Quotes about real (5918 quotes, page 59)

“I’d also like to say to our priests: we can’t fail to talk to our people about these real sins that affect the lives of our people. If we talk about sins they don’t commit, of what good is that?”

Joseph Fred Naumann (1949) Catholic archbishop

Archbishop Naumann: “If the Church is silent on the destruction of life, we’re being negligent” https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/12/04/archbishop-naumann-if-the-church-is-silent-on-the-destruction-of-life-were-being-negligent/ (December 4, 2017)

People

“In the real business of life no one troubles himself much about 'moral titles.'”

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830–1903) British politician

No one would dream of surrendering any practical security, for the advantages of which he is actually in possession, in deference of the a priori jurisprudence of a whole Academy of philosophers.
'The House of Commons', Quarterly Review, vol. 116 (July & October 1864), p. 263
1860s

Business , Life

“It seems like in this beautiful planet we live in, everything has a place, but our generation is in a grey area where no one can assure us that we’ll be safe in a couple of years. We have been forced to fight for real climate action because we are the ones that will lose the most.”

Massin Akandouch (2001) Amazigh activist

April 30, 2020. Interview for UNILAD article. https://www.unilad.co.uk/featured/air-pollution-might-have-dropped-but-climate-change-is-still-ravaging-our-planet/

Beauty , Fight

“Most people go through life never knowing the truth about the major events of their time. They're watching a farce performed at the edge of the stage while the real drama is going on behind the curtain.”

John Twelve Hawks book The Traveler

Source: Fourth Realm Trilogy (2005-2009), The Traveler (2005), Ch. 31

People , Truth , Life , Time

“[C]hoice in many facets of our life has gone from implicit and often psychologically unreal to explicit and psychologically very real.”

Barry Schwartz book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

The Paradox of Choice (2004)

Life

“Real life was where the baby was.”

Bruce Sterling book Islands in the Net

Source: Islands in the Net (1988), Chapter 4 (p. 97)

Baby , Life

“Centralized bureaucracies always protect the status quo. They don’t innovate. And it’s innovation that’s the real threat.”

Bruce Sterling book Islands in the Net

Source: Islands in the Net (1988), Chapter 2 (p. 47)

“How are peace and happiness related? Is peace the only real happiness? When happiness moves beyond the mind, that is happiness.”

Baba Hari Dass (1923–2018) master yogi, author, builder, commentator of Indian spiritual tradition

Mount Madonna Messenger, March 26, 2016

Peace , Happiness

“Brainpower is the scarcest commodity and the only one of real value. Any human organization can be rendered useless, impotent, a danger to itself, by selectively removing its best minds while carefully leaving the stupid ones in place.”

Robert A. Heinlein book Friday

Source: Friday (1982), Chapter 4 (p. 37)

Stupidity

“It seems to be almost an invariable rule that as real power declines, the symbols of power multiply and intensify in compensation.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

Source: The Roman Empire (1967), p. 176

“In our daily lives, where we’re bombarded by the fake and the trivial, reading serves as a way to stop, shut out the noise of the world, and try to grab hold of something real, no matter how small.”

Maureen Corrigan (1955) American journalist and writer

Source: Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading (2005), Introduction (p. xvii)

Reading , World , Way

“The Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”

Steve Bannon (1953) American media executive and former White House Chief Strategist for Donald Trump

Source: According to " “Flood the zone with shit”: How misinformation overwhelmed our democracy https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/1/16/20991816/impeachment-trial-trump-bannon-misinformation" (2018)

Way

“That was the real price, I thought. Once you had power, you ended up having to depend on it. Eventually, like anything else, it owned you.
Eventually? No, from the beginning; we just don’t bother admitting it at first.”

Pat Cadigan (1953) science fiction author

Source: Short fiction, Naming Names (1992), p. 389

Dependency

“People who live in totalitarian countries experience educational brainwashing and real fear of the government. They are not brave enough to stand out and express different opinions.”

Rebel Pepper (1973) Chinese political cartoonist

"Rebel with a cause: An interview with China’s most famous political cartoonist" in SAGE Journals https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422016657031a (29 June 2016)

Country , People , Education , Fear

“The real martial artist must first be a role model in ethics.”

