Quotes about thing page 54
Ally Carter (1974) American writer
Source: Uncommon Criminals
“Important things are inevitably cliché.”
Chuck Klosterman book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs (2003)
Source: Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
“All my life, my heart has sought a thing I cannot name.
Remembered line from a long-
forgotten poem”
Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) American journalist and author
Source: Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga
Ilchi Lee (1950) South Korean businessman
Source: LifeParticle Meditation: A Practical Guide to Healing and Transformation
“One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.”
George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States
“The bad things can't matter more than the good things”
Cassandra Clare book Lord of Shadows
Source: Lord of Shadows
“Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
Toni Morrison book Beloved
Source: Beloved (1987), Ch. 9
Context: Bit by bit, at 124 and in the Clearing, along with others, she had claimed herself. Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and the human stupidity.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
As discussed in this entry from The Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/04/universe-einstein/#more-173, the earliest published attribution of a similar quote to Einstein seems to have been in Gestalt therapist Frederick S. Perls' 1969 book Gestalt Theory Verbatim, where he wrote on p. 33: "As Albert Einstein once said to me: 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity.' But what is much more widespread than the actual stupidity is the playing stupid, turning off your ear, not listening, not seeing." Perls also offered another variant in his 1972 book In and Out the Garbage Pail, where he mentioned a meeting with Einstein and on p. 52 http://books.google.com/books?id=HuxFAAAAYAAJ&q=human+stupidity#search_anchor quoted him saying: "Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I am not yet completely sure about the universe." However, Perls had given yet another variant of this quote in an earlier book, Ego, Hunger, and Aggression: a Revision of Freud’s Theory and Method (originally published 1942, although the Quote Investigator only checked that the quote appeared in the 1947 edition), where he attributed it not to Einstein but to a "great astronomer", writing: "As modern times promote hasty eating to a large extent, it is not surprising to learn that a great astronomer said: 'Two things are infinite, as far as we know – the universe and human stupidity.' To-day we know that this statement is not quite correct. Einstein has proved that the universe is limited." So, the later attributions in 1969 and 1972 may have been a case of faulty memory, or of intentionally trying to increase the authority of the quote by attributing it to Einstein. The quote itself may be a variant of a similar quote attributed even earlier to the philosopher Ernest Renan, found for example in The Public: Volume 18 from 1915, which says on p. 1126 http://books.google.com/books?id=cTPmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1126#v=onepage&q&f=false: "He quotes the saying of Renan: it isn't the stars that give him an idea of infinity; it is man's stupidity." (Other examples of similar attributions to Renan can be found on this Google Books search http://www.google.com/search?q=renan+infinity+stupidity&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1.) Renan was French so this is presumably intended as a translation, but different sources give different versions of the supposed original French quote, such as "La bêtise humaine est la seule chose qui donne une idée de l'infini" (found for example in Réflexions sur la vie, 1895-1898 by Remy de Gourmont from 1903, p. 103 http://books.google.com/books?id=RtrtAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA103#v=onepage&q&f=false, along with several other early sources as seen in this search http://www.google.com/search?q=%22humaine+est+la+seule+chose+qui%22+renan&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1) and "Ce n'est pas l'immensité de la voûte étoilée qui peut donner le plus complétement l'idée de l'infini, mais bien la bêtise humaine!" (found in Broad views, Volume 2 from 1904, p. 465 http://books.google.com/books?id=9NEaAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA465#v=onepage&q&f=false). Since these variants have not been found in Renan's own writings, they may represent false attributions as well. They may also be variants of an even older saying; for example, the 1880 book Des vers by Guy de Maupassant includes on p. 9 