Quotes about initial
A collection of quotes on the topic of initial, initialize, initiative, use.
Quotes about initial
Qin Shi Huang (-258–-210 BC) founding emperor of the Qin Dynasty
Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian
“Slim Shady, Eminem was the old initials.”
Eminem (1972) American rapper and actor
"Just Don't Give A Fuck" (Track 15).
1990s, The Slim Shady LP (1999)
Nassim Nicholas Taleb book Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
Source: Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (2012), p. 156
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934) Hungarian American psychologist
Source: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
1950s, Loving Your Enemies (Christmas 1957)
Context: First, we must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. It is impossible even to begin the act of loving one's enemies without prior acceptance of the necessity, over and over again, of forgiving those who inflict evil and injury upon us. It is also necessary to realize that the forgiving act must always be initiated by the person who has been wronged, the victim of some great hurt, the recipient of some tortuous injustice, the absorber of some terrible act of oppression. The wrongdoer may request forgiveness. He may come to himself, and, like the prodigal son, move up with some dusty road, his heart palpitating with the desire for forgiveness. But only the injured neighbor, the loving father back home can really pour out the warm waters of forgiveness.
Michael Jackson (1958–2009) American singer, songwriter and dancer
"Heal the Kids" speech at the Oxford Union (2001)
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) Nazi politician and Propaganda Minister
Claudia Koonz, The Nazi Conscience, London and Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University (2004) p. 13. Quote from March, 1933.
1930s
Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party
A private statement made on March 24, 1942.
Disputed, (1941-1944) (published 1953)
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825–1895) German jurist, writer and pioneer of LGBT human rights
Quoted in: Keith Stern (2013), Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals. p. 460
Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell (1883–1950) senior officer of the British Army
In Praise of Infantry, The London Times, Thursday, 19 April 1945.
Dion Fortune (1890–1946) British occultist and author
Source: Esoteric Orders and Their Work and The Training and Work of the Initiate
“You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
“Immortality is like trying to carve your initials in a block of ice in the middle of July.”
Arthur Miller (1915–2005) playwright from the United States
“All gods are one God, and all goddesses are one Goddess, and there is one Initiator.”
Dion Fortune (1890–1946) British occultist and author
Dion Fortune, The Sea Priestess
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
Interview with WebMD (14 March 2014) http://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/webmd-interviews-obama <br class="br">2014
Friedrich Nietzsche book The Birth of Tragedy
Nochmals gesagt, heute ist es mir ein unmögliches Buch, - ich heisse es schlecht geschrieben, schwerfällig, peinlich, bilderwüthig und bilderwirrig, gefühlsam, hier und da verzuckert bis zum Femininischen, ungleich im Tempo, ohne Willen zur logischen Sauberkeit, sehr überzeugt und deshalb des Beweisens sich überhebend, misstrauisch selbst gegen die Schicklichkeit des Beweisens, als Buch für Eingeweihte, als "Musik" für Solche, die auf Musik getauft, die auf gemeinsame und seltene Kunst-Erfahrungen hin von Anfang der Dinge an verbunden sind, als Erkennungszeichen für Blutsverwandte in artibus, - ein hochmüthiges und schwärmerisches Buch, das sich gegen das profanum vulgus der "Gebildeten" von vornherein noch mehr als gegen das "Volk" abschliesst, welches aber, wie seine Wirkung bewies und beweist, sich gut genug auch darauf verstehen muss, sich seine Mitschwärmer zu suchen und sie auf neue Schleichwege und Tanzplätze zu locken.
"Attempt at a Self-Criticism", p. 5
The Birth of Tragedy (1872)
Jordan Peterson (1962) Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology
Other
Theodor W. Adorno (1903–1969) German sociologist, philosopher and musicologist known for his critical theory of society
Section 14
Culture Industry Reconsidered (1963)
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2016, Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Town Hall (March 2016)
Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848) Swedish chemist
Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Essay on the Cause of Chemical Proportions, and on some circumstances relating to them: together with a short and easy method of expressing them', Annals of Philosophy, 1814, 3,51-2.
Bjarne Stroustrup (1950) Danish computer scientist, creator of C++
The Problem with Programming (Interview with Bjarne Stroustrup), MIT Technology Review, November 28, 2006, Jason Pontin, 2007-11-15 http://technologyreview.com/Infotech/17831/page3/,
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
c. 1946, p. 63-64
Attributed in posthumous publications, Albert Einstein: The Human Side (1979)
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2014, Address to European Youth (March 2014)
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2013, Fifth State of the Union Address (February 2013)
Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898) French Symbolist poet
L'oeuvre pure implique la disparition élocutoire du poëte, qui cède l'initiative aux mots.
"Crise de Vers", La Revue Blanche (September 1895 )as translated in Mallarmé : The Poet and his Circle ([1999] 2005) by Rosemary Lloyd, p. 55.