Reza Goodary (1988) Mixed martial artist

Source: The championship period is short. What we show in the heroic era comes back to us in the veteran era. The real martial artist must first be a role model in ethics. https://parsine.com/0033gy Parsine News, (September 9, 2021)

“There are those who can prove that plans and ideals for a united world and a well organized Brotherhood of Men have existed for hundreds of years and have come to nothing. These are the ones who say “Human nature cannot change!” There are others who declare that we are living through a momentous epoch in history which is ushering in stupendous changes and the possibility for real world unity and a new and better civilization.”

Vera Stanley Alder (1898–1984) British artist

Source: Humanity Comes of Age, A study of Individual and World Fulfillment (1950), Chapter I, Secrets Behind History

History , Nature , Men , World

“It is important to launch core reforms in education and healthcare and boost production primarily through developing agriculture and IT sector. We see the latter as a potentially key sector for future development because there is a real need today for several thousand programmers.”

Ana Brnabić (1975) Prime Minister of Serbia

Source: "Serbia Would Look Very Different Without NALED" in CORD Magazine https://cordmagazine.com/interview/ana-brnabic-serbia-different-without-naled/ (17 June 2016)

Education , Future

“This is the real enemy, the invader from the East, the Druze, the ruffian, the oriental parasite; in a word: the Jew.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

London Morning Post, December 3, 1925
1900s

“He saw the humorous aspect of everything, which is the real test of the tragic sense.”

Henry Miller book The Colossus of Maroussi

"He" is Miller's friend George Katsimbalis, the "Colossus" of the book's title.
The Colossus of Maroussi (1941)

Sense

“Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life,—there, if one must speak out, the real man.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations (c. AD 121–180), Book X, 38

Life

“One of the real strengths is facing and overcoming your most hidden fears.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Uno dei veri punti di forza è affrontare e superare le tue paure più nascoste.
Source: prevale.net

Fear

“When you discard yourself, real love comes into relief.”

Nakamura Kichiemon II (1944–2021) Japanese kabuki actor (1944-2021)

Love

“There’s a day to ride thumb on a thunderhead
There’s a day to make fantasy real
There’s a day to deny and a day to decry
and a day for the man with the wind at his heels!”

Mike Scott (1958) songwriter, musician

Book of Lightning (2007)
Source: "The Man With The Wind At His Heels" · Video at YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozofHLXORsw

“The test of a real comedian is whether you laugh at him before he opens his mouth.”

George Jean Nathan (1882–1958) American drama critic and magazine editor

Source: "Test of a Comedian", The American Mercury (September 1929)

“You are captive of your lower-self (ego); you nullify it and break the snare so that you arrive at your real nest.”

Bu Ali Shah Qalandar (1209–1324) Indian Sufi saint

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 271

“The worshipper, when completely annihilates himself in His adoration, realize the real state of proximity to Him. God Himself removes the barrier between such an inspired devotee and Himself and reveals His Godhead.”

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar ibn al-Hasan al-Niffari

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 81

God

“Korea was probably the high point of my whole career as far as real gratification is concerned.”

James Robinson Risner (1925–2013) Recipient of the Purple Heart medal

Source: "Nine Feet Tall" in Air Force Magazine https://www.airforcemag.com/article/0212tall/ (1 February 2012)

“The seeker's real approach to God means his preoccupation with afflictions appearing on the way to Him. Tribulations in separation from God is to be treated as a boon granted by God to His elect.”

Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (1173–1235) Indian Sufi

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 263

God , Affliction , Appearance , Way

“The saint enjoys real attachment to God when he experiences states of contentment and satisfaction.”

Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (1173–1235) Indian Sufi

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 263

God

“Unplanned Everything is the Real Plan of Life.”

Rachit Yadav (1996) Indian Author

Source: [Quote, https://www.rachityadav.in/about/ Rachit Yadav, : official Website]

Life

“My real name is Trace Ullman, but I added the 'y.'”

Tracey Ullman (1959) English-born actress, comedian, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, director, author and businesswoman

Source: On the subject of her name in Look in TV Annual (Independent Television Books Ltd, 1984)
Context: My mother said it was spelled the American way, but I don't think she can spell! I always wanted a middle name. My mum used to tell me it was Mary but I never believed her. I looked on my birth certificate and I didn't have one, just Trace Ullman.

“When help is needed it is only God, Who has the real power to help, and He provides it.”

