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Absolutes Quotes

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Absolutes Quotes

“A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and in all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity.”

PeopleThinkingWorldLifeNeedsPersonsDoeMotivationalAblePoliticalWalksDealsKnowingThis WorldHumilityCircumstancesAll ThingsAbsolutesCharityGoodObjectivesMaturityMatureGood And BadObjectivityMature Person
Book:You learn by living
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“The people in the world, and the objects in it, and the world as a whole, are not absolute things, but on the contrary, are the phenomena of perception... If we were all alike: if we were millions of people saying do, re, mi, in unison, One poet would be enough... But we are not alone, and everything needs expounding all the time because, as people live and die, each one perceiving life and death for himself, and mostly by and in himself, there develops a curiosity about the perceptions of others. This is what makes it possible to go on saying new things about old things.”

PeopleIfsWorldNeedsEnoughWholeWould BeDiesMillionsObjectsPoetGoes OnPerceptionAbsolutesCuriosityContraryLife And DeathNew ThingsNot AloneOld ThingsUnisonPerception Of Others
Author:Wallace Stevens
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“I began dividing life in absolutes... Things and people were either perfectly bad, or perfectly good, and when life didn't obey this black-and-white rule, when things or people were complex or contradictory, I pretended otherwise. I turned every defeat into a disaster, every success into an epic triumph, and separated all people into heroes or villains. Unable to bear ambiguity, I built a barricade of delusions against it.”

PeopleBlackWhiteBearsHeroBuiltAbsolutesComplexesDefeatDisasterTriumphDelusionVillainBlack And WhiteEpicContradictoryAmbiguityDividingPerfectly GoodBarricades
Author:J. R. Moehringer
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“I'm not afraid to compete. It's just the opposite. Don't you see that? I'm afraid I will compete — that's what scares me. That's why I quit the Theatre Department. Just because I'm so horribly conditioned to accept everybody else's values, and just because I like applause and people to rave about me, doesn't make it right. I'm ashamed of it. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of not having the courage to be an absolute nobody. I'm sick of myself and everybody else that wants to make some kind of a splash.”

PeopleWantKindValuesAcceptingOppositesSickAbsolutesTheatreQuittingDepartmentAshamedScareNot AfraidApplauseI QuitRave
Author:J. D. Salinger
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“Because they claim to be concerned with the welfare of whole societies, governments arrogate to themselves the right to pass off as mere abstract profit or loss the human unhappiness that their decisions provoke or their negligence permits. It is a duty of an international citizenship to always bring the testimony of people's suffering to the eyes and ears of governments, sufferings for which it's untrue that they are not responsible. The suffering of men must never be a mere silent residue of policy. It grounds an absolute right to stand up and speak to those who hold power.”

PeopleMenHumansWholeGovernmentEyeSufferingSpeakLossDecisionPolicyDutyConcernedEarsClaimsAbsolutesResponsibleMereSilentInternationalProfitWelfareAbstractUnhappinessPermitProvokingCitizenshipTestimonyUntrueNegligence
Author:Michel Foucault
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“A world in which time is absolute is a world of consolation. For while the movements of people are unpredictable, the movement of time is predictable. While people can be doubted, time cannot be doubted. While people brood, time skips ahead without looking back. In the coffee houses, in the government buildings, in boats of Lake Geneva, people look at their watches and take refuge in time. Each person knows that somewhere is recorded the moment she was born, the moment she took her first step, the moment of her first passion, the moment she said goodbye to her parents.”

PeopleKnowsWorldFirstsLooksPersonsSaidMomentsGovernmentPassionHouseParentBornStepsWatchesMovementBuildingAbsolutesCoffeeBoatGoodbyeLakesFirst StepsRefugeLooking BackUnpredictableConsolationPredictableDoubtedSkipGenevaCoffee Houses
Author:Alan Lightman
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“I learned the real meaning of love. Love is absolute loyalty. People fade, looks fade, but loyalty never fades. You can depend so much on certain people, you can set your watch by them. And that's love, even if it doesn't seem very exciting.”

PeopleIfsLoveLooksRealSeemsCertainLove IsMarriageWatchesLove YouDependsExcitingAbsolutesLoyaltyInspirational LoveFadesI Love YouFamous LoveI Loved YouTime And LoveMeaning Of LoveNever FadeTrue Love Never EndsI Fell In Love With YouCelebrity RelationshipAbsolute Love
Author:Sylvester Stallone
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“The problem is that it has become politically awkward to draw attention to absolutes of bad and good. In place of manners, we now have doctrines of political correctness, against which one offends at one's peril: by means of a considerable circular logic, such offences mark you as reactionary and therefore a bad person. Therefore if you say people are bad, you are bad.”

