B Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with B. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“But inspiration? - That's when you come home from abroad and are asked: Well, have you found inspiration? - and fortunately you haven't. But the impressions sink in, of course, and may emerge later: None of us has invented the house; that was done many thousands of years ago.”
“But instability like mine needs considerable distance to pass for mere quirkiness.”
“But instead I am applying for a job as an elf. Even worse than applying is the very real possibility that I will not be hired, that I couldn't even find work as an elf. That's when you know you're a failure.”
Source: The Santaland Diaries ; And, Season's Greetings
“But instead, my father sat us down for an explanation of lesbianism....
...I was mortified, and looked over at my girlfriend to see if this was all registering with her, but she was too busy daydreaming to notice the runaway train that was thundering thought the motel room. She hadn't spoken a single word to any of the adults so far on the trip, and even when she occasionally spoke to me, it was in such a eerily quiet tone that only a nine-year-old- girl or a dog could hear it. I'm pretty sure that Bob and Donna thought she was a deaf-mute, albeit one who could miraculously sense the vacuum seal breaking on a can of Pringles from a mile away.
I was eager to let the whole thing go, when my friend asked casually, 'But what's munching the carpet got to do with anything?”
Source: I Know I Am, But What Are You?
“But instead of a rust color, the hatchling's scales were blue and lavender.”
Source: Hatchling
“But instead of being frozen in time, I want to show that “local” and “authentic” food are as much creations of modernity as survivors from before it. Authenticity is therefore a problem, not something we can ever depend on as some kind of naturally occurring category. Tradition is crafted, just as much as modernity is manufactured.”
Source: Home Cooking in the Global Village: Caribbean Food from Buccaneers to Ecotourists
“But instead of making us work efficiently - and, by extension less - all of this tech has mostly just made us work more.”
Source: Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home
“But instead of spending our lives running towards our dreams, we are often running away from a fear of failure or a fear of criticism.”
“But instead of standing up for reason, our government is handing education over to the world of faith.”
“But instead of taking the cue to leave, Patch crossed to Scott in three steps. He flung him around to face the wall. Scott tried to get his bearings, but Patch slammed him against the wall again, disorienting him further. “Touch her,” he said in Scott’s ear, his voice low and threatening, “and it’ll be the biggest regret of your life.” Before leaving, Patch flicked his eyes once in my direction. “He’s not worth it.” He paused. “And neither am I.”
Source: Crescendo
“But instead of tears, when I press my face against the pillow, a horrible, primal scream comes out of me. It's unlike anything I thought myself capable of. Rage, unlike anything I've ever known.”
Source: The Seeds of Wither: EBook Sampler with Exclusive Short Story
“But instead of that stuff you get relationships with people and neighbors that you would never get in a city. People in small towns are a lot more open.”
“But instead of this world unification ushering in an age of prosperity and peace, as most globalists believe it will, it will be a time of unimaginable human suffering as recorded in God's Word. The Anti-christ will tightly regulate who may buy and sell.”
“But instead of U.S. citizens and companies being taxed or U.S. capital markets being obliged to finance the rising federal deficit, foreign economies were obliged to buy the new Treasury bonds being issued. America’s Cold War spending thus became a tax on foreigners. It was their central banks who financed the costs of the war in Southeast Asia.”
Source: Super Imperialism: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance
“But instead they tell you they'll come to fix your cable between noon and five, and I say, okay, I'll pay my next bill between July and November, but they don't laugh.”
“But instinct is something which transcends knowledge. We have, undoubtedly, certain finer fibers that enable us to perceive truths when logical deduction, or any other willful effort of the brain, is futile.”
Source: The Nikola Tesla Treasury
“But integration and equality are myths; they disguise a new segregation and a new equality...Every social order institutes its own program of separation or segregation. A particular faith and morality is given privileged status and all else is separated for progressive elimination.”
“But "integrity." That ain't even made up of no other words accept for "in" and "grit," but but that don't make no sense.
"Dad." I nuged him He was sitting right next to me, making sure Whit and Mr. Torrie knew what they were doing, even though there's a counselor person talking to them too. He didn't answer, so I nudged him again. "Dad."
"Yeah?" He turned to me.
"What's integrity?"
"Huh?"
"What's integrity?" I reapeted.
"It's like, um, how do I explain it?" Now he turned his whole body to face me. "It's like the good part of you that..." He stopped, tried to gather his thoughts. "You know that gold medal I just gave back to Otis?"
"Yeah."
