I Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with I. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“If, as Ilyin maintained, voting was just an opening to foreign influence, then Putin's job was to make up a story about foreign influence and use it to alter domestic politics. The point was to choose the enemy that best suited a leader's needs, not one that actually threatened the country. Indeed, it was best not to speak of actual threats, since discussing actual enemies would reveal actual weaknesses and suggest the fallibility of aspiring dictators. When Ilyin wrote that the art of politics was “identifying and neutralizing the enemy,” he did not mean that statesmen should ascertain which foreign power actually posed a threat. He meant that politics began with a leader's decision about which foreign enmity will consolidate a dictatorship. Russia's real geopolitical problem was China. But precisely because Chinese power was real and proximate, considering Russia's actual geopolitics might lead to depressing conclusions.
The West was chosen as an enemy precisely because it represented no threat to Russia. Unlike China, the EU had no army and no long border with Russia.”
“If as individuals we can improve the geography only slightly, if at all, perhaps the more appropriately scaled subject for reshaping is ourselves.”
“If, as individuals, we see no relationship between personal integrity and organizational integrity, then our abilities and fortunes to change and to lead organizations will lag our visions of creating better places to work.”
Source: Integrity by Design: Working and Living Authentically
“If, as Max Weber contended, science, modernity and rationalism have disenchanted the world and swept it clean of gods, spirits and magic (or, at least, problematised believing in them), then psychedelics offer a potential way out of the ensuing existential impasse. -Andy Letcher”
Source: Breaking Convention: Essays on Psychedelic Consciousness
“If as the friends of colonization hope, the present and coming generations of our countrymen shall by any means, succeed in freeing our land from the dangerous presence of slavery; and, at the same time, in restoring a captive people to their long-lost father-land, with bright prospects for the future; and this too, so gradually, that neither races nor individuals shall have suffered by the change, it will indeed be a glorious consummation.”
Source: Abraham Lincoln: Speeches & Writings Part 1: 1832-1858: Library of America #45
“If, as the poets say, the journey of life resembles the march of rivers to the sea, at times meandering, aimlessly, at times, purposeful and unswerving, the bend in the flow is where the story takes a sudden turn, winding away from its predicted course into a fresh and unexpected direction.”
Source: There Are Rivers in the Sky
“If as we accept God is the perfect epitome of justice, mercy, goodness, and compassion, then our efforts to define the divine will through Sharia should be predicated on achieving a result that is merciful compassionate.”
“If Ashley Cole is ready we have 15 players for the final. I'll have to choose between Hilario, who's not bad playing forward or I'll bring in one of the kids.”
“If Ashlynn was trained in seduction, lesson one must be how to not punch your target in the face when you really want to.”
Source: Rule 25: Don't Fall For The Target
“If ask 100 Arkansans about the phrase, 'the public option,' or 'a public option,' you'll get 100 different impressions about what that means.”
“if ask you who you are ,should count your skills.”
“If asked, Benjamin would probably have found it hard to explain what drew him to the world of finance. It was the complexity of it, yes, but also the fact that he viewed capital as an antiseptically living thing. It moves, eats, grows, breeds, falls ill, and may die. But it is clean. This became clearer to him in time. The larger the operation, the further removed he was from its concrete details. There was no need for him to touch a single banknote or engage with the things and people his transaction affected. All he had to do was think, speak, and, perhaps, write. And the living creature would be set in motion, drawing beautiful patterns on its way into realms of increasing abstraction, sometimes following appetites of its own.”
Source: Trust
“If asked how to cope with a great host of the enemy in orderly array and on the point of marching to the attack, I should say: "Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will." Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.”
Source: The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China
“If asked my opinion about virginity, I would say, "I'm opposed to it." I don't think it deserves to be celebrated, at any rate. Or at least, if I'm not opposed, I'm very highly skeptical and critical of it.”
“If asked my philosophy, it would be simply this: Savor life, don't press too hard, don't worry too much.”
Source: When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man
“If asked the Minotaur might say that he thinks gravity pulls harder at night. That the whole earth, on its wobbly axis, whips quicker through a sunless sky. It sure feels that way. But nobody is going to ask.”
