Quotes about pick
page 11

Nick Lowe photo

“I pick myself up off the ground to have you knock me back down
Again and again”

Nick Lowe (1949) British singer

"Cruel to Be Kind" on the single Little Hitler / Cruel to Be Kind (1978) (Top of the Pops 1979) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JJ7oGHwMTI
Context: I pick myself up off the ground to have you knock me back down
Again and again and when I ask you to explain
You say, you've got to be...
Cruel to be kind in the right measure
Cruel to be kind it's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind means that I love you
Baby, you got to be cruel, you got to be cruel to be kind.

Ellen Willis photo

“The centerpiece of the cultural counterrevolution is the snowballing campaign for a "drug-free workplace" — a euphemism for "drug-free workforce," since urine testing also picks up for off-duty indulgence.”

Ellen Willis (1941–2006) writer, activist

"Hell No, I Won't Go: End the War on Drugs," The Village Voice (19 September 1989)
Context: The centerpiece of the cultural counterrevolution is the snowballing campaign for a "drug-free workplace" — a euphemism for "drug-free workforce," since urine testing also picks up for off-duty indulgence. The purpose of this '80s version of the loyalty oath is less to deter drug use than to make people undergo a humiliating ritual of subordination: "When I say pee, you pee." The idea is to reinforce the principle that one must forfeit one's dignity and privacy to earn a living, and bring back the good old days when employers had the unquestioned right to demand that their workers' appearance and behavior, on or off the job, meet management's standards.

David Brin photo

“An ancient and immense and ongoing cosmos is so vastly more dramatic and worthy of a majestic Creator. Our brains, capable of exploring His universe, picking up His tools and doing His work, seem destined for much greater tasks than cowering in a small groups of the elect, praying that some of our neighbors will go to perdition…”

David Brin (1950) novelist, short story writer

Commenting on the discovery of Homo floresiensis, in a posting at McMedia.com (27 October 2004) http://www.mail-archive.com/brin-l@mccmedia.com/msg38195.html; an unsourced paraphrase replaces "go to perdition" with "go to hell".
Context: One more piece for the Great Jigsaw puzzle.
I find it truly stunning how many people can shrug off stuff like this, preferring instead a tiny, cramped cosmos just 6,000 years old, scheduled to end any-time-now in a scripted stage show of unfathomable violence and cruelty.
An ancient and immense and ongoing cosmos is so vastly more dramatic and worthy of a majestic Creator. Our brains, capable of exploring His universe, picking up His tools and doing His work, seem destined for much greater tasks than cowering in a small groups of the elect, praying that some of our neighbors will go to perdition...

“Friends picked up on the joke, and he was "the Good Doctor" for the rest of his life.”

William McKeen (1954) American academic

Source: Outlaw Journalist (2008), Chapter 6, Stranger In A Strange Land, p. 89
Context: To create a balance of power and pedigree in the house, Hunter sent five bucks off to an ad he'd seen in the back pages of a magazine and received his mail-order doctor-of-divinity degree. He began referring to himself as Dr. Thompson and punctuated remarks with his afterword: "I am, after all, a doctor." Friends picked up on the joke, and he was "the Good Doctor" for the rest of his life.

Tom Clancy photo

“You don't pick generals off park benches. … They are experts at what they do and lot of thinking goes into it.”

Tom Clancy (1947–2013) American author

1990s, CNN interview (1999)
Context: My vision for this book and the others in the series is to let people know what kind of commanders we have. You don't pick generals off park benches. … They are experts at what they do and lot of thinking goes into it. And I want to get across to people the intellectual dimension of command, to let people know that it's hard to be a general. And the people we have with general stars on their shoulders are pretty smart and pretty good guys.

Alan Moore photo

“Admittedly, I do have several bones… whole war fields full of bones, in fact… to pick with organised religion of whatever stripe.”

In "Correspondence: From Hell" by Alan Moore & Dave Sim, conclusion, Cerebus #220 (2003)
Context: Admittedly, I do have several bones... whole war fields full of bones, in fact... to pick with organised religion of whatever stripe. This should be seen as a critique of purely temporal agencies who have, to my mind, erected more obstacles between whatever notion of spirituality and Godhead one subscribes to than they have opened doors. To me, the difference between Godhead and the Church is the difference between Elvis and Colonel Parker... although that conjures images of God dying on the toilet, which is not what I meant at all.

Tom Robbins photo

“I've lived most of my entire adult life outside the law, and never have I compromised with authority. But neither have I gone out and picked fights with authority. That's stupid.”

