O Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with O. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“On clear nights, I’d sit out on the porch and gaze up at the stars.
So many of them, scrawled across a sky so vast it made my head
hurt. And I’d tell myself that if the stars could do it – if they could
exist for billions of years in isolation – I could do it, too. I’d just
pretend I was a star, that’s all. A ball of energy, burning up, light
years from anyone and anything.”
Source: Anomaly
“On clear nights, the moon casts a glow on everything uniformly. It doesn’t discriminate by shining on one pond and not on another.”
Source: The Arrows of Zen
“On climate change, there is a clear, definitive and ineluctable ethical imperative to act.”
“On close analysis, it would seem that there is a possibility that we are god's robots”
Source: Pearls Of Eternity
“On close inspection, this device turned out to be a funereal juke box - the result of mixing Lloyd's of London with the principle of the chewing gum dispenser.”
“On close inspection, we shall find that religion, and not fear, has ever been the cause of the long-lived prosperity of an absolute government.”
Source: Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II
“On closer examination, we are simply a banal tragedy spread over two generations.”
Source: Smilla's Sense of Snow
“On closer inspection, however, the event in question turns out to be rather more mysterious, rather more of an unidentified 'historical' object. The thawing out of the countries of the East is without doubt an extraordinary turn of events. But what exactly happens to freedom when it is defrosted? Such an operation must be a hazardous one, its outcome uncertain (quite apart from the fact that you are not supposed to refreeze what you have once defrosted). The USSR and the Eastern bloc constituted not just a deep-freeze for freedom but also a laboratory, an experimental environment in which freedom was isolated and subjected to very high pressures. The West, on the other hand, is merely a museum - or, more accurately, a dump - for freedom and the Rights of Man. If deep-freezing was the distinctive (and negative) mark of the Eastern universe, the ultra-fluidity of our Western universe is even more disreputable, because thanks to the liberation and liberalization of our mores and beliefs, the problem of freedom can simply no longer be posed. Rather, it is virtually resolved. In the West, freedom - the Idea of freedom - has died its fine death; all the recent commemorations have clearly shown that the idea of freedom is gone. In the East it has been murdered - but there is no such thing as the perfect crime.”
Source: The Transparency of Evil: Essays in Extreme Phenomena
“On closer inspection, this cruel and beautiful world is ours, and we are all completely alone and doomed.”
Source: Sex, Drugs, and Schizophrenia
“On closer inspection, the hero status accorded to Abraham, Moses and David in the Old Testament (and echoed in the New Testament) is rooted not in their moral perfection but in their uncompromising dedication to the cause of Yahweh and their rugged trust in the promises of God rather than lapsing into the idolatry of many of their contemporaries.”
Source: Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God
“On closer notice of her apron, he said, "Is that-?"
"The Mad Hatter," she said. "I told you, I have a collection."
"You collect aprons?"
"Since I was little and my mom taught me to bake." When he smiled, she arched a brow. "Some find it charmingly quirky."
"You never wore any to Gateau."
"Shocking, I know. Because I'm certain the staff would have greatly appreciated the humor in them."
His smile twitched wider at that. "You have a point, I suppose. I must say, this dry side of you is surprisingly appealing. What does it say?" He nodded toward her apron front.
She lifted her arms away so he could read the script that accompanied the copy of an original pen and ink art rendering of the Hatter seated at a long table, holding a teacup aloft.
"YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO HAVE A TEA PARTY," he read out loud, then smiled at her. "I rather agree. You make a charming and somewhat more quirky Alice than I'd have expected. I seem to recall Alice spent the better part of her time being irritated and flustered, too. Perhaps if I'd come bearing tea and crumpets, with a bewildered, bespectacled white rabbit clutching a pocketwatch in his paw, you'd have been more willing to give me the time of day.”
