa-in-conversation-with-trevor/

“We read literature for a lot of reasons, but two of the most compelling ones are to get out of ourselves and our own life stories and—equally important—to find ourselves by understanding our own life stories more clearly in the context of others’.”

Maureen Corrigan (1955) American journalist and writer

Source: Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading (2005), Chapter 1 (p. 34)

Life, Literature, Understanding, Reading

“Although men constitute the vast majority of prisoners in the world, important aspects of the operation of state punishment are missed if it is assumed that women are marginal and thus undeserving of attention.”

Angela Davis Are Prisons Obsolete?

Source: Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003), Chapter Four

Women, Men, World

“Whatever godlike powers and principalities lurked beyond the stars, Poole reminded himself, for ordinary humans only two things were important - Love and Death.”

Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) British science fiction writer, science writer, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host

1990s, 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997), p. 87

Love, Death, Star

“Place is important to my writing; I believe that if a reader gets a clear picture of the place where a character is from, then they can understand what motivates the character, what limits him or her…”

Jesmyn Ward (1977) American writer

Source: On using the setting to frame her novels in “Jesmyn Ward: ‘So much of life is pain and sorrow and wilful ignorance’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/12/jesmyn-ward-sing-unburied-sing-interview-meet-author in The Guardian (2017 Nov 12)

Motivation, Understanding

“People assume modeling is about being thin and pretty, but it’s about, how can you express yourself? Can you radiate strength and confidence? Personality is most important.”

Liu Wen (model) (1988) Chinese model

Source: "Liu Wen Sees Beauty as a Journey, Not a Destination" in Harper's Bazaar https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a36205161/liu-wen-beauty-issue-may-2021/ (26 April 2021)

People, Confidence, Personality

“It's very important for Christians to be thinking Christians, not just partisan Christians.”

Gregory John Mansour (1955) Catholic bishop

Source: Brooklyn’s Maronite Catholic Bishop reflects on Pope Benedict’s resignation https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2013/02/28/brooklyns-maronite-catholic-bishop-reflects-on-pope-benedicts-resignation/ (28 February 2013)

Thinking

“There is no doubt that we have a different vision of the past. What’s important is that I see no reasons for any kind of conflicts in the future. We have no interests that could be contradictory in the future.”

Ivica Dačić (1966) Serbian politician

Source: "Ivica Dacic: Forced solutions don’t lead to stability of the region" in The Srpska Times https://thesrpskatimes.com/ivica-dacic-forced-solutions-dont-lead-to-stability-of-the-region/ (18 September 2018)

Past, Future

“Kojève is the unknown Superior whose dogma is revered, often unawares, by that important subdivision of the "animal kingdom of the spirit" in the contemporary world - the progressivist intellectuals.”

Alexandre Kojève (1902–1968) Russian-born French philosopher and statesman

Source: Introduction to the Reading of Hegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology of Spirit, assembled by Raymond Queneau, edited by Allan Bloom, translated by James H. Nichols, Jr. (1969), Editor's Introduction

World, Animals

“Self-knowledge starts with understanding that you’ve got the single most important thing absolutely right – you are alive.”

Prem Rawat (1957) controversial spiritual leader

Source: Prem Rawat's book, Hear Yourself: How to Find Peace in the Noisy World, published in 2021

Understanding, Knowledge

“It is important to launch core reforms in education and healthcare and boost production primarily through developing agriculture and IT sector. We see the latter as a potentially key sector for future development because there is a real need today for several thousand programmers.”

Ana Brnabić (1975) Prime Minister of Serbia

Source: "Serbia Would Look Very Different Without NALED" in CORD Magazine https://cordmagazine.com/interview/ana-brnabic-serbia-different-without-naled/ (17 June 2016)

Education, Future

“Knowledge is not the most important thing. The most important is your political quality and moral quality.”

Zhang Zhaozhong (1952) Chinese admiral

"Tangled in the Party Line" in China File https://www.chinafile.com/tangled-party-line (6 September 2012)

Knowledge

“I firmly believe in the importance to empower infertile women, who are mistreated and discriminated against in many cultures for not being able to have children and start a family.”

Neo Masisi (1962) first lady of Botswana

Neo Masisi https://www.africanews.com/2018/12/17/african-first-ladies-pledge-to-support-merck-foundation-to-empower-infertile-women-as-ambassadors/ African First ladies pledge to support Merck Foundation to empower infertile women as Ambassadors. (09/12/2019) Retrieved 5 November 2021.

Women, Children, Family

“Kingship is the army and the army is the kingship, implying the central importance of a powerful army in the plunderous Muslim rule and conquest.”

