I Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with I. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“If it were natural for father to care for their sons, they would not need so many laws commanding them to do so.”
“If it were necessary to give the briefest possible definition of imperialism, we should have to say that imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism.”
Source: Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism
“If it were not for a goodly supply of rumors, half true and half false, what would the gossips do?”
“If it were not for advertising, only a negligible fraction of prepubescent boys who do would know what a pantyliner or a tampon is.”
“If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago.”
“If it were not for collectors England would be full, so to speak, of rare birds and wonderful butterflies, strange flowers and a thousand interesting things. But happily the collector prevents all that, either killing with his own hands or, by buying extravagantly, procuring people of the lower classes to kill such eccentricities as appear.
...
Eccentricity, in fact, is immorality--think over it again if you do not think so now--just as eccentricity in one's way of thinking is madness (I defy you to find another definition that will fit all the cases of either); and if a species is rare it follows that it is not Fitted to Survive. The collector is after all merely like the foot soldier in the days of heavy armour-he leaves the combatants alone and cuts the throats of those who are overthrown. So one may go through England from end to end in the summer time and see only eight or ten commonplace wild flowers, and the commoner butterflies, and a dozen or so common birds, and never be offended by any breach of the monotony.”
Source: The Wonderful Visit
“If it were not for guests all houses would be graves.”
“If it were not for hopes, the heart would break.”
“If it were not for me, the Gracies would be selling Bananas in Largo do Machado!”
“If it were not for my firm belief in an overruling Providence, it would be difficult for me, in the midst of such complications of affairs, to keep my reason on its seat. But I am confident that the Almighty has His plans, and will work them out; and, whether we see it or not, they will be the best for us.”
“If it were not for people who stepped forward and gave me opportunities at a time when I had not proved myself at all, believe me, I would not have a career.”
“If it were not for poetry, few men would ever fall in love.”
“If it were not for quotations, conversations between gentlemen would consist of an endless series of 'what-ho!'s.”
“If it were not for repentance and forgiveness, I would become discouraged and discontinue my labors.”
Source: J. Golden Kimball: His Sermons
“If it were not for respect for human opinions, I would not open my window to see the Bay of Naples for the first time, whilst I would go five hundred leagues to talk with a man of genius whom I had not seen.”
“If it were not for the bad things that've happened to me, I wouldn't be the person I am today.”
“If it were not for the Belly, the Back might wear Gold.”
Source: Poor Richard's Almanack
“If it were not for the company of fools, a witty man would often be greatly at a loss.”
“If it were not for the Eucharist, if it were not for this marvelous manifestation of God's love, if it were not for this opportunity to place ourselves in the very real presence of God, if it were not for the sacrament that reminds us of His love, His suffering and His triumph, which indeed perpetuates for us His saving sacrifice on the cross, I am sure that I could never face the challenges of my life, my own weakness and sinfulness and my own need to reach out to the Living God.”
“If it were not for the fact that editors have become so timorous in these politically correct times, I would probably have a greater readership than I have.”
Source: Oliphant's Anthem
“If it were not for the government, we should have nothing to laugh at in France.”
“If it were not for the great variability among individuals, medicine might as well be a science, not an art.”
“If it were not for the intellectual snobs who pay - in solid cash - the arts would perish with their starving practitioners. Let us thank heaven for hypocrisy.”
Source: Complete Essays: 1926-1929
“If it were not for the outside world, we would have no inside world to understand things by. Least of all could we understand God without these millions of sights and sounds and scents and motions, weaving their endless harmonies. They come out of His heart to let us know a little of what is in it.”
Source: The Complete Novels of George Macdonald (Illustrated): The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, Phantastes, At the Back of the North Wind, Lilith, David Elginbrod, Malcolm, Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood, Wilfrid Cumbermede and many more
“If it were not for the presents, an elopement would be preferable.”
“If it were not for the reporters, I would tell you the truth.”
“If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this. The leaders of the Jewish community are influential enough that they could change the direction of where this is going, and I think they should.”
“If it were not for the war, this war would suit me down to the ground.”
“If it were not for uncertainties, we would have no need to walk by faith.”
Source: A Lamp unto My Feet: The Bible's Light for Your Daily Walk
“If it were not my purpose to combine barbarian things with things Hellenic, to traverse and civilize every continent, to search out the uttermost parts of land and sea, to push the bounds of Macedonia to the farthest Ocean, and to disseminate and shower the blessings of the Hellenic justice and peace over every nation, I should not be content to sit quietly in the luxury of idle power, but I should emulate the frugality of Diogenes. But as things are, forgive me Diogenes, that I imitate Herakles, and emulate Perseus, and follow in the footsteps of Dionysos, the divine author and progenitor of my family, and desire that victorious Hellenes should dance again in India and revive the memory of the Bacchic revels among the savage mountain tribes beyond the Kaukasos…”
“If it were not so frightening it would be amusing to observe the pride and complacency with which we, like children, take apart the watch, pull out the spring and make a toy of it, and are then surprised when the watch stops working.”
