Quotes about option

A collection of quotes on the topic of option, doing, use, people.

Mark Twain quote: “Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”

Quotes about option

“God is the best option to put your trust in, instead of relying on another human being, who cannot even keep their own promises to themselves.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

God

“There are only three options in dealing with people: it will either be slavery, tyranny, or negotiation.”

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

Other

People

“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Heartbreaking, Attitude, Hurtful

“When there's no clear option, it's better to do nothing.”

Erwin Rommel (1891–1944) German field marshal of World War II

“Basketball isn't easy. All my life I've been striving to make myself better. It's a full time commitment. To be the best, you have to work the hardest. You have to chase what seems impossible over and over and over again, because giving up is not an option, and when you feel like you've reached your limit, it's only the beginning, that's when the time to dig deep, to find the courage to push some more, because if you've got the drive, the discipline, and the resolve to do what it takes to make yourself great, then the rewards are endless.”

LeBron James (1984) American basketball player

Courage, Time, Life, Making love

“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations

Soul

“I was never aware of any other option but to question everything.”

Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist

Question

“When jumping is the sole option, you jump, and try to make it work.”

Brandon Mull (1974) American fiction writer

Source: Grip of the Shadow Plague

“No matter what happens, keep smilin', but if you wanna commit suicide, skydivin' is the best option, jump outta the plane with no parachute, and maybe when you're fallin' you might have some regrets, but don't you think about it, you and I know that it's worth it.”

E.M.S (1995) Nigerian rapper, singer and record producer

Hidden (2017)

Thinking, Suicide

“Every job you take is a gamble that could increase your options or shut them down.”

Jack Welch book Winning

Source: Winning

“The worth is in the act. Your worth halts when you surrender your will to change and experience life. But options are before you; choose one and dedicate yourself to it. The deeds will give you a new hope and purpose.”

Christopher Paolini book Eragon

Source: Eragon

Life, Hope, Change

“The Fascist State directs and controls the entrepreneurs, whether it be in our fisheries or in our heavy industry in the Val d'Aosta. There the State actually owns the mines and carries on transport, for the railways are state property. So are many of the factories… We term it state intervention… If anything fails to work properly, the State intervenes. The capitalists will go on doing what they are told, down to the very end. They have no option and cannot put up any fight. Capital is not God; it is only a means to an end.”

Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Duce and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy. Leader of the National Fascist Party and subsequen…

As quoted in Talks with Mussolini, Emil Ludwig, Boston, MA, Little, Brown and Company (1933), pp. 153-154, Interview took place between March 23 and April 4, 1932
1930s

God, Fight

“President Donald Trump's remarks which described the U. S. option through straightforward expression of his will have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last. […] Action is the best option in treating the dotard who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wants to say. […] I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue. Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation. I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U. S. dotard with fire.”

Kim Jong-un (1984) 3rd Supreme Leader of North Korea

Official statement from September 22, 2017, as quoted in Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/09/21/north-korean-leader-to-trump-i-will-surely-and-definitely-tame-the-mentally-deranged-u-s-dotard-with-fire/

Thinking

“Failure is not an option.”

Gene Kranz (1933) NASA Flight Director and manager

Statement attributed to him in the film Apollo 13 (1995), which he had not actually used in that crisis. He later used the phrase as the title of his autobiography.
Misattributed

Failure

“Absence is the preferable option when your presence has no meaning.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1981

“Eww," Jack said, and then giggled. "Yeah, and a Paris Hilton doll that had an optional brain."Aphrodite raised her brow at him. "Don't go all crazy. There are some things even Paris Hilton can't buy.”

P. C. Cast book Burned

Source: Burned

“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”

John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor

Inspirational, Motivational, Change

“I have one life and one chance to make it count for something… I'm free to choose what that something is, and the something I've chosen is my faith. Now, my faith goes beyond theology and religion and requires considerable work and effort. My faith demands -- this is not optional -- my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.”

Jimmy Carter (1924) American politician, 39th president of the United States (in office from 1977 to 1981)

Life, Faith, Religion, Effort

“Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.”

Ed Viesturs (1959) American mountain climber

Source: No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Heartbreaking, Pain, Suffering, Motivational

“Attraction is not an option.”