"See how the gold didn't change? Didn't turn any other color?"
"Yeah."
"See how it was still heavy after all those years, and how it didn't bend or start to disintegrate?"
"Yep."
"Well, think of integrity as the gold medal... inside you.”
“But interestingly Star City's technology is all 1970s - still. In fact, it's alarming because you think, "You're not going to send someone up into space in something that old, are you?" But it works and it always has worked and it doesn't fail and it's incredibly reliable.”
“But investment in space stimulates society, it stimulates it economically, it stimulates it intellectually, and it gives us all passion.”
“But inwardly we are as corrupt as the person who sits in an office and plans war-because, we want to be somebody in the family, in a group, in society, in the nation.”
Source: The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti: 1948-1949 : Choiceless awareness
“But iPods and iPhones are two things we don't get for our kids.”
“But Iran has gone far beyond what is necessary for a purely civilian programme. It has concealed several nuclear facilities from the International Atomic Energy Agency, played hide-and-seek with the international community, and rejected all offers of co-operation from the U.S., the EU, and others.”
“But ironically, now having seen those qualities made incarnate, Lergen realized that the highest form of the Imperial Army's desires was simply another way to describe a monster. And it filled him with fear.”
Source: 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult
“But is all this true?" said Brutha. Didactylos shrugged. "Could be. Could be. We are here and it is now. The way I see it is, after that, everything tends towards guesswork." "You mean you don't KNOW it's true?" said Brutha. "I THINK it might be," said Didactylos. "I could be wrong. Not being certain is what being a philosopher is all about.”
“But is an enemy so execrable that tho in captivity his wishes and comforts are to be disregarded and even crossed? I think not. It is for the benefit of mankind to mitigate the horrors of war as much as possible.”
Source: Thomas Jefferson: Thoughts on War and Revolution
“But is being normal, being ordinary, really such a bad thing? Is it something inferior? Or, in truth, isn't everybody normal?”
Source: The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness
“But is has happened, you know. Bear that in mind. Nothing you can do will change it. Time and again, I've found that a good thing to remember.”
“But is is by no means those aspects of Dürer's style which it shares with Italian art that makes it so attractive especially for Pontormo and those who like him, but rather the spiritual depth and inwardness - in other words, the qualities which they miss most in classical Italian art. The antitheses of "Gothic" and "Renaissance", however, which are largely smoothed out in Dürer himself, are still irreconciled and irreconcilable in the outlook of mannerism.”
Source: The Social History of Art: Volume 2: Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque
“But is it credible that such extremities of torture should be necessary for us? Well, take your choice. The tortures occur. If they are unnecessary, then there is no God or a bad one. If there is a good God, then these tortures are necessary. For no even moderately good Being could possibly inflict or permit them if they weren’t.
Either way, we’re for it.”
Source: A Grief Observed
“But is it fake if people believe in it? You assume that it is truth that makes a story valuable, because the tales that come from the Storian are true. The Storian writes history. But man is capable of writing stories too and man has no obligation to truth or to history.”
Source: Quests for Glory
“But is it fear that is the enemy? Let me tell you about fear. We cannot negotiate with fear as when it is, there’s nothing else. We cannot strike fear down, for cut a head of the hydra and two will quickly take its place. We cannot shun fear, lest we invite it through the cracks. We cannot tame fear, dragons are not slaves. We cannot live in fear, because it will haunt our every step. Fear is no enemy. We greet fear as an old friend and hold it tight, until it burns our hand.”
Source: Oculus
“But is it godly to punish your subjects for questioning you? Is it motherly to demand resolute devotion?”
Source: The Knight and the Moth
“But is it just then that the few and the wealthy should be the rulers? And what if they, in like manner, rob and plunder the people, - is this just?”
Source: Politics
“But, is it more important to stay true to yourself, to what you believe in, or give it up for someone you care about?”
Lisa gives me a warm smile and her hand finds mine on the table.
“There is no right answer to that.” She squeezes my hand hard. “It depends on so many things. You are the one who has to choose, to find the balance between what you believe in and what you care about. It’s a game with high risk—you can lose someone you care about but still have your pride, or…you can lose yourself for someone you care about.” She gets up from her seat. “The real question is—is ‘care’ good enough to be lost for?”
Source: Lost & Found: Anabel & William #1
“But is it not a sort of genius to cut always to the heart?”
