Quotes about naming
page 7

Mark Twain photo
Marcel Proust photo

“By art alone we are able to get outside ourselves, to know what another sees of this universe which for him is not ours, the landscapes of which would remain as unknown to us as those of the moon. Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world, our own, we see it multiplied and as many original artists as there are, so many worlds are at our disposal, differing more widely from each other than those which roll round the infinite and which, whether their name be Rembrandt or Vermeer, send us their unique rays many centuries after the hearth from which they emanate is extinguished.This labour of the artist to discover a means of apprehending beneath matter and experience, beneath words, something different from their appearance, is of an exactly contrary nature to the operation in which pride, passion, intelligence and habit are constantly engaged within us when we spend our lives without self-communion, accumulating as though to hide our true impressions, the terminology for practical ends which we falsely call life.”

Par l’art seulement, nous pouvons sortir de nous, savoir ce que voit un autre de cet univers qui n’est pas le même que le nôtre et dont les paysages nous seraient restés aussi inconnus que ceux qu’il peut y avoir dans la lune. Grâce à l’art, au lieu de voir un seul monde, le nôtre, nous le voyons se multiplier, et autant qu’il y a d’artistes originaux, autant nous avons de mondes à notre disposition, plus différents les uns des autres que ceux qui roulent dans l’infini et qui, bien des siècles après qu’est éteint le foyer dont il émanait, qu’il s’appelât Rembrandt ou Vermeer, nous envoient encore leur rayon spécial.<p>Ce travail de l’artiste, de chercher à apercevoir sous la matière, sous de l’expérience, sous des mots, quelque chose de différent, c’est exactement le travail inverse de celui que, à chaque minute, quand nous vivons détourné de nous-même, l’amour-propre, la passion, l’intelligence, et l’habitude aussi accomplissent en nous, quand elles amassent au-dessus de nos impressions vraies, pour nous les cacher entièrement, les nomenclatures, les buts pratiques que nous appelons faussement la vie.
Source: In Search of Lost Time, Remembrance of Things Past (1913-1927), Vol. VII: The Past Recaptured (1927), Ch. III: "An Afternoon Party at the House of the Princesse de Guermantes"

Barack Obama photo
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien photo

“I think we shall have to give the region a name. What do you propose?”

"The Porter settled that some time ago," said the Second Voice. "Train for Niggle's Parish in the bay."
Leaf by Niggle (1945)

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada photo
Barack Obama photo
Indíra Gándhí photo
Indíra Gándhí photo
Karl Marx photo
George Stephenson photo
Cassandra Clare photo
Ingo Molnar photo

“I have a very simple question to people … who seem to suffer from excessive narcissism: please name three other persons who are smarter and more capable than you, in the field you work in.”

Ingo Molnar Linux kernel programmer

In most cases they are utterly unable to answer that question honestly.
A comment http://lwn.net/Articles/447204/ at LWN.net in 2011.

Paul Valéry photo

“It is therefore reasonable to think that the creations of man are made either with a view to his body, and that is the principle we call utility, or with a view to his soul, and that is what he seeks under the name of beauty.”

Paul Valéry (1871–1945) French poet, essayist, and philosopher

But, further, since he who constructs or creates has to deal with the rest of the world and with the movement of nature, which both tend perpetually to dissolve, corrupt or upset what he makes, he must recognize and seek to communicate to his works a third principle, that expresses the resistance he wishes them to offer to their destiny, which is to perish. So he seeks solidity or lastingness.
Socrates, pp. 128–9
Eupalinos ou l'architecte (1921)

Francis of Assisi photo
Isaac Newton photo

“Who is a liar, saith John, but he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist that denyeth the Father & the Son. And we are authorized also to call him God: for the name of God is in him.”

Isaac Newton (1643–1727) British physicist and mathematician and founder of modern classical physics

Exod. 23.21. And we must believe also that by his incarnation of the Virgin he came in the flesh not in appearance only but really & truly , being in all things made like unto his brethren (Heb. 2 17) for which reason he is called also the son of man.
Drafts on the history of the Church (Section 3). Yahuda Ms. 15.3, National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel. 2006 Online Version at Newton Project http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00220