Source: A Confession and Other Religious Writings
“If it were not somewhat fanciful to suppose that every human excellence is presented, as it were, in one kind of being, we might believe that the whole treasure of morality and order is enshrined in the female character.”
“If it were now to die, 'twere now to be most happy.”
Source: Mrs. Dalloway - Broadview Edition
“If it were only a few degrees, that would be serious, but we could adapt to it. But the danger is the warming process might be unstable and run away. We could end up like Venus, covered in clouds and with the surface temperature of 400 degrees. It could be too late if we wait until the bad effects of warming become obvious. We need action now to reduce emission of carbon dioxide.”
“If it were only that people have diversities of taste, that is reason enough for not attempting to shape them all after one model. But different persons also require different conditions for their spiritual development, and can no more exist healthily in the same moral, than all the varieties of plants can in the same physical, atmosphere and climate.”
Source: The Classical Utilitarians: Bentham and Mill
“If it were physically possible for her jaw to drop, her chin would have kissed the floor. “You brought me here to ask if I’d have sex with you?”
“I brought you here to tell you that if you’ll let me, I’ll remove any traces of the past. When I get started
you won’t be able to think about anything but me. When we’re done you’ll realize how lucky you could make some bastard if you’d spend your Friday nights out with the girls instead of a support group.”
Source: No Strings
“If it were possible adequately to present the whole of a culture, stressing every aspect exactly as appears in the culture itself, no single detail would appear bizarre or strange or arbitrary to the reader, but rather the details would all appear natural and reasonable as they do to the natives who have lived all their lives within the culture.”
“If It Were Possible
For a loving Mother
If it were possible
I would write you a letter
Send it to the Heavens
Just so you could read
And realise how much I love you
If it were possible
I would get you flowers
As a token of appreciation
For all the great things you have done for me
And the difference you made in my life
If it were possible
I would sit down next to you
Have a deep conversation
Perhaps to hear your current thoughts
And listen to your guidance again
If it were possible
I would spend time with you
Celebrate your presence
Miss no precious moment
And make sure it counts the most
However, it is not possible
Hence, I have no choice
But to accept that you are gone”
Source: From My Mother's Classroom: A Badge of Honour for a Remarkable Woman
“If it were possible for a metaphysician to be a golfer, he might perhaps occasionally notice that his ball, instead of moving forward in a vertical plane (like the generality of projectiles, such as brickbats and cricket balls), skewed away gradually to the right. If he did notice it, his methods would naturally lead him to content himself with his caddies's remark-'ye heeled that yin,' or 'Ye jist sliced it.' ... But a scientific man is not to be put off with such flimsy verbiage as that. He must know more. What is 'Heeling', what is 'slicing', and why would either operation (if it could be thoroughly carried out) send a ball as if to cover point, thence to long slip, and finally behind back-stop? These, as Falstaff said, are 'questions to be asked.”
“If it were possible for any one person or group of persons to go through a photographic finishing plant's work at the end of a day, you could probably pull out the most extraordinary photographic exhibition we've ever seen. On almost any subject. The trouble is to find the things.”
“If it were possible for me to alter any part of his plan, I could only spoil it.”
Source: The Works of the Rev. John Newton ...
“If it were possible for us to have so deep an insight into a man's character as shown both in inner and in outer actions, that every, even the least, incentive to these actions and all external occasions which affect them were so known to us that his future conduct could be predicted with as great a certainty as the occurrence of a solar or lunar eclipse, we could nevertheless still assert that the man is free.”
“If it were possible to have a life absolutely free from every feeling of sin, what a terrifying vacuum it would be.”
Source: This Business of Living
“If it were possible to heal sorrow by weeping and to raise the dead with tears, gold were less prized than grief.”
“If it were possible to hear a smile, hers would be a love song”
“If it were possible to hold onto this sort of database and really be assured that only good guys get access to it, we might have a different discussion. Unfortunately, we don't know how to build systems that work that way. We don't know how to do this without creating a big target and a big vulnerability.”
“If it were possible to live without causing harm to any living being at all, then indeed we might well choose not to eat carrots or other vegetables. But that is not possible - merely by being alive, we necessarily cause harm to many, many beings: we step on them inadvertently, we breathe them in without noticing, we kill them when we brush our teeth or wash our bodies, etc.”
“If it were possible to make an accurate calculation of the evils which police regulations occasion, and of those which they prevent, the number of the former would, in all cases, exceed that of the latter.”
“If it were possible to meet the Beloved while laughing and in a state of comfort, why should one suffer the anguish of separation?”
“If it were possible to take interest rates into negative territory I would be voting for that.”