I Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with I. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“If we look at the black record of mass murder, exploitation, and tyranny levied on society by governments over the ages, we need not be loath to abandon the Leviathan State and . . . try freedom.”
Source: For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto
“If we look at the complexity of the challenges facing western societies today, we see that the problems are not really about outsiders, but have their roots much closer to home.”
“If we look at the fact, we shall find that the great inventions of the age are not, with us at least, always produced in universities.”
Source: Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of Its Causes
“If we look at the force of anger, we can, in fact, discover many positive aspects in it. Anger is not a passive, complacent state. It has incredible energy. Anger can impel us to let go of ways we may be inappropriately defined by the needs of others; it can teach us to say no. In this way it also serves our integrity, because anger can motivate us to turn from the demands of the outer world to the nascent voice of our inner world. It is a way to set boundaries and to challenge injustice at every level. Anger will not take things for granted or simply accept them mindlessly.
Anger also has the ability to cut through surface appearances; it does not just stay on a superficial level. It is very critical; it is very demanding. Anger has the power to pierce through the obvious to things that are more hidden. This is why anger may be transmuted to wisdom. By nature, anger has characteristics in common with wisdom.
Nevertheless, the unskillful aspects of anger are immense, and they far outweigh the positive aspects.”
Source: Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
“If we look at the Gulf War, the same is also true. Indeed, my work on the logistics of perception and the Gulf War was so accurate that I was even asked to discuss it with high-ranking French military officers. They asked me: 'how is it that you wrote that book in 1984 and now it's happening for real?' My answer was: 'the problem is not mine but yours: you have not been doing your job properly!'”
“If we look at the last decades, we see that the US rightist-fundamentalist alliance demonized partnership-oriented families and painted women's rights as a threat to "tradition" - which of course it is to traditions of domination. These people had an integrated political agenda that recognizes that a "traditional" authoritarian, male dominated, punitive family is foundational to an authoritarian, male dominated, punitive politics. We can see this connection in sharp relief in brutal top-down regimes, be they secular like Nazi Germany or religious like ISIS in the Middle East.”
“If we look at the realm of knowledge, how exceedingly small and limited is that part acquired through our own senses; how wide is that we gain from other sources.”
Source: Sermons
“If we look at the representatives of two superpowers - America and Britain - and look at their conduct and their language, we would notice that they are more motivated by war than their responsibility for peace.”
“If we look at the way the universe behaves, quantum mechanics gives us fundamental, unavoidable indeterminacy, so that alternative histories of the universe can be assigned probability.”
“If we look at the works of JS Bach ... on each page we discover things which we thought were born only yesterday, from delightful arabesques to an overflowing of religious feeling greater than anything we have since discovered.”
“If we look at the world around us, we see that we are conditioned to not listen deeply. Because isn't that what silence is? It's a listening, a deep wordless listening.”
Source: Falling into Grace: Insights on the End of Suffering
“If we look at the world with a deluded body and mind, we will think that our self is permanent. But if we practice correctly and return to our true self, we will realize that nothing is permanent”
“If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.”
“If we look at things as they are instead of giving them our own shape and colour, life will be less complicated”
Source: KEYS
“If we look back into history for the character of present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practised it on one another. The first Protestants of the Church of England, blamed persecution in the Roman church, but practised it against the Puritans: these found it wrong in the Bishops, but fell into the same practice themselves both here and in New England.
[Letter to the London Packet, 3 June 1772]”
Source: The life and letters of Benjamin Franklin
“If we look back into history for the character of the present sects in Christianity, we shall find few that have not in their turns been persecutors, and complainers of persecution. The primitive Christians thought persecution extremely wrong in the Pagans, but practised it on one another.”
“If we look back to the riots and tumults, which at various times have happened in England, we shall find, that they did not proceed from the want of a government, but that government was itself the generating cause; instead of consolidating society it divided it; it deprived it of its natural cohesion, and engendered discontents and disorders, which otherwise would not have existed.”
Source: The Rights of Man
“If we look backwards to antiquity it should be as those that are winning a race.”
Source: Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words, Addressed to Those who Think
“If we look closely at this earth, where God seems so utterly forgotten, we shall find that it is He, after all, who commands the most fidelity and the most love.”
“If we look deeply at life, we realise that the benefits we receive from society are largely attributable to their location. Benefits are local to the areas that we live in: the roads we drive on, the stores we shop at, and the services we use.”
Source: Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World
“If we look far into the future, one can see a time in the 21st century when both Europe and the USA will be in dire need of Russia as an ally.”
“If we look for love in others without finding it in ourselves, we are like an underdeveloped country at the mercy of industrialised countries. Some may rescue us, providing the resources we lack and creating a tie of dependence, while others may teach us to produce what we need so that in a distant future we may become self-sufficient. Others may refuse to offer support, hating and even fighting us, hence urgently forcing us to find our own resources within. Perhaps one day someone will become aware that we are part of the same planet, and that all resources, including love, belongs to all.”