PeopleIfsMeanPersonsProblemPoliticalAttentionDrawsLogicMarkAbsolutesDoctrineMannersAwkwardPerilPolitical CorrectnessCorrectnessReactionariesOffence
Author:Lynne Truss
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“He read a lot. He used a lot of big words. I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking. Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often. A couple of times I tried to tell him it was a mistake to get too deep into that kind of stuff, but Alex got stuck on things. He always had to know the absolute right answer before he could go on to the next thing.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsWorldKindSometimesHardBigsUsedNextStuffAnswersMistakeToo MuchTroubleFiguresGoes OnCoupleAbsolutesStuckMake SenseAlexRight AnswersToo Deep
Book:Into the Wild
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“So it's an absolute lie that has killed thousands of kids. Because the mothers who heard that lie, many of them didn't have their kids take either pertussis or measles vaccine, and their children are dead today. And so the people who go and engage in those anti-vaccine efforts -- you know, they, they kill children. It's a very sad thing, because these vaccines are important.”

PeopleKnowsChildrenImportantKidsTodayLyingMotherEffortHeardAbsolutesVaccinesVery SadSad ThingsMeaslesPertussis
Author:Bill Gates
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“The absolute worst part of being depressed is the food. A person's relationship with food is one of their most important relationships. I don't think your relationship with your parents is that important. Some people never know their parents. I don't think your relationship with your friends are important. But your relationship with air-that's key. You can't break up with air. You're kind of stuck together. Only slightly less crucial is water. And then food. You can't be dropping food to hang with someone else. You need to strike up an agreement with it.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsNeedsKindPersonsImportantTogetherParentWaterBreakAirWorstKeysDepressionAbsolutesStrikesStuckAgreementCrucialDroppingBeing DepressedImportant Relationships
Author:Ned Vizzini
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“This is the concentration camp and crematorium at Auschwitz. This is where people were turned into numbers. Into this pond were flushed the ashes of some four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance. It was done by dogma. It was done by ignorance. When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality, this is how they behave.”

PeopleBelieveDoneRealityNumbersMillionsFourIgnoranceTestsAbsolutesBehaveArroganceGasConcentrationCampsDogmaAshesPondsAscentAuschwitzConcentration Camp
Book:The Ascent of Man
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“It does not do to rely too much on silent majorities, Evey, for silence is a fragile thing, one loud noise, and its gone. But the people are so cowed and disorganised. A few might take the opportunity to protest, but it'll just be a voice crying in the wilderness. Noise is relative to the silence preceding it. The more absolute the hush, the more shocking the thunderclap. Our masters have not heard the people's voice for generations, Evey and it is much, much louder than they care to remember.”

PeopleDoeMightCareRememberOpportunityVoiceSilenceGoneToo MuchGenerationsHeardCryMastersAbsolutesMajoritySilentNoiseLoudRelyProtestWildernessRelativeFragileSilence IsShockingHushFragile ThingsLoud NoisesSilent Majority
Author:Alan Moore
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“I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays. You can't go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left. ALGERNON: We have. JACK: I should extremely like to meet them. What do they talk about? ALGERNON: The fools? Oh! about the clever people of course. JACK: What fools.”

PeopleShouldCoursesLeftWishFoolGoodnessSickAbsolutesMeetingsCleverClevernessNuisance
Book:The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Importance of Being Earnest ; The Ballad of Reading Gaol and Other Works of Oscar Wilde
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“No sooner had he thought this than he realized what was anchoring his happiness. It was purpose. He knew what he wanted to do. He knew the way he thought things should be, and Mr. Harinton was proving that other people--even adults--could feel the same way. Nicholas had something to aim for now. He might not know what he wanted to be when he grew up, but he knew with absolute certainty how he wanted to be.”

PeopleKnowsWayFeelsShouldMightWantedPurposeGrewProveGrew UpAdultsAbsolutesAimCertaintyAbsolute Certainty
Author:Trenton Lee Stewart
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“You cannot convince people to love you. This is an absolute rule. No one will ever give you love because you want him or her to give it. Real love moves freely in both directions. Don’t waste your time on anything else.”

PeopleWantGivingRealMovingLove YouWasteAbsolutesConvinceReal LoveWant HimDon't Waste Your Time
Book:Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Someone Who’s Been There
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“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute - where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishoners for whom to vote - where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference - and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.”

PeopleMenShouldBelieveStatesGovernmentMightSchoolAmericaPoliticalPoliticsI BelievePresidentChurchOfficeVoteAbsolutesCatholicI Believe InSeparationCivil RightsGrantedMinistersFundDeniedPreferenceChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateProtestantsSeparation Between Church And StatePublic OfficeCatholic Religion
Author:John F. Kennedy
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“My mother and father are the only people on the whole planet for whom I will never begrudge a thing. Should I achieve great things, it is the work of their hands; they are splendid people and their absolute love of their children places them above the highest praise. It cloaks all of their shortcomings, shortcomings that may have resulted from a difficult life.”