Mirza Masroor Ahmad (1950) spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Eid and Friday Sermons
Source: Total Trust and Dependence on Allah https://www.alislam.org/friday-sermon/2014-11-28.html, Friday Sermon November 28th, 2014

God , Help

“It was a good plan, and like all plans since the dawn of time, this would fail to survive contact with real life.”

Ben Aaronovitch book Whispers Under Ground

Source: Whispers Under Ground (2012), Chapter 25, “Ladbroke Grove” (p. 262)

Time , Life

“I wasn’t ready to believe in ghosts, but that’s the thing about empirical experience: it’s the real thing.”

Ben Aaronovitch book Rivers of London

Source: Rivers of London (2011; American edition title: Midnight Riot), Chapter 2, “Ghost Hunting Dog” (p. 26)

“The EU is 50 years old, it is going in the wrong direction. It is time for real reform. The only way to get that is to leave.”

Boris Johnson (1964) British politician, historian and journalist

Source: Boris Johnson: EU exit 'win-win for us all' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35783049 BBC News (11 March 2016)

Time , Way

“The best news of the day. Pfizer vaccine (a major trial was under progress) is 90% effective. Victory for science and humanity. Stock markets soaring across the world. Seems like the real deal this time.”

Chetan Bhagat (1974) Indian author, born 1974

Source: — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter https://twitter.com/chetan_bhagat/status/1325779100686970882

World , Science , Time , Victory

“Keep asking on the vaccine plan. How much vaccine? By what date? What %age of pop vaccinated by May 31, June 30,July 31? Real numbers. Abuse me, troll me, demean my work, doubt my intentions, mock me. But keep asking on the vaccine plan. For the sake of my country. 🙏🏻”

Chetan Bhagat (1974) Indian author, born 1974

Source: — Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) 2021 at Twitter https://twitter.com/chetan_bhagat/status/1390166518223233025

Age , Country

“Except for a few special cases, title to every parcel of real property derives from an act of violence, more or less remote, and ownership is only as valid as the strength and will required to maintain it. That is the lesson of history, whether you like it or not.”

Jack Vance book The Gray Prince

“The mourning of defeated peoples, while pathetic and tragic, is usually futile,” said Kelse.
Source: The Gray Prince (1975 [serialized 1974]), Chapter 16 (p. 159)

History

“You used the word ‘civilization,’ which means a set of abstractions, symbols, conventions. Experience tends to be vicarious; emotions are predigested and electrical; ideas become more real than things.”

Jack Vance book The Gray Prince

Source: The Gray Prince (1975 [serialized 1974]), Chapter 4 (p. 48)

Idea

“Often their grievances were real; often they complained from sheer petulance.”

Jack Vance book The Gray Prince

Source: The Gray Prince (1975 [serialized 1974]) Prologue (p. 8)

“In an age of real anxiety, and ever-shifting change, the permanency of the papacy gives people something to cling to that is higher, and everlasting. And it has deep meaning for people even of non-Christian traditions, even people who are just authentically striving for good through goodwill.”

Jeff Fortenberry (1960) U.S. Representative from Nebraska

Source: How a Catholic congressman agreed to be part of a pope documentary https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/38215/how-a-catholic-congressman-agreed-to-be-part-of-a-pope-documentary (17 April 2018)

People , Age , Change

“The real significance of the Russell paradox, from the standpoint of the modal-logic picture, is this: it shows that no concrete structure can be a standard model for the naive conception of the totality of all sets; for any concrete structure has a possible extension that contains more 'sets.'”

Hilary Putnam (1926–2016) American philosopher

"Mathematics without foundations"
Source: Philosophical Papers Volume 1: Mathematics, Matter, and Method (1975, 1979)
Context: (If we identify sets with the points that represent them in the various possible concrete structures, we might say: it is not possible for all possible sets to exist in any one world!) Yet set theory does not become impossible. Rather, set theory becomes the study of what must hold in, e.g. any standard model for Zermelo set theory.

“You have a tendency to think of wars as being fought in arenas set aside for fighting. But when you go through these farms and little towns, you realize wars are fought in people's backyards, stores, streets, and cities. It was all so very real then. It's real to me today.”

Lynn Compton book Call of Duty

Source: Call of Duty: My Life Before, During and After the Band of Brothers (2008), p. 246

War , People , Thinking , Fight

“But the real magic of the New Year is that it opens our hearts to empathy and trust, generosity and mercy.”