Source: Sugar Rush
“On Clyde inviting Buck to join him and Bonnie: [W.D.] Jones later said, 'He [Clyde] didn't mean to do Buck no harm. He just couldn't see that far ahead.' Of Blanche, he said 'She was a good little girl— good—hearted. She begged Buck not to go. She slipped into a trap. Blanche was just an innocent little girl who got mixed up in something—a love affair. I never knew that love could be so strong.”
Source: My Life with Bonnie and Clyde
“On coaching the 1970s Philadelphia Flyers: Nobody likes us. Nobody outside Philadelphia, that is. In fact, the nicest thing people say about us is that we are a bunch of muggers.”
“On cold December fragrant chaplets blow, And heavy harvests nod beneath the snow.”
Source: The Dunciad: With Notes Variorum, and the Prolegomena of Scriblerus
“On coming out of the chapel, a well can be seen on the left. There are two in this yard. You ask, Why is there no bucket and no pulley to this one? Because no water is drawn from it now. Why is no more water drawn from it? Because it is full of skeletons.”
Source: Les Misérables
“On coming to the house, they (the Magi), saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. (Matthew 2:11) [This] adoration, too, was not the same as the worship of God. In my opinion they did not yet recognize him as God, but they acted in keeping with the custom mentioned in Scripture, according to which Kings and important people were worshiped; this did not mean more than falling down before them at their feet and honoring them.”
“On commence par savoir, ensuite on comprend, enfin seulement vient la Connaissance.”
Source: Les maladies karmiques
“On Common Sense:
Common sense isn't.
Corollary: Uncommon sense is.”
“On comparing George Sand with the novelists of her time, what strikes us most is how different she was from them.”
Source: George Sand, some aspects of her life and writings
“On comprenait que les hommes pourraient être aussi efficaces que Dieu dans d'autres domaines que la destruction.”
Source: The Man Who Planted Trees
“On conducting: If you can just barely hear the French horns on stage, the balance is perfect.”
“On conflicts, generally speaking, the world is a hell of a lot better to live in today than it was thirty years ago, despite what's going on in Syria. There are definitely hopeful signs that the world is moving, decade by decade, in the right direction.”
“On connecting: Where does one person end and another person begin?”
“On consideration, it is not surprising that Darwin's finches should recognize their own kind primarily by beak characters. The beak is the only prominent specific distinction, and it features conspicuously both in attacking behaviour, when the birds face each other and grip beaks, and also in courtship, when food is passed from the beak of the male to the beak of the female. Hence though the beak differences are primarily correlated with differences in food, secondarily they serve as specific recognition marks, and the birds have evolved behaviour patterns to this end.”
Source: Darwin's Finches
“On consideration.. .of the reason wherefore men have so far gone astray, or that many - alas! - should follow diverse ways of belief concerning the Son of God, the marvel seems to be, not at all that human knowledge has been baffled in dealing with superhuman things, but that it has not submitted to the authority of the Scriptures”
“On course doesn't mean perfect. On course means that even when things don't go perfectly - you are still going in the right direction.”
“On Creating — What we crave, what we want to see in others eyes, is that servile expression, an unconcealed infatuation with our gestures.”
“On credibility: Jack White has just done a song for Coca-Cola. End of. He ceases to be in the club. And he looks like Zorro on doughnuts. He's supposed to be the poster boy for the alternative way of thinking... I'm not having that, that's fucking wrong. Particularly Coca-Cola, it's like doing a fucking gig for McDonald's.”
“On crie qu'on veut façonner un avenir meilleur, mais ce n'est pas vrai. L'avenir n'est qu'un vide indifférent qui n'intéresse personne, mais le passé est plein de vie et son visage irrite, révolte, blesse, au point que nous voulons le détruire ou le repeindre. On ne veut être maître de l'avenir que pour pouvoir changer le passé. On se bat pour avoir accès aux laboratoires où on peut retoucher les photos et récrire les biographies et l'Histoire.”
