Quotes about importance
page 59

Ron Paul photo

“Philosophy is much more important than politics, but we have to deal with politics because politics is the measuring rod of the philosophy... It's important that we... try to get the truth out...”

Ron Paul (1935) American politician and physician

Reflecting On The Past & Anticipating The Future, Ron Paul Liberty Report], YouTube (31 December 2019)
2019

Jessica Alba photo

“Every business faces its challenges…It's not realistic to think otherwise. If nothing else, it brings out the best in the team. It's important at that point to be open with the consumer and educate them around the realities of creating a product in bulk.”

Jessica Alba (1981) American model, free-diver and businesswoman; TV and film actress

On handling business challenges in “Exclusive: Jessica Alba on overcoming criticism at work” https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/people-parties/bazaar-at-work/a43744/jessica-alba-honest-company-defence/ in Harper’s Bazaar (2017 Sep 11)

Kyung-sook Shin photo

“People have lost something important they took for granted, and that loss leaves them devastated.”

Kyung-sook Shin (1963) Korean writer

On the aftermath of the Korean War in “Kyung-Sook Shin: 'In my 20s I lived through an era of terrible political events and suspicious deaths'” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/07/kyung-sook-shin-south-korea-interview in The Guardian (2014 Jun 7)

Chögyam Trungpa photo

“Meditation is a way of scientifically looking at our basic situation and seeing what is important in dealing with it.”

Chögyam Trungpa (1939–1987) Tibetan Buddhist lama and writer

Source: Glimpses of Abhidharma, p. 65

Noah Levine photo
Adlai Stevenson photo

“What counts now is not just what we are against, but what we are for. Who leads us is less important than what leads us — what convictions, what courage, what faith — win or lose. A man doesn't save a century, or a civilization, but a militant party wedded to a principle can.”

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) mid-20th-century Governor of Illinois and Ambassador to the UN

Address to the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois. (21 July 1952); published in Speeches of Adlai Stevenson (1952) p. 17

Plutarch photo
Jon Pineda photo

“Once I wrote poems, I found that I was able to piece together individual moments that would, I’d hoped, sometimes compound. The line was the most important thing to me—that and the music it produced.”

Jon Pineda (1971) American writer

On how poetry writing eventually led to short stories and other works in “A Poet’s Novel: Jon Pineda talks LET’S NO ONE GET HURT” https://www.booklistreader.com/2018/03/22/books-and-authors/a-poets-novel-jon-pineda-talks-lets-no-one-get-hurt/ in Booklist Reader (2018 Mar 22)

Boris Johnson photo

“We have so far succeeded in the first and most important task we set ourselves as a nation to avoid the tragedy that engulfed other parts of the world.”

Boris Johnson (1964) British politician, historian and journalist

Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-ministers-statement-on-coronavirus-covid-19-30-april-2020 (30 April 2020)
2020s, 2020

David Sedaris photo
Hu Xijin photo

“We are living in such a complex world, [and] we believed that it is necessary for Chinese to be. The important thing is that they can't.”

Hu Xijin (1960) Chinese journalist

我们就生活在这样一个复杂的世界中,我们认为中国人没必要因为给那些西方精英讲不通而懊恼。重要的是,他们拿新疆问题发难起不了什么实际作用,这些攻击是很热闹,但又很虚无的一堆泡沫。

社评:西媒不断炒作“新疆文件”意欲何为?

Global Times

2019-11-26

https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnKo0mf
Quote, 2010s

Joseph E. Stiglitz photo
Anatoly Antonov photo
Nahum Rabinovitch photo

“It is important to emphasize that not grappling with this problem will not make it disappear but rather will perpetuate the destruction of the unity and sanctity of the people, and that the new courts are working 100% according to halacha”

Nahum Rabinovitch (1928–2020) Israeli rabbi

Source: August 2015, per Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/will-new-conversion-court-rend-or-repair-the-fabric-of-israeli-society/

Douglas Engelbart photo
Paulo Coelho photo
Warren Farrell photo

“The discipline of postponing gratification is the single most important discipline your son needs.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 98

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel photo
Edmund Burke photo
Lila Downs photo
Lila Downs photo

“I thought it was a very important to remind us that we have all been migrants and to give credit to the people who are putting the oranges in our orange juice and the strawberries in our cakes.”