Vladimir Putin (1952) President of Russia, former Prime Minister

2021

Heart

“I've been blessed by the good Lord to be able to go to all these places and that fine, that’s real fine and dandy. But what about the other billions of people? Unless you love something, you can't save something and that’s my logo. You know, that's why I take animals with me so that people that live in an intercity.”

Jack Hanna (1947) American zoologist

Source: Interview With Jungle Jack Hanna https://www.stnj.org/explore/magazine/article/19-01-23-Jack-Hanna-Interview (23 January 2019)

People , Animals , Love

“Above all, I believe sports have given me the God´s gift of ease to relate to people. It is very easy for me to be with people of any age, social condition or circumstance. Sports helps you not to have barriers. This has helped me a lot in the priesthood. In the second place, I would say that in sports, one works as a team. One person doesn't win, the whole team does. Moreover, I have played basketball especially. This also leads one to see the need to be organized. Each one has to give his best. The leader is not the one who carries a plan forward. He is the one who creates conditions in such a way that each one can give the best of himself. He is not the one in front carrying the flag. This is also very important in the priesthood and the episcopate. In the third place, as in sports, it is very important to know how to struggle. Life, for a man who wants to be loyal in the Church today, is a real struggle. Today we cannot say that the Church is synonymous with success — on the contrary.”

Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne (1943) Catholic cardinal

Source: From Basketball Player to Cardinal https://zenit.org/2001/02/27/from-basketball-player-to-cardinal/ (27 February 2001)

Personality , Life , Sport , God

“There's something very special indeed,
In all the places where I've seen you shine, boy.
There's something very real in how I feel, honey.
It's in me.
It's in me,
And you know it's for real.
Tuning in on your saxophone...”

Kate Bush (1958) British recording artist; singer, songwriter, musician and record producer

Source: Song lyrics, The Kick Inside (1978)

Boy , Feeling

“Always be careful to ask for help. Real help is obtained from a few, very few people: those who put their heart into it.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Fate sempre attenzione a chiedere aiuto. Il vero aiuto si ottiene da poche, pochissime persone: quelle che ci mettono il cuore.
Source: prevale.net

People , Help , Heart

“I really look forward to being between the legislative branch of government and the executive branch of government — being a person that can facilitate a real strong, solid line of communication between the two bodies.”

Janice McGeachin (1963) American congresswoman in Idaho

Source: McGeachin talks plans going forward as Idaho’s new Lt. Governor https://www.eastidahonews.com/2018/11/mcgeachin-talks-plans-going-forward-as-idahos-new-lt-governor/ (November 12, 2018)

Personality , Strong , Communication

“Honor is something we all profess,
But most of us cheat—some more, some less—
An' the real test isn't the way we do
When there isn't a pinch in either shoe;
It's whether we're true to our best or not
When the right thing's certain to hurt a lot.”

Edgar Guest (1881–1959) American writer

The True Man, stanza 3
Source: When Day is Done (1921)

Hurt , Cheating , Shoe , Way

“The highest degree of knowledge. To become a Buddha one has to break through the bondage of sense and personality; to acquire a complete perception of the REAL SELF and learn not to separate it from all otherselves; to learn by experience the utter unreality of all phenomena of the visible Kosmos foremost of all; to reach a complete detachment from all that is evanescent and finite, and live while yet on Earth in the immortal and the everlasting alone, in a supreme state of holiness.”

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891) occult writer

Buddha (Sk.). Lit., “The Enlightened.”
The Theosophical Glossary (1892)

Personality , Learning , Knowledge , Sense

“This positive case teaches us that the threat of COVID-19 is real. As a small island, we need to be prepared and remain vigilant.”

Alida Francis Dutch civil servant

Source: Alida Francis (2021) cited in: " Reporter tests positive for coronavirus in St. Eustatius https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/reporter-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-in-st-eustatius" in The Daily Herald, 6 August 2021.

“I feel ashamed that so many of us cannot imagine a better way to do things than locking children up all day in cells instead of letting them grow up knowing their families, mingling with the world, assuming real obligations, striving to be independent and self-reliant and free.”