Ziauddin Barani (1285–1357) Indian Muslim historian and political thinker (1285–1357)

Source: attributed and quoted in M.A. Khan , Islamic Jihad: A legacy of forced conversion, imperialism and slavery (2011)

“When a woman can be empowered she can, they are very important people in our society, I call on women to enroll in large numbers in the colleges and Universities so that they can be the catalyst for development in our region.”

Irene Tarimo (1964) Tanzanian scientist, biologist and educator

Source: Speech at the Regional Event to the Farewell position of Vice Chancellor Professor Mbwette in Lindi, (21 December 2014)

Women, People, Universe

“Over the course of the day, the smile has its value: smiling has the power to reverse the phase of malaise into well-being. Always give importance to your smile.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Nel corso della giornata, il sorriso ha il suo valore: sorridere ha il potere di invertire la fase di malessere in benessere. Date sempre importanza al vostro sorriso.
Source: prevale.net

Smile

“If we just feed ourselves rather than importing foods, we will create jobs! We will create wealth!”

Kemi Adeosun (1967) Nigerian accountant, investment banker and politician (born 1967)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNQTPE7gomU Kemi speaking on diversifying Nigeria's economy.

Food, Wealth

“Every single one of us needs to be there for each other, not just in the big profound ways but sometimes just the really small and important ways.”

Dan Howell (1991) British video blogger and radio personality

Way

“I respect the institution of marriage as my parents were married until death literally parted them and they had a beautiful relationship. The problem is at some point, it begins to annoy you because of how much importance people have placed on it.”

Rita Dominic (1975) Nigerian actress

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/04/i-wont-rush-into-marriage-to-please-the-public-rita-dominic/amp/ Rita Dominic on marriage.

Death, Marriage, People, Beauty

“Democracy is our most important possession. If we throw it away when the going gets tough, we might never get it back.”

Arthur C. Clarke A Time Odyssey

Source: 2000s and posthumous publications, A Time Odyssey, Sunstorm (2005), Chapter 24, “BDO” (p. 182)

Democracy

“It is important for the Supreme Court itself to engage in self-criticism, self-awareness, self-assessment to address the loss of confidence of the people in the Supreme Court. That is where our salvation lies.”

Folake Solanke (1932) Nigerian lawyer

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6lqx-jLCac Folake Solanke speaks on the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

People, Confidence, Loss

“I believe it is important to speak to your readers in person... to enable people to have a whole picture of me; I have to both write and speak. I view my role as a writer and also as an oral communicator.”

Buchi Emecheta (1944–2017) author

Source: On speaking to readers in “Interview with Buchi Emecheta” http://www.emeagwali.com/nigeria/biography/buchi-emecheta-voice-09jul96.html (Philip Emeagwali)

People, Communication, Personality

“I don’t do things because I want people to like me but because they’re important to do.”

Simisola Kosoko (1988) Nigerian singer and songwriter

Source: https://notjustok.com/article/interviews/simi-in-conversation-with-notjustok-for-womens-history-month/ Simi's take on sexism

People

“I don't recognise such terms as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and I think it's important that there's someone in pop music who's like that. These words do a great deal of damage, they confuse people and they make people feel unhappy, so I want to do away with them.”

Morrissey (1959) English singer

Source: [239, The Queer Encyclopedia of Music, Dance, and Musical Theater, Claude Summers, Cleis Press Start, 1 November 2004, 9781573448758] In interviews etc., Sexuality

People, Music, Feeling, Thinking

“This nagging dilemma has come to be known as the excess sulfur problem... Just as atmospheric scientists were beginning to grasp the importance of a volcano's sulfur emmisions, solid earth scientists were finding that they had no idea where all this sulfur was coming from.”

Shawna Vogel science writer

Naked Earth: the New Geophysics (1995)

Idea, Problem

“I think that it is very important to protect our Israeli and Jewish identity. It's not simple. We live in a very diverse world, but part of a person's ability to develop is having an identity that you believe in and belong to.”

Isaac Herzog (1960) Israeli politician

Source: Isaac Herzog (2021) cited in " Israel’s president to Palo Alto students: Check out Hebrew TikTok https://www.jweekly.com/2021/12/20/israels-president-to-palo-alto-students-check-out-hebrew-tiktok/" on The Jewish News of Northern California, 20 December 2021.

World, Thinking, Parting, Personality

“It is important that we all complete our vaccinations and give ourselves boosters to sustain this (COVID-19) epidemiological situation and continue to grow (economically). Don't hesitate, get vaccinated.”

Alberto Fernández (1959) President of Argentina

Source: Alberto Fernández (2021) cited in: " President Alberto Fernández given third dose of Sputnik V vaccine https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/president-alberto-fernandez-given-third-dose-of-sputnik-v-vaccine.phtml" in Buenos Aires Times, 6 December 2021.

Quotes about import page 60

Quotes about import
page 60