A Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with A. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“An ocean traveler has even more vividly the impression that the ocean is made of waves than that it is made of water.”
“An ocean which thinks there is nothing to learn from a lake is not a wise ocean!”
“An ocean without unnamed monsters would be like sleep without dreams.”
“An odd contradiction, if the layman were correct in his unconscious assumption that an artist begins with reality and ends with art: the converse is true - to the degree that this dichotomy has any truth - the artist begins with art, and through it arrives at reality.”
“An odd outlook on life is the beginning of good comedic writing.”
“An odd phrase, "by heart," he would add, as though poems were stored in the bloodstream.”
“An odd sensation rushed through her body. Her head grew light, and a peculiar pleasure imbued her mind. In the demon’s eyes a promise was held. Her days had been filled with misfortune; enduring adversity had made her tired. The lure was too enticing, and she followed. - Ch 2 The Darkness of Judith”
“An odd thing occurs in the minds of Americans when Indian civilization in mentioned: little or nothing.”
Source: The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions
“An odd thing souvenir-hunting: now becomes then even while it is still now.”
Source: The Blind Assassin
“An odd thing, souvenir-hunting: now becomes then even while it is still now. You don't really believe you're there, and so you nick the proof, or something you mistake for it.”
Source: The Blind Assassin
“An Ode to The Occupants of The Titan Sub
In the depths where everything is dark,
Nothing exists and one tends to lose every mark,
Of the reality that lies above,
And the memories of the ones you love,
Appear to float by like voluptuous sirens,
And you think of the benevolent Titans,
Then as the pressure mounts you hear a creaking sound,
Slowly building up inside the hollow chamber where now only fear does abound,
Then as your heart races and it does frantically pound,
You feel you are to an unknown and impending doom bound,
And you summon all your Gods in the form of your fears,
And you gauge the ferocity of all the snares,
Building from above, bottom, left and right,
It is then you hold your equally fearful companion’s hand tight,
And you remember all that you loved and those you still love,
But they are far up and above, and you are here in the abyss now,
Where darkness spreads endlessly and the creaking sound becomes louder,
And all of a sudden you feel you are hit by a titanic sized aqueous boulder,
Everything implodes, but only your heart and your memories explode,
As they surface on the horizon of perception and your loved ones rush to the abode,
Of the Gods where castles of prayers are erected,
Prayers rising from the heart that gods have not defected,
There they rush, and implore,
But the Titans become quieter and they think Gods too ignore,
The cries of the lamenting and remorseful heart,
But little do they know praying is not an art,
It is a feeling sublime and serene that arises from within,
And when expressed with sincerity in the universe its resonance does deepen,
And then Gods respond with care,
And they always say, “darling, there is nothing to fear.”
This sounds assuaging for many reasons, known and unknown,
And your kin and kith experience the familiarity in these consolations offered by the unknown,
And to the five departed adventurers of the deep sea,
I hope in their Heavenward journey, now they shall new wonders see,
And be the part of a greater adventure,
That I call the God’s enterprising venture,
As for the wonder of the abyss,
There shall always be someone who for its thrill would miss,
Anything and everything else,
Because if he/she doesn't, then he/she will be someone else,
That is why they dare to take on the Gods of the dark and deep,
Because human passion is something that into the soul does seep,
And unless tasted and confronted, this adventurer residing within the soul does not let him/her to sleep,
So let me wish the 5 adventurers all the best on their new journey,
Where there is no need for submersibles for in that world one attains natural buoyancy, and this too is one hell of a journey!
As for those woe struck loved ones still residing in the realm of gravity,
I hope they find assuaging moments in their thoughtful proclivity,
Where they notice the universe flowing through their departed and loved one,
Because every adventure is an expression of belief in love for someone,
That someone who does not fear the abyss,
That someone who dares to be the one, and never miss,
The adventures that await him/her in those unknown realms,
Where even the Titans sometimes bear signs of qualms,
There let us go and seek the knowledge that awaits to reveal itself,
Only if the adventurer believes in himself/herself,
And I think that is where all 5 adventurers can always be found,
In the realm of the Titans where knowledge does abound, where knowledge does abound!”