http://books.google.com/books?id=cQUvAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP21#v=onepage&q&f=false a quote from a letter (dated February 19, 1880) by Gustave Flaubert where Flaubert writes "Cependant, qui sait? La terre a des limites, mais la bêtise humaine est infinie!" which translates to "But who knows? The earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is infinite!" Similarly the 1887 book Melanges by Jules-Paul Tardivel includes on p. 273 http://books.google.com/books?id=n9cOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA273#v=onepage&q&f=false a piece said to have been written in 1880 in which he writes "Aujourd'hui je sais qu'il n'y a pas de limites à la bêtise humaine, qu'elle est infinie" which translates to "today I know that there is no limit to human stupidity, it is infinite." <br class="br">Disputed <br class="br">Variant: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Earliest version located is in Technocracy digest: Issues 287–314 from 1988, p. 76 http://books.google.com/books?id=L7LnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22sure+about+the+former%22#search_anchor. Translated to German as: "Zwei Dinge sind unendlich: das Universum und die menschliche Dummheit. Aber beim Universum bin ich mir nicht ganz sicher." (Earliest version located is Arndt-Michael Meyer, Die Macht der Kürze, Books on Demand GmbH, 2004, p. 14 http://books.google.gr/books?id=12DW-RBKTW8C&pg=PA14&dq=%22Zwei+Dinge+sind+unendlich:+das+Universum+und+die+menschliche+%22+arnd&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gquJUsrYBomM7AapmYGgCQ&ved=0CC8Q6wEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Zwei%20Dinge%20sind%20unendlich%3A%20das%20Universum%20und%20die%20menschliche%20%22%20arnd&f=false.) <br class="br">Variant: Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
“Strange things conspire when one tries to cheat fate”
Rick Riordan book The Son of Neptune
Source: The Son of Neptune
“People always try to do the right thing.. after they've tried everything else.”
Tyler Perry (1966) American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, producer, author, and songwriter
“Badger hates Society, and invitations, and dinner, and all that sort of thing.”
Kenneth Grahame book The Wind in the Willows
Source: The Wind in the Willows (1908), Ch. 3
Markus Zusak book Fighting Ruben Wolfe
Variant: Do we spend most of our days trying to remember or to forget? Do we spend most of our time running towards or away from our lives?
Source: Fighting Ruben Wolfe
“His voice, even now, follows me everywhere on this longest of rides, this thing called life.”
Nicholas Sparks book The Longest Ride
Ira Levinson speaking about his father, Chapter 1 Ira, p. 2
Variant: we shared the longest ride together, this thing called life
Source: 2009, The Longest Ride (2013)
“The cruellest thing you can do to Kerouac is reread him at thirty-eight.”
Hanif Kureishi book The Buddha of Suburbia
Source: The Buddha of Suburbia
David Eddings book Belgarath the Sorcerer
Source: Belgarath the Sorcerer
“Why isn't life better designed so it warns you when terrible things are about to happen?”
Maggie O'Farrell (1972) British writer
Source: After You'd Gone
“who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you”
E.E. Cummings (1894–1962) American poet
Anthony Burgess book A Clockwork Orange
Variant: The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good, in order that moral choice may operate. Life is sustained by the grinding opposition of moral entities.
Source: A Clockwork Orange
Abigail Adams (1744–1818) 2nd First Lady of the United States (1797–1801)
Letter to Elizabeth Shaw (20 March 1791)
“Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill.”
Warren Buffett (1930) American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist
“There was no end to the ways in which nice things are nicer than nasty ones.”
Kingsley Amis book Lucky Jim
Source: Lucky Jim (1954)
“You see things less clearly when you open your eyes too wide.”
Italo Svevo book Zeno's Conscience
Source: Zeno's Conscience
“You'll hit gold more often if you simply try out a lot of things.”
Ira Glass (1959) American radio personality
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934) Hungarian American psychologist
Source: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Neil Strauss book The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
Source: The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
Jon Ronson (1967) British journalist, documentary filmmaker, radio presenter and nonfiction author
Source: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
“It's a wonderful thing to be able to create your own world whenever you want to.”
Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician
“It was all the things you could never understand and could never possess that made you ache.”
Deb Caletti (1963) American writer
Source: Stay
Diana Wynne Jones book Fire and Hemlock
Source: Fire and Hemlock (1985), p. 311.
Dorothy Day (1897–1980) Social activist
On Pilgrimage (1948)
Context: We are not expecting Utopia here on this earth. But God meant things to be much easier than we have made them. A man has a natural right to food, clothing, and shelter. A certain amount of goods is necessary to lead a good life. A family needs work as well as bread. Property is proper to man. We must keep repeating these things. Eternal life begins now. "All the way to heaven is heaven, because He said, "I am the Way." The cross is there, of course, but "in the cross is joy of spirit." And love makes all things easy.
Patricia Briggs (1965) American writer
Source: Dragon Blood
“Man must choose whether to be rich in things or in the freedom to use them.”
Ivan Illich (1926–2002) austrian philosopher and theologist
Danielle Steel (1947) American author of romance novels
“I
prefer to be the noisiest thing in my environment thank you very much.”
Rick Riordan book The Throne of Fire
Source: The Throne of Fire
“One of the best things you can relate to is a detailed story.”
Lisi Harrison (1970) Canadian writer
Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist
Source: Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
Source: Essays Including Essays, First & Second Series, English Traits, Nature & Considerations by the Way
Daniel Defoe La vie et les aventures de Robinson Crusoe
Source: Robinson Crusoe (1719), Ch. 6, Ill and Conscience-stricken.
Laura Amy Schlitz (1955) children's author
Source: The Hired Girl
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), History
Context: The difference between men is in their principle of association. Some men classify objects by color and size and other accidents of appearance; others by intrinsic likeness, or by the relation of cause and effect. The progress of the intellect is to the clearer vision of causes, which neglects surface differences. To the poet, to the philosopher, to the saint, all things are friendly and sacred, all events profitable, all days holy, all men divine. For the eye is fastened on the life, and slights the circumstance. Every chemical substance, every plant, every animal in its growth, teaches the unity of cause, the variety of appearance.
“Loneliness is about the scariest thing out there.”
Joss Whedon (1964) American director, writer, and producer for television and film
“I have a huge and savage conscience that won't let me get away with things.”
Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) American science fiction writer
“Oh, I'm not a percussionist, I just like to hit things.”
Tom Waits (1949) American singer-songwriter and actor
“Well, the first thing is that I love monsters, I identify with monsters.”
Guillermo del Toro (1964) Mexican film director
Source: The Monsters Of Hellboy II
“Aristotle's axiom: The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”
Laurence J. Peter (1919–1990) Canadian eductor
Source: Peter's People and Their Marvelous Ideas
“All good things in life are fragile and easily lost”
Khaled Hosseini book And the Mountains Echoed
Source: And the Mountains Echoed
“Maybe the hardest thing in writing is simply to tell the truth about things as we see them.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) American writer
Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) Spanish artist
quote of 1953; as cited in Smithsonian magazine.
Variants:
Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy — the joy of being Salvador Dalí — and I ask myself in rapture: What wonderful things is this Salvador Dalí going to accomplish today?
Every morning when I awake, the greatest of joys is mine: that of being Salvador Dalí.
Quotes of Salvador Dali, 1951 - 1960
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) English crime writer, playwright, essayist and Christian writer
Source: Catholic Tales and Christian Songs
Juliet Marillier book Wildwood Dancing
Variant: If a man has to say trust me, Gogu conveyed, it's a sure sign you cannot. Trust him, that is. Trust is a thing you know without words.
Source: Wildwood Dancing
Chuck Palahniuk book Choke
Variant: It’s pathetic how we can’t live with the things we can’t understand. How we need everything labeled and explained and deconstructed.
Source: Asfixia
“The way I see it, ignoring things is important.”
Jodi Lynn Anderson American children's writer
Source: Tiger Lily