Neil Strauss (1973) American writer

“People only get married when they've no other option, out of panic or desperation or so as not to lose someone they couldn't bear to lose. It's always the most conventional things that contain the largest measure of madness.”

Javier Marías (1951) Spanish writer

La gente sólo se casa cuando no tiene más remedio, por pánico o porque anda desesperada o para no perder a alguien a quien no soporta perder. Siempre hay mucha chaladura en lo que parece más convencional.
Source: Corazón tan blanco [A Heart So White] (1992), p. 121

People, Madness

“Men are as faithful as their options.”

Chris Rock (1965) American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and director

Bigger and Blacker (HBO, 1999)
Variant: A man is basically as faithful as his options.

Men, Faith

“Choice of aim is clearly a matter of clarification of values, especially on the choice between possible options.”

W. Edwards Deming (1900–1993) American professor, author, and consultant

The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education (1993)

“Where there is happiness, there is found pleasure in nonsense. The transformation of experience into its opposite, of the suitable into the unsuitable, the obligatory into the optional (but in such a manner that this process produces no injury and is only imagined in jest), is a pleasure; …”

Friedrich Nietzsche book Human, All Too Human

I.213
Human, All Too Human (1878)

Pleasure, Imagination, Happiness

“I mean it seems like there are only two options for songwriters [sic] personalities either theyre [sic] sad, tragic visionaries like morrissey or michael stipe or robert smith or theres [sic] the goofy, nutty white boy, Hey lets party and forget everything people like Van Halen or all that other Heavy metal crap.”

Kurt Cobain book Journals

Source: Journals (2002), p. 44

People, Sadness, Boy, Personality

“I can tell you that — and this is something I have told him — that this is a job of such magnitude that you can’t do it by yourself. You are enormously reliant on a team. Your Cabinet, your senior White House staff, all the way to fairly junior folks in their 20s and 30s but who are executing on significant responsibilities. And so, how you put a team together to make sure that they’re getting you the best information and they are teeing up the options from which you will ultimately make decisions. That’s probably the most useful constructive advice and the most constructive advice that I’ve been able to give him, that if you find yourself isolated because the process breaks down or if you’re only hearing from people who agree with you on everything or if you haven’t created a process that is fact-checking and probing and asking hard questions about policies or promises that you’ve made, that’s when you start making mistakes. And as I indicated in some of my previous remarks, reality has a way of biting back if you’re not paying attention to it.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

On the job of the U.S. President and the need of good advisers and staff
2017, Final News Conference as President (January 2017)

People, Way, Question, Reality

“You have demonstrated that when young people have the tools to succeed -- good schools, education in math and science, an economy that nurtures creativity and entrepreneurship -- then societies will flourish. […] Where women are full participants in a country’s politics or economy, societies are more likely to succeed. […] If young people live in places where the only option is between the dictates of a state, or the lure of an extremist underground, then no counterterrorism strategy can succeed. But where a genuine civil society is allowed to flourish -- where people can express their views, and organize peacefully for a better life -- then you dramatically expand the alternatives to terror.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2014, Address to the United Nations (September 2014)

Life, Women, People, Education

“There is no promised road leading to definite results. What's important is how to keep open as many options as possible.”

Makoto Kobayashi (physicist) (1944) Japanese physicist

Interview, IPMU News No 5 (March 2009)

“I love animals, but I hadn’t had a pet since I was a kid. I recently got a dog and he’s not only made me a happier girl—he’s made me much more sympathetic to animal rights. I look at my beautiful dog and think, “Of course I’d never eat him or skin him for his fur, so why would I be okay with eating a cow or wearing a cheetah?” It’s just not right. It’s a contradiction. … I don’t think you can force people to change their attitudes, but you can help to educate them and to lead by example. … There are way too many amazing faux fur options out there for people to still be wearing real fur. I want people to know that there are options; that killing a poor animal and wearing it isn’t cool. But respecting all life forms is cool. Very cool.”

Eva Mendes (1974) American actress

Love, Life, People, Education

“Faced with problems and disappointments, many people will try to escape from their responsibility: escape in selfishness, escape in sexual pleasure, escape in drugs, escape in violence, escape in indifference and cynical attitudes. But today, I propose to you the option of love, which is the opposite of escape.”

Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) 264th Pope of the Catholic Church, saint

Homily during the Holy Mass on Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts, on 1 October 1979, during the pope's first apostolic journey to the United States <br class="br">Source: Libreria Editrice Vaticana http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19791001_usa-boston_en.html

Love, People, Pleasure, Disappointment

“The objective of these barbaric acts is to terrorise, to paralyse through fear, to subjugate or to censor. Undisputedly after this act that traumatised the whole nation, fear is there. It is my responsibility to say that this fear must be overcome. And to say that this attack must continue to prompt free speech in the face of Islamic fundamentalism. We must not stay silent. And we must say what happened. We must not be scared of words: this is a terrorist act committed in the name of radical Islamism. Denial and hypocrisy are no longer an option. The absolute refusal of Islamic fundamentalism must be proclaimed high and loud by whomever. Life and liberty are among the most precious values.”

Marine Le Pen (1968) French lawyer and politician

"Le Pen: Radical Islam behind Charlie Hebdo attack", ITV News (8 January 2015) http://www.itv.com/news/update/2015-01-08/le-pen-radical-islam-behind-charlie-hebdo-attack/

Life, Fear

“In a world that has been thoroughly permeated by the structures of the social order, a world that so overpowers every individual that scarcely any option remains but to accept it on its own terms, such naiveté reproduces itself incessantly and disastrously. What people have forced upon them by a boundless apparatus, which they themselves constitute and which they are locked into, virtually eliminates all natural elements and becomes “nature” to them.”

Theodor W. Adorno (1903–1969) German sociologist, philosopher and musicologist known for his critical theory of society

Source: Wozu noch Philosophie? [Why still philosophy?] (1963), p. 12

People, World, Nature

“The law is obligated to punish the transgressor as much as the transgressor is obligated to obey the law — law has no option. Justice has but one function. The necessity of penalty is as great as the necessity of obligation. The law itself is under law; that is, it is under the necessity of its own nature; and therefore the only possible way whereby a transgressor can escape the penalty of the law, is for a substitute to endure it for him. The deep substrata and base of all God's ethical attributes are eternal law and impartial justice.”

William Greenough Thayer Shedd (1820–1894) American theologian

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 267.

God, Justice, Law, Penalty

“One of the main reasons for my interest early on in the art and technology relationship was that during my studies of movement and light in art I was struck by the technical components in this art. Contrary to most, if not all, specialists in the field who put the stress on purely plastic issues and in the first place on the constructivist tradition, I was convinced that the technical and technological elements played a decisive part in this art. One almost paradoxical experience was my encounter with the kinetic artist and author of the book Constructivism, George Rickey, and my discovery of the most subtle technical movements in his mobile sculptures. But what seemed to me still more decisive for my option towards the art and technology problematic was the encounter in the early 1950s with artists like Nicholas Schöffer and Frank Malina whose works were based on some first hand or second hand scientific knowledge and who effectively or symbolically employed contemporary technological elements that gave their works a prospective cultural meaning. The same sentiment prevailed in me when I encountered similar artistic endeavors from the 1950s onwards in the works of Piotr Kowalski, Roy Ascott and many others which confirmed me in the aesthetic option I had taken, particularly when I discovered that this option was not antinomic (contradictory) to another aspect of the creative works of the time, i. e. spectator participation.”

Frank Popper (1918) French art historian

Source: Joseph Nechvatal. in: " Origins of Virtualism: An Interview with Frank Popper http://www.mediaarthistory.org/refresh/Programmatic%20key%20texts/pdfs/Popper.pdf," in: Media Art History, 2004.

Books, Art, Knowledge, Decision

“On the independence of irrelevant alternatives: Morgenbesser, ordering dessert, is told by the waitress that he can choose between apple pie and blueberry pie. He orders the apple pie. Shortly thereafter, the waitress comes back and says that cherry pie is also an option; Morgenbesser says "In that case I'll have the blueberry pie."”

Sidney Morgenbesser (1921–2004) American philosopher

Gaming the vote: why elections aren't fair (and what we can do about it), William Poundstone, p. 50, ISBN 0-8090-4893-0.

“If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.”

Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) British theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author

"Science AMA Series: Stephen Hawking AMA Answers!", reddit.com (8 October 2015) https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/3nyn5i/science_ama_series_stephen_hawking_ama_answers/cvsdmkv/; also quoted in "Stephen Hawking Says We Should Really Be Scared Of Capitalism, Not Robots" Huffington Post (8 October 2015) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-hawking-capitalism-robots_us_5616c20ce4b0dbb8000d9f15

Life, People, Dependency, Wealth

“And then I realized I was being checked out by GUYS! And I know they were checking me out, because they were looking at me like I look at tacos. And I thought to myself, "Oh my god, I can turn on a man! [Grins and struts] Shoot!" And I called my girlfriend, and I said, "Baby, you better not mess this up; I have options!"”

Gabriel Iglesias (1976) American actor

I'm Not Fat, I'm Fluffy (2009)

God, Guy, Baby

“The act of war is the last option of a democracy, taken when there is a grave threat to our national security.”

Joseph C. Wilson (1949–2019) American ambassador

What I Didn't Find in Africa (2003)
Context: I was convinced before the war that the threat of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam Hussein required a vigorous and sustained international response to disarm him. Iraq possessed and had used chemical weapons; it had an active biological weapons program and quite possibly a nuclear research program — all of which were in violation of United Nations resolutions. Having encountered Mr. Hussein and his thugs in the run-up to the Persian Gulf war of 1991, I was only too aware of the dangers he posed.
But were these dangers the same ones the administration told us about? We have to find out. America's foreign policy depends on the sanctity of its information. For this reason, questioning the selective use of intelligence to justify the war in Iraq is neither idle sniping nor "revisionist history," as Mr. Bush has suggested. The act of war is the last option of a democracy, taken when there is a grave threat to our national security. More than 200 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq already. We have a duty to ensure that their sacrifice came for the right reasons.

War, Democracy

“We learn of these things from the radio or newspapers and we judge them according to whether they signify success for the group of peoples to which we belong, or for our enemies. When we do admit to ourselves that such acts are the results of inhuman conduct, our admission is accompanied by the thought that the very fact of war itself leaves us no option but to accept them. In resigning ourselves to our fate without a struggle, we are guilty of inhumanity.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher

The Problem of Peace (1954)
Context: We have learned to tolerate the facts of war: that men are killed en masse — some twenty million in the Second World War — that whole cities and their inhabitants are annihilated by the atomic bomb, that men are turned into living torches by incendiary bombs. We learn of these things from the radio or newspapers and we judge them according to whether they signify success for the group of peoples to which we belong, or for our enemies. When we do admit to ourselves that such acts are the results of inhuman conduct, our admission is accompanied by the thought that the very fact of war itself leaves us no option but to accept them. In resigning ourselves to our fate without a struggle, we are guilty of inhumanity.

Fate, War, People, Learning

“I find the audiences very excited. But then they come and say to me, "Your optimism has brushed off on me. I didn't know we had an option. I feel so much better." They say, "Your optimism." And I am not optimistic or pessimistic. I feel that optimism and pessimism are very unbalanced. I am a very hard engineer.”

Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist

From 1980s onwards, Only Integrity is Going to Count (1983)
Context: I find the audiences very excited. But then they come and say to me, "Your optimism has brushed off on me. I didn't know we had an option. I feel so much better." They say, "Your optimism." And I am not optimistic or pessimistic. I feel that optimism and pessimism are very unbalanced. I am a very hard engineer. I am a mechanic. I am a sailor. I am an air pilot. I don't tell people I can get you across the ocean with my ship unless I know what I'm talking about.

Feeling, Optimism

“But how can we in good conscience justify war before we’ve tested a diplomatic agreement that achieves our objectives; that has been agreed to by Iran; that is supported by the rest of the world; and that preserves our options if the deal falls short? How could we justify that to our troops? How could we justify that to the world or to future generations? In the end, that should be a lesson that we’ve learned from over a decade of war. On the front end, ask tough questions. Subject our own assumptions to evidence and analysis. Resist the conventional wisdom and the drumbeat of war. Worry less about being labeled weak; worry more about getting it right.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

Remarks by the President on the Iran Nuclear Deal at American University in Washington, D.C. (August 05, 2015) https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/08/05/remarks-president-iran-nuclear-deal <br class="br">2015

Question, War, Support, Future

“It is true, of course, that some places are good places to walk out of–and sometimes that may well be the most appropriate thing for you to do. In many cases, however, walking out is not an option. In all those cases, the “I don't want to be here” is not only useless but also dysfunctional. It makes you and others unhappy.”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

Source: Stillness Speaks (2003), Ch 6

“Giving up was never an option”

Lance Armstrong (1971) professional cyclist from the USA

“If self is a location, so is love:
Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points,
Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance,
Here and there and now and then, a stance.”