John Taylor Gatto (1935–2018) American teacher, book author

Source: A Different Kind of Teacher: Solving the Crisis of American Schooling, Berkeley Hills Books (2000) p. 97

Imagination , Children , World , Family

“The real lessons of life are learned by recognizing and coming to terms with being human. It is how we stand up to failure and duress which really marks our progress in life. Sometimes one of the most important lessons is to learn to just let go of the past.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) Indian spiritual philosopher

Learning , Failure , Past , Life

“I think people out there in the real world, our constituents, just want us to get on with the job of getting the best deal possible for them”

John McDonnell (1951) British politician (born 1951)

Source: EU referendum: Corbyn tells activists 'I did all I could' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36628305 BBC News (25 June 2016)

People , Thinking , World

“Stick to it, boy,
Through the thick and the thin of it!
Work for the joy
That is born of the din of it.
Failures beset you,
But don't let them fret you;
Dangers are lurking,
But just keep on working.
If it's worthwhile and you're sure of the right of it,
Stick to it, boy, and make a real fight of it!”

Edgar Guest (1881–1959) American writer

Stick to It, first stanza.
Source: The Passing Throng (1923)

Failure , Boy , Joy , Fight

“When I'm drinking my Bonaparte shandy
eating more than enough apple pies
will I glance at my screen
and see real human beings
starve to death right in front of my eyes?
Nothing old, nothing new, nothing ventured,
nothing gained, nothing stillborn or lost,
nothing further than proof, nothing wilder than youth,
nothing older than time, nothing sweeter than wine,
nothing physically recklessly hopelessly blind,
nothing I couldn't say
Nothing. Why? 'Cos today nothing rhymed”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"Nothing Rhymed" (song)
Gilbert O'Sullivan. A live performance. On YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtoefxZGR6U
Gilbert O'Sullivan. A performance with orchestra, c.2017. On YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-SWTPDPriA
Gilbert O'Sullivan. Observations about "Nothing Rhymed", fifty years on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2BlxtcH39Q (On YouTube)
(+ A cover version by Franklin Brown on YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6kuZyk5WJ8
(+ A cover version by Colleen Coughlan on YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcqndbjOPTs
(+ A cover version by Conor McCauley on YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nAb0-7J9d4
(+ A cover version by The Ocelots on YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRCDFiRaRA0
(+ Guitar instrumental by Phil McGarrick) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmzFaUC1rDI
Song lyrics
Source: Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Nothing Rhymed" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGE6gzkMAfw (song on YouTube)

Youth , Wine , Drink , Time

“The secret of American schooling is that it doesn't teach the way children learn, and it isn't supposed to; school was engineered to serve a concealed command economy and a deliberately re-stratified social order. It wasn't made for the benefit of kids and families as those individuals and institutions would define their own needs. School is the first impression children get of organized society; like most first impressions, it is the lasting one. Life according to school is dull and stupid, only consumption promises relief: Coke, Big Macs, fashion jeans, that's where real meaning is found, that is the classroom's lesson, however indirectly delivered.”

John Taylor Gatto book The Underground History of American Education

Source: The Underground History of American Education: An Intimate Investigation Into the Prison of Modern Schooling (2001), pp. 105-106

Fashion , Life , Children , Learning

“Mass schooling damages children. We don’t need any more of it. And under the guise that it is the same thing as education, it has been picking our pockets just as Socrates predicted it would thousands of years ago. One of the surest ways to recognize real education is by the fact that it doesn’t cost very much, doesn’t depend on expensive toys or gadgets. The experiences that produce it and the Mass schooling that propels it are nearly free. It is hard to turn a dollar on education. But schooling is a wonderful hustle, getting sharper all the time.”

John Taylor Gatto book Dumbing Us Down

Source: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (1992), p. 70

Dependency , Children , Education , School

“How much more evidence is necessary? Good schools don’t need more money or a longer year; they need real free-market choices, variety that speaks to every need and runs risks. We don’t need a national curriculum, or national testing either. Both initiatives arise from ignorance of how people learn, or deliberate indifference to it.”

John Taylor Gatto (1935–2018) American teacher, book author

Source: "I Quit, I Think" (1991)

Money , People , Learning , School

“Beware, lastly, of imagining you shall obtain the end without using the means conducive to it. God can give the end without any means at all; but you have no reason to think He will. Therefore constantly and carefully use all those means which He has appointed to be the ordinary channels of His grace. Use every means which either reason or Scripture recommends, as conducive (through the free love of God in Christ) either to the obtaining or increasing any of the gifts of God. Thus expect a daily growth in that pure and holy religion which the world always did, and always will, call “enthusiasm;” but which, to all who are saved from real enthusiasm, from merely nominal Christianity, is “the wisdom of God, and the power of God;” the glorious image of the Most High; “righteousness and peace;” a “fountain of living water, springing up into everlasting life!””