Lila Downs (1968) Mexican American singer-songwriter

On her inclusion of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” in a musical set to reflect the migrant experience in “Mex factor” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/feb/10/artsfeatures.popandrock in The Guardian (2003 Feb 10)
Music and culture

Rosa Luxemburg photo
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson photo
Nancy Knowlton photo
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad photo

“One should try to find out what he is going to gain from the Bai'at and why it is necessary to enter into this pledge. Unless one knows what the advantage of a certain thing is and the value it possesses, one cannot appreciate it. It is just as there are various kinds of articles in the house: money-big and small coins-and wood etc. Everything is placed where it belongs, that is, everything will be cared for and looked after according to its value. Small coins will not receive the same care as the big ones. As for the pieces of wood, they will be thrown in a corner. In short, whatever will be a cause of bigger loss will be cared for more than other things. The most important point in Bai'at is Tauba (repentance)which means turning back. It indicates that condition in which man is closely connected with sin, and it is as if sins are the homeland and he is living in this habitation. Tauba means that he is now leaving this homeland. Turning back (Raju') means to adopt piety (to become pious).Leaving one's homeland is indeed a hard thing to do, and it entails thousands of hardships. When a man leaves his home, he feels it very much, then how much more one must be feeling while leaving one's homeland. He leaves every thing, his household belongings, his streets and his neighbours and bazaars (shops) and goes to another country.He does not come back to his old homeland.This is TAUBA.”

When a man is a sinner, his friends are different from those who are going to be his friends when he adopts Taqwa(fear of God).
The mystics have termed this change as 'death'.
Source: Malfoozat, Vol.1, p.2

Daniel Abraham photo

“Growing older was a falling away of everything that didn’t matter. And a deepening appreciation of all the parts that were important enough to stay.”

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

Source: The Expanse, Tiamat's Wrath (2019), Chapter 8 (p. 87)

Enoch Powell photo

“So long as the figures 'now superseded' and the academic projections based upon them held sway, it was possible for politicians to shrug their shoulders. With so much of immediate and indisputable importance on their hands, why should they attend to what was forecast for the end of the century, when most of them would be not only out of office but dead and gone? … It was not for them to heed the cries of anguish from those of their own people who already saw their towns being changed, their native places turned into foreign lands, and themselves displaced as if by a systematic colonisation. For these the much vaunted compassion of the parties and politicians was not available: the parties and the politicians preferred to be busy making speeches on race relations; and if any of their number dared to tell them the truth, even less than the whole truth, about what was happening and what would happen here in England, they denounced them as racialist and turned them out of doors. They could feel safe; for they said in their hearts: 'If trouble comes, it will not be in our time; let the next generation see to it!'”

Enoch Powell (1912–1998) British politician

… The explosive which will blow us asunder is there and the fuse is burning, but the fuse is shorter than had been supposed. The transformation which I referred to earlier as being without even a remote parallel in our history, the occupation of the hearts of this metropolis and of towns and cities across England by a coloured population amounting to millions, this before long will be past denying. It is possible that the people of this country will, with good or ill grace, accept what they did not ask for, did not want and were not told of. My own judgment—it is a judgment which the politician has a duty to form to the best of his ability—I have not feared to give: it is—to use words I used two years and a half ago—that 'the people of England will not endure it'.
Source: Speech to the Carshalton and Banstead Young Conservatives at Carshalton Hall (15 February 1971), from Still to Decide (1972), pp. 202-203

John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo

“When I was a Congressman I never realized how important Congress was, but now I do.”

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

Source: 1962, Address and Question and Answer Period at the Economic Club of New York

John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo
Benjamin Disraeli photo
Neil Kinnock photo
Henry Way Kendall photo
Otto von Bismarck photo

“If we really came to a position in which we could no longer produce the grain which we must necessarily consume, then in what state would we be if in wartime we had no Russian grain imports and perhaps simultaneously were blockaded along our coasts – in other words, if we had no grain at all?”

Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) German statesman, Chancellor of Germany

Source: Speech to the Reichstag advocating protective tariffs, quoted in Paul Kennedy, The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860–1914 (1980), p. 51

“I think learning about women coders is absolutely important. It’s part of our history. There’s so much in this world that we don’t cover, and I think it’s so important to know that these amazing, incredible, intelligent women were severely over looked…because they were women.”

Chanelle Peloso (1994) Canadian actress

The Bletchley Circle : San Francisco | Interview with Chanelle Peloso as Hailey Yarner https://www.bradfordzone.co.uk/the-bletchley-circle-san-francisco-interview-with-chanelle-peloso-as-hailey-yarner/ (19 July 2018)

Adolf Hitler photo

“Soldiers of the Reich! This day, you are to take part in an offensive of such importance that the whole future of the war may depend on its outcome. More than anything else, your victory will show the whole world that resistance to the power of the German Army is hopeless.”

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party

In a message to German soldiers at the start of the Battle of Kursk, 5 July 1943, as quoted in Kursk by Rupert Matthews
1940s

Robert Southey photo
Phil Spector photo
Mashrafe Mortaza photo
Mashrafe Mortaza photo
Joel Courtney photo

“I think it's important to learn boundaries for yourself and how much you have the right to place boundaries on others, I would say is a big thing.”