Seamus Heaney District and Circle

Source: District and Circle

Love

“Reading is not optional.”

Walter Dean Myers (1937–2014) American writer

Reading

“Hebrew word for "charity" tzedakah, simply means "justice" and as this suggests, for Jews, giving to the poor is no optional extra but an essential part of living a just life.”

Peter Singer (1946) Australian philosopher

Source: The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty

Life, Justice, Parting

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you’re running and you think, ‘Man, this hurts, I can’t take it anymore. The ‘hurt’ part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Pain, Thinking, Reality, Suffering

“If you didn't have a choice, you had to make a choice. If you didn't have options, you made some. You couldn't just let this world happen to you… he didn't see eternity. He saw this girl and this moment and this one slim chance.”

Ann Brashares book My Name is Memory

Source: My Name Is Memory

World, Girl, Chance

“It's nice to have options even if you can't take them.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

“Changing is what people do when they have no options left.”

Holly Black book Red Glove

Source: Red Glove

People, Change

“Crying is not an option.”

Suzanne Collins (1962) American television writer and novelist

Cry

“You should never make someone a priority who views you as an option.”

Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet

Variant: Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.

“Life does not ask what we want. It presents us with options”

Thomas Sowell (1930) American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author

Life

“And everywhere, infinite options, infinite possibilities. An infinity, and at the same time, zero. We try to scoop it all up in our hands, and what we get is a handful of zero. That's the city”

Haruki Murakami book The Elephant Vanishes

Source: The Elephant Vanishes

Time

“One day soon you'll be in the world, and you'll have so many options you won't know what to do with them. Everyone will fall in love with you, because you're so beautiful and so charming, and you'll look back on high school as such a tiny blip.”

Jenny Han book P.S. I Still Love You

Source: P.S. I Still Love You

Love, World, School, Beauty

“Family dinner. Seven-thirty sharp. Tie optional. Straight-jacker required.”

Alyson Nöel book Evermore

Source: Evermore

Family

“We do not influence the course of events by persuading people that we are right when we make what they regard as radical proposals. Rather, we exert influence by keeping options available when something has to be done at a time of crisis.”

Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer

People, Time

“People like to say being gay isn't like skin color, isn't anything physical. They tell us we always have the option of hiding.
But if that's true, why do they always find us?”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Two Boys Kissing

People, Color

“What's so hard about that first sentence is that you're stuck with it. Everything else is going to flow out of that sentence. And by the time you've laid down the first two sentences, your options are all gone.”

Joan Didion (1934) American writer

Time

“I got to eavesdrop at a window. As Clay said, I did have another option. I could wait in the car and let them fill me in later. So, eavesdropping it was.”

Kelley Armstrong Broken

Source: Broken

Cars, Waiting

“Wealth is not about having a lot of money; it's about having a lot of options.”

Chris Rock (1965) American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and director

Motivational, Success, Deep, Inspirational

“I often think of death.
True.
Suicide is a reasonable option.
True.
My sins are unpardonable.
I stare at the question.
My sins are unpardonable.
I stare at the question.
My sins are unpardonable.
I leave it blank.”

James Frey book A Million Little Pieces

Source: A Million Little Pieces

Death, Question, Thinking, Suicide

“To experience commitment as the loss of options, a type of death, the death of childhood's limitless possibility, of the flattery of choice without duress-this will happen, mark me. Childhood's end.”

David Foster Wallace book The Pale King

Source: The Pale King

Death, Loss, Childhood

“I did learn something about insanity while I was down there. People go crazy, not because they are crazy, but because it's the best available option at the time.”