Voltaire photo

“William inherited very large possessions, part of which consisted of crown debts, due to the vice-admiral for sums he had advanced for the sea-service. No moneys were at that time less secure than those owing from the king. Penn was obliged to go, more than once, and "thee" and "thou" Charles and his ministers, to recover the debt; and at last, instead of specie, the government invested him with the right and sovereignty of a province of America, to the south of Maryland. Thus was a Quaker raised to sovereign power.
He set sail for his new dominions with two ships filled with Quakers, who followed his fortune. The country was then named by them Pennsylvania, from William Penn; and he founded Philadelphia, which is now a very flourishing city. His first care was to make an alliance with his American neighbors; and this is the only treaty between those people and the Christians that was not ratified by an oath, and that was never infringed. The new sovereign also enacted several wise and wholesome laws for his colony, which have remained invariably the same to this day. The chief is, to ill-treat no person on account of religion, and to consider as brethren all those who believe in one God. He had no sooner settled his government than several American merchants came and peopled this colony. The natives of the country, instead of flying into the woods, cultivated by degrees a friendship with the peaceable Quakers. They loved these new strangers as much as they disliked the other Christians, who had conquered and ravaged America. In a little time these savages, as they are called, delighted with their new neighbors, flocked in crowds to Penn, to offer themselves as his vassals. It was an uncommon thing to behold a sovereign "thee'd" and "thou'd" by his subjects, and addressed by them with their hats on; and no less singular for a government to be without one priest in it; a people without arms, either for offence or preservation; a body of citizens without any distinctions but those of public employments; and for neighbors to live together free from envy or jealousy. In a word, William Penn might, with reason, boast of having brought down upon earth the Golden Age, which in all probability, never had any real existence but in his dominions.”

Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher

Variants:
No oaths, no seals, no official mummeries were used; the treaty was ratified on both sides with a yea, yea — the only one, says Voltaire, that the world has known, never sworn to and never broken.
As quoted in William Penn : An Historical Biography (1851) by William Hepworth Dixon
William Penn began by making a league with the Americans, his neighbors. It is the only one between those natives and the Christians which was never sworn to, and the only one that was never broken.
As quoted in American Pioneers (1905), by William Augustus Mowry and Blanche Swett Mowry, p. 80
It was the only treaty made by the settlers with the Indians that was never sworn to, and the only one that was never broken.
As quoted in A History of the American Peace Movement (2008) by Charles F. Howlett, and ‎Robbie Lieberman, p. 33
The History of the Quakers (1762)

Voltaire photo
Voltaire photo
Robert Browning photo
Eduard Bernstein photo

“The parties which assumed the names of liberals were, or became in due course, simple guardians of capitalism.”

Eduard Bernstein (1850–1932) German politician

Source: "Evolutionary Socialism" (1899) https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bernstein/works/1899/evsoc/index.htm, Chapter III, The Tasks and Possibilities of Social Democracy

Eckhart Tolle photo
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada photo

“One can attain salvation simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord.”

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896–1977) Indian guru

Srimad Bhagvatam https://vrajvrindavan.com/srimad-bhagavatam/ (1.18.7)

Edward Carson, Baron Carson photo
Jackson Browne photo
Kuvempu photo
Aulus Gellius photo

“Another ancient poet, whose name I have forgotten, said that Truth is the daughter of Time.”

Noctes Atticae, XII, 11, 7.
Original: (la) Alius quidam veterum poetarum, cuius nomen mihi nunc memoriae non est, Veritatem Temporis filiam esse dixit.

Arthur Horeanu photo

“There are two answer versions. Short version: my name is Arthur, the other members of the band were in a band called Neverland. And the long one: I sang with many bands, some with a longer duration than others and I was aware of everything Arad had to offer in terms of teenage musicians. I saw that Neverland was no longer active, so I contacted them, joined forces and became what you see on the screens in front of you.”

Arthur Horeanu (2004) Romanian singer-songwriter

As an answer to: "What inspired you when you chose the band's [Arthur in Neverland] name?" genunderground.ro (January 20, 2021) https://genunderground.ro/rumpelstiltskin-printre-printisori-un-interviu-cu-arthur-in-neverland/?fbclid=IwAR1xdfMzYGpjSOJ2rcor_UYENEgr8ve1AInYG11734t45oPrScajUrauyNw,

Bahá'u'lláh photo
Plato photo
Tadeusz Mazowiecki photo

“We, as a people, must surmount the sense of hopelessness and confront the challenge of the moment - namely, the tasks of extricating ourselves from economic disaster and reconstructing our state.”

Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927–2013) Polish politician and prime minister

"Inaugural address of Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki" https://polishfreedom.pl/en/document/statement-inaugural-address-of-the-prime-minister-tadeusz-mazowiecki-delivered-at-the-seym-session-on-12th-september-1989 (12 September 1989)

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Ronald Reagan photo

“If Fascism Ever Comes to America, It Will Come in the Name of Liberalism.”

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)

1975 interview https://www.cbsnews.com/news/reagan-the-60-minutes-interviews-1975-1989/ with journalist Mike Wallace. (Excerpts from full interview were broadcasted on 60 Minutes on December 14, 1975.)
1970s

Éric Zemmour photo

“A French first name shows that you really want to belong. The family name refers to the civilization of the country of origin that is left behind. The French first name refers to the future.”

Éric Zemmour (1958) French essayist

Will Eric Zemmour become France's Trump? https://www.wyniasweek.nl/wordt-eric-zemmour-de-franse-trump/

“Hindu tolerance, it seems, is another name for Hindu cowardice.”

