W Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with W. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]? That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior.”
“What if [Saddam] fails to comply and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route, which gives him yet more opportunities to develop this program of weapons of mass destruction? ... Well, he will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction. And some day, some way, I guarantee you he'll use the arsenal.”
Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1998
“What if a dawn of a doom of a dream bites this universe in two, peels forever out of his grave, and sprinkles nowhere with me and you?”
Source: 100 Selected Poems
“What if a demon crept after thee into thy loneliest loneliness some day or night, and said to thee: "This life, as thou livest it at present, and hast lived it, thou must live it once more, and also innumerable times; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and every sigh, and all the unspeakably small and great in thy life must come to thee again, and all in the same series and sequence—and similarly this spider and this moonlight among the trees, and similarly this moment, and I myself. The eternal sand-glass of existence will ever be turned once more, and thou with it, thou speck of dust!"—Wouldst thou not throw thyself down and gnash thy teeth, and curse the demon that so spake? Or hast thou once experienced a tremendous moment in which thou wouldst answer him: "Thou art a God, and never did I hear anything so divine!" If that thought acquired power over thee as thou art, it would transform thee, and perhaps crush thee; the question with regard to all and everything: "Dost thou want this once more, and also for innumerable times?" would lie as the heaviest burden upon thy activity! Or, how wouldst thou have to become favourably inclined to thyself and to life, so as to long for nothing more ardently than for this last eternal sanctioning and sealing?”
Source: The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs
“What if a kid goes to school after seeing Kill Bill and starts slicing up other kids? You know, I'll take that chance! Violent films don't turn children into violent people. They may turn them into violent filmmakers but that's another matter altogether.”
“What if a man save my life with a draught that was prepared to poison me? The providence of the issue does not at all discharge the obliquity of the intent. And the same reason holds good even in religion itself. It is not the incense, or the offering that is acceptable to God, but the purity and devotion of the worshipper.”
“what if a much of a which of a wind
gives the truth to summer's lie;
bloodies with dizzying leaves the sun
and yanks immortal stars awry?”
Source: 100 Selected Poems
“What if a pair of us head off on our own?" Nollin proposed, panting. "A small detachment might avoid detection."
"It's a gamble," Ferrin said. "If the duo gets noticed, they'll be defenseless. Who'd you have in mind?"
"Some key delegates," Nollin said. "Perhaps myself and Aram."
Rachel shook her head. Evidently, Nollin had noticed the critical role Aram had played during the escape.
Ferrin laughed openly. "Aram, you've been promoted to essential!"
"I'm generally more appreciated at night," the big man grumbled. "I'm going to the table, Nollin."
"Maybe we should all remain together," Nollin repented.”
Source: Seeds of Rebellion
“What if a puppet could cut its own strings, and in that act of defiance and strength of will become truly alive? Become is own puppetmaster?”
“What if a slumber retailer merged with a hamburger substitute to form a new store called Bed, Bath, and Beyond Meat? It would be the opposite of what ducks make, which is real sleep products (feather pillows) and real food (eggs).”
Source: One Out of Ten Dentists Agree: This Book Helps Fight Gingivitis. Maybe Tomorrow I’ll Ask Nine More Dentists.: A BearPaw Duck And Meme Farm Production
“What if a small group of world leaders were to conclude that the principal risk to the Earth comes from the actions of the rich countries?... In order to save the planet, the group decides: Isn't the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn't it our responsibility to bring that about?”
“What if a tree fell in the forest and no one knew it's biological name? Did it exist?”
Source: Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder
“What if acceptance and compassion were our daily practice and religion?”
“What if airplane pilots said, 'my first three years were a wreck'? We worry about the safety of people at the hands of these other professions. Why don't we worry about children being at the hands of an adult, even a well-meaning adult, who doesn't know what he or she is doing?”
“What if Albert Einstein didn’t have to pause to die, and just kept working? And what if he wasn’t alone? What if the other people whose ideas he built from, and the other people that built off of his ideas, were all still alive and all still working together?”