Observations
Theodor W. Adorno (1903–1969) German sociologist, philosopher and musicologist known for his critical theory of society
"Perennial Fashion — Jazz" (1978), Prisms, p. 129, as translated by Samuel Weber and Shierry Weber (1981)
Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor
As quoted at Penn State University Libraries http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/wlolita.htm. <br class="br">On a Book Entitled Lolita (1956)
Sol LeWitt (1928–2007) American artist
as quoted in Gerhard Richter, Doubt and belief in painting, Robert Storr, MOMA, New York, 2003, p. 88, note 17
Quotes of Sol Lewitt
Thomas J. Sargent (1943) American economist
Thomas J. Sargent interviewed by George W. Evans & Seppo Honkapohja, Macroeconomic Dynamics, 9, 2005, 561–583.
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer
Boisgeloup, winter 1934
Richard Friedenthal, (1963, p. 256).
Quotes, 1930's, "Conversations avec Picasso," 1934–35
Karl Marx book Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
Private Property and Communism
Paris Manuscripts (1844)
Kurt Hahn (1886–1974) German educator
Quoted by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Colorado Outward Bound's 25th anniversary in 1987; as cited in Leadership the Outward Bound Way (2007), ISBN 159485033X.
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
Knox College Commencement Address (4 June 2005)
2005
Warren Farrell book The Myth of Male Power
Source: The Myth of Male Power (1993), Part 1: The Myth of Male Power, p. 16.
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer
Boisgeloup, winter 1934
Richard Friedenthal, (1963, p. 258)
Quotes, 1930's, "Conversations avec Picasso," 1934–35
Camille Paglia (1947) American writer
Source: Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (1990), p. 232
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
Speech http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1855/mar/26/newspaper-stamp-duties-bill in the House of Commons (26 March 1855). <br class="br">1850s
Eliyahu M. Goldratt (1947–2011) Israeli physicist and management guru
Goldratt, E. M. (2008). The Choice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Choice_(philosophy_book) North River Press. p. 157
Christopher McCandless (1968–1992) American hiker and explorer
In a letter to Russell Fritz (as known as Ron Franz), April 1992
Source: Mary Ellen Barnes (ed.). Back to the Wild (2nd ed.). Twin Star Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-9833955-0-8. (pp. 135-137)
Augustus book Res Gestae Divi Augusti
Referring to the faction of Marcus Antonius.
Res Gestae Divi Augusti
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
1910s, The Progressives, Past and Present (1910)
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2014, Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Town Hall Speech (November 2014)
Harry Harlow (1905–1981) American psychologist
"Total social isolation in monkeys," from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, 1965.
Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973) French philosopher, playwright, music critic and leading Christian existentialist
Source: Man Against Mass Society (1952), pp. 140-141
Robin Hartshorne book Algebraic Geometry
Algebraic Geometry, Springer, (1977), p. xiii
Algebraic Geometry (1977)
Kanō Jigorō (1860–1938) Japanese educator and judoka
Budokwai Bulletin (1947)
Context: I have been asked by people of various sections as to the wisdom and possibility of Judo being introduced with other games and sports at the Olympic Games. My view on the matter, at present, is rather passive. If it be the desire of other member countries, I have no objection. But I do not feel inclined to take any initiative. For one thing, Judo in reality is not a mere sport or game. I regard it as a principle of life, art and science. In fact, it is a means for personal cultural attainment. Only one of the forms of Judo training, so-called randori or free practice can be classed as a form of sport. Certainly, to some extent, the same may be said of boxing and fencing, but today they are practiced and conducted as sports. Then the Olympic Games are so strongly flavored with nationalism that it is possible to be influenced by it and to develop "Contest Judo", a retrograde form as ju-jitsu was before the Kodokan was founded.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
Foreword http://www.bartleby.com/55/100.html <br class="br">1910s, Theodore Roosevelt — An Autobiography (1913) <br class="br">Context: Facing the immense complexity of modern social and industrial conditions, there is need to use freely and unhesitatingly the collective power of all of us; and yet no exercise of collective power will ever avail if the average individual does not keep his or her sense of personal duty, initiative, and responsibility. There is need to develop all the virtues that have the state for their sphere of action; but these virtues are as dust in a windy street unless back of them lie the strong and tender virtues of a family life based on the love of the one man for the one woman and on their joyous and fearless acceptance of their common obligation to the children that are theirs. There must be the keenest sense of duty, and with it must go the joy of living; there must be shame at the thought of shirking the hard work of the world, and at the same time delight in the many-sided beauty of life.
Hermann Hesse book The Glass Bead Game
The Glass Bead Game (1943)
Context: Under the shifting hegemony of now this, now that science or art, the Game of games had developed into a kind of universal language through which the players could express values and set these in relation to one another. Throughout its history the Game was closely allied with music, and usually proceeded according to musical and mathematical rules. One theme, two themes, or three themes were stated, elaborated, varied, and underwent a development quite similar to that of the theme in a Bach fugue or a concerto movement. A Game, for example, might start from a given astronomical configuration, or from the actual theme of a Bach fugue, or from a sentence out of Leibniz or the Upanishads, and from this theme, depending on the intentions and talents of the player, it could either further explore and elaborate the initial motif or else enrich its expressiveness by allusions to kindred concepts. Beginners learned how to establish parallels, by means of the Game's symbols, between a piece of classical music and the formula for some law of nature. Experts and Masters of the Game freely wove the initial theme into unlimited combinations.
Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953) American playwright, and Nobel laureate in Literature
John: Act 3, Scene 2.
Days Without End (1933)
Context: I listen to people talking about this universal breakdown we are in and I marvel at their stupid cowardice. It is so obvious that they deliberately cheat themselves because their fear of change won't let them face the truth. They don't want to understand what has happened to them. All they want is to start the merry-go-round of blind greed all over again. They no longer know what they want this country to be, what they want it to become, where they want it to go. It has lost all meaning for them except as pig-wallow. And so their lives as citizens have no beginnings, no ends. They have lost the ideal of the Land of the Free. Freedom demands initiative, courage, the need to decide what life must mean to oneself. To them, that is terror. They explain away their spiritual cowardice by whining that the time for individualism is past, when it is their courage to possess their own souls which is dead — and stinking! No, they don't want to be free. Slavery means security — of a kind, the only kind they have courage for. It means they need not to think. They have only to obey orders from owners who are, in turn, their slaves!
“Philosophy is the self-correction by consciousness of its own initial excess of subjectivity.”
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English mathematician and philosopher
Pt. I, ch. 1, sec. 6.
1920s, Process and Reality: An Essay in Cosmology (1929)
Context: Philosophy is the self-correction by consciousness of its own initial excess of subjectivity. Each actual occasion contributes to the circumstances of its origin additional formative elements deepening its own peculiar individuality. Consciousness is only the last and greatest of such elements by which the selective character of the individual obscures the external totality from which it originates and which it embodies. An actual individual, of such higher grade, has truck with the totality of things by reason of its sheer actuality; but it has attained its individual depth of being by a selective emphasis limited to its own purposes. The task of philosophy is to recover the totality obscured by the selection.
Steven Weinberg (1933) American theoretical physicist
Source: Lectures on Quantum Mechanics (2012, 2nd ed. 2015), Ch. 1: Historical Introduction
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation and one people.
2013, Second Inaugural Address (January 2013)
Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist
1960s, Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth (1963)
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
1900s, Speak softly and carry a big stick (1901)
Manly P. Hall (1901–1990) Canadian writer and mystic
The Secret Teachings of All Ages p.306 https://ia800809.us.archive.org/15/items/Thesecretteachingsofallages2/The%20Secret%20Teachings%20Of%20All%20Ages%20-%20Manly%20P.%20Hall.pdf <br class="br">The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928)
Adam Weishaupt (1748–1830) German philosopher and founder of the Order of Illuminati
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Reverend James Madison http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@lit(tj090050)) (31 January 1800). <br class="br">About Weishaupt
David Bowie (1947–2016) British musician, actor, record producer and arranger
Inspirations (1997), quoted in "Looking back at David Bowie's invaluable advice for young artists" https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-bowie-advice-young-artists/
Marilyn Frye book The Politics of Reality
Source: The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory (1983), p. 60
“The challenge with being an initiator of projects is that you are never, ever done.”
Seth Godin (1960) American entrepreneur, author and public speaker
“A lot of people never use their initiative because nobody told them to.”
Banksy pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter
Source: Wall and Piece (2007)
“All great thinkers are initially ridiculed – and eventually revered.”
Robin S. Sharma (1965) Canadian self help writer
Emily Giffin Something Borrowed
Variant: Someday being with Dex will be a distant memory. This fact makes me sad too. Its the initial stages of grief that seem to be worst but in some ways, Its sadder as time goes by and you consider how much they're missed in your life.
Source: Something Borrowed
“Love is anterior to life,
Posterior to death,
Initial of creation, and
The exponent of breath.”
Emily Dickinson book The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
Love, p. 167
Collected Poems (1993)
Source: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher fue el escritor del jarron azul
Roland Barthes (1915–1980) French philosopher, critic and literary theorist
Source: Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography
Elizabeth Gilbert book Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
Source: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
Richard Miles (historian) (1969) British historian and archaeologist
My bright idea: Civilisation is still worth striving for
William Burges (1827–1881) English architect
Source: Art applied to industry: a series of lectures, 1865, p. 1 : Preface
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Duce and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy. Leader of the National Fascist Party and subsequen…
Quoted from “The Labor Charter: The Corporate State and its Organization”, promulgated by Mussolini's Grand Council of Fascism, Article 9, (April 21, 1927) Copy found in Mediterranean Fascism 1919-1945, Charles F. Delzell, The MacMillan Press, (1971) p. 122. Also in Benito Mussolini’s “Doctrine of Fascism”, published as “Fascism: Doctrine and Institutions” (1935), Rome: Ardita Publishers, p.135-136.
1920s