Quotes about stay
page 20

Jenny Lewis photo

“Time, you old gipsy man,
Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
Just for one day?”

Ralph Hodgson (1871–1962) British writer

"Time, You Old Gipsy Man", p. 4.
Poems (1917)

Mike Huckabee photo

“I think there were a lot of Christian people who simply stayed home for reasons that I can't figure out. But I think every time we lose major elections or major issues like the same-sex marriage issue or the marijuana issue, it's because Christians just didn't show up and vote.I lay the blame though at the feet of those who sit faithfully in church each Sunday; they probably heard their pastor talk about the importance of this election and how so much was on the line, and yet maybe because they just didn't want to bother with having to stand in line at an election polling place, they just didn't go vote. And we're going to pay dearly for that.If I were Cardinal Dolan or any of the Catholic bishops or priests, I would certainly be very frustrated and discouraged and wonder why aren't they understanding that if they join a church and belong to it, why would they not respect its teachings as having validity. It's one thing to say "well, I can't agree with everything" although I'm not sure why you'd join a church if you dismiss it. But to be openly contemptuous of its teaching and doctrine, it's something I can't understand.”

Mike Huckabee (1955) Arkansas politician

Focus on the Family radio program http://www.focusonthefamily.com/radio.aspx?ID={D560C7FD-E01C-4B76-845E-9B5C2FCD3A34}, , quoted in [2012-11-08, Huckabee: Any Time We Lose 'It's Because Christians Just Didn't Show Up and Vote', Kyle, Mantyla, Right Wing Watch, http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/huckabee-any-time-we-lose-its-because-christians-just-didnt-show-and-vote, 2012-11-09]

Dana Rohrabacher photo

“The American people, through the 35 states that have liberalized laws banning either medical marijuana, marijuana in general, or cannabinoid oils, have made it clear that federal enforcers should stay out of their personal lives. It’s time for restraint of the federal government’s over-aggressive weed warriors.”

Dana Rohrabacher (1947) American politician

"O.C. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher trying again with bill protecting state marijuana laws", The Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rohrabacher-659189-laws-state.html (April 23, 2015)

Joakim Noah photo

“I don't know about this place, man. I just stayed in my hotel room, man. Every time I look out my window, it's pretty depressing out here, man. It's bad, it's bad. No. No going out in Cleveland, man. It's all factories.”

Joakim Noah (1985) American–French basketball player

About the City of Cleveland, interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN0WqSeCKW8 (2010), TNT

Kent Hovind photo

“In many if not most cases, Cuban players haven’t been busts so much as they’ve been systematically over-hyped during the signing process, which led to unrealistic expectations around Major League Baseball and in the media. The vast majority of Cuba’s truly elite players have either stayed in Cuba for their entire careers or left Cuba too late to have a meaningful MLB career.”

Joe Kehoskie (1973) American baseball agent

On the success rate and perception of Cuban baseball defectors in MLB, from the Miami Herald article "Yoenis Cespedes may be the great unknown for Miami Marlins" http://web.archive.org/web/20120218180037/http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/12/v-fullstory/2636817/yoenis-cespedes-may-be-the-great.html by Clark Spencer (12 February 2012)

Anne Morrow Lindbergh photo
Louisa May Alcott photo
Gillian Anderson photo

“Above anything else, stay true to yourself. Whether that means for you that you like to have blue hair, or you don't like to drink, or you are attracted to the same sex, or you want to remove yourself from Facebook, or you've got 3 different kids from 3 different dads but you know you're a really good mom, or you cry for a week because your turtle died. Whatever your truth is, stay true to yourself. But be a good person while you're at it.”

Gillian Anderson (1968) American-British film, television and theatre actress, activist and writer

When asked what advice would she give young feminist — Reddit "Sunday morning with Gillian Anderson. Grab a cup of coffee and A Vision of Fire. AMA." https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2j12o1/sunday_morning_with_gillian_anderson_grab_a_cup#cl7c2ps (October 12, 2014)
2010s

James A. Michener photo
Lew Wasserman photo

“No interviews. No panels. No speeches. No comments," he [Wasserman] ordered his agents. "Stay out of the spotlight. It fades your suit.”

