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All O Quotes

“One of the questions asked by al-Balkhi, and often repeated to this day, is this: Why do the children of Israel continue to suffer? My grandmother Dodo thought it was because the goyim were jealous. The seder for Passover (which is a shame-faced simulacrum of a Hellenic question-and-answer session, even including the wine) tells the children that it's one of those things that happens to every Jewish generation. After the Shoah or Endlösung or Holocaust, many rabbis tried to tell the survivors that the immolation had been a punishment for 'exile,' or for insufficient attention to the Covenant. This explanation was something of a flop with those whose parents or children had been the raw material for the 'proof,' so for a time the professional interpreters of god's will went decently quiet. This interval of ambivalence lasted until the war of 1967, when it was announced that the divine purpose could be discerned after all. How wrong, how foolish, to have announced its discovery prematurely! The exile and the Shoah could now both be understood, as part of a heavenly if somewhat roundabout scheme to recover the Western Wall in Jerusalem and other pieces of biblically mandated real estate. I regard it as a matter of self-respect to spit in public on rationalizations of this kind. (They are almost as repellent, in their combination of arrogance, masochism, and affected false modesty, as Edith Stein's 'offer' of her life to expiate the regrettable unbelief in Jesus of her former fellow Jews.) The sage Jews are those who have put religion behind them and become in so many societies the leaven of the secular and the atheist.”

ChildrenWarReligionSufferingJesusChristianityAtheismBibleWinePunishmentJealousyArroganceSelf RespectHolocaustJudaismExileSecularismJerusalemMartyrdomSurvivorsGentilesMasochism1967Will Of GodFalse ModestyGrandmothersTheodicyHellenismPassoverRabbisPassover SederHiwi Al BalkhiSix Day WarBiblical CovenantDivine RetributionEdith SteinRationalisationWestern Wall
Author:Christopher Hitchens
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“One of the questions asked in that study was, How many Vietnamese casualties would you estimate that there were during the Vietnam war? The average response on the part of Americans today is about 100,000. The official figure is about two million. The actual figure is probably three to four million. The people who conducted the study raised an appropriate question: What would we think about German political culture if, when you asked people today how many Jews died in the Holocaust, they estimated about 300,000? What would that tell us about German political culture?”

PeopleIfsThinkingTwoWarTodayPoliticalCultureThreeMillionsStudyFourFiguresDiedResponseRaisedAverageJewOfficialsAppropriateVietnamHolocaustVietnam WarCasualtiesVietnameseQuestions AskedPolitical Culture
Author:Noam Chomsky
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“One of the questions I have been asked many times since this story broke is this: Now that the facts are out there, what can we do? My answer, depressing and cynical as it may be, is always the same. Not much. Not now. And certainly not until the American public and its Congressional representatives regain control of the CIA and shred the curtain of secrecy that keeps us from discovering these crimes of state until its too late. Perhaps when the government officials who presided over these outrages are safely in their crypts, and their apologists and cheerleaders are buried woth them, future historians can finally call these men to account for the miseries they caused. Even if that's all that ever happens, it will be fitting and just, because the favorable judgment of history is ultimately what they craved.”

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Author:GaryWebb
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“One of the questions that surprised me most was this: “Mommy, if Jesus comes to live inside my heart, will I explode?” “No!” I proclaimed as the children and I headed to the Nile River for a few of them to be baptized that day. Then I thought about the question a bit more. “Yes, if Jesus comes to live in your heart, you will explode.” That is exactly what we should do if Jesus comes to live inside our hearts. We will explode with love, with compassion, with hurt for those who are hurting, and with joy for those who rejoice. We will explode with a desire to be more, to be better, to be close to the One who made us.”

HeartExplodedExploding HeartKatie DavisKisses From Katie
Author:Katie J. Davis
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“One of the real costs of the war is that our security is actually less than it otherwise would have been - ironic, since enhancing security was one of the reasons for going to war. Our armed forces have been depleted - we have been wearing out equipment and using up munitions faster than we have been replacing them; the armed forces face difficult problems in recruitment -by any objective measures,including those used by the armed forces, quality has deteriorated significantly.”

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Author:Joseph Stiglitz
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“One of the real dilemmas we have in our country and around the world is that what works in politics is organization and conflict. That is, drawing the sharp distinctions. But in real life, what works is networks and cooperation. And we need victories in real life, so we've got to get back to networks and cooperation, not just conflict. But politics has always been about conflict, and in the coverage of politics, information dissemination tends to be organized around conflict as well.”

WorldNeedsWellsRealCountryInformationVictoryConflictOrganizationDrawingReal LifeOur CountryAround The WorldOrganizedDistinctionGet BackCooperationDilemmaCoverageDissemination
Author:William J. Clinton
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“One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you're maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed.”

ShouldWritingLittlesPersonsLongBitsCan DoLittle BitClothesDressesCommittedEveningAshamedPetBad ThingsHouseholdEmbarrassedVocabularyDressingsDressing UpLong WordsCuteness
Author:Stephen King
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“One of the really key things to look at in terms of crafting strategy when you're in an economic crises is how do you maximize essentially your liquidity position? Your ability to both take kind of profits and revenues and business and then convert that into a stronger lead. And so those companies that can do that can actually, you know, get a march on their competitors.”