Source: The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
“On criticism: When you choose voice, you know someone is not going to agree with you. There will be opposition, criticism. There are two ways to deal with criticism: either get a thick skin,
or a strong inner core. [p. 95]”
Source: Women, Voice, and Writing : How to define, develop, and strengthen your writing voice
“On Critique – Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. Those who can’t do or teach, criticize.”
“On current form, both teams will probably lose.”
“On: Czekać. Czy to to samo, co tęsknić?
Ona: Nie. Dla mnie nie. Przy czekaniu nie budzę się o 5 rano, rezygnując z najlepszych snów. Nie przychodzę także z tego powodu już przed 7 do biura. Przy czekaniu mleko nie traci dla mnie smaku. Przy tęsknocie tak...”
Source: S@motność w Sieci
“On Darjeeling, I was on set every day and I acted as the second unit director and a producer on that film. I was there throughout the whole process. On Moonrise Kingdom, I showed up for one day.”
“On dark days like that one, the library windows looked lit up like an aquarium, the inhabitants on display for all the other kids to see: here the most exotic fish, the lonely, the unloved, the weird.”
Source: The Age of Miracles
“On Darkest Paths by Stewart Stafford
Temporal loop on a ravenous street,
A vampire denied a ticking heartbeat,
Restless spirit of night's prettified edge,
Bound acolyte of the infinite pledge.
Human life, another planet’s memory,
This skittish flock, a prized delicacy,
Blood frenzy mingles with death's choir,
A living essence merged with undead fire.
No loving touch nor warmth of light,
I must stay numb, shun my plight,
Solitary, not lonely; sated yet lost.
A fickle captive in my permafrost.
I spurn self-pity’s indulgent call,
My wastrel's drudge to primal thrall.
A millstone for necks of mortal strays
Perishing slowly in diminished ways.
An inversion of creation, a deviant lie,
A predator's bloodlust can never comply,
Rogue feeders, unbound by pack affliction.
Until driven away or freed of addiction.
© 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”
“On data: We are the drivers, not the driven.”
“On daughter Apple's accent: She says Mummy instead of Mommy, I don't mind that. I will if she starts saying basil and pasta the English way, as that really drives me nuts.”
“On day I noticed that something happened that looked like a dramatization of the inner script of my psyche.”
Source: Embracing Coincidence
“On day is pressed on by another.”
“On day one of the drive, I saw my first dome sky. The world was so flat that I could see the level horizon all around me and the sky looked like a dome. Skies like that will give you perspective when nothing else will. The second day, a tumbleweed blew across the interstate. I’m in a western movie, I said to myself, laughing. I found it so much easier to laugh now that this weight had been lifted from my shoulders.”
Source: Loved
“On day one, the Church wasn't for church people because there weren't any church people.”
“On days her spirits are low, like now, or between ballet seasons, when she has time to think about herself outside of the roles she plays, when she is not Odette in Swan Lake or Clara in The Nutcracker, she finds her feet reason enough to doubt the grace for which she is applauded when she spins on the tips of her toes.”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official
“On days like this, birthdays, the anniversary of the wave, I want to be alone. Alone, I am close to them, I slip back into our life, or they slip into mine, undisturbed.”
Source: Wave
“On days like this I miss you dearly
Just something about the day
The weather
And the atmosphere
My feelings overwhelm me
Every time I try to forget you
Then I realise I could never feel for anyone else the way I feel for you
And then
I miss you
Wishing for sight of you”
“On days like this, I would just disappear if it weren't for you and your love, like nails in my feet.”
“On days like this,
when memory is not far
from the surface,
I am grateful for the time I had
With you.”
Source: The Nostalgia Collection
“On days like today you realize that you just can't keep these hypergrowth stocks down.”
“On days of struggle, try showing yourself kindness and give yourself enough time for your emotions to settle.”
“On days she is half-lucid, Rob finds Manika a bore, too self-absorbed and a little shallow, removed from reality, a spoiled kid from Manila, where she is heiress to billions—or stolen billions, as his father would say.”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official