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976)
Context: I set an example. That's all anyone can do. I'm sorry the cowgirls didn't pay better attention, but I couldn't force them to notice me. I've lived most of my entire adult life outside the law, and never have I compromised with authority. But neither have I gone out and picked fights with authority. That's stupid. They're waiting for that; they invite it; it helps keep them powerful. Authority is to be ridiculed, outwitted and avoided. And it's fairly easy to do all three. If you believe in peace, act peacefully; if you believe in love, acting lovingly; if you believe every which way, then act every which way, that's perfectly valid — but don't go out trying to sell your beliefs to the system. You end up contradicting what you profess to believe in, and you set a bum example. If you want to change the world, change yourself.

Ford Madox Ford photo

“To Leonora's eternal question he answered that all he desired in life was that — that he could pick himself together again and go on with his daily occupations if — the girl, being five thousand miles away, would continue to love him.”

Part Four, Ch. V (pp. 240-241)
The Good Soldier (1915)
Context: She asked him perpetually what he wanted. What did he want? What did he want? And all he ever answered was: "I have told you". He meant that he wanted the girl to go to her father in India as soon as her father should cable that he was ready to receive her. But just once he tripped up. To Leonora's eternal question he answered that all he desired in life was that — that he could pick himself together again and go on with his daily occupations if — the girl, being five thousand miles away, would continue to love him. He wanted nothing more, He prayed his God for nothing more. Well, he was a sentimentalist.

Douglas Adams photo

“When you're a student or whatever, and you can't afford a car, or a plane fare, or even a train fare, all you can do is hope that someone will stop and pick you up.”

Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English writer and humorist

Statement of 1984, as quoted in Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Companion (1988) by Neil Gaiman, p. 2
Context: When you're a student or whatever, and you can't afford a car, or a plane fare, or even a train fare, all you can do is hope that someone will stop and pick you up.
At the moment we can't afford to go to other planets. We don't have the ships to take us there. There may be other people out there (I don't have any opinions about Life Out There, I just don't know) but it's nice to think that one could, even here and now, be whisked away just by hitchhiking.

Napoleon Hill photo

“We are what we are, because of the vibrations of thought which we pick up and register, through the stimuli of our daily environment.”

Source: Think and Grow Rich (1938), p. 54
Context: We are what we are, because of the vibrations of thought which we pick up and register, through the stimuli of our daily environment.
Resolve to throw off the influences of any unfortunate environment, and to build your own life to ORDER.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge photo

“A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket: let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English poet, literary critic and philosopher

22 September 1830.
Table Talk (1821–1834)
Context: A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket: let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. Examine nature accurately, but write from recollection; and trust more to your imagination than to your memory.

“Revolutions are usually a matter of people picking up the power of a state in disintegration, a government that has lost the will to enforce its laws.”

Brian Reynolds Myers (1963) American professor of international studies

Of the two states on the peninsula, I see the South as closer to fitting that bill. There were recent reports of demonstrators around the THAAD site stopping and checking police cars.
2010s, Interview with Joshua Stanton (August 2017)

Robert Anton Wilson photo

“I think government should be treated like religion, everyone should be able to pick the kind they like. Only it should be contractual not obligatory.”

Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) American author and polymath

Interview in TSOG (2002) http://www.blackcrayon.com/ (sound file) http://www.blackcrayon.com/audio/RAW-anarchism.mp3
Context: Well I sometimes call myself a libertarian but that's only because most people don't know what anarchist means. Most people hear you're an anarchist and they think you're getting ready to throw a bomb at a building. They don't understand the concept of voluntary association, the whole concept of replacing force with voluntary cooperation or contractual arrangements and so on. So libertarian is a clearer word that doesn't arouse any immediate anxiety upon the listener. And then again, libertarians, if they were totally consistent with their principles would be anarchists. They take the position which they call minarchy, which is the smallest possible government... The reason I don't believe in the smallest possible government is because we started out with that and it only took us 200 years to arrive at the czarist occupation of government that we have now. I think any government is dangerous no matter how small you make it. Instead of governments we should have contractual associations that you can opt out of if you don't like the way the association is going. Religions fought for hundreds of years over which one should dominate Europe and then they finally gave up and made a truce, and they all agreed to tolerate each other — at least in this part of the world... But I think government should be treated like religion, everyone should be able to pick the kind they like. Only it should be contractual not obligatory. I wouldn't mind paying tax money to a local association to maintain a police force, as long as we need one. But I hate like hell paying taxes to help the US government build more nuclear missiles to blow up more people I don't even know and don't think I'd hate them if I did know them. A lot of anarchists had a major roll in influencing my political thinking, especially the individualist anarchists. Benjamin Tucker and Lysander Spooner especially. But I've also been influenced by Leo Tolstoy's anarcho-pacifism. And I find a lot of Kropotkin compatible even though he was a communist anarchist. Nothing wrong with communist anarchism as long as it remains voluntary. Any one that wants to go make a commune, go ahead, do it. I got nothing against it. As long as there's room to the individualist to do his or her own thing.

