I Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with I. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Being in the minority, he has no other choice. Failing this duty, he sinks into oblivion. Society, on the other hand, has no obligation toward the poet. A majority by definition, society thinks of itself as having other options than reading verses, no matter how well written. Its failure to do so results in its sinking to that level of locution at which society falls easy prey to a demagogue or a tyrant. This is society's own equivalent of oblivion.”
“If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.”
Source: A New Commentary on the Poems of W.B. Yeats
“If a poet is anybody, he is somebody to whom things made matter very little - somebody who is obsessed by Making.”
“If a poet knows more about a horse than he does about heaven, he might better stick to the horse, and some day the horse may carry him into heaven.”
“If a poet would work politically, he must give himself up to a party; and so soon as he does that, he is lost as a poet.”
Source: Conversations of Goethe with Eckermann and Soret
“If a poet writes to save his soul, he may save the soul of others.”
Source: Of Poetry and Poets
“If a point of view becomes one’s entire identity, what was monstrous on the inside can become monstrous on the outside.”
Source: Alice Isn't Dead
“If a police officer arrests a mime, does he need to tell him he has the right to remain silent.”
“If a police officer encounters you in one of those moments, he or she has every right to ask you two simple questions. Memorize these two questions so you will not be tempted to answer any others:
Who are you?
What are you doing right here, right now?
If you are ever approached by a police officer with those two questions, and your God-given common sense tells you that the officer is being reasonable in asking for an explanation, don’t be a jerk.”
Source: You Have the Right to Remain Innocent
“If a police officer is messing me around, I will place a 911 call requesting a police supervisor.”
“If a police officer is messing me around on federal property, I will place a 911 call requesting the FBI.”
“If a police officer refuses to give me their name and badge number that I am interacting with, I will obtain it through a 911 call reporting a suspected police officer impersonator.”
“If a police officer threatens you with arrest when you are doing nothing wrong, you need to place a 911 call for a police supervisor.”
“If a policeman must know the Constitution, then why not a planner?”
“If a policy is wrongheaded, feckless and corrupt, I take it personally and consider it a moral obligation to sound off and not shut up until it's fixed.”
“If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.”
Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1956
“If a politician and a puppy participate the same election, you can be sure that the puppy will win the election because people will find it much more sincere!”
“If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.”
“If a politician is running in your local community who's pro-choice, who's feminist in their thinking, get behind them. Send them some money! If you have no money but have time, lick stamps!”
“If a politician isn't doing it to his wife , then he's doing it to his country.”
“If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything - without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.”
“If a politician murders his mother, the first response of the press or of his opponents will likely be not that it was a terrible thing to do, but rather that in a statement made six years before he had gone on record as being opposed to matricide.”
“If a politician obtained a great wealth after he has been elected, his being an immoral corrupt man is not a possibility but it is a self-evident reality!”
“If a politician wins in a dirty way at election, he will sat in position and works with corruption.”
“If a poor family falls on hard times in the woods, and no one is around to care, did it really happen?”
“If a poor house is well kept, or a poor girl well groomed, there is elegance if not beauty. If good people should come upon hard times, why should they immediately give up on themselves?”
“If a Pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right and, under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.”
“If a pot can multiply. One day Nasrudin lent his cooking pots to a neighbour, who was giving a feast. The neighbour returned them, together with one extra one – a very tiny pot. 'What is this?' asked Nasrudin. 'According to law, I have given you the offspring of your property which was born when the pots were in my care,' said the joker. Shortly afterwards Nasrudin borrowed his neighbour's pots, but did not return them. The man came round to get them back. 'Alas!' said Nasrudin, 'they are dead. We have established, have we not, that pots are mortal?'.”
Source: The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin
“If a potato can produce vitamin C, why can't we? Within the animal kingdom only humans and guinea pigs are unable to synthesize vitamin C in their own bodies. Why us and guinea pigs? No point asking. Nobody knows.”
“If a power station were to be built down the road, I'd prefer a nuclear plant over an oil burner, and definitely over a coal burner. We simply have to lessen our consumption of fossil fuels.”
“If a powerful and benevolent spirit has shaped the destiny of this world, we can better discover that destiny from the words that have gathered up the heart's desire of the world, than from historical records, or from speculation, wherein the heart withers.”
Source: The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Volume IV: Early Essays
“If a preacher is cultured, gentle, earnest, intellectual, and broadly tolerant, the sheep of God run after him. He, of course, speaks beautifully about Christ, and uses the old words redemption, the cross, even sacrifice and atonement-but what is his Gospel? That is the crucial question. Is salvation, perfect, entire, eternal,-justification, sanctification, glory,-the alone work of Christ, and the free gift of God to faith alone?”
“If a preacher is not first preaching to himself, better that he falls on the steps of the pulpit and breaks his neck than preaches that sermon.”
“If a preacher tells you how God says you are, I don't see how you can say that's bad preaching.”
“If a president can change some laws, can he change ALL laws? Can he change election laws? Can he change discrimination laws? Are there any laws, under your theory, that he actually HAS to enforce?”
“If a President must constantly remind the people that we're at war, then we're not.”
“If a President of the United States ever lied to the American people, he should resign.”
“If a pretty woman only knew how anger improved her beauty! Her complexion needs no other paint than indignation.”
“If a principle exists it must be immutable, for that is what a principle is - a truth standing apart from the mood of the times.”
Source: Principles of Personal Defense: Revised Edition
“If a problem can be solved by writing a check, it's not a problem, it's an expense.”
“If a problem can be solved it will be. If it can not be solved there is no use worrying about it.”
“If a problem can't be solved within the frame it was conceived, the solution lies in reframing the problem.”
Source: Hemlock Grove
“If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.”
“If a problem doesn't come with any solution, that means accepting the fact is the best way to deal with it.”
“If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time.”
“If a problem is clearly stated, it has no further interest to the physicist.”
“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.”
“If a problem is insoluble, it is Necessity. Leave it alone.”
“If a problem is irreversible, is there still an ethical obligation to try to reverse it?”
Source: But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past
“If a problem looks difficult, relax. If it looks impossible, relax even more. Then begin encouraging small changes, putting just enough pressure on yourself to move one turtle step forward. Then rest, savor, celebrate. Then step again. You’ll find that slow is fast, gentle is powerful, and stillness moves mountains.”