Source: sciVive
“What if all everybody needed in the world was to be sure of one friend? What if you were the one, and you refused to say those simple words?”
“What if all I'd ever known was how it had been for the past three years - me being an unwanted outsider in my own family? I might have turned out like Aphrodite, and I might still be letting my parents control me because I was hoping desperately that I would be good enough, make them proud, so that some day they would really love me.”
Source: House of Night Series Books 1-4: Marked, Betrayed, Chosen and Untamed
“What if all it took to bring us to our knees and to ignite our affections was the Word opened and the presence of God? What if that was enough for us? What if it didn't take a great band to evoke that kind of response from us in worship? What if His presence - His Word opened - what if it was enough?”
“What if all of our anger and fear is unwarranted?
What if world events are unfolding
in perfect order to deliver us to a distant
joy we can't conceive of at this time?”
Source: Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different
“What if all possible
pain was only the grief of truth?”
Source: Our Andromeda
“What if all the forces of society were bent upon developing [poor] children? What if society's business were making people insteadof profits? How much of their creative beauty of spirit would remain unquenched through the years? How much of this responsiveness would follow them through life?”
“What if... all the rules and ways we lay down in our heads, don't even exist at all? What if we only believe that they're there, because we want to think that they're there? All the formalities of morality and the decisions that we see ourselves making in order to be better (or the best)... what if we think we've got it all under control— but we don't? What if the path for you, is one that you would never dare take because you never saw yourself going that way? And then what if you realized that one day— would you take the path for you? Or would you choose to believe in your rules and your reasons? Your moralities and your hopes? What if your own hope, and your own morality— are going the other way?”
“What if all those strange and unexplainable bends in history were the result of supernatural interference? At which point I asked myself, what's the weirdest most eccentric historical phenomenon of them all? Answer:the Great British Empire. Clearly, one tiny little island could only conquer half the known world with supernatural aid. Those absurd Victorian manners and ridiculous fashions were obviously dictated by vampires. And, without a doubt, the British army regimental system functions on werewolf pack dynamics.”
“What if all tomorrow brings is ashes and glass, and I can't tell you child, 'this too shall pass.' If all the world were windswept, cold and gray. And in the end there's nothing left to say.”
“What if an aching dissatisfaction, even frustration, might be evidence of a right relationship with God?”
Source: Blessed Are the Misfits: Great News for Believers who are Introverts, Spiritual Strugglers, or Just Feel Like They're Missing Something
“What if an American citizen needs to disappear, for reasons that might never be revealed to you, and you are involved, even peripherally, in the plot? Are you willing to participate in a crime like that? Something they can hang over your head for the rest of your life?”
Source: Sabrina
“What if an ordinary person cannot make a difference without talking about politics, without letting political concerns have their due, without feeling alarm, without figuring out some way to trust the power of words -- without, that is, becoming an extraordinary person?”
Source: Avoiding Politics: How Americans Produce Apathy in Everyday Life
“What if an untamed passion leads to truths reason cannot reach?”
Source: The Will to Become
“What if and love
What if time develops a trait to forget,
What if light does not travel at all,
What if life turns into a ceaseless moment of regret,
And every perception of height begins to crumble and fall,
What will become of the memories then,
What will become of the darkness,
Shall we be restricted to lead a life in a den,
Where there is everything packed within feelings riddled with moments of nothingness,
What will become of the love you felt,
What will become of the faces you come across everyday,
Shall the feeling die suddenly that arose in your heart when you had met,
That special someone on that very special moment, on that wonderful someday,
Will days then be reduced to just a someday, just another day,
Will feelings flow like a river that does not know its course,
But overflows its banks because it just wants to flow anyway,
Will you be then frozen in moments of endless remorse,
Because time has forgotten its preceding moments,
Memories exist but for what the mind is unable to discern,
And you lead a life that thrives on strange supplements,
Of needless worries, and exceedingly needless concern,
What if time stole from her my all memories,
What will then remind her of me,
Will she then lead a life of endless comedies or never ending tragedies,
Because in the crowd when I pass by she fails to recognise me,
I wonder what it will be like when time becomes forgetful,
And light cannot travel anymore,
Maybe I would choose to live in sublime moments deeply thoughtful,
Where I will only think of you and nothing else no more,
Then I will let time forget everything,
And let light not travel at all,
It cannot steal from me your memories because except you and your memories there is nothing,
And then both time and light shall in the abyss of your memories fall,
Where both will now only recognise you and bear your signatures,
And ah, my joy to see you then appear everywhere,
And I can barely wait to see light bearing your beauty’s textures,
While Irma my love, time spreads your memories everywhere!”