Babe Ruth photo

“After all, there's only one answer to be made to the young fellow who is asking constantly for advice as to how to hit. The answer is: "Pick out a good one and sock it!”

Babe Ruth (1895–1948) American baseball player

"Chapter XIV," Babe Ruth's Own Book of Baseball (1928), p. 199; reprinted as "Babe Ruth's Own Story — Chapter XIV (Continued)," https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AmIbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9EoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4927%2C1635850&dq=after-all-pick-out-good-one-sock The Pittsburgh Press (February 4, 1929), p. 17
Context: After all, there's only one answer to be made to the young fellow who is asking constantly for advice as to how to hit. The answer is: "Pick out a good one and sock it!" I've talked to a lot of pretty good hitters in the past ten years and I've watched them work. Go over the list from top to bottom—Hornsby, Goslin, Heilmann, Gehrig, Traynor, Cobb, Judge, Bottomley, Roush—there's not a "guess" hitter in the lot. They all tell you the same thing "I never think about whether it's a curve or a fast one that's coming. I simply get set—and if the ball looks good, I sock it."

Jacques Barzun photo

“He never invested his whole moral capital in a man, a book, or a cause, but treasured up wisdom wherever it could be picked up, always with scrupulous acknowledgment”

Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) Historian

Source: Bernard Shaw in Twilight (1943), IV
Context: He never invested his whole moral capital in a man, a book, or a cause, but treasured up wisdom wherever it could be picked up, always with scrupulous acknowledgment … His eclecticism saving him from the cycle of hope-disillusion-despair, his highest effectiveness was as a skirmisher in the daily battle for light and justice, as a critic of new doctrine and a refurbisher of old, as a voice of warning and encouragement. That his action has not been in vain, we can measure by how little Shaw's iconoclasm stirs our blood; we no longer remember what he destroyed that was blocking our view.

William Westmoreland photo

“I first met George S. Patton, Jr., before World War II when he was a lieutenant colonel at Fort Sill, and in North Africa, when he was a general, I saw him often. Almost every day he would head for the front, standing erect in his jeep, helmet and brass shining, a pistol on each hip, a siren blaring. For the return trip, either a light plane would pick him up or he would sit huddled, unrecognizable, in the jeep in his raincoat. His image with the troops was foremost with General Patton, and that meant always going forward, never backward.”

Source: A Soldier Reports (1976), p. 21.
Context: I first met George S. Patton, Jr., before World War II when he was a lieutenant colonel at Fort Sill, and in North Africa, when he was a general, I saw him often. Almost every day he would head for the front, standing erect in his jeep, helmet and brass shining, a pistol on each hip, a siren blaring. For the return trip, either a light plane would pick him up or he would sit huddled, unrecognizable, in the jeep in his raincoat. His image with the troops was foremost with General Patton, and that meant always going forward, never backward. General Patton had two fetishes that to my mind did little for his image with the troops. First, he apparently loathed the olive drab wool cap that the soldier wore under his helmet for warmth and insisted that it be covered; woe be the soldier whom the general caught wearing the cap without the helmet. Second, he insisted that every soldier under his command always wear a necktie with shirt collar buttoned, even in combat action.

Bill Bailey photo
Edwin Abbott Abbott photo

“If a pick-pocket or a cut-throat of our country can see everything that is in your country, surely that is no reason why the pick-pocket or cut-throat should be accepted by you as a God. This omnividence, as you call it — it is not a common word in Spaceland — does it make you more just, more merciful, less selfish, more loving? Not in the least. Then how does it make you more divine?I. "More merciful, more loving!"”

But these are the qualities of women! And we know that a Circle is a higher Being than a Straight Line, in so far as knowledge and wisdom are more to be esteemed than mere affection.</p><p>SPHERE. It is not for me to classify human faculties according to merit. Yet many of the best and wisest in Spaceland think more of the affections than of the understanding, more of your despised Straight Lines than of your belauded Circles. But enough of this. Look yonder...</p>
Source: Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884), PART II: OTHER WORLDS, Chapter 18. How I came to Spaceland, and What I Saw There

Harry V. Jaffa photo

“But the Fugitive Slave Clause is in the Constitution, and Lincoln thought that any refusal to implement the right clearly defined in the Constitution would justify secession. You can't pick and choose which parts of the Constitution you like. Once you do that, then the Constitution is simply, as Jefferson said once, "a blank sheet of paper."”

Harry V. Jaffa (1918–2015) American historian and collegiate professor

2000s, The Real Abraham Lincoln: A Debate (2002), Q&A
Context: DiLorenzo thinks that it is a reflection on Lincoln's anti-slavery character that he supported the Fugitive Slave Act. But the Fugitive Slave Clause is in the Constitution, and Lincoln thought that any refusal to implement the right clearly defined in the Constitution would justify secession. You can't pick and choose which parts of the Constitution you like. Once you do that, then the Constitution is simply, as Jefferson said once, "a blank sheet of paper." Jefferson said that when he was contemplating purchasing Louisiana. And having said that by purchasing it he would make the Constitution a blank sheet of paper, he went ahead and purchased Louisiana.