Lew Wasserman (1913–2002) American studio executive and talent agent

Quoted by Kathleen Sharp, Mr. & Mrs. Hollywood: Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire, New York: Carroll & Graf, 2003, ISBN 0-7867-1220-1

Lyndon B. Johnson photo

“Johnson: What do you think about this Vietnam thing? I’d like to hear you talk a little bit.
Russell: Well, frankly, Mr. President, it’s the damn worse mess that I ever saw, and I don’t like to brag and I never have been right many times in my life, but I knew that we were going to get into this sort of mess when we went in there. And I don’t see how we’re ever going to get out of it without fighting a major war with the Chinese and all of them down there in those rice paddies and jungles. I just don’t see it. I just don’t know what to do.
Johnson: Well, that’s the way I have been feeling for six months.
Russell: Our position is deteriorating and it looks like the more we try to do for them, the less they are willing to do for themselves. It is a mess and it’s going to get worse, and I don’t know how or what to do. I don’t think the American people are quite ready for us to send our troops in there to do the fighting. If I was going to get out, I’d get the same crowd that got rid of old Diem [the Vietnamese prime minister who was overthrown and assassinated in 1963] to get rid of these people and to get some fellow in there that said we wish to hell we would get out. That would give us a good excuse for getting out.
Johnson: How important is it to us?
Russell: It isn’t important a damn bit for all this new missile stuff.
Johnson: I guess it is important.
Russell: From a psychological standpoint. Other than the question of our word and saving face, that’s the reason that I said that I don’t think that anybody would expect us to stay in there. It’s going to be a headache to anybody that tries to fool with it. You’ve got all the brains in the country, Mr. President—you better get ahold of them. I don’t know what to do about this. I saw it all coming on, but that don’t do any good now, that’s water over the dam and under the bridge. And we are there.”

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) American politician, 36th president of the United States (in office from 1963 to 1969)

1960s, Telephone call with Senator Richard Russell (May 27, 1964)

Stanley Holloway photo

“Sam, Sam, pick oop the musket,'
Said Captain, for strictness renowned.
Sam said 'He knocked it doon, reason he picks it oop,
or it stays where it is, on the ground.”

Stanley Holloway (1890–1982) English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist

Sam, Sam, Pick Oop Tha' Musket

Kurt Schwitters photo
River Phoenix photo
Louisa May Alcott photo

“How do you do it? How do you stay so strong?”

"I fake it."
Source: Drenai series, The King Beyond the Gate, Ch. 22

Emil M. Cioran photo

“An anxious man constructs his terrors, then installs himself within them: a stay-at-home in a yawning chasm.”

Emil M. Cioran (1911–1995) Romanian philosopher and essayist

The New Gods (1969)

Ariel Sharon photo

“Everybody has to move; run and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements, because everything we take now will stay ours. Everything we don't grab will go to them.”

Ariel Sharon (1928–2014) prime minister of Israel and Israeli general

Stated in 1998, New York Times ( online https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/09/01/negotiating-with-the-israeli-settlers/no-chance-of-peace-with-settlements-around).
1990s

Sai Baba of Shirdi photo

“As threats went, it was not subtle, nor was it original. But it was one of those things that had stayed around because it tended to work.”

Sarah Zettel (1966) American writer

Source: Bitter Angels (2009), Chapter 19 (p. 246)

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi photo
Otis Redding photo
Harlan F. Stone photo
Pierre-Auguste Renoir photo
Nick Drake photo
Peter Sloterdijk photo
Ursula K. Le Guin photo
Scott Jurek photo
Michael Jordan photo
Daniel Handler photo
Sonny Bill Williams photo

“I feel like I am on the right path now. It has helped me with my confidence on the sporting field and with my self-belief, but outside of sport my life is a lot smoother too. Like everyone, I have my faults and I veer off the path sometimes, but my faith helps me get back on it and to stay being a good person. I am a lot happier now in my own skin.”

Sonny Bill Williams (1985) New Zealand rugby player and heavyweight boxer

Williams on his Muslim faith. Sonny Bill Williams, the contender http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/the-contender/story-e6frg8h6-1226586019500, by Greg Bearup, The Australian, dated 2 March 2013.

Jose Peralta photo

“We are working tirelessly to make sure our immigrant communities stay vibrant. They are the very fabric of our society, a staple of who we are as a city, as a state, as a nation.”