Joel Courtney (1996) American actor

'The Kissing Booth 2' star Joel Courtney breaks down all of his favorite scenes from the sequel https://www.insider.com/the-kissing-booth-2-joel-courtney-favorite-scenes-interview-2020-7 (July 24, 2020)

Russell Tovey photo

“When I was younger and really busy, I think I did lose sight of who exactly I was. Mental wellbeing is something that is so important in any career but in acting in particular. That’s why friendship and family is so important to me.”

Russell Tovey (1981) British actor

Said in an interview with the Guardian. Russell Tovey: ‘When I started having sex I panicked because I didn’t feel old enough’ https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/11/russell-tovey-when-i-started-having-sex-i-panicked-because-i-didnt-feel-old-enough (11 March 2018)

Bonar Law photo
John Cooper Clarke photo

“I always judge people by appearances; don't you anyway? I think clothes are important; that's where the nudist camp falls down.”

John Cooper Clarke (1951) English performance poet

Series 1 - Textiles (9 Nov 2016)
BBC Radio 4 - Dr John Cooper Clarke at the BBC (Nov 2016)

Prevale photo

“If you wake up with his thoughts... then it's really important.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Se ti svegli con il suo pensiero... allora è davvero importante.
Source: prevale.net

Tom Crean (basketball coach) photo

“The family is so important when it comes to nurturing vocations that, really, they are born from a family, we don't fall out of the sky at 33 years old, wearing flowing robes. We are not hatched; we come from families.”

Stephen D. Parkes (1965) roman-catholic clergyman

Bishop brothers; Stephen and Gregory Parkes to become 1 of 11 sibling-bishops in U.S Catholic history https://www.fox13news.com/news/bishop-brothers-stephen-and-gregory-parkes-to-become-1-of-11-sibling-bishops-in-u-s-catholic-history (August 30, 2020)

Leo Tolstoy photo
Boris Yeltsin photo
J. Howard Moore photo
Tracy Chapman photo

“I think it's important, if you are an artist, to use your music to stand up for what you believe in…That's what everyone should do with their lives…stand up for what they believe in, or try to do some good in the world. I don't think artists have a greater responsibility than anyone else.”

Tracy Chapman (1964) American singer-songwriter

On how artist expression can be a form of political activism in “A militant mellows” https://www.theguardian.com/music/2002/sep/28/artsfeatures.popandrock in The Guardian (27 Sep 2002)

Kate Williams (historian) photo

“History is so important. It explores and tells us who we are. We should be doing more of it as a country, not less.”

Kate Williams (historian) (1974) British historian

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/01/studying-history-should-not-be-only-for-the-elite-say-academics
Studying history should not be only for the elite, say academics
Anna
Fazackerley
The Guardian
1 May 2021
2 May 2021

Jordan Peterson photo

“Believe that you have somethikng important to contribute to the world, and that the world would be a lesser place without that contribution.”

Jordan Peterson (1962) Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology

YouTube: Advice to Young Men in Their 20s | Jordan and Mikhaila Peterson (2021)
Other

Akira Kubo photo

“I can't choose any particular roles. I enjoyed all of them. I think it's very important for an actor to be able to enjoy playing many different kinds of characters.”

Akira Kubo (1936) Japanese actor

KAIJU CONVERSATIONS: An Interview with Akira Kubo https://web.archive.org/web/20060220090732/http://www.historyvortex.org/InterviewAkiraKubo.html (December 1995)

Sheila E. photo

“People don't understand how important it is for funk to be funky, the only way to do that is to allow space to happen. Space is the most important part of music, it's the space that allows the song to breathe that's so important.”

Sheila E. (1957) American singer and percussionist

On her collaboration with Prince on the song “Erotic City” in “An Interview with the Legendary Sheila E” https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/z4ngbx/an-interview-with-the-legendary-sheila-e in Vice Magazine (2016 Dec 18)

Larry Wall photo

“But I know what's important to me, and what isn't. And I think I know what people can get used to, and what they can even learn to like.”

Larry Wall (1954) American computer programmer and author, creator of Perl

It just takes some people longer than others. :-
[199809230518.WAA19312@wall.org, 1998]
Usenet postings, 1998

Anne Dudley photo

“With a comedy, you can easily take away the humor. So it’s very important to keep the pacing of it going, and to keep the lighthearted nature of it going. I think in many ways, a comedy is more difficult than drama”

Anne Dudley (1956) English composer and pop musician

“The Hustle” Composer Anne Dudley On Her Creative Process And Storytelling Through Music: BUST Interview https://bust.com/movies/196048-anne-dudley-thehustle-interview.html (2019)

Leó Szilárd photo

“The people who have sufficient passion for the truth to give the truth a chance to prevail, if it runs counter to their bias, are in a minority. How important is this "minority?"”