Babe Ruth photo

“I decided to pick out the greatest hitter to watch and study, and Jackson was good enough for me.”

Babe Ruth (1895–1948) American baseball player

On Shoeless Joe Jackson, as quoted in "The Sportlight" http://www.mediafire.com/view/mazvkq3hy6g68vp/Rice%2C%20Grantland.%20The%20Sportlight.%20The%20Daily%20Boston%20Globe.%20December%2016%2C%201932..jpg by Grantland Rice, in The Daily Boston Globe (December 16, 1932), p. 40
Context: I decided to pick out the greatest hitter to watch and study, and Jackson was good enough for me. I liked the way he kept his right foot forward, being a left-handed hitter, and his left foot back. That gave him more body and shoulder power than the average hitter has.

Elvis Costello photo

“The first song that most people picked up on, particularly in America, of mine, was a ballad, not a rock'n'roll song.”

Elvis Costello (1954) English singer-songwriter

dig interview (2004)
Context: The first song that most people picked up on, particularly in America, of mine, was a ballad, not a rock'n'roll song. It was 'Alison', and that's an R&B ballad. I don't think there's any other way to describe it.

P. J. O'Rourke photo
Assata Shakur photo

“They call us bandits, yet every time most Black people pick up our paychecks we are being robbed. Every time we walk into a store in our neighborhood we are being held up. And every time we pay our rent the landlord sticks a gun into our ribs.”

Assata Shakur (1947) American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army

To My People (July 4, 1973)
Context: we who rip off billions of dollars every year through tax evasions, illegal price fixing, embezzlement, consumer fraud, bribes, kickbacks, and swindles. They call us bandits, yet every time most Black people pick up our paychecks we are being robbed. Every time we walk into a store in our neighborhood we are being held up. And every time we pay our rent the landlord sticks a gun into our ribs.

Philip Pullman photo

“You haven't any choice: you're the bearer. It's picked you out. And, what's more, they know you've got it; and if you don't use it against them, they'll tear it from your hands and use it against the rest of us, forever and ever.”

Source: His Dark Materials, The Subtle Knife (1997), Ch. 15 : Bloodmoss
Context: If you're the bearer of the knife, you have a task that's greater than you can imagine. A child... How could they let it happen? Well, so it must be.... There is a war coming, boy. The greatest war there ever was. Something like it happened before, and this time the right side must win. We've had nothing but lies and propaganda and cruelty and deceit for all the thousands of years of human history. It's time we started again, but properly this time...."
He stopped to take in several rattling breaths.
"The knife," he went on after a minute. "They never knew what they were making, those old philosophers. They invented a device that could split open the very smallest particles of matter, and they used it to steal candy. They had no idea that they'd made the one weapon in all the universes that could defeat the tyrant. The Authority. God. The rebel angels fell because they didn't have anything like the knife; but now..."
"I didn't want it! I don't want it now!" Will cried. "If you want it, you can have it! I hate it, and I hate what it does — "
"Too late. You haven't any choice: you're the bearer. It's picked you out. And, what's more, they know you've got it; and if you don't use it against them, they'll tear it from your hands and use it against the rest of us, forever and ever."

Arthur Murphy photo

“Picked up his crumbs.”

Arthur Murphy (1727–1805) Irish writer

The Upholsterer; or, What News? (1757-58), Act i.

Noam Chomsky photo

“The conclusion in the State Department was, "OK, this proves that they're agents of the international communist conspiracy. Ho Chi Minh is such a loyal slave of"—pick it, Mao or Stalin—"that he doesn't even need orders."”

Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist

Quotes 1990s, 1995-1999, Sovereignty and World Order, 1999
Context: ... the incompetence of intelligence agencies is legendary.… Just take Vietnam.… In the late 1940s, the United States was kind of unclear about which side to support.… In the case of Indochina, for whatever reason, they decided at one point to support France in its reconquest of Indochina. Well, at that point, essentially orders went to the U. S. intelligence communities, CIA and others, to demonstrate … that Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh were agents of either the Russians or the Chinese.… They couldn't do it. They couldn't find anything.… The conclusion in the State Department was, "OK, this proves that they're agents of the international communist conspiracy. Ho Chi Minh is such a loyal slave of"—pick it, Mao or Stalin—"that he doesn't even need orders.".

Colin Wilson photo

“Religion, mysticism and magic all spring from the same basic 'feeling' about the universe: a sudden feeling of meaning, which human beings sometimes 'pick up' accidentally, as your radio might pick up some unknown station.”

Source: The Occult: A History (1971), p. 28
Context: Religion, mysticism and magic all spring from the same basic 'feeling' about the universe: a sudden feeling of meaning, which human beings sometimes 'pick up' accidentally, as your radio might pick up some unknown station. Poets feel that we are cut off from meaning by a thick, lead wall, and that sometimes for no reason we can understand the wall seems to vanish and we are suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of the infinite interestingness of things.

Dorothy Thompson photo

“I shall pick no fight, nor seek to impose by force these standards on others. But let it be clear. If the fight comes unsolicited, I am not willing to die meekly, to surrender without effort.”

Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster

"Dilemma of a Pacifist"(1937)
Context: I know now that there are things for which I am prepared to die. I am willing to die for political freedom; for the right to give my loyalty to ideals above a nation and above a class; for the right to teach my child what I think to be the truth; for the right to explore such knowledge as my brains can penetrate; for the right to love where my mind and heart admire, without reference to some dictator’s code to tell me what the national canons on the matter are; for the right to work with others of like mind; for a society that seems to me becoming to the dignity of the human race.
I shall pick no fight, nor seek to impose by force these standards on others. But let it be clear. If the fight comes unsolicited, I am not willing to die meekly, to surrender without effort. And that being so, am I still a pacifist?

“They're correct that a god picked out the material; they just have the wrong god doing it.”

Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) American fiction writer

The Visitor (2002)
Context: Not many years before the Happening, one of your country's largest religious bodies officially declared that their book was holier than their God, thus simultaneously and corporately breaking several commandments of their own religion, particularly the first one. Of course they liked the book better! It was full of magic and contradictions that they could quote to reinforce their bigoted and hateful opinions, as I well know, for I chose many parts of it from among the scrolls and epistles that were lying around in caves here and there. They're correct that a god picked out the material; they just have the wrong god doing it.

The small god in Ch. 44 : the visitor

Warren Buffett photo

“It’s like choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the children of all the winners at the 2000 Games.”

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

To Barack Obama, as quoted in The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006), Ch. 5
Context: The free market’s the best mechanism ever devised to put resources to their most efficient and productive use. … The government isn’t particularly good at that. But the market isn’t so good at making sure that the wealth that’s produced is being distributed fairly or wisely. Some of that wealth has to be plowed back into education, so that the next generation has a fair chance, and to maintain our infrastructure, and provide some sort of safety net for those who lose out in a market economy. And it just makes sense that those of us who’ve benefited most from the market should pay a bigger share. … When you get rid of the estate tax, you’re basically handing over command of the country’s resources to people who didn’t earn it. It’s like choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the children of all the winners at the 2000 Games.

Bono photo

“One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.”

Bono (1960) Irish rock musician, singer of U2

National Prayer Breakfast (2006)
Context: One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.
For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land... and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash... in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment...
I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.
Even though I was a believer.
Perhaps because I was a believer.

Edwin Abbott Abbott photo

“Awestruck at the sight of the mysteries of the earth, thus unveiled before my unworthy eye, I said to my Companion, "Behold, I am become as a God. For the wise men in our country say that to see all things, or as they express it, OMNIVIDENCE, is the attribute of God alone." There was something of scorn in the voice of my Teacher as he made answer: "Is it so indeed? Then the very pick-pockets and cut-throats of my country are to be worshiped by your wise men as being Gods: for there is not one of them that does not see as much as you see now. But trust me, your wise men are wrong."”

Source: Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884), PART II: OTHER WORLDS, Chapter 18. How I came to Spaceland, and What I Saw There
Context: Once more I felt myself rising through space. It was even as the Sphere had said. The further we receded from the object we beheld, the larger became the field of vision. My native city, with the interior of every house and every creature therein, lay open to my view in miniature. We mounted higher, and lo, the secrets of the earth, the depths of mines and inmost caverns of the hills, were bared before me.Awestruck at the sight of the mysteries of the earth, thus unveiled before my unworthy eye, I said to my Companion, "Behold, I am become as a God. For the wise men in our country say that to see all things, or as they express it, OMNIVIDENCE, is the attribute of God alone." There was something of scorn in the voice of my Teacher as he made answer: "Is it so indeed? Then the very pick-pockets and cut-throats of my country are to be worshiped by your wise men as being Gods: for there is not one of them that does not see as much as you see now. But trust me, your wise men are wrong."

Jane Roberts photo

“I'm convinced that the victim-to-be picks out the assailant with as much skill and craft as the murderer seeks his victim, and until we learn much more about both, we'll get nowhere battling crime.”

Jane Roberts (1929–1984) American Writer

Source: Psychic Politics: An Aspect Psychology Book (1976), p. 205
Context: I believe too thoroughly that we create our own reality, for one thing -- an unpopular belief where violence is concerned -- but I'm convinced that the victim-to-be picks out the assailant with as much skill and craft as the murderer seeks his victim, and until we learn much more about both, we'll get nowhere battling crime. I'm not justifying murder by any means, but I'm saying that the victim wants to be murdered -- perhaps to be punished, if not by a vengeful god then by one of his fellows, and that a would-be murderer can switch in a minute and become the victim instead; and that the slayer wants to be slain.

Thomas Jefferson photo

“In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.”

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

Letter to John Adams, on Christian scriptures (24 January 1814)
1810s
Context: The whole history of these books is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.

Urvashi Butalia photo
China Miéville photo

“I remember sometimes growing up I would feel ashamed of my mom or my dad if they came to pick us up at school, because they never looked like all the other mothers and fathers; they were always dirty because they had been out in the fields, drove in to pick us up at 3:00 so we could go to work…So I remember when I heard Chávez speak, when I saw him on television, I remember thinking that my mom and dad had actually contributed to the wealth of this country and I shouldn’t feel embarrassed by them or feel bad for them.”

Malaquías Montoya (1938) American artist

On how his viewpoint of his parents changed after the advent of César Chávez (as quoted in “’What better function for art at this time than as a voice for the voiceless’: The Work of Chicano Artist Malaquías Montoya” https://nacla.org/news/2019/02/17/%E2%80%9Cwhat-better-function-art-time-voice-voiceless%E2%80%9D-work-chicano-artist-malaqu%C3%ADas; 2019 Feb 15)

Rupi Kaur photo

“I used to submit to anthologies and magazines when I was a student – but I knew I was never going to be picked up. All their writing was, you know, about the Canadian landscape or something. And my poem is about this woman with her legs spread open.”

Rupi Kaur (1992) Canadian poet

On how she felt that her poetic topics were unconventional when compared to other poetry submissions in “ The young ‘Instapoet’ Rupi Kaur: from social media star to bestselling writer” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/27/rupi-kaur-i-dont-fit-age-race-class-of-bestselling-poet-milk-and-honey in The Guardian (2017 May 27)

Lupita Nyong'o photo
Pete Escovedo photo

“If you can strum the guitar a little, hit the drums — it’s always fun and a good way to release tensions…You can have a hard day at work, pick up your instrument and just feel better. You also can appreciate why a performer is up on stage and see how they have spent their life learning their craft.”

Pete Escovedo (1935) Mexican-American jazz musician and percussionist

On the benefits of being a musician in “Drummer Pete Escovedo will stick with what he knows at Thornton Winery” https://www.pe.com/2017/07/06/drummer-pete-escovedo-will-stick-with-what-he-knows-at-thornton-winery/ in The Press-Enterprise (2017 Jul 6)

Kapka Kassabova photo

“Most trained actors can pick up a scene and give it a good sturdy first read, but a few coaching sessions does not a trained actor make - a lesson which has stayed with me ever since.”

Belita Moreno (1949) American actress

On what she has learned working as an acting coach in “Belita -- Not ‘Benny’ – Moreno” http://latinola.com/story.php?story=8908 in ¡LatinoLA! (2010 Sep 12)

Rohit Sharma photo

“Rohit has got all the shots to be a Virender Sehwag. He has been dynamic, has got three double hundreds and already has a 150 to his name (in ongoing series against South Africa). He is a good player of spin and picks up fast bowling really well.”

Rohit Sharma (1987) Indian cricketer

[Rohit Sharma has all qualities to be next Sehwag: Graeme Smith, https://www.news18.com/cricketnext/news/rohit-sharma-has-all-qualities-to-be-next-sehwag-graeme-smith-1154359.html, News18, 20 October 2018]
About him

Bessie Love photo

“I had a rudimentary knowledge of dancing and had learned a bit of tap at dancing school, but it was mostly a case of picking it up as one went along.”

Bessie Love (1898–1986) American actress (1898–1986)

On dancing in film, from [Leslie, Wilkinson, What Are They Doing Now? Part 14, Photoplay Film Monthly]

Chris Martin photo
Roberto Clemente photo

“Everybody pick us for sixth place this year. The best way to prove to yourself this wrong is for Pirates to bounce back—to fight hard. I know something inside me explode when things are tough so I can do better.”

Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) Puerto Rican baseball player

Speaking with reporters on April 9, 1962 at F.O.E.'s Welcome Home Dinner; as quoted in "Sidelights on Sports" by Al Abrams, in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Wednesday, April 11, 1962), p. 24
Baseball-related, <big><big>1960s</big></big>

Roberto Clemente photo

“They pick us for sixth and seventh place. But if we fight, we are going to make it to the top. Myself, when I think I can do one thing and some one else thinks the opposite, I have to prove to the world that I can.”

Roberto Clemente (1934–1972) Puerto Rican baseball player

Addressing the Fraternal Order of Eagles' Welcome Home Dinner, held on April 9, 1962 at Pittsburgh's Penn Sheraton; as quoted in "'62 Pirates Expect to Be Contender" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lYEkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v04EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5981%2C3901542 by Vince Leonard, in The Pittsburgh Press (Tuesday, April 10, 1962), p. 37
Baseball-related, <big><big>1960s</big></big>

Mao Zedong photo

“Why must there be a revolutionary party? There must be a revolutionary party because the world contains enemies who oppress the people and the people want to throw off enemy oppression. In the era of capitalism and imperialism, just such a revolutionary party as the Communist Party is needed. Without such a party it is simply impossible for the people to throw off enemy oppression. We are Communists, we want to lead the people in overthrowing the enemy, and so we must keep our ranks in good order, we must march in step, our troops must be picked troops and our weapons good weapons. Without these conditions the enemy cannot be overthrown.”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

"Rectify the Party's Style of Work" (1942)
Original: (zh-CN) 为什么要有革命党?因为世界上有压迫人民的敌人存在,人民要推翻敌人的压迫,所以要有革命党。就资本主义和帝国主义时代说来,就需要一个如共产党这样的革命党。如果没有共产党这样的革命党,人民要想推翻敌人的压迫,简直是不可能的。我们是共产党,我们要领导人民打倒敌人,我们的队伍就要整齐,我们的步调就要一致,兵要精,武器要好。如果不具备这些条件,那末,敌人就不会被我们打倒。

Madeleine Thien photo

“It’s one of those places you can never quite see enough of it, it’s vast. For the Chinese it’s very odd for people to travel alone so I often get picked up by families and couples. You learn a lot from what people don’t tell you.”

Madeleine Thien (1974) Canadian writer

On her travels in China in “Madeleine Thien: ‘In China, you learn a lot from what people don’t tell you’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/08/madeleine-thien-interview-do-not-say-we-have-nothing in The Guardian (2016 Oct 8)

Mary McCarthy photo

“For me, in fact, the mark of the historic is the nonchalance with which it picks up an individual and deposits him in a trend, like a house playfully moved in a tornado.”

Mary McCarthy (1912–1989) American writer

"My Confession", pp. 76–77
On the Contrary: Articles of Belief 1946–1961 (1961)

Ralph Waldo Emerson photo
John S. Bell photo
Chris Cornell photo
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto photo
Poul Anderson photo

“I also know you cannot pick and choose. Change is a medicine bundle. You must refuse it altogether, or take the whole thing.”

Source: The Boat of a Million Years (1989), Chapter 12 “The Last Medicine” (p. 215)

Narendra Modi photo

“I have the ability to pick stones thrown at me to build a staircase to climb up.”

Narendra Modi (1950) Prime Minister of India

Quoted from Lok Sabha Election Results 2019: Rise and rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi https://indianexpress.com/article/india/narendra-modi-lok-sabha-elections-2019-result-bjp-congress-seats-counting-5745459/

Michel Barnier photo
Rohit Sharma photo

“Rohit has got all the shots to be a Virender Sehwag. He has been dynamic, has got two double hundreds and already has a 150 to his name (in ongoing series against South Africa). He is a good player of spin and picks up fast bowling really well.”

Rohit Sharma (1987) Indian cricketer

[Rohit Sharma has all qualities to be next Sehwag: Graeme Smith, https://www.news18.com/cricketnext/news/rohit-sharma-has-all-qualities-to-be-next-sehwag-graeme-smith-1154359.html, News18, 20 October 2018]
About him

Imran Khan photo
Samantha Bee photo

“As long as you want to keep playing whack-a-mole from hell, it is my solemn promise that I will keep picking up the metaphorical hammer to slam you back down and remind you that you have not yet done anything to earn our forgiveness. So take your millions of dollars and pay a therapist to care about how tough it’s been to get caught being an abuser because honestly, I don’t give a shit.”

Samantha Bee (1969) Canadian comedic actress and author

Full Frontal, May 9, 2018, as quoted in "Samantha Bee Checks in With #MeToo, This Time With Zero F***s Left to Give for These Men" https://www.themarysue.com/samantha-bee-schneiderman-eff-off/, by Vivian Kane, The Mary Sue, May 10th, 2018

Mohammad Hidayatullah photo
Anish Kapoor photo
Rajinikanth photo
Adam Goldstein photo

“I saw DJ AM play in a mansion in Miami, and he amazed me with his skills and the music he picked to make the crowd move. He made sure everyone — I mean everyone — had a good time!”

Adam Goldstein (1973–2009) American DJ

DJ Khaled, club DJ. DJ AM's Turntable Skills Revered By Drama, Just Blaze, More DJs http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1620376/20090830/dj_am.jhtml

Paul Scholes photo
Paul Scholes photo

“Out of everyone at Manchester United, I would pick out Scholes – he is the best midfielder of his generation. I would have loved to have played alongside him.”

Paul Scholes (1974) English footballer

http://redflagflyinghigh.com/2011/05/blogs/scholes-tribute-the-worlds-top-players-on-the-ginger-prince
Pep Guardiola

Dylan Moran photo
David Mamet photo
Christopher Hitchens photo

“My own opinion is enough for me, and I claim the right to have it defended against any consensus, any majority, anywhere, any place, any time. And anyone who disagrees with this can pick a number, get in line and kiss my ass.”

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

"Be It Resolved: Freedom of Speech Includes the Freedom to Hate," debate at University of Toronto, (2006-11-15). Hitchens argued the affirmative position. Info http://hhdce.sa.utoronto.ca/formaldebates_20062007.htm#20062007_3; video http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2007/03/free_speech_6.html.
2000s, 2006

Will Cuppy photo
John Stuart Mill photo
Richard Dawkins photo
Neil Gaiman photo
Lauren Ornelas photo
Darko Miličić photo
David Hilbert photo
Willie Mays photo

“You're not from New York, are you? You can't be from New York. Well, when I broke in, I didn't know many people by name so I would just say, "Say, hey," and the writers picked that up. The writers here in New York can make anything happen, so they made that happen.”

Willie Mays (1931) Baseball player

As quoted in "Sports of the Times: The Most Natural Ballplayer" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UVUcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p1EEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6465%2C2456085&dq=who%27s-best-ever-aside-yourself-next-roberto by Dave Anderson, in The New York Times (January 24, 1979)

Lois McMaster Bujold photo
Peter Kay photo
Warren Farrell photo

“Pick-up sports are excellent preparation for entrepreneurship.”

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

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 94

Jaswant Singh photo

“We will pick up the threads from the visit of the president of Pakistan. We will increasingly endeavor to revise the vision of the relationship of peace, friendship and cooperation with Pakistan.”

Jaswant Singh (1938–2020) Indian politician and retired army officer

As Minister of External Affairs, His career events [citation needed]

Audrey Dalton photo

“I was a working actor. I believed that was my job and you did your job. In those days, I was not picking and choosing. I never really did, unless it was offensive or something I didn't want to do.”

Audrey Dalton (1934) actress

An Interview with Audrey Dalton on Olivia & Joan, Bob Hope, and William Castle https://heraldcourier.com/news/local/tinseltown-talks-audrey-dalton-survived-a-sinking-a-serpent-and-a-stallion/article_b29b83e8-df6c-11e3-963a-001a4bcf6878.html (May 22, 2014)

Cynthia Barnett photo
Mooji photo

“From a young age, we pick up many false assumptions about the world, about life, and about exactly who we are living life.”

Mooji (1954) Jamaican spiritual teacher

Greater than Sky, Vaster than Space, (2018), Part I

Justine Greening photo

“You can't pick & choose on human rights and equality. Children should understand a modern and diverse Britain they're growing up in.”

Justine Greening (1969) British politician

Tory leadership contest: Iain Duncan Smith warns of 'chaos' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48458370 BBC News (30 May 2019)
2019

Lee Arenberg photo
Donald Grant Mitchell photo
Francis George photo

“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history."”

Francis George (1937–2015) Catholic cardinal

Replying to a question about the secularization of Western culture in a meeting with a group of priests on circa May 2010.
Source: The Myth and the Reality of 'I'll Die in My Bed', Tim Drake, National Catholic Register, October 24, 2012, November 21, 2014 http://www.ncregister.com/blog/tim-drake/the-myth-and-the-reality-of-ill-die-in-my-bed,

Lauren Tom photo

“If I was blond and tall, then I would have had 10 times the competition. I auditioned steadily and performed for everyone who would hire me. Now I am in a position to pick and choose my roles.”

Lauren Tom (1970) actress, voice actress

Actress Dazzles With One Women Show https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2002/11/18/actress-dazzles-with-one-women-show/ (18 November 2002)

Napoleon Hill photo
Irene Sabatini photo
Robert A. Heinlein photo
Rahul Gandhi photo

“Rising COVID numbers are worrying. Vaccination must pick up pace to avoid serious outcomes in the next wave.”

Rahul Gandhi (1970) Indian politician

2021
Source: Rahul Gandhi on Twitter, also quoted in https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/rahul-gandhi-rising-covid-19-numbers-worrying-govt-busy-with-sales/articleshow/85649532.cms

Bill Maher photo

“Also, vaccine? Mask? Pick one! You've got to pick. You can't make me mask if I've had the vaccine.”

Bill Maher (1956) American stand-up comedian

Source: Sen. Chris Coons and Caitlin Flanagan, Natural Immunity, (2021)