Quotes about point
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“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand the standard of right and wrong, on the other the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to their throne. They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think: every effort we can make to throw off our subjection, will serve but to demonstrate and confirm it. In words a man may pretend to abjure their empire: but in reality he will remain subject to it all the while. The principle of utility recognizes this subjection, and assumes it for the foundation of that system, the object of which is to rear the fabric of felicity by the hands of reason and of law. Systems which attempt to question it, deal in sounds instead of sense, in caprice instead of reason, in darkness instead of light.”

Jeremy Bentham book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

Source: An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789; 1823), Ch. 1 : Of the Principle of Utility

Pain, Pleasure, Making love, Law

“The great line of demarcation in modern politics, Eric Voegelin used to point out, is not a division between liberals on one side and totalitarians on the other. No, on one side of that line are all those men and women who fancy that the temporal order is the only order, and that material needs are their only needs, and that they may do as they like with the human patrimony. On the other side of that line are all those people who recognize an enduring moral order in the universe, a constant human nature, and high duties toward the order spiritual and the order temporal.”

Eric Voegelin (1901–1985) American philosopher

Russell Kirk, " Ten Conservative Principles http://www.kirkcenter.org/index.php/detail/ten-conservative-principles/" (1993)

Women, Men, People, Nature

“If you remove yourself far enough from the limited point of view of pain, you will see that we are all nothing but the victims of victims.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

Pain

“Everyone must learn to live and survive alone, because at some point you will be; we grow stronger without relying on others to subsist.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

2005

Learning

“You can get to a point where your consciousness as a physical human rises above the frequency of marijuana. When that is the case it will stop being something that relieves you and instead cause anxiety, because it's a drop in vibration instead of an increase in vibration.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

Marijuana

“When they asked for those to raise their hands who'd go down to the courthouse the next day, I raised mine. Had it up high as I could get it. I guess if I'd had any sense, I'd have been a little scared — but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they could do was kill me, and it kinda seemed like they'd been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember.”

Fannie Lou Hamer (1917–1977) American civil rights activist (October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977)

As quoted in The Crosswinds of Freedom, 1932-1988, p. 636, by James MacGregor Burns (2012)

Sense, Time

“I refused to compromise and allow my talents to be monetized to the point that I don't want to be here anymore. I will quit if I am ever not allowed to be myself. I will be myself until they f—ing close the coffin, so that you can all be yourselves too.”

Lady Gaga (1986) American singer, songwriter, and actress

SXSW Keynote (March 2014). https://youtube.com/watch?v=l0DQnTw_TJA

“This book itself is a transformational device that has come out of the arising new consciousness. The ideas and concepts presented here may be important, but they are secondary. They are no more than signposts pointing toward awakening. As you read, a shift takes place within you.”

Eckhart Tolle book A New Earth

A New Earth (2005)

Books, Idea, Reading

“All we are doing is looking at the time line, from the moment the customer gives us an order to the point when we collect the cash. And we are reducing the time line by reducing the non-value adding wastes.”

Taiichi Ohno (1912–1990) Japanese businessman and engineer

Time

“Furthermore, here the one pointing out the filthiness is perceived as much more dangerous than the one producing the filth.”

Kurt Tucholský (1890–1935) German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer

Original: (de) Im übrigen gilt ja hier derjenige, der auf den Schmutz hinweist, für viel gefährlicher als der, der den Schmutz macht.

Letter to Herbert Ihering, August 10. 1922

“The problem isn’t that we don’t know how not to get punched in the face. The problem is that, at some point, likely a long time ago, we got punched in the face, and instead of punching back, we decided we deserved it.”

Mark Manson book Everything Is Fucked

Problem, Time

“What was the point in continuing to live with this burden of misery? Why carry on with this continuous struggle? I could feel that a deep longing for annihilation, for nonexistence, was now becoming much stronger than the instinctive desire to continue to live. “I cannot live with myself any longer.” This was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind. Then suddenly I became aware of what a peculiar thought it was. “Am I one or two? If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the ‘I’ and the ‘self’ that ‘I’ cannot live with.” “Maybe,” I thought, “only one of them is real.””