“If we look for ways to get rid of necessary pain, we'll be disillusioned or misled. For people who define real change as the elimination of inevitable struggle, the final chapters will be terribly disappointing.”
Source: Inside Out
“If we look further, we see that we actually contain all of existence. Everyone who has ever been or will ever be, is in some way contained in our awareness. Our awareness is like the sky, it's endless.”
“If we look honestly at our relationships, we can see so much about how we have created them”
Source: The Shakti Gawain Essentials: 3 Books in 1: Creative Visualization, Living in the Light & Developing Intuition
“If we look in the Mirror, we Know who we Are hope You are Proud on that Moment.
Jan Jansen”
“If we look into ourselves we discover propensities which declare that our intellects have arisen from a lower form; could our minds be made visible we should find them tailed.”
Source: The Martyrdom of Man
“If we look long enough and hard enough ... we will begin to see the connections that bind us together, and when we recognize those connections, we will begin to change the world.”
“If we look more closely, we see that any violent display of power, whether political or religious, produces an outburst of folly in a large part of mankind; indeed, this seems actually to be a psychological and sociological law: the power of some needs the folly of others. It is not that certain human capacities, intellectual capacities for instance, become stunted of destroyed, but rather that the upsurge of power makes such an overwhelming impression that men are deprived of their independent judgment, and...give up trying to assess the new state of affairs for themselves.”
Source: Letters Papers from Prison
“If we look on heaven and earth as a single crucible, and on the creator as the founder, would there be any place I could not go? When it is time, I will fall asleep, and when the right time comes, I will wake up again.”
“If we look on idly, heaven and earth will never be joined. To join heaven and earth, some decisive deed of purity is necessary. To accomplish so resolute an action, you have to stake your life, giving no thought to personal gain or loss.”
“If we look round the world, there seem to be not above six distinct varieties in the human species, each of which is strongly marked, and speaks the kind seldom to have mixed with any other. But there is nothing in the shape, nothing in the faculties, that shows their coming from different originals; and the varieties of climate, of nourishment, and custom, are sufficient to produce every change.”
Source: A History of the Earth, and Animated Nature
“If we look straight and deep into a chimpanzee's eyes, an intelligent self-assured personality looks back at us. If they are animals, what must we be?”
Source: Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes
“If we look to our responsibility to the generations yet unborn who will come after us, how can we fail to recognize that peace and freedom are inextricably bound up one with another and that the threat to one is a threat to both”
“If we look to people who make no mistakes, who were always on the right side, who never apologized for tyrants or unjust wars, we shall have few heroes and heroines”
Source: Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America
“If we look to the answer as to why for so many years we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on earth, it was because here in this land we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price.”
“If we look to the future, when we talk about outsourcing jobs, when we talk about global competitiveness and our efficiency, none of that matters very much unless we have appropriate training and education for our young people today who are the workforce of tomorrow. It is an economic reality, and we are failing.”
Source: Bill Frist: A Senator Speaks Out on Ethics, Respect, and Compassion
“If we look to the history of other nations, ancient or modern, we find no example of a growth so rapid, so gigantic, of a people so prosperous and happy.”
Source: James Monroe, 1758-1831: chronology, documents, bibliographical aids
“If we look to the south, to Iran, which cannot be "accused" of excess democratic zeal - it goes without saying that the unstable situation does not prepare the ground for a democratic development.”
“if we look upon awaking as an end or a goal to be accomplished, we deny the truth of presence.”
Source: The World: A Gateway : Commentaries on the Mumonkan
“If we look upon the earth as a place where our 'higher selves' have come to learn, to experience, or even to be judged, then the splitting of realities that occurs with the many-worlds interpretation is merely an extension of these functions.”
Source: Moving Through Parallel Worlds To Achieve Your Dreams
“If we looked down at the world from space, we would not see any demarcations of national boundaries. We would simply see one small planet, just one.”
Source: An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life
“If we looked inside ourselves and remembered how insignificant we are, just for a couple of minutes a day, respect for other people would be an automatic result.”
“If we lose a couple in a row this season, it will be like the World Trade [Center] is coming down again.”
“If we lose a game, I change up what I did that day, like if I eat something that day I will not eat the same thing again the next game day.”
“If we lose a job, we are easily tempted into thoughts like, "Ain't it awful? There aren't any jobs out there. This is terrible. It'll be awhile before the economy comes back. Even if they're hiring someone, they're not hiring someone my age with my resume." And that's really what causes the crash and burn. The fact is, there are Fortune 500 companies that have been founded during recessions.”
“If we lose affection and kindliness from our life: we lose all that gives it charm.”
Source: Delphi Complete Works of Cicero (Illustrated)
“If we lose all our sweet memories, it means we are dead even if we are alive!”
“If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.”
“If we lose half the species, which could happen by the end of the century if we don't do anything, that's going to create a big difference down the line in the stability and even the economic potential in the living world. Irreversibly.”