Leó Szilárd (1898–1964) Physicist and biologist

It is difficult to say at this point, for, at the present time their influence on governmental decisions is not perceptible.
Are We on the Road to War?

Doug Ford photo

“It’d be important to be able to communicate with part of our country that speaks French — I love Quebec, I love Quebecers.”

Doug Ford (1964) 26th Premier of Ontario

When asked about learning French during the 2018 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2018/11/28/doug-ford-discovers-the-franco-ontarians-he-never-knew.html
2018

Mohammad Al Gergawi photo

“In today’s world, governments cannot create the future on their own; it is important to involve everyone including the private sector, the youth, international partners and others in creating policies."”

Mohammad Al Gergawi (1963) Minister of Cabinet Affairs of the United Arab Emirates and the Chairman of the Executive Office in Dubai.

Statement during the third Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Future Councils as quoted in Mohammed bin Rashid attends opening session of the Annual Meeting of WEF’s Global Future Councils http://Mohammed%20bin%20Rashid%20attends%20opening%20session%20of%20the%20Annual%20Meeting%20of%20WEF’s%20Global%20Future%20Councils in Wam (11th November, 2018).
2018
Source: http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302719712

George Marshall photo
David Cay Johnston photo
David Cay Johnston photo

“I want to do things that are beyond the scope of the daily newspaper, as good as it is and as important as it is... beyond the scope of even a great newspaper like The New York Times.”

David Cay Johnston (1948) Investigative journalist and author

David Cay Johnston; How The One Percent Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (Jun 23, 2009)

Alan M. Dershowitz photo

“An important assumption underlying our commitment to freedom of expression is that truth is a process, not a product.”

Alan M. Dershowitz (1938) American lawyer, author

Source: Shouting Fire: Civil liberties in a Turbulent Age (2002), p. 149

“An important term for us in the church is solidarity. We are brothers and sisters first because of that shared baptism, and there’s even deep solidarity simply because we’re all created by the same God.”

Steven Biegler (1959) American prelate

Father Steve Biegler selected as ninth bishop of Diocese of Cheyenne https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/father-steven-biegler-selected-as-ninth-bishop-of-diocese-of-cheyenne/article_7b23ad10-0ad8-11e7-a803-eb2d09401e05.html (Mar 17, 2017)

Felix Adler photo

“It’s important to note that both women and men stare, but men are more obvious. In Islam, men are taught to lower their gaze in front of a woman, but that does not happen often.”

Cynthia D. Ritchie attributed in Who let the dogs out?, Pakistan Today . Com https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/06/21/who-let-the-dogs-out-3/ 2020 June, 21.

John Bosco photo

“Those who pray take care of the most important of all.”

John Bosco (1815–1888) Italian Roman Catholic priest, educator and writer
William Ewart Gladstone photo
Alain Daniélou photo
Jamie Chung photo

“It's so important to work with material you can really mold and milk and create and evolve.”

Jamie Chung (1983) American actress

As quoted in "From The Real World to Real Life: Jamie Chung" in Interview Magazine (27 May 2011) https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/jamie-chung-the-hangover-part-ii

Jamie Chung photo

“I think the whole movement of #MeToo is not just calling out the sexual harassers, which is really important, but also crying out that we want equal pay, equal representation, equal opportunities, and that we want to see more female directors and photographers.”

Jamie Chung (1983) American actress

As quoted in "#MeToo not just about calling out sexual harassers" in The Korea Times (31 March 2018) http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2018/04/398_245997.html?utm_source=dable

Alan Turing photo
Georg Forster photo
George Stack photo
George Stack photo

““I’m attempting to learn a little Welsh. Its very important to learn about culture of the people. In a sense it feels like I have turned full circle as I was born in a Celtic country.”

George Stack (1946) Irish Roman Catholic archbishop

Archbishop George Stack installed as Archbishop of Cardiff - Special Interview https://rcdow.org.uk/news/new-archbishop-of-cardiff/ (2011)

William Stanley Jevons photo
Charlie Munger photo

“What I would say is the single most important thing, if you want to avoid all the stupid errors, is knowing where you're competent and where you aren't. And that's very hard to do because the human mind naturally tries to make you think you're way smarter than you are.”

Charlie Munger (1924) American business magnate, lawyer, investor, and philanthropist

[A Conversation with Distinguished Alumnus Charles T. Munger (CERT '44, CAVU), December 17, 2020, Caltech, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaDU1J91hY8] (quote at 18:20 of 58:41)

Fabien Cousteau photo
Fabien Cousteau photo
Ellen Glasgow photo
Etty Hillesum photo
Steve Jobs photo
Michelle Obama photo
Tenzin Gyatso photo
Gautama Buddha photo
Salman Rushdie photo