Jose Peralta (1971–2018) American politician

http://muslimcommunityreport.com/2017/04/23/idc-immigration-forum-in-queens/ Immigration Forum in Queens
April 19th, 2017

Nancy Peters photo
Bill Clinton photo
Angelina Jolie photo

“I was horrified by the attacks against her, [but] Madonna knew the situation in Malawi, where he was born. In that country, there isn't really a legal framework for adopting. Personally, I prefer to stay on the side of the law.”

Angelina Jolie (1975) American actress, film director, and screenwriter

"Jolie shocked by Madonna attacks" Reuters report, via CNN.com (8 January 2007) http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/08/jolie.madonna.reut/index.html

Richard Rodríguez photo
Yanni photo

“The engaged mind stays sharp and retains tremendous capacity.”

Yanni (1954) Greek pianist, keyboardist, composer, and music producer

Yanni in Words. Miramax Books. Co-author David Rensin

Johnny Cash photo
Brian W. Aldiss photo
Joe Frazier photo

“I had a job to do in the ring, and the businessmen around me had a job to do outside the ring, I did my job by beating up most of the guys they put in front of me and staying in shape, but the people I trusted didn’t do their jobs.”

Joe Frazier (1944–2011) American boxer

Frazier talking about how the people he trusted took advantage of him. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/18/sports/othersports/18frazier.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5090&en=a3509c26258f5380&ex=1318824000&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Jean-François Millet photo
Yogi Adityanath photo

“Sun has never deprived anyone of its light and energy irrespective of their caste and religion. Despite this, if it is being linked to communalism then I request such people to stay in their rooms during the day without sunlight.”

Yogi Adityanath (1972) Indian politician

On religious groups claiming that Surya Namaskar would cause communal disharmony, as quoted in "People opposed to 'Surya Namaskar' should lock themselves in 'dark room': Yogi Adityanath" http://zeenews.india.com/news/india/people-opposed-to-surya-namaskar-should-lock-themselves-in-dark-room-yogi-adityanath_1610111.html, Zee News (9 June 2015).

Lupe Fiasco photo

“But don't forget the blessing is in the struggle. The Most Forgiving will forgive it if you stay repentant and hustle.”

Lupe Fiasco (1982) rapper

Mixtapes, Fahrenheit 1/15 Part I: The Truth Is Among Us (2006)

Holly Johnson photo
Nigel Farage photo

“Once again, I challenge the Prime Minister to have an open debate with me on why he believes we must stay part of this failing, corrupt EU. The future of our nation is at stake. Mr Cameron, you have my phone number.”

Nigel Farage (1964) British politician and former commodity broker

Quote by Nigel Farage on an article written by himself in the Telegraph, 6 July 2012. The time will never be right for David Cameron to hold a referendum on the EU. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/9378567/The-time-will-never-be-right-for-David-Cameron-to-hold-a-referendum-on-the-EU.html
2012

Conor Oberst photo

“Everything must belong somewhere.
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here.”

Conor Oberst (1980) American musician

I Must Belong Somewhere
Cassadaga (2007)

Robert Frost photo
Imre Lakatos photo
Loudon Wainwright III photo

“There are a lot of grown ups who, should be sent up to their rooms, and told they must stay there, until they learn they can play fair.”

Dawud Wharnsby (1972) Canadian musician

"Hi Neigbour, Salam Neighbour"
For Whom The Troubadour Sings (2010)

Alexander Ovechkin photo
Syed Ahmad Barelvi photo

“Barelvi’s confidence in a jihad against the British collapsed when he surveyed the extent and the magnitude of British power in India. He did the next best under the circumstances, and declared a jihad against the Sikh power in the Punjab, Kashmir and the North-West Frontier. The British on their part welcomed this change and permitted Barelvi to travel towards the border of Afghanistan at a leisurely pace, collecting money and manpower along the way. It was during this journey that Barelvi stayed with or met several Hindu princes, feigned that his fulminations against the Sikhs were a fake, and that he was going out of India in order to establish a base for fighting against the British. It is surmised that some Hindu princes took him at his word, and gave him financial help. To the Muslim princes, however, he told the truth, namely, that he was up against the Sikhs because they “do not allow the call to prayer from mosques and the killing of cows.”
Barelvi set up his base in the North-West Frontier near Afghanistan. The active assistance he expected from the Afghan king did not materialise because that country was in a mess at that time. But the British connived at the constant flow not only of a sizable manpower but also of a lot of finance. Muslim magnates in India were helping him to the hilt. His basic strategy was to conquer Kashmir before launching his major offensive against the Punjab. But he met with very little success in that direction in spite of several attempts. Finally, he met his Waterloo in 1831 when the Sikhs under Kunwar Sher Singh stormed his citadel at Balakot. The great mujahid fell in the very first battle he ever fought. His corpse along with that of his second in command was burnt, and the ashes were scattered in the winds. Muslims hail him as a shahid.”