Gabrielle Zevin (1977) American writer

Source: All These Things I've Done

People, Learning, Time

“I'm not giving you any options here. We're doing this, Eva. Enjoy your last remaining hours as a single woman.”

Sylvia Day (1973) American writer

Source: Entwined with You

“We spend a lot of time thinking about the ways that prestige and resources and belonging to elite institutions make us better off. We don’t spend enough time thinking about the ways in which those kinds of material advantages limit our options.”

Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer

Source: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

Way, Thinking, Time

“If killing yourself is not an option anymore,
you have to sink into the darkness instead,
and make something out of it.”

Emma Forrest (1976) British journalist, novelist and screenwriter

Source: Your Voice in My Head

“If loneliness was a choice, what was the other option? To settle for second-best and try to be happy with that? And was that fair to the person you settled for?”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Sugar Daddy

Personality, Loneliness, Happiness

“I hate how my past actions keep messing up my future options, Seth muttered.
Then you've started down the road to wisdom, Grandpa replied.”

Brandon Mull (1974) American fiction writer

Source: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

Wisdom, Hate, Past, Future

“Conflict is inevitable but combat is optional.”

Max Lucado (1955) American clergyman and writer

Source: When God Whispers Your Name

“Look at it this way: I might be saying you're fat, but at least I'm not punching you in the face.'
Are those the only options?'
Not always. Just sometimes.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

Source: Just Listen

Way

“Scout, I´m telling you for the last time, shut your trap or go home - I declare to the Lord you´re gettin´ more like a girl every day!”
With that, I had no option but to join them.”

Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird

Source: To Kill a Mockingbird

Home, Girl, Time, Scouting

“I would have loved to know how it felt, just once, to have something fall apart and see options instead of endings.”

Sarah Dessen (1970) American writer

Source: Saint Anything

Love

“Don't predict disappointment while hope is an option”

Obert Skye Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want

Source: Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want

Hope, Disappointment

“I looked back and forth at them in amazement. I didn't know if I was witnessing a fight or foreplay. I wasn't thrilled about either option.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

Fight

“Piracy is our only option.”

Emma Thompson (1959) British actress and writer

Source: The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries: Bringing Jane Austen's Novel to Film

“We have a choice. We have two options as human beings. We have a choice between conversation and war. That's it. Conversation and violence. And faith is a conversation stopper.”

Sam Harris (1967) American author, philosopher and neuroscientist

War, Faith

“As our options expand, so do our desires - and unmet desires in particular.”

Megan McCafferty (1973) American novelist

Fourth Comings

“Are those the only options? Nothing or forever?”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

“Your mind creates your reality. If you expect nothing, you open up the universe to give you options. If you expect the worst, you usually get it.”

James Patterson book Maximum Ride

Source: Max

Reality, Universe

“The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love. That's the message we're brought up with, isn't it? Believe or die! Thank you, forgiving Lord, for all those options.”

Bill Hicks (1961–1994) American comedian

Rant in E-Minor (1997)
Variant: The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love. That's the message we're brought up with, isn't it? Beleive or die! Thank you, forgiving Lord, for all those options.

Love, God, Forgiveness, Question

“Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional.”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

God, Suffering

“Struggling is mandatory. Suffering is optional.”

Robyn Carr American writer

Source: Forbidden Falls

Suffering

“I’d gone with my usual option. I was running through long tunnels filled with demons and monsters and nightmares, because it was easier than going to the gym.”

Jim Butcher book Skin Game

Source: Skin Game

“Jules: Why are you on the floor?
Emma: I've heard roling out of bed in the morning helps you build up resistance to surprise attacks.
Jules: Oh yeah? What does screaming "holy crap!" do?
Emma: That part's optional.”

Cassandra Clare book Lord of Shadows

Source: Lord of Shadows

Help, Parting

“There's always, always a choice. My options might really, truly suck, but that doesn't mean there isn't a choice.”

Jim Butcher book Cold Days

Source: Cold Days

“Even when there were no more options for the body, the heart's wishes find a way out, and as with all warmth, love rises. Besides, the will to fly was in the nature of the soul, so its home had to be up above”

Jessica Bird book Lover Eternal

Source: Lover Eternal

Love, Way, Home, Soul

“For most of us, once something was busted, it was game over. I would have loved to know how it felt, just once, to have something fall apart and see options instead of endings.”