Girilal Jain (1924–1993) Indian journalist

Source: quoted in Goel, S.R. Hindu Temples – What Happened to Them, Volume I (1990) Preface, 2nd edition, p. xvii

Robert Browning photo

“He said true things, but called them by the wrong names.”

Source: Men and Women (1855) "Bishop Blougram's Apology", line 996.

Francis Bacon photo

“[Jews] hate the name of Christ and have a secret and innate rancor against the people among whom they live.”

Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author

Source: See Silent Truth https://books.google.com.br/books?id=-bIAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT190 by Mark Edwards

Warren Buffett photo

“Criticize by category — praise by name.”

Warren Buffett (1930) American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

[CNCB's Becky Quick interviews Warren Buffett (2/25/19), February 25, 2019, CNBC Television, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqc56crs56s] (quote at 48:00 of 2:00:00)

Eckhart Tolle photo
Friedrich Nietzsche photo

“I have somehow something like "influence" ... In the Anti-Semitic Correspondence ... my name is mentioned in almost every issue. Zarathustra ... has charmed the anti-Semites; there is a special anti-Semitic interpretation of it that made me laugh very much.”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist

As quoted in "Idea of Anti-Semitism Filled Nietzsche With Ire and Melancholy" in The New York Times (19 December 1987) http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0D91E3EF93AA25751C1A961948260

Gabriele Amorth photo
Henri Poincaré photo

“I think I have already said somewhere that mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.”

Original: (fr) Je ne sais si je n’ai déjà dit quelque part que la Mathématique est l’art de donner le même nom à des choses différentes.
Source: Science and Method (1908), Part I. Ch. 2 : The Future of Mathematics, p. 31

Kanye West photo
Kanye West photo
Kanye West photo
Thomas Jefferson photo

“I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Letter to John Taylor (28 May 1816) ME 15:23 http://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-9116907
1810s
Context: We may say with truth and meaning that governments are more or less republican, as they have more or less of the element of popular election and control in their composition; and believing, as I do, that the mass of the citizens is the safest depository of their own rights, and especially, that the evils flowing from the duperies of the people are less injurious than those from the egoism of their agents, I am a friend to that composition of government which has in it the most of this ingredient. And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.

Janet Evanovich photo

“Cupcake, your middle name is trouble.”

Source: Four to Score

Cassandra Clare photo
Rick Riordan photo
Stephen King photo

“No one likes to see a government folder with his name on it.”

Source: Firestarter

Eric Jerome Dickey photo

“paranoia, the first cousin of a bastard named fear”

Eric Jerome Dickey (1961) American author

Source: Dying for Revenge

Christopher Moore photo

“All killer whales are named Kevin. You knew that, right?”

Christopher Moore (1957) American writer of comic fantasy

Source: Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings

Khaled Hosseini photo

“It turned out that, like Satan, cancer had many names.”

Khaled Hosseini (1965) novelist

Source: El caçador d'estels

Orson Scott Card photo
Elizabeth Hoyt photo
Ellen DeGeneres photo

“Haiku sounds like I'm
Saying hi to someone named
Ku. Hi, Ku. Hello.”

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

Source: Seriously... I'm Kidding

Carson McCullers photo
Cassandra Clare photo
Sherrilyn Kenyon photo
Helen Oyeyemi photo

“I know of witches who whistle at different pitches, calling things that don't have names.”

Helen Oyeyemi (1984) British author

Source: White is for Witching

Clive Barker photo
Ralph Waldo Emerson photo

“I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Source: Self-Reliance

Louisa May Alcott photo
Nicholas Sparks photo
Muhammad Ali photo
Cornelia Funke photo

“Nothing is more frightening than a fear you cannot name.”

Variant: Nothing is more terrifying than fearlessness.
Source: Inkheart

John Milton photo
Khaled Hosseini photo
Maureen Johnson photo
Chuck Palahniuk photo
Richard Brautigan photo
Jim Butcher photo

“Vanity, thy name is vampire.”

Source: Proven Guilty

Carl Sagan photo

“The fact is that far more crime and child abuse has been committed by zealots in the name of God, Jesus and Mohammed than has ever been committed in the name of Satan. Many people don’t like that statement, but few can argue with it.”

Source: From the book The Demon-Haunted World Sagan quoting from Kenneth V. Lanning, FBI Behavioral Science Research Unit, from an article Satanic, Occult and Ritualistic Crime in The Police Chief, Oct 1989 note: Misattributed

Salman Rushdie photo
Cassandra Clare photo
Kelley Armstrong photo
Flannery O’Connor photo
John Berger photo

“If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.”

John Berger (1926–2017) British painter, writer and art critic

Source: Once In Europa

Jacques Derrida photo

“Surviving - that is the other name of a mourning whose possibility is never to be awaited.”

Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) French philosopher (1930-2004)

Source: The Politics of Friendship

Diana Gabaldon photo
Brandon Sanderson photo
Cassandra Clare photo
David Levithan photo
Sherrilyn Kenyon photo
Joseph Heller photo
Sylvia Plath photo