John Wesley book Sermons on Several Occasions

1770s, Sermons on Several Occasions (1771)
Source: Sermon 37 "The Nature of Enthusiasm"

Imagination , Spring , Thinking , Love

“The ideological and political work of each political factor must be direct and immediate. In national life, each environment must perform its inherent function within such limits, forms and means that it can achieve on its own and which correspond to its real influences in Ukrainian society. Every serious environment must operate under all internal and external conditions, regardless of other factors.”

Stepan Bandera (1909–1959) Ukrainian anti-communist

Source: "For a Complete Political Structure" (1958)

Life

“Don’t kid yourself: The pain and scars from that day run deep.
I said it many times and it’s no more true or real than when we think about the events of January 6th: We are in a battle for the soul of America. A battle that, by the grace of God and the goodness and gracious — and greatness of this nation, we will win.
Believe me, I know how difficult democracy is. And I’m crystal clear about the threats America faces. But I also know that our darkest days can lead to light and hope.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

Source: 2022, Remarks to Mark One Year Since The January 6th Deadly Assault On The U.S. Capitol (2022)

Democracy , Soul , Thinking , God

“Language has become the universal evil. And we can certainly see why. What characterizes any word is its difference from the thing – the fact that, taken in itself, in its own reality, language contains nothing of the reality of the thing, none of its properties. This difference from the thing explains its indifference to the thing. Since a word has nothing in itself that is identical or similar to what is in the thing, it could as well be united with any other thing whatever. One could use the same name for two different things or else attribute several names to the same thing. But because, in and of itself, the word contains nothing that is real and ignores everything about that reality, it could just as well bring reality back to itself, identify with it, define it, in such a way that everything the word says becomes reality, and pretends to stand for it. Emerging from its own powerlessness, the power of language suddenly becomes frightening, shaking up reality, twisting it up in its frenzy.”

Michel Henry (1922–2002) French writer

Books on Religion and Christianity, I am the Truth. Toward a philosophy of Christianity (1996)
Source: Michel Henry, I am the Truth. Toward a Philosophy of Christianity, translated by Susan Emanuel, Stanford University Press, 2003, p. 9

Indifference , Reality , Universe , Evil

“I am happy enough to think I have the present the real love of my subjects, and lay it down for certain that if I do not show them that I will not permit Ministers to trample on me, that my subjects will in time come to esteem me unworthy of the Crown I wear.”

George III of the United Kingdom (1738–1820) King of Great Britain and King of Ireland

Source: Letter to the Earl of Bute (November 1760), quoted in Letters from George III to Lord Bute, 1756–1766, ed. Romney Sedgwick (1939), p. 50

Happiness , Time , Thinking , Love

“Seek within. All power dwells in you, infinite power for good. Realise your real nature and be perennially happy and peaceful.”

Swami Sivananda (1887–1963) Indian philosopher

Sayings of Swami Sivanada (1947)

Peace , Happiness , Nature

“It is a fantasy to believe that you punish politicians by throwing them out of office. It is when they leave office that they start making the real money.”

Peter Hitchens (1951) author, journalist

2022-06-01
GB News Dewbs & Co

Money

“Under what circumstances do you think you might want to…return to the real world?”

Tim Powers (1952) American writer

The real world and I never did get along, she thought.
“I can’t imagine,” she said.
Epilogue, “I Have No Idea” (p. 287; closing words)
Stolen Skies (2022)

Thinking , World

“My real friend was my first wife. I could share everything with her without exception. That's how it came together that she became both a wife and a friend. A friend in the full sense of the word happens once in a lifetime or does not happen at all.”

Dmitry Yazov (1924–2020) Soviet minister of defence

"Дмитрий Язов рассказал "РГ" о жизни маршала на пенсии" https://rg.ru/2013/12/05/marshal.html (4 December 2013)

Sense

“We have a president who believes in science fiction. I believe in science fact. Climate change is real and we're in the midst of a climate crisis. We need a #GreenNewDeal and as president, on day one, America will rejoin the Paris Agreement.”