Sarah Dessen (1970) American writer

Source: Saint Anything

Love, Game

“So consider your options, make your choice and call me home.”

Kelley Armstrong book Living with the Dead

Source: Living with the Dead

Home

“Nothing optional -- from homosexuality to adultery -- is ever made punishable unless those who do the prohibiting (and exact the fierce punishment) have a repressed desire to participate.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

Source: god is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

“The trick to having obedient, unquestioning children was to have death be the other option”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

Death, Children

“Homework is not an option. My bed is sending out serious nap rays. I can't help myself. The fluffy pillows and warm comforter are more powerful than I am. I have no choice but to snuggle under the covers.”

Laurie Halse Anderson Speak

Source: Speak

Help

“If failure is not an option, then neither is success.”

Seth Godin (1960) American entrepreneur, author and public speaker

Failure, Success

“You have no choice but to operate in a world shaped by globalization and the information revolution. There are two options: adapt or die.”

Andrew S. Grove (1936–2016) Hungarian-born American businessman, engineer, and author

1995, p. 229; As cited in: Jay W. Rojews (2004) International Perspectives on Workforce Education and Development. p. xi
1980s - 1990s, High Output Management (1983)

World

“[Islamic terrorism] is different from all other forms of terrorism in at least three important respects. First, it rejects all the contemporary ideologies in their various forms; it sees itself as the total outsider with no option but to take control or to fall, gun in hand. It cannot even enter into talks with other terrorist movements which may, in some specific cases at least, share its tactical objectives. Considering itself as an expression of Islamic revival - which must, by definition, lead to the conquest of the entire globe by the True Faith - it bases all its actions on the dictum that the end justifies the means… The second characteristic that distinguishes the Islamic version from other forms of terrorism is that it is clearly conceived and conducted as a form of Holy War which can only end when total victory has been achieved. The term 'low-intensity warfare' has often been used to describe terrorism, but it applies more specifically to the Islamic kind, which does not seek negotiations, give-and-take, the securing of specific concessions or even the mere seizure of political power within a certain number of countries… The third specific characteristic of Islamic terrorism is that it forms the basis of a whole theory of both individual conduct and of state policy. To kill the enemies of Allah and to offer the infidels the choice between converting to Islam or being put to death is the duty of every individual believer as well as the supreme - if not the sole - task of the Islamic state.”

Amir Taheri (1942) Iranian journalist

Holy Terror: The inside story of Islamic terrorism (1987)

Death, War, Faith, Victory

“Courage is the ability to ignore your options.”

Tom Heehler American author

The Well-Spoken Thesaurus (2011)

Courage

“The difference in sex does not hinder the ability of being strong on the levels of thinking, giving, having a strong willpower and the ability to take the right decision and the right position after studying all options, once the circumstances that favor creativity and rational thinking are available.”

Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah (1935–2010) Lebanese faqih

The Woman's Personality and Role in Life http://english.bayynat.org.lb/WomenFamily/role.htm.

Sex, Thinking, Decision, Study

“I gambled and I lost. I failed in securing my options for this choice for myself, but I succeeded in verifying the Dark Age is still with us.”

Jack Kevorkian (1928–2011) American pathologist, euthanasia activist

Quoted in "Between the dying and the dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's life and the battle to Legalize Euthanasia"‎ - Page 247 - by Neal Nicol, Harry Wylie - 2006
2000s, 2006

Age

“Well, at HHS, like the rest of the executive branch, you have to faithfully execute the laws that are given to us by Congress. That's the ultimate role. So, the laws that we have to execute in our relationship to the [Affordable Care Act] or any other law is that we're supposed to faithfully execute it. Now, given how Congress drafts laws, there are parameters in there. So, we take direction from the president on down to try to figure out exactly how those laws are supposed to work at the level to make sure that we do the best that we can for the American people with regard to making sure that they get good healthcare and options on how they arrange their own healthcare themselves.”

Eric Hargan (1968) American civil servant

Acting HHS chief: Opioid epidemic is 'the crisis of our time' http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/acting-hhs-chief-opioid-epidemic-is-the-crisis-of-our-time/article/2642232 (December 4, 2017)

People, Law