PeopleShouldMayChildrenWholeHandsAgeMotherFatherDifficultAchievePlanetsHighestAbsolutesPraiseGreat ThingsShould ISplendidShortcomingsCloaksMother And FatherDifficult LifeAbsolute Love
Author:Anton Chekhov
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“The idea of absolute freedom is fiction. It's based on the idea of an independent self. But in fact, there's no such thing. There's no self without other people. There's no self without sunlight. There's no self without dew. And water. And bees to pollinate the food that we eat...So the idea of behaving in a way that doesn't acknowledge those reciprocal relationships is not really freedom, it's indulgence.”

PeopleWayIdeasSelfFactsWaterNatureAnimalFictionAbsolutesIndependentAcknowledgeSunlightBeesIndulgenceDewReciprocalAbsolute Freedom
Author:Peter Coyote
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“We godless lack that certainty, and we know the world is a complex place that requires compromise and is not ruled by a moral force - virtue is subject to negotiation, and is found in working together with others to find mutually satisfactory solutions. Good is not absolute, it is an emergent property that arises from successful networks of individuals. It is also something that is measured by evidence: we look at the good that people do, not the promises that they make and never keep, or the lies that dovetail nicely into dogma. Competence is a virtue. Intent is meaningless without action.”

PeopleKnowsWorldLooksActionTogetherLyingFoundIndividualForceMoralVirtueSuccessfulSubjectsPromiseSolutionsEvidenceAbsolutesPropertyComplexesAtheistAriseCompromiseCertaintyWorking TogetherMeaninglessDogmaNegotiationCompetence
Author:PZ Myers
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“We must stop using the Bible as though it were a potpourri of inerrant proof-texts by which we can bring people into bondage to our religious traditions...We must no longer use the Bible as the Pharisees used the Torah when they gave it absolute and final status. Christian biblicism is no different from Jewish legalism. It is the old way of the letter, not the new way of the Spirit.”

PeopleWayDifferentUseChristianUsedSpiritReligiousBibleTraditionLettersAbsolutesFinalsProofBiblicalNew WaysBondageOld WaysTorahReligious TraditionsLegalismPhariseesPotpourri
Author:Robert D. Brinsmead
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“Perhaps the problem is the seeming need that people have of making black-and-white cutoffs when it comes to certain mysterious phenomena, such as life and consciousness. People seem to want there to be an absolute threshold between the living and the nonliving, and between the thinking and the "merely mechanical," ... But the onward march of science seems to force us ever more clearly into accepting intermediate levels of such properties.”

PeopleThinkingWantNeedsProblemSeemsScienceCertainForceBlackWhiteLevelsConsciousnessAcceptingAcceptanceAbsolutesPropertyMysteriousMarchBlack And WhiteSeemingThreshold
Author:Douglas Hofstadter
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“The absolute heart of loyalty is to value those people who tell you the truth, not just those people who tell you what you want to hear. In fact, you should value them most. Because they have paid you the compliment of leveling with you and assuming you can handle it.”

PeopleWantInspirationalShouldHeartFactsTruthValuesTeamBuildingPaidAbsolutesAssumingEndureHearingWhat You WantCoachesLoyaltyHandleTelling The TruthComplimentFaithfulnessFidelityTeam BuildingAbsolute Truth
Book:Reach for the Summit
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“Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep. The taint inherent in absolute power is not its inhumanity but its anti-humanity.”

PeopleStillsPurposeHumanityLibertyDemandAbsolutesTyrannySheepInherentHumaneShepherdsBenevolentInhumanityAbsolute PowerDespotsPower Corrupts
Book:Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer
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“It is all the more necessary under a system of free government that the people should be enlightened, that they should be correctly informed, than it is under an absolute government that they should be ignorant. Under a republic the institutions of learning, while bound by the constitution and laws, are in no way subservient to the government.”

PeopleWayShouldGovernmentLawEducationConstitutionAbsolutesInstitutionsBoundsIgnorantEnlightenedRepublicFree GovernmentSubservient
Author:Calvin Coolidge
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“No country can be called free which is governed by an absolute power; and it matters not whether it be an absolute royal power or an absolute legislative power, as the consequences will be the same to the people.”

PeopleCountryMatterConsequenceAbsolutesSeparationRoyalAbsolute PowerSeparation Of Powers
Book:Citizen Paine: Thomas Paine's Thoughts on Man, Government, Society, and Religion
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“There exists a mountain of circumstantial evidence that consciousness survives bodily death. This is the kind of evidence that would stand up in a court of law. Some people believe that science needs better tools to quantify what consciousness is. Perhaps when we discover what consciousness is we will be on the road to providing absolute scientific evidence that there is life after death.”

PeopleNeedsBelieveKindLawConsciousnessMountainEvidenceToolsAbsolutesCourtProvidingAfter DeathLife After DeathNear DeathScientific EvidenceCircumstantial Evidence
Author:Jean Ritchie
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