KnowsLooksKindTermCan DoAbilityCompanyEconomicPositionKeysStrongerCrisisStrategyProfitMarchCompetitorsRevenueEconomic CrisisKey ThingsLiquidity
Author:Reid Hoffman
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“One of the reasons [William] Shakespeare is so endlessly fascinating is that you can look at that figure from about 10 different angles: Caliban in Shakespeare's day was probably viewed as a sort of comic, barbarian type, but into the 19th century there were productions where Caliban was the hero. He's a potential rapist of a minor. Is that a good thing? No, it is not. On the other hand, Prospero's got him cooped up in a cave and tortures him if he doesn't do what Prospero wants. Is that a good thing? No. Shakespeare doesn't let you off easy.”

IfsWantLooksDifferentReasonHandsEasyCenturyFiguresTypeHeroGood ThingsProductionsComicTortureFascinatingMinorsAngleCaves19th CenturyBarbariansDifferent AnglesCalibanProspero
Author:Margaret Atwood
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“One of the reasons a survivor finds it so difficult to see herself as a victim is that she has been blamed repeatedly for the abuse: "If you weren't such a whore, this wouldn't have to happen." Each time she is used and trashed, she becomes further convinced of her innate badness. She sees herself participating in forbidden sexual activity and may often get some sense of gratification from it even if she doesn't want to (it is, after all, a form of touch, and our bodies respond without the consent of our wills). This is seen as further proof that the abuse is her fault and well deserved. In her mind, she has become responsible for the actions of her abusers. She believes she is not a victim; she is a loathsome, despicable, worthless human being—if indeed she even qualifies as human. When the abuse has been sadistic in nature...these beliefs are futher entrenched.”

Child AbuseChild Sexual AbuseAbuse SurvivorsIncestDehumanizationComplex PtsdVictim BlamingChild Sexual Abuse SurvivorComplex TraumaSelf BlameChild Sexual Abuse SurvivorsNo Longer Human
Author:Diane Langberg
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“One of the reasons for conspiracy theories is an assumption that people in high places always know what they are doing. When they do something that makes no sense, devious reasons are imagined by conspiracy theorists, when in fact it may be due to plain old ignorance and incompetence.”

PeopleKnowsMayReasonFactsGovernmentIgnoranceTheoryDuesAssumptionConspiracyIncompetenceConspiracy TheoryTheoristsHigh PlacesDevious
Author:Thomas Sowell
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“One of the reasons for its success is that science has a built-in, error-correcting machinery at its very heart. Some may consider this an overbroad characterization, but to me every time we exercise self-criticism, every time we test our ideas against the outside world, we are doing science. When we are self-indulgent and uncritical, when we confuse hopes and facts, we slide into pseudoscience and superstition.”

WorldHeartMayIdeasSelfReasonFactsExerciseBuiltCriticismTestsErrorsSuperstitionsMachinerySlidesOutside WorldCorrectingPseudoscienceCharacterizationSelf CriticismSelf Indulgent
Author:Carl Sagan
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“One of the reasons for The Walt Disney Company's long- term success is really the first of Dr. Deming's famous points, "create constancy of purpose." In his professional career, Walt's major passion was to provide the finest in family entertainment. For the most part, for nearly a century, the Company has stayed true to that legacy, and has set the standard for the entire entertainment industry.”

FirstsLongReasonPurposePassionTermCompanyCareersCenturyIndustryMajorsStandardsEntertainmentLegacyLong TermDrsFinestConstancyWaltEntertainment IndustryDisney CompanyProfessional CareerLong Term SuccessWalt Disney Company
Author:Bill Capodagli
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“One of the reasons for this cataclysmic change of destinies was the inherent weakness of a decaying agricultural empire of the Mughals which after more than two hundred years of rule over vast areas of India, was at its terminal stage and needed a small push to crumble like a house of cards.That push was given by six East India Companies of different European countries which had extracted rights to trade with India from the Mughals but transformed themselves as the arbiters and protectors of several Indian states. In this process they not only became rich but also militarily strong because in the twilight years of the Mughal empire, deteriorating security environment necessitated to arm themselves to protect their economic interests. Because of their inherent superiority as representatives of rising industrial powers, they had access to modern techniques and technology of warfare, which turned out to be the decisive factor in capturing vast territories in India.”

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Author:Shahid Hussain Raja
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“One of the reasons hard conversations are necessary is that we have to ask other people the obvious questions - How do you see this? - if we're going to have any hope of entering, even a bit, into their point of view. Our differences of perception are rooted deep in the hidden kingdom of the unconscious mind and we're generally not aware how profound those differences are until we ask.”

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Author:David Brooks
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“One of the reasons I always looked up to [George] Carlin is he looked like your grandfather but, acted like your best friend. Most of the adults in my world were adults and acted like adults and had job-type jobs and bills and pressures and stopped playing a long time ago. And George Carlin was a guy that the more he aged the younger he seemed. It was odd because he was still sagely and wise. But he was such a role model for me.”

WorldLongStillsReasonJobsGuyRolesWiseLike YouTypeLong TimeModelsAdultsPressureBillsOddRole ModelsGrandfatherLong Time AgoYour Best Friend
Author:Kevin Smith
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