Syed Ahmad Barelvi (1786–1831) Muslim activist

Goel, S. R. (1995). Muslim separatism: Causes and consequences.

Patrick Buchanan photo

“Starting with the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, this flattering of Muslims by praising Islam culminated in Mahatma Gandhi’s sarva-dharma-samabhava - the opiate which lulled the Hindus into a deep slumber such as they had never known vis-à-vis Muslim aggression…. Anyone who questioned the pious proposition that the Quran was as good as the Vedas and the Puranas, ran the risk of being nailed down as an “enemy of communal harmony”….. That part of the “Muslim minority” which had voted for Pakistan but had chosen to stay in India, restarted the old game when India was proclaimed a secular state pledged to freedom of propagation for all religions. It revived its tried and tested trick of masquerading as a “poor and persecuted minority”. It cooked up any number of Pirpur Reports. The wail went up that the “lives, liberties and honour of the Muslims were not safe” in India, in spite of India’s “secular pretensions”. At the same time, street riots were staged on every possible pretext. The “communal situation” started becoming critical once again. …. And once again, the political leadership came out with a make-belief. The big-wigs from all political parties were collected in a “National Integration Council”. It was pointed out by the leftist professors that the major cause of “communal trouble” was the “bad habit” of living in the past on the part of “our people”. Most of the politicians knew no history and no religion for that matter. They all agreed with one voice that Indian history, particularly that of the “medieval Muslim period”, should be re-written. That, they pleaded, was the royal road to “national integration.””

The Calcutta Quran Petition (1986)

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti photo

“We had stayed up all night — my friends and I — beneath mosque lamps hanging from the ceiling. Their brass domes were filigreed, starred like our souls; just as, again like our souls, they were illuminated by the imprisoned brilliance of an electric heart. On the opulent oriental rugs, we had crushed our ancestral lethargy, arguing all the way to the final frontiers of logic and blackening reams of paper with delirious writings.”

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944) Italian poet and editor, founder of the Futurist movement

Original Italian text:
Avevamo vegliato tutta la notte  —  i miei amici ed io  —  sotto lampade di moschea dalle cupole di ottone traforato, stellate come le nostre anime, perchè come queste irradiate dal chiuso fulgòre di un cuore elettrico. Avevamo lungamente calpestata su opulenti tappeti orientali la nostra atavica accidia, discutendo davanti ai confini estremi della logica ed annerendo molta carta di frenetiche scritture.
Source: 1900's, The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism' 1909, p. 49 Lead paragraph

Alesha Dixon photo

“When you are knocked down you have two choices - stay down or get back up, stronger.”

Alesha Dixon (1978) English singer, dancer, rapper, model and television presenter

Alesha Dixon cited in Exclusive Interview with: Alesha Dixon http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/the-ticket/2009/05/exclusive-interview-with-alesh.html" at blog.mirror.co.uk, 8 May 2009

Ryan Adams photo

“I want a church I can stay in for years. I don't want surprises, scandals, or secrets from my church leaders.”

Ted Haggard (1956) American minister

[Haggard, Ted, Dog Training, Fly Fishing, And Sharing Christ In The 21st Century: Empowering Your Church To Build Community Through Shared Interests, Nelson Books, May 14, 2002, p. 9, ISBN 0785265147]

Marsden Hartley photo

“They [The Mason family where Hartley stayed 1935 - 1941] maintain an enviable balance between the material & spiritual worlds (so) they symbolize for me the term ideal.”