Source: They Loved in 2075!
“What if angry vectors veer Round your sleeping head, and form. There's never need to fear Violence of the poor world's abstract storm.”
Source: The Collected Poems of Robert Penn Warren
“What if at school you had to take an 'art class' in which you were only taught how to paint a fence? What if you were never shown the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso? Would that make you appreciate art? Would you want to learn more about it? I doubt it..........but this is how math is taught and so in the eyes of most of us it becomes the equivalent of watching paint dry. While the paintings of the great masters are readily available, the math of the great masters is locked away.”
“What if awakening your light body was as simple as seeing the light within yourself, ceasing your identification with your pain and suffering and appreciating the beautiful soul you really are?”
Source: The Difference Between Pain and Suffering
“What if Barack Obama established a Presidential Advisory Committee that would meet once every couple of months, bringing together the former presidents for a conference in order to seek their collective wisdom? There is a wealth of experience in former presidents that generally goes untapped.”
“What if becoming who and what we truly are happens not through striving and trying but by recognizing and receiving the people and places and practices that offer us the warmth of encouragement we need to unfold?”
“What if boundaries and boarders are actually the only way people can love each other equally and freely.
What if, without those boundaries, love becomes an act of humanitarian aid.”
“What if capitalism is unsustainable, and socialism is impossible?”
“What if change didn't have to come from self-hatred or fear but from hope, compassion, and vision? Instead of forcing ourselves to fix what we dislike, we could be drawn to the person we're becoming.”
Source: Listening to Yourself: How to Hear Your Own Wisdom
“What if children grew up with parents who modeled a loving relationship, who openly showed each other affection and respect, expressing feelings authentically, and who lovingly, even playfully, turned conflicts toward solutions? What if we grew up feeling embraced, loved, seen and valued for the whole of who we are? Would it all turn out differently? You bet it would!”
Source: The Missing Manual to Love, Marriage and Intimacy: A Proactive Path to Happily Ever After
“What if choices were not viewed as right and wrong, but instead as just a variety of life experiences?”
“What if companies just had a simple underlying mission, which was making people’s lives better around the world.”
Source: Moral Fiber - A Practical Guide to Living Our Values
“What if compassion is also profitable? What if compassion is also good for business?”
“What if consciousness is the ground of being? What if the possibilities discovered by quantum physics are the possibilities of consciousness itself? Remember there is already a class of people who think in this way. They are called mystics, and they say it is all God. Finally, a few scientists dared to say that some of the characteristics attributed to God are similar to what we describe as consciousness.”
“What if criticism is a science as well as an art? Not a pure or exact science, of course, but these phrases belong to a nineteenth-century cosmology which is no longer with us.”
Source: Anatomy of Criticism
“What if culture itself is nothing but a halt, a break, a respite, in the pursuit of barbarity?”
Source: Living in the End Times
“What if custom is wrong? demanded the part of her that believed in the code of chivalry. A knight must set things right.”
Source: First Test: Book 1 of the Protector of the Small Quartet
“What if dating apps are mostly populated by Deep Fakes, designed to get you to waste your life swiping right and keep you single? I say this because the last three matches I met up with for coffee turned out to be holograms.”
Source: Don't Even Get Me Started On The Beastie Boys
“What if death wasn’t the end… but a chance to finally get life right?”
“What if deep down inside you...you knew you were more amazing and magnificent than you thought you were?”
“What if desire wasn't an urge to be tamed, but a beacon of truth to be followed?”
“What if destiny doesn't care?”
Source: Goliath