Kamala Harris (1964) United States Senator from California

2019, Summer 2019

Science , Change

“We should never give up whatever happens because there is someone real stronger than every political power, and that is the strength of the risen Lord,”

Paul Hinder (1942) Roman Catholic bishop, Capuchin Friar

Yemen: Bishop Hinder describes humanitarian crisis http://www.archivioradiovaticana.va/storico/2015/04/13/yemen_bishop_hinder_describes_humanitarian_crisis/en-1136382 (13 April 2015)

“That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be twelve years old. They patronize; they treat children as inferiors. I won't do that. I'll temper a story, yes. But I won't play down, and I won't patronize.”

Walt Disney (1901–1966) American film producer and businessman

From Walt Disney World: Then, Now, & Forever: Too many people grow up. That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well, I won't do that. I won't do that. I'll temper a story, yes. But I won't play down, and I won't patronize.
Year unknown, published in 2001, The Quotable Walt Disney (2001)

Children , People , World , Forgetting

“Somewhere out there you are still
running up that hill,
we never got off the ground,
but still we were something real.”

Marian Renta

Music lyrics, Great Deep (2021) —"Linger"

“A real Russian is never ashamed to be Russian.”

Dmitry Peskov (1967) Russian politician

"Russians are not real Russians if ashamed of Ukraine conflict - Kremlin" https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/russians-are-not-real-russians-if-ashamed-of-ukraine-conflict-kremlin/ar-AAUVsmY, The Jerusalem Post, 11 March 2022

“To require that all of these must be reducible to a single version is to make the mistake of supposing that 'Which are the real objects?' is a question that makes sense independently of our choice of concepts.”

Hilary Putnam (1926–2016) American philosopher

Lecture I: Is There Still Anything to Say about Reality and Truth?
The Many Faces of Realism (1987)

Question , Sense

“... nowhere else in the world did reality have as much effective power as in the camp, nowhere else was reality so real. In no other place did the attempt to transcend it prove so hopeless and so shoddy.”

Jean Améry (1912–1978) Austrian essayist

At the Mind's Limits: Contemplations by a Survivor on Auschwitz and Its Realities (1966)

Reality , World

“Leave aside craving for other than God: anything else is pseudo thought. Except the Real One, all things are perishable. Each instant concentrate on the Real; undoubtedly this is the committed way.”

Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1845–1901) 19th-century sufi Punjabi poet of the punjab , polyglot, scholar and writer

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 299

God , Way

“In the real world, equal respect for all cultures doesn’t translate into a rich mosaic of colorful and proud peoples interacting peacefully while maintaining a delightful diversity of food and craftwork. It translates into closed pockets of oppression, ignorance, and abuse.”

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969) Dutch feminist, author

Conclusion: The Miyé and the Magaalo (p. 261)
2010s, Nomad: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations (2010)

People , World , Food , Color

“I believe that the dysfunctional Muslim family constitutes a real threat to the very fabric of Western life.”

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969) Dutch feminist, author

Introduction (p. xiv)
2010s, Nomad: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations (2010)

Family , Life

“We have, I suspect, a long way to go yet. We may have to face many very difficult and awkward situations. It may well be that the real test still lies ahead of us.”

Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow (1887–1952) British politician, agriculturalist and colonial administrator (1887-1952)

10 January 1940, Speech at Orient Club, Bombay, also quoted in Speeches and Statements of the Marquess of Linlithgow, p. 227.

Way

“The real concern of anti-diversity warriors is not with the introduction of politics but with the wrong kind of politics. They want literature to serve a very political function indeed: to sustain, not criticize, the status quo.”

Elizabeth Martinez (1925) American community organizer, activist, author, and educator

De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century (2017)

Literature

“Fiction film is really different from documentary in this aspect. It is less objective, because the director expresses a subjective point of view with the movie. I would like the movie to look like a documentary, look real.”

Zhang Yimou (1950) Chinese actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer

"No one to be Missed" in Off Screen https://offscreen.com/view/zhang_yimou (April 1999)

“When the records of our civilization are balanced, then—but perhaps not before—the real importance of dental science will be appreciated. Now it is merely valued at the moment of toothache.”

Avram Davidson (1923–1993) novelist

Help! I am Dr. Morris Goldpepper (p. 59)
Short fiction, Or All the Seas with Oysters (1962)

Science

“My real politicization began, not through the Chicano Movement but through the bold recognition of my lesbianism.”

Cherríe Moraga (1952) American writer

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, Fourth Edition (2015)

“Anyone can agree that things should be fair, and the world just. The way to get there is always the real problem.”

