Quotes about mess
A collection of quotes on the topic of mess, making, people, likeness.
Quotes about mess

In 'Possibilities', Vol. 1, no 1, winter 1947-48, p. 79; as quoted in Jackson Pollock (1983) by Elizabeth Frank, p. 68
1940's


Philippines' Duterte makes fresh rape joke https://ph.news.yahoo.com/philippines-duterte-makes-fresh-rape-joke-143846355.html
“Sometimes the greatest messages come out of the greatest messes.”
Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 26

Source: Tropic of Cancer (1934), Chapter One
Context: Well, I'll take these pages and move on. Things are happening elsewhere. Things are always happening. It seems wherever I go there is drama. People are like lice - they get under your skin and bury themselves there. You scratch and scratch until the blood comes, but you can't get permanently deloused. Everywhere I go people are making a mess of their lives. Everyone has his private tragedy. It's in the blood now - misfortune, ennui, grief, suicide. The atmosphere is saturated with disaster, frustration, futility. Scratch and scratch, until there's no skin left. However, the effect upon me is exhilarating. Instead of being discouraged or depressed, I enjoy it. I am crying for more and more disasters, for bigger calamities, grander failures. I want the whole world to be out of whack, I want every one to scratch himself to death.

“Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'.”

Source: You'll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times
“Things are messed up in the world, that’s all.”
Source: We Were Liars
Source: The Cinderella Deal

“And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
We cannot pick it up.
There is no way at all!”
Source: The Cat in the Hat

Source: A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety

“Success is relative. It is what we make of the mess we have made of things.”

Quote of Monet, ca. 1900, London; as cited in: K.E. Sullivan. Monet: Discovering Art, Brockhampton press, London (2004), p. 72
1900 - 1920

U + Ur Hand, written by Pink, Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald, and Rami Yacoub
Song lyrics, I'm Not Dead (2006)

1990s, Letter to the Union-Sun & Journal (1992)

2014, Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Town Hall Speech (November 2014)

On the Book of Mormon, Roughing It (published 1872), pp. 58-59
Roughing It (1872)

Letter to Frank Belknap Long (27 February 1931), in Selected Letters III, 1929-1931 edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, p. 312
Non-Fiction, Letters, to Frank Belknap Long

The Ultimate Sin, written by Robert John Daisley, Ozzy Osbourne, John Osbourne, Jake Williams, Robert Daisley
Song lyrics, The Ultimate Sin (1986)

Other

Never Know Why, written by Jake E. Lee, Bob Daisley and Ozzy Osbourne.
Song lyrics, The Ultimate Sin (1986)

Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming (2013)

1990s, Letter to the Union-Sun & Journal (1992)

President Obama, July 14, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CQBSTomBWls
2009

Ian Smith - A Bit Of A Rebel, Ernest Mtunzi, Former UK Representative of Joshua Nkomo

Source: 1880's, Renoir – his life and work, 1975, p. 169 : quote from Renoir's letter to his art-seller Durand-Ruel, 21st November 1881

To George Foreman before the start of the "Rumble in the Jungle" as the referee is giving them instructions (30 October 1974).

Mr. Muhammad teaches that as soon as we separate from the white man, we will learn that we can do without the white man just as he can do without us. The white man knows that once black men get off to themselves and learn they can do for themselves, the black man's full potential will explode and he will surpass the white man.
Playboy interview, regarding the ambition of the Black Muslims
Attributed

Remarks at Chris Dodd fundraiser in Stamford, CT. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704224004574489530713762884.html
2009

Other

Quote from Otto Dix, 1891-1969, p. 280; as cited in 'Portfolios', Alexander Dückers; in German Expressionist Prints and Drawings - Essays Vol 1.; published by Museum Associates, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California & Prestel-Verlag, Germany, 1986, p. 80

Neil Norman (May 1, 2003) "Back from the brink: Fame almost destroyed Friends star Matthew Perry. Now, as he makes his West End stage debut, he tells Neil Norman how he beat his addictions", Evening Standard, Associated Newspapers Company, p. 20.

“One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life”
What I Believe (1938)
Context: One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life, and it is therefore essential that they should not let one down. They often do. The moral of which is that I must, myself, be as reliable as possible, and this I try to be. But reliability is not a matter of contract — that is the main difference between the world of personal relationships and the world of business relationships. It is a matter for the heart, which signs no documents. In other words, reliability is impossible unless there is a natural warmth. Most men possess this warmth, though they often have bad luck and get chilled. Most of them, even when they are politicians, want to keep faith. And one can, at all events, show one's own little light here, one's own poor little trembling flame, with the knowledge that it is not the only light that is shining in the darkness, and not the only one which the darkness does not comprehend.

2018, "You are stealing our future" (December 2018)

Twitter post https://twitter.com/Ocasio2018/status/1076890299773976582 (23 December 2018)
2018

“If stupidity got us in this mess, how come it can't get us out.”
“I'm screwed up, mixed up, messed around, dive-bombing, crashing and burning.”
Source: The Year of Secret Assignments

“Harry Dresden: Don't mess with a wizard when he's wizarding!”
Source: The Dresden Files, Fool Moon (2001), Chapter 18

“Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes.”

“You know you're a hot mess when the only person buying you drinks all night is yourself.”

“You can have Jesus in your spirit and have an outrageous mess in your soul.”

“I went to the bedroom and lay on the floor, so as not to mess up the covers.”
Source: No One Belongs Here More Than You
Source: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life

“Literature got me into this mess and literature is going to have to get me out of it.”

“He couldn't figure out if she was immensely well adjusted or seriously messed up.”
Source: The Corrections