Source: They Loved in 2075!
“An Odonian’s goal is positive, not negative. Suffering is dysfunctional, except as a bodily warning against danger. Psychologically and socially it’s merely destructive.”
Source: The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
“an off-screen persona of Globally Conscious Earth Mother and an aggressive on-screen embodiment of Kali, Goddess of Destruction.”
“An offended audience member repeating a comedian's act from memory is worse than, literally, anything.”
“An offended heart is the breeding ground of deception.”
“An offended moral and, even worse, esthetic feeling often produces a most unappeasable resentment.”
Source: The Brothers Karamazov
“An offering for the sake of offering, perhaps. Anyhow, it was her gift. Nothing else had she of the slightest importance; could not think, write, even play the piano. She muddled Armenians and Turks; loved success; hated discomfort; must be liked; talked oceans of nonsense: and to this day, ask her what the Equator was, and she did not know.
All the same, that one day should follow another; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; that one should wake up in the morning; see the sky; walk in the park; meet Hugh Whitbread; then suddenly in came Peter; then these roses; it was enough. After that, how unbelievable death was!-that it must end; and no one in the whole world would know how she had loved it all; how, every instant . . .”
Source: Mrs. Dalloway
“An office boy in London was the lowest of the low. The office boy was the tea boy. He would be the dog's body: It means someone who would do anything at all. I was quite prepared for that and enjoyed it.”
“An office is a machine for dying.”
“An office is a place to... live life to the fullest. To the max. To... an office is a place where dreams come true.”
“An office party is not, as is sometimes supposed, the Managing Director's chance to kiss the tea-girl. It is the tea-girl's chance to kiss the Managing Director (however bizarre an ambition this may seem to anyone who has seen the Managing Director face on).”
“An officer arrives twice a day to hang a pail of something whitish and congealed inside her cell. Grits, Juniper thinks, or the aggrieved ghost a grit might leave behind if it was murdered in cold blood.”
Source: The Once and Future Witches
“An officer had stepped forward on the other ship, and though it was difficult to hear his words from their distant position, Ari could sense that he was making some kind of demand. She watched Margeaux’s shoulders shift. Was she tensing in fear? Preparing for combat? The captain tilted her head to the side and Ari saw her lips curl, flashing bright white teeth. She was laughing.”
Source: A Vision in Smoke
“An officer may have many subordinates to do these jobs, but a leader must be able to fend for himself or herself. I wholeheartedly agree with this philosophy. It enables an officer to lead from the front if the need arises and helps instil a sense of respect within the rank and file.”
Source: Madam Sir: The Story of Bihar’s First Woman IPS Officer
“An officer put me in my place from the first moment.
I was standing by the billiard-table and in my ignorance blocking up the way, and he wanted to pass; he took me by the shoulders and without a word--without a warning or explanation--moved me from where I was standing to another spot and passed by as though he had not noticed me. I could have forgiven blows, but I could not forgive his having moved me without noticing me.”
Source: Notes from Underground
“An officer should never speak ironically or sarcastically to an enlisted man, since the latter does not have a fair chance to answer back. The use of profanity and epithets comes under the same headings. The best argument for a man keeping his temper is that nobody else wants it; and when he voluntary throws it away, he loses a main prop to his own position.”
“An official man is always an official man, and has a wild belief in the value of Reports.”
“An official statement from Liverpool raised the spectre of a future where 'a club's rival can bring about a significant ban for a top player without anything beyond an accusation'. But on hearing this, many Manchester United fans would have been asking for a definition of the word 'rival'.”
“an official with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission learned I was writing about specialization and contacted me to make sure I knew that specialization had played a critical role in the 2008 global financial crisis. “Insurance regulators regulated insurance, bank regulators regulated banks, securities regulators regulated securities, and consumer regulators regulated consumers,” the official told me. “But the provision of credit goes across all those markets. So we specialized products, we specialized regulation, and the question is, ‘Who looks across those markets?’ The specialized approach to regulation missed systemic issues.”