Eckhart Tolle book The Power of Now

Source: The Power of Now (1997) Introduction

Feeling, Self-confidence

“Never judge yourself through the eyes of another person. Your conscience will make your own judgments. Everyone at some point in our life, attempted to impress another person. We try to evaluate, what actions or mannerisms we can display that will impress them. And our evaluations are usually incorrect. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1990

Life, Making love, Personality

“I haven't calculated why white signifies completeness, and it's not an impeccable colour, but a colour that lacks itself. Black is comprehensive and black is full of obliviousness. It is a true completion. This world is a downside. It's just a tiny point in the gloaming twilight. Denial is inclusive and it's about the idealised assertives and defensives, furthermore protecting the aspects of the destructive, senseless actualities of current counterinsurgencies. The representation of one fulfillment is more pleasant than all the blemishes and the settlement of this one imperfection. There are defects in this world, and on the other hand, hegemony. "Why don't you erase the perception, only negritude?" “How can I take this cobblestone and consolidate it?” You will be fully embossed with this extraordinary world. You will see such translucent melancholy. You will feel as if you can use adhesive in the last memoir of this one humankind and you will only experience the last time before, you will see the emptiness for one instant and then the bright glistening light way ahead of you. - Rok Seo.”

RokSeo

World, Way, Feeling, Light

“The sin is about our notion of what is right and what is wrong, and how we bend the truth based on we want and I think. In Catholicism, we tend to do this a lot, and I think it’s very interesting and very beautiful yet very disturbing at the same time. A miracle is about believing and having faith. I think that it these times, and in Mexico, we have been to the point where we have been loosing [sic] faith. It’s really important for me to remind myself that I must continue on having faith, in my people, in my nation, in the woman, and in all the beautiful things that my country represents.”

Lila Downs (1968) Mexican American singer-songwriter

On the notion of faith and how it might apply to Mexico and its peoples in “Q&A: Lila Downs, A Sin and A Miracle” https://remezcla.com/music/lila-downs-sin-miracle-pecados-milagros-interview/ in Remezcla (c. 2011) Heritage and indigenous peoples

People, Truth, Faith, Beauty

“No system of mass surveillance has existed in any society that we know of to this point that has not been abused.”

Edward Snowden (1983) American whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor

2014 Source: theguardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/18/-sp-edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-interview-transcript

““Never despair. The darkest point of the night is the closest point to daylight. No success is achieved without effort, so fight for your goals and know that success is near.””

Alireza Kohany (1993) Musician, Actor, Entrepreneur

Source: https://knnit.com/lets-learn-the-story-of-alireza-kohanys-life-and-the-bridge-he-built-from-failure-to-success/

Effort, Success, Fight, Despair

“When in love, a bridge is constructed between two souls. Each year the bridge evolves and grows stronger and at a point in the future appears indestructible; when betrayal appears in the form of dynamite, the bridge becomes gravely damaged. And the betrayer and betrayed must determine if it can ever be reconstructed. Regrettably, the scars and cracks remain; some visible, and others hidden beneath the water.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1973

Love, Soul, Water, Appearance

“The idea of non-interference of the supernatural in human fate was a turning point in human self-awareness & spiritual freedom.”

Zafar Mirzo (1972)

Fate, Idea, Freedom

“In a battle, as in a siege, the art consists in concentrating very heavy fire on a particular point. The line of battle once established, the one who has the ability to concentrate an unlooked for mass of artillery suddenly and unexpectedly on one of these points is sure to carry the day.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Napoleon : In His Own Words (1916)

Art

“Everybody likes a bit of gossip to some point, as long as it's gossip with some point to it. That's why I like history. History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.”

Gore Vidal (1925–2012) American writer

Quoted in Gert Jonkers, "Gore Vidal, the Fantastic Man," Butt, No. 20 (7 April 2007)
2000s

Hope, History, Past

“We don’t really take any stance with one side, we tell the story how we are told it. If you suggest we were writing about your great grandfather and you send the story, that’s how we would tell it. So, but we will put our own emotions and point of view towards it.”