Kim Stanley Robinson book Green Mars

Source: Green Mars (1993), Chapter 7, “What Is to Be Done?” (p. 391)

Problem , Way , World

“Some of them defined ideology as an imaginary relationship to a real situation.”

Kim Stanley Robinson (1952) American science fiction writer

Source: Red Mars (1992), Chapter 6, “Guns Under the Table” (p. 460)

“It was a mistake to speak one’s mind at any time, unless it perfectly matched your political purpose; and it never did. Best to strip all statements of real content, this was a basic law of diplomacy.”

Kim Stanley Robinson (1952) American science fiction writer

Source: Red Mars (1992), Chapter 6, “Guns Under the Table” (p. 418)

Time , Law

“Beauty was the promise of happiness, not happiness itself; and the anticipated world was often more rich than anything real.”

Kim Stanley Robinson (1952) American science fiction writer

Source: Red Mars (1992), Chapter 2, “The Voyage Out” (p. 85)

Happiness , Beauty , World

“The way I think about puzzles is a real puzzle, is something you may not ever figure out.”

Jonathan Blow (1971) American video game designer and programmer

Q&A session https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK9nxanN9BM&t=2060s at Graz Technical University, November 2017

Thinking , Way

“The real question that now divides the country and which truly divides the House of Commons, is church or no church. People talk of the war in Spain, and the Canada question. But all that is of little moment. The real question is church or no church.”

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) British soldier and statesman

Statement (1838), quoted in John Morley, The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. I (1903), p. 155

Housing , Question , Country , War

“Known of the respectability on the part of everyone. I've always been called the villain of reality because unfortunately I'm one of the few real ones. When I think of something, I expose it, regardless of whether it may later please the public.”

Soleil Sorge (1994) American naturalized Italian model, television presenter, television personality and commentator

Original: (it) Noto del perbenismo da parte di tutti quanti. Io sono sempre stata definita la cattiva del reality perché purtroppo sono una delle poche vere. Quando penso una cosa la espongo, a prescindere che possa poi piacere al pubblico.
Source: Frasi di Soleil Sorge https://aforismi.meglio.it/aforismi-di.htm?n=Soleil+Sorge, aforismi.meglio.it.

Reality , Thinking , Parting

“Turn on the news and every conversation is a confrontation. Every disagreement is a crisis. But when you take a step back and look at what’s happening, we’re actually making real progress. Maybe it doesn’t seem fast enough”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

Biden Celebrates Drop in Unemployment Even as Job Growth Weakens (8 October 2021) https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/biden-celebrates-drop-in-unemployment-even-as-job-growth-weakens-1.1663842
2021, October 2021

“My fellow Americans, the people of this nation have spoken. They have delivered us a clear victory. A convincing victory. A victory for "We the People." We have won with the most votes ever cast for a presidential ticket in the history of this nation — 74 million. I am humbled by the trust and confidence you have placed in me. I pledge to be a President who seeks not to divide, but to unify. Who doesn't see Red and Blue states, but a United States. And who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people.For that is what America is about: The people. And that is what our Administration will be about.I sought this office to restore the soul of America. To rebuild the backbone of the nation — the middle class. To make America respected around the world again and to unite us here at home. It is the honor of my lifetime that so many millions of Americans have voted for this vision. And now the work of making this vision real is the task of our time.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

2020, November 2020, Victory speech as US President-elect

Home , Soul , History , Confidence

“Dream no small dream; it lacks magic. Dream large. Then make the dream real.”

Donald Wills Douglas Sr. (1892–1981) American businessman

Dreams

“Surrealism is only trying to rejoin the most durable traditions of mankind. Among the primitive peoples art always goes beyond what is conventionally and arbitrarily called the 'real.”

André Breton (1896–1966) French writer

The natives of the Northwest Pacific coast, the Pueblos, New Guinea, New Ireland, the Marquesas, among others, have made 'objets' [in the Collections of Max Ernst, C. Levy-Strauss, Andre Breton, Pierre Matisse, Carlbach, Segredakis] which Surrealists particularly appreciate.
Quote of 1942, in the introduction of the Catalog 'First papers of surrealism: hanging by André Breton, his twine Marcel Duchamp'; exhibition at the Coordinating Council of French Relief Societies, Inc., New York, Oct. 14-Nov. 7, 1942
after 1930

People , Art