Marsden Hartley (1877–1943) American artist

Quote of Hartley in his letter to Adelaide Kuntz, September 9, 1936; as cited in Marsden Hartley, by Gail R. Scott, Abbeville Publishers, Cross River Press, 1988, New York p. 124-125
1931 - 1943

Francis Bacon photo

“Sir Amice Pawlet, when he saw too much haste made in any matter, was wont to say. "Stay a while, that we may make an end the sooner."”

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

No. 76
Apophthegms (1624)

Donald J. Trump photo

“Donald Trump: Now, he's supposed to look like Donald Trump, but he's actually much too good looking. [to toddler] You are really handsome… Do you want to go back to [your parents] or do you want to stay with Donald Trump?
Toddler: Trump.”

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

Little Trump Look-Alike Comes on Stage with Donald in Wilkes-Barre 10/10/16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snou8qrElnM, Right Side Broadcasting, YouTube. Quoted in "Donald Trump Meets His Mini-Me at Pennsylvania Rally" http://people.com/politics/donald-trump-meets-his-mini-me-at-pennsylvania-rally/ by Dave Quinn, People.com (October 11, 2016).
2010s, 2016, October

Jason Mewes photo
George S. Patton IV photo
Damien Hirst photo
Ethan Nadelmann photo
Richard Burton photo

“I'm afraid we are temporarily out in the cold, and fallen stars. What is remarkable is that we have stayed up there for so long.”

Richard Burton (1925–1984) Welsh actor

In "Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: The Love Letters. How drinking cocooned them from pressure of fame. Without it, they couldn't even make love."
The reason for this was the low-budget movies made by new kids on the block that were making money.

John Knox photo
Jeanette Winterson photo

“To avoid discovery I stay on the run. To discover things for myself I stay on the run.”

Jeanette Winterson (1959) English writer

The Powerbook (2000)

George D. Herron photo
Edmund White photo
Peter Medawar photo
Merle Haggard photo

“I've lived through 17 stays in penal institutions. Incarceration in a penitentiary. Five marriages, a bankruptcy, a broken back, brawls, shooting incidents, swindlings, sickness, the death of loved ones and more. I've heard tens of thousands chant my name when I couldn't hear the voice of my own soul. I wondered if God was listening and I was sure no one else was.”

Merle Haggard (1937–2016) American country music song writer, singer and musician

Sing Me Back Home (1981), co-written with Peggy Russell; also quoted in "Country Legend Merle Haggard Dies At 79" at NPR (6 April 2016) http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2016/04/06/473260432/country-legend-merle-haggard-dies-at-79

Roger Manganelli photo
Hillary Clinton photo

“…freedom is never granted. It is earned by each generation… in the face of tyranny, cruelty, oppression, extremism, sometimes there is only one choice. When the world looks to America, America looks to you, and you never let her down… I have never lost faith in America's essential goodness and greatness… I have 35 years of experience, fighting for real change… the American people and our American military cannot want freedom and stability for the Iraqis more than they want it for themselves… we should have stayed focused on wiping out the Taliban and finding, killing, capturing bin Laden and his chief lieutenants… I also made a full commitment to martial American power, resources and values in the global fight against these terrorists. That begins with ensuring that America does have the world's strongest and smartest military force. We've begun to change tactics in Iraq, and in some areas, particularly in Al Anbar province, it's working… We can't be fighting the last war. We have to be preparing to fight the new war… We've got to be prepared to maintain the best fighting force in the world. I propose increasing the size of our Army by 80,000 soldiers, balancing the legacy systems with newer programs to help us keep our technological edge… I'm fighting for a Cold War medal for everyone who served our country during the Cold War, because you were on the front lines of battling communism. Well, now we're on the front lines of battling terrorism, extremism, and we have to win. Our commitment to freedom, to tolerance, to economic opportunity has inspired people around the world… American values are not just about America, but they speak to the human dignity, the God-given spark that resides in each and every person across the world… We are a good and great nation.”

Hillary Clinton (1947) American politician, senator, Secretary of State, First Lady

Remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Kansas City, Missouri, August 20, 2007 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/08/21/clinton-iraq-tactics-wo_n_61272.html
Presidential campaign (January 20, 2007 – 2008)

Niall Ferguson photo

“I have come one step away from everything and here I stay, far from everything, one step away.”

Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet

He llegado a un paso de todo. Y aquí me quedo, lejos de todo, un paso.
Voces (1943)

Charles Dickens photo
Neil deGrasse Tyson photo
Will Cuppy photo
Charlotte Salomon photo

“Fashion drawing teacher: 'Yes, drawing is a difficult art. One has to have some talent for it - and unfortunately you haven't.
Charlotte: 'No, I refuse to stay here with this stupid old cow, where through the dirty window even the sun's bright ray can only dimly play... Only he who dares can win. Only he who dares can begin.”

Charlotte Salomon (1917–1943) German painter

written text with brush, in her paintings JHM no. 4334 https://charlotte.jck.nl/detail/M004334/part/character/theme/keyword + 4335 https://charlotte.jck.nl/detail/M004335: in 'Life? or Theater..', p. 222-223
Charlotte Salomon - Life? or Theater?

Sauli Niinistö photo

“Do we have to let every tree stay up and rot in the way that all our forests will turn into impassable thickets that are nicely called virgin forests? And just in order to ensure that every furniture beetle and cockroach can live a diverse and happy life. We the Finns are close to nature but why would we conserve so much that we run out of bread?”

Sauli Niinistö (1948) 12th president of Finland

Niinistö, the leader of the National Coalition Party, criticised the Natura 2000 environmental protection programme on 17 May 1997.
Source: Niinistö haukkui Natura 2000 -ohjelman "Miksi suojelisimme leivän suustamme?" http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000003625116.html Helsingin Sanomat. 18 May 1997. Retrieved 13 July 2017.

Włodzimierz Ptak photo
Amir Taheri photo

“De Bellaigue is at pains to portray Mossadegh as — in the words of the jacket copy — “one of the first liberals of the Middle East, a man whose conception of liberty was as sophisticated as any in Europe or America.” But the trouble is, there is nothing in Mossadegh’s career — spanning half a century, as provincial governor, cabinet minister, and finally prime minister — to portray him as even remotely a lover of liberty. De Bellaigue quotes Mossadegh as saying that a trusted leader is “that person whose every word is accepted and followed by the people.” To which de Bellaigue adds: “His understanding of democracy would always be coloured by traditional ideas of Muslim leadership, whereby the community chooses a man of outstanding virtue and follows him wherever he takes them.” Word for word, that could have been the late Ayatollah Khomeini’s definition of a true leader. Mossadegh also made a habit of appearing in his street meetings with a copy of the Koran in hand. According to de Bellaigue, Mossadegh liked to say that “anyone forgetting Islam is base and dishonourable, and should be killed.” During his premiership, Mossadegh demonstrated his dictatorial tendency to the full: Not once did he hold a full meeting of the council of ministers, ignoring the constitutional rule of collective responsibility. He dissolved the senate, the second chamber of the Iranian parliament, and shut down the Majlis, the lower house. He suspended a general election before all the seats had been decided and chose to rule with absolute power. He disbanded the high council of national currency and dismissed the supreme court. During much of his tenure, Tehran lived under a curfew while hundreds of his opponents were imprisoned. Toward the end of his premiership, almost all of his friends and allies had broken with him. Some even wrote to the secretary general of the United Nations to intervene to end Mossadegh’s dictatorship. But was Mossadegh a man of the people, as de Bellaigue portrays him? Again, the author’s own account provides a different picture. A landowning prince and the great-great-grandson of a Qajar king, Mossadegh belonged to the so-called thousand families who owned Iran. He and all his children were able to undertake expensive studies in Switzerland and France. The children had French nannies and, when they fell sick, were sent to Paris or Geneva for treatment. (De Bellaigue even insinuates that Mossadegh might have had a French sweetheart, although that is improbable.) On the one occasion when Mossadegh was sent to internal exile, he took with him a whole retinue, including his cook… As a model of patriotism, too, Mossadegh is unconvincing. According to his own memoirs, at the end of his law studies in Switzerland, he had decided to stay there and acquire Swiss citizenship. He changed his mind when he was told that he would have to wait ten years for that privilege. At the same time, Farmanfarma secured a “good post” for him in Iran, tempting him back home.”

Amir Taheri (1942) Iranian journalist

"Myths of Mossadegh" https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/302213/myths-mossadegh/page/0/1, National Review (June 25, 2012).

Yoweri Museveni photo

“Some people think that being in government for a long time is a bad thing. But the more you stay, the more you learn. I am now an expert in governance.”