Pär Sundström (1981) Swedish bassist

INTERVIEW: Pär Sundström – Sabaton https://distortedsoundmag.com/interview-par-sundstrom-sabaton/ (March 3, 2016)

“By drinking water, you are essentially informing yourself. Even if you are not yet at the point to be able to be consciously aware of what information you are absorbing, that information the water contains is being transferred to your being.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

Source: tealswan.com/quotes

Drink, Water

“The Truth is far more all-encompassing than the mind could ever comprehend. No thought can encapsulate the Truth. At best, it can point to it. For example, it can say: “All things are intrinsically one.” That is a pointer, not an explanation. Understanding these words means feeling deep within you the truth to which they point.”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

Source: Stillness Speaks (2003), Ch 2

Truth, Feeling, Understanding

“Of course I thought that in order to be happy I needed to be straight. I reached a point where I thought, Fuck this, I'd much prefer to hold my boyfriend's hand in public or be able to put my own face picture on Tinder and not be so concerned about that than getting a part.”

Jonathan Bailey (1988) British actor

"Jonathan Bailey: Jonathan Bailey Is Giving Us the Vapors" in GQ https://www.gq.com/story/gq-hype-jonathan-bailey (9 March 2022)

Happiness, Parting

“Many US journalists and politicians acknowledge that climate change is the largest threat facing humanity, but few point to the fact that the US military is the largest institutional polluter, and emitter of carbon emissions, and every single climate treaty excludes their responsibility.”

Abby Martin (1984) American journalist

Interview https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/10/20/what-are-the-prospects-for-peace-an-interview-with-abby-martin/ with Counterpunch (2021)

Change

“" I first picture the ending part, before the starting point. " -Engr. Abah Sule”

Engr.Abah Sule

Parting

“At this point in life they leave
strengthening homegrown earthquakes,
after having verified that the questions
Thrown into the air they then fall in the form of a slap.”

Mariano Torrent

Source: Book: Behind infinity is life (2021)

Life, Question

This quote waiting for review.

“Belonging is not a fixed point but a becoming.”

José Baroja (1983) Chilean author and editor

Source: https://www.mundoclasico.com/articulo/45227/entrevista-intrapersonal-confrontada-omar-jerez-con-jose-baroja

“If only it was effortless to understand you because if it wasn't so… there wouldn't be any point to be by your side… —kakeru manabe”

Natsuki Takaya (1973) Manga artist

Understanding

“That's the whole point of life, you know? To meet new people.”

Sherman Alexie book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Source: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Life, People

“The point is, Sin is now going to try to overthrow me again and take my place. Do you know what that means? (Artemis)
There will be much rejoicing? (Kat)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Devil May Cry

“She took me to a mall yesterday"' Lachlain sounded as if he'd just stifled a shudder. "And she pointed to a boy and said, 'I think I want one.' So naturally, I start thinking, But she meant a bairn—”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Boy, Nature, Thinking

“To reconcile the gentleman with himself, it must be imagined that he determined the human character by the points of the compass. The truth was, that all men having power ought to be distrusted, to a certain degree.”

James Madison (1751–1836) 4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817)

Madison's notes (11 July 1787) http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/debates_711.asp Variants: 1780s, The Debates in the Federal Convention (1787) Context: Two objections had been raised against leaving the adjustment of the representation, from time to time, to the discretion of the Legislature. The first was, they would be unwilling to revise it at all. The second, that, by referring to wealth, they would be bound by a rule which, if willing, they would be unable to execute. The first objection distrusts their fidelity. But if their duty, their honor, and their oaths, will not bind them, let us not put into their hands our liberty, and all our other great interests; let us have no government at all. In the second place, if these ties will bind them we need not distrust the practicability of the rule. It was followed in part by the Committee in the apportionment of Representatives yesterday reported to the House. The best course that could be taken would be to leave the interests of the people to the representatives of the people. Mr. Madison was not a little surprised to hear this implicit confidence urged by a member who, on all occasions, had inculcated so strongly the political depravity of men, and the necessity of checking one vice and interest by opposing to them another vice and interest. If the representatives of the people would be bound by the ties he had mentioned, what need was there of a Senate? What of a revisionary power? But his reasoning was not only inconsistent with his former reasoning, but with itself. At the same time that he recommended this implicit confidence to the Southern States in the Northern majority, he was still more zealous in exhorting all to a jealousy of a western majority. To reconcile the gentleman with himself, it must be imagined that he determined the human character by the points of the compass. The truth was, that all men having power ought to be distrusted, to a certain degree. The case of Pennsylvania had been mentioned, where it was admitted that those who were possessed of the power in the original settlement never admitted the new settlements to a due share of it. England was a still more striking example.