Source: The Song of Achilles
“but is it not heartening to know that so many are willing to fight for the good? Think of that young librarian, Sophie, who made certain you escaped. Think of S.Q., who risked my brother’s wrath to make me more comfortable. Think of Captain Noland, and Joe Shooter, and all the others – even strangers – who were prepared to sacrifice their safety, perhaps even their lives, on our behalf. That’s something, is it not?”
Source: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
“But is it such a bad thing to live like this for just a little while? Just for a few months of one's life, is it so awful to travel through time with no greater ambition than to find the next lovely meal? Or to learn how to speak a language for no higher purpose than that it pleases your ear to hear it? Or to nap in a garden, in a patch of sunlight, in the middle of the day, right next to your favourite fountain? And then to do it again the next day?”
Source: Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything
“But is it what we love, or how we love,
That makes true good?”
Source: Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated)
“But’ is not a word to use when you talk about your aspirations. If you are serious about reaching your dreams, nothing will get in the way.”
Source: #AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur's Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness
“But is not Christ a general direction? asked the elder. What other kind of direction do you seek? And how do you even understand the journey anyway? As the vast expanses you left behind? You made it to Jerusalem with your questions, though you could have asked them from the Kirillov Monastery. I am not saying wandering is useless there is a point to it. Do not become like your beloved Alexander who had a journey but had no goal. And do not be enamored of excessive horizontal motion.
Then what should I be enamored of? asked Arseny.
Vertical motion, answered the elder, pointing above.”
Source: Laurus
“But is not He who created it for the sake of the sick body more than the remedy? And is not He who cures the soul, which is more than the body, greater?”
Source: Selected Writings
“But is the unicorn a falsehood? It's the sweetest of animals and a noble symbol. It stands for Christ and for chastity; it can be captured only by setting a virgin in the forest, so that the animal, catching her most chaste odor, will go and lay its head in her lap, offering itself as prey to the hunters' snares."
"So it is said, Adso. But many tend to believe that it's a fable, an invention of the pagans."
"What a disappointment," I said. "I would have liked to encounter one, crossing a wood. Otherwise what's the pleasure of crossing a wood?”
Source: The Name of the Rose
“But is the word used before you rationalize why the situation is not your fault nor responsibility.”
“But is there any reason to believe that a woman's spiritual fibre is less sturdy than a man's? Is it not possible for a woman to come to terms with herself if not with the world; to withdraw more and more, as time goes on, her own personality from her productions; to stop childish fears of death and eschew charming rebellions against facts?”
Source: Journey around my room: the autobiography of Louise Bogan : a mosaic
“But, is this right for my family? The plan was centered on publicity. Would the boys have to testify? Newspaper reporters would hound them. What would things be like at school? Kids could be so cruel. Would the boys be subjected to cruel jokes about sexual desires and preferences? Was her imagination carrying her away, or were these realistic fears?”
Source: Betrayal of Faith
“But Isabel was like no one Nora had met before. She was beautiful, of course---the otherworldly clarity of her English skin!---and possessed of the sort of poise Nora could only dream about. Beyond that, she was magnetic. Try as Nora might, she couldn't resist her brother's new wife. First, there was her voice when she spoke, that crisp accent and authoritative diction that made Miss Perry (strictest in a long line of governesses) seem like a drover's wife by comparison; next, there was her laugh, which rose like bubbles in a glass of champagne.
And then there were her stories. True tales of adventure and daring, rivaling anything Nora had read in her Girls' Crystal Annuals: during the Blitz, Isabel had handled secret papers in Whitehall and later worked in some sort of capacity that she wasn't able to speak of at length (at least not then and there). Even more excitingly, she was an orphan---a real one, just like a girl in a book, whose parents had died in tragic circumstances when she was only young, casting her out of the nest and into a childhood of boarding schools and midnight feasts and hockey sticks and daring japes. Nora couldn't think of anything more romantic.”
Source: Homecoming
“But isn’t being alone closer to the truest version of ourselves, when we’re not linked to another, not diluted by their presence and judgments? We form relationships with others, friends, family. That’s fine. Those relationships don’t bind the way love does. We can still have lovers, short-term. But only when alone can we focus on ourselves, know ourselves. How can we know ourselves without this solitude?”
Source: I'm Thinking of Ending Things
“But isn't desire always the same, whether the object is present or absent? Isn't the object always absent?”
Source: A lover's discourse: fragments
“But isn't that the point of labels like boyfriend and girlfriend? To make things easier for other people? [...] It's like the whole world has to walk around with name tags on so we can all feel more comfortable? I guess things are less scary if you know what to call them.”
Source: Dumplin'