Source: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
“An often-overlooked aspect of crafting vision and mission statements is understanding the school's unique identity, which requires extensive stakeholder engagement to capture diverse perspectives and values.”
“An often-overlooked duty of school administrators is coordinating staff and ensuring effective communication channels, vital for cohesive teamwork and organizational synergy.”
“An oil crisis looms, prices are spiking - and our president is extolling algae. After Solyndra, Keystone and promises of seaweed in their gas tanks, Americans sense a president so ideologically antipathetic to fossil fuels - which we possess in staggering abundance - that he is utterly unserious about the real world of oil in which the rest of us live.”
“An oil massage, a hot bath, a good night's sleep, soft smells and music and clothes with soft textures denote sensuality to me.”
“An oil owner is someone who has claimed ownership of something that has been there for millions of years.”
“An oiled young stud does sit-ups on his Soloflex machine, eviscerates himself with an impossibly honed and gleaming kitchen knife, flings his dangling intestines over his shoulder like a sashaying transvestite in a mink stole and walks straight into a day school room full of naked shit-smeared children, who devour him in a bloody tornado of razor-sharp teeth.”
Source: The Consumer
“An Ojibwa tradition seems relevant. It speaks of a comet that 'burned up the earth' in the remote past and that is destined to return:
'The star with the long, wide tail is going to destroy the world some day when it comes low again. That's the comet called Long-Tailed Heavenly Climbing Star. It came down here once, thousands of years ago. Just like the sun. It had radiation and burning heat in its tail ...
Indian people were here before that happened, living on the earth. But things were wrong with nature on the earth, and a lot of people had abandoned the spiritual path. The Holy Spirit warned them a long time before the comet came. Medicine men told everyone to prepare. ... The comet burnt everything to the ground. There wasn't a thing left ...
There is a prophecy that the comet will destroy the earth again. But it's a restoration. The greatest blessing this island [Turtle Island/America] will ever have. People don't listen to their spiritual guidance today. There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars when the comet comes down again.”
Source: America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization
“An old African leader says about leadership, he says that leadership should never be shared; it should always remain in the hands of the dispossessed people. We will lead the revolution.”
“An old alchemist gave the following consolation to one of his disciples: “No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown friends will come and seek you.”
“An old American patriot described today’s situation very well. As America fought for its independence, Benjamin Franklin said, “we must all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately.””
“An old Arabian fable tells of a prince imprisoned in a castle which had thirteen windows. Twelve of these windows overlooked lovely scenes, while the thirteenth looked down on the black ash heaps of the city. Ignoring the twelve windows, the prince always looked out through the thirteenth. It is so often true that whether a person carries with him an atmosphere of gloom and depression or one of confidence and courage depends on his individual outlook.”
“An old argument with me is that the true religious force in the world is not the church, but the world itself: the mysterious callings of Nature and our responses.”
Source: Letters of Wallace Stevens
“An old art spreading rumours about / Paradise, it begs outside the gates / Of the gods: the active gods come out.”
Source: The Rest on the Flight: Selected Poems
“An old bandit adage: A bell is a cup until it is struck.”
“An old battleax of a woman said to Winston Churchill, "If you were my husband I would put poison in your tea." Churchill's response, "Ma'am if you were my wife I would drink it.”
“An old belief is like an old shoe. We so value its comfort that we fail to notice the hole in it.”
“An old black ram is tupping your white ewe”
“An old body when it is loved becomes a sacred treasure; and sex itself must always, it seems to me, come to us as a sacrament and be so used or it is meaningless. The flesh is suffused by the spirit, and it is forgetting this in the act of love-making that creates cynicism and despair.”
Source: Recovering: A Journal
“An old building is like a show. You smell the soul of a building. And the building tells you how to redo it.”
“An old cat sports not with her prey.”
Source: The poetical works of George Herbert
“An old childhood playmate once told me ‘second guessing every step prevents any forward momentum. Trust yourself. Forgive yourself. And move on.”
Source: Untamed