Yoweri Museveni (1944) President of Uganda

As quoted in "Pressure builds for change" https://web.archive.org/web/201204251111/http://www.global-briefing.org/2012/04/pressure-builds-for-change/ (April 2012), by Benon Herbert Oluka, Global: The International Briefing
2010s

Daniel Dennett photo

“[W]hat good to us is the gods' knowledge if we can't get it from them? How could one communicate with the gods? Our ancestors (while they were alive!) stumbled on an extremely ingenious solution: divination.

We all know how hard it is to make the major decisions of life: should I hang tough or admit my transgression, should I move or stay in my present position, should I go to war or not, should I follow my heart or my head? We still haven't figured out any satisfactory systematic way of deciding these things. Anything that can relieve the burden of figuring out how to make these hard calls is bound to be an attractive idea.

Consider flipping a coin, for instance. Why do we do it? To take away the burden of having to find a reason for choosing A over B. We like to have reasons for what we do, but sometimes nothing sufficiently persuasive comes to mind, and we recognize that we have to decide soon, so we concoct a little gadget, an external thing that will make the decision for us. But if the decision is about something momentous, like whether to go to war, or marry, or confess, anything like flipping a coin would be just too, well, flippant.

In such a case, choosing for no good reason would be too obviously a sign of incompetence, and, besides, if the decision is really that important, once the coin has landed you'll have to confront the further choice: should you honor your just-avowed commitment to be bound by the flip of the coin, or should you reconsider? Faced with such quandaries, we recognize the need for some treatment stronger than a coin flip. Something more ceremonial, more impressive, like divination, which not only tells you what to do, but gives you a reason (if you squint just right and use your imagination).

Scholars have uncovered a comically variegated profusion of ancient ways of delegating important decisions to uncontrollable externalities. Instead of flipping a coin, you can flip arrows (belomancy) or rods (rhabdomancy) or bones or cards (sortilege), and instead of looking at tea leaves (tasseography), you can examine the livers of sacrificed animals (hepatoscopy) or other entrails (haruspicy) or melted wax poured into water (ceroscopy). Then there is moleosophy (divination by blemishes), myomancy (divination by rodent behavior), nephomancy (divination by clouds), and of course the old favorites, numerology and astrology, among dozens of others.”

Breaking the Spell (2006)

Benjamin Franklin photo
Jean Baudrillard photo
Colin Wilson photo
Muhammad bin Qasim photo

“Muhammad took the fort [of Rawar] and stayed there for two or three days. He put six thousand fighting men, who were in the fort, to the sword, and shot some with arrows. The other dependents and servants were taken prisoners, with their wives and children… When the number of the prisoners was calculated, it was found to amount to thirty thousand persons, amongst whom thirty were the daughters of chiefs, and one of them was Rai Dahir's sister's daughter, whose name was Jaisiya. They were sent to Hajjaj. The head of Dahir and the fifth part of the prisoners were forwarded in charge of Ka'ab, son of Mharak. When the head of Dahir, the women, and the property all reached Hajjaj, he prostrated himself before Allah, offered thanksgivings and praises… Hajjaj then forwarded the head, the umbrellas, and wealth, and the prisoners to Walid the Khalifa. When the Khalifa of the time had read the letter, he praised Almighty Allah. He sold some of those daughters of the chiefs, and some he granted as rewards. When he saw the daughter of Rai Dahir’s sister he was much struck with her beauty and charms, and began to bite his finger with astonishment…. It is said that after the conquest was effected and the affairs of the country were settled and the report of the conquest had reached Hajjaj, he sent a reply to the following effect. 'O my cousin! I received your life-inspiring letter. I was much pleased and overjoyed when it reached me. The events were recounted in an excellent and beautiful style, and I learnt that the ways and rules you follow are conformable to the Law. Except that you give protection to all, great and small alike, and make no difference between enemy and friend. God says, - Give no quarter to Infidels, but cut their throats. Then know that this is the command of the great God [Allah]. You shall not be too ready to grant protection, because it will prolong your work. After this, give no quarter to any enemy except to those who are of rank.”

Muhammad bin Qasim (695–715) Umayyad general

The Chach Nama, in: Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, Volume I, p. 172-173. Also partially quoted in B.R. Ambedkar, Pakistan or The Partition of India (1946)
Quotes from The Chach Nama