Source: The Minotaur Takes His Own Sweet Time
“If asked to list my ten favorite American fiction writers, Gail Godwin would be among them. In this, her latest . . . she evokes in a short book the long married life of two artists. Evenings at Five is a strong tale of love-after-death.”
“If asked to make a drawing, little girls almost always create scenes with at least one person, while males nearly always draw things—cars, rockets, or trucks.”
Source: The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men
“If asked to name the worst moment of his life, Michael Fisher wouldn't have hesitated to give his answer: it was when the lights went out.”
Source: The Passage: A Novel (Book One of The Passage Trilogy)
“If asked to sketch a picture of the typical archer I would be hard put. They seem to come in all shapes, sizes, colors and backgrounds. Inwardly they seem to have in common a love for the outdoors, a reverence for wildlife, and a close tie with history. There is nothing they seem to enjoy more than telling tall tales around a campfire or talking about archery to others. It would be difficult to find a more interesting group of people.”
“If asked to wh did I devote my prayers I would be at a loss to say. Not being on speaking terms with any god worth praying to I just prayed aimlessly. And sure enough, there are no signs of any miracle.”
Source: The Tower of London
“If asked whether I am finally letting God love me, just as I am, I would answer, 'No, but I'm trying.”
Source: All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir
“If asked whether you love God, say nothing. This is because if you say, 'I do not love God,'you are an unbeliever. If, on the other hand, you say, 'I do love God,' your actions contradict you.”
“If asked which words one associated with the Sahara, only the most dedicated surrealist might be expected to offer "whale".”
Source: The Sahara: A Cultural History
“If aspects of the person remain undigested-cut off, denied, projected, rejected, indulged, or otherwise unassimilated-they become the points around which the core forces of greed, hatred and delusion attach themselves.”
Source: Thoughts Without A Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
“If associations to control burglary and murder were tolerated we should take it for granted that the members should all be burglers and murderers.”
“If astronomers do not like the truth, they should be querying why.”
“If at age 10 I say there are monsters in the basement and they don't believe it, I would have stayed in that house. My father would have said "Shut up and get to your room." So I thought the only sanctioned tyranny in the world is parenthood and everybody goes "Yeah." It's a dictatorship - parenthood.”
“If at age 20 you are not a Communist then you have no heart. If at age 30 you are not a Capitalist then you have no brains.”
“If at all God's gaze falls upon us all it's with a mischievous grin, look at him.”
“If at all possible, commune with nature daily.”
Source: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny
“If at any moment of the day I ever think I'm remotely cool at all, which is hardly ever, I have two daughters who make sure that never happens.”
“If at any moment Time stays his hand, it is only when we are delivered over to the miseries of boredom.”
Source: Studies in Pessimism: Top of Schopenhauer
“If at any time all labour should cease, and all existing provisions be equally divided among the people, at the end of a single year there could scarcely be one human being left alive--all would have perished by want of subsistence.”
Source: Abraham Lincoln: Speeches & Writings Part 1: 1832-1858: Library of America #45
“If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will repent of the good which I had intended to do to it.”
“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”
Source: The Ultimate Quotable Einstein
“If, at first, you do not succeed, call it version 1.0.”
“If at first you do succeed don't take any more chances.”
Source: Back Country Folks
“If at first you do succeed, quit trying on investing.”
“If at first you do succeed, try something harder.”
“If at first you don't succeed, go suck at something else...”
Source: Dressing Stone: A Post-Postmodern Picaresque
“If at first you don't succeed, kill your opponent.”
Source: Firstlife
“If at first you don't succeed, lower you expectations”
Source: This Is Where I Leave You
“If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.”
“If at first you don’t succeed... try something different.”
Source: The Zodiac Quest: A LitRPG Adventure
“If at first you don't succeed, tweak it before you toss it.”
“If at first you don’t succeed, you’re doing it wrong. Learn from the experience. Try again, but with a different approach.”
Source: Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience
“If at first you don't fricassee, Fry, fry a hen!”
Source: Caddie Woodlawn
“If at first you don't succeed - give it up. It isn't worth the pain.”
“If at first you don't succeed, before you try again, stop to figure out what you did wrong.”