Men, Truth, Imagination

“I have a plan."
He groaned. "I was afraid of that."
"My plans areterrible."
"Isabelle's plans are terrible." He pointed a finger at her. "plans are suicidal. At best.”

Cassandra Clare The City of Lost Souls

Source: City of Lost Souls

Suicide

“It can be very dangerous to see things from somebody else's point of view without the proper training.”

Douglas Adams book Mostly Harmless

Source: Mostly Harmless

Training

“You know, I'm sick and tired of people pointing rifles at me.”

Carrie Vaughn (1973) American writer

Source: Kitty Takes a Holiday

People

“At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 18.

Fate, Lie, World

“I am in limbo, and in limbo there are no races, no prizes, no changes, no chances. There are merely degrees of endurance, and endurance never was my strong point.”

Keri Hulme (1947) New Zealand writer

Strong, Change, Chance

“At some point, being angry is just another bad habit, like smoking, and you keep poisoning yourself without thinking about it.”

Jonathan Tropper (1970) American writer

Thinking

“He liked to observe emotions; they were like red lanterns strung along the dark unknown of another's personality, marking vulnerable points.”

Ayn Rand book Atlas Shrugged

Source: Atlas Shrugged

Personality

“You can always win points; winning people’s respect is a lot more important.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: The Outcasts

People

“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

“Well, what is a blessing but a curse from another point of view?”

Lois McMaster Bujold The Curse of Chalion

Source: The Curse of Chalion

“What's the point of having great knowledge and keeping them all to yourself?”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

Source: Why We Want You To Be Rich: Two Men, One Message

Knowledge

“He was silent for thirty seconds, maybe a minute. I uncrossed my legs under the table and wondered if this was the right moment to leave. It was as if my whole life revolved around trying to judge the right point in a conversation to say goodbye.”

Haruki Murakami (1949) Japanese author, novelist

Source: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman: 24 Stories

Life

“You're still here. No beer. I'm not corrupting a minor."
"Buta minor," she pointed out. "At least for beer."
"Yeah, and by the way, how much does it suck that I'm an adult if I kill somebody, and I'm not if I want a beer?”

Rachel Caine book Glass Houses

Source: Glass Houses

Way, Beer

“That’s kind of a leap, but the Russian judge gave you a nine point five for style, so OK.”

Rachel Caine book Glass Houses

Variant: That's kind of a leap, but the Russian judge gave you a nine point five for style, so okay.
Source: Glass Houses

“He didnt know what was defeating him, but he sensed it was something he could not cope with, something that was far beyond his power to control or even at this point in time comprehend.”

Hubert Selby Jr. Requiem for a Dream

Source: Requiem for a Dream

Sense, Time

“There are only four points of warmth and brightness, in the whole world, that burn fiercely enough for me to feel something like the person I was. Your mother, your father, Lucie, and you. You love, and tremble, and burn.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: Nothing but Shadows

Love, World, Feeling, Personality

“The future is always changing. If we had no choices, there'd be no point in living.”

Richelle Mead Shadow Kiss

Source: Shadow Kiss

Change, Future

“The raft is used to cross the river. It isn't to be carried around on your shoulders. The finger which points at the moon isn't the moon itself.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Source: The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

“History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.”

Julian Barnes book The Sense of an Ending

Source: The Sense of an Ending

History, Memory

“She accused me of wearing pants from the salvation army."
"Rose, your pants ARE from the salvation army."
"That's SO not the point!”

Richelle Mead Vampire Academy

Source: Vampire Academy

“My point is: in this whole wide world the only person you can depend on is you.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

World, Dependency, Personality

“It looks too new and pristine ever to have been read by anyone else, but it has been: it keeps falling open at the most delightful places as the ghost of its former owner points me to things I've never read before.”

Helene Hanff book 84, Charing Cross Road

Source: 84, Charing Cross Road

Reading

“But never fear, gentlemen; castration was really not the point of feminism, and we women are too busy eviscerating one another to take you on.”

Anna Quindlen (1952) journalist, Novelist

Women, Fear, Business

“Where's the point in fighting and slaying if you can make a friend out of anybeast instead of a foe?”

Brian Jacques (1939–2011) British fiction writer known for Redwall animal fantasy novels

Source: Taggerung

Fight

“The highest point a man can obtain is not Knowledge, or Virtue, or Goodness, or Victory, but something even greater, more heroic and more despairing: Sacred Awe!”

Nikos Kazantzakis book Zorba the Greek

Source: Zorba the Greek (1946), Ch. 24

Knowledge, Victory, Despair

“What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,
The labor of an age in pilèd stones,
Or that his hallowed relics should be hid
Under a star-y-pointing pyramid?
Dear son of memory, great heir of fame,
What need'st thou such weak witness of thy name?”

John Milton (1608–1674) English epic poet

On Shakespeare (1630)
Source: The Complete Poetry

Age, Star, Memory

“Bullet points are not the point.”

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

Whatcha Gonna Do With That Duck?: And Other Provocations, 2006-2012

“Engaging with haters is like rearranging pictures on the Titanic. What’s the point?”

Jodi Picoult (1966) Author

Source: Leaving Time

“Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world.”

Tom Clancy (1947–2013) American author

Books, World, Success, Victory

“What are the stars but points in the body of God where we insert the healing needles of our terror and longing?”

Thomas Pynchon book Gravity's Rainbow

Gravity's Rainbow (1973)

God, Star

“We didn't stow away!" Dan protested. "You sunk our boat and pulled us out of the canal!"
"Good point," Ian agreed. "Return them to the canal. Roughly, please.”

Gordon Korman One False Note

Source: One False Note

“He pointed a shaking finger at her. 'You,' he growled.

She jerked glances over both of her shoulders looking for the unfortunate You he was addressing. Her. Holy shite, this madman had settled on her.”

Kresley Cole book A Hunger Like No Other

Source: A Hunger Like No Other

Jerk

“You told me I was the best sex you'd ever had in your life… You couldn't get enough… At one point you were so loud I thought sure hotel security was going to beat down the door.”

Rachel Gibson (1961) American writer

Source: I'm In No Mood For Love

Life, Sex

“In every friendship, at some point comes a test. Never before in my experience, however, had it involved food.”

Sarah Dessen (1970) American writer

Source: Saint Anything

Friendship, Food

“If I could tell you what it meant, there would be no point in dancing it”

Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) American dancer and choreographer

Dance

“The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone”

Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) British missionary

“There comes a point when things are undeniable and can't be hidden any longer. Even from yourself.”

Sarah Dessen Lock and Key

Source: Lock and Key

“At one point, she'd wanted to hurl the whole breakfast at the wall. And then she'd remember why it was that men had temper tantrums and women didn't: cleanup.”

Kristin Hannah (1960) American writer

Source: Angel Falls

Women, Men

“Mrs. May looked back at her. "Kate," she said after a moment, "stories never really end. They can go on and on and on. It's just that sometimes, at a certain point, one stops telling them.”

Mary Norton The Borrowers

Source: The Borrowers

“Maybe you had to leave in order to miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.”

Jodi Picoult book Handle With Care

Variant: Maybe you had to leave in order to really miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.
Source: Handle with Care

Travel

“I should have warned her about your habit of never doing what you're told." Jace squinted at her. "Are those Isabelle's clothes? They look ridiculous on you."

"I could point out that you burned my clothes." -Jace and